Harry Bingham endorses GATA chairman''s analysis

8:50p EDT Thursday, May 20, 1999

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

I'm afraid I'll have to leave it to others to divine
the true meaning of the remarks made today to the
House Banking Committee by Treasury Secretary Robert
Rubin and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Of course I don't trust these guys as far as I could
throw them, and I have to suspect a hidden motive for
everything they do. But the Reuters dispatch follows.

What Rubin and Greenspan said in recognizing gold's
function in the international monetary system could
have been written by any of us. Of course we should
pay more attention to what these guys do -- which is
to sell or lease gold -- than to what they say.

While they were seemingly favorable to gold, Rubin's
remarks didn't help the XAU. The Reuters dispatch is
dated 1:02 p.m. today, and the XAU fell a point from
then to today's close.

The World Gold Council issued very favorable figures
on gold demand today as well, and again there was no
discernable impact on the market. But I note that a
fund analyst was quoted tonight as saying gold looks
good and might jump to ... $280!

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

* * *

Thursday May 20, 1:02 pm Eastern Time

Rubin says U.S. should not sell gold from reserves

WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) -- The United States
should not sell gold from its reserves, although the
idea of International Monetary Fund gold sales is
quot;sound and sensible,quot; Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin
said on Thursday.

quot;I think the IMF's selling of gold is sound and
sensible for their purposes,quot; Rubin told the House
Banking Committee. quot;I do not think the United States
should sell its gold for a whole host of reasons.quot;

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan noted that the
issue of U.S. gold sales had been debated in 1976 and
the authorities had decided not to sell.

quot;The reason is that gold still represents the ultimate
form of payment in the world,quot; Greenspan said. quot;Gold is
always accepted ... and is perceived to be an element of
stability in the currency and in the ultimate value of
a currency.quot; Several major governments and central
banks have already sold some of their gold reserves or
announced plans to sell gold although others have no
plans to follow suit.

Major IMF shareholders want to sell 5 or 10 million
ounces of the fund's 100 million ounce stockpile and
use the proceeds to fund a program of debt relief for
poor countries.

-END-

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