That cushion to the downside I spoke of yesterday was quickly pulled

That cushion to the downside I spoke of yesterday was quickly pulled out from underneath the PGM complex after reports surfaced that striking miners at Lonmin had reached an agreement. Workers at Lonmin’s Marikana mine ended their six-week strike after agreeing to a 22% pay increase. The sell-off for both platinum and palladium was sharp but bargain hunting out of the far-east has the metals holding roughly flat or slightly up from yesterday’s close. Platinum is currently trading at $1635 while palladium trades at $673.50. In global economic news, the Bank of Japan announced a bond buying program of their own pushing Asian stocks higher overnight and leading to a slightly higher open in the U.S. markets. The BoJ’s $127 billion asset purchase is the latest attempt by world Central Banks to defibrillate struggling economies. The European Union and the United States have already taken action and, with the world’s third-largest economy joining the stimulus party, one is left to wonder when China will show up…perhaps sooner than later following PMI data due out overnight.  U.S. housing starts rose by 2.3% in August, outshining July but falling short of expectations. Yet another report on the U.S. housing market, existing home sales due out at 10:00 am EST will be watched with a keen eye as the Federal Reserve’s latest round of quantitative easing was aimed, in part, to support the beleaguered sector. Have a great day!