All asset classes were higher this week except for crude oil, which fell 3.0%. The largest gains were in Bitcoin and Ethereum, which rose 6.7% and 6.8% respectively. Platinum made new lows this week but closed up 0.7%, while palladium rose 2.8% to 23.25 grams per ounce, making it more valuable than platinum's 22.5 grams per ounce. More on this later.
The Chinese Yuan was the best performing currency, rising 3.0%. The Canadian Dollar was the weakest, gaining 0.8%. Bonds rose again, and continued their bias toward the shorter maturities with the 20+ year TLT adding 0.7%, the 1-3 year SHY gaining 1.6% and notes of zero maturity (USD cash) rising 1.7%.
Ethereum worked its way higher to close the week at 7.5 grams, up 6.8%. Bitcoin followed a similar pattern, closing at 107.7 grams, up 6.7%.
Stocks were higher, led by gold stocks, which gained 4.6%. The Dow Jones Industrials were the best performing major index, rising 3.0%. The Euro Stoxx FEZ rose 1.5%, the least of the major indexes.
Crude oil was the only falling commodity, giving up 3.0%. Silver was the next weakest, gaining just 0.1%. Copper rose the most, adding 4.3%.
On Tuesday, platinum set a new all-time low of 22.2 grams, then rallied to close the week at 22.5 grams, up 0.7%. Palladium rose 2.6% to close at 23.25 grams, making it more valuable than platinum. Gold > Palladium > Platinum is a rarely (as in, never before?) seen arrangement for precious metals prices… The last time palladium was more expensive than platinum was in September of 2001, at which time both metals were significantly more valuable than gold. I think there could be a good long-term speculation in long platinum/short palladium as low platinum prices drive increased substitution for palladium in catalytic converters and other industrial applications.
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