Daily Vault Briefing ·Aug 27, 2026
The board splits clean today: physical reserves draining at the bottom of their ranges while price and one copper pile sit pinned at the top.
8 signals · 1 series crossed a threshold today
SPR crude sits at 289.7 MM bbl, the lowest since Nov 1982, down 7.0% over 30 days and parked in the 1st percentile of a 44-year record. That is a reserve that keeps shrinking, not a level holding steady.
The platinum shelf rhymes with it. COMEX registered platinum hit 191K oz, an 8-month low in the 1st percentile, and coverage fell to 6.3%, itself an 8-month low down 13.9% over 30 days. Two thin-history series both pinned at the floor.
Then the divergence worth reading: LME lead sits at the 99th percentile of a 19-year record, yet the 30-day move is down 8.3%. An extreme level draining fast is a different signal than an extreme level sitting quiet, and the gap between position and speed is the story. Tokyo retail gold shows the mirror image, 99th percentile of a 38-year record and up 10.4% over 30 days, so price and physical reserves are pulling in opposite directions.
COMEX copper stands alone at the top, 747,039 short tons, an 8-month high in the 100th percentile, while gold stocks and US gasoline sit low in their ranges. The data reads as full copper, drained reserves, and a gold price at the ceiling.
US gasoline stocks fell to 206.8 MM bbl, the lowest since Nov 2025, down 1.2% on the week and 2.1% over 30 days. That puts inventory in the 26th percentile of a 37-year record.
COMEX total gold stocks sit at 26.90M oz, an 8-month low in the 10th percentile. Up 0.3% on the day but down 0.5% over 30 days, so the daily tick does not undo the slow bleed.
LME lead stocks are at 410,600 mt, still the 99th percentile of a 19-year record. But the level is draining, down 0.4% on the day and 8.3% over 30 days, so a near-record pile is falling fast.
COMEX registered platinum, the metal actually pledged for delivery, dropped to 191K oz, an 8-month low in the 1st percentile. Down 0.9% on the day and 3.6% over 30 days.
Tokyo retail gold hit ¥26,198/g, the 99th percentile of a 38-year record and up 10.4% over 30 days despite a 0.5% dip on the day. Price sits at the ceiling while physical reserves elsewhere sit at the floor.
The SPR fell to 289.7 MM bbl, the lowest since Nov 1982 and the 1st percentile of a 44-year record. Down 1.3% on the week and 7.0% over 30 days, a reserve that keeps thinning.
COMEX copper stocks reached 747,039 short tons, an 8-month high in the 100th percentile, up 0.2% on the day and 5.6% over 30 days. This pile is filling while others drain.
COMEX platinum coverage, registered metal against open claims, fell to 6.3%, an 8-month low in the 1st percentile. Down 0.9% on the day and 13.9% over 30 days, a thin cushion getting thinner.
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.