Gerüchte um Barrick

verfasst von R.Deutsch, 22.11.2003, 11:15

-->Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Something really strange is going on with Barrick Gold.

Thursday at a financial conference in London, Barrick
Chairman Peter Munk made what MineWeb called a
"spirited" defense of the company's policy of selling
so much of its gold in advance of its production. But
today Munk told news reporters at the same conference
that Barrick won't be doing any more hedging.

Why such a public and humiliating reversal? (A GATA
agent at the conference who heard Munk's presentation
Thursday and read Munk's remarks today thought the
guy had gone crazy overnight.)

Why make such a gold-bullish declaration on the eve of
contract expirations on the Comex, where the shorts
with whom Barrick long has been allied are struggling
desperately to keep gold below $400?

And why (as MineWeb's Ken Gooding reported) did
Barrick President Greg Wilkins have to excuse
himself from the London conference to rush off to an
urgent meeting in New Orleans?

All this has prompted a lot of speculation: That
Barrick's bankers have pulled the plug on the company
because the gold price has increased the debt of
Barrick's hedge book too much; that Barrick heard
something Thursday evening about gold's future and
wanted to reposition itself quickly; and that Barrick
has realized that its share price is doomed unless
it changes its image in the market, among other
possibilities.

As for Wilkins' urgent trip to New Orleans, it's
not Mardi Gras time. Could it have something to
do with the price-fixing lawsuit brought against
Barrick and Morgan Chase by Blanchard & Co. in
federal court there, the lawsuit that has just
been allowed to enter discovery and deposition?

It's all just speculation, but it's hard to imagine
that Barrick would have ARRANGED things to make
itself look so scatter-brained. This can be only
good for our side.

Meanwhile, you may get a laugh out of MineWeb's
recent interview with South African gold analyst
Nick Goodwin (appended in part), who has suddenly
noticed that someone is capping the gold price,
even if he doesn't seem to want to know who it is.
A trader at Mitsubishi International Corp. quoted
in a Reuters story today (also appended) also notes
that the gold price is being"capped."

The word is out; GATA isn't the only one that
has noticed.

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• Gerüchte um Barrick - R.Deutsch, 22.11.2003, 11:15