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American Uranium (AMU:AU) has announced Lo Herma Resource Expansion Drilling Approved
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Will the First Majestic Silver (TSX:FR,NYSE:AG) CEO’s silver price prediction of over US$100 per ounce come true?
The silver spot price has surged over 50 percent in the first nine months of 2025, reaching a 14 year high above US$44 on September 22 after breaking through the US$40 per ounce mark in early September. Silver’s price is rallying on growing economic uncertainty amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and US President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war, supported by long-term demand fundamentals.
Well-known figure Keith Neumeyer, CEO of First Majestic, has frequently said he believes the white metal could climb even further, hitting the US$100 mark or even reaching as high as US$130 per ounce.
Neumeyer has voiced this opinion often over the past decade. He put up a US$130 price target in a November 2017 interview with Palisade Radio, when silver was just US$17, and he also discussed it in an August 2022 interview with Wall Street Silver. He has reiterated his triple-digit silver price forecast in multiple interviews with Kitco over the years, including one in March 2023.
In 2024, Neumeyer made his US$100 silver call in a conversation with ITM Trading’s Daniela Cambone at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, and in April of that year he acknowledged his reputation as the ‘triple-digit silver guy’ on the Todd Ault Podcast.
At times he’s been even bolder, suggesting in 2016 that silver could reach US$1,000 if gold were to hit US$10,000. More recently, he has pushed his expected timeline for US$100 silver back, but he remains very bullish in the long term.
In order to better understand where Neumeyer’s opinion comes from and whether a triple-digit silver price is really in the cards, it’s important to take a look at the factors that affect the metal’s movements, as well as where prices have been in the past and where other industry insiders think silver could be headed.
First, let’s dive a little deeper into Neumeyer’s US$100 silver prediction.
In this article
Why is Neumeyer calling for a US$100 silver price?
Neumeyer believes silver could hit US$100 due to a variety of factors, including its consistent deficit, its industrial demand and how undervalued it is compared to gold.
There’s a significant distance for silver to go before it reaches the success Neumeyer has boldly predicted. In order for the metal to jump to the US$100 mark from US$44, its price would have to increase by around 125 percent. However, silver has already jumped by nearly 160 percent from its price of around US$17 per ounce when he made his US$130 call in November 2017.
Neumeyer has previously said he expects a triple-digit silver price in part because he believed the market cycle could be compared to the year 2000, when investors were sailing high on the dot-com bubble and the mining sector was down. He thinks it’s only a matter of time before the market corrects, like it did in 2001 and 2002, and commodities see a big rebound in pricing. It was during 2000 that Neumeyer himself invested heavily in mining stocks and came out on top.
“I’ve been calling for triple-digit silver for a few years now, and I’m more enthused now,” Neumeyer said at an event in January 2020, noting that there are multiple factors behind his reasoning. “But I’m cautiously enthused because, you know, I thought it would have happened sooner than it currently is happening.”
In an August 2022 with Wall Street Silver, he reiterated his support for triple-digit silver and said he’s not alone in this optimistic view — in fact, he’s been surpassed in that optimism. ‘I actually saw someone the other day call for US$500 silver,’ he said. ‘I’m not quite sure I’m at the level. Give me US$50 first and we’ll see what happens after that.’
Another factor driving Neumeyer’s position is his belief that the silver market is in a deficit. In a May 2021 interview, when presented with supply-side data from the Silver Institute indicating the biggest surplus in silver market history, Neumeyer was blunt in his skepticism. “I think these numbers are made up,” he said. “I wouldn’t trust them at all.”
He pointed out that subtracting net investments in silver exchange-traded products leaves the market in a deficit, and also questioned the methodology behind the institute’s recycling data given that most recycled silver metal comes from privately owned smelters and refineries that typically don’t make those figures public.
‘I’m guessing the mining sector produced something in the order of 800, maybe 825 million ounces in 2022,’ Neumeyer said when giving a Q4 2022 overview for his company. ‘Consumption numbers look like they’re somewhere between 1.2 and 1.4 billion ounces. That’s due to all the great technologies, all the newfangled gadgets that we’re consuming. Electric vehicles, solar panels, windmills, you name it. All these technologies require silver … that’s a pretty big (supply) deficit.’
In a December 2023 interview with Kitco, Neumeyer stressed that silver is more than just a poor man’s gold and he spoke to silver’s important role in electric vehicles and solar cells. In line with this view on silver, First Majestic is a member of a consortium of silver producers that in January 2024 sent a letter to the Canadian government urging that silver be recognized as a critical mineral. Silver’s inclusion on the list would allow silver producers to accelerate the development of strategic projects with financial and administrative assistance from the government.
In this 2024 PDAC interview, Neumeyer once again highlighted this sizable imbalance in the silver’s supply-demand picture. “We’re six years into this deficit. The deficit in 2024 looks like it’s gonna be bigger than 2023, and why is that? Because miners aren’t producing enough silver for the needs of the human race,” he said.
More controversially, Neumeyer is of the opinion that the white metal will eventually become uncoupled from its sister metal gold, and should be seen as a strategic metal due to its necessity in many everyday appliances, from computers to electronics, as well as the technologies mentioned above. He has also stated that silver production has gone down in recent years, meaning that contrary to popular belief, he believes the metal is actually a rare commodity.
Neumeyer’s March 2023 triple-digit silver call was a long-term call, and he explained that while he believed gold would break US$3,000 that year, he thought silver will only reach US$30. However, once the gold-silver ratio is that unbalanced, he believes that silver will begin to take off, and it would just need a catalyst.
‘It could be Elon Musk taking a position in the silver space,’ Neumeyer said. ‘There’s going to be a catalyst at some time, and headlines in the Wall Street Journal might talk about the silver supply deficit … I don’t know what the catalyst will be, but investors and institutions will wake up to the fundamentals of the metal, and that’s when it will start to move.’
In an August 2023 interview with SilverNews, Neumeyer said banks are holding the silver market down. He pointed to the paper market for the metal, which he said the banks have capped at US$30 even in times of high buying.
‘If you want to go and buy 100 billion ounces of (paper) silver, you might not even move the price, because some bank just writes you a contract that says (you own that),’ he noted, saying banks are willing to get short because once buying stops, they push the price down to get the investors out of the market and buy the silver back. ‘… If the miners started pulling their metal out of the current system, then all of a sudden the banks wouldn’t know if they’re going to get the metal or not, so they wouldn’t be taking the same risks they’re taking today in the paper markets.’
The month after the interview, his company First Majestic launched its own minting facility, named First Mint.
In 2024, gold experienced a resurgence in investor attention as the potential for Fed rate cuts came into view. In an interview with Cambone at PDAC 2024, Neumeyer countered that perception, stating, “There’s a rush into gold because of the de-dollarization of the world. It has nothing to do with the interest rates.”
In an April 2025 Money Metals podcast, Neumeyer reiterated his belief that silver is in an extreme supply deficit and that eventually silver prices will have to rise in order to incentivize silver miners to dig up more of the metal.
‘You need triple digit silver just to motivate the mining companies to start investing again because the mining companies aren’t going to make the investment because there’s just so much risk in it,’ he said.
Several market analysts have raised concerns about this silver supply deficit.
Moreover, in April at the Sprott Silver Conference, Maria Smirnova, senior portfolio manager and chief investment officer at Sprott Asset Management, highlighted the deficit as well.
Smirnova explained that silver has been in a supply deficit of 150 million ounces to 200 million ounces annually (or 10 percent to 20 percent of total supply), while production has been stagnant or declining over the past decade. She emphasized that above-ground inventories have declined by nearly 500 million ounces in recent years.
What factors affect the silver price?
In order to glean a better understanding of the precious metal’s chances of trading around the US$100 range, it’s important to examine the elements that could push it to that level or pull it further away.
The strength of the US dollar and US Federal Reserve interest rate changes are factors that will continue to affect the precious metal, as are geopolitical issues and supply and demand dynamics.
Although Neumeyer believes that the ties that bind silver to gold need to be broken, the reality is that most of the same factors that shape the price of gold also move silver.
For that reason, it’s helpful to look at gold price drivers when trying to understand silver’s price action. Silver is, of course, the more volatile of the two precious metals, but nevertheless it often trades in relative tandem with gold.
First, it’s useful to understand that higher interest rates are generally negative for gold and silver, while lower rates tend to be positive. That’s because when rates are higher, investment demand shifts to products that can accrue interest.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Fed cut rates down to zero from 1 to 1.25 percent. However, rising inflation led the Fed and other central banks to hike rates, which negatively impacted gold and silver. In February 2023, the Fed raised rates by just 25 basis points, the smallest hike since March 2022, as Chair Jerome Powell said the process of disinflation has begun. The Fed continued these small rate hikes over the next year with the last in July 2023.
The Fed’s rate moves are currently playing a key role in pumping up silver prices. In early July 2024, as analysts factored in the rising potential for interest rate cuts in the remainder of 2024, silver prices were once again testing May’s nearly 12 year high, and they topped US$31 in September in the days leading up to the anticipated first rate cut.
Heading into September of this year, the silver price was testing 14 year highs as market watchers expected the first rate cuts on the part of the Fed since it paused its interest rate moves in November 2024. The Fed chose to cut rates at the meeting, and silver and gold have both climbed even further in the week following the decision.
While central bank actions are important for gold, and by extension silver, another key price driver lately has been geopolitical uncertainty. The past few years have been filled with major geopolitical events such as tensions between the US and other countries such as North Korea, China and Iran. The huge economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the banking crisis in early 2023, Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, and rising tensions in the Middle East brought about by the Israel-Hamas war have been sources of concern for investors.
Trump’s tariffs have also rattled stock markets and ratcheted up the level of economic uncertainty pervading the landscape in 2025. This has proved price positive for gold, bringing silver along for the ride.
However, silver’s industrial side can not be ignored. In the current environment, the industrial case of silver is weakening in the short term; but longer term still holds some prospects for larger gains.
Higher industrial demand from emerging sectors due to factors like the transition to renewable energy and the emergence of AI technology will be highly supportive for the metal over the next few years. Solar panels are an especially exciting sector as manufacturers have found increasing the silver content increases energy efficiency.
“Even in the US, the policy really is ‘all of the above’ — all forms of energy. So I’m not concerned about solar cells diminishing. Could they go flat? Yeah, that’s fine. Flat at 300 million ounces? That’s great demand for silver,” said former Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) CEO Phil Baker during a May webinar hosted by Simon Catt of Arlington Group.
“(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi made a policy decision a year ago to grow the solar industry in India. So in India, only about 10 percent of their demand for silver is used for industrial purposes. In China, it’s 90 percent, and so what you’re going to have in India is you’re going to see their solar panel growth skyrocket,” he added.
Could silver hit US$100 per ounce?
While we can’t know if we’ll reach a $100 per ounce silver price in the near future, there is support for Neumeyer’s belief that the metal is undervalued and that “ideal conditions are present for silver prices to rise.”
So, if the silver price does rise further, can it go that high?
Let’s look at silver’s recent history. The highest price for silver was just under US$50 in the 1970s, and it came close to that level again in 2011. The commodity’s price uptick came on the back of very strong silver investment demand. While it has yet to reach these levels again, the silver price has increased significantly in recent years.
After spending the latter half of the 2010s in the teens, the 2020s have seen silver largely hold above US$20.
In August 2020, the price of silver reached nearly US$28.50 before pulling back again, and moved back up near those heights in February 2021. The price of silver saw a 2022 high point of US$26.46 in February, and passed US$26 again in both May and November 2023. Silver rallied in the later part of the first quarter of 2024, and by April 12 was once again flirting with the US$30 mark as it reached an 11 year high of US$29.26. Despite pulling back to the US$26 level soon after, by October 22 the price of silver had a nice run in the lead up to the election, rising up to US$34.80.
However, a stronger dollar and signs that the Fed might not be so quick to cut interest rates as deeply as expected were seen as price negative for silver. It was in a downward slide for much of the remainder of the year.
For much of the first half of 2025, silver has followed gold higher on factors including persistent inflationary pressures brought on by Trump’s aggressive tariff announcements and the ongoing geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
On September 22, 2025, the price of silver had reached a 14 year high of US$44.11, up over 50 percent since the beginning of the year.
What do other experts think about US$100 silver?
As silver’s trajectory continues upwards, some silver market experts are agreeing with Neumeyer’s triple-digit silver hypothesis, or at least that the price of silver still has further room to grow.
‘One day the market will run, and if you’re not in, you won’t win it,’ Middelkoop said.
Substack newsletter writer John Rubino sees the silver supply deficit as not only an issue for the industrial sector, but for the COMEX futures markets as well, which could spark a major rally in the silver price.
Rubino explained that there is real danger in an exchange defaulting on delivering physical metal to futures contract traders and needing to pay cash instead. This scenario is likely to trigger panic buying.
He added that he would be shocked if silver didn’t reach US$100 an ounce “somewhere along the way, and it’s possible that much higher prices could happen when the panic buying starts.”
“It’s hard not to reference Keith, our CEO, and triple digit comes to mind pretty frequently now — more people are talking about it,” Alkhafaji explained at the time. He elaborated, “I’m a believer of economics, you look at the mining ratio and that’s sitting at 7:1, yet the price ratio is sitting at 90:1 right now. We just talked about that gold is comfortable at US$3,000, so that tells us that silver needs to play catch up to collapse that ratio.”
‘Another thing that’s important to note is the price inelasticity,’ he explained. ‘Most commodities, when the price goes up, the supply goes up. But with silver, it’s primarily a by-product from base metal mining. It depends on the nature of the recession we get and how severe it is, but that could impact the demand for base metals, and therefore you may not see an increase in mining supply for silver.’
“I think we’ll see new highs in the next 12 months and I think we will recast the highs in the next six months. Recasting meaning US$50 in the next six, and then breaking out to new highs in the next 12 months,” he said.
Concerning his reasons for laying out this path forward for silver, Costa cited the high volumes of silver purchases occurring after days when prices declined, as well as the clear outperformance of silver even when gold is falling.
Analyst firm InvestingHaven is very bullish on the silver market and is expecting prices to test all-time highs in 2025, moving as high as US$49 before blasting through new records in the next few years. InvestingHaven even sees the precious metal reaching as high as US$77 in 2027 and US$82 by 2030.
FAQs for silver
Can silver hit $1,000 per ounce?
As things are now, it seems unlikely silver will ever reach highs of US$1,000 per ounce, which Keith Neumeyer predicted in 2016 could happen if gold ever climbed to US$10,000 per ounce.
This is related to the gold to silver production ratio discussed above. At the time of the 2016 prediction, this ratio was around 1 ounce of gold to 9 ounces of silver, or 1:9. In 2024, it was about 1:7.5.
If silver was priced according to production ratio today, when gold is at US$3,000 silver would be around US$400, or US$333 at 1:9. However, the gold to silver pricing ratio has actually sat around 1:80 to 1:90 recently, and when gold moved above US$3,000 in March 2025, silver was around US$34.
Additionally, even if pricing did change drastically to reflect production rates, gold would need to climb by more than 300 percent from its current price to hit the US$10,000 gold price Neumeyer mentioned back in 2016.
Why is silver so cheap?
The primary reason that silver is sold at a significant discount to gold is supply and demand, with more silver being mined annually. While silver does have both investment and industrial demand, the global focus on gold as an investment vehicle, including countries stockpiling gold, can overshadow silver.
Additionally, jewelry alone is a massive force for gold demand.
There is an abundance of silver — according to the US Geological Survey, to date 1,740,000 metric tons (MT) of silver have been discovered, while only 244,000 MT of gold have been found, a ratio of about 1 ounce of gold to 7.1 ounces of silver. In terms of output, 25,000 MT of silver were mined in 2024 compared to 3,300 MT for gold.
Looking at these numbers, that puts gold and silver production at about a 1:7.5 ratio last year, while the price ratio on June 11, 2025, was around 1:92 — a huge disparity.
Is silver really undervalued?
Many experts believe that silver is undervalued compared to fellow currency metal gold. As discussed, their production and price ratios are currently incredibly disparate.
While investment demand is higher for gold, silver has seen increasing time in the limelight in recent years, including a 2021 silver squeeze that saw new entrants to the market join in.
Another factor that lends more intrinsic value to silver is that it’s an industrial metal as well as a precious metal. It has applications in technology and batteries — both growing sectors that will drive demand higher.
Silver’s two sides has been on display in recent years: silver demand hit record highs in 2022, according to the Silver Institute, with physical silver investment rising by 22 percent and industrial by 5 percent over 2021. For 2023, industrial demand was up 11 percent over the previous year, compared to a 28 percent decline in physical silver investment.
Is silver better than gold?
There are merits for both metals, especially as part of a well-balanced portfolio. As many analysts point out, silver has been known to outperform its sister metal gold during times of economic prosperity and expansion.
On the other hand, during economic uncertainty silver values are impacted by declines in fabrication demand.
Silver’s duality as a precious and industrial metal also provides price support. As a report from the CPM Group notes, “it can be seen that silver in fact almost always (but not always) out-performs gold during a gold bull market.”
At what price did Warren Buffet buy silver?
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) bought up 37 percent of global silver supply between 1997 and 2006. Silver ranged from US$4 to US$10 during that period.
In fact, between July 1997 and January 1998 alone, the company bought about 129 million ounces of the metal, much of which was for under US$5. Adjusted for inflation, the company’s purchases in that window cost about US$8.50 to US$11.50.
How to invest in silver?
There are a variety of ways to get into the silver market. For example, investors may choose to put their money into silver-focused stocks by buying shares of companies focused on silver mining and exploration. As a by-product metal, investors can also gain exposure to silver through some gold companies.
There are also silver exchange-traded funds that give broad exposure to silver companies and the metal itself, while more experienced traders may be interested in silver futures. And of course, for those who prefer a more tangible investment, purchasing physical bullion in silver bar and silver coin form is also an option.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Platinum-group metals (PGMs) include platinum, palladium, rhodium and other metals, all of which are prized for their durability, resistance to corrosion and excellent catalytic properties.
The automotive industry is the world’s largest consumer of these metals, which among other things are used in catalytic converters for vehicle exhaust systems. A rebound and continued growth in auto production is projected in the coming years, particularly in developing markets, and this should increase demand for PGMs, especially when it comes to platinum and palladium.
On the supply side, the platinum market slid into a significant deficit in 2024, which has extended into 2025 and is expected to continue into the next year. These fundamentals led platinum prices to a 12 year high of US$1,495 per ounce on September 23, 2025.
But where do platinum and palladium come from? The list of the world’s top palladium- and platinum-mining countries is a short one, and most PGMs come from South Africa and Russia. We dive into the miners, markets and regulations affecting the top PGM countries below, and you can also learn more about the companies mining these metals here.
Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and electricity shortages in South Africa are expected to seriously hamper the ability of these nations to bring PGMs to market.
So what other countries are platinum and palladium producers, and which countries hold the most platinum and palladium reserves? Below is a list of the five top producers in 2024, as per the latest data from the US Geological Survey.
1. South Africa
Platinum production: 120,000 kilograms
Palladium production: 72,000 kilograms
PGM reserves: 63 million kilograms
South Africa is top of the list of the world’s top platinum producers, with production of 120,000 kilograms in 2024. South Africa is also a major producer of palladium, taking second place globally with 72,000 kilograms last year. The country holds the largest-known reserves of PGMs globally at 63 million kilograms, accounting for over 75 percent of known global reserves.
According to the US Geological Survey, 2024 production of PGMs in South Africa ‘decreased compared with (74,900 kilograms) in 2023 owing to declining prices, higher costs associated with deep-level mining, labor disputes, and ongoing disruptions to the supply of electricity.’
The Bushveld complex is the largest PGMs resource in the world, and represents a large majority of annual global production of platinum and palladium. Impala Platinum Holdings (OTCQX:IMPUF,JSE:IMP), commonly called Implats, is a significant producer in the complex, which hosts the company’s Impala Rustenburg mine, Marula mine, Bafokeng and Two Rivers joint venture.
2. Russia
Platinum production: 18,000 kilograms
Palladium production: 75,000 kilograms
PGM reserves: 16 million kilograms
Despite being the world’s second biggest platinum-mining country, Russia’s annual production trails behind South Africa’s by a large margin, coming in at 18,000 kilograms for 2024. That said, Russia was the world’s top palladium producer in 2024, putting out 75,000 kilograms last year — 3,000 kilograms higher than South Africa’s output.
Russian mining company Norilsk Nickel (MCX:GMKN) is the world’s largest palladium producer, and it plans to invest US$35 billion in infrastructure upgrades between 2021 and 2030, which will ultimately result in higher metals output.
While Russia held its spot as the top palladium producer last year, its palladium production dropped significantly from 87,000 kilograms in 2023. The USGS attributed the drop to ‘disruptions from natural disasters, lower metal grades and ore recovery, ongoing issues related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and planned outages at a major metallurgical plant.’
3. Zimbabwe
Platinum production: 19,000 kilograms
Palladium production: 15,000 kilograms
PGM reserves: 1.2 million kilograms
Zimbabwe is a major producer of both platinum and palladium, producing 19,000 and 15,000 kilograms of the precious metals respectively in 2024. Zimplats Holdings (ASX:ZIM) is the biggest platinum miner in the country, and it is 87 percent owned by Implats.
In October 2022, Zimbabwe introduced a policy that allows it to stockpile physical metals, including PGMs. A change to the country’s existing cash royalties on miners, the rules require mining companies to instead pay the royalties based on their production in a 50/50 combination of cash and refined metals.
The policy currently applies to PGMs, gold, diamonds and lithium. However, it is dynamic, with the option to add or subtract affected metals and change royalty percentages based on factors such as geological scarcity and demand trends.
In January 2025, the Government of Zimbabwe officially implemented a 5 percent levy on unbeneficiated platinum exports, which it had postponed to allow mining companies time to build refining capacity.
In line with the government’s goal of adding value to the country’s platinum products, Zimplats has expanded its smelting capacity and is making slow progress on a US$190 million refurbishment of its mothballed base metals refinery to process PGM mattes into pure platinum metal concentrates.
4. Canada
Platinum production: 5,200 kilograms
Palladium production: 15,000 kilograms
PGM reserves: 310,000 kilograms
Canada’s strong palladium production of 15,000 kilograms tied with Zimbabwe to make it the third highest producer globally in 2024. Canada’s platinum production was also significant at 5,200 kilograms. The North American country’s palladium and platinum production were nearly both on par with the previous year.
The country only holds 310,000 kilograms of known PGMs reserves — the lowest total reserves on this list — but companies continue to explore for PGMs in Canada in search of more deposits.
Canadian PGMs production takes place mainly in the province of Ontario, but PGMs output also comes out of Québec and Manitoba. The country has one primary PGMs-producing mine, the Lac des Iles mine in Western Ontario, which is owned by Implats Canada. The remainder of the country’s production is as a by-product of Canada’s nickel mines.
5. United States
Platinum production: 2,000 kilograms
Palladium production: 8,000 kilograms
PGM reserves: 820,000 kilograms
The United States produced 8,000 kilograms of palladium in 2024 alongside 2,900 kilograms of platinum. The US holds 820,000 kilograms of identified PGM reserves.
Sibanye Stillwater’s (NYSE:SBSW,JSE:SSW) Stillwater Complex in Montana is the only primary producer of PGMs in the US. The company also maintains a smelter, refinery and laboratory in Montana and recovers PGMs from spent catalytic convertor material from vehicles.
Low palladium prices forced Sibanye Stillwater to curtail production and layoff about 700 employees at the Stillwater Complex in 2024. The company has pointed to Russia flooding the palladium market to depress prices.
In response, on July 30, 2025, Sibanye Stillwater and related industry participants filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission (ITC) on imports of unwrought palladium from Russia.
On September 18, the ITC determined there is a reasonable indication the industry was ‘materially injured’ by the Russian imports, and commenced the final phase of investigations.
FAQs for investing in palladium and platinum
What is platinum?
Platinum is a precious metal that belongs to the platinum-group metals category. Platinum has a silverish-white hue and is represented by the symbol Pt and atomic number 78 on the periodic table of elements.
What is platinum used for?
Platinum has several uses, including playing a large role in the auto industry for its ability to reduce emissions. Additionally, platinum is in high demand for jewelry and as an investment metal.
Platinum is also benefiting from growing demand from the hydrogen fuel cell sector. The metal is a key catalyst in the process that converts hydrogen into electricity.
What is palladium metal?
Palladium fits into the precious metals category and is a PGM. It is represented by the symbol Pd and atomic number 46 on the periodic table of elements. Palladium has a silvery-white color and is prized for its rarity.
What is palladium used for?
The automotive sector is the primary end user of palladium. The metal is a key component in the catalytic convertors of internal combustion engine vehicles, where it is used to reduce emissions.
Like platinum, palladium is used in jewelry and valued as an investment. It has other smaller-scale uses, and is consumed in various ways by the medical and dental fields, among others.
What is the best way to invest in palladium?
While there is no single best way to investing in palladium, those interested in gaining exposure to this market have a variety of options. Investors who prefer more tangible assets can add physical palladium to their portfolios, including palladium bullion and coins. Palladium exchange-traded funds such as the Sprott Physical Platinum and Palladium Trust (ARCA:SPPP) and the Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares (ARCA:PALL) offer another route. Palladium-focused stocks are yet another option, with pure-play palladium miners including Sibanye-Stillwater and Impala Platinum Holdings.
Why are metals like gold, platinum and palladium so expensive?
Precious metal gold has long been valued as a form of currency and a store of wealth, all of which have built up its high intrinsic value. Platinum and palladium are 30 times rarer than gold, much harder to mine and are in high demand due to their important industrial uses.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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It can be tempting for investors to focus on specific assets or strategies when building an investment portfolio, but those taking a long-term approach will want to diversify in order to balance out potential portfolio instability.
Gold has a reputation for being a reliable diversifier because it can act as a hedge against various risks.
For those unfamiliar with the term, put simply, a hedge is an investment position whose main purpose is to offset potential losses or gains related to another asset. But how does that work, and what’s the best way to get exposure to gold as a hedge?
Read on for a look at how this strategy works and why it’s worth considering.
In this article
Why use gold investments as a hedge?
Gold is looked at as a hedge investment in many different situations. The first and most popular use of gold as a source of protection is as a hedge against the decline of a currency, typically the US dollar. When the dollar slips, the yellow metal not only becomes less expensive to hold, but also tends to rise in value.
“Gold’s relationship with the dollar is determined by US-based gold supply and demand, as well as by the status of the dollar as the reserve currency globally,” states the World Gold Council. “Historically, a weak dollar tends to provide a stronger boost to gold’s performance than the drag created by a strong dollar.”
By holding the precious metal as a diversification tool when the economy negatively affects currencies, investors can incur gains from the metal’s increased value.
The second reason why gold makes a good hedge is that it can act as a defense against inflation. When the cost of living begins to rise, the stock market often falls. In those cases, investors with assets that are negatively affected by a volatile market need something to balance that out — that’s where gold comes in.
Over the past 50 years, investors have seen gold make huge gains when the stock market is crumbling. As Investopedia points out, “This is because, when fiat currency loses its purchasing power to inflation, gold tends to be priced in those currency units and thus tends to arise along with everything else.”
Interestingly, the yellow metal has also been used as a hedge against deflation, which happens when prices drop, the economy is in a downturn and excessive debt looms. This situation has not occurred since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and to a much smaller degree after the 2008 financial crisis.
Market participants may decide to hoard cash in this type of scenario, and the safest place to hold cash is in gold. Again, while this situation is not commonplace, many investors keep the yellow metal in their portfolios on the off chance that another massive period of deflation will take place.
Finally, gold can be used as a general portfolio hedge when market participants hold investments that are not related to one another. Since the precious metal generally has a negative correlation to stocks, bonds and other financial instruments, investors often diversify by creating a portfolio that combines gold with stocks and bonds in order to reduce both volatility and risk.
While it is true that the yellow metal goes through times of volatility, it has always maintained its value over the long term, making it a steady addition to investors’ portfolios.
Those who have decided to add gold to their portfolio as a hedge have a variety of options. Here’s an overview of three of the most popular ways of getting exposure to gold.
1. How to use physical gold as a hedge
Investors can get the most direct exposure to gold by buying physical gold, and holding the physical metal also adds diversification from digital assets. Physical gold can be purchased through government mints, private mints, precious metals dealers and even jewelry stores.
Physical gold investors should generally focus on 0.999 fine items, as these will also be the easiest to sell. The majority of gold bullion products fit this description.
One of the most common choices for investors are gold bullion coins, such as the South African Krugerrand or the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, which are 0.999 fine. The American Gold Eagle is reputable and popular as well, but has a lower purity at 91.67 percent. Another option is gold rounds, which are similar to coins, but are not legal tender, making them often slightly cheaper.
Gold bars are another popular option, and because they come in a variety of sizes, they can accommodate a range of investors. Large investments may best be made in bars since bigger sizes are available. Further, it is often easier to manage several large products than it is to manage an array of smaller gold items.
When deciding on what to purchase, gold buyers will want to keep their plans for selling in mind. For example, large products may be more difficult and thus slower to sell, meaning it could be harder to take advantage of gold price movements or convert it to cash in an emergency. Individuals making ongoing or significant investments may therefore want to consider purchasing gold in various weights to give them versatility.
Click here to learn more about physical gold as an investment.
Click here to learn what moves the gold price and the highest price for gold is.
2. How to use gold ETFs as a hedge
One of the common ways investors add gold as a hedge is through investing in a gold exchange-traded fund (ETF), which trade on a stock exchange just like equities. There are several kinds of gold ETFs, offering exposure to different aspects of the gold market. Gold ETFs can offer investors access to gold price movements by holding physical gold or the gold futures market through holding futures contracts. There are also gold ETFs focused on gold mining stocks, providing a more stable alternative to investing in individual gold stocks.
It is important to keep in mind that investors who own gold ETFs do not own any physical gold — even gold ETFs that track physical gold generally cannot be redeemed for it, with the exception of the Vaneck Merk Gold ETF (ARCA:OUNZ). Nonetheless, gold ETFs are a good option for getting exposure to the precious metal without personally trading physical gold, gold futures or gold stocks.
Click here for a list of five biggest gold ETFs and more information on gold ETFs.
Click here for a list of top ASX-listed gold ETFs.
3. How to use gold futures as a hedge
A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell gold on a date in the future for a price determined when the contract is initiated. In a gold futures transaction, two parties agree on a price, the amount of gold being purchased and the future delivery month.
The futures market is often referred to as an arena for paper trading. The bulk of the activity is just that, as metal is not actually exchanged and settlements are made in cash. It allows investors to buy or sell gold as they want without management fees, and taxes are split between short-term and long-term capital gains.
In some cases, the futures market can be an arena for purchasing physical gold. However, obtaining gold through the futures market requires a large investment and involves a list of additional costs. The process can be complicated, cumbersome and lengthy, which is why actually buying physical gold through futures is considered best for highly experienced market participants.
Click here to learn more about gold futures.
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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The Democrats have a huge political opening.
With President Trump under fire from all directions — including some in his own party — it’s a rare chance for the opposition to put some points on the board.
And who are the most prominent Dems right now?
One is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The other is Zohran Mamdani.
AOC is uber-liberal, and the New York mayoral candidate is a self-proclaimed democratic socialist.
Many party office-holders, not to mention media and political analysts, say the Democrats’ biggest problem is having lurched too far to the left. A fixation on pronouns, transgender sports and Palestinian rights.
Does that sound like where most of America is in the fall of 2025?
There are plenty of clickbait headlines out there about AOC weighing a presidential race. But what Axios’ Alex Thompson, who had the scoop, actually reported is that she’s considering a White House run or a Senate race, against Chuck Schumer. So not much has changed.
AOC, now in her fourth term, just barely meets the constitutional requirement that a president be at least 35.
But there’s no question that she’s a dynamic campaigner, prodigious fundraiser and social media phenomenon, with an aura of authenticity.
Even Trump told Fox News, ‘She’s got a little spunk, she’s got a little something.’ But, he said, ‘her philosophy is bad for the country. I don’t think that philosophy can come close to winning.’
It’s true that what plays in her Queens-Bronx district doesn’t necessarily play in Peoria. I think she would beat Schumer, an establishment figure who seems to read all his statements, but even in the state there are plenty of conservative regions between the Bronx and Buffalo.
On the House floor, the congresswoman condemned Charlie Kirk’s murder, but said:
‘We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was: a man who believed that the Civil Rights Act that granted Black Americans the right to vote was a mistake, who, after the violent attack on Paul Pelosi, claimed that ‘some amazing patriot’ should bail out his brutal assailant, and accused Jews of controlling ‘not just the colleges — it’s the nonprofits, it’s the movies, it’s Hollywood, it’s all of it.’
She added: ‘His rhetoric and beliefs were ignorant, uneducated and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans.’
So she wouldn’t even vote for a symbolic resolution honoring Kirk, the 31-year-old victim of a targeted assassination. That sort of rhetoric excites her base but isn’t exactly a step toward unity.
Mamdani, who is very likely to become mayor, has a history of socialist rhetoric that he’s trying to soften without retracting it. The inexperienced assemblyman clung to ‘Globalize the Intifada’ — meaning, wipe out Israel — but now says he can see how it’s misinterpreted and won’t encourage its use. He insists that as mayor he would have Bibi Netanyau arrested if he came to the U.N.
And this isn’t ancient history. In 2022, he wrote on his website: ‘We need to dramatically curtail the power and presence of the N.Y.P.D.,’ cut the force by 1,300 officers through attrition, and cut police overtime and freeze hiring.
Why? ‘A racist police system’ aimed at controlling ‘Black & brown New Yorkers.’
Andrew Cuomo, who has been visiting mosques and churches, has turned much more aggressive, calling Mamdani ‘a man with no beliefs’ and ‘a hypocritical chameleon desperate for attention and adulation.’ But, of course, Cuomo was forced to resign as governor. No one remembers that he pledged to drop out of the race unless he was leading Mamdani by September.
The democratic socialist has a double-digit lead, which is why Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed him — she saw the train leaving the station. That prompted a swipe by President Trump, who regularly denounces Mamdani — which might not be helpful in New York City — said he’d have to look closely at federal money going to the Apple.
Trump already intervened in the mayor’s race by dropping an indictment against Mayor Eric Adams, though he failed to lure him out of the race with offers of an administration job.
AOC initially declined the back the long-shot Mamdani, the New York Times reports, but when he got hot she endorsed him as having the best chance to beat Cuomo.
The Republicans would like nothing better than to run against Instagram star AOC and Mayor Mamdani as the face of a hyper-liberal party.
And then there’s Kamala Harris, who’s out peddling her bridge-burning book ‘107 Days,’ starting with a Rachel Maddow sit down. I don’t think she could have beaten Trump in 1,000 days. Harris was a terrible candidate — cautious, risk-averse, hiding from the press for a month, unable to separate from Joe Biden.
I assume she has the self-awareness to realize another run for the White House would damage her further. The book takes shots at Biden (‘reckless’ to run again), Pete Buttigieg (couldn’t pick a gay guy), Josh Shapiro (wanted too much power), and Tim Walz (blew the veep debate). Some have clapped back, often through surrogates (Biden folks calling her a lousy VP).
To bring things full circle, Harris just endorsed Mamdani. But Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have not, undoubtedly for fear of being tied to whatever he does.
There are, of course, whole swaths of the country that want nothing to do with socialism or the far left.
Kamala Harris’ book focuses attention on the past just when the Democrats are desperate to turn the page.
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Only ‘friends and weapons,’ not international laws, can protect against war and authoritarian ambitions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Wednesday during an address to the United Nations General Assembly.
The Ukrainian leader, who has been pleading with the international community to do more to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin amid his more than three-and-a-half-year-long war, once again cautioned that Ukraine may have been the first European nation to bear Moscow’s affront to international order, but it will not be the last.
‘Putin will keep driving the war forward wider and deeper. And we told you before, Ukraine is only the first. And now Russian drones are already flying across Europe,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘Russian operations are already spreading across countries, and Putin wants to continue this war by expanding it.
‘No one can feel safe right now,’ he added.
A general tone of dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the rules-based system has repeatedly rung out during the UNGA as world leaders condemned a growing disregard of international law and human rights amid rising security threats and geopolitical conflicts.
Zelenskyy again argued it is cheaper to stop Putin now than attempt to catch up in an arms race, build underground bunkers across cities and under kindergartens and to try and ‘protect every port and every ship from terrorists with sea drones.’
‘Stopping Russia now is cheaper than wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead,’ he said.
But it wasn’t only the international community’s failure to stop Putin that Zelenskyy addressed.
He pointed to the Israeli hostages who are still held in Gaza and the horrific conditions Palestinians live in.
‘There is simply no other way left [that] nations can speak about the pain from stages like this,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘But even during bloodshed, there isn’t a single international institution that can truly stop it. That’s how weak these institutions have become.
‘What can Sudan or Somalia or Palestine or any other people living through war really expect from the UN or the global system? Just statements,’ he said.
‘In the end, peace depends on all of us, on the United Nations,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘So don’t stay silent while Russia keeps dragging this war on. Please speak out and condemn it.
‘Please join us in defending life and international law and order,’ he added. ‘People are waiting for action.’
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Dr. Ben Carson, a former neurosurgeon who served as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during President Donald Trump’s first term, was sworn in on Wednesday to serve as national advisor for nutrition, health and housing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
‘As National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing, Dr. Carson will advise both President Trump and Secretary Rollins on policies related to nutrition, rural healthcare quality, and housing accessibility,’ a USDA news release states.
‘He will serve as the Department’s chief voice on these matters, join Secretary Rollins for her work on the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission, and partner closely with leadership in USDA’s Rural Development Mission Area.’
‘Today, too many Americans are suffering from the effects of poor nutrition. Through common-sense policymaking, we have an opportunity to give our most vulnerable families the tools they need to flourish,’ Carson noted, according to the release. ‘I am honored to work with Secretary Rollins on these important initiatives to help fulfill President Trump’s vision for a healthier, stronger America.’
Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order to create a Religious Liberty Commission and tapped Carson to serve as vice chair.
While speaking at the American Cornerstone Institute’s Founders’ Dinner on Saturday, Trump announced that Carson will be awarded the presidential medal of freedom, noting there will be a ceremony at the White House to honor him.
Then President George W. Bush awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008.
Carson, who founded the American Cornerstone Institute, ‘is ensuring there is an organization fighting for the principles that have guided him through life, and that make this country great: Faith, Liberty, Community, and Life,’ according to ACI’s website.
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Industry insiders are touting progress made by the Trump administration and local law enforcement to crack down on illicit Chinese vapes, which they say will both protect the youth and bring clarity to the domestic vape retail industry.
The World Vape show announced earlier this month was forced to postpone a Miami, Florida event ‘due to customers experiencing difficulty importing products into the marketplace’ in an industry where the vast majority of imported vapes come from China.
‘Illicit Chinese vapes are a clear warning sign of a broader and violent criminal network. These same organizations trafficking fentanyl – and the violence that comes with it – are turning to counterfeit vapes as a low-risk source of cash flow,’ Hugo Barrera, director of South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, told Fox News Digital.
‘That’s why South Florida HIDTA is actively training law enforcement on how to combat this emerging threat, while also working with prevention partners to educate the public. We’re seeing progress – even trade shows where these illegal deals once took place are shutting down – but there’s still much more to do.’
Over the past 8 months, the administration has vowed to combat the problem of illicit Chinese vapes and choke off the supply chain at the borders and ports after critics in the industry hammered the Biden administration for not doing enough to combat the issue.
Those promises appear to be taking shape at the federal and local level including news of a federal raid earlier this month in Illinois where CBS News reported federal agents seized flavored vaping products.
‘The Chinese are getting richer while our children get sicker,’ HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted on X at the time. ‘We’re putting an end to that.’
‘We are targeting illegal Chinese vapes and we will stop them from poisoning our children. Just last week, I stood with @AGPamBondi after law enforcement seized 50 truckloads of illegal vapes from a Chicago-area warehouse — 90% of them from China.’
In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in a press release it seized almost two million units of ‘unauthorized e-cigarette products’ in Chicago that represented an estimated retail value of just over $33 million.
‘Responsible community retailers are working hard to provide adult smokers with less harmful alternatives to cigarettes,’ Scott Shalley, president and CEO of Florida Retail Federation and Georgia Retailers, told Fox News Digital.
‘Unfortunately, years of inconsistent (or non-existent) regulatory enforcement has allowed unscrupulous retailers to knowingly sell illicit and illegal Chinese products that continue to flood the market and place consumers – and particularly, our youth – at risk. We applaud the recent uptick in enforcement as we work to weed out the bad actors, protect our youth and provide much needed clarity to the retail industry.’
Earlier this month, HHS announced a massive seizure of imported vaping products amounting to 4.7 million units of unauthorized e-cigarette products with an estimated retail value of $86.5 million.
‘Almost all the illegal shipments uncovered by the operation originated in China,’ the government said in a press release. ‘FDA and CBP personnel determined that many of these shipments contained vague and misleading product descriptions with incorrect values, in an apparent attempt to evade duties and the review of products for import safety concerns.’
State and local jurisdictions appear to have increased vigilance in pushing back on China flooding the market with illicit vapes as well.
In Louisiana, Operation ‘Vape Out’ has resulted in 34,000 illegal vapes being seized and at least 10 arrests while Operation ‘Smoke Signals’ in Florida has yielded at least 27 arrests across 20 vape stores.
Edgar Domenech, former deputy director and COO of the DOJ’s Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms & Explosives and a strategic advisor for the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, told Fox News Digital ‘this is more than unauthorized tobacco smuggling.’
‘Federal state and local law enforcement leadership is starting to recognize that these are sophisticated criminal networks trading Chinese vapes alongside hard drugs and guns while they launder profits and evade taxes to cover it all up,’ Domenech said. ‘We need an all-of-government approach to break this monster’s back once and for all.’
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, was among a select group of Democrats who then-Vice President Kamala Harris sought to bolster via a top secret ‘Stars Project,’ the 2024 White House hopeful’s new memoir reveals.
Harris dove deep into her brief presidential campaign in a new book released on Tuesday called ‘107 Days,’ with the title referencing the time between the beginning and end of her 2024 bid.
In one section, Harris discussed planning the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and said it was ‘in the party’s interest to highlight our stars, while we make it as entertaining as possible.’
‘When I became VP, I had a secret project – I called it the Stars Project – that only my senior team knew about. We’d brainstorm about the younger talents in the party and then, on Friday afternoons, I’d invite one or another to visit my office in the West Wing or the residence,’ Harris wrote.
Several were nervous, she recounted, but Harris recalled telling them, ‘No, I think you’re very talented. What are you working on, and how can I help you?’
‘Many of those on my list spoke at the convention: Lauren Underwood, Robert Garcia, Angela Alsobrooks, Lateefah Simon, Maxwell Frost, Joe Neguse, Lina Hidalgo, Jasmine Crockett,’ Harris listed.
Crockett, who has received backlash from conservatives for comparing ICE to ‘slave patrols’ and supporting defunding police, appeared to reference the passage in content she cross-posted on her personal Instagram account.
The post was from a Texas politics-based account called ‘howdypolitics’ that shared, ‘Kamala Harris had a secret project only known to senior staff called the ‘Stars Project,’ to privately mentor rising stars in the party. She made sure that many of them received speaking slots during the convention. That is what Jasmine Crockett was talking about in her speech at the DNC.’
Crockett did reference a meeting with Harris in her speech at the DNC in summer 2024.
‘When I first got to Congress, I wasn’t sure I made the right decision. The chaos caucus couldn’t elect a speaker and the Oversight Committee was unhinged. I was going through all of this when I visited the vice president’s residence for the first time. As I approached Vice President Harris for our official photo, she turned to me and asked, ‘What’s wrong?’’ Crockett recalled.
‘Mind you, we’d never met. But she saw right through me. She saw the distress. I immediately began crying, and the most powerful woman in the world wiped my tears and listened.’
She said Harris told her, ‘You are exactly where God wants you. Your district chose you because they believe in you. And so do I.’
‘The next month I went viral for the first of many times to come for hitting Republicans with a dose of their own medicine. That brief but impactful interaction gave me my legislative legs and I’ve been running ever since,’ Crockett said.
Crockett recently ignited backlash from conservatives after slamming White lawmakers for honoring Charlie Kirk after his assassination.
‘And to be clear, you can wave all the flags you want to, but I am telling you right now that the most unpatriotic people that we have in this country are MAGA and this president. We are the real patriots. And it is time for us to take our flag back and show people what America is about,’ she said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett for further comment on Harris’ book excerpt and her speech at the DNC.
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