The Next Winners in the Precious Metals Boom By Brett Eversole 2024 was a resurgence for gold investors... The metal broke and held above $2,000 an ounce for the first time. And its 27% rally beat U.S. stocks, which also had a fantastic year (rising 23%). The reasons for the boom aren't complicated... Gold is the simplest precious metal. It's valuable because people want to own it. It doesn't have many practical uses, making it close to a pure investment market. That's the opposite of basically every other commodity in the world... including the group of precious metals that I'm sharing today. This group of metals gets less attention than gold. But as you'll see, it's poised for big returns in 2025 – thanks to a major trend. Let me explain... | Recommended Links: | | The No. 1 Way to Protect Your Portfolio in 2025 If you're like most people, you might feel anxious about your money as we dive into 2025 – with looming inflation, volatility, and a massive political shift. That's why Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig is launching his unique "New Year Money Challenge." Doc says, "Once you're done with this challenge, you'll have a skill you could use to generate extra stock market income for life." It's a lower-risk approach than buying blue chips, and you could collect $300... $1,000... $3,000... or more every month. See the proof right here. | |
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I expect good things from gold this year. But the bigger opportunity for investors is in platinum group metals ("PGMs"). These include platinum, palladium, rhodium, and a few other, less important metals. PGMs are special because they're rare, dense, stable, and resistant to chemicals and corrosion. But most important, they work as catalysts in a chemical reaction. Crucially, catalysts can start reactions without breaking down along the way... So you can use them over and over again. Because of that, the industrial demand for PGMs is massive. For example, you'll find them in most cars on the road. We use them in catalytic converters, which turn unsafe exhaust into safer gases before they exit the vehicle. So, PGMs are precious metals, just like gold... But unlike gold, their prices rise and fall based on supply-and-demand imbalances. They're far from pure investments. That explains why they're such a great opportunity today. These metals have taken a beating over the past few years... thanks to the rise of electric vehicles ("EVs"). EV sales accounted for less than 1% of new-car sales in the U.S. in 2016. But by 2023, that had grown to an impressive 8% share of that market. And that swift growth has put EVs on a path to overtake internal-combustion vehicles. That seemed like a bad sign for PGMs. These metals – specifically palladium – get huge demand from traditional gas-powered cars. In 2022, the car market made up more than 80% of palladium demand. So it's no wonder PGM prices have crashed in recent years. Take a look...
Platinum is down nearly 30% since peaking in 2021. Palladium is down more than 60% over the same period... And at its worst, the metal dropped more than 70% from its 2022 high. This bloodbath happened on the back of the EV boom. But now, things have changed – because it appears the EV boom got ahead of itself... In the first half of 2024, EVs lost market share in the U.S. for the first time. That might turn out to be a blip on the radar – but it's the first letdown in a growth market that seemed to have nowhere to go but up. Now, I fully expect EV sales to keep growing from here. But that will probably happen at a slower pace... which means long-term PGM demand will be much higher than many thought just last year. This is already turning the palladium market upside down... Johnson Matthey – a major company that makes auto catalysts – expects a platinum shortfall of nearly 600,000 ounces in 2024. That's a 15% increase from 2023. And it's the largest supply deficit in a decade. In short, the EV craze led folks to think we wouldn't need as many PGMs in the future. But the slowdown has led to a setup where we need more of these metals than we're pulling out of the ground each year. When demand outruns supply, the investment outcome is clear... dramatically higher prices. This is the fundamental driver for platinum and palladium in the coming years. And there's more to the story, too. Each of these metals has a specific reason why its price could soar in the months ahead. I'll share those details with you tomorrow. Good investing, Brett Eversole P.S. Next Thursday, I'm joining my friend Rich Checkan (president and chief operating officer of Asset Strategies International) and asset manager Adrian Day on a live webinar. We're planning to cover the metals market, and much more... including my overall outlook on stocks and what to make of the upcoming Trump presidency. The event is free to attend. You can sign up right here. Further Reading "Retail investors simply aren't buying the metal," Brett writes. "But gold has been soaring anyway." Under the radar, a historic shift took place in 2022 that hasn't shown any signs of letting up. And once retail investors rejoin the gold bull market, prices could really take off... Read more here. With the global shift to clean energy, folks are worried about the oil industry. Investor sentiment for the commodity is near a decade-plus low, and prices are near their lowest since 2021. But history shows this is actually a setup for a major oil rally... Learn more here. |
Market Notes HIGHS AND LOWS NEW HIGHS OF NOTE LAST WEEK Alaska Air (ALK)... airline
Delta Air Lines (DAL)... airline
United Airlines (UAL)... airline
American Airlines (AAL)... airline
Constellation Energy (CEG)... utilities
Antero Resources (AR)... natural gas
Cheniere Energy (LNG)... natural gas
EQT (EQT)... oil and gas
Kinder Morgan (KMI)... oil and gas
Crescent Energy (CRGY)... oil and gas NEW LOWS OF NOTE LAST WEEK Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN)... biotechnology
Adobe (ADBE)... cloud services
Western Union (WU)... money transfers
Lennar (LEN)... homebuilder
Conagra Brands (CAG)... packaged foods
General Mills (GIS)... packaged foods
Wendy's (WEN)... fast food
PepsiCo (PEP)... soft-drink maker
Hershey (HSY)... elite chocolatier Tell us what you think of this content
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