jesusfreakinco (31.59)

Why be bullish on gold... Barrick CFO PANIC'ing

November 02, 2009 – Comments (1) | RELATED TICKERS: ABX , GLD , TRE

Barrick may close hedgebook ahead of plan-CFO

full article

Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), the world's biggest miner of the precious metal, said it may complete the planned closure of its hedgebook announced last month before the 12-month window it had previously set was up. Speaking on the sidelines of the London Bullion Market Association's annual conference, Jamie Sokalsky, the company's chief financial officer, also told Reuters the company had bought back 1 million ounces of hedged gold in October.

 “We are going to be opportunistic, and we’re going to be responsive to the market, but we will have it done by 12 months at the latest,” Mr. Sokalsky said on the sidelines of the London Bullion Market Association’s annual conference.

“The hedgebook had been a disadvantage to our share price, because shareholders didn’t think we had (exposure to) upside to the gold price,” Mr. Sokalasky said.

“By taking away the cap, we should be able to more fully benefit, as we believe the gold prices will rise significantly.”

Lifted from TRE message board:

"Notice where it was that Barrick’s CFO suddenly got an epiphany that they should accelerate the timing of covering their massive hedge book…it was at the London Bullion Market Association's annual conference!! Now do you think someone might have mentioned in the coffee break that investors are asking for their gold and pretty soon it’s going to be obvious that there’s more gold sold than there is available for delivery?

How could the market have been right for Barrick in October??? Gold went up 3.2% in the month…what is opportunistic about covering one million ounces in a rising market? There is only one freakin’ word for that and it is PANIC!

Seems awfully coincidental that it’s while attending the LBMA conference that the CFO reveals there is an even greater urgency for Barrick to cover hedges. "

JFC - got gold?