The Gold Economy

We generally think of the precious metals as gold, silver, platinum and palladium. They are all metals that could be used in art, jewelry or coinage. The interesting aspect is that gold grabs all of the headlines. For many historic and practical reasons, gold is thought of as the ultimate store of value and that is why it held up better in the midst of the financial crisis over its precious metal cousins (click to enlarge image):

In 2008 the precious metals plummeted with equity markets while gold held up better

It might

On Christmas Day, the Chinese central banks raised interest rates for the second time since October. Surprisingly, commodities soared on the rate hike news. This tightening policy should be bearish for commodities; however, gold, silver and the noble and base metals have been soaring. An up move on a negative news day is very bullish for gold. Precious metals are once again beginning their move.

I expected a rate hike at the Central Bank’s last meeting on December 13, and I wrote that the pause was due to the holiday season and to wait until after the holidays

For the most part of 2010, the typical image of Europe — one of cultural sophistication — has been replaced by widespread riots, burning cars, large-scale strikes over labor reform and unemployment resulting from austerity measures amid a sovereign debt crisis in the region.

Gold Chart’s European Tale

Fear about defaults and more bailouts throughout the European Union has formed a dark storm cloud hanging over the otherwise robust global rally, and pushed gold to an all-time high of $1,432.50 an ounce on Dec. 7.

The market’s emotion related to the European debt crisis is clearly

I have been fairly vocal about my bullish view on precious metals for quite a while. And with yesterday’s surge in prices, I am quite content to ride my positions. However, adding to one’s holdings at decent prices has become problematic as most of the corrections have been shallow, not really affording proper buying opportunities.

Is there a way of still accessing the precious metals complex at relatively good prices? Perhaps. I have never paid much attention to the lesser known of the platinum group metals (PGMs), namely rhodium, but playing around with some commodity charts on the