As key emblems of our nation’s coinage, the honorees of President’s Day hold a special place in our hearts. It’s also a bit quieter place as U.S. financial markets are on holiday.
And Palladium is taking off….but not in the holiday sense. It rocketed to an all-time spot high overnight at $1,458 and is hanging tough slightly above that level now. As we have been reporting since the begin of the Palladium boom in 2018, this is being driven by limited availability, a condition that is even more critical in palladium’s smaller market.
On Friday, we mentioned we were awaiting the release of Johnson Matthey’s Annual Platinum Group report that includes an analysis of 2018 and an outlook for 2019. Well, the report dropped and what is its key takeaway? “The deficit in the palladium market looks set to widen dramatically in 2019, with stricter emissions legislation forecast to stimulate double-digit rises in palladium demand from European and Chinese automakers.” You can read the entire report here.
All other precious metals are also enjoying the holiday as gold flirts with its highest level since April, 2019. Spot gold is currently trading just shy of $1,327. The yellow metal is riding the U.S. dollar’s dip that in turn is responding to last week’s disappointing December U.S. retail sales data and a stronger euro. The euro is inspired by the growing U.S./China Trade optimism. The Dollar is backing of from its pre-Valentine’s climb.
Stocks, Bonds and the newscycle
U.S. Stock and Bond Markets are, of course, closed for the holiday, so it seems like a good time to take a peek at their current relationship, which is what CNBC did in an in depth report yesterday, examining the stock market’s current “euphoria” over the finalizing of the trade deal between the U.S. and China and the bond market’s apparent brooding suspicion that a recession is “lurking.”
“One of these markets is going to be wrong, and it’s hard to know this time around which one it’s going to be,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities told CNBC. “The bond market is betting we are not going to see stabilization of growth, and that the China trade war drags on.”
The entire report is here.
Have a wonderful President’s Day!
Walter Pehowich is will be back on Wednesday. Today’s comment is from a senior Dillon Gage analyst.
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