Just ouch…gold and silver did not fare very well this week. On the other hand, platinum and palladium increased.
Let’s look at the charts. First, there’s gold:
Next is silver:
Third is platinum:
Last is palladium:
Isn’t it interesting that the gold and silver charts are back to following the same path. Though, the two metals have, for the most part, de-coupled. The similarity is likely only temporary. But, we’ll have to wait and see for sure.
Looking at the week, gold’s Monday kept almost flat with the previous Friday then gold climbed on Tuesday and Wednesday only to drop on Thursday and this Friday. Similar but not quite the same, silver’s Monday closed lower than the previous Friday, silver grew on Tuesday, dropped backwards on Wednesday and Thursday then climbed a small amount for Friday’s close.
Platinum incurred some ups and downs as well. Monday’s close was down from Friday then platinum climbed on Tuesday and Wednesday to be down on Thursday and back up on Friday. The London numbers did introduce a new 30 day high on Wednesday.
Palladium, on the other hand, started the week with Monday’s close down from the previous Friday. Tuesday and Wednesday saw increases with the London numbers introducing a new high on Wednesday. Palladium fell slightly on Thursday to climb back on Friday to almost the new high experienced with London’s Wednesday numbers.
Gold and silver show drops into valleys whereas the platinum and palladium charts are mountain climbing.
Let’s review the 30 day highs and lows in table form:
| 30 day high | 30 day low | Jan 21 Last | Difference between High and Low |
|
| Gold | $1,421.60 | $1,342.40 | $1,342.40 | 5.6% |
| Silver | $30.91 | $27.14 | $27.53 | 12.2% |
| Platinum | $1,846.00 | $1,712.00 | $1,826.00 | 7.3% |
| Palladium | $824.00 | $741.00 | $821.00 | 10.1% |
Take a look. Gold ended the week at a 30-day low and silver almost ended at a low point. Conversely, platinum and palladium ended the week, not at new highs, but much closer to the high than the low.
Let’s compare this Friday’s close to the close a week ago:
| Jan 14 Last | Jan 21 Last | Percent Change | Dollar Change |
|
| Gold | $1,361.80 | $1,342.40 | -1.4% | -$19.40 |
| Silver | $28.48 | $27.53 | -3.3% | -$0.95 |
| Platinum | $1,811.00 | $1,826.00 | 0.8% | $15.00 |
| Palladium | $794.00 | $821.00 | 3.4% | $27.00 |
Silver has the largest percentage drop, but gold has the largest dollar decrease. For the week over week increases, palladium enjoyed both the highest percentage and the highest dollar changes.
What will next week bring? We have the State of the Union address which could impact markets and metals. Plus, we still have economic woes domestically and internationally.
Some pundits think gold will be at $5000 to $6000 in the next couple of years. Others think silver could get to $187. Are their expectations valid? Who knows. We also don’t know how experienced they are or how correct they have been historically.
Do your own research to determine what is best for you. Here’s an obvious hint…it’s cheaper to buy gold and silver when the metals are on a pull back.