Both Michael and Mitchell touched on the topic last week, but I wanted to reiterate why platinum should be a part of your portfolio.

 Platinum futures have jumped again, as supply is not enough to meet demand. Platinum topped $1,000 an ounce last week, while gold jumped to over $500 an ounce.

 Platinum rose to an all-time high not seen since 1980, and many are rightly noting that the rise in this metal is related to rises in both gold and silver. However, there's more to platinum's pretty picture than its relationship to gold.

 Last week, traders in Tokyo were doing most of the business surrounding platinum trades in anticipation of key technical levels.

 You see, in a recent report put out by Johnson Matthey, a Refining and Chemical company, it was revealed that the supply of platinum would be 6.59 million ounces whereas demand would require 6.71 million ounces, thereby bumping up the price.

 In addition, for those of you wanting to mix up your metal holdings, palladium stocks are on the rise and should continue to do so, as they ride on the coattails of platinum and gold.

 "You've got all-time highs in platinum, that carried palladium with it. People here are still talking about the Johnson Matthey report," James Quinn, commodities analyst at AG Edwards & Sons, said. "You've got to be impressed with market's action. Much of what we did was just play catch-up with the international markets over the weekend."

 With a weakening dollar and increasing inflation, demand for precious metals is on the rise.

 "The overall backdrop from currencies to inflation is supportive of gold prices," Misha Collins, who holds gold mining stocks as part of the A$72 billion managed by BT Financial Group, said.

 "There has been a change in investors' perspective on commodities as an investment class."

 The fundamentals seem to now be in place for speculative investors to make a pretty penny on precious metal investments over the near term. For anyone interested in adding commodities to their portfolios, the strength of platinum futures and the supply/demand equation are hard to ignore.