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Hey all,

I was wondering everybodys thoughts on the platinum market. Its risen in the last 6-12 months but nearly as much as silver, palladium or even gold. What are peoples thoughts on whats in store for platinum? I know its primarily used in the auto industry for catalyic converters and china is a key component in the market, but platinum hasnt really done anything at all. Heck Id less suprised if it went down with this economy but it really hasnt budged much at all. What do you guys think in is in store for platinum in the future?

Pt and Pd have a history of switching places driven, as you said, primarily by the auto industry. I avoid them only because neither has a history as a store of value or use as money, and people are far less familiar with them than with Au and Ag. If you decide to have either as (a small) part of your savings (or a speculation), I'd buy the lower-priced Pd, hold it, and wait for the next switch. It could take many years though.

I've sometimes wondered how well the Mint's platinum sets do in the aftermarket. I'm not a keen follower of this metal.

I am a fan of platinum for lots of reasons!

This is a great site if you want to learn more: http://www.platinum.matthey.com/index.html

Look at all the applications: http://www.platinum.matthey.com/applications/

In my opinion the metal is way undervalued compared to gold...just think about the rarity of the metal for a moment!

Check out the charts:
http://www.platinum.matthey.com/publica ... um-charts/

I like platinum as well and think it is undervalued compared to the other metals. Much rarer than gold. Should be almost twice the price of gold in my humble opinion. If I was just starting in buying metal and had some real funds I'd go platinum.

I view it as industrial metal and palladium as the low cost alternative. I'd rather invest in palladium. The Chinese market for cars will be expanding rapidly over the next several years and I believe palladium will benefit.

I bought platinum back in 2008-early 2009 sometime in that time frame, paid a little over 1K an ounce, they are now worth about 1800 an ounce, nice return, but sure wish I had bought more silver with that money.

inflationhawk wrote:I view it as industrial metal and palladium as the low cost alternative. I'd rather invest in palladium. The Chinese market for cars will be expanding rapidly over the next several years and I believe palladium will benefit.

From what I've read, Pt has twice the hydrogen storage capacity that Pd has. So, if you're an industrial user, it is to your advantage to buy Pd as long as it is less than half the price of Pt, which right now is the case. I still think Pd is the better buy right now.