|  OCT 1989

Programming for a global perspective by Charles Milmoe

Programming for a global perspective by Charles Milmoe Today's global economy requires a global perspective. In March, when Drs. Pons and Fleischmann's cold fusion announcement directed my attention to palladium, I used the improved capabilities of today's software to enhance my analysis. Palladium, the most undervalued precious metal, has always intrigued me. It is the least expensive metal in the platinum group by one-third. It has the unique distinction of being the only platinum group metal to absorb a large quantity — 900 times its volume—of hydrogen gas into its crystalline lattice. This is probably why Pons and Fleischmann chose palladium as the negative electrode in their experiment. Titanium, tantalum and nickel absorb hydrogen gas, but not to the extent that palladium does. In our high-tech world, unique properties such as this become valuable overnight, as this announcement showed. I analyzed palladium prices from both U.S. and Japanese perspectives. My logic was that, since Japan is the second richest country in the world and has a large dependency on imported energy, the price of palladium in yen would be almost as important as price in dollars.

by Charles Milmoe