Aug 13, 2026
Base metals are stacking up in warehouses while COMEX gold quietly drains toward a 7-month low, and Tokyo retail gold sits within a point of its 38-year ceiling.
LME lead is pinned at the 100th percentile of its 19-year record, 417,075 mt, after a 44.1% build over 30 days. That is the standout: the level is as high as the series has ever printed, yet the day itself was calm, down 0.8%. The extreme is in the position, not the velocity.
Base metals rhyme on the way up. COMEX copper stocks hit a 7-month high at 731,232 short tons, up 7.8% on the month, and managed-money net copper positioning ran to 75,758 contracts, its highest since Feb 2021 and up 16.5% on the week. Metal is landing in warehouses and the paper crowd is long into it at the same time.
Gold pulls the other way. COMEX total gold sits at a 7-month low, 26.61M oz, and registered gold at 14.45M oz sits in the 5th percentile of its short record, both drifting rather than lurching, down 0.1% and up 0.7% on the day. Registered platinum tells the same story at a 7-month low, 193K oz in the 4th percentile.
So the board splits clean: industrial metal piling into storage against precious metal thinning out of it, while Tokyo retail gold holds the 99th percentile of a 38-year record and SPR crude sits at its lowest since Jan 1983. Two of these extremes are decades deep; the metal moves are the ones building fastest right now.
Speculative funds are long 75,758 copper contracts, the most since Feb 2021 and the 95th percentile of a 20-year record. The position grew 16.5% in a week and 26.9% over the month.
LME lead stocks stand at 417,075 mt, the 100th percentile of a 19-year record after a 44.1% build over 30 days. The daily move was flat at -0.8%, so the extreme is in the level, not today's action.
COMEX copper stocks reached a 7-month high of 731,232 short tons, up 7.8% on the month. This is a short-run high; the record only runs a few months deep.
COMEX total gold stocks eased to a 7-month low of 26.61M oz, down 1.8% over 30 days. The drift is slow, just -0.1% on the day, but the level sits at the bottom of its short record.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds 298.7M bbl, the lowest reading since Jan 1983. It fell 2.0% on the week and 6.5% over the month.
Tokyo retail gold at Tanaka printed 25,143 yen per gram, the 99th percentile of a 38-year record. It rose 1.3% on the day and 8.9% over the month.
COMEX registered platinum sits at a 7-month low of 193K oz, in the 4th percentile of its short record. It was flat on the day and down 2.6% over the month.
COMEX registered gold, the metal available to settle contracts, sits at a 7-month low of 14.45M oz in the 5th percentile of its short record. It ticked up 0.7% on the day but is down 2.1% 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.