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Daily Dispatches

Commodity supplies in doubt as developing countries can't settle mining law

Section: Daily Dispatches

Indonesian Mining Stalls

Disputes Over Control
Halt Development Steps,
Pressure Commodities

By Tom Wright and Patrick Barta
The Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, February 7, 2007

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia has some of the world's largest reserves of gold, coal, nickel, and other valuable commodities, many of which have seen their prices soar in recent years. Yet mining companies haven't broken ground on a single large new mine here since Asia's 1997-98 financial crisis.

Clive Maund: Gold is probably manipulated but I don't care

Section: Daily Dispatches

5:20p ET Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Gold market and technical analyst Clive Maund's new commentary asks the musical question: "Gold price manipulation -- Does it matter?" He concludes that the answer is no more important than whether the chewing gum loses its flavor on the bedpost overnight.

But Maund's commentary itself is important for signifying that manipulation of the gold market is increasingly accepted as a given by analysts, if only grudgingly, since, of course, manipulation makes a mockery of analysis and analysts alike. Indeed, technical analysis of a manipulated market is worthless if it takes no account of the manipulation. That is, despite their conscientiousness, people like Maund have been largely wasting their time.

Commodities were up but somehow Goldman's index for them was down

Section: Daily Dispatches

Goldman Sachs Sells Top Commodity Index

By Kevin Morrison
Financial Times, London
via Yahoo News
Tuesday, February 6, 2007

http://biz.yahoo.com/ft/070206/fto020620071349313629.html?.v=1

Goldman Sachs has agreed to sell its GSCI commodity index to Standard & Poor's for an undisclosed amount.

The move will give S&P a potentially powerful influence on commodity markets as any changes to the index composition can have wide ramifications for underlying commodity prices.

John Dizard: Goldman Sachs and its magic commodities box

Section: Daily Dispatches

By John Dizard
Financial Times, London
via Yahoo News
Monday, February 5, 2007

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ft/20070205/bs_ft/fto020520071619273517;_ylt=As8...

Two weeks ago I unfairly profiled the Chicago speculator community. "Profiling," in the sense of accusing or convicting a suspect based on race or general appearances, is wrong, even in the case of such a rich and privileged group as the "locals," or speculators in the commodities pits.

Goldman Sachs seeks share of second Indian commodities exchange

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Reena Zachariah
Business Standard, Mumbai
Tuesday, February 6, 2007

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=273759&left...

MUMBAI -- Nearly a month after acquiring 5 percent in the National Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs has proposed to buy a stake in the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), India's largest commodity bourse.

Sources said Goldman Sachs, which holds 7 percent in the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX), the other leading commodity bourse, said the MCX buy would be considered an investment and not a strategic acquisition.

Asarco charges Mexican parent company with stealing most valuable asset

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Les Blumenthal
McClatchy Newspapers
Monday, February 5, 2007

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16629646.htm

WASHINGTON -- One-time mining giant Asarco, charging that its Mexican owner stole its most valuable asset and left it to face $7 billion worth of environmental and asbestos-related claims, has asked a federal bankruptcy judge to void the transfer of two Peruvian copper mines to Grupo Mexico, S.A. de C.V.

Chinese president's shopping excursion arrives in Namibia

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Celean Jacobson
Associated Press
Monday, February 5, 2007

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070205/ap_on_re_as/africa_china;_ylt=AoHVk6...

WINDHOEK, Namibia -- Chinese President Hu Jintao announced new development aid for Namibia on Monday, promising an interest-free loan and money for schools in the sparsely populated, mineral-rich desert country.

M.A. Nystrom: McNosis, retiring boomers, and the silent crash

Section: Daily Dispatches

10:35p ET Monday, February 5, 2007

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Over at Gold-Eagle M.A. Nystrom notes the increasingly frantic pace of American society and considers it a sign of the grinding down of the working class under forces nobody quite understands, forces that begin to be revealed in charts of the Dow Jones Industrial Index plotted in terms of ounces of gold and the CRB Commodity Index. Nystrom's essay is titled "McNosis, Retiring Boomers, and the Silent Crash," and you can find it here:

GATA sympathizers invited to gather in Dublin for drinks and a movie

Section: Daily Dispatches

10:05p ET Monday, February 5, 2007

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

GATA's old friend and world traveler George Roche (he has attended GATA events in Vancouver, New Orleans, New York, and Geneva) reports that the film "Mine Your Own Business," which criticizes the so-called environmental movement and defends the extractive industries, will be shown at noon Sunday, February 18, at the International Dublin Film Festival. Roche will be in Ireland that week, plans to attend the festival and see the movie, and would like to get together then for coffee or a pint or two with any GATA sympathizers in the neighborhood. If you're interested, please e-mail Roche at GRoche8095@aol.com and he'll arrange something.

China's empire building in Africa means trouble for West

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Ambrose Evans Pritchard
The Telegraph, London
Monday, February 5, 2007

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/02/05/ccview...

The new Cold War between China and the United States is taking shape, in Africa. Last week the US Defence Department quietly launched its first military command dedicated to black Africa and the Sahara -- until now a forgotten annex of the Pentagon's European and Mid East operations.

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