Palladium: Your Opinion?

InternetJunky

Stable investment? Almost the lowest it has been for the past 12 months...good time to buy? Doesn't seem like it fluctuates very much. Peaked at about 800 this time last year but now is at its lowest since last Oct. Stick with silver?

fivecents

I would stick with silver. Look how bad Platinum has done. Palladium and Platinum are both industrial metals. The slow economy is slowing down the need (use) of both of these metals.

tneig

I initially liked its chart curve and thought there were opportunities there, I can't clarify as yet. Seems "more challanging" to sell then the top 2 so the price may have to be special at the sell time, but thats ok if there was still a profit. Friend has a slabbed MS69 palladium coin, having a hard time selling, even at discount. Only slabbed stale "bullion" to me if ya can't sell it.

My newbe opinions:
-If flexible timing to sell, buy a special deal, and primarily have the top 2, then get a small % of Palladium. Not Common.
-Silver to me is still the only one with the possibility of substantially breaking from the pack, if it doesn't break you first. Buy low.
-Add gold before adding Palladium.
-Stack on..

Yukoncornelius1

At one time I had accumulated over 200 oz. of palladium at a cost of roughly $200 an oz.

I sold it for $450 an oz. only to see it climb to nearly $800 an oz.

If you are going to invest in palladium be ready for a rollercoaster ride that can be very nervewracking.

derryb

probably more stable than silver. I use the Kitco pool account for quick ins and outs with palladium.

I prefer unstable.

jmski52

Platinum and Palladium will both react to money creation, but they are more closely tied to industrial production and the automotive industry.

Silver has a monetary component and is closely tied to industrial production - but not so much to automotive.

Of the three, silver is the most liquid, is traded in more venues and has the tightest buy-sell spreads. Silver could possibly benefit from a monetary crisis - whether we will have such a crisis is anyone's guess.

Unless you think that the automotive industry is going to charge ahead and that industrial production is ready to accelerate, I would favor silver over either platinum or palladium mainly because of it's monetary component.

As you suggest, palladium prices have come down and might represent a timely buy. Whether it has much upward potential in the near term to medium term - that is the real question. Some bargains can become bigger bargains before they decide to move.

gsa1fan

Seen a 1oz bar in a dealers case at the coin show last weekend. He said, " I keep it in plain few reminding me NEVER tie $$ up in that SH*T again!"

On another note if you were in the market I bet you could load up on it at the local coin shows. Dealers will probably sell below spot just to free up $$ & space

KUCH

Would agree with all replies:

Industrial Metal
Tied to automotive
Long term investment only. It could take 10-20 yrs to realize significant gains.

InternetJunky

Well, based on the general opinion I feel I'll stay away from it. It would be awhile before I even got enough money to invest even an ounce into it in the first place and from what I can see from the comments it's not worth it. I'm definitely not looking for a long term investment so I suppose I'll stick with silver.

I figured it wasn't too popular but I guess I was just more curious as to why I never hear anyone talking about it.

Thanks for the opinions everyone!

secondrepublic

I liked palladium when it was below $300/ounce a couple of years ago. At these price levels, I prefer silver which has gotten more beaten down in price from its peak. If you don't mind waiting a week to get paid, it's easy to sell palladium back to APMEX or another major bullion dealer. Local B&M's usually don't want the stuff because it's a very specialized market. You do see palladium slowly becoming a more popular metal for jewelry, but it's still light years behind gold, silver, and platinum. I've also heard that the Russians used to have large stockpiles of it, which supposedly have been sold off, but who really knows. The uncertainty and thinness of the market are why I don't like it at these price levels. There's just too much downside and not enough upside.

Baley

Palladium is a cool metal in science and industry, and somewhat for jewelry, but a weird metal to invest in. Rodium is even weirder.

I might investigate getting a piece of each, or maybe playing the alternately boring and manic paper trade in them, once I have "enough" gold and platinum

nibanny

I agree with the previous comments from an investment standpoint, though Maples and Ballerinas are cool coins! Stillwater rounds don't have the quality you would expect from JM.

jmski52

Palladium is a cool metal in science and industry, and somewhat for jewelry, but a weird metal to invest in. Rodium is even weirder.

I might investigate getting a piece of each, or maybe playing the alternately boring and manic paper trade in them, once I have "enough" gold and platinum


Every time that I've researched platinum and palladium, my conclusion has been that platinum has more utility and is priced accordingly. Some exceptions have occurred, such as when the automobile manufacturers started using palladium and then Russia cut them off in order to jack up the price. I believe that platinum is a better metal for catalysis and various electronic uses, some of which is based on its higher melting point and better corrosion resistance. Both palladium and platinum are good; platinum is better.

I suspect that rhodium has some military and high tech uses that nobody really talks about.

The enigma is silver, in my opinion. Nobody really knows enough about where the silver is, how much there is, how much is used and how much is needed. If they do know, they aren't talking. It's been that way ever since the government started selling off its strategic stockpile. I do know that it is a very useful metal and has properties that outperform most other conductors. And it's antimicrobial. How cool is that?

If silver is really disappearing, the price should have been going up for a long time. On the other hand - if silver is plentiful and new mine production is up, then silver ought to be re-monetized. It would be healthy to have real money as a foundation for the economy, instead of keystrokes made by "unseen others". We are stuck somewhere in between with no answers. I'm making reasonable bets on silver either way.

Spooly

The only thing good about Platinum and Palladium is that they are rarer than Gold and Silver. The Government would never confiscate Platinum and Palladium for a hard currency standard.