So maybe the anticipated demise of the Iranian oil bourse is behind this news?

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601012&sid=aRo2GqZU9zPA&refer=commodities
Gold Falls to Biggest Weekly Drop Since 1990 as Dollar Rebounds
By Pham-Duy Nguyen


That would explain it.  The article said it was due to traders anticipating that the Fed would further cut interest rates, but that didn't really add up to me.  For example, on the 18th, just the opposite reaction in gold prices was seen.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601012&sid=aVoIRxy1dVMo&refer=commodities
Gold Futures Climb Before Fed's Interest-Rate Announcement

By Pham-Duy Nguyen

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose on speculation the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates again today, weakening the dollar.

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That is the way the markets usually move.  Something else is afoot that is driving gold down and the dollar up. 

The cable cuts are suspicious.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=8&subLeft=2&chklogin=N&autono=313112&tab=r
5th cable cut fuels allegations of isolating Iran
 
Leslie D`Monte & Rajesh S Kurup / Mumbai February 9, 2008
 
Conspiracy theories of deliberately cutting communication lines to West Asia, primarily Iran, gained ground in the media and blogs as reports of another undersea cable cut — the fifth successive one in just a week's time — started emerging in cyberspace. ....

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Looks like Iran is still at 100% packet loss:
http://www.internettrafficreport.com/asia.htm

Since we can't control the crazies, I hope Iran modifies its bourse plans. 

The Iran Bourse plans and the cable cuts and the connections with the collapse of our dollar are looking more & more telling.  This all makes so much more sense, unfortunately, than everything else we are being led to believe.  I wonder if investors in the know are keeping an eye on this Bourse 'affair'.  Time to invest again till the next round?

On that internet traffic report web site, wonder why Indonesia is showing up as zero also?

Excellent research skills, as usual, Klondike - you DO have an excellent ability to connect dots!

This is interesting, I was looking for more info on the Iran Bourse & ran across that same article you posted earlier about it Klondike.  This one is worded a little differently (translations??), and has several additional paragraphs at the end that describe our "options" - sounds like it's time to buy gold now while it's at it's $920 low!

http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/petrov/2006/0120.html

"Whatever the speed of hyperinflation, ordinary Americans will have few available options to protect themselves—during crises, peoples’ first instinct is to resort to more “stable” fiat currencies of neighboring countries, like the Canadian Dollar and the Mexican Peso, but their availability will prove limited and complicated as people will most likely have to cope with governmentally-imposed capital controls. Next, people instinctively convert hyperinflating currencies to hard assets like land and real estate, but sellers refuse to accept the hyperinflating currency and quickly disappear from the market. Having run out of meaningful options to protect themselves, ordinary people will have little choice, but to convert their dollars to hard currencies like gold and silver, thus driving their prices much higher. On the other hand, central banks have no other options but gold. First, in times of crises, central banks fear the risk inherent in all fiat currencies. Moreover, not even the largest fiat currencies will accommodate their need to convert their reserves. Also, it is not practical for central banks to hold real estate and land. Thus, central banks will have no alternative, but to scramble to convert their reserves to the only hard currency known to man—gold. Historically, in times of crises, gold has always been the ultimate safe haven. When people and central banks flee en masse to gold, its value has always skyrocketed. This time, it will be no different."

They are getting another big aircraft carrier ready to go here.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/mar/23/uss-john-c-stennis-to-leave-dry-dock-today/

Supposedly it won't head out until 2009, but plans can change.

This seems to be the telecom company that had its submarine cables cut and it looks like two of the cuts are restored.

http://www.flagtelecom.com/index.cfm?channel=4328&NewsID=31212

But it looks like the one servicing Iran is still out.

http://www.internettrafficreport.com/asia.htm

No word on what the forensic investigation has revealed about the nature of the damages. 
I understand that some of the cuts were on cables in very deep water so it may take awhile to get to the bottom of this.  (Pun intended.  )

It is funny timing that this article ran in our local paper in February.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/feb/19/before-retreating-to-seas-shadows-uss-ohio-in/
Before Retreating to Sea's Shadows, USS Ohio in the Spotlight

...His billion-dollar submarine — the U.S. Navy's newest twist on underwater warfare — is hovering just below the surface off the Pacific island of Guam as a submersible disappears into the dark waters, carrying a team of commandos....

....The voyage is the Ohio's first deployment since the makeover, and Hale is in the odd position of showing the ship off.

It's odd because the sub is all about stealth.

Hale, commander of the sub's Gold Crew, can't talk about where the ship is going. The back of the ship, where the nuclear power plant is located, is off limits. The leader of the SEAL commando contingent aboard can't be named, and the commandos themselves can't be photographed in any way that shows their faces.

.........the Ohio will be showcasing its abilities to elude detection and operate too deeply and quickly to be tracked.

Then it will likely do what it does best — vanish.

....Among the SEALs, stealth remains a way of life.

...."We go places," he said. "Let's just leave it at that."

Wikipedia has some interesting info on the Iran Bourse.  The timeline at the end of the article is very interesting, & it sounds like it is officially up & running now (which may of course spur things like starting wars & cutting communications cable, just speculation of course):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Oil_Bourse

"The Iranian Oil Bourse[1], (Persian: ? ?? ) International Oil Bourse[2], Iran Petroleum Exchange or Oil Bourse in Kish[3] (IOB; the official English language name is unclear) is a commodity exchange which opened on February 17, 2008,[4][5][6][3]. It was created by cooperation between Iranian ministries and other state and private institutions. The IOB is a Petrobourse for petroleum, petrochemicals and gas in various non-dollar currencies, primarily the Euro and Iranian rial and a basket of other major currencies. The geographical location is at the Persian Gulf island of Kish which is designated by Iran as a free trade zone.[7].

Although opening the oil bourse was delayed from the widely circulated announcement date of March 2006, by the end of 2007, Iran had already had success in asking its petroleum customers to pay in non-dollar currencies. On December 8, 2007, Iran reported to have converted all of its oil export payments to non-dollar currencies. [8]

Background
The three current oil markets are all US dollar denominated: North America's West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), North Sea Brent Crude, and the UAE Dubai Crude. The two major oil bourses are the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in New York City and the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) in London. As the Oil Bourse in Kish is developed through successive stages, the plan is to establish a Petrobourse as a fourth oil market, denominated by the Iranian rial, the euro and other major currencies."


This 2006 article discusses the various 'theories' of why the US would want to invade/attack Iraq & Iran:

http://www.petrotalk.com/readarticle.php?article_id=111

The China-US theory is interesting, but to me it seems like we are more & more 'getting into bed' with China via debt & trade.  Which seems to contradict trying to prevent them from becoming a global power.  Maybe there's something my feeble mind isn't getting in this contradiction though.

This gets stranger and stranger. But I do think Bush wants war with them quickly. He just has to come up with some excuse.

WHOA, that is really strange about McCain's ad!!  Why would it be on that website?  Wonder if you click on it while in that website does it add you to a list of names to be watched?

I'm really learning a lot reading these other countries' news webs.  They sure have a different perspective than we do, surprise surprise.  Here's another article from that same site about the US sanctions on an Iran linked bank:

http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Iran/223543

"The Bush administration has imposed financial sanctions on a Bahraini bank Washington alleges is controlled by Iran's Bank Melli, which has been accused of providing support to Iran's nuclear program.

According to the AP, the Treasury Department's action Wednesday targets Future Bank B.S.C. Any bank accounts or other financial assets found in the U.S. belonging to the bank must be frozen. Americans also are prohibited from doing business with the bank.  It marked the U.S. government's latest attempt to reduce the financial resources of Iran."

I wonder how or if this figures in to the new Bourse.  

That Muslim "marriage site" advertised on there is interesting - photos, online chat, 150,000+ members.  Guess they're part of the modern world too.

There is an interesting article in the St. Petersburg Times today, just a blurb really. I can not find the original source.  Here it is verbatim (only color changes are mine); I will try to find and cite tomorrow:

Vice President Dick Cheney charged in an interview released Tuesday that Iran is trying to develop weapons-grade uranium, although international inspectors and U.S. intelligence services have not found any such evidence.  "Obviously, they're also heavily involved in trying to develop nuclear weapons enrichment, the enrichment of uranium to weapons-grade levels," Cheney said, according to a transcript released by the White House of an interview done Monday in Turkey with ABC News' Martha Raddatz.  Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful energy production.  Cheney's comment contradicted the latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies.