Think of balls bouncing.
All four metals hit the deck on Monday to bounce upward. On Wednesday, three of the metals reached the peak of their trajectory and started back down. One of the metals fell over the side of the deck to end the week lower than its Monday low point.
Let’s look at the charts.
First, there’s gold:
Second is silver:
Third is platinum:
Fourth is palladium:
Gold began the week closing on Monday at just under $1500 before it bounced upward. Though it didn’t achieve near what it lost the previous week, gold climbed at a good pace both Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, gold lost all gains to end the week at a new low.
Behaving similarly to gold this week, silver closed on Monday down from the previous Friday but bounced upward. Tuesday and Wednesday saw silver regain roughly one-third of its losses from its previous downward trend. But, like gold, silver fell on Thursday and Friday. Unlike gold, silver did not lose quite all of its gains from its upward bounce earlier in the week.
After closing Monday lower than the previous Friday’s close, platinum began its upward bounce. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, platinum bounced upward more sharply than it had fallen and gained over half what it lost the previous week. Like gold and silver, however, platinum fell backward on Thursday and Friday. But, unlike its two counterparts, platinum did not lose as much of its upward trajectory.
Palladium, too, began the week closing down on Monday from the previous Friday’s closing value. And, like the other metals, palladium bounced upward on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unlike the other three metals, palladium continued its upward momentum through the rest of the week.
It was definitely an odd and chart-changing week for the metals.
Let’s view the metals’ 30-day highs and lows:
| 30 day high | 30 day low | Jul 1 Last | Difference between High and Low |
|
| Gold | $1,552.50 | $1,483.00 | $1,486.50 | 4.5% |
| Silver | $37.95 | $33.58 | $33.85 | 11.5% |
| Platinum | $1,842.00 | $1,674.00 | $1,715.00 | 9.1% |
| Palladium | $814.00 | $724.00 | $757.00 | 11.1% |
Only one of the metals, silver, had a new high this week. But, silver’s new high occurred only because the previous high fell off the rolling 30-days. All four metals encountered new 30-day lows during the week.
How did the metals fare week-over-week from Friday close to Friday close?
| Jun 24 Last | Jul 1 Last | Percent Change | Dollar Change |
|
| Gold | $1,502.30 | $1,486.50 | -1.1% | -$15.80 |
| Silver | $34.32 | $33.85 | -1.4% | -$0.47 |
| Platinum | $1,685.00 | $1,715.00 | 1.8% | $30.00 |
| Palladium | $728.00 | $757.00 | 4.0% | $29.00 |
Two lost value, and two gained. Silver and gold lost roughly the same percentage value though not the same dollar value due to their significantly different rates per troy ounce. Similarly, platinum and palladium gained roughly the same dollar amount but not the same percentages due to their different rates.
What will happen next week? The US will have a short trading week due to the holiday on Monday, but how will the world markets begin the week’s trading? Up or down?
As an obvious reminder, the objective for investing is to buy at a low point and sell at a high point. With no foreseeable end to the economic and political turmoil around the globe, the markets — commodities and stocks — will continue to be volatile offering both low (buy) and high (sell) opportunities.