For the time being, the bear market for gold futures and stocks over the last year looks as though it may not be letting up anytime soon. Indeed, the yellow metal’s relatively recent and sudden decline has been the unfortunate flipside of the bull market for equities, one that only the most contrarian of metals investors could see as a great buying opportunity.
The notion that gold’s age-old status as a safe-haven investment is nearing its end has become a popular one lately. However hasty a claim this may be, however, there is no doubt that the current circumstances have, for the time being at least, created a situation in which gold products will not be as attractive an option for investors.
In any event, there are other precious metals that could fill the role(s) that gold typically does in a given portfolio. Palladium would have to be one of the best candidates: the metal has rebounded off of a low of $640 per ounce last June/July, to its current price of around $740.
Palladium has the added benefit of having a greater variety of industrial and commercial applications than gold as well, and many commodities analysts have cited it as an alternative precious metal to be taken seriously over the long-term.
Investors who are interested in playing palladium through equities have a number of options available to them, either on the exchanges, the pink sheets, or through exchange-traded funds. The following is a fairly comprehensive list of companies that are, to varying extents, tied to the production and/or manufacturing of palladium:
Stocks
Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV)
Exchange: NYSE
Country: Canada
Sector/Industry: Basic Materials/Gold
Market-Cap: $6 billion
Price: $41.57
Performance (1 year): -26.47 percent
Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. (XPL)
Exchange: AMEX
Country: USA
Sector/Industry: Basic Materials/Gold
Market-Cap: $32.45 million
Price: $0.86
Performance (1 year): -46.71
Handy & Harman Ltd. (HNH)
Exchange: NASD
Country: USA
Sector/Industry: Industrial Goods/Industrial Equipment & Components
Market-Cap: $302 million
Price: $22.89
Performance (1 year): +38 percent
Atlatsa Resources Corporation (ATL)
Exchange: AMEX
Country: South Africa
Sector/Industry: Basic Materials/Industrial Metals & Minerals
Market-Cap: $238 million
Price: $0.53
Performance (1 year): +273 percent
North American Palladium Ltd. (PAL)
Exchange: AMEX
Country: Canada
Sector/Industry: Basic Materials/Industrial Metals & Minerals
Market-Cap: $129.25 million
Price: -0.64 percent
Performance (1 year): -52.63 percent
Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (PLG)
Exchange: AMEX
Country: Canada
Sector/Industry: Basic Materials/Industrial Metals & Minerals
Market-Cap: $443 million
Price: $1.10
Performance (1 year): +34 percent
Stillwater Mining Co. (SWC)
Exchange: NYSE
Country: USA
Sector/Industry: Basic Materials/Industrial Metals & Minerals
Market-Cap: $1.50 billion
Price: $12.50
Performance (1 year): +3.25 percent
Vale S.A. (VALE)
Exchange: NYSE
Country: Brazil
Sector/Industry: Basic Materials/Industrial Metals & Minerals
Market-Cap: $71.9 billion
Price: $13.56
Performance (1 year): -27.75 percent
Metalico Inc. (MEA)
Exchange: AMEX
Country: USA
Sector/Industry: Industrial Goods/Metal Fabrication
Market-Cap: $116.75 million
Price: $2.40
Performance (1 year): +19 percent
ETFs
Physical PM Basket Shares (GLTR)
Exchange: NYSE
Price: $67
Performance (1 year): -27 percent
Physical Palladium Shares ($PALL)
Exchange: NYSE
Price: $72
Performance (1 year): +8.40 percent
First Trust ISE Global Platinum Index ($PLTM)
Exchange: NASD
Price: $12.16
Performance (1 year): -18.25 percent
Physical White Metals Basket Shares ($WITE)
Exchange: NYSE
Price: $38.75
Performance (1 year): -24 percent
On the Pink Sheets
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMPUY)
Country: South Africa
Market-Cap: $6.6 billion
Price: $10.85
Performance (1 year): -41.40 percent
Anglo American plc ($AAUKY)
Country: UK
Market-Cap: $25.75 billion
Price: $10.05
Performance (1 year): -37 percent
Lonmin plc (LNMIY)
Country: South Africa
Market-Cap: $2.75 billion
Price: $4.80
Performance (1 year): +2.7 percent
Aquarius Platinum Limited (AQPBF)
Country: Bermuda
Market-Cap: $311 million
Price: $0.66
Performance (1 year): -34.65 percent
Northam Platinum Ltd. (NMPNF)
Country: South Africa
Market-Cap: $1.4 billion
Price: $3.70
Performance (1 year): -1 percent
Glencore Xstrata plc ($GLNCY)
Country: Switzerland
Market-Cap: $66.7 billion
Price: $10.20
Performance (1 year): -16.50 percent
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FQVLF)
Country: Canada
Market-Cap: $10 billion
Price: $17
Performance (1 year): -16.70 percent
Lundin Mining Corporation ($LUNMF)
Country: Canada
Market-Cap: $2.50 billion
Price: $4.30
Performance (1 year): 15.9 percent
Eastern Platinum Limited (ELRFF)
Country: Canada
Market-Cap: $63.75 million
Price: $0.07
Performance (1 year): -63.64 percent
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