Given diesel is shot to hell. VW, BMW, and all diesel vehicles are going to get audited. What effect do you think this will have on platinum? It's either a great time to buy, or a great time time to leave it alone and watch it tumble further. I don't think the premiums will lower due to the rarity. I'm actually considering picking some up and I have picked up a few fractionals at a super high premium over spot, but should it recover, that premium will go right there with it. What's your thoughts? Too volatile to touch now? Or is this a good time? $920's for spot is pretty good, would you consider trading gold for platinum? Even though spot is down, its pretty much 1:1 for Platinum Eagles and bullion gold with the platinum eagle being slightly cheaper if you can find it. However, resale back to a dealer would suck and only benefit in the 2ndary market until spot picks up.
Premiums aren't that bad here actually if you know where to find them locally, I had some half ounces for around $570usd (might be a bit less depending on forex). I don't think it should be a large part of your stack but it's really cheap now. I actually read the VW thing as a good sign, the drop has had it's effect, it's more hype than reality and if anything they will be buying more platinum to make bigger/more effective catalytic converters that actually meet standards. I wouldn't want too much right now just because in the short term I'm not confident that the Chinese and western new car sales are going to be great. But economically minable reserves are dwindling and you want to get some while you can, whenever it seems cheap. It's very unlikely to stay cheaper than gold for long unless there's a serious disruption to the economy or China adopts rge gold standard. My advice would be to keep 10-20% of your stack on platinum depending on what sort of future you see and buy it in smallish 1/4 or 1/2 oz increments whenever it looks cheap to you. Out of interest what's the going rate for a half ounce of physical in a coin or bar? I assume you're in the states, just wondering if the $570usd / $820aud price I've got for half ounce koalas is about right.
Here half ounces are about $560ish as well but if you look at the premium that is quite high no? 1120 for an ounce. Its not a large part, but it is interesting to have it in the stack since there isn't many of them. I don't have much platinum but I'm thinking of picking up a couple more ounces while they are at this price.
The price of Platinum is about a lot more than catalytic convertors. The same thing happened to Rhodium in the past. It was discovered to be useful for certain processes, which caused the price to skyrocket, which made it impractically expensive, which drove research to find replacements. A lot of the platinum was used in cancer treatment and polymer production. Now that the technology has moved on the price isn't going to 'rebound' but likewise it is rare and still useful, so I think its fair to keep some in your stack. There may come a new breakthrough process that only works using Platinum in which case the price may jump, otherwise I'd expect mostly sideways movement. Can't see it ever going much lower. Wouldn't mind grabbing some myself but the premiums I have seen are ridiculous for small quantities.
Current spot is AUD$1176 Physical 1oz bar is AUD$1238 5.2% premium doesn't sound that high to me? My pool platinum spread is: AUD$1,174.89 AUD$1,189.44
What is the liquidity of platinum in Australia ? In singapore dealers do not buy back at all and seldom sell it.
Getting spot anywhere isn't a problem at all at almost any dealer or buyer (possibly with the exception of those popup gold buying places at malls setup on tressel tables). Getting your premium back might be trickier and is worth noting given the higher premium on platinum vs gold products. You will normally find buyers here who will pay a premium somewhere between spot and dealer retail premiums though so that will cover part of it.
