Aug 11, 2026
The base metals board is splitting hard: LME lead sits at a 19-year record high while LME aluminum sits at a 19-year record low, with the whole complex pulling in opposite directions on the same day.
LME lead now sits at 421,800 mt, the 100th percentile of a 19-year record, yet the daily tape reads calm at down 0.7%. The tension is in the speed: that record level was built by a 45.8% surge over 30 days, so the position is extreme even as the last print barely moved.
Lead and aluminum are the divergence of the day. Lead holds the top of its 19-year range while LME aluminum sits at the bottom of the same 19-year record, down 11.4% on the month. Two LME sheds, opposite ends of their entire histories.
The COMEX board rhymes with that split. Copper is at a 7-month high in the registered plus eligible pile while total gold slid to a 7-month low and registered platinum sits near the floor of its short run at the 2nd percentile. The paper side agrees with the copper story: managed-money net copper hit 75,758 contracts, the highest since Feb 2021 and the 95th percentile of a 20-year record.
On the energy shelf, SPR crude is the standout, at 304.8 MM bbl, the lowest since Feb 1983, down 6.4% over 30 days. Gasoline stocks are softer but nowhere near as stretched, sitting at the 34th percentile. The data shows a board where the extremes are clustered in metals and in the strategic crude reserve, not spread evenly.
Managed-money funds are the most net-long copper since Feb 2021, at 75,758 contracts. That is the 95th percentile of a 20-year record, up 16.5% on the week and 26.9% over 30 days.
US gasoline stocks are at 209.7 MM bbl, the lowest since Nov 2025. The move is gentle: down 0.8% on the week and 2.0% over 30 days, leaving the level at the 34th percentile of a 37-year record.
LME lead stocks sit at 421,800 mt, the top of a 19-year record. The daily change is a quiet down 0.7%, but the pile has swelled 45.8% over 30 days.
COMEX total gold stocks dropped to 26.60M oz, a 7-month low, down 0.4% on the day and 1.9% over 30 days. The history here runs only a few months deep.
COMEX copper stocks are at 725,875 short tons, a 7-month high, up 0.4% on the day and 7.7% over 30 days. The record is short-run, only a few months of history.
SPR crude is at 304.8 MM bbl, the lowest since Feb 1983. It is down 0.9% on the week and 6.4% over 30 days, sitting at the 1st percentile of a 44-year record.
COMEX registered platinum sits at 193K oz, a 7-month low, essentially flat on the day but down 2.6% over 30 days. That is the 2nd percentile of a short run of history.
LME aluminum stocks fell to 254,900 mt, the lowest in the entire 19-year record. Down 0.6% on the day and 11.4% over 30 days.
Sources: CME Group COMEX warehouse reports, LME warehouse data, EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report, ETF issuer filings, and venue price quotes. Every figure is computed straight from the stored source data; percentiles rank today's level against the series' full record.