Lobo Tiggre: Palladium Investors Must be Cautious
Lobo discusses the performance of the palladium market over the last year and how he was pretty clear that last years price move was unsustainable. The historical pattern for palladium and platinum is that after a spike higher they tend to have corrections. Palladium is rebounding recently. Palladium is primarily an industrial metal and unlike gold and silver is not held by investors. China is undergoing an uptick in manufacturing which will likely spill over to increased demand from vehicle production.
He tells about the supply issues with uranium and how he expects this market cycle will compare with the last. After Fukushima a lot of secondary supply hit the market, but now Japan is restarting reactors. The fundamentals of uranium seem strong with some experts calling for a rally in the market while others still believe there is some secondary supply of uranium remaining.
The report for President Trump from the Department of Commerce regarding uranium supply should arrive soon on his desk. If they recommend a strategic increase in domestic production of uranium, then that could encourage a new U.S. uranium market.
The last few years have had the dollar in the driver’s seat, but now gold is beginning to reassert itself. There is a shift since Q4 2018 where gold is once again becoming seen as a safe-haven asset and as a result, gold has spiked several times. This is an important step that is needed for a breakout.
If your bullish on gold you should be very bullish on silver. The extra volatility in silver can give you extra return.
Time Stamp References:
0:45 – Palladium overview and pullback.
2:50 – Silvery metal review.
5:45 – Uranium market and reactors.
8:30 – Secondary supply with uranium.
11:30 – Commerce dept and uranium
12:50 – Precious metal markets
15:10 – Will 2019 be happy or gloomy.
17:00 – Battery metals and new energy.
Talking Points From This Week’s Episode
• Palladium is driven by industrial demand.
• China’s manufacturing sector may be improving.
• The uranium stage is slowly being set for a bull market.
• Commerce report on uranium is due out soon.
Lobo Tiggre is the founder, CEO, and principal analyst and editor of Louis James, LLC. He researched and recommended speculative opportunities in Casey Research publications from 2004 to 2018, writing under the name “Louis James” for privacy reasons. While at Casey Research, he learned about the newsletter business from Casey co-founder David Galland, and resource speculation from the legendary speculator Doug Casey himself.
Although frequently mistaken for one, Mr. Tiggre is not a professional geologist. Nor does he hold the CFA designation, and he is not a licensed financial advisor. Tiggre is a speculator who, during his time with Doug Casey, also learned from many other industry leaders, including Sprott-Global’s Rick Rule, former newsletter writer Bob Bishop, fellow newsletter writer, and geologist Brent Cook, exploration geologist and multiple mine-finder Ron Parratt, and many others.
Mr. Tiggre is a graduate of Aiglon College in Chesières-Villars, Switzerland. His formal education included studies in physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also studied economics at UNC-Chapel Hill and wrapped up with a magna cum laude BA in sociology from Duke University. Tiggre grew up speaking both Spanish and English. He later learned French, German, and is now working on Russian.
He is happily married with five children. He lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico.