MIDAS COMMENTARY FOR MAY 14, 2001 By Bill Murphy www.LeMetropoleCafe.com May 14, 2001 Gold $268.30 up 30 cents Silver $4.34 up 1 cent Here's a bombshell from Bob Chapman that fits in perfectly with the information you have been getting from Midas for the past four weeks or so. Bob, who is a big GATA supporter and editor of the International Forecaster, sent us the following even before he published it in his own newsletter: Our intelligence sources have informed us that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has given the bullion banks until the end of May to clear up their hedging and outstanding gold derivative positions. Evidentially this process has been going on for some time. Further, British Prime Minister Tony Blair will try to make available, at the upcoming British gold auction, additional gold that will go to banks designated by Greenspan. We were also told that AngloGold will sell forward a designated amount of gold to banks also specified by Greenspan. Our source for this intelligence has been very accurate in the past. They also said they thought that gold would break out over $275 an ounce by Friday. Subscription information for Bob's newsletter: one year $79.95 U.S. Funds. Make check payable to Robert Chapman, Box 510518, Punta Gorda, Florida 33951 USA. Please include name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address. Bob accepts Visa and MasterCard charges. Please provide your card number and expiration date. Bob publishes twice a month by surface mail and three or four times a month by e-mail. His email address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] I can't see how the bullion banks can cover without being bailed out. The weekly supply/demand deficit is too big. The only way for them to cover without the price going bonkers is for someone else to take on their shorts. This ought to be interesting. If Bob's intelligence is on the money again and the Gold Cartel has run out of protection, look out. old was very quiet today ahead of the British Auction tomorrow and the Fed's decision on cutting interest rates, also to be announced tomorrow. Of interest: -- The gold price action remains very constructive and is different than it has been the past four years. -- Spot bullion remains above its 200-day moving average and has formed a small bullish flag formation. -- The gold open interest on Comex has dropped to only 105,491 contracts. This is very bullish as it is extraordinarily low from a historical perspective. That means the trade does not want to be short, possibly because they do not have the physical gold to hedge. -- The gold stocks popped late today and remained firm. It is my guess that gold is getting ready to rock again to the upside. I thought you might like to see some of the feedback I am receiving on the GATA African Gold Summit that was held in Durban. I think it will help you understand what a big success this was for all of us. >From Dick Trostler: The following information was passed along to me by Christine Maggiore, author of the book "What if everything you thought you knew about AIDS was wrong?" This information is in two parts. The first is a message from Anita Allen, who is apparently in South Africa. The second part is a letter to Business Day, the South African newspaper, by David Rasnick, Ph.D., who is a member of South African President Mbeki's AIDS Advisory Panel. I had to read Anita Allen's portion several times in trying to understand what she is saying. She writes in a sort of shorthand. But I think that you will find it of value. From: "Anita Allen" Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 16:58:36 +0200 Subject: Golden Good News South Africa flash 9 May 2001 Dear All: Thought you might be interested to know that the Boston US Anti-Trust Men are in town just a stone's throw away. Guess what they are doing here? Telling Big Business the game's up. Expect soon the rise of bullion to somewhere between $600-$1000. South Africa finally has control of the gold price. This coincides with US off the Human Rights Committee, Bush jetting in for a private hey, Thabo, I hear HIV doesn't cause AIDS.... The Boston Boys were all over Tim Modise's Show this morning. And you should have heard the callers! They even asked the Boston Star on his show to repeat everything he had just finished saying, and say it again from the front (so they could record it -- no doubt, and study what exactly the hell he is saying). Callers in between already knew all about it and asked for phone numbers to contribute to the costs. This is the greatest show on earth in my lifetime so far. I am so happy its virtually in my back yard, so to speak... >From South Africa's Andy Brown: My son-in-law, a promising apprentice gold bug, yesterday attended a Johannesburg family 21st birthday, where there were about 50 friends and relatives of all ages and he did a small survey. He asked about 15 attendees if they knew about the cold conference in Durban on the May 10. Without exception, all said yes. Wow! GATA's efforts in Durban are an unqualified success, although many sections of the mainstream written press seem to be worried more about their jobs rather than printing the truth. However, South African Broadcasting Co. television have given GATA incredible exposure. What a contrast! As a member I would sincerely thank all those in GATA for their tireless efforts over the past two years. >From Steve Munnings, responding to Business Day's article today by Ilja Graulich, "GATA's conspiracy theory." Dear Sirs: I consider myself a rational, intelligent, and somewhat sceptical person. For the record, I am not 100 percent convinced by GATA's claims, but am listening with an open mind, and have yet to see any credible counter-evidence that which refutes GATA's. Opinions galore, on both sides, but evidence is what counts! Ilja seems to be presenting a mostly anti-GATA opinion. His credibility (in my mind) suffers immensely when he states the following: "The group dismisses what is taught about supply and demand in Economics 101 that if demand drops and supply rises, which it has done due to central bank selling, the price of a commodity should drop." This is demonstrably untrue. They are not only well aware of the supply/demand theory of economics, but it forms a central part of their arguments. To wit: They maintain that an unusual and unexpected source of supply -- the unprecedented level of gold selling and leasing by the central banks -- is not only unusual but is larger than is generally held, and is (at least partly) as a result of a "gold price suppression" conspiracy. They maintain that gold derivatives (especially "short selling" and "shorting" in all forms) amounts to ADDITIONAL supply side pressure. And maybe Economics 101 does not cover that, but Economics 201 surely supports that thesis! Also hurting his case is the following: "But to prey on the innocence of some and keep hope alive may hurt their cause in the end." Surely "preying on the innocent" is the activity of fraudsters, not that of people who believe in their cause -- even if they were eventually to be proved wrong. Is Ilja accusing the GATA group of deliberately misleading people? Their actions are highly consistent with those of people who believe in the truth of their cause, not deliberate con artists. Ilja states that the question "Why, if this evidence is so compelling, have so few joined GATA's crusade?" needs answering. Does it? Does Ilja not know that most people do not actively join a cause until it has become popular or politically correct? How many people does he expect to join such a cause even if they are convinced that it has the truth? Is a measure of a crusade's worth and credibility the number of joiners? What happened to the truth? By this implied standard Jesus' crusade" was not worthy until years after his death! The truth (or lack thereof) of the allegations made by GATA stand (or fall) on their own merits, not on how many people have joined! Whether they are effective as a political force, on the other hand, could very well be measured by how many people join the cause. Two very different issues. Here is a counter-question:One of the things GATA is urging the conference attendees to do is to ask some very pointed questions to some very specific individuals. Would it not be best to suspend judgment on the merits of their case until those questions have been answered? And, if it is within one's power to do so, press for the answers? And finally, a response to the findings reported to the World Gold Council by Professor Anthony Neuberger of the London Business School, as reported in the Financial Times last week. I am a 1996 graduate of London Business School and had Professor Anthony Neuberger for a class in options and futures. He seemed like a nice guy, but my impression was that he's a very mathematical, risk-immunization type of finance guy with no feel for the realities of the markets. By the way, you might be interested to know that one of the head professors of economics at LBS is Lord David Currie. From what I understand, he once was (and maybe still is) one of the so-called "seven wise men" of the Bank of England. He's probably well-connected these days; I've heard that he's a Labourite and has been an adviser to Blair and the Labour government in general. I quickly looked at the LBS website but couldn't find him listed. My year 2000 Alumni Handbook has him listed as the deputy director of external relations. Anyway, my information is pretty dated, but that's something that you might want to look into. There may be a connection between the BOE and the LBS study. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall last week for this one: BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan and European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg will both take part in a meeting of central bankers on Monday at the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland. Greenspan and Duisenberg attended a dinner on Sunday along with Bank of England Governor Sir Edward George and other members of the Group of 10 central bankers. As he left the dinner, Greenspan was asked by reporters whether he was there to urge the European Central Bank to cut interest rates. He replied only: "I am here because I am a member of this group." Duisenberg, who left the dinner a few minutes after Greenspan, declined to say what had been discussed during the evening. The chairmen of the central banks of the Group of 10 countries meet periodically at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, to discuss the world economic situation. I can see Alan Greenspan now at the BIS: "Gentlemen, we have a slight problem. It involves a letter sent to me by Senator Joe Lieberman..." -END- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/