![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fundamentalanalytics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Metals-Sep-23-Titled-Figure-1.png\")
<\/p>\nThe front month contracts for gold and silver are down from the close on September 15, 2020, 2.95% and a whopping 10.62%, respectively.\u00a0As we expected and mentioned in our commentary last week, both gold and silver had pronounced moves this week after reaching the narrow end of pennant patterns.\u00a0These moves came after the Federal Reserve provided more \u2018clarity\u2019 regarding the future of interest rates.\u00a0The ratio of the 1-month Gold contract to the 1-month Silver contract (Figure 1) rose significantly by 7.9% compared to last week, reaching levels last seen in early August.\u00a0\u00a0With the front month gold and silver contracts closing yesterday at $1898.60 and $24.44, respectively, the gold\/silver ratio is now 77.68, 18.85% higher than the corresponding 15-year average.\u00a0December gold (Figure 2) closed yesterday at $1907.60, down 2.98% from the close on September 15.\u00a0December silver (Figure 3) closed at $24.52, down 10.71% from the close on September 15.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
From an open interest perspective, gold\u2019s total open interest is up 3% from two weeks ago, but essentially flat from last week, this on volume near its 50-day average.\u00a0The latest CFTC data for gold (9\/15) for non-commercial net position of funds show funds are continuing to increase net long positions. \u00a0But this last report also saw a rise in the number of short non-commercial positions, the first rise since early August 2020.\u00a0\u00a0Silver total open interest fell 2.5% this week, and is on par with total open interest two weeks ago.\u00a0The latest CFTC data (9\/15) show the silver non-commercial net positions of funds continued to rise this last report, driven by an increase in long and decrease in short non-commercial positions.\u00a0As a note, silver total open interest also fell 3.2% on 9\/21, the day the December silver contract fell, indicating closing of long silver positions.\u00a0As the CFTC data showed a continual decrease in short positions, prior to the selloff, it is possible this selloff was overdone.\u00a0The next few days will provide more clarity.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fundamentalanalytics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Metals-Sep-23-Titled-Figure-2.png\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fundamentalanalytics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Metals-Sep-23-Titled-Figure-3.png\")
<\/p>\n
Now for Palladium. December Palladium closed at $2229.6 yesterday down 7.66% from the close last week Tuesday. Total open interest fell 4% last week, giving back the rise seen the previous week. This decrease tied with the fall in the price of palladium indicates the closing of long positions. The latest CFTC report shows net non-commercial fund positions continued to increase, but this was with both an increase in both long and short positions, unlike silver. The palladium\/silver ratio continued to climb this week indicating the weakness in silver, possibly regarding news that Europe is again being affected by COVID. Rhodium is still elevated in price but has given some back since last week. Should rhodium remain elevated and silver resume its climb, indicating continued industrial strength, we would expect to see continued upward pressure on palladium.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fundamentalanalytics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Metals-Sep-23-Titled-Figure-4.png\")
<\/p>\n
If you would like access to the great insights and analysis provided by the Fundamental Analytics platform, sign up for a 15-day free trial<\/strong> <\/a> and demonstration!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n