Daily Vault Briefing ·Aug 24, 2026
Tokyo retail gold prints near a 38-year high while three separate warehouse series drain toward multi-year lows, and the crude stockpile keeps grinding to depths not seen since 1982.
8 signals · 1 series crossed a threshold today
Tokyo retail gold (Tanaka) sits at ¥26,001/g, the 99th percentile of a 38-year record, up 1.7% on the day and 9.9% over 30 days. The level is at an extreme and the move underneath it is still climbing, not cooling.
The base-metal warehouses tell the opposite story on the same board. LME lead sits at the 100th percentile of its 19-year record yet is bleeding, down 7.2% over 30 days, while LME aluminum sits at the 0th percentile, off 10.8% over the month. Two metals at opposite ends of their ranges, both draining.
COMEX copper diverges from that drain, up 5.7% over 30 days to a 7-month high, while COMEX gold slips to a 7-month low and registered platinum sits at the 9th percentile of its short run. Where the daily prints are near flat, the 30-day trend is doing the real work.
SPR crude reads 293.4M bbl, the lowest since December 1982, down 1.8% on the week; commercial crude sits comfortably at the 82nd percentile and up 4.7% over 30 days. The strategic reserve and the commercial barrel are pulling in opposite directions.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds 293.4M bbl, the lowest since December 1982. Down 1.8% on the week and 7.3% over 30 days, a 44-year low that keeps grinding lower.
Tokyo retail gold prints ¥26,001/g, the 99th percentile of a 38-year record. Up 1.7% on the day and 9.9% over the month, so the level is extreme and still rising.
COMEX total gold stocks sit at 26.70M oz, a 7-month low. Flat on the day but down 1.4% over 30 days, a slow month-long drift lower.
LME lead stocks read 416,850 mt, the 100th percentile of a 19-year record. Nearly flat on the day yet down 7.2% over 30 days, so a record-high level is quietly draining.
COMEX copper stocks reach 742,778 short tons, a 7-month high. Up 5.7% over the month, the metal has been building steadily even as the daily move sits near flat.
COMEX registered platinum sits at 193K oz, a 7-month low and the 9th percentile of its short run. Unchanged on the day but down 2.7% over 30 days.
US commercial crude holds 428.8M bbl, the 82nd percentile of a 44-year record. Up 1.0% on the week and 4.7% over the month, comfortably stocked, the mirror image of the strategic reserve.
LME aluminum stocks read 246,925 mt, the 0th percentile of a 19-year record. Flat on the day but down 10.8% over 30 days, sitting at the very floor of its range.
Sources and method
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.