The Friday Metals 10-14-2011

Another week has passed. Most of the metals went up-down-up-down-up this week. One, silver, was the odd one to do an up-up-up-down-up performance. But, note, all of the metals ended the week going upward.

Let’s look.

First, there’s gold:

30 Day Gold Performance 10-14-2011

Next is silver:

30 Day Silver Performance 10-14-2011

Third is platinum:

30 Day Platinum Performance 10-14-2011

Fourth is palladium:

30 Day Palladium Performance 10-14-2011

Are the metals starting to pull upward?

After ending last week going downward, all four metals started up on Monday. They all closed the New York market moving up, though some moved more significantly than others.

Tuesday’s New York close saw a fall back for three of the metals with silver holding onto a $0.10 gain.

On Wednesday, the four metals closed upward again. Gold and palladium did not quite regain their Tuesday losses. On the other hand, platinum grew to surpass Monday’s closing values. Silver continued its move upward.

Ah, but Thursday arrived with losses again. Gold and platinum fell to just above the Tuesday closing points. The bigger, more painful losses applied to silver and palladium. Both of these metals lost almost all of the gains achieved during the week. They didn’t quite get as low as the previous Friday’s closing numbers, but they got close.

The week ended with all four metals going upward again. Except for silver, the metals closed at their highest point for the week on Friday. Silver, again being the odd metal, had its highest close on Wednesday.

Let’s take a look at the highs and lows for the 30-day performance period.

  30 day high 30 day low Oct 14 Last Difference between
High and Low
Gold $1,829.00 $1,598.00 $1,679.80 12.6%
Silver $41.23 $28.16 $32.16 31.7%
Platinum $1,815.50 $1,442.00 $1,552.00 20.6%
Palladium $735.00 $549.00 $621.00 25.3%

 

Even with the ups and downs for the week, not one of the metals encountered a new low point for the last 30 days. The highs, however, changed on all four metals as the previous high points fell off the rolling 30-day charts.

Let’s review the week-over-week values for the metals:

  Oct 7 Last Oct 14 Last Percent Change Dollar
Change
Gold $1,638.70 $1,679.80 2.5% $41.10
Silver $31.27 $32.16 2.8% $0.89
Platinum $1,494.00 $1,552.00 3.9% $58.00
Palladium $586.00 $621.00 6.0% $35.00

 

All of the metals gained this week. Palladium won with the highest percentage gain, and platinum increased with the most dollars.

Continuing its trend, platinum remains less than gold, however this week’s spread at $127 is better than last week’s difference of $144.

For a quick comparison, take a look at each day’s closing values on the New York market:

  mon tues wed thu fri
gold $1,675.90 $1,663.20 $1,674.50 $1,666.60 $1,679.80
platinum $1,523.00 $1,518.00 $1,545.00 $1,529.00 $1,552.00
           
silver $32.04 $32.14 $32.58 $31.82 $32.16
palladium $615.00 $602.00 $609.00 $591.00 $621.00

 

With the politics, economy and world unrest, the metals will continue their up and down dance.

Some people predict gold will get to $6000 an ounce in the next few years. On a short term basis, others think the metals will go up more before falling dramatically.

But, who the heck knows for sure? No one, really. Sure, there are experts who can study trends and speculate based on historical performance.

But, I’ll argue that today’s metal environment is different than historical times. Technology makes the market faster. Other nations influence the market more today than in years past. And, there’s probably some truth behind the accusations of market manipulation.

One thing does remain constant. All of the major countries value the metals.

In summary, do your own due diligence research to determine when (and if) you want to invest in the metals.