Doug Casey''s commentary on GATA lawsuit

By Lisa Sanders
www.CBSMarketWatch.com
May 16, 2001

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Strength in the June gold contract
Wednesday gave equities a lift and propelled both of the
major metals indices higher by more than 4 percent.

The CBOE Gold Index 1.88 to 42.13, while the Philadelphia
Gold and Silver Index added 2.53 to 61.10. Individually,
Homestake Mining rose by 5.7 percent, or 38 cents, to trade
at $7.03, and Newmont Mining climbed 7.6 percent, or $1.59,
to trade at $22.40.

Gold futures prices added value Wednesday on concerns
about low short-term supplies, said Larry Baer, gold analyst
at Spike Trading.

Gold for June delivery added 31 cents to trade at $271.60.
Gold lease rates, the borrowing rates for the precious metal,
on Wednesday were at 2.3313 percent for one month, at
2.10 percent for six months and at 2.21 percent for one year.

Gold's move higher quot;is signaling that the U.S. dollar is on
the verge of declining,quot; said John Mesrobian, president of
Constantinople Advisors. quot;There are signs that the Japanese
and others are selling U.S. assets and bringing them home,
which will affect the U.S. dollar. This is bullish for gold and
gold stocks.quot;

In other metals action, July silver added 7 cents to $4.39
an ounce. On the supply end, Comex gold inventories were
down 7,330 ounces at 823,091 ounces compared to the
previous session, and silver stocks were unchanged at
96,247,442 ounces.

July platinum added $2.50 to $612.50 an ounce, while
June palladium tacked on $3 to $643 an ounce.

Copper for July delivery declined by 0.35 cent to 75.15
an ounce. As of Wednesday, London Metals Exchange
warehouse stocks fell 1,075 tons to 436,975 tons. Late
Tuesday, COMEX stocks were up 1,404 tons to 132,925
tons. July aluminum shed 0.55 cent to 69.90.

The CRB/Bridge Index, a broad-based measure of
commodity futures markets, shed 0.1 percent to 215.87.