Slightly off topic...Gold markets...Ashanti stay of execution

["H Travis Putney" <tputney@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was reading the 'Market Report' at USAGold today.
Here is the excerpt:

MARKET REPORT(10/22/99): Gold down another $2 in the early
going....Ashanti's stay of execution has been deadlined at 5:30 London time,
Monday -- a surprisingly short fuse .....That gives them the weekend to
patch together a deal under pressing circumstances and an interesting cast
of characters. There are "helpers" including Prince Alwaleed, a "stopper" in
Lonmin which owns 32% of the ailing mining company, "nationalizers" that
might find it necessary to protect Ghana's most productive asset from
foreign takeover, and "pouncers" like Gold Fields and Anglogold just waiting
for a chance at the properties sans margin baggage....... And then there's
the bankers: Word is that UBS, the huge Swiss bank, remains the most adamant
about getting its margin money -- some $65 million. And one can hardly blame
them. Any further uptick in the gold price would put Ashanti underwater for
good.............The fact that the banks put Ashanti on a short fuse like
this tells us they have no confidence in the merger talks. Had Ashanti been
given something approaching a reasonable amount of time to put a deal
together, I would have thought the parties want to save the company. As it
is, I have to say the Ashanti mess is being pushed rapidly to closure -- and
whatever that portends......

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THIS "5:30 LONDON TIME" REPRESENTS 5:30 PM?

THANKS IN ADVANCE.

HTP