3 Metals Outshining Gold

As is typical for the commodity world, all eyes have been fixated on gold in recent months. The precious metal has been under a microscope since the announcement of QE3 and the impending fiscal cliff. Some have called for gold to surge to new historical highs, while others are not quite so sure. But one thing is certain, gold is getting handsomely outperformed by all three of its precious metal counterparts in recent weeks, as the safe haven metal has failed to keep pace as of late [for more precious metals news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

All in all, gold has had a strong 2012, up more than 11%, but its performance in recent weeks has been overshadowed by silver, palladium and platinum. In the trailing four-week period, gold has gained just 2%, as its price has kicked back and forth depending on what news of the fiscal cliff and euro debt woes came about. The other three white metals have been able to turn in much stronger performances. Platinum has jumped by more than 4.3% while silver has tacked on a healthy 6.3% in the trailing four weeks. Palladium, however, has taken a commanding lead by jumping nearly than 11.7% over the same time period.

Still, these nice returns often go unnoticed as the general marketplace seems to have an addiction for all things gold. The movements and potential movements of the yellow precious metal often grab the spotlight, even if there are other assets outperforming it. It is always important for investors to look beyond the major headlines to get a better perspective of the trends impacting the overall commodity world. Below, we outline the most popular ETF for adding exposure to these three precious metals for anyone looking to play the hot hand for the time being [see also 25 Ways To Invest In Silver].

iShares Dow Jones US Home Const. (ETF) (NYSEARCA:ITB)

1. iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV): This physically-backed silver product has more than $10 billion in assets and sees more than 10.2 million shares trade on a daily basis. As far as silver exposure is concerned, investors will be hard pressed to find a more liquid and stable option.

2. ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSEARCA:PPLT): This platinum fund has just over $770 million in assets and has enjoyed gains of nearly 16% thus far in 2012.

3. Physical Palladium Shares (NYSEARCA:PALL): Though it is the smallest of the three funds with just under $500 million in assets, PALL still offers a nice liquidity and physically-backed structure for investors. Note that while this fund has been surging in recent weeks, it is still only up 1.7% on the year, as it got off to a rocky start in 2012 [see also Ultimate Guide To Palladium Investing].

This article was originally written by Jared Cummans, and posted on CommodityHQ.