Daily Vault Briefing ·Aug 25, 2026
Tokyo retail gold is pressing the top of a 38-year record while COMEX gold stocks quietly grind to a 7-month low, two ends of the metal squeezed at once.
8 signals · 2 series crossed a threshold today
Tokyo retail gold (Tanaka) prints ¥26,525/g, the 99th percentile of a 38-year record, up 2.0% on the day and 12.1% over 30 days. Here the level and the velocity agree: extreme and still climbing.
COMEX tells the opposite story on the metal that isn't moving. Total gold stocks sit at a 7-month low, 8th percentile, yet the daily move is a flat +0.1%; registered gold holds the 11th percentile, little changed on the day but down 1.5% on the month. The position is depleted while the daily print is calm, the drain shows up over 30 days, not in the tape.
Copper rhymes against gold rather than with it: COMEX copper stocks hit a 7-month high at 744,265 short tons, 100th percentile, up 5.6% over 30 days, while gold vaults thin out. Two COMEX metals pulling in opposite directions on the month.
Beyond the exchange, SPR crude sits at 293.4M bbl, its lowest since December 1982, down 7.3% over 30 days, and LME tin has bled 26.2% in a month to a 5,230 mt short-run low. The board reads as one steady grind lower in reserves against a metal price pinned near its record.
The U.S. strategic crude reserve stands at 293.4M bbl, its lowest level since December 1982. It's down 1.8% on the week and 7.3% over 30 days.
LME tin stocks fell 2.9% on the day to 5,230 mt, the lowest since December 2025. That's a 26.2% drop over 30 days, though the level still sits mid-range in the 19-year record at the 45th percentile.
Tokyo retail gold priced by Tanaka hit ¥26,525/g, the 99th percentile of a 38-year record. It rose 2.0% on the day and 12.1% over the month.
Total COMEX gold stocks sit at 26.73M oz, a 7-month low, barely changed on the day at +0.1% but down 1.0% over 30 days. The drain is slow, not sudden.
COMEX copper stocks reached 744,265 short tons, a 7-month high and the top of that short record. They're up 5.6% over 30 days.
LME lead stocks stand at 415,800 mt, the 99th percentile of a 19-year record, down just 0.3% on the day but 7.4% over the month.
COMEX registered platinum sits at 193K oz, a 7-month low, flat on the day and down 2.7% over 30 days.
COMEX registered gold, the metal actually pledged for delivery, holds at 14.53M oz, the 11th percentile of its short record. It was little changed on the day and down 1.5% over 30 days.
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.