Daily Dispatches

By Ben Stein
The New York Times
Sunday, October 29, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/business/yourmoney/29every.html?_r=1&o...

Truth be told, I had been wondering why Henry M. Paulson Jr., previously top dog at the Goldman Sachs Group -- already a power, already a wealthy man -- would have wanted to be Treasury secretary. After all, he couldn’t stop the Bush administration from pushing for tax cuts when they definitely were not needed, could not affect the vast current account deficit, could not do much about income inequality or the vast chasm that exists between whites and blacks in earning power and wealth in this country.

Foreign Exchange Reserves
Set to Surpass US$1 Trillion

By Jin Rong
China Daily, Beijing
Monday, October 30, 2006

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-10/30/content_719467.htm

China's foreign exchange reserves look set to hit the US$1 trillion mark at the end of this month or beginning of November. But as the figure rises, so does the debate over how to best manage it.

The reserves, already the world's biggest, surged to US$987.9 billion at the end of September, largely driven by a burgeoning foreign trade surplus and massive inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI).

Gold Supply Likely
to Swamp Demand

By Simon Constable
TheStreet.com
Sunday, October 29, 2006

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/markets/commodities/10318321.html?cm_ven...

An increasing surplus of bullion relative to demand could mean bad news for gold bulls, if the predictions of a new report prove accurate.

Although the supply of gold looks set to drop by 159 metric tons for 2007, demand will plummet even faster, lower by 313 tons when compared to revised estimates for the whole of 2006, according to a new study scheduled for publishing Monday morning by Fortis Bank. The report was authored by a team of analysts led by veteran gold market watcher Jessica Cross, CEO at Virtual Metals, a London-based specialty consulting firm.

By Dan Keane
Associated Press
Sunday, October 29, 2006

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061029/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/bolivia_nationaliz...

President Evo Morales completed his ambitious oil and gas nationalization plan early Sunday with the last-minute signing of contracts allowing several international companies to continue operating in Bolivia under state control.

Just after a midnight Saturday deadline to wrap up the nationalization talks, Morales joined representatives of eight companies for the signing ceremony in the capital of La Paz, achieving one of his 9-month-old government's central goals.