monday, page-35

I liken newspaper articles to cattle prods....people read them and react in a predictable way which is the intended purpose of the author....Mostly these articles contain little if at all any factual information....

I picked the first few paragraphs of this one apart:

MAY (not certain ...a possibility) Cut Ore Output 25% on Demand, Merrill Says (Update1)

Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, MAY (there’s that word again) need to cut iron ore production by ABOUT (approximately indefinite unknown) a quarter next year as a slump in global steel output curbs demand for the raw material, Merrill Lynch & Co. said.(where’s the analysis...based on what figures?)

BHP, the world’s third-biggest iron ore producer, may curb output from mines in Western Australia by 30 million metric tons amid a slump in prices, Merrill Lynch analysts led by Sydney- based Vicky Binns said in a report dated yesterday. (so what? Who is she and where’s the facts) Output this year MAY (encore) be cut by 4 million tons, the report said.

The global financial crisis has reduced demand for steel, forcing mills in Asia, Europe and North America to slash output, curbing the need for ore. (where are the figure to quantify this statement? Reduced by how much? Which mills? Etc etc) Cia. Vale do Rio Doce and Rio Tinto Group, the world’s two biggest producers of the ore, have already cut output, while BHP has yet to announce a reduction. (this says it all...that all important word “yet”)

I am not going to pull the whole article apart but if you take the time to really examine it you will see it actually is nothing more than supposition...

Merrill Lynch are probably hoping to snap up cheap stock following dissemination of bad news.....