I particularly like the last sentence...

As hundreds of institutional funds sold their gold holdings to cover stock losses, Munk noted that the pressure on gold "was absolutely unprecedented. And, that, I think, really explains why gold never really fulfilled its promise."

"The one thing that we have all learned from this crisis is the almost flawless correlation...the inverse correlation between the U.S. dollar and gold," he asserted.

Despite gold's current wild ride, Barrick retains an "exceptionally positive view" on gold, Munk declared.

"With the enormous amount of additional dollars injected into markets from everywhere in the world (an estimated $2 trillion globally)," Munk said, "You cannot inject that much liquidity into the system and not weaken that currency" adding that the "U.S. dollar has been overly aprpeciated against everything in the world today."

"If that is true, I think the outlook for gold is a hell of a lot more positive than anything else you can think of," Munk declared.

The drop in metals prices, combined with the lack of available capital for a number of mining and exploration companies, has resulted in "amazing declines in some of the asset and equity prices out in the market," Barrick officials noted. "There may be some opportunities out there that could appeal to us," thanks to the company's strong cash flow and balance sheet.

Roller coaster day again today..

Portee