Calandra commentary cites Blanchard lawsuit and GATA

1p ET Wednesday, December 18, 2002

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Blanchard amp; Co., the New Orleans gold coin and bullion
dealer, today brought a federal anti-trust lawsuit accusing
Barrick Gold and J.P. Morgan Chase of illegally
manipulating the gold price. GATA has been in contact
with Blanchard amp; Co. in recent weeks and will assist the
lawsuit in any way we can. The official announcement of the
lawsuit is appended here. Please distribute it.

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

* * *

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2002

News media contact:
Neal R. Ryan (888) 531-4653
Blanchard and Company, Inc., and Save Gold

Barrick Gold Corp. And J.P.Morgan Chase amp; Co.
Accused Of $2 Billion Illegal Gold Market Manipulation

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- An anti-trust lawsuit filed today accuses
Barrick Gold Corp., Toronto, and J.P. Morgan Chase amp; Co.,
New York City, of quot;unlawfully combining to actively manipulate
the price of goldquot; and making (US)$2 billion in short-selling
profits by suppressing the price of gold at the expense of
individual investors.

The suit was filed by Blanchard and Co. Inc. of New Orleans,
the largest retail dealer in physical gold in the United States,
and by Blanchard clients who bought gold bullion. Blanchard
(www.blanchardonline.com) is paying the costs of the suit,
which asks the federal court to terminate the trading
agreements between Barrick and J.P. Morgan Chase and
other, as yet unnamed bullion banks. Blanchard believes
its clients have suffered substantial losses as a result of
Barrick's and J.P. Morgan Chase's unlawful price
manipulation, anti-trust violations and unfair trade practices.

quot;Since the end of 1987, when the collaboration between
Barrick and J.P. Morgan began, the growth of global income
and wealth would have lifted the gold price to approximately
$740 if the price had been able to respond to the normal laws
of supply and demand,quot; stated Blanchard's chief executive
officer, Donald W.Doyle Jr. quot;If gold had kept pace with
inflation, the price today would be approximately $760.quot;

The lawsuit claims that in the past five years Barrick and
J.P. Morgan Chase injected millions of ounces of additional
gold into the market -- additions that were several times as
great as the annual production of every gold mine in South
Africa, the largest gold producing nation in the world. By
using privately negotiated derivative contracts and
concealing the addition of billions of dollars worth of
(physical) gold with off-balance sheet accounting,
Barrick was able to make it virtually impossible for gold
analysts and investors to determine the size and the
market impact of its trading positions.

quot;The same type of accounting maze that hid Enron's
debts made it possible for Barrick to manipulate the price
of gold without the checks and balances that come from
public scrutiny. As a percentage of Barrick's total
assets, its off-balance sheet assets make Enron look
like a champion of full disclosure,quot; said Doyle. quot;Is
Barrick a gold mining company, or is it a hedge fund
with a mine out back?quot;

The suit alleges that J.P. Morgan Chase financed Barrick's
repeated short selling with remarkably advantageous
terms not available to others, including deferred
repayments and no margin calls. Doyle said the
short-sales scheme between the bank and Barrick
appears to be the proverbial quot;money for nothing.quot;

quot;Over the past five years, J.P. Morgan Chase loaned
gold to Barrick at approximately 1.5 percent; sold the
gold into the market, and invested the dollar proceeds
at approximately 6.5 percent; then paid both the
proceeds from the sales and the 5 percent interest
differential to Barrick whenever it repaid any of the
borrowed gold. During a period when the price of
gold dropped by more than 25 percent, Barrick's
annual operating cash flow increased by more than
400 percent.quot;

quot;In 1983, Barrick was a start-up with a single mine in
Canada, a founder with no experience in the gold
business, and principal investors from Saudi Arabia.
Today, through a combination of market manipulation
and a 1992 transaction that the U.S. secretary of the
interior described as 'the biggest gold heist since the
days of Butch Cassidy,' Barrick has amassed off-balance
sheet assets that are worth more than the market
capitalizations of the next five biggest gold mining
companies in the world combined,quot; said Doyle.

Doyle explained that quot;Blanchard and Co. was founded
on the belief that gold and other tangible assets are
essential to proper portfolio diversification. However,
because of the illegal manipulation of its price, we
advised our clients to avoid gold like the plague until
such time as the free market laws of supply and demand
were allowed to dictate the price. We believe that the
anti-trust lawsuit filed today will stop the illegal suppression
of the price of gold and other hard assets, and return them
to their roles as stores of value and financial insurance.quot;

The suit was filed by the law firm of Jones, Verras amp;
Freiberg LLC of New Orleans in the U.S. District Court for
the Eastern District of Louisiana. It is document number
02-3721 Section C, Blanchard and Co. Inc. v. Barrick
Gold Corp.; J.P. Morgan Chase amp; Co.; and ABC
Companies. A web site is being set up to provide
ongoing information, www.savegold.com.