Gold Prices & Silver Prices in Wake of GM Bankruptcy (Part II)

GM Bankruptcy Article Part II: Gold Prices & Silver Prices in Wake of General Motors Bankrupt

This is just a quick update to explain the price movements of the past couple days. Before reading this you might like to read the full-length article "GM Bankruptcy, Gold $1000?" where I predict the future gold prices, silver prices, and also the rhodium prices, palladium prices, and platinum prices. The meat of the discussion about the gold market and price movements. Some quick info about the General Motors bankruptcy is there.

Gold Prices, Silver Prices, Rhodium Prices, Palladium Prices, and Platinum Prices

The following spot prices per ounce are from June 1 (6 am). The second column shows the prices on June 2 at 10 pm:

• Gold - $988 - 984 (-1%)
  
• Silver - $15.90 - 16.20 (+2%)
  
• Platinum - $1220 - 1245 (+2%)
  
• Palladium - $240 - 250 (+5%)
  
• Rhodium - $1225 - 1300 (+5%)

Now is any of this significant? In my opinion, no. The recent bullish gold, though, having jumped nearly $50 in a few weeks, is, I think, quite significant though. Silver has jumped nearly 20% in the past month or so. Now I really do think that's something to take notice of! Keep your eyes on platinum too. It's inching up slowly.

Investment Strategies: Metals vs Metals

1. Selling gold and buying silver - If you do this now, personally, I think you'll break even. Gold's high was around $1000, and at that time, silver was $22 max. However, remember how when gold was $1000 in 1988 that silver was $50 per ounce. So, what would you rather hold now, gold or silver? Yeah, I think silver. However, I'm not selling any gold to buy silver. Should I? Maybe. But I'm not.
2. Selling gold or silver and buying palladium, buying platinum, buying rhodium - If you look at charts from last year and compare them to today, you'll see that silver and gold are near their 2008 highs, yet platinum and palladium are around half of what they were in 2008. Rhodium is at 12% of it's 2008 high. Should you sell gold and silver to buy platinum, buy rhodium, or buy palladium? Maybe. It would not be guaranteed to pay off soon, but I certainly don't think gold and silver will move up any further without at least platinum moving upwards.
3. Selling palladium, selling rhodium, selling platinum to buy gold or buy silver - I would think this would be the worst gold investing strategy. However, who knows. I'd be pretty shocked if gold hit $1200 and silver $22 and platinum and palladium didn't move at similar percentages.

Best Choice

Of the above, I would say #2 is by far your best choice if you're trading metal for metal. But why not just do this: take spare cash, buy rhodium, palladium, or platinum, and hold it, without touching your gold? That's what I would do. I've most recently bought palladium and silver and don't have much cash to invest now, but when I do, if prices remain how they are, I'll buy into the industrial metals Pd, Pt, and Rh.

GM Bankruptcy, Gold $1000? (New GM, General Motors Bankrupt, Gold Price)

Will GM Bankruptcy Affect Gold Price? Gold $1000?

The pending announcement of GM's bankruptcy will definitely affect the price of gold, silver, and the industrial metals palladium, platinum, and rhodium. The question is how much, and in which direction! This ariticle will:

1. First give a very brief overview of the announcement of the GM bankruptcy.
2. Then we give a quick overview of how our five favorite precious metals have all risen in the past week or two.
3. And finally, we'll give a few guesses of what might happen and how this might affect your investment strategy

GM Bankruptcy General Motors Bankrupt Overview

On June 1 General Motors is expected to file for bankruptcy. This move stemming from the GM bankruptcy will give the company an expected $30 billion in taxpayer dollars, a third of which will be lent to the auto-maker from the Canadian government.

GM will close around a dozen factories and again lay off workers. This time as many as 50,000 people will lose their jobs at GM. The United Auto Workers (UAW) auto-workers' union is scheduled to receive $20 billion from now bankrupt GM. In exchange, the new union will then own a 10% interest in the new GM in exchange for what GM owes its past and current workers.

The Obama administration reported that GM would continue to sell only Chevy, GMC Truck, Cadillac, and Buick. Smaller names such as Hummer and Saturn would expected to be scooped up and purchased by investing companies, however, they will likely suspend production.

(Photo on left is the new 2010 GM Chevrolet Camaro which hit car lots late May, 2009)

Gold Rising, Silver Rising, Palladium Rising

How is the General Motors bankrupt going to effect the gold prices and silver prices, and the prices of the industrial metals rhodium prices, palladium prices, and platinum prices? My speculations are in the next section

In the week leading up to the GM and the Obama administration announcing the bankruptcy GM, all precious metals metals have risen:

• Gold price - Gold up from around $950 a week ago to darn near $1000 an ounce. It's $988 as I write this. Gold was $920 an ounce on May 19th. GM will announce its bankruptcy at 8 am Eastern time. It's 4:30 now
• Silver price - Silver up similarly to gold. Silver was $13.70 an ounce on May 19th, $14.70 a week ago, and darn near $16 June 1.
• Palladium price - Palladium up, but hasn't been on a steady increase like gold and silver. It was $220 on the 19th of May, jumped up to $230, dropped back to $220 a week later, and again today is up over $230.
• Platinum price - Platinum up. Its chart looks similar to that of gold/silver mixed with that of palladium! On May 18th it was around $1110 per ounce. Then, it $1150 for a week, then dropped again, but unlike palladium, it didn't drop back to its May 19th price, it only dropped to $1125 or so. However, you'll notice above that I said the 18th, not the 19th. On the 19th platinum was up to $1125. Somewhat odd behavior, but both investors as well as industry affects the platinum price more than any other metal so its erratic volatility can be expected. Today: $1220.
  
• Rhodium Price - Rhodium up! Rhodium may move daily in small increments as other precious metals do, however, it isn't quoted as moving until it makes a $50 or more move. Rhodium went up mid-May to around $1300 per ounce, and just a day or two ago it dropped to $1225 bid price. Now, it's back to $1300. Remember, rhodium is very industrial.
  

How a Bankrupt General Motors Might Affect the Gold Price, Silver Price, Platinum Price, Rhodium Price, Palladium Price

June 1 Precious Metals Prices

• Gold - $988
• Silver - $15.90
• Platinum - $1220
• Palladium - $240
• Rhodium - $1225

Author's Gold Price Predictions

How do we think these prices will be affected? Personally, I don't think we'll see a huge change. I do think gold will hit $1000 an ounce again, but I don't think it will hit $1025. Then, in less than a month, I think it will drop back to $950. I think silver won't reach $18. I don't even think it will reach $17, actually. I think it will go back down to $13 per ounce or even less. However, I wouldn't be surprised if it were to remain in the $14-15 range for the next few months. I don't think palladium, platinum, and rhodium will move very much all.

There you go. Don't you like how I'm NOT telling what WILL happen? Whenever I read an investment site I see "GM Bankrupt, Gold to Rise" or "Stocks Bullish, Commodities to Drop" and someone's prediction stated as fact on a financial website. If all people follow these ideas, then won't that make the market move in the exact opposite direction?

Here's a fact: 80 or 90 percent of people who invest in stocks and commodities lose money. These guys get "tips of the day" of how to invest. Do I do that? Well, look at my predictions above. I don't think the GM Bankruptcy will affect any metal by more than 10%. That 10% IS enough to make money on your investment, but I'm not a day trader and not going to sell/buy until it moves a good 30-50%. Why? The truth: I'm lazy! It's not that it's risky, it's that you have to really ALL the news and factor in many, MANY things. I don't want to do that, for one. And two, if I do, I'm bound to make a mistake, thus I create my own risk. My final prediction to you is that the current trend will be small movements upwards then small movements down.

Do I hope I'm wrong? Heck yeah! Let's see $2000 gold and $1000 palladium! Let's keep rhodium low because I haven't bought any yet! Silver, hmmm, I don't own much, so let's see that low until I sell some gold to buy silver. Good plan?

Good luck in your investing. I don't think the market will be rocky, but others might, so you might be able to sell your metals for more than spot in the next week or so. If you're not in need of cash, though, I'd keep it. Have a fun week!

Rarity of Palladium & Potential to Rise (recent summary and translated article explanations)

Unlike the past, I recently accepted a few articles by guest authors. Bless them for helping us build a one-stop informational source regarding our hobby, the metal we love, and our investment vehicle. I've posted a couple articles translated by computer from their native language. I did this because I don't really have as much time as necessary to provide daily market insights in the form of articles on this site. I'll have more time in the future and I guarantee this site will continue to grow (we're getting more viewers now than ever before), however, I will be using the help of others as well to help us reach this goal.

Recent Article Summary

Recently I uploaded a few articles about rare palladium (rare to do this, but I added a few) and how all signs point to it rising in value. There are so many scientific applications palladium that once again, after the economy turns around, within the next 10 years, palladium will surpass gold. The use of palladium is just beginning to come into play in the scientific world. Hydrogen cells, solar power, automobiles, diesel engines, jewelry (it's overtaking platinum because it's cheaper, lighter, and a bit harder than platinum), and many other applications.

In fact, palladium hardness is harder than gold, silver, and platinum. It has a 4.5 mohs rating where gold and silver are 2.5 and platinum is in the low 4s. Rhodium hardness, by the way, is 6, making it a good choice to coat white gold, silver, an other jewelry. Palladium jewelry, such as a palladium necklace or palladium ring will be harder than a platinum ring or gold ring, but a very thing coating of rhodium would be a good idea (as a metal you won't see rhodium cheap, rhodium is usually more than gold and rhodium volatile, but in such a thin coat it costs next to nothing.

Before I get off on a tangent, I just wanted to say that palladium investment is seen by others, as well as me, and a substantial investment vehicle in the future. This post was just meant to summarize that and pound into you that the time to buy is now. If you don't believe me, and don't want your palladium, I'll take it! :)

Thanks for your continued support!

Rhodium Coins Coming Soon!

Rhodium Price and Rhodium Volatility

This blog is dedicated mainly to palladium, however, you could say it's a "volatile precious metals site." The more volatile the metal, the less popular it is. In order of volatility, and popularity, are these metals: Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, and then, rhodium.

Of the preceding when dealing with price, rhodium bullion is generally the most expensive. As I write this it's exactly $1050 an ounce. It was $1100 a couple days ago. The platinum price is right around there too, but, when rhodium moves, it moves! It never moves less than $50 at a time. It was $750 in December. When Au climbed from $850 to $1000 the price Rhodium price jumped from $750 to $1100.

Rhodium Coin and Rhodium Bars

What does a rhodium coin look like? Well, I don't know, they've never been made. Rhodium bars don't yet exist, nor to rhodium coins. Wouldn't it be nice to buy a 1 oz rhodium coin or 1 oz rhodium bar? I thought so too, but you can't. The only way you can buy it is in its raw, flake form, called rhodium sponge (rhodium article with pictures). If you were to buy rhodium 1 ounce, it would likely be in a plastic container, similar to how they sell Au flake, but it there would be some small particles and some broken pieces.

Rhodium Pieces

Au Flake in Vials (C481025A-77-t.on-C23-94)

Small Rhodium Mint

However, today I talked to a guy who owns a small mint, and his company is working to make rhodium coins! Rhodium one ounce coins would be ideal, and while possible, he said a one gram rhodium coin is more likely. The coins will be rhodium bullion coins, though, and they will not have much numismatic value, i.e., they'll be very similar to rhodium bars, which also don't exist.

Rhodium Bullion Coins Availability

He assured me that the invest rhodium coins will be ready for sale within a few months! He also said that by then the spot rhodium price might be over $2000 (It's around $1000 today). However, the buy rhodium online is the price of only a contract that you own the metal. To actually take delivery of the metal you must pay fabrication charges since for a rhodium mint is very difficult. And, these charges will be 170% of the spot price rhodium invest. Ouch! I hear that there are 1 oz rhodium coins and rhodium bars available made by other, smaller mints, but as of now I have no reliable information. I've sent out a couple emails and am waiting for a response!

Rhodium: Physical Properties

The owner of the mint told me that physical rhodium isn't as brittle as people say it is. Sure, it will break if you take a 1 ounce rhodium piece between two pair of pliers and bend, but it won't break if you drop in from a couple inches on a wooden table. So, it can be made into 99.99% pure rhodium bullion, but it just costs more than the other metals. (This reason, BTW, is likely why it's so hard to find palladium near spot prices.) So, the rhodium bullion coins will be available, but shipped within plastic cases to keep those who are less careful from breaking them

What Will the Rhodium Bullion Coin Look Like?

Like I said, it's not a government making the coin, it's a small melter--a small company--and it will have the company name on it. They will be 1 gram, not one ounce. That's disappointing, but good in a way, as we can only spend a little money to own rhodium bullion. One gram is really tiny. They'll be smaller than a dime by far. And, while I do know the name of the company and what the coins will likely look like, as I've seen their other coins, as of now, until they're out, I can't leak that information. Sorry guys!

Bullion Rhodium Price

If these coins were available today, dividing the spot price of an ounce ($1050) by 31.1 (31.1g=1 oz), we get around $33/gram. However, remember I said we have to pay 170% melter's fee? (It's not that they're greedy, it's actually that they had to put a lot of work into melting rhodium bullion down.) So, 1.7 x $33 = $56. So, for now, $56 per tiny 1 gram coin. If you buy 31 of these, you'll have an ounce, and it will cost you $1700. If rhodium doubles by then, you pay double that.

Let's hope I have enough spare cash to get some of these when they're out! I'll let you know! Thanks for looking!

Palladium Prices Up, PGMs Edging Higher

We may see prices this year look similar to last! Today Au is at $975/oz and platinum is right around $1100, keeping just ahead of gold. Ag is making its move and is up to $14/oz. Palladium, as we know, is the slowest mover and will follow after the others have moved closer to their peaks. Palladium is right now at $222.

But remember, Au didn't drop too much from its $1000 high of last spring. Ag and platinum were approximately cut in half. Remember though, palladium fell by two-thirds, from around $600/oz to under $200/oz. It's the most volatile for sure.

No one knows where Au will stop, but if it moves up say, $5/day, and ends up around $1025/oz, I'm sure we'll see at least $1600 platinum and $18/Ag. Palladium would probably only reach $400. But, if Ag did hit an all time high of say $1050/oz, then we'd probably see $2000 platinum, $22 Ag, and $600 palladium.

When the price dips I have to sell. I need money right now as I'm investing in real estate as well. Real estate isn't really comparable to the precious metals market in volatility, but if you work hard you can make money in it faster than you can in the palladium/gold/platinum market.

Account of Palladium Price and Gold Rush of 1980

Here's an account of "John," who in 1980 wishes he would have bought cheap palladium and other metals during the PGM price surge of 1980.

"I can remember it well. On the news every night the reporters would talk about how the palladium price and other metals increased in price. Cheap palladium was found everywhere a year before, now you couldn't even find cheap platinum or cheap silver. Most people wanted the gold, but there was a killing to be made in other metals, even moreso than gold.

News reporters would stand outside of coin shops interviewing investors lined up to buy palladium bars, buy palladium coins, and buy all kinds of gold and silver. if you were to invest palladium a few years ago you'd have made a fortune. On the other hand you had the non-investors--the people who just wanted money--runing to cash in their palladium jewelry, platinum jewely, gold coins, and even sterling silverware! It was actually worth something now! Silver was $50/oz. FIFTY! Even if you factor IN inflation it has never been that high before.

Jump ahead to 2009. Cheap palladium price of $200, cheap gold at $950, and platinum cheap like gold. After inflation has torn away the value of the dollar, these prices don't even show up the newspaper anymore. No one cares. Gold double, palladium double, silver triple...wouldn't matter. None of these scenario's would stack up to the craze of 1980!'

Inflation Adjusted Charts: Palladium History - Palladium Bottom is Now!

Price of Palladium 1992-2009

Here are a couple palladium price charts. The first one suggests that palladium is near its historical bottom. Palladium was once over $1000/oz palladium as you see, and now it's down around $200, which, if you factor in inflation, is similar to the beginning of the chart, which we'll call "bottom."


Palladium Price 1910-2006

And below is a palladium price chart dating back to 1910. The actual price of palladium, when our grandparents were growing up, was right around $100 for an ounce. However, if you factor in inflation you'll see how palladium (inflation) was well above $1500. Through the 40s, 50s, and 60s, you can see the price was cheap. Remember, until 1971 America was on the gold standard and gold was set at $32/oz, and palladium was pretty much based on the price of gold. However, look at the jumps after 1971 when Nixon took the US off the gold standard! Palladium had its jumps, any which of today would have taken palladium near the $1000 mark! These jumps were--if you adjust for inflation--higher than the spike to $600 palladium in 2008.

(Click to enlarge)

(Pd Image courtesy of Orsa Maggior)

Gold Adjust for Inflation

Palladium and even gold adjusted for inflation isn't a popular topic. But, let's look at it for a second. If we look at gold historically, in 2009 dollars, and adjust for inflation, we get this chart:

(Click to enlarge)

Do you see how with gold adjusted for inflation the jump in 1980 would be like gold being worth $5000 an oz in 2009 dollars? Do you see how the lines narrow as we return closer to the present? This is because we can't factor in as much inflation, so, obviously, the price of gold today is the spot price quoted on any website. So, throughout the 80s and 90s, EVEN when adjusted for inflation, gold was cheap. Since the 2008 surge CANNOT be adjusted for inflation, because it is basically the same time as now, gold was and still is cheap, because it only reached $1000/oz.

So, while the 1980 surge only reached $1000 as well, it was actually like gold being worth at least 4 times that much, due to inflation. In 1980, a regular car cost you $5000, more or less. Today it's $20,000, etc.

For the record 1 oz gold is $940 Feb 14, 2009. And if the surge were anywhere near what it were in 1980, according to gold expert James Turk, gold would be over $6000 per ounce. If you can't grasp this inflation adjusted palladium and gold price, remember, that in 1980, 5 ounce of gold would buy you a basic four-door car. In 2009, for 5 ounces of gold to buy you that same car--which is now $20,000--only if it were at $5-6000/oz. Understand? In other words, gold and palladium is worth peanuts compared to the early 1980s!

Next, let's look at it in reverse.

Gold and Therefore Palladium Prices in 1983 Dollars

This section may be difficult to grasp. The previous section was talking about prices in the 80s and 90s being adjusted for 2009 dollars. Now, let's look at 2009 palladium prices adjusted back to 1983 dollars.

(Image concept of 1983 dollars inflation adjusted palladium courtesy of Christopher Laird. He said 1983 dollars were chosen because that was after gold prices finally settled down.)

Here, the image is a normal Kitco chart in actual prices, and the black line is what gold prices would have been if the dollar had remained as strong as it were in 1983. Since you would only need $5000 1983 dollars to buy a car, you'd have to multiply today's dollar price by 4 to reach that same strength. In other words, you'd divide precious metals' prices by 4. Gold would be around $200/oz and palladium would be $50/oz.

Soooo, when gold hits $1000, and palladium hits $250, is it really skyrocketing? No, we have a long way to go for that. It's very, very cheap right now. If we were to time jump from 1981 to today, we'd see palladium as being worth about $50/oz

A Crazy Thought: Silver & Palladium Skyrocketing

Did you know that silver actually reached $50/oz before? That was in 1980 as well. All precious metals rose Then. Silver bars, palladium coins, platinum, everything. Palladium demand and demand for platinum and other metals was up.

Remember, we have to multiply by 4 to adjust for inflation when going back and forth between today and 1983, right? $50/oz x 4 = $200/oz. Only if silver were to reach $200/oz would we have a precious metals craze like which occured in the early 80s. For this to happen, we'd see the following prices. Gold is less volatile, silver is the most, so I've adjusted for that. If something were to happen to make prices jump as much as they were to jump in 1980, here are what the palladium and other metals prices would be. What's scary--or something to look forward to, depending on how much metal you own, is that there are so many more factors today leading to such a palladium price surge today compared to 1980!

Gold - $6000/oz, as stated by many.
Silver - $200/oz, if you multiply by 4 to reach 1983 dollar strengh
Platinum - At least the $6000/oz of gold, but could be double gold, so perhaps over $10,000/oz!
Palladium - $1000/oz. If a surge were to occur like in 2000, when it hit $1000/oz where demand for palladium demand was high, coupled with a precious metals rush, if platinum--a palladium substitute were already over $6000, palladium would be at $2-3000/oz!

September 2009 Updated Article Here!

Palladium Moves Up With Other Metals

Okay, we've been seeing a bit of activity in the prices of precious metals over the past week or so. Palladium is at $220. It's been at $180, so that's a 10% jump. Platinum rise to $1070 or so. That also is nearly 10%. You can expect gold to jump as much, but it's up around $940, just a few percent over a few weeks ago. Silver, though, is up 15%.

Precious Metal Prices, Palladium May Rise!

I got an email to my cell phone from an overseas friend telling me that gold is higher than it's ever been. What? What does that mean about the price palladium? I replied telling him that unless gold jumped from $900 yesterday to $1000 today then he's mistaken! It turns out that gold is its highest in a few months, and he got the two confused.

When we see an increase in gold price palladium may or may not follow. Platinum groups metals are more industrial than they are financial. If there are increases in gold and silver prices palladium along with platinum and rhodium may increase as well, simple because they are precious metals. However, gold decreases in a strong economy, whereas palladium increases in a good economy if there is more demand for the PGMs for (mainly) the auto industry.

Future Prices Palladium Increase?

A one ounce palladium rise is not imminent, but it has risen 10% up to nearly $200 an ounce. 1 oz palladium has been around the $170 range for months. Gold's jumped up around 7%, and silver has jumped from $11 up to $13. That's something to be noticed! Silver up 15%! Platinum seems to be moving up just enough to remain ahead of gold. We'll see how that works out.

Palladium Use, Rare PGMs Recycling Today Article

Palladium Price

The following is a good article I found by Curt Harler on Recycling Today Magazine. It's kind of long, but shows what uses the world has for palladium and the other PGMs. It also talks about prices per ounce of palladium and other metals and how 2008 was a roller coaster of a year. Good article. Enjoy!

Palladium: Ready and Waiting,
By Curt Harler, curt@curtharler.com
1/22/2009 10:09:12 AM

Summary

Harler's article begins by discussing how 2008 saw the price of palladium and other PGMs skyrocket; then plummet around 60% from their 2008 highs.

Harler goes on to show what uses palladium, use platinum, and other PGMs throughout the world; and how the car industry effects a lot of things.

There aren't many palladium buy resources, or many sites to learn about palladium, but this article is a must read. And you don't have to pay to download it!

Gold Surpasses Platinum, Palladium $170

These are some weird financial times we're living in, my friends. The dollar, Euro, pound, and basically all currencies are falling, but what are they falling against? Oil is around $40 a barrel and Gas in many places is under $1.50 a gallon. Precious metals are down: platinum is around $820, palladium is $170, and silver is $10.50. Gold isn't down as much, but at $820 it isn't particularly high either. Stocks are down, auto makers are about to go bankrupt, and real estate prices are now dirt cheap.

So, what's going to give? If everything is down, the dollar would be strong, right? In a very real sense, for now anyway, it is! It's really fallen against the yen, so keep that in mind. However, as the dollar falls other currencies will follow slowing. Precious metals will shine. It won't be immediate, but with a global recession, something will go up, and those holding those assets will benefit.

Where does this leave Palladium? Palladium is a precious metal, so will rise as gold does, but palladium is also an industrial metal, meaning it's used up in the auto industry. If they aren't making cars, they aren't buying palladium. Palladium will have its time, but we can't say when.

Platium Coin Sells for $6000!

$6000 for Platinum Coin!


Check out this YouTube video of a Platinum Eagle selling on a QVC type channel. Apparently there were only NINE of them that were in perfect MS70 condition. That's expensive platinum! As I write this platinum is $840 an oz. These, however, are a bit more. Wow!

All Commodities Down!

In the fast few weeks we've seen the prices of EVERYTHING drop! If you want to buy palladium now is the time, that's for sure! Oil is down to $63 a barrel. That's cheap oil. I truly believe the government is doing their best to keep it down. And, while oil is down you'll find palladium cheap. Palladium follows platinum and silver which more or less follow gold, but swing at higher percentages. Silver, palladium, and platinum have dropped around 60%. Gold only around 30%.

So, what can you infer from this? Buy palladium online now if you can find it. I'm looking into buying silver instead of palladium because with fees on palladium expensive like they are, you're paying double! The key is to buy a from the big gold companies. The drawback of doing that is that if you want palladium coins, they're going to make you buy a minimum of 10 oz or so. You can buy just one 1 oz coin palladium.

The Dow is down too. This isn't new news (I haven't updated this blog in well over a week). The Dow is in the mid-8000s. And precious metals took another 5-10% dip last week too. Looking at history, you'll see that gold and oil rise and fall similarly (at the time of this entry I haven't found one, but I'll find a chart to attach here). And you'll see that as the stock market goes down, oil and gold go up.

So, is everything going to stay down? Frankly, I'm surprised. I thought gold would shoot up with the stock market fall. What's funny, EVERYONE is buying gold now too, as it's cheap! Rare palladium is the bad result for us! As an industrial metal manufacturers have a use for palladium whether its price is up or down. I believe, that like oil, the government is manipulating the gold price and keeping it down, in order to keep the dollar from collapsing.

This is something interesting and I don't know how it relates: the dollar has fallen 10% versus the yen in the past week. Why?

Will Gold Pass Platinum?

Technically it shouldn't, but temporarily I think it could. I think gold could hit $940 by Wednesday and it's not that I necessarily think platinum will fall, but if it does fall another 5% or so, gold will be above it!

Kicking myself for buying platinum AND gold now, should have stuck to just gold. Oh well. I was kicking myself a few months ago for not buying all platinum. Depends on the point in time what you're kicking yourself for!

Sticking to gold is the safest. The white metals are more volatile. Do you want to save for the long term? Gold. Do you want to play the markets and sell at peaks? Palladium, platinum, silver.

Silver Philharmonics Premiums in Japan

It's my assumption that Austrian Philharmonics 1 oz do NOT have a numismatic value. In fact, when I called (I think it was Monex) to buy cheap palladium, the guy told me they were out of Pd but he recommended 100 oz of Philharmonics silver coins and there was no premium (I would have paid $1300 or so, but I wanted Pd).

So, why is Tanaka Japan selling them for $60 each? Hard to import to Japan? Japanese are stupid and think they're platinum?? I bought from Tanaka in Japan before and they had a premium on coins over bullion, but it was only about 5%, not 500%!!

Click for link (in Japanese, but you can see the price of 6,300 yen, which equals $60).

Spot Palladium Premiums

QUICK SUMMARY: Palladium coins online have been hard to find. Now, they're even harder. When you do find them, they are selling for double the spot price. With palladium cheap right investors are hoarding and/or flocking to buy.

Screen shot taken from my "secret" selling source
for cheap palladium and cheap platinum. Notice the "sell"
boxes are empty.

There goes my "secret" palladium source! I found a single-page site online of a place that was selling Pd Maple Leaves for about $30 over spot when the Pd price was $240 (so they were selling for $270 at that time). I called but didn't buy because I didn't want to buy the minimum.

Then the other day, I reconsidered after seeing the cheap palladium price drop below $200. So, I just checked my site: not selling! They're hoarding their stash! So, if you're a small-time seller on Ebay or something, you just add a 50-100% premium and sell. If you're a respectable, big-company seller, you pretend you're sold out!

So, that's how it's looking today. Palladium futures and Platinum futures, at least if you ask the big sellers, are going up. When I have a use for palladium--when we hope to find cheap coins--the rare metal becomes even rarer. I'm curious too see where we'll be in a week or so!

Palladium Under $200! Platinum Under $1000!

The metals are cheap! I'm really very surprised. Gold is relatively high, but we have cheap palladium, cheap platinum, and cheap silver. They are ridiculously low! Palladium has fallen under $200 this morning and platinum has fallen under $1000.

For those with cash in their pockets now is a good time buy platinum online, or buy palladium online if you can find it. You can buy silver bars online much easier, but not at it's current low price. You can get these metals for under half the price they were selling for a few months ago.

I was thinking about this yesterday and thought about selling some gold and buying Au, Ag, or Pt. I don't think it would be a bad strategy. $8 silver, $180 palladium, or $900 platinum while gold is were it is now would definitely lead me to make that choice. However, I'd have to be able to actually find the metals to buy at that low price! Right now you can't find palladium 1 oz for under $350!

Cheap Palladium: Will We Continue to See Palladium Cheap?

I'm pretty sure we won't find palladium cheap for much longer. It likely won't go much lower than what it is right now: $214. Now that's some cheap palladium! I said the same a few weeks ago when it was $220 and I'm still right. In fact, I wish I were wrong, though. I wish the price would go down to $100 so I can BUY MORE!

Afternoon Price of Cheap Palladium

(I got this from Monex, since they haven't updated their site since this afternoon)

I'm starting believe the prices really are manipulated because although it's hard to find there IS palladium available, but you definitely can't buy it for anywhere even close to the spot price of $214. Right now the people selling it for $330 are the ones with cheap palladium!

If you call up a big seller they will sell it to you for around $260 or so, with a minimum of 5 or 10 ounces. On Ebay it's still for sale, but they are listed for $400, and more--and selling for that! So, there is a shortage, and people who have the coins or bullion are selling them for at least $50 over spot. So, is the cheap palladium really worth $214 and an ounce, or is it worth more?

To me it's worth more; I paid $300 when it was worth $240 because the only other cheap palladium options would have been to buy 5 ounces; and I didn't want to spend that much at the time. And if you walked up to me I wouldn't sell you my palladium coins for any less than $350, because it would take around that to replace it. How the palladium bullion and coins are selling for double spot is WEIRD!

Cheap Palladium this Evening

(from The Bullion Desk)

And what about gold vs. palladium? Gold 1 oz is way up over $900 and platinum prices, palladium, and even silver prices are extremely LOW! So, we know they're going up eventually, and we know now's the time to invest. I'm new to the palladium market, but my guess is that gold moves first, by a certain percentage, then silver and platinum follows by a slightly larger percentage, and then palladium. Am I right?

I'm baffled by all three: cheap palladium as well as cheap platinum and silver...and also for them not selling that low! Weird. But, it's cheap palladium so if u want palladium cheap now is your time to buy!