Like many commodities, Platinum and Palladium have broken out recently and with good reason. As emerging economies seek to reach parity with the standard of living in the western world, there is a rapacious appetite for commodities, hard and soft. Platinum is of special interest, given the development of inexpensive cars worldwide by the likes of TATA motors to US makers adding diesel models with Platinum autocatalysts. For instance, Toyota has confirmed it plans to launch a clean diesel version of its Tundra pick-up truck and the Sequoia SUV. The demand is insatiable given the growth and lack of ability to supply.

Check out these recent spikes in the attached 1 year charts:

As a majority of the production is based in Africa and the miners there have been plagued with constant power outages, the prices have essentially run up uncontrollably. In order to profit from the demise of these overseas producers, there is a Montana-based miner with none of the same operational difficulties that stands to benefit tremendously from any sustained or increasing price levels. The combination of a weakening U.S. dollar, sustained international demand and continued supply issues bode well for Stillwater Mining (SWC).

In an odd coincidence, if you compare the prior year performance of SWC with GLD, the gold ETF that tracks the price of gold bullion directly, they're both up exactly 37%. However, note the rapid ascension of SWC and rather elongated trajectory of GLD. In short, if you believe in the commodities boom and want to capitalize on continued upward momentum, SWC is worth a look.

In an interesting international development, a recent Forbes article highlights the following:

"Two of President Vladimir Putin's most loyal supporters could be going head-to-head to buy mining giant Norilsk Nickel...It's easy to see why the Putin loyalists are willing to battle it out over Norilsk Nickel. Its four main products, nickel, palladium, platinum and copper, have all benefited from strong demand and higher prices."

When the big money's coming after these hard commodities in force, a rising tide lifts all ships.

Note: SWC is releasing earnings on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

Here's a note on what the lack of electricity and mining troubles in Africa mean to this sector:

http://everydayfinance.blogspot.com/2008/02/what-south-african-mining-debacle-means.html

I also recently posted on a new leveraged 2x long and short Gold exchange traded note which you may find interesting:

http://everydayfinance.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-gold-etns-allow-for-double-return.html

Disclosure: I took a long position in SWC during the week of 2/18/08. I have also held GLD for some time now.

Forbes article:

http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/22/usmanov-deripaska-norilsk-face-markets-cx_vr_0221autofacescan04.html?partner=yahootix