The Russians also bought a big piece of Stillwater, a US Platinum/Palladium producer.
I don't know what the Russians will do, they could dump Pd to try and shut down North American Palladium and some South Africans, or they could hold back and ramp the market.
If they want to push Pt prices under $200, I'll buy more. If they want run prices up over $700, I will sell a little.
I'm not going more than about 5-10% into Pd, and will usually have some cash. As long as we don't fight the market, we can do well.
A lot of Pt and Pd comes form South Africa, and they are heading into serious long term problems as "political appointees" and friends replace skilled white professionals.
The black skill levels are improving, but there are not enough really good ones being developed at a rate to compnesate for the loss of the current professionals. They might have enough professionals in 25 years, but there is already a huge gap developing. This is of course not "politically correct" but it is widely known in South Africa.
Long term, say 3-10 years, I expect production problems in South Africa.
The Russians are just another market manipulator, like the FED, Bank of Japan, Government of China, OPEC, Auric Goldfinger, the Pentagon, De Beers Diamonds, The Silver Users Association, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Stansdard Oil, Enron, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Apple. |
