Silver and Gold Among 1st Quarter Winners

As we close out the books for the first quarter of 2017, we see trends which have emerged, as well as trends that have continued. As always, there are winners and losers. This year the precious metal’s performance is certainly stellar, especially when compared to U.S. equity indexes which have done extremely well this year.

Commodities did not fare as well. Per MarketWatch, the commodity losers outnumbered the winners during the first quarter of the year. “The first quarter of 2017 has been disappointing, especially after last year’s brief, but promising rebound from a five-year downtrend, as commodities just haven’t managed to gain any traction into the post [U.S.] election-year,” said Adam Koos, President of Libertas Wealth Management Group.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index, a diversified commodity price index, was down roughly 2.5% year to date through Friday. Considering that last year this index gained over 11%, commodities are off to a rough start.

Palladium and Silver Shine Brightest Amongst the Precious Metals

When we look at the commodity complex as a whole, there were only two commodities (lumber and lead) that outperformed palladium and silver. This places palladium and silver as top performers in the commodity complex. Gold closed near the top, in the eighth place, with platinum in 10^th Place, according to MarketWatch.

Most importantly, when we compare the performance of gold and silver to that of U.S. equities, we see that they certainly had a great start this year. Although we do not know what the next quarter will bring, we can safely say that the precious metals are off to a great start. If they continue to gain value, precious metals traders can look for an outstanding performance that will create great opportunities.

Below are first-quarter gains and losses for the major indexes, as well as precious metals and crude oil, and the U.S. dollar. These numbers were compiled using data provided by E-signal and Interactive Data. We used the low price for the first trading day of 2017 along with the closing price for today.

+ 15.2 % - Palladium

+ 12.6 % -  Silver

+ 8.8 % - Nasdaq

+ 8.3% -  Gold

+ 6.8 % - Dow Jones

+ 5.3 % - S&P 500

- 1.7% -  U.S. Dollar Index

-  2.7 % Crude Oil

Wishing you as always, good trading,