R.I. Update for Monday 24 November 2008

TOP STORIES    Got Gold Report - COMEX Commercial Short Positions Still Low For Gold, Silver By Gene Arensberg, 23 Nov 2008, 09:00 AM While equity markets were once again bludgeoned unmercifully this week, gold and silver fared relatively better. Perhaps that is in part because the largest of the largest futures traders continued to have the lowest COMEX futures net short positioning in years. The Times, They Are A-Changin' By Donald Grove, Casey Research Washington Correspondent, 21 Nov 2008, 12:34 PM President-elect Barack Obama is faced with the daunting challenge of fulfilling his campaign promises - promises he actually made, along with those that voters think he made. State Reviews Private Sector's Renewable Energy Proposals By Siseko Njobeni, 21 Nov 2008, 10:26 AM The minerals and energy department is assessing private sector interest in future renewable energy projects. Europe Doesn't Need Sovereign Wealth Funds By Kavaljit Singh, 21 Nov 2008, 10:58 AM French President Nicholas Sarkozy has proposed that European nations create sovereign wealth funds to protect national companies from foreign "predators.” This article says that idea is protectionist and without merit. Emerging economies establish sovereign wealth funds to invest foreign reserves or commodity revenue - not to bail out domestic firms and stifle global competition. Aflease In Australian Merger By Charlotte Mathews, 21 Nov 2008, 10:32 AM Link-up with BMA Gold will form medium-sized group with easier access to funds. The merger plans and new name, Gold One International, recall a similar strategy by Aflease Gold CEO Neal Froneman when he headed Uranium One. U.S. Group To Maintain Sasol Gas Turbines By Siseko Njobeni, 21 Nov 2008, 10:42 AM Power generation technology supplier GE Energy and petrochemicals group Sasol have signed a 15-year service agreement that will see the U.S. group install and maintain gas turbines at Sasol's new power plant in Secunda, Mpumalanga. Companies' Emissions Curbs 'Depend On Eskom' By Stephen Gunnion, 21 Nov 2008, 10:38 AM The electricity supplier accounts for about half of South Africa's total emissions, reporting 223-million tons of carbon dioxide Cabinet Approves Electricity Pricing Policy By Siseko Njobeni, 21 Nov 2008, 10:23 AM Objectives include a framework for determining electricity prices and ensuring cost-reflective tariffs while protecting poor. Business Must Solve Dire Skills Shortage By David Jackson, 21 Nov 2008, 10:45 AM The true test will come next year, be it economic recession, crumbling infrastructure, lack of skills or social unrest. ?-coin Indicator And The Looming Recession By Riccardo Cristadoro, Alessandro Secchi, and Giovanni Veronese, 23 Nov 2008, 01:00 AM We are in the most serious financial crisis since WWII, and many did not see it coming until it was too late. This article contrasts the performance of ?-coin, a real-time monthly indicator for the euro area, with that of professional forecasters. ?-coin seems to provide a more accurate assessment of current economic trends. Unfortunately, it is at its lowest level since 1993. Assessing The Impact Of The Financial Crisis On The U.S. Labour Market By Peter Auer, Raphael Auer, and Simon Wehrmüller, 22 Nov 2008, 10:29 AM What is causing the mass U.S. layoffs, decreased demand or more expensive financing? This article presents new research showing that two-thirds of the variation in employment across companies is due to their varying dependence on credit. In short, cheap capital is important for employment. Uncertainty, Climate Change, And The Global Economy By Torsten Persson and David von Below, 22 Nov 2008, 10:09 AM What will the climate be like in a hundred years' time? The answer depends on both how human activity affects climate change and how a warming climate alters the economy's productive capacity and human welfare. There is uncertainty about those links, but this column shows that, absent policy action, global warming will be a major problem even under very optimistic circumstances.
PITPUNDIT BLOG  Wal-Mart buys wind  Apogee Minerals idles Bolivian mine  First Calgary Petroleums has finalised sale  Like buccaneers of old, wealthy investors plying the market's 'troubled seas'  Energy, gold companies in the lead five of takeover list  Red Back Mining raised $40 million equity  Oil hits three year low  Asian stocks hop  Chinese coal miner coughs up $A299 million in Australia  Atlas Iron coup d'etat  Russia may garner big stake in Repsol  BHP selling iron ore for $48/tonne FOB?  Choking coking coal  Gindalbie strength after Chinese share placement  Extract Resources, Kalahari Minerals merger: failed  Macarthur Coal may buy into Dalrymple Bay terminal  Steel decline through 2010 with knockon for ore, coal  Nickel producer Albidon will raise capital  Nickel giant Norilsk making cuts  Chinese reform: oil  Asian currencies fall  China sees job losses  Zinc price up, lead flat  Australia's Fortescue Metals in investor talks  New World Resources' share buyback  Voestalpine postponing new plant decision to yearend 2009  Automaker travails go global  Directors dump companies  Automakers sent home to do homework  BHP to 'go with the flow'  Oil turns up after attack, concerns  Gold hits $800  Private equity: attracting the blame  Aurizon cheers gold price  GM contemplates bankruptcy  Samarco JV cuts iron ore production  Wall Street bounces but...
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