NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - COMEX gold tumbled Tuesday after European Central Bank council member Ernst Welteke raised the prospect of eventual German bullion reserve sales under a 1999 agreement capping European central bank gold selling.

I'm a
Woman Man
seeking a
Man Woman
Enter City, State or Zip:





Welteke, who is also head of the German Bundesbank was quoted in an interview to run Wednesday on Bloomberg Television saying ``I could imagine that we slowly sell some of this gold and reinvest the revenue in assets that pay an interest.''

The German central bank owns about 3,500 tonnes of gold reserves, according to estimates by Gold Fields Mineral Services. That makes it the second largest official holder behind the United States, with more that 8,000 tonnes.

April gold <0#GC:> ended down $5.30 at $293.60 an ounce, trading from $299.50 to $293.

``The whole move was on the Bundesbank story,'' said a harried floor broker. Volume was a brisk 35,000 contracts.

Spot gold fell to $292.95/3.95 from $297.60/8.60 on Friday, when trade wrapped early for the Presidents Day long weekend. The late fix in London Tuesday was $296.50.

Just two weeks ago gold rose above $300 an ounce for the first time since Feb. 2000. Two years ago, the bullion price was still strong on the back of the Sept. 1999 announcement by ECB head Wim Duisenberg, dubbed the Washington Agreement.

Gold spiked to almost $340 an ounce, from around $270 after the gold accord. But the specter of central bank selling has continued to impede gold rallies.

Welteke called the agreement, which limited total sales by the 15 European signatories to 400 tonnes per year for five years ``sensible,'' because it prevents central banks from all disposing of their gold, which could send prices plummeting.

Almost the entire quota of sales under the Washington Agreement has been used up by disposals by Britain, Switzerland and the Netherlands, with Austria also selling some.

But Britain will conduct the last of its planned 20 tonne bullion auctions in March, and the market has been waiting to see which nation would step in to take up the slack.

The comment by Welteke was particularly surprising because Germany, along with France and the United States had previously come out against selling, although it recently completed the sale of about 12 tonnes for a Deutschemark gold coin program.

``It's shaken out some weak longs, I guess, and we touched off some stops below $294.70 in April. That was the key level,'' said a dealer at a bullion trading firm. ``Now I think people are trying to digest the news.''

March silver <0#SI:> tumbled alongside gold, ending off 6.8 cents at $4.47 an ounce. It traded $4.555-$4.46.

Spot silver was at $4.48/50, down from $4.55/58 late Friday. Tuesday's silver fix was $4.515.

Silver's fall retraced a move to a one-month high on Friday, the culmination of a squeeze last week that was reminiscent of the more severe market tightness of December and January.

One-month lease rates were slightly easier Tuesday at 5.5 percent versus 6.0 percent on Friday and rates remain far from the high levels hit last month when silver rallied to 16-month highs.

NYMEX March palladium <0#PA:> fell $3.65 to settle at $375 an ounce, continuing to back off after a little spike last week. Spot palladium was at $371/381.

April platinum <0#PL:> fell $4.50 to $470.50 an ounce. Spot platinum was last quoted at $467/472.

The market shrugged off remarks Tuesday by a senior Russian Finance Ministry official that Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has signed a resolution granting 2002 export quotas to platinum group metals producers and stock holders.


<ul> ~ http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/020219/n19548544_1.html</ul>
<center>

<HR>

</center>

Koennen Sie evt. ihren Einfluss geltend machen, dass die Bevoelkerung darueber aufgeklaehrt wird, dass zum Schutz des Goldkartells ihr Goldschatz verkauft werden soll.
Denn was bekommen wir fuer unser Gold? Wertlose US-Dollars, von denen wir sowieso schon genug haben.

Mit Dank in voraus

<center>

<HR>

</center>

Ein Tip fuer die Bild-Headline

BUNDESBANK WILL VOLKSSCHATZ VERKAUFEN!

<center>

<HR>

</center>

>Ein Tip fuer die Bild-Headline
>BUNDESBANK WILL VOLKSSCHATZ VERKAUFEN!

Damit könnte Bild wirklich mal einen guten Dienst tun. Aber die gegnerischen Interessen sind zu mächtig, befürchte ich.

Gruß

J.


<center>

<HR>

</center>

Springer waere schon maechtig genug, nur haben die nach dem Krieg ihre Linzenz auch von den Siegermaechten erhalten.

Bestes Beispiel fuer 'Dankbarkeit' ist die derzeitige Hofberichterstattung der FAZ (Lizenz von der US-Army erhalten).

<center>

<HR>

</center>

... liebe Goldbugs,

für Eichel schaut da zunächst so gut wie nichts raus, wie schon gepostet. Da die Buba einen Passivposten dagegen hat und von den Golderlösen nichts ausschütten kann. Allerfalls dann die Zinsen aus den Anlagen, in die geswitcht wird.

Angenommen es werden 1000 to verkauft, dann haben wir ca. 12 Mrd Dollar. Und das al 6 % bestenfalls, macht knapp 800 Mio €. p.a.

An den Bund wurden 2001 total 8,4 Milliarden € ausgeschüttet.

Sicher zieht Eichel jetzt die Notbremse, Welteke (SPD) war schließlich sein Finanzminister und Sozen halten gern zusammen.

Gruß

d.

Vielen Dank für den Hinweis!

>NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - COMEX gold tumbled Tuesday after European Central Bank council member Ernst Welteke raised the prospect of eventual German bullion reserve sales under a 1999 agreement capping European central bank gold selling.
>
> I'm a
> Woman Man
>seeking a
> Man Woman
>Enter City, State or Zip:
>
>
>
>
>Welteke, who is also head of the German Bundesbank was quoted in an interview to run Wednesday on Bloomberg Television saying ``I could imagine that we slowly sell some of this gold and reinvest the revenue in assets that pay an interest.''
>The German central bank owns about 3,500 tonnes of gold reserves, according to estimates by Gold Fields Mineral Services. That makes it the second largest official holder behind the United States, with more that 8,000 tonnes.
>April gold <0#GC:> ended down $5.30 at $293.60 an ounce, trading from $299.50 to $293.
>``The whole move was on the Bundesbank story,'' said a harried floor broker. Volume was a brisk 35,000 contracts.
>Spot gold fell to $292.95/3.95 from $297.60/8.60 on Friday, when trade wrapped early for the Presidents Day long weekend. The late fix in London Tuesday was $296.50.
>Just two weeks ago gold rose above $300 an ounce for the first time since Feb. 2000. Two years ago, the bullion price was still strong on the back of the Sept. 1999 announcement by ECB head Wim Duisenberg, dubbed the Washington Agreement.
>Gold spiked to almost $340 an ounce, from around $270 after the gold accord. But the specter of central bank selling has continued to impede gold rallies.
>Welteke called the agreement, which limited total sales by the 15 European signatories to 400 tonnes per year for five years ``sensible,'' because it prevents central banks from all disposing of their gold, which could send prices plummeting.
>Almost the entire quota of sales under the Washington Agreement has been used up by disposals by Britain, Switzerland and the Netherlands, with Austria also selling some.
>But Britain will conduct the last of its planned 20 tonne bullion auctions in March, and the market has been waiting to see which nation would step in to take up the slack.
>The comment by Welteke was particularly surprising because Germany, along with France and the United States had previously come out against selling, although it recently completed the sale of about 12 tonnes for a Deutschemark gold coin program.
>``It's shaken out some weak longs, I guess, and we touched off some stops below $294.70 in April. That was the key level,'' said a dealer at a bullion trading firm. ``Now I think people are trying to digest the news.''
>March silver <0#SI:> tumbled alongside gold, ending off 6.8 cents at $4.47 an ounce. It traded $4.555-$4.46.
>Spot silver was at $4.48/50, down from $4.55/58 late Friday. Tuesday's silver fix was $4.515.
>Silver's fall retraced a move to a one-month high on Friday, the culmination of a squeeze last week that was reminiscent of the more severe market tightness of December and January.
>One-month lease rates were slightly easier Tuesday at 5.5 percent versus 6.0 percent on Friday and rates remain far from the high levels hit last month when silver rallied to 16-month highs.
>NYMEX March palladium <0#PA:> fell $3.65 to settle at $375 an ounce, continuing to back off after a little spike last week. Spot palladium was at $371/381.
>April platinum <0#PL:> fell $4.50 to $470.50 an ounce. Spot platinum was last quoted at $467/472.
>The market shrugged off remarks Tuesday by a senior Russian Finance Ministry official that Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has signed a resolution granting 2002 export quotas to platinum group metals producers and stock holders.


<center>

<HR>

</center>