Palladium
 

What is palladium metal used for. I very rarely see any coins minted in palladium except Canadian maple leafs but wondered what the metal is used for industrial.

Re: Palladium
 

Catalytic converters

Re: Palladium
 

Pd's got potential in hydrogen apps and perhaps fusion,
http://www.google.com/search?q=Palla...ydrogen+fusion

besides cat. coverters where it acts as Pt does, at <1/3 price of Pt.

Re: Palladium
 

Second hand here but I believe that Pd and Pt were roughly the same price at one time.

Re: Palladium
 

No Palladium was three or four times as much as Platinum. It is physically better suited for catalytic converters. Auto-makers started making them with Platinum because it was so much cheaper. Some expect that trend to reverse again in time. The only thing that Platinum has that Palladium doesnt is an edge in the jewelry sector. Gold should do better than either of these in a recession. Platinum is the worst PM investement IMO.

Re: Palladium
 

Really? I bought it at $385 and its hit $1300 and, during the correction this summer, it went down, with gold and silver, to the mid $1200s and might go back up. Palladium now being used in its place has slowed it - but the worst PM investment?

Wish any of my other metals had jumped that much!

Re: Palladium
 

For now yes, might change WTSHTF, don't know. :confused:

Re: Palladium
 

Way back when, not too far though in the distant past,

Pt and Pl were roughly the same price.

At that time, Pt was jewelry demand and some industrial.
Pl was the catalytic converter metal of choice.

Pl went on a helluva run, and that had the automakers looking at alternatives. Mind you, at the peak of the run, buyers were REQUIRED to put up more margin than the contract was worth to secure supplies in futures.

Anyway, Pt was found to be a suitable alternate, and the boys started buying Pt. Palladium eventually came off its high horse to sink back to the lows, while Platinum then went on a run greater than Palladium.

In the now, Platinum continues to hold its gains, while Palladium is now moving off those revisited lows.

Worst investment, not really. As with anything, it is all about timing.

Re: Palladium
 

Here are a couple of charts, although they don't go back far enough to show the peak in Palladium

Re: Palladium
 

i just bought my first piece of platinum a few days ago...a half ounce bar of the stuff...i figured that i didnt have any and i probably should have something.
palladium i have a 10 oz bar purchased for $200 per ounce a few yrs ago....looks pretty cool.

Re: Palladium
 

Scorpio - Thankyou...that info was fascinating and something I did not know.

And yes - timing is the key!

Recently I picked up a few ounces of Pl in Maples.......figured it might do what Pt did down the line........especially seeing as Pt is so expensive and I have heard they are doing some new processes with Pl and water.

As for WTSHTF (assuming it does, no one around here ever seems to think we might work thru all this somehow)......my feeling is that: the trouble with both Pt and Pl is that neither is a monetary metal like gold and silver........so if you had to exchange it for food, for example, few would know what to do with it or want it. I see it as purely an investment.

But I am also hearing from certain sectors that Pt may have run its course - somehow I don't think so, especially if the other precious metals move up - tho I suspect its not going to double if gold and silver do.......but who knows? What if mining slows down to to economic or geopolitical events?

Scorpio - got any thoughts on this?

Re: Palladium
 

Yeah, most say WTSHTF and not ITSHTF, I'm one of the 'when' not 'if'. In my life time who knows, I hope not, but throughout history (so far anyway) S has HTF every few decades or so.

Re: Palladium
 

Pd has a wicked spread and is hard to sell compared to the Big Three PMs. It's an industrial metal, not a PM.
That said, I have a bit I picked up as a speculative investment. If the price doubles beyond what I paid, I'm selling.

Re: Palladium
 

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Here is a longer term chart. I bought some in the early nineties, 1 ounce bars from credit suisse.

Re: Palladium
 

Plat is 10x more rare than gold and is used for fuel cell technology. It is better for cat converter manufacturing than pall but too expensive. Pall has taken a hit by auto production slump as they DO use it for converters. Asian countrys do not have polution control standards and do NOT use it so the lack of demand driving the price down is mostly due to automobile sales dropping in west....If you buy pall now, you would be predicting auto sales in usa to turn back up. Pall hit $1300 a few quarters before auto companys reported record sales of vehicles a few years ago and has dropped precipitiously with auto sales of late.

Re: Palladium
 

I have a feeling that in a SHTF situation platinum group metals will not go up,as people will go back to basics and prefer gold and silver as old and tried monetary metals+who will give a damn about catalytic converters in SHTF scenario.

Re: Palladium
 

My Platinum and Palladium chart:

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2207/platinumgv4.jpg

~ n