Daily Vault Briefing ·Sep 10, 2026
The distillate barrel is draining across both coasts while COMEX platinum thins to an 8-month floor, and copper stocks pull the other way.
8 signals · 2 series crossed a threshold today
East Coast distillate stocks printed 19.3 MM bbl, the lowest in the entire 37-year record, down 8.0% on the week and 12.8% over 30 days. That is a level and a velocity both flashing at once, which is rarer than either alone.
The West Coast rhymes with it: PADD 5 distillate at 9.9 MM bbl, its lowest since May 2025, off 6.7% on the week. Two coasts draining together is the story; SPR crude sitting at 286.6 MM bbl, its lowest since Nov 1982, is the standing backdrop behind it.
On the metals side, COMEX platinum diverges from copper. Registered platinum fell to an 8-month low of 188K oz and coverage collapsed to 5.5%, down 20.0% over 30 days even as the daily move stayed calm at 1.6%. Copper stocks, by contrast, sit at an 8-month high of 767,495 short tons, up 5.7% on the month. When registered coverage runs this thin, small delivery demands move price harder than the level suggests.
The gap worth naming is on platinum: the daily change is quiet at 1.6% while the 30-day slide in coverage is a fifth of the book. Meanwhile Tokyo retail gold holds the 98th percentile of its 38-year record at 24,063 yen a gram, up 1.4% on the day but down 1.4% on the month, an extreme level with a flat pulse.
West Coast diesel-and-heating-oil inventories fell to 9.9 MM bbl, the lowest since May 2025, down 6.7% on the week and 12.5% over 30 days. That ranks in the 3rd percentile of a 37-year record.
East Coast distillate stocks hit 19.3 MM bbl, the lowest in the full 37-year record, down 8.0% on the week and 12.8% over 30 days. Both the level and the pace are extreme.
Platinum available for immediate delivery on COMEX slipped to 188K oz, an 8-month low, down 1.6% on the day and 2.5% over 30 days. That is near the bottom of its short run.
COMEX copper stocks sit at 767,495 short tons, an 8-month high, flat on the day and up 5.7% over 30 days. This is the fullest the shelf has been in its short record.
Tokyo retail gold priced at 24,063 yen a gram, the 98th percentile of a 38-year record. Up 1.4% on the day but down 1.4% over 30 days, an extreme level with a quiet pulse.
Midwest jet fuel stocks rose to 8.2 MM bbl, the highest since Jan 2026, up 1.8% on the week and 12.3% over 30 days. That runs against the distillate draw elsewhere in the barrel.
The share of COMEX platinum registered against open interest fell to 5.5%, an 8-month low, down 1.6% on the day and 20.0% over 30 days. Thin coverage means small delivery demands carry more weight than the raw tonnage implies.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds 286.6 MM bbl, the lowest since Nov 1982, down 1.1% on the week and 6.8% over 30 days. A drained public buffer leaves less standing cushion behind the market.
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.