Gyroscopic Investing

My research question: is palladium (or platinum)  worth a look as part of the gold component in the PP? (I can already hear the resounding "NO!" from the chorus of purists  )

In a bout of self indulgence, I compiled year over year return data from 1970-2015 for the 4 major precious metals (January to January returns):

GOLD
MIN                     -27.69%
MAX             99.74%
AVERAGE            10.63%
MEDIAN               3.28%
% UP YEARS:     64.44%


SILVER
MIN                   -48.35%
MAX           400.00%
AVERAGE          13.75%
MEDIAN             0.00%
% UP YEARS:     48.89%


PLATINUM
MIN                 -39.91%
MAX          125.83%
AVERAGE 8.35%
MEDIAN         5.39%
% UP YEARS: 57.78%

PALLADIUM
MIN              -61.90%
MAX                   203.89%
AVERAGE     17.53%
MEDIAN               9.13%
% UP YEARS:     60.00%

Some conclusions:
- Silver is a zero sum game and appears to be a gamble over the others
- Palladium offers nearly the same chance of an up year compared with gold, with about a 2x risk profile , the volatility may be too much for a PP but perhaps it is the most superior metals play in a VP
- Gold offers a more reliable chance of a positive return than platinum with lower risk and lower downside 

Hopefully someone finds this data useful!

NO!  It's an industrial metal like platinum (substitute actually), silver and other rare earth metals.

Why has Palladium performed better than the other shiny things during 2013-2015?

ochotona wrote: Why has Palladium performed better than the other shiny things during 2013-2015?

The demand has been greater than the supply. Now the platinum price are sinking because enough investment has been made to secure the needed greater supply.

That's interesting about platinum... any thoughts about where palladium supply / demand are headed? I thought palladium was used in parallel with platinum in automotive catalytic converters, but palladium's price has really been different than platinum's.

I wish there were some lithium ETFs, but my understanding is that this metal is not publicly traded.

lordmetroid wrote:

ochotona wrote: Why has Palladium performed better than the other shiny things during 2013-2015?

The demand has been greater than the supply. Now the platinum price are sinking because enough investment has been made to secure the needed greater supply.

Platinum is used in diesel automobiles.

Palladium is used in gasoline automobiles.

China has a pollution problem.

2 + 2 = 4.