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Daily Dispatches

China lowers gold trading threshold for small investors

Section: Daily Dispatches

From Xinhua News Agency
via People's Daily Online, Beijing
Monday, December 25, 2006

http://english.people.com.cn/200612/25/eng20061225_335691.html

In an effort to attract small private investors, China on Monday lowered the trading threshold at the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) from 1 kilogram to 100 grams.

SGE sources said 100-gram gold bars, which debuted on Monday at an initial price of 160 yuan per gram, started spot trading at an opening price of 157 yuan per gram and then remained flat for the entire trading session, closing at 157 yuan per gram, a drop of three yuan.

ETF investors are buying the dip in silver

Section: Daily Dispatches

12:31p ET Sunday, December 24, 2006

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Resource Investor's Gene Arensberg reports that if the holdings of the Barclay's exchange-traded fund are any guide, investors are buying heavily into the recent dip in silver. You can find Arensberg's report here:

http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=27509

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

Like S. Korea, Thailand cites power to debase its currency

Section: Daily Dispatches

Thai Official Explains Capital Controls

By Rungrawee C. Pinyorat
Associated Press
Sunday December 24, 2006

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061224/thailand_embattled_minister.html?.v=2

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula has called for China to allow its currency to rise against the dollar and has defended foreign currency controls he said were imposed to save the country's export-dependent economy.

Jim Puplava: The next rogue wave

Section: Daily Dispatches

8:15p ET Saturday, December 23, 2006

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Jim Puplava of FinancialSense.com has written a wonderful analysis of the explosion of debt and speculation and the profusion of derivatives created to soak up all the money floating around the world in search of a place to land, if only for a little while. Puplava's essay is titled "The Next Rogue Wave" and you can find it here:

Michael Kosares: China wasn't impressed, so get your gold

Section: Daily Dispatches

"If history teaches anything, it is that government cannot be trusted to manage money."
-- "The Nightmare German Inflation" (Scientific Market Analysis).

* * *

By Michael Kosares
Centennial Precious Metals, Denver
USAGold.com
Friday, December 22, 2006

I read with interest the essay by James K. Galbraith from the Manchester Guardian, "Clueless in China," which was dispatched to GATA's supporters and posted at the discussion forum at USAGold.com. (http://www.gata.org/node/4638)

Spending China's dollars: $16 billion gas project in Iran

Section: Daily Dispatches

CNOOC to Develop Iranian Gas Field

By Wang Yu
China Daily, Beijing
Friday, December 22, 2006

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-12/22/content_765293.htm

A press official with the Iranian Embassy yesterday confirmed to China Daily that an initial agreement on a gigantic natural gas project has been signed by China's top offshore oil producer and its Iranian counterpart.

"A big deal was hammered out on Wednesday between the two countries to jointly produce natural gas in Iran," the Iranian diplomat revealed on condition of anonymity.

Ecuador's finance minister suggests defaulting on bonds

Section: Daily Dispatches

Ecuador Bonds Tumble
Amid Talk of Default

By Lester Pimentel and Helen Murphy
Bloomberg News Service
Friday, December 22, 2006

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ak87KbrTbFyk&refer=home

Ecuador's bonds had their biggest-ever decline after the incoming finance minister said the government may restructure its $11 billion debt in a way similar to Argentina, which included a $95 billion default in 2001.

Diamond market is next target for derivatives

Section: Daily Dispatches

12:15p ET Friday, December 22, 2006

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

MineWeb's David McKay reports that the Netherlands bank ABN Amro is planning a derivatives market for diamonds. Good grief -- is the real thing running out there as well, so much so that speculative and investment demand must be diverted from the real thing into paper?

You can find the MineWeb report here:

http://www.miningmx.com/diamonds/522710.htm

Even little Slovenia gets roped into the gold price-fixing scheme

Section: Daily Dispatches

Slovenia Joins Central Bank Gold Agreement

By Christian Vits
Dow Jones Newswires
Friday, December 22, 2006

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20061222%5cACQDJO...

FRANKFURT -- The Slovenian central bank will become a party to the European gold agreement, the European Central Bank said Friday.

"In the interest of clarifying its intentions with respect to its gold holdings, Banka Slovenije agrees with and becomes a party to the joint statement dated March 8, 2004," the ECB said.

China to spend $2 billion to rescue Zimbabwe

Section: Daily Dispatches

Zimbabwe, China Negotiate $2 Billion Loan

From Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 22, 2006

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061222/bs_afp/zimbabwechinaeconomyaid_0612...

Zimbabwe and China are expected to begin negotiations for a two-billion US dollar loan agreement to help stabilise the economy, a state-run daily reported.

"China's government is ready to negotiate with the government (of Zimbabwe) for a two-billion US dollars loan facility to help it fight inflation and other aspects of the economy," Zimbabwe's Ambassador to China, Chris Mutsvangwa, told the Herald newspaper.

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