Daily Vault Briefing ·Sep 13, 2026
The physical board is split: copper is stacking bulls and metal at once while the platinum shelf keeps thinning, and the day-over-day tape is calm across almost all of it.
8 signals · 1 series crossed a threshold today
Managed money pushed net copper longs to 82,154 contracts, the highest reading since Feb 2021 and the 97th percentile of a 20-year record, up 12.7% on the week. That is the loudest positioning move on the board.
The paper bet and the physical stock are pointing the same way for once. COMEX copper stocks sit at an 8-month high of 767,504 short tons, registered copper at 479,003 tons, also an 8-month high; both the crowd and the warehouse are leaning long copper at the same time.
Platinum is the mirror image. COMEX registered platinum is at an 8-month low of 186K oz and coverage has collapsed to 5.5%, down 19.1% over 30 days, yet both were essentially flat on the day. The level is at its floor while the daily move has gone quiet, which is the tension worth watching: a thin shelf that stops draining is still a thin shelf.
LME lead tells the same story of a calm tape over a stretched level, sitting at the 98th percentile of a 19-year record but down just 0.6% on the day after an 8.9% bleed over 30 days. Tokyo retail gold holds the 98th percentile of a 38-year record even after a 4.2% fade. The extremes are in the levels, not in today's prints.
Speculative funds hold 82,154 net long copper contracts, up 12.7% on the week and the biggest bullish bet since Feb 2021. That ranks in the 97th percentile of 20 years of positioning data.
Tokyo retail gold sits at 23,769 yen a gram, near the top of a 38-year record at the 98th percentile, even after slipping 1.2% on the day and 4.2% over the month. The level is extreme; the recent drift is not.
The platinum available for delivery on COMEX is down to 186K oz, an 8-month low, off 3.4% over 30 days. It barely moved on the day, so the shelf is thin but no longer draining fast.
LME lead stocks are at 380,025 mt, still high at the 98th percentile of a 19-year record, but down 8.9% over 30 days versus just 0.6% on the day. A stretched level with a suddenly quiet tape.
Total COMEX copper stocks stand at 767,504 short tons, an 8-month high, up 5.0% over 30 days and flat on the day. The warehouse is full and holding.
Copper marked for delivery on COMEX is at 479,003 short tons, an 8-month high, up 3.8% over 30 days. Both the deliverable pool and the speculative long side are building at once.
US jet fuel stocks are at 46.0 M bbl, the 97th percentile of a 44-year record, up 0.3% on the week but down 1.8% over 30 days. A high level with a soft month behind it.
COMEX platinum coverage has dropped to 5.5%, an 8-month low, down 19.1% over 30 days but flat on the day. Coverage measures deliverable metal against open claims; a low reading means a thin cushion behind the paper.
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.