which precious metals to buy

PGMs are reasonably easy to move at spot - though there was a dealer in Sydney that had 3x1oz PAMP Pt Certicards up for sale on the forum at Spot +1%, then Spot and finally at Spot -1% to get them out the door. This was in November if I recall correctly, so I think boston made a valid point. It's certainly not as easy for a stacker to recover premiums on PGMs and considering most of us are in this game to not lose money, why would you invest in something that you're immediately behind 10% as soon as it leaves the shop if you need to sell it in a hurry? Silver lunars and the like have higher premiums but they're easier to recoup if you need cash in a hurry. Not many people were prepared to accept the risk associated with the (now) obvious rewards that Pd has presented to those who invested over a year ago, well done to those who were brave enough to take the plunge.

Just looking at a few dealer sites - GS has low premium Pt for $48 above spot. GST on Pd is enough to scare most newer Aussie investors from the market, the best price I could find on Pd was around the $1200 mark for an Aussie - obviously lop off the GST for a foreign buyer. Personally, I'm liking the future for Pt as it's trading at a lower price than Gold and I've put some of my money where my mouth is. I'm also aware that it's easier to move 5kg of Silver lunars to a private buyer and retain some premium than it is to move a couple of ounces of Pt.

Boston, Ronnie's forthright, robust conversation is always interesting and the forum would be a poorer place without him - he's been very correct about Pd, but someone who bought Pt 12 months ago would be hurting from that decision (same goes for Ag).

To the OP - buy the metal that you're most comfortable with and suits your requirements. Everyone has different investment goals and reasons for taking a particular course. Working out your own requirements is about 80% of the battle, because once you've done that you'll probably know the answer to the 'which metal' decision (or any metal decision for that matter). The 'high' GSR had many stackers on here leaning towards Ag, but I've bought plenty of Au from about 1:55 and it's continued to climb to almost 1:75. Now I didn't make the decision to buy Au because I thought I could swap out when the GSR got higher, it simply suited my requirements at the time (as did the Ag, Pt, USD & CFDs that I also dabbled in).

 

screaming eagle thanks for the kind words. Like you, I like the look of Pt right now. Its price has fallen with gold and Pt is rarely lower than gold for very long. At this time Pd is in short supply as it is the preferred noble metal for petrol catalytic converters. With the US $ surging the speculators favor Pd as it is the preferred metal for gasoline powered engines and the Yanks love their V8 gas guzzling SUVs. Europe love their diesels which use Pt rather than Pd. The US market has been pumped up by sub prime auto loans but that I think is now dying. As Pd moves up with growing shortages, Pt becomes more attractive as you need less Pt than Pd/ car and you can use Pt for gasoline powered cars if needed.

So I see the Pt dynamics changing. Remember China has a lot of diesels as well. The SA pt miners strike cost 20% loss in world Pt production that was sustained on stockpiles that are now depleted. I agree with Rick Rule that PGMs will lead the next PM bull run. We are seeing Pd and Rhodium moving up - Pt will follow, then the others.

So for those worried about the GST on Pd and Rhodium perhaps its time to nibble on some Pt ? just my feeling - not advice