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Daily Dispatches

Value of euros in circulation exceeds value of dollars

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Ralph Atkins
Financial Times, London
Wednesday, December 27, 2006

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/18338034-95ec-11db-9976-0000779e2340.html

The US dollar bill's standing as the world's favourite form of cash is being usurped by the 5-year-old euro.

The value of euro notes in circulation is this month likely to exceed the value of circulating dollar notes, according to calculations by the Financial Times. Converted at Wednesday's exchange rates, the euro took the lead in October.

China to use foreign exchange to develop energy and mineral resources

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Elaine Kurtenbach
Associated Press
Wednesday, December 27, 2006

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061227/ap_on_re_as/china_strategic_resources_2

China will take advantage of its massive foreign exchange reserves to expand its stock of strategic resources such as oil and minerals, state media reported Wednesday, citing a top economic official.

Vice Prime Minister Zeng Peiyan told leaders of the national legislature that the government plans to step up exploration for key resources such as oil, gas, and coal. It also intends to use the opportunity afforded by the country's more than $1 trillion in foreign reserves to improve strategic resource bases, the state-run newspaper China Business News and other reports said.

UAE trading dollars for euros

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Min Zeng and Annie Pinkert
Bloomberg News Service
Wednesday, December 27, 2006

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acjLrGsR2NOY&refer=home

The dollar dropped the most in more than a week against the euro after the head of the United Arab Emirates central bank said it will convert some of its reserves of U.S. assets into the European currency.

The U.A.E. is among oil exporters including Iran, Venezuela and Indonesia that are looking to shift their currency reserves into euros or price the commodity in the 12-nation currency. The dollar pared some of its losses after government data showed sales of new homes rose more than economists forecast last month.

Gold market manipulation: Nothing new under the sun

Section: Daily Dispatches

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done
is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.

-- Ecclesiastes 1:9

* * *

9:25p ET Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Nothing new, that is, as Harry Truman said, except the history you don't know. And when it comes to manipulating the gold market, there is plenty of such history -- like the history recounted by H.W. Brands in his new and wonderful little book "The Money Men," which is subtitled "Capitalism, Democracy, and the Hundred-Years' War Over the American Dollar."

The Great Gold Conspiracy -- an excerpt from 'The Money Men'

Section: Daily Dispatches

-- An excerpt --

The Great Gold Conspiracy
from "The Money Men"
by H.W. Brands
(W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2006)

... The Erie [Railroad] War was simply practice for a more ambitious assault by [Jay] Gould and [Jim] Fisk. The target this time was no mere corporation but the money supply of the United States. America’s money still bore the marks of the suspension of specie payments in 1861 and the issue of greenbacks the following year. Since then the country had operated a dual system: greenbacks for domestic commerce, gold for the payment of customs duties and for international transactions. (Silver had effectively disappeared from circulation during the California gold rush, which made gold relatively cheaper than silver and caused people to hoard the latter.)

Washington Post notices Barrick's sharp practice in Chile

Section: Daily Dispatches

In Chile, Precious Lands Often Go for a Pittance

By Monte Reel
Washington Post
Tuesday, December 26, 2006

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/25/AR200612...

SANTIAGO, Chile -- The mountainous terrain of northern Chile is studded with precious metals, a natural cache that for years has had investors angling for land rights.

So when the world's largest gold mining company targeted about 20,000 acres owned by Rodolfo Villar, a mineral speculator, he signed a contract. Only later, he said, did he realize how much the company had agreed to pay him:

North Korea selling gold; may have up to 2,000 tonnes

Section: Daily Dispatches

North Korea Sells Gold to Earn Currency

From Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo
Tuesday, December 26, 2006

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/20061226TDY01004.htm

Since the United States imposed financial sanctions against North Korea in September last year, Pyongyang started selling bullion on the international market as an alternative way to acquire foreign currencies, it was learned Monday.

Last September the U.S. government froze North Korea-related accounts at Macao-based Banco Delta Asia. Since then, Pyongyang reentered the London Bullion Market and has exported bullion worth about 28 million dollars, or 3.3 billion yen, to Thailand, sources said.

It's only money, and maybe it's not even that

Section: Daily Dispatches

Katrina Fraud Likely to Balloon Past $2 Billion

By Hope Yen
Associated Press
Monday, December 25, 2006

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061225/ap_on_bi_ge/katrina_contracts

The tally for Hurricane Katrina waste could top $2 billion next year because half of the lucrative government contracts valued at $500,000 or greater for cleanup work are being awarded without little competition.

Federal investigators have already determined the Bush administration squandered $1 billion on fraudulent disaster aid to individuals after the 2005 storm. Now they are shifting their attention to the multimillion dollar contracts to politically connected firms that critics have long said are a prime area for abuse.

Wall St. bonuses: So much money, so few Ferraris

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Jenny Anderson
The New York Times
Monday, December 25, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/business/25bonus.html?hp&ex=1167109200...

It's a brisk Wednesday morning in the windy caverns of Wall Street and Sarah Clark's toes are cold.

Dressed in a purple flight attendant outfit, Ms. Clark, a 26-year-old model, is trying to entice recent bonus recipients at Goldman Sachs into using a charter plane service, handing out $1,000 discount coupons to people in front of the investment bank’s Broad Street headquarters.

China says it will continue stable monetary policy

Section: Daily Dispatches

From Reuters
Monday, December 25, 2006

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061225/bs_nm/china_economy_cbank_dc

China's central bank said on Monday that it would continue to take steps to keep investment and credit growth in check, while pressing ahead with efforts to make the value of its currency more market-driven.

In a brief statement on its Internet site (www.pbc.gov.cn) summing up the proceedings of a meeting of its monetary policy committee, the People's Bank of China said that while the economy was generally functioning well, it still encountered some challenges.

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