What should gold''s friends think of a Newmont takeover of Barrick?

London Times says Japan's currency intervention is over

a href=http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNewsamp;storyID=4679937...

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) -- Japan's 150-billion-pound
($273 billion) campaign to weaken the yen and strengthen
the dollar has officially come to an end, the Times newspaper
reported, citing sources at the Bank of Japan.

The currency intervention campaign, which has provoked
criticism in Washington and deep concern in London, is
thought by Japanese officials to be no longer necessary
because the country's economic recovery is gathering
strength, the Times reported in its March 29 edition.

BOJ sources said that they would intervene in the markets
only when there was extraordinary volatility, but made
clear that the unprecedented dollar purchases of the past
seven months were formally over, the paper reported.

The BOJ and Japan's Ministry of Finance will no longer buy
dollars even to smooth out the sort of sudden price spikes
that have prompted intervention in the past, it added.

quot;Even if the market shows volatility, we believe that things
are not so fragile now,quot; the BOJ sources said, in what the
paper describes as an exclusive briefing.

quot;We have reached the point where we are confident that
the Japanese recovery no longer depends on export
strength ... the interventions have served their purpose,quot;
the sources added.

The dollar was last quoted at 105.35 at 5:30 p.m. EST.

The intervention drive to support the falling dollar against
the yen began in earnest last September and has left
Japan with paper trading losses of more than 50 billion
pounds, the paper said.

The end of intervention has apparently been brought
about by Toshihiko Fukui, the BOJ governor, who has
restored confidence in the Japanese economy since
his appointment a year ago and won plaudits from
international financial authorities for his deft monetary
management, the paper said.

* * *

Ministry of Finance says intervention continues

a href=http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNewsamp;storyID=4680183...

TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) -- Japan's Ministry of
Finance said on Monday it would continue its policy of
currency market intervention, shrugging off a British
newspaper report that Japan would stop its intervention
campaign.

quot;We have been intervening all along based on the Boca
Raton statementquot; by the Group of Seven countries quot;that
excessive volatility and disorderly movement are
undesirable -- and we will continue to do so if necessary,quot;
a senior MOF official told Reuters.

quot;There seems to be a lot of talk about a policy change in
March or April, but there is no change in our intervention
policy,quot; he said.

----------------------------------------------------

To subscribe to GATA's dispatches, send an e-mail to:

gata-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to:

gata-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

----------------------------------------------------

RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Free sites:

a href=http://www.jsmineset.comhttp://www.jsmineset.com/a

a href=http://www.cbs.marketwatch.comhttp://www.cbs.marketwatch.com/a

a href=http://www.mineweb.com/http://www.mineweb.com//a

a href=http://www.gold-eagle.com/http://www.gold-eagle.com//a

a href=http://www.kitco.com/http://www.kitco.com//a

a href=http://www.usagold.com/http://www.usagold.com//a

a href=http://www.GoldSeek.com/http://www.GoldSeek.com//a

a href=http://www.capitalupdates.com/http://www.capitalupdates.com//a

a href=http://www.goldenbar.com/http://www.goldenbar.com//a

a href=http://www.silver-investor.comhttp://www.silver-investor.com/a

a href=http://www.thebulliondesk.com/http://www.thebulliondesk.com//a

a href=http://www.sharelynx.com/http://www.sharelynx.com//a

a href=http://www.mininglife.com/http://www.mininglife.com//a

a href=http://www.financialsense.comhttp://www.financialsense.com/a

a href=http://www.goldensextant.comhttp://www.goldensextant.com/a

a href=http://www.goldismoney.info/index.htmlhttp://www.goldismoney.info/index....

a href=http://www.howestreet.comhttp://www.howestreet.com/a

a href=http://www.depression2.tvhttp://www.depression2.tv/a

a href=http://www.moneyfiles.org/http://www.moneyfiles.org//a

a href=http://www.howestreet.comhttp://www.howestreet.com/a

a href=http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.htmlhttp://www.minersmanual.com/mi...

a href=http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.htmlhttp://ww...

a href=http://www.goldcolony.comhttp://www.goldcolony.com/a

a href=http://www.miningstocks.comhttp://www.miningstocks.com/a

a href=http://www.mineralstox.comhttp://www.mineralstox.com/a

a href=http://www.321gold.comhttp://www.321gold.com/a

a href=http://www.SilverSeek.comhttp://www.SilverSeek.com/a

a href=http://www.investmentrarities.comhttp://www.investmentrarities.com/a

a href=http://www.kuik.com/KH/KH.htmlhttp://www.kuik.com/KH/KH.html/a
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)

a href=http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htmhttp://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home...
(In Spanish)
a href=http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htmhttp://www.plata.com.mx/p...
(In English)

Subscription site:

a href=http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/http://www.lemetropolecafe.com//a

a href=http://www.hsletter.comhttp://www.hsletter.com/a

Eagle Ranch discussion site:

a href=http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htmhttp://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm/a

Ted Butler silver commentary archive:

a href=http://www.investmentrarities.com/http://www.investmentrarities.com//a

----------------------------------------------------

COIN AND PRECIOUS METALS DEALERS
WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS

Centennial Precious Metals
3033 East 1st Ave.
Suite 403
Denver, Colorado 80206
www.USAGold.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
US (800) 869-5115
Canada 1-800-294-9462
European Union 00-800-2760-2760
Australia 0011-800-2760-2760
cpm@usagold.com

Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
www.ColoradoGold.com
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
Gold@gwe.net

El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
a href=http://www.eldoradogold.nethttp://www.eldoradogold.net/a
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
harvey@eldoradogold.net

Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
a href=http://www.gloomdoom.comhttp://www.gloomdoom.com/a
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
gwestgaard@investmentrarities.com

Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
a href=http://www.kitco.comhttp://www.kitco.com/a

Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
www.certifiedcoins.com
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
leecoins@aol.com

Miles Franklin Ltd.
3015 Ottawa Ave. South
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
a href=http://www.milesfranklin.comhttp://www.milesfranklin.com/a
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel

Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com

Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
a href=http://www.swissamerica.comhttp://www.swissamerica.com/a
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com

----------------------------------------------------

HOW TO HELP GATA

If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please
consider making a financial contribution to
GATA. We welcome contributions as follows.

By check:

Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA

By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:

a href=http://www.gata.org/creditcard.htmlhttp://www.gata.org/creditcard.html/a

By GoldMoney:

a href=http://www.GoldMoney.comhttp://www.GoldMoney.com/a
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L

Donors of $750 or more will, upon request,
be sent a print of Alain Despert's colorful
painting symbolizing our cause, titled quot;GATA.quot;

GATA is a civil rights and educational
organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue
Code and contributions to it are tax-deductible
in the United States.