Kitco is a large international bullion dealer that offers a wide range of precious metals products. They also provide metals prices and market commentary to investors.
They are based in Montreal, Quebec and maintain offices in New York and Hong Kong. They buy and sell gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
Gold
Gold is a precious metal that has long been regarded as a symbol of wealth. It has driven human diplomacy and mass migrations and even acts of genocide throughout history, according to National Geographic (opens in new tab).
Gold occurs naturally as a free element, in nuggets, grains and other rock formations. It can also occur as a natural alloy with silver, copper and other metals and in minerals as gold compounds.
It is a very good reflector of electromagnetic radiation, including infrared and visible light. It is used for a variety of applications, including coatings on artificial satellites and as a reflective layer on high-end CDs.
Gold is a hard and durable metal that is malleable, easy to work with, and is largely nontoxic. It is a valuable investment in today’s world, especially in times of uncertainty and rising inflation, but it has its challenges as well. The price of gold is often driven by sentiment rather than fundamentals, so it’s important to understand the underlying market trends before making purchases.
Silver
Silver has been a popular precious metal for investors in recent years. In fact, it has outperformed gold during many economic periods, including times of growth and expansion.
Kitco is a well-known online resource for precious metals prices and market information. Its site allows investors to find information on the spot price of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.
Founded in the 1970s by Bart Kitner, who was a college student, Kitco has become one of the largest global precious metals companies. It is known for its pioneering tradition of putting market information in the hands of a wider audience.
Kitco also produces the world’s only daily silver fix, a transparent benchmark price that the silver trade relies on to measure the value of the white metal. Its silver fix is derived from a unique algorithm that averages the spot price between bid/offer on the wholesale silver market.
Platinum
Platinum is a precious metal that is used in industrial applications. It is also known for its use in catalytic converters to help reduce emissions from cars.
While platinum is a relatively small market, it can still experience significant fluctuations in prices. However, unlike gold and silver, sentiment plays a much smaller role in platinum pricing.
As a result, the platinum price tends to follow more of an industrial cycle than the other precious metals. This is because it responds to more demand and supply fundamentals.
The platinum price is also more stable than the other two because it is an industrial metal that has a well-defined supply and demand model. This structure helps to ensure that there is never an oversupply of the metal.
Palladium
Palladium is a silvery white metal that was discovered in 1803 and is one of six platinum group metals. It is rarer than gold and silver, and only a handful of deposits are known to exist worldwide.
The most important industrial use for palladium is the catalytic converter that controls emissions from auto engines and reduces carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and other toxic gases in a car’s exhaust system. Over 80% of today’s annual global palladium demand is from this industry alone.
As the automotive industry moves away from diesel fuel and toward petrol vehicles, palladium’s demand will increase. Tightening emissions standards and increasing popularity of EVs are all factors driving this trend.
As a precious metal, palladium can be purchased as bullion coins and bars or jewelry. Bellevue Rare Coins is one of a few local dealers that offers these products in-stock.