Patricia Mohr Quotations

There is a shortage of zinc concentrates around the world and that shortage is constraining smelter production in China and places like South Korea and keeping supplies fairly tight.

The prices right now for a number of the base metals are really in uncharted territory.

What I conclude from this is that we need another export outlet for our crude oil. I suggest China and Japan would be excellent outlets for some of this crude.

There is a very tight basic supply/demand balance around the world, and economic growth has been surprisingly strong so far this year.

Oil & Gas was the only sub-component to decline last month. Rising 'geopolitical risk premiums' for light crude oil - linked to recent unrest in Nigeria and international tensions over Iran's decision to resume nuclear research - were more than offset by sharply lower natural gas and propane prices - the result of exceptionally warm winter weather in key U.S. heating oil markets. A foiled late-February terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia has bolstered the risk premium in oil prices.

In addition to huge nuclear expansion in China, India and Eastern Europe, President Bush continues to promote the expansion of U.S. nuclear power -- a goal we note would help to alleviate a growing U.S. dependency on imported petroleum. Imports of crude & refined products now represent almost 60% of U.S. petroleum consumption - up from 30% in the mid-1980s. Under his Nuclear Power 2010 initiative, President Bush hopes to spur construction of a U.S. greenfield nuclear power plant by the end of the decade.