A Word of Caution:

Some writers are attempting to take Armstrong’s cycle work and interpolate that to gold using a standard 8.6 year approach.

There is nothing standard about what is out there today.

I would suggest that we should listen to the man himself.

Armstrong looks to June as a very important period for gold. Should that period be a key time for gold the following high would be in the area of $4000.

Barrick settles lawsuit over misleading investors
Joe Schneider, Bloomberg
Published: Monday, March 16, 2009

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s biggest gold producer, agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging it misled investors by claiming that its hedging program wouldn’t hurt profits as gold prices rose.

Terms of the settlement haven’t been released because Toronto-based Barrick must conclude talks with its insurers before signing the accord, David Brower, a lawyer for investors who sued, said Monday in a letter to U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in New York. Judge Berman postponed a settlement hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, until March 31.

Barrick hedged production by entering into contracts to sell some gold before it was mined to protect against a drop in bullion prices. Shareholders alleged in the lawsuit filed in 2003 that the program was "speculative" and "risky," resulting in a drop in the share price as gold prices rose.

Judge Berman allowed that part of the suit to proceed in a ruling on Jan. 31, 2006, when he threw out claims that Barrick was involved in anticompetitive conduct.

Former Barrick chief executive Randall Oliphant, chief financial officer Jamie Sokalsky and former chief operating officer John Carrington were named in the suit.

Mr. Oliphant was fired in February 2003, after Barrick’s stock fell 17% in the previous year as the price of gold surged to a six-year high. Mr. Oliphant’s successor, Greg Wilkins, abandoned the hedging program.

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In Downturn, China Exploits Path to Growth
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: March 16, 2009

GUANGZHOU, China — The global economic downturn, and efforts to reverse it, will probably make China an even stronger economic competitor than it was before the crisis.

China, the world’s third-largest economy behind the United States and Japan, had already become more assertive; now it is exploiting its unusual position as a country with piles of cash and a strong banking system, at a time when many countries have neither, to acquire natural resources and make new friends.

Last week, China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, even reminded Washington that as one of the United States’ biggest creditors, China expects Washington to safeguard its investment.

China’s leaders are turning economic crisis to competitive advantage, said economic analysts.

The country is using its nearly $600 billion economic stimulus package to make its companies better able to compete in markets at home and abroad, to retrain migrant workers on an immense scale and to rapidly expand subsidies for research and development. Construction has already begun on new highways and rail lines that are likely to permanently reduce transportation costs.

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Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Don’t be fooled, these are not the counter parties. These are the brokers for the counter parties. This article is more convoluted fabrications.

A.I.G. Reveals Its Biggest Counterparties
March 15, 2009, 5:16 pm
Update | 6:23 p.m.

The American International Group on Sunday released the names of financial institutions that benefited last fall when the Federal Reserve saved it from collapse with an $85 billion rescue loan and then 3 subsequent bailouts.

The disclosure included counterparties to both its credit default swap operations and its securities lending businesses, both of which contributed heavily to A.I.G.’s troubles, as well as to muncipalities who participated in certain investment programs. All told, Sunday’s statement detailed payments of more than $78 billion, all made using government loans. (Read the disclosure by A.I.G. after the jump.)

Many critics of the company have demanded the names of A.I.G.’s counterparties as the insurer received government money totaling $170 billion. A.I.G. said in a statement that it made the disclosure in consultation with the Federal Reserve.

“Our decision to disclose these transactions was made following conversations with the counterparties and the recognition of the extraordinary nature of these transactions,” Edward M. Liddy, A.I.G.’s government-appointed chief executive, said in a statement.

Time and again, the rationale given for bailout out A.I.G. was that its credit default swap agreements — essentially insurance contracts on mortgage-backed securities — were so interwoven into the global financial web that to let the insurer fail would create chaos.

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