From: Perry E. Metzger[SMTP:perry@piermont.com]

"Kevin Oberman" writes:

...

And, if you want to claim that these were local, go out and buy a diamond. While there are a few exceptions, DuBeers controlled the world's diamond market totally until the past decade and still could easily destroy the worlds diamond market in a day.

How could they "destroy the market"? Is there a "diamond market" sitting in a hallway somewhere that I can shoot or something?

DeBeers has controlled (or at least significantly influenced) the price of diamonds for decades, ensuring that they appreciate in value by controlling supply, and by buying diamonds on the wholesale market to keep the price up (similar to what countries do to protect their currencies). They could flood the market at any time, driving the price down dramatically. Of course this isn't in their best interest, so they won't do it. However Russia might, as they have stockpiled large quantities of diamonds, and may not have the same goal as DeBeers... -- Jim Browning