Firm Quotations | Page 2

We are also pleased to confirm that last year's acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway has helped us attain the industry's highest financial rating, allowed us to expand our underwriting appetite to additional practice specialties that meet our underwriting criteria, and provided us with the capital to open the door for even more Texas health care providers who desire the strongest carrier.

We are already seeing some signs of a slowdown in the economy. If durable goods confirm what housing starts voiced last week, then obviously we might see a little bit better tone in the bond market.

We are pleased to have concluded the basis and substance of a deal with Gate Gourmet. The key to unlocking this dispute now lies firmly in the hands of Gate Gourmet and the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). They must sort out their differences for the good of our customers and the employees of Gate Gourmet.

We are pleased to confirm ... that indeed some progress was tentatively made on various important issues. We are not in a position to provide further details of the agreements ... because they still need to be fleshed out and confirmed by higher levels on both sides.

We are pleased to confirm our attendance of the next two American Le Mans Series races. At the moment, we are working extremely hard to secure the sponsorship to enable us to compete in the full series and we have some very exciting partnerships under discussion. As always, we are delighted to be back in the US where the fans give us a warm reception and the racing is well-promoted.

We believe that new-year allocations towards commodities will keep platinum and palladium firm in the near term and see platinum at $1,100/oz and palladium at $300/oz over one month, although we suspect that profit taking will set in at some stage and see both metals lower to $1,050/oz and $270/oz in three months.

Most physicists like myself won't believe the result until every possible caveat has been investigated and/or the result is confirmed elsewhere.

Unless the outcome contains a major negative surprise, the underlying firm tone of the dollar is expected to be sustained, as the market is now betting on continued interest rate hikes in the US.

Unless the market can get a firm perception that the US Fed is ending its interest rate hike cycle, the ongoing weakness of the yen may not come to an end.

Unfortunately it has been confirmed that the swans were infected with H5N1 from Asia. We have no doubts whatsoever any more.