Latest news with #Platinum
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Platinum Was The Top Performing Commodity In H1
Platinum bars 1000 grams pure platinum,business investment and wealth of platinum,3d ... More rendering Every year around this time, we update our Periodic Table of Commodities Returns to reflect the performance of raw materials in the first six months of the year. I'm biased, but few tools do a better job of providing a clear, interactive snapshot of the commodities landscape than ours. Precious metals dominated in H1. As you can see in the chart below, the group—which includes gold, silver, platinum and palladium—absolutely crushed commodities as a whole, from industrial metals to energy and agricultural. Platinum soared nearly 50%, followed by gold (+26%), silver (+25%) and palladium (+21%). Meanwhile, copper had its own standout run, driven by rising industrial demand and geopolitical catalysts. Precious metals have been the star asset of 2025 Platinum Has Been the Year's Breakout Star After years of range-bound trading, platinum finally broke out in spectacular fashion. The metal surged from just over $900 an ounce in January to around $1,360 by the end of June, representing a 49.8% gain. In Q2 alone, it jumped 35.8%, closing the quarter at a price not seen since 2014. A major factor for the spike was constrained supply. Platinum supply has historically been price inelastic in the short term, according to the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC). Even as prices surged, production remained sluggish, leading to persistent market imbalances. At the same time, demand remained firm, spanning industrial applications, jewelry and its emerging role in green hydrogen technologies. Unlike its cousin palladium, which is heavily reliant on gasoline vehicle manufacturing, platinum benefits from a broader range of demand. It's used in diesel catalytic converters, fuel cells and more. And as the world moves toward decarbonization, platinum's future in hydrogen energy systems makes it increasingly strategic. Gold: Still the Ultimate Safe Haven Gold has always been a barometer of uncertainty, and in 2025, investors had plenty to be uncertain about. Geopolitical tensions flared again in the Middle East, with the Israel–Iran conflict intensifying. In April alone, gold hit five separate all-time highs. By the end of June, it had risen 25.9%, topping $3,300 per ounce. With central banks continuing to buy record amounts of bullion, especially in emerging markets, I believe the metal remains a clear beneficiary of macro concerns. Physically backed gold ETFs attracted a stunning $38 billion in inflows during the first half of the year, marking the strongest performance since the pandemic-fueled rally of H1 2020. North American investors led the charge, adding $21 billion. Trading volumes surged across the board, averaging $329 billion a day globally—a new record, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). Gold trading volumes hit a record in the first half of 2025 There's another trend at work: de-dollarization. Since the U.S. and its allies froze Russian central bank assets in 2022, many nations have grown increasingly wary of holding dollar-denominated reserves. Gold, by contrast, is seen as politically neutral, and central banks have responded by diversifying into the yellow metal at an unprecedented pace. Institutions bought more in the last four years than in the previous two decades combined. Silver's Dual Role as a Precious and Industrial Metal Silver's story is a little different, but no less compelling. It often rides gold's coattails, and in 2025, it's kept pace with the yellow metal, rising nearly 25% through June. Silver briefly surged above $37 in mid-June, levels not seen since 2011, before settling around $36. The white metal stands to benefit from its dual role as both a precious and industrial metal. Demand is rising in green energy applications, particularly solar panels and battery storage. As central bank gold demand continues to outpace silver, I believe silver is undervalued on a relative basis. A return to the historical gold-silver ratio (around 80) could send silver back toward its all-time high of $50 an ounce. Copper: The Metal of the Future Though not a precious metal, copper deserves an honorable mention. It finished the first half of the year up 16.2%, making it the best-performing base metal. What's driving copper's rally? A perfect storm of supply fears, strong demand from artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers, and political noise from Washington. President Donald Trump's surprise announcement of a 50% tariff on imported copper this month sent U.S. copper futures to record highs, adding fresh volatility to an already tight market. And with global supply struggling to keep pace with demand, copper's long-term fundamentals look incredibly strong. Data centers alone are projected to require 127,000 megawatts (MW) of power by 2029, up from 82,000 this year. Each megawatt of capacity needs about 27 metric tons of copper. And that's not even counting the metal's role in electric vehicles (EVs), grid modernization and semiconductors. Energy and Agriculture Were the Laggards Not all commodities shared in the rally. Several energy and agricultural materials ended the first half in the red. Even lithium, once the darling of the EV boom, fell nearly 19%—a reflection of softening battery demand and oversupply from key producers in China and South America. For contrarian investors, this could be an area to watch for opportunities in the second half of the year. Periodic Table of Commodities Returns Precious metals have proven their worth once again as reliable hedges against inflation and geopolitical concerns. Central banks and fiscal imbalances continue to support long-term demand, especially for gold and platinum. Industrial metals like copper are benefiting from secular shifts in technology and electrification. While energy and agriculture struggled, those sectors may offer attractive entry points for investors with a longer time horizon. As always, our interactive Periodic Table of Commodities Returns makes it easy to compare commodity performance across years and sectors.
Miami Herald
30-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Veteran fund manager makes bold move on Costco, American Express
Remember all those math problems about two trains going in opposite directions? Well, forget about them. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Chris Versace, who oversees TheStreet Pro's portfolio, is making some real moves with credit card giant American Express (AXP) and big-box warehouse club operator Costco (COST) . The veteran fund manager said that after a more than 35% gain, which has pushed the shares past his $310 price target, he is downgrading the stock to a Two rating from One. "We will remain owners of AXP shares, looking to tap into what is expected to be Amex's biggest overhaul for its Platinum cards," he said. "In the past, such moves have expanded the array of benefits offered to members, but they have also included a membership price hike." "Those aggregate benefits defray the membership price tag, and we expect that will remain the case," Versace added. American Express, which is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on July 18, said it is refreshing both the personal and business versions of the Platinum Card later this year, which the company called its largest investment ever in a card refresh. Bloomberg/Getty Images "Platinum Card benefits and services resonate across generations, particularly with Millennial and Gen Z who accounted for 35% of total U.S. Consumer spending last quarter," Howard Grosfield, group president of U.S. Consumer Services, said in a statement. Versace said he continues to favor the company's membership business model given the large impact on Amex's profits and bottom-line earnings. Fund manager buys and sells TheStreet Stocks & Markets Podcast #8: Common Sense Investing With David MillerVeteran fund manager reboots Palantir stock price targetCathie Wood sells $9.5 million of popular AI stocks after big rally "As we learn more about this forthcoming upgrade, we suspect a price target increase will be in the cards, and odds are we won't be the only ones," he said. Bank of America Securities said that it was "increasingly encouraged" on the efficacy of an Amex Platinum refresh following a survey of credit card holders The survey found that out of all brands surveyed, American Express cardholders were the least likely to cancel their card and the most likely to keep the card even if the benefits did not change. BofA believes a Platinum card refresh could increase net card fee revenues by 7%. The firm also noted that American Express recently passed the Federal Reserve Board's 2025 Dodd-Frank Supervisory Stress Test (DFAST), an annual exercise conducted by the Federal Reserve Board to assess the financial health of large US banks. "Under the severely adverse scenario, which assumes an unemployment rate of 10%, American Express still produces positive earnings before taxes over the stress test period," said BofA, which maintained its buy rating on American Express shares. American Express shares are up 7.3% since January, while the stock has surged nearly 38% from a year ago. Image source: Bloomberg/Getty Images Turning to Costco, Versace said that he would use the recent retrenchment in Costco from their early June highs to upgrade the shares to a One rating from Two. "While our price target on the shares remains $1,200, we continue to see Costco nabbing consumer wallet share as consumers tap its warehouse offerings and the company continues to expand its footprint," he said. Related: Veteran portfolio manager buys several stocks after US-China trade deal Moving into the second half of 2025, Versace said the company's high-margin membership fee revenue stream should see a more pronounced impact from its September price hike. Costco increased its annual membership fees for the first time in seven years, effective Sept. 1, boosting the Gold Star individual and business membership fee from $60 to $65. The executive membership fee increased from $120 to $130. The company's shares are up 7.75% this year, and the stock is up 16.1% from 2024. Costco's comparable sales have been exceptionally strong, but the pace may start to moderate as major tailwinds from the past year begin to cycle, Wells Fargo analyst Edward Kelly said on June 24, according to The Fly. Gold and gift card sales alone may have contributed over 100 basis points to U.S. comps, though several other factors are also at play, Kelly said. Wells has an equal weight rating and $1,000 price target on Costco shares. Costco Wholesale reported net sales of $20.97 billion for the retail month of May, the four weeks ended June 1, an increase of 6.8% from last year. Net sales for the first 39 weeks were $201.02 billion, up 8% from billion last year. "The next known catalyst for COST shares will be the company's June sales results on July 9," Versace said. Related: Fund-management veteran skips emotion in investment strategy The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
CNBC
27-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Platinum Equity-backed McGraw Hill files for U.S. IPO
McGraw Hill, a textbook publisher and educational courses provider backed by billionaire Tom Gores' Platinum Equity, filed for an initial public offering in the United States on Friday. The move comes nearly four years after the company's $4.5 billion acquisition by Platinum, and coincides with the gradual reopening of the IPO market. Recent strong market debuts, such as stablecoin giant Circle, have also encouraged more companies to list their shares. Columbus, Ohio-based McGraw Hill disclosed a revenue of $2.1 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, up 7% from the year before. Its net loss narrowed to $85.8 million, compared with $193 million a year earlier. McGraw Hill is the holding company of McGraw-Hill Education, which previously attempted to go public but withdrew its filing in 2018. It is one of the most recognized names in the publishing industry, and has a global sales team of nearly 1,500. The company will aim to trade on the NYSE under the symbol "MH". Goldman Sachs is the lead underwriter for the IPO.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Platinum ETF (PPLT) Hits New 52-Week High
GraniteShares Platinum Trust PLTM is probably on the radar for investors seeking momentum. The fund just hit a 52-week high and moved up 58.6% from its 52-week low price of $8.72/share. Are more gains in store for this ETF? Let us take a quick look at the fund and the near-term outlook on it to get a better idea of where it might be headed. This ETF is designed to track the price of Platinum Bullion. The product charges 50 bps in annual fees. Platinum has surged more than 50% in 2025, driven by supply shortages and rising Chinese imports. A projected deficit, declining mine output, weak recycling, and falling inventories are tightening supply. Meanwhile, demand remains strong from autos, jewelry, and a jump in investment inflows. The ETF PPLT might continue its strong performance in the near term, with a positive weighted alpha of 61.16, which gives cues of a further rally. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
Globe and Mail
25-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Silver Finally Confirms Platinum's Take
Another day, another bearish confirmation. And I don't even mean (not one but) two breakdown in silver that we see in today's pre-market trading. Yes, this is bearish. Even if silver moves back up in a way later, the fact that silver moved below the support lines based on the intraday price extremes is already notable. Actually, a move back up (perhaps to the rising support line) before the slide continues wouldn't be surprising at all. Yes, it is in perfect tune with the signals coming from the platinum. And yes, it is particularly bearish given what's happening in the USD Index. But before I move to that, let's take a look at gold. It broke down below its rising support line and continued to decline since that time. Right now, gold is below its late-May high, and with just a little more weakness, June will become a down month for gold. While gold's and silver's breakdowns are important on their own, what makes them truly remarkable is that they both happened while the USD declined. The USD Index corrected a bit today, which is quite normal as it encountered a strong, medium-term resistance. While I fully expect this resistance line to be broken given the significance of the recent buy signals (invalidations of breakdowns + the super-strong long-term support from which the USDX rallied), seeing a pullback right now is simply natural. What is not natural is that both precious metals declined despite that. Think about it: if gold failed to rally despite dramatic increase in tensions in the Middle East and a new military conflict in general AND despite the decline in the USD Index… Then what could possibly drive its price higher here? Yes, there are some extreme cases like the financial system meltdown, introducing of a government-backed cryptocurrency that everyone would be forced to adopt instead of using anything else… But aside of those extreme cases, it looks like there's very little that can contribute to further rallies. I mean, I saw many situations where gold and the rest of the precious metals market was weak throughout 20 years of my precious metals market analysis, but this… This is exceptional. I wrote about how the platinum market confirms all this, and I'm going to add one more detail today: the price-volume link during the most recent price moves. Volume peaked when platinum reversed about a week ago. That was the first top. The second top formed on declining and much weaker volume. This is how it looks like when buying power is drying up. And now, when platinum is starting to decline, the volume is picking up again. Now, please consider the following: the platinum market is tiny market compared to gold and silver. So, if the investment public entered the precious metals market, the impact was likely felt here in the most dramatic way. This is exactly what I think happened – and we saw the exact same thing at the 2008 top. This is extremely important (and quite exciting) to see that during the second top in platinum, the volume actually declined. This is like the first crack in the dam. Perhaps in one of the most investment-public-saturated markets, the wave of buying is ending – the buyers get tired. The buying frenzy is over. And as no new buyers are able to keep pushing the price higher, it can do only one thing – decline. To clarify, when there are no buyers or sellers, the price doesn't stay at the same level – it declines until buyers emerge. So, as it seems that those that enter the market in the final parts of the rally are not only in the market, but that all of them already entered… It tells us that the rally is indeed over. Not just in this market, but in the entire precious metals complex, and perhaps in many other markets. The 2008 top in platinum wasn't an isolated signal just for PMs, was it? If you have your gold as insurance and you're happy with your portfolio as it is, you might simply watch out for the trading long positions here (or consider hedging them). Also, speaking of one's portfolio, we recently published a brand new, interactive, Golden Meadow® Portfolio Calculator which might help to put things into perspective – I encourage you to check it out. Thank you for reading my today's analysis – I appreciate that you took the time to dig deeper and that you read the entire piece. If you'd like to get more (and extra details not available to 99% investors), I invite you to stay updated with our free analyses - sign up for our free gold newsletter now. Thank you. Przemyslaw K. Radomski, CFA Founder, Editor-in-chief
