Money Matters

[imaufo]

Saudi investors withdraw billions of dollars from US: report
August 22 2002
Saudi investors have withdrawn tens of billions of dollars from the United States because of concerns their assets might be frozen, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
According to Youssef Ibrahim, a senior fellow at the US-based Council on Foreign Relations, Saudis had pulled out at least $US200 billion ($A366.64 billion) from the United States in recent months, the paper said.
Ibrahim said the withdrawal had been fuelled by calls from some hardliners in the United States for a freezing of assets held by investors from oil-rich Saudi Arabia.
He said the outflows could pick up in response to the legal action launched last week in the United States against three members of the Saudi royal family, Sudan and several Gulf banks and charities by relatives of the victims of the September 11 atrocities.
The suit accuses them of covertly financing the al-Qaeda network and seeks $US1,000 billion ($A1.83 trillion) to $US3,000 billion ($A5.5 trillion) in punitive damages for each of the 14 counts from 99 organisations or individuals.
It also seeks $US100 trillion ($A183.32 trillion) in damages from Sudan.
According to the report, investors are believed to be shifting funds out of US private equity, stocks, bonds and real estate into European accounts.
But it added that some bankers in London said the largest established Saudi investors did not yet appear to be shifting money out of the United States.
It quoted one unnamed banker as saying: "I'm sceptical about a mass exodus.
"But there was a lot of Saudi money with American banks that was not diversified, now they (the Saudis) are spreading their wings.
"Perhaps 30 per cent to 50 per cent of the money that was with US banks is seeking diversification."
Other experts also poured cold water over the thrust of the report.
"I would be sceptical, certainly of the figures, though I can see it emerging as a possible trend," said Simon Williams, a senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit specialising in the Middle East.
"I would be surprised if it was anything like the kind of scale that's been suggested by the FT," he said.
"That's not to say it's not necessarily happening or that there isn't a significant trend of anti-US feeling in Saudi, but at the moment the data certainly isn't convincing," Williams added.
Currency dealers were also sceptical.
"We are far from convinced," said Citibank economist Steve Englander.
"The (reported) numbers is huge, almost half of the US current account deficit.
"The dollar wouldn't be at 0.98 (per euro) if it had happened," he added.

[imaufo]

How US won the fight: they fixed it
August 22 2002
Washington: The biggest war game in the history of the United States, staged this month at a cost of $US253 million with 13,000 troops, was rigged to ensure that the Americans beat their "Middle Eastern" adversaries, says a leading participant.
General Paul Van Riper, a retired marine lieutenant-general, told the Army Times that the sprawling three-week millennium challenge exercises, were "almost entirely scripted to ensure a win".
He protested by quitting his role as commander of enemy forces, and warning that the Pentagon might wrongly conclude that its experimental tactics were working.
When General Van Riper agreed to command the forces of an unnamed Middle Eastern state he thought he would be given a free rein to probe US weaknesses. But when the game began, he was told to deploy his forces to make life easier for US forces.
"We were directed ... to move air defences so that the army and marine units could successfully land," he said. They were also ordered to turn air defence systems off or move them.
The Army Times reported that, as commander of a low-tech, third-world army, General Van Riper appeared to have repeatedly outwitted US forces.
He sent orders with motorcycle couriers to evade sophisticated electronic eavesdropping equipment. When the US fleet sailed into the Gulf, he instructed his small boats and planes to move around in apparently aimless circles before launching a surprise attack which sank a substantial part of the US Navy. The war game had to be stopped and the American ships "refloated" so that the US forces stood a chance.
"They had a predetermined end, and they scripted the exercise to that end," said General Van Riper, who quit when he found out that his orders were being overruled by the military co-ordinators of the game.
The Guardian

[Horny Harry]

Ellis Park
Ellis attendance up, handle off
By MARTY McGEE
Ontrack attendance was up slightly while all-sources and ontrack handle were down slightly at the 41-day Ellis Park meet, which ended Monday.
Daily average attendance of 3,017 was up 3.1 percent compared to 2001 figures. Ontrack handle averaged $388,689, down 2.1 percent, while average all-sources handle of $2,948,746 was down 3.6 percent. Purses averaged $192,271 per card, up 2 percent from last year.
Paul Kuerzi, general manager of the Henderson, Ky., track, said the stock market plunge that occurred early in the meet and increased competition for horses from Arlington and Mountaineer were negative factors.
In individual honors, Jon Court won the riding title for an unprecedented fifth year, booting home 69 winners. Bernie Flint, with 26 winners, was the leading trainer for the 10th time at Ellis, while the trio of Bert, Elaine, and Richard Klein was the leading owner with 11 wins.