Jim Rogers Thinks Silver Bullish

Jim Rogers says that although he doesn't think he's a gold bug, gold has been in a bull market since it hit its low in 2001. He says that he is currently holding gold and has been holding it for a long time. When told by the reporter that when adjusted for inflation silver peaked at over $800 per ounce before Columbus discovered the New World and around $100 per ounce in the early 1980s Rogers comments that not just silver but all commodities will be in a bubble before long:

"Silver is more attractive than many commodities. Silver is 70% below its all time high. There are not many things in the world you can say that about and if I had to buy any precious metal at the moment, I'd probably buy silver rather than gold. Gold's been making all time highs, silver's far, far below its all time high. Likewise palladium. Palladium is another that's far below its high. But I think think silver is more attractive than gold."

View Our Inflation-Adjusted Charts Article Here

Rogers then goes on to explain that silver has been used as money much more throughout history than gold has. He also notes that commodities will be hot for the next 10 or more years, and then stocks will be back.

The above is a complete summary. To hear the full conversation see the Youtube video below



Part 2 has Rogers commenting on governments printing too much money, gold being nowhere near its inflation-adjusted high, eventual currency collapses, US defaulting on its debts, and other economic issues. Interestingly, Rogers says his daughters will be given gold and silver for Christmas in 2009!

Watch Part 2 below




View Our Inflation-Adjusted Charts Article Here

1 Ounce Rhodium Bar Coming Soon!! (1 oz rhodium bar)

1 Ounce Rhodium Bar Coming Soon!! (1 oz rhodium bar)

MARCH 16, 2010 UPDATE: Sorry guys, I lied. These 1 ounce bars are not available and have for nearly a year said "coming soon." I'm sorry to disappoint everyone with the following article.

----------(original article follows)------------

That's right, folks, our friends over at Cohen Mint are planning to release a 1 oz rhodium bar within the next month!

Cohen Mint is by far the front runner in the rhodium coin market. In fact, the company has no rivals. If you're looking to invest in rhodium you either invest in stocks of a nickel mining company that has palladium, platinum, and rhodium as by-products, or you invest in a company like Stillwater Palladium Mining or Impala Platinum which also pulls some rhodium out of the ground, but neither of which focuses on rhodium (note: I haven't researched how to invest in stock of companies that mine rhodium, so understand that there may be more ways than I mention).

But, in the spring of 2009 Cohen Mint started producing one gram rhodium coins! Now, we're going to get a quarter of 1 ounce rhodium coins and 1 ounce rhodium bars! Here are a few photos of the current 1 gram rhodium bullion coins.

Front of 1-Gram Rhodium Bullion Coin

Rear of One Gram Rhodium Coin

To read all about the 1 gram rhodium coins which
have been available most of 2009, click here.

One Ounce Rhodium Bullion Bar

The proposed 1 ounce .999 rhodium bar looks like it will be pretty nice looking! I like the design and love that it will be double stamped. What I mean by this is that the sheet of rhodium will be stamped on the front, after which it will be stamped on the back. Some bullion bars are only stamped on one side and while they are worth the same (the weight of the metal, the back sides aren't shiny).

The new Cohen Mint 1 Ounce Rhodium bar will have a small stamp showing Eitan Cohen's design of a night on the horse. This is a good choice because it's the same design that's on the front of the one gram rhodium coins. As you can see in the photo the proposed stamp will also state the chemical symbol of rhodium, RH, "Cohen Mint," "1 OUNCE TROY," and "RHODIUM .999 FINE."

1 Ounce Rhodium Bullion Bar

The rear of the coins take some styling from other bullion products, such as the Engelhard Silver Bars (see left). Engelhard has versions where the rear if the bullion bar has "ENGELHARD" imprinted into the bar. The angle of the writing is quite stylish. However, as you can see in the photo to the left, the bar has the rest of the bar stamped so that "ENGELHARD" is raised above the surface of the bar, similar to the date printed on the coins in your pocket. While this is more attractive, due to the intricate detail of the design, I'm expecting the marks will be recessed into the bar. But the Cohen Mint has surprised us in the past, so we'll see!

Quarter of 1 Ounce Rhodium Coin (1/4 oz Rhodium Coin)

When you hear the Cohen Mint is going to make a 1 ounce rhodium bullion bar, you're excited. But when you go the site, there's a surprise waiting for you: the Cohen Mint will also make a 1/4 ounce rhodium coin!

The 1/4 ounce rhodium bullion coin will look similar to the 1 gram rhodium bullion coin pictured above, however, since the coin is about seven times the weight it will have approximately twice the surface area of the 1 gram coins. To put this into perspective, if the one gram rhodium coin is a dime, the 1/4 ounce will be a quarter (no, that isn't the exact size, but similar).

And below you can see the proposed design. Very nice looking coins. We're hoping these will have less of a premium for fabrication costs because, it takes approximately as much work to make a 1 gram coin as it takes to make a quarter ounce rhodium coin or a 1 troy ounce rhodium bar.

Quarter Ounce Rhodium Coin (1/4 oz Rhodium Coin)

1 oz Rhodium Bar Pricing

I haven't contacted Eitan Cohen about pricing. He is, as you can guess, a very busy man! When the 1 gram rhodium bullion coins came out they were priced at $90 when rhodium was around $1500. Now that rhodium is around $2300, the coins are selling for $125.

For my prediction, I'm guessing the 1 ounce bars will be around $2900 with rhodium at the price its at today. I would say the 1/4 coins will be around $800. Now don't quote me or plan on these prices. These are my guesses and I wouldn't be shocked if I were off by as much as 20%.

UPDATE: the 1/4 ounce rhodium coins are selling for around $880 and the 1 ounce bars are $3300.

Article Summary: 'New Normal" for the Gold Price?

Over the past week or two I've been helping an exchange grad student at the local university summarize articles for his Literature Review class. Doing so, I realized that it's entirely possible to get a seven page article down to a few paragraphs. Therefore, for several reasons--to save you time of finding articles, to save you time reading articles, and to save you from reading my opinions only--I've decided to start summarizing a few others' articles to give you a different angle on things.

Peter Cooper, writing for Arabian Money, posted an article on November 4 commenting on the surging gold price. The article give his predictions, views, and even a bit of investment advice.

Cooper (2009) states that with gold standing at $1080 at the time of writing, another jump in the gold price seems almost certain. However, saying now that gold will jump to $2000 might be similar to the Kremlin declaring in July 2008, when oil was $147 per barrel, that oil would jump to the $200-250 range. Gold, though, is not just on a temporary spike as oil was. For this to be a spike we'd need to see $1500 gold, or higher.

Cooper (2009) notes how that at the time of writing the dollar was somewhat of a safe haven, along with gold. Also, "increasingly it looks as though silver is also being treated as precious metal again rather than an industrial commodity, offering an interesting leverage play on the rising gold price" (Cooper, 2009).

It still seems that gold won't be going much higher as long as we have a strong dollar, Cooper says. Cooper also mentions the possibility of a global currency and the uncertainty of the dollar's future. However, in times of uncertainty, gold and silver will retain their value.

Finally, Cooper notes that holding gold is more a wise investment than holding dollars. He also notes the fact that the India is purchasing a lot of gold from the IMF.

Cooper, Peter (2009). What is the 'New Normal' for the Gold Price? Arabian Money. http://news.goldseek.com/PeterCooper/1257344245.php.

Article Summary: $1160 is Gold's Next Target

For several reasons--to save you time of finding articles, to save time reading articles, and to save you from reading my opinions only--I've decided to start summarizing a few others' articles to give you a different angle on things. I will do this from time to time.

Daryl Guppy (5 Nov 2009) claims that the sudden rise in the gold price has been influence by the Indian Central Bank buying gold from the International Monetary Fund. He notes that many gold bugs seem to think gold will hit $2000. However, the four factors that influence the price of gold may not actually influence the price as much as gold bugs think it will.

1. Fear. Gold reached $1000 in March 2008 when the market was collapsing and then reached it again in September 2009 after the global market had recovered. This proves that fear is not as huge a factor as it may seem.

2. US Dollar Strength. The dollar began falling in March 2009, however gold also fell from $1000 to $850 at the same time; and then it rose back over $1000. Not much of a correlation.

3. Central Banks. The Indian buying pushed gold to its current all time high. However, transfering the gold from the IMF to central banks doesn't affect supply and demand, therefor any affect on the gold price will be short-lived.

4. Jewelry. Indians only buy gold around holidays. Also, jewelry demand is only steadily increasing worldwide, as it always has. This increase is not enough to affect gold's sudden jumps and retreats.

Guppy (2009) next states that gold has reached it's first plateau of $1080. Next it will be $1160, and then $1240. However, he also says that if China announces that they won't start buying from the IMF, gold could retreat to $1000; but if they announce they will start buying, gold could hit $1160.

Guppy states that the way money is made in the gold market deals with "suppliers of pick sand shovels, or steel for the mine pit heads and food for the miners that go on to build solid and sustainable businesses" and that profits would be in mining companies.

Guppy, Daryl (5 Nov 2009). $1160 is Gold's Next Target Level: Charts. CNBC. http://www.cnbc.com/id/33632775.

Why the Gold Price Increase to $1,120 an Ounce?

Gold has been surging like we haven't seen it surge for years. This increase is significant because it continually reaches all-time highs, which today, has gold at $1120 per ounce.

The white metals are all well below their all-time highs, but are still following gold up the ladder: platinum is at $1370 per ounce, 60% of its all-time high. Palladium is at $350 per oz, 32% of its all-time high. And silver is trading at $17.50 per ounce, 35% of its all-time high.

Unlike gold, the white metals are used in manufacturing and used up. With the recessed economy they aren't in high demand, so their price jumps are not industrial, but rather, they're following gold as hedges.

Now let's look at some of the reasons gold has risen to $1120 an ounce.

India

Central banks are buying gold. Most notably India. Last week the central bank of India bought 200 tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). India is reported to want to diversify it's financial hedges. The sale was an alleged US $6.7 billion.

Central Banks

Several other central banks are reported to be buying gold to hedge against the risks of a falling dollar. Sri Lanka and China are on the list, amongst others. These purchases not only increase the gold price, but influence individual investors as well.

Since buying has begun, it may continue, thus making investors rush to buy before the price increases more. This interest may shoot gold well past anticipated levels due to overbuying.

Matt Zeman of LaSalle Futures Group Inc. is quoted as saying, "The interest that central banks have shown for gold has really lit a fire under the market...People are questioning the value of not only the U.S. currency, but all paper currencis. Investors are moe comfortable holding gold" (cited by Ngyuen and Larkin).

China

A simple report by the Chinese government saying it will start buying gold is enough to shoot the price up another $100 or more. A swift upturn in the Chinese economy would have a similar, yet softer effect.

Falling Dollar

If the dollar falls, the price of gold will go up in dollar terms. However, if the dollar falls, since many other countries hold US debt, gold will rise in terms of other currencies as well.

The dollar has reached a 15-month low on the dollar index. This index compares the performance of the dollar against other main currencies. This shows some of the reason for gold's surge, however, gold is also at an all-time high measured in euros. It's currently trading at around 750 euros per ounce.


Inflation

The world is worried about the dollar. With the trillions of dollars spent this year in bailouts and stimulus packages, the dollar is being printed like never before. The Fed is hoping this will stimulate the economy, and it may, but it will also likely cause inflation.

John Hathaway of Tocqueville Gold Fund is quoted as saying, "Would they be able to retract the liquidity they put into place?...If they havce a hard time doing it, I htink we'll see inflation, and gold will go much higher (cited by Ngyuen and Larkin).

And again, it's not only the inflation that's causing the gold to go higher, it's also the anticipation of future inflation causing investors to hedge now before prices go higher.

Interest Rates

The Fed has kept interest rates low in hope of sparking the economy. Low interest rates means cheap loans for housing and month thrown back into the economy.

Zeman says, "The dollar is not going to get any firm footing with rates at zero...People are selling dollars and putting it in higher-yielding assest. All commodities are going higher" cited by Ngyuen and Larkin).

Goldman Sachs thinks that gold will reach $1200 with rates as they are. Also, since people are thinking rates will stay low longer, they're anticipating gold to go higher and buying more, thus increasing the gold price even more.

"Analysts said the dollar was smarting after Fed officials said on Tuesday that high unemployment and sluggish consumer spending were risks to recovery in the U.S. economy, which may keep the Fed funds rate low" (Tang and Harvey).

Other Factors

There are too many factors to list, but above are the main ones. Some others include the opening of the gold market back into Vietnam, spurred by investor demand. It was previously illegal to import gold into Vietnam.

The Chinese government has reportly encouraged citizen's to buy gold to hedge for inflation.

Gold Fields gold producer in South Africa is going on a labor strike. This just means less new gold coming out of the ground to sell.

* * *

Sources

Godt, Nick and Lesova, Polya. "Gold Hit Record Near $1,120 an Ounce." MarketWatch. November 11, 2009. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-futures-climb-to-record-above-1117-2009-11-11

Tang, Frank and Harvey, Jan. "Gold Rises Towards $1,120 on Strong Sentiment." Reuters. November 11, 2009. http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSTRE5A80MQ20091111?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=11604&sp=true

Nguyen, Pham-Duy and Larkin, Nicholas. "Gold Futures Rise to Record on Speculation Dollar Will Decline." Bloomberg.com. November 11, 2009. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aJwZs1AweH_s

Jim Sinclair Says the Dollar is Dead

In his article "Motivation Behind the Countdown," precious metals specialist Jim Sinclair (August 14, 2009) gives us his view of the US dollar's fate for November, 2009. The prediction isn't pretty.

The reason for Sinclair making this assumption is that China requested a financial summit with the US. These things are seldom requested. Sinclair states a couple things he sees happening.

1. The US need China to continue buying US debt, meaning the US needs China to continue lending it money
2. The Chinese want the US to support a "Super Sovereign Currency as an offset to dependence on the dollar for international settlements and national reserves" (Sinclair, 2009)
3. "The Chinese rightly feel that the greatest risk to their present dollar position’s valuation is quantitative easing. Or simply put, the monetization of one’s own debt by the electronic creation of money for funding yourself"(Sinclair, 2009)

Sinclair goes on to state that the Management of Perspective Economics only works in a strong market, which ended in 2001. No finagling will help the dollar now that the US has so much debt. Nor can the US dollar survive if we support a "Super Currency," as Asia's holdings of the dollar are the only real support the dollar has.

Sinclair closes with the following:

"All of this could have been fixed prior to the event of Lehman declaring bankruptcy. Now there are no PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS....Pandora’s Box is open, only to be closed by markets as the downward spiral goes to its practical end, a return to commodity money."

* * *

This has been a complete summary. To view the full article, click here.


Sinclair, Jim (August 14, 2009). The Motivation Behind the Countdown. Jim Clair's MineSet. http://jsmineset.com/2009/08/14/the-motivation-behind-the-countdown.

Rhodium on the Rise!

Rhodium is again on the upward trend. Remember just a year ago it was down to $700 per ounce. Today is it $1800-2100 per ounce (that price discrepancy depends on who your quoting source is and whether you're buying or selling.

The chart below shows the price of rhodium as quoted by Kitco. You can see it's been steadily moving up from $1500 to $1800 over the past few days. The $2100 price is the quoted price if you want to buy an ounce of it, which is considerably higher.

Rhodium Price Chart

Rhodium Coins Prices Rising

If you'll recall we did an interview with Eitan Cohen of Cohen Mint regarding the minting of the Cohen Mint Coins (full article here). Checking the Cohen Mint Rhodium Bullion Coin site, since the coins came out a few months ago, they've climbed from their starting price of $89.99, to $92.99, to $99.99, to $102.99, and just today to $104.99. Rhodium bullion is rising so the cost of making rhodium coins is also rising. At $104.99 it will cost you about $3300 to get your hands on an ounce of rhodium (remember these are 1-gram coins so you'd need 31 to have an ounce).

You may be thinking that owning 31 small coins isn't the best way to own an ounce of rhodium. Let me tell you, though, it is the only way. There is a company online that allegedly will make a bar for you and sent it, but I haven't read about anyone ordering one from them.

$1100 Gold Coming Soon!

I was wrong. I said a couple weeks ago that gold will peak at around $1050 (but I searched to find where I said that, so I guess I'm not wrong, right?!). Today the gold price is $1095.

This is a historical high for gold in dollar terms, surpassing it's many previous highs that it hit in October, 2009. We've seen quite a few instances of a gold all time high over the past few months. Let's look at a chart which shows it a bit more clearly.

Rise to $1100 Gold Chart

As you can see from the chart above gold nipped $1000 in February, nearly did it in May (both were near historical highs at the time) and in September in remained comfortably over $1000 for over a month long period. In October its holding level was around the $1050 mark. Now we're tinkering with $1100. Will it hold here for a month again? I'm not going to take a guess this time!

And, for your reference, the chart below shows gold's previous run up to $1000 when it did it in the spring of 2008. Then it pretty much remained below $1000 for a year before continuing on its current spike.

Should You Sell or Buy Gold Bullion and Gold Coins?

Right now, if you paid under $700 for your gold bullion coin and would like to realize a $500 profit, I wouldn't say that you'd be making a mistake by selling it. I do think it will go higher, but that will be slowly and not a sudden increase unless if something drastic happens in the economy. So, also, if you decide to buy gold right now, your investment decision will also be wise! I do think gold will dip again, though.

Should I Sell Gold and Buy Silver?

I wouldn't say this is a bad strategy, since silver has a much higher chance to double or quadruple as gold does. If you've been reading the site you'd know that I have all my money tied up as it is and I'm not saving too much so I haven't been buying as I'd like to. I did manage to buy a few small silver bars the other day; and I didn't have to sell my gold to do it!

Holy Sh*t!: US Debt Clock Live

Discovering the US Debt Clock Live for the First Time

And holy sh*t is all I could say. I sat staring at the screen for five minutes without moving, trying to fathom the astronomical amounts of money I was seeing. After coming back to earth, my eyes started wandering down the clock to see the various forms of growing debt. The US government debt, yearly deficit, citizen's debt, is scary.

Numbers Explained

First, let me explain how much money we're talking about. I actually had to look up what comes after a trillion.

• 1,000,000 = 1 million (Brad Pitt made $20 million this year, Tiger Woods $100 million)
  
• 1,000,000,000 = 1 billion (Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are worth about $40 billion each)
  
• 1,000,000,000,000 = 1 trillion (US government has spent $3 trillion so far in 2009)
  
• 1,000,000,000,000,000 = 1 quadrillion

Screen Shot of US Debt Clock Live

Here is the exact screen shot that made me sit dumbfounded. I found the clock over at US Debt Clock.org (links below). However, realize that you're simply looking at an image. What I saw was more harsh.

US Debt Clock Screen Shot (click to enlarge)

(Screenshot taken Wednesday, October 28, at approximately 1:30 am)

US Debt Clock Climbing

Were you able to handle it? Did you read through all of the numbers? That was taken on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. What is the date today, and how much has it risen? This is what might boggle your mind like it did mine. Click on this next photo to go to the www USDebtClock org site. Not only will you see what you saw above, but it will be be climing as you watch it! If you don't know what a certain number means, simply run the mouse over the number and an explanation will pop up.

Current US Debt (click for today's figures)

(Screenshot taken Wednesday, October 28, at approximately 1:30 am)

How does that make you feel? If your son or daughter were born today he would be nearly $40,000 in debt if we divided evenly amongst all US citizens the $12,000,000,000,000 (trillion, I just wanted to write out all of those zeros). Staggering, isn't it?

How Much is a Trillion Dollars?

The US has over $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, which includes Medicare and Social Security. Many soon-to-be retirees are worried the government will soon be unable to pay. $3.5 trillion of the $12 trillion US debt is held by foreigners. What happens when these creditors start demanding the US government to pay up?

On Inflation

Look at"Federal Reserve Money Creation" on the left hand side. Do you see how fast this is rising? They are printing money at a rate of $60 million per hour. This is why our palladium coins and gold bullion have been rising in value and why inflation has been a part of life since 1972 (before which the dollar was backed by gold). Eventually we will see gold, silver, and all other commodities reach astronomical heights. Technically, they should be much higher than they are now, but thus far people are trusting the US government to eventually pay its debts and things are still semi-stable.

I'm not going to write a book here. This is a choppy article of my thoughts; what went through my mind when I looked at the clock. I've read a lot of books about the economy, business, commodities, stocks, etc. Some of these books are from 2003, some are from the 90s, some are more recent. The other day I read one from the 70s when the debt was just a few $billion. Many mention the total US debt, which just a few years ago was $2-3 trillion. Now, it's $12 trillion and I'm just astonished.

National Debt Clock in New York City

Finally, here's a picture of the US Debt Clock pasted on a wall of a building in New York City for everyone to see. "The idea for the clock came from New York real estate developer Seymour Durst, who wanted to highlight the rising national debt" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Debt_Clock). Click to read the full story about the clock.

National Debt Clock (Click to enlarge)
(Linked image from Wikipedia)

What Does All This Mean?

What does this mean? That there are too many people in the world; there is too much money backed by no solid assets; there are too many people in debt; here is too much pollution; there aren't enough resources....I could go on. But the fact is that our society has become extremely complex in terms of the economy, resources, and population. Something big is going to happen in our lifetimes. And some of us will be prepared.

Palladium Shines! (Gold Price Predictions)

Palladium Shines!

Palladium is doing very, very well, folks! The gold price is glittering right now as people the see the $1050 price. This shows a near 10% gain for gold. Silver is up 14% to over $17.50 per ounce. Platinum, over the same time period of a month or so, rose under 10%.

But look what's shining: palladium! Palladium has risen 16% over the same time period. It's current price is $336 per ounce palladium coin or per ounce of palladium bullion. Buy palladium bullion as it's still a good investment. It woudl have been a better investment a few months ago at $180. Remember that?

Investment Strategy

We've been giving you tips every couple months on which metal to buy or which to sell. It's usually short and at first decided we wouldn't do this, but people like it so we're doing it. We never guarantee any of our predictions though, so keep that in mind.

Gold Predictions

We have a long-term prediction for ALL of the metals to rise. I think you know that simply by us maintaining a precious metals site. In the short-term, as in, what you should do right, we think you should buy silver. Silver has never been this under-valued compared to gold. When gold hit $1000 in 2008 silver bullion was selling at $22 per ounce or closer to $30 for the silver coins.

If you don't have money to buy silver now, Selling an ounce of gold (we're assuming there are low fees involved) for $1055 would buy you about 60 ounces of silver. So, six ten ounce silver bars (coins would likely cost more) could be had. We say that not only because we think silver undervalued versus gold right now, but because it is so rare and when demand increases so will its price.

Palladium Predictions and Platinum Predictions

We don't think palladium will reach $400 any time soon. Similarly, we don't think $1500 platinum will come any time soon. Gold's popularity, as evidenced by $1000 gold or $1050 gold, proves we're in a recession and people want to hedge with gold. Palladium hedge and platinum hedge don't work the same because they are more industrial in nature and will rise with more demand from auto manufacturers. In the long-term, both will rise, as we're predicting, but not this year.

(article unedited)

Here's an article predicting gold to reach $2000 within the next 10 years.

Don't Sell!: Inflation-Adjusted Gold Charts (Palladium)

(UPDATE: this was written just September 25. Today is October 8. The gold price today is $1050 per ounce, its highest dollar total ever. A quick read through the following article will show you how that price is no where near its all time high--thanks to inflation.)

I've been watching the price movements of gold and silver and palladium and platinum over the past month and haven't had too much to comment. What I was thinking of doing, actually, is to sell some gold and buy some silver with it, as I think silver is more undervalued that gold. However, that's a differnet discussion for a different day. Let's look at the history of the gold price and a chart that I "borrowed" from Goldprice.org. Look over this chart carefully and then we'll continue:

Gold Price History Chart

Gold Price History Chart

Okay, did you look? Gold is at an all-time high, right? Well, yes, you're right. It's about $1000 now and hit $1020 last week. Well, this has been mentioned before when talking about all metals including silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium. But think again, the average wages back in 1981, when gold was nearly $900 were less than half of what they are now. So now, gold is worth only $1000? In fact, look back to the year 2000. Look how undervalued it was? Now let's look at a chart with inflation factored in (I grabbed this one from Wikipedia):

Inflation-Adjusted Gold Price History Chart

Inflation Adjusted Gold Price History Chart

Now don't pay attention to all the different lines. It will get confusing. I don't know exactly what they're getting at either, but, this is chart showing the gold worth in 2009 dollars. As you can see, all the lines are the same in 2008 (or 2009, which would be similar although this chart is from last year). But, look back in 1981! Gold is off the charts! So, in 1981, an ounce of gold was worth at least 5x what it's worth today if you measure it by the amount of goods you can buy with it. Today, an ounce of gold would buy you about one good suit. Back then, an ounce of gold would have bought you at least 7 suits. Understand?

I know this post is pretty basic for most of you, but, I just wanted to reiterate that although gold is hovering and reaching highs and everyone is saying, "Gold All Time High," it's really NOT at an all time high. It was much higher in 1981. Now, since this is a palladium site, let's take a look at palladium:

Palladium Price History Chart

Palladium Price History Chart

Do you see how high palladium was due to demand? Factor in inflation it would probably have been 25% higher. It's hovering around the $300 mark now, so, it's still pretty low. Don't sell palladium now either, if you have the money, buy palladium just as you would gold. Buy silver too, don't sell silver, keep it.

That's my take on things. I know most of you know this but some people have made good investments in precious metals and I don't want them to sell before they reach full potential! Good luck to all!

Gold $1000! Palladium $300!

Gold $1000! Palladium $300!

Right now, September 8, 2009, at 2 pm gold is $999 and palladium is $299. How long will this last? This morning we actually had gold over $1000 per ounce but palladium hasn't reached the $300 an ounce mark. Silver's following gold closely in terms of percentages as it's up to $16.50 per ounce. Did anyone say platinum? I didn't. Platinum is still in the $1200s, however, it's $1285, pushing $1300. This isn't nearly as big a percentage jump as gold, however, I suspect it may be following and if gold doesn't plummet platinum will reach $1350 or higher.

$1000 Gold Forth Time in History

Note that this is the third time gold has reached $1000 an ounce. It hit its historic mark back in 1981, then fell down into the $200s even before hitting $1000 again in early 2008, then in early 2009, and then again today.

Gold Price Jumps $20 Today!

Gold Price Jumps $20 Today!

Not much time to comment here but I had to at least mention the price of gold rise that took place today! Last I looked it was $955 and now it's nearly $980.

Palladium Price Up

Palladium coin buy prices are up because palladium is pushing $300 an ounce! Get your palladium bullion bars and palladium bullion bars at near spot prices if you buy now. Remember when palladium was $280 and the cheapest you could find a Suisse bar was $350? Well, now you might be able to find it at about 10% over spot. Good luck in the search!

Rhodium Price, Silver Price, Platinum Price

Rhodium has been steady at $1500. You can still get your rhodium coins from Cohen Mint for $90 for each Cohen rhodium bullion coin. Platinum has only shifted up $5, and silver has went up nearly $0.50. I predict silver will go up a bit more. It's $15.40 now. I think it will peak at just over $16.

That's all we have for now. I gotta run. I'm hoping to see some good comments on this recent price increase!

Palladium & Rhodium Price Update (8/20/09)

Palladium & Rhodium Price Update (8/20/09)

Not much going on so we haven't felt the need for any updates of late. Gold price and silver price appeared to be moving upward a week or two ago but it's recently fallen back to "normal" levels (I'm using "normal" as the gold spot price over the past few months, although of course there is never a "normal" gold price or silver price).

Spot Palladium Price

The spot palladium price is still relatively high in comparison to "normal" gold and silver levels. Palladium is still trading in the $275-$280 range. Palladium has outperformed gold over the past month or two.

Spot Rhodium Price

Rhodium is worthy of a small discussion here because the spot rhodium price has outperformed all metals percentage-wise with perhaps the exception of palladium. Rhodium was trading around $1300 in late July and peaked at around $1575 a few days later. Rhodium then slowly rose up to the $1550 mark around August 10 and has remained steady ever since. What's interesting is that rhodium is often only reported as moving each time it takes a $50 jump. (For example, The Bullion Desk reports the rhodium price on the right site top of its site.) Since it's recently been reported as having moved more people will start noticing. However, it's been moving for a while.

Palladium & Rhodium Price Increase (08/09)

Palladium Price Steady, Rhodium Rises

I've been on vacation for the the past few weeks but I'm glad to see that the Eitan Cohen interview has gotten so much attention. Glad I was finally able to get that up before I left. I'll be on vacation again for most of August. But I'll have the computer with me and hoping to keep an eye on the palladium price and the rhodium price increase.

The Palladium Price

For a couple weeks now palladium has been on the rise and seems to be steady at around $275 an ounce. That's good news! With all the money Obama is pumping into the economy the values of gold, silver, and platinum should rise, likely with palladium and rhodium following. The palladium price

(www kitco com provides this chart for us)

From the chart we see that palladium has been on the rise for the past 30 days. I know a lot of people read this site so see my predictions. Well, my prediction on this is that Pd won't reach $300 on this rise. I wish it would though. I think it's near its peak and will drop back down to around $250 for the time being. No reason to run out and buy now.

The Rhodium Price

The rhodium price has increased like palladium. We see a quick jump from around $1300/oz rhodium to $1600. And for now it's around $1500. We'll see where this moves to in the near future. I'm thinking it will stay over $1500 an ounce Rh for a while.

The Gold Price, Platinum Price, Silver Price

The gold price has risen about $50 in the past month. That's good news. Platinum price and silver price have risen at a similar percentage. (nearly 10%) over the same time period.

Is this big news? No, not really. But if you're buying and selling the metals for small time profit taking, now might be the time to sell before the prices drops and you can buy back.

Platinum and Palladium Opportunities to Rise

Below is a video with Rob Kurzatkowski of OptionsXpress Holdings (Bloomberg News), found by the author of Gold & Silver (link under "Links") giving us some information about how palladium and platinum have a huge opportunity to rise. For those who can't see the video, I'll give a quick run-though summary:

The palladium and platinum prices have increased steadily over the past six months and may continue upwards. When the auto-makers pull out of their decrease sales slump, these prices may increase further.

Another factor that might increase the price of these two metals is a decision in Russia to not sell the metals, or even more power outages in South Africa. If either of these scenarios occurs, since Russia and South Africa produce 95% of the world's palladium and platinum supply, prices could hit the moon

Press Play to Watch for Yourself!

Interview with Eitan Cohen of Cohen Mint - Topic: Rhodium Coins, Rhodium Bullion Coins

Buy-Palladium.blogspot.com apologizes for the one-month wait for this interview. Now it's finally here for all to enjoy! Tom, founder of Buy Palladium has interviewed Eitan Cohen, owner of Cohen Mint. The occasion for this special interview is the announcement by Mr. Cohen that he was able to perfect the formula to fabricate coins out of one of the world's rarest, most expensive metals--rhodium.

Rhodium has never been coined until now, so in short, this is big news for collectors and investors worldwide. For some background info regarding the importance of what you're about to read, click here for a list of Buy Palladium's posts regarding this very imporant metal rhodium. Also, click here for the Cohen Mint site to its broad inventory of investment grade bullion and coins.

The Interview

(Interview with Eitan Cohen of Cohen Mint - Topic: Rhodium Coins, Rhodium Bullion Coins)

Tom of Buy-Palladium.blogspot.com - Mr. Cohen, I thank you so much for taking the time to join us at Buy-Palladium.blogspot.com for this interview.

Eitan Cohen of Cohen Mint - I’m glad to be here, Tom. Thanks for having me today.

Buy Palladium - I know that many of our readers here at palladium.blogspot.com have been overly anxious to hear about and get their hands on the brand new rhodium coins. Personally I haven’t been this excited about a coin in a long time! But before we get into that, can you tell us how it came about that Eitan Cohen would start his own mint?

E. Cohen - I get this question a lot, it’s a topic I think many people find fascinating.

As a child, there were two factors about me that later came together to make a company such as this one possible. First, I was a collector of coins. My mother and I would walk on lazy summer days to one of the few coin shops in Brooklyn where I would spend an hour or more gazing at all the interesting gold and silver coins that I couldn’t possibly afford. I had some crinkled dollar bills in my pocket that I had saved up from my allowance and bought as much with it as I could. I would spend most of the walk back holding these treasures from generations past in my hands, my mind a million miles away. To this day each and every one of those coins sits safely in an album, tucked away for all these years.

The second factor about my personality was my insatiable need to take my toys apart, put them back together, see how things worked. It wasn’t enough for me to know how something functioned, I had to get my hands dirty figuring it out. It was during one of these times that at age 11 I minted my first coins out of a curiosity to see the process happen. As the years went by and I became older my interests faded and were replaced by other ones, but the knowledge remained.

Many years later, as the business continues to grow and thrive, I look back at my childhood and I know that the seeds of this company were planted way back then.

Buy Palladium - Minting coins at age 11! I guess childhood dreams do come true. Wow. Now, rather than us seeing the usual 1 oz gold or silver coins from Cohen Mint, a quick look at the Cohen Mint website shows that you specialize in very small coins as well as being the only mint to coin some of the rarer precious metals. Could you explain why Cohen Mint takes on this special niche?

E. Cohen - In the beginning I tried many different approaches to this business, and I found that the larger sizes were very well represented by other, larger manufacturers. It would have been impossible for a no-name at the time to break into that market. Small sizes, however, were very underrepresented, and it was a niche that I was able to fill rather well. I was able to communicate to the average Joe very well, because like him, I came from modest means. There are very few people who can afford to tie up a thousand dollars in a small ounce of gold, although there are plenty of folks who would like to own some of the yellow metal. I made it possible for people to invest in the precious metals they wanted where before they were completely shut out.

Buy Palladium - Yes, I can imagine the hefty price tags of an ounce of gold, platinum, or even palladium would price many investors out of market. But a gram or a ¼ gram would be much more reasonable. Now tell me about some of these rarer metals. Most of our readers have never even heard niobium or tantalum, but you are already selling .999 pure investment grade coins and bars made from these metals. You can’t tell me there is a lot of interest from investors in these rare products?

E. Cohen - Actually, the response from our customers has been great. The Tantalum and Niobium coins represent metals that are critically important to today’s industry, metals that are extremely rare and cannot be substituted for by cheaper substances. Prices have been steadily rising and making bullion coins was just a natural progression from that.

The items on our copper page are some of our best selling products, believe it or not.

Buy Palladium - What about palladium? At buy-palladium.blogspot.com, often, rather than investing in gold or silver, our readers are interested in investing in the rarer metals like palladium and platinum. What do you have to offer these investors?

E. Cohen - Palladium is a key product that we offer our customers. There are few choices out there for people who want to get some exposure to palladium. You wither buy one ounce bars – or you buy one ounce coins. Talk about selection! That’s like having only one political party to choose from, not very American! Our Cohen Mint ¼ Gram Palladium bullion coins are immensely popular. They’re inexpensive, they’re very well made, and they satisfy a hunger for the metal without breaking most people’s budget. We offer price breaks on bulk purchases and most people take advantage of that. It’s a great product.

Buy Palladium Coins From Cohen Mint Here

Buy Palladium - So you’ve really made palladium ownership available to a much larger group of people. What would your advice be to anyone who really doesn’t have a lot of cash but wants to invest in precious metals?

E. Cohen - Look, not having a lot of money to invest is nothing to be ashamed of, especially in this economy when everyone is hurting. With family, the house, kids, and a car, most of us want to do the right thing and prepare for the future, but we get intimidated by the prices of commonly available bars and coins out there.

What people need to know is there is an alternative. The Cohen Mint has been producing world class precious metal bullion coins for over 5 years in sizes that anyone can afford. The quality of our bullion is equal to that of the United States mint and other major facilities throughout the world. What makes us different is we are the nation’s only direct manufacturer to consumer bullion maker, so we can sell at prices no one else can. Anytime you buy precious metals from anyone else you are buying from a middle man, and paying the premium for it. With the Cohen Mint it’s only you, and us.

About the Rhodium Bullion Coins

(Rhodium Coins, Rhodium Bullion Coin)

Buy Palladium - Well, okay, for a while now on Buy-Palladium.blogspot.com we’ve been discussing Rhodium Bullion Coins which actually never existed. Then back in February I wrote “Rhodium Coins Coming Soon” and leaked to the world the coins will be available Summer 2009. Since then lot of readers have been anxious to buy some. Cohen Mint is now the only mint to produce Rhodium Coins. First of all, why rhodium?

E. Cohen - Actually, there is a very important reason why. Of the six Platinum Group Metals (PGM’s) the three that are most economically important to mankind are Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium. Of those three, Platinum and Palladium are available to investors in physical form. Bars of these metals are common and easy to get. The big missing piece of this puzzle is Rhodium. Why aren’t there any Rhodium bars or coins just like the other two metals? Once I began asking myself this question, and doing some research, I began to understand that there was a good reason why no Rhodium bullion ever existed until we made some a few weeks ago.

For starters, its an extremely rare and valuable metal, there just isn’t much of it available on the planet. If you compare it to a more common precious metal, like platinum for instance, there are thousands of tons of platinum in existence today, and hundreds more is being mined every year. Rhodium doesn’t exist in such quantities. There may be 50, 100 tons in total in existence, with some meager amount mined and added to this figure each year. This is an extremely low figure, and nearly all of it is tied up in manufactured goods, like catalytic converters, and other industrial products. There are not tons of Rhodium bars sitting in a warehouse somewhere, it’s a few grams here, a few there, spread out across the globe. Yet it plays such a vital role in our society.

Buy Palladium - I think it’s wonderful that we now have the option to own such an important investment metal. Now, I’ve always assumed that rhodium is too brittle to be made into coin form. How were you able to accomplish this?

E. Cohen - Rhodium does happen to be extremely difficult to work with. Normally, to coin a metal, there is a standard procedure used. A metal ingot is rolled into a sheet, blank discs are punched out, and those disks are then stamped between dies at enormous pressures to produce coins. Its pretty straight forward. You can’t do that with Rhodium. Rhodium is very brittle, so when you try to roll it the metal will flake and crack. If you manage to achieve a sheet somehow, the sheet will fracture when you attempt to punch blanks out of it. If you manage to achieve a blank, it will resist the dies pressing onto it and will probably shatter, and may very well shatter the dies.

This is why no Rhodium bullion coins or bars have ever been created before. Not because no one would want one, but because no one could figure out how to make them. So the demand grew, unsatisfied, year after year. But as they say, where there is a will, there is a way. Naturally, using the normal process for coining wasn’t going to work, so we had to come up with a completely different process. After consulting with many experts, and doing many expensive experiments here at our facility, after a long time we were able to perfect a process to make beautiful, attractive pure Rhodium metal coins – a feat no one has yet been able to achieve. In a few short weeks when our coining dies come back from our die maker they will be commercially available.

Buy Palladium - I can hardly wait! How are the coins going to be shipped, will they be packaged in protective sleeves like other similar products?

E. Cohen - The coins will be shipped in sealed plastic coin slabs, exactly like those used by the common grading services PCGS and NCG. The Rhodium coin will be attractively and securely presented with a label stating its composition as well as a security hologram on the back. Along with each coin will come a certificate of authenticity.

Given the historic nature of these very first Rhodium coins, every effort is being made to present them as tastefully and professionally as possible. Check back at our website where we will be updating with photos of the whole package, the coin, the packaging, everything.

Order Your Rhodium Bullion Coins Today!

Buy Palladium - It sounds like people are going to very satisfied with their orders. Let’s see, rhodium was worth $10,000 an ounce last year and has recently been trading in the $1000-1500 range. What can you tell us about these price fluctuations?

E. Cohen - Something that wasn’t critical to our way of life would never be $10,000 an ounce. (<----This sentence is great!) Rhodium is an important element that cannot be substituted for by other means. The current price depression in my opinion is a direct result of the terrible recession our country is facing, together with so many other nations throughout the world. Industries all over the globe are slowing down, and many are shutting their doors. The consumption of this metal is currently not there, the industrial demand has temporarily ceased, and that is why the price is a tenth of what it was last year. Its many people’s opinion that once this economic recession has lifted, once the factories light back up, once production resumes its normal levels, the natural consumption of Rhodium will bring its price heavily upwards. People will look back at the present as having been an incredible time to buy. Buy Palladium - I totally agree with you there. What can you tell us about the current $89 price tag on one of these coins?

E. Cohen - The price that most people see quoted when they talk about the price of Rhodium is the Kitco spot price. When quoting such a price, care needs to be taken that we understand just what that price represents. That is a quote for a contract of rhodium, or in other words a piece of paper like a stock claiming a certain amount of rhodium. That quote does not represent physical ownership of the metal. Towards the bottom of the page is written that various fabrication charges are not included in the quotations.

If you are of the mind to own a piece of paper stating that you own Rhodium, good luck to you. To me anyone who would pay thousands of dollars for such a paper is out of their mind. There is no Rhodium metal to back up that paper, because no bullion coins or bars of the metal have ever been created. It doesn’t exist.

Per each Cohen Mint Rhodium bullion gram, the fabrication charges are actually not that high, you get a lot for your money. [As mentioned above,] each pure rhodium coin comes in its own sealed plastic slab identical to the ones used by grading services like PCGS and NCG. The coin is perfectly protected inside the holder and features a security hologram. Along with that comes a certificate of authenticity with each purchase, and arrives shipped to your door priority mail free of charge. That’s quite a deal for the first ever rhodium coin.

Buy Palladium - Indeed it is. I'm planning to invest in these coins as soon as possible! Well, that’s about all the time we have. Are there any last comments you’d like to make to our readers?

E. Cohen - Only that Rhodium is an exciting new investment opportunity for people. This is truly a rare historic moment where a completely new product hits the market that no one has ever seen before. I know from talking to people that there are a lot of excited folks out there who can’t wait to get their hands on these unique coins, and we are simply excited to be the ones to bring this out to the public for the first time.

Buy Palladium - And we at Buy-Palladium.blogspot.com are exited as well. I’d like to thank you so much for joining us, Mr. Cohen. We look forward to talking to you more in the future.

E. Cohen - Thank you for having me, its been a pleasure.

* * *

We at Buy-Palladium.blogspot.com would like to extend our sincere thanks to Eitan Cohen for granting us this interview at such an eventful stage for the Cohen Mint. We would also like to thank our readers for your continued support. We'll do our best to continue to provide you with the latest investment information. Don't forget to bookmark us!

Cohen Mint's Rhodium Coins Site (www rhodiumcoin com)
Buy Cohen Mint Palladium Coins
Read about how Cohen Mint creates its coins

Rhodium Supply & Rhodium Demand

2007 Rhodium Demand Increase

Rhodium demand has been steadily increasing nearly each year in the 2000s. The total demand rhodium in 2007 was 856,000 ounces. Overall demand increased by about 2%.

Auto-Catalyst Rhodium Demand

The demand for rhodium from the auto sector alone was 879,000 in 2007, a 2% increase from 2006. This increase was mostly due to increased automobile production in China, India, and Russia. Keep in mind that in 2007 the auto-industry hadn't yet felt the full shock of our current economic crisis. Demand also grew in North America largely due to the production of medium sized diesel engines.

In Japan demand fell since, due to the rhodium price trading $5-7000 per ounce, car makers used stockpiles of the metal instead of buying more. Europe is producing more and more light duty diesel engines which may use little to no rhodium. Therefore demand in Europe fell as well.

Rhodium Price Chart Through 2007 (2009 Chart Available Below)

Recycle Rhodium

Notice that the auto sector required 879,000 ounces of the metal whereas supply in 2007 was just 856,000 ounces. The supply is met considering that 183,000 oz of rhodium were recycled, mostly from used catalytic converters.

Rhodium Production Glass Sector

Rhodium demand edged up less than 1% in the glass sector. In North America and Europe some glass factories have shut down. But in Asia and India demand increased for flat panel TVs and computer monitors, thus increasing worldwide demand in this sector overall. Demand would have increased more had some manufacturers not substituted platinum, which was trading about 20% the rhodium price, for some production.

Invest in Rhodium Demand

There has never been much of a demand for investment rhodium. Part of the reason is that rhodium is fairly brittle by comparison to gold or even palladium and that stamping into a coin would cause the coin to crack a bit. It was available in rhodium dust, called rhodium sponge, however, this generally wasn't available to the general public. However, rhodium coins are now available as the Cohen Mint will soon be making rhodium bullion coins for investment. If you want to read more about nonexisting rhodium bars and other type of rhodium investing, there are several links in this rhodium article.

2007 Rhodium Supply Increase

The supply Rhodium increased by 3% to 822,000 ounces worldwide. The two main countries producing rhodium, however, showed slight decreased output. In South America less PGM ore was mined therefore overall rhodium production decreased. Russian production fell slightly as well. Since Russia is so valuable a rhodium mine country, shipping interruptions are a main factor that helped push the rhodium price to nearly $7000 in 2007.

Notice how Rhodium Continued to Rise and Dropped in Summer 2008

(Charts courtesy of Kitco. Rhodium information is from Johnson-Matthey in their 2008 "Platinum" report)

Insight to Investing: Palladium Supply and Demand

Palladium Supply and Demand

Here is a brief account of the demand palladium has seen over the past few years. The information comes duing the econmomic crises, in spring 2008, from Johnson Matthey in its 60-page "Platinum" report. However, the report contains quite a bit of information about palladium. I'm awaiting some 2009 information to get things updated, but for now, this info is through 2008.

Why Study Palladium Demand and Supply?

Looking at the current usuable palladium supply--the above ground reserves, that is--the metal coming out of the ground through mining, and the metal being recycled, we can accurately gadge whether consumer demand is being met or not. If demand does not look like it will be met, palladium investing now would be a good choice. If mines are upping production to invest in palladium wouldn't be wise, all other factors remaining constant. If this is all you want to know for your palladium invest purposes and you don't want to read further, reading the following paragraph will save you time.

The Stillwater Mine in Montana, USA

Is Palladium Demand Being Met by the Palladium Supply?

With all of the scrap palladium--and platinum and rhodium, for that matter--being recycled along with continued mining, palladium demand is currently being met and palladium supply should keep up with demand through 2010, at least. The troubled ecomony means less money for consumers (should I say less available credit?) to purchase new vehicles--the main source of palladium demand.

2007 Palladium Demand was up 4% over 2006 to 6.84 Million Ounces

In 2007 the economy wasn't in the recession we are in now. Therefore, more cars were being build utilizing palladium as an emissions catalyst. Another 1.29 million ounce palladium was demanded from the industrial sector, with electronics manufacturing demanding the bulk of this. Jewelry demand, in part due to the use of recycling scrap palladium in China, dropped 25% over 2006 to 740,000 ounces palladium.

The Stillwater Mine During a Miner's Strike

2007 Palladium Supply up 8% over 2006 to 8.59 Million Ounces

When discussing supply we are not including the palladium gained through recycling, because that's already been in the market. The following figures are from palladium mining (platinum mining and palladium mining are often produce by-products of each other) only. South Africa palladium mining stayed steady at 2.77 million ounces. The same is true of mines in North America, Zimbabwe, and other countries. Russia, however, upped 2007 palladium production through "state sales" to produce an extra 500,000 ounces. This was the reason for the overall 8% increase (NOTE: "steady" means a very small percentage change; Russian figures cannot be expected to be totally accurate. There may be more or less Russia palladium that reported.

Auto-Catalyst - Demand for Palladium

Demand in the auto sector for palladium in catalytic converters rose by nearly 11%. Emerging economies China, Russia, and India amounted for most of this increase. In Japan and US, palladium use increase dues to engineers designing new methods to substitute the cheaper palladium for platinum. Palladium use also increased in Europe with its production of small diesel engines. Palladium is the main metal used in these catalysts, however, worldwide demand was still below 300,000.

Jewelry - Palladium Demand

In Europe and North America palladium demand increased slightly as the high prices of platinum forced price-conscious buyers to find a cheaper alternative. While the price of palladium remains around 20% that of platinum ($256 vs $1255 on June 12, 2009), and since palladium is harder yet lighter than platinum, a piece of jewelry made with palladium is as no disadvantage to that made of platinum. Still, palladium hasn't been totally accepted by the masses and demand is still only increasing slightly in this sector. Look for this to increase as a platinum ring sells only marginally higher than a palladium one. When the price separation become largers, consumers will lean more and more towards palladium. In China a large amount of Pd jewelry was recycled therefore keeping new demand low. In fact, jewelrey demand decreased by 35% to 500,000 ounces (we expect this to reverse however, and remain in the 500,000 to 1 million ounce range).

Electronics - Palladium Demand

The demand for palladium use in electronics has been increasing steadily for most of the 2000s. In 2007 demand was up 7% to 1.29 million ounces. Look for nickel to slowly replace platinum in certain electronics, and look for the new small size equipment to require less palladium in the future. However, for 2007 the electronics market was still booming, thus the increased Pd demand.

Dentistry - Demand for Palladium: Use of Palladium, Uses of Palladium in Dentistry

Dental uses of palladium rose nearly 4% to 635,000 ounce Pd in 2007. Since the gold price was up, the cheaper palladium was chose more often. For future palladium investing, keep in mind that more and more dentists are leaning towards using less heavy metals in teeth fillings. Also, as the metal prices increase, more dental scrap metal is being recycled.

Investing - Demand for Palladium: Palladium ETF, Palladium Coins, Palladium Bullion

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) interest increased, increasing Pd demand to 260,000 from just 50,000 ounces in 2006. Figures are not available for the amount of palladium demanded for use in making palladium bars and coins. Sorry.

Where Goes the Excess Half Million Ounces of Palladium Each Year?

Some of this palladium is sitting in my house, I'll tell you that much. And thousands of ounces of this palladium--worth a whopping US$125 million in June, 2009--are sitting in the portfolios of investors like you and me. Also, some companies buy reserves of metals while the prices are cheap. For example, read how Ford lost $1 billion by stockpiling palladium when it was selling at $1000 per ounce: Ford Decides to Stockpile Palladium Reserves.

Palladium Supply and Demand Charts 2003-2007 (By Johnson Matthey)

Palladia: Palladium Anti-Cancer Drug for Dogs

Palladia: Palladium Anti-Cancer Drug for Dogs

I thought this was kind of interesting. No, I don't think this will increase demand for palladium coins or palladium bullion, but it's interesting nonetheless.

The FDA, on June 3, 2009 has approved Palladia, an anti-cancer drug--for dogs! The palladium-based product is expected to treat tumors or skin cancer in dogs. Tests are reported to be 60% successful in removing tumors.

The product is apparently formed form a combination of palladium, various B vitamins, lipoic acid, and other substances.

Here's a Youtube video showing how this palladium-formed product can help save your pet.