Gold and silver are lower this week, with gold down 2% to $1,992 and silver down 6% to $24.00, mostly on recent dollar strength related to interest rate expectations. The view on Wall Street has moderated somewhat, with a possibility for further rate increases in June rising since last week. However, I believe this trend to be short-lived, with further gains likely for gold and silver this year.
 
Platinum and palladium are lower also this week, more likely due to concerns about recession and increasing automobile inventories. Platinum was down 12% to $1,091, and palladium was down 5% to $1,578 for the week.
 
From a year ago today, gold is up 10%, silver is up 11%, with platinum up 16%. Palladium is the outlier, 23% lower than a year ago.
 
There are interesting opportunities for platinum to take shape from both the automotive sector and the pharmaceutical industry. Platinum is an important metal that is useful for the synthesis and manufacturing of new drugs and the complex medicinal compounds being created.
 
It also has higher expected demand in the manufacture, storage, and transportation of hydrogen used to fuel the new eco-friendly hydrogen engines. Remember, platinum was once more valuable than gold and is currently only half the price.