Daily Vault Briefing ·Aug 28, 2026
The physical board reads thin at the top of the deck: platinum coverage on COMEX sits at an 8-month low while Tokyo retail gold prints in the 99th percentile of a 38-year record.
8 signals · 1 series crossed a threshold today
COMEX platinum coverage held at 5.9%, an 8-month low sitting in the 1st percentile of its short run, yet the tape barely moved on the day. That gap is the story: the level is pinned at the floor while registered platinum, down 2.5% over 30 days, drifts rather than crashes. A calm daily print sitting on an extreme level is a different signal than a sharp one.
Gold coverage rhymes with it, down 11.6% over 30 days to its own 8-month low, again with a flat daily read (+0.1%). Two coverage series parked at short-run lows while total COMEX gold stocks sit at the 12th percentile of the 8-month record; the metal that backs the paper is at the low end of its band, and it got there slowly.
Tokyo retail gold tells the other side. At ¥26,075/g it holds the 99th percentile of a 38-year record, up 10.9% on the month, even as it slipped 0.5% on the day. LME lead sits at the same 99th percentile of a 19-year record but is draining, down 8.8% over 30 days; one series is high and steady, the other high and falling.
On the energy side, SPR crude prints its lowest since Nov 1982 and gasoline stocks their lowest since Nov 2025. The board shows extremes at both ends of the depth spectrum: 38- and 44-year record levels alongside 8-month coverage lows, and in most cases the daily move is quiet under an extreme level.
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 them at the 26th percentile of a 37-year record.
COMEX total gold stocks stand at 27.03M oz, up 0.5% on the day but flat over 30 days. The level sits at the 12th percentile of its 8-month record, near the low end of the band.
COMEX platinum coverage is 5.9%, an 8-month low in the 1st percentile of its short run. It barely moved on the day but is down 19.0% over 30 days, so the extreme built gradually rather than in a single session.
Tokyo retail gold (Tanaka) is ¥26,075/g, the 99th percentile of a 38-year record and up 10.9% over 30 days. It eased 0.5% on the day, a small step down from a very high level.
COMEX registered platinum sits at 191K oz, an 8-month low, little changed on the day and down 2.5% over 30 days. Registered metal is what's actually deliverable, and this is the low end of its short history.
LME lead stocks are 408,500 mt, still the 99th percentile of a 19-year record but drawing down, off 0.5% on the day and 8.8% over 30 days. A high level that is steadily draining.
SPR crude fell to 289.7 MM bbl, the lowest since Nov 1982 and the 1st percentile of a 44-year record. It is down 1.3% on the week and 7.0% over 30 days.
COMEX gold coverage is 34.0%, an 8-month low, essentially flat on the day (+0.1%) but down 11.6% over 30 days. Coverage measures how much registered metal backs open contracts, and it has slid toward the bottom of its short record.
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.