Precious Metals And The Patience Of Job: Platinum Continues To Underperform

London (June 5)  Job's patience stands out because of the hardships the biblical character had to endure. Job lost all of his children and his wealth in a single day. After those tragedies, painful sores covered his body, and his wife offered him no support. In fact, she encouraged him to give up, curse God, and die. When Job's three friends came to comfort him, they could not even recognize him from a distance because of his deterioration. Adding to Job's pain, his friends falsely accused him of wrongdoing and blamed his troubles on his unrepentant heart. Through it all, Job patiently endured. Job is an inspirational character in biblical history. When it comes to those holding a long position in platinum these days, the patience of Job is almost a requirement. On a daily basis, platinum continues to torture those who believe that rich man's gold will eventually return its historical position as a metal with greater value. It has been almost three years since platinum traded at a premium to the yellow metal and last year it fell to an all-time modern day low when measured against gold. Platinum traded to $360 under gold in June 2016, and as of June 2, the spread was only $35 away from that record level with platinum trading at a $325 discount to its precious cousin.

All precious metals tried the downside during May, and all have recovered. However, the recovery in platinum has been anemic, to say the least.

Source: SeekingAlpha