"With annual revenues of $394 million, Stillwater Mining (SWC) is a small cap play in the palladium, platinum and associated metals mining sector," says technician Leo Fasciocco.

The editor of Ticker Tape Digest explains, "Technically, the stock has broken out from a nine-week flat base. The move carries the stock to an 8-year high.

"Stillwater produces palladium, platinum and associated metals from a geological formation in south central Montana known as the J-M Reef and from the recycling of spent catalytic converters.

"We hear that gold is in a bubble, it can't rise much further and so on," content resource experts Mary Anne and Pamela Aden.

The co-editors of The Aden Forecast explain, "Many wonder, why is it even rising so much? For that, you have to look at history from a global perspective and it'll provide the answer.

"We've often pointed out that gold is money. It has been for thousands of years. Paper money is not really money and there isn't one paper currency that has survived over time.

This article is part of a 20 article special report on "Metals, miners and money".

"We have added palladium and platinum miner, Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC), to the high-risk, high-return Aggressive Growth portfolio," notes Bill Martin. The editor of FindProfit notes that this portfolio is meant to provide "swing for the fences ideas with home-run return potential."

"Stillwater reported disappointing third quarter earnings, as production fell and costs rose due to labor and production challenges. While results should improve materially in Q4, the company is still behind its original plan for the year.

"Despite these near-term bumps, we believe that SWC is on the cusp of a breakout as prices for palladium and platinum continue to strengthen. Platinum, in particular, has been on fire this year, rising more than 25% to nearly $1,500 per ounce.

"This price rise should add $25 million to SWC's bottom line in 2008. Palladium has also been stronger, rising above $350 per ounce, however, that market still has plenty of runway to move higher.

"Finding the right natural resource at the right time can be spectacularly rewarding," notes Ivan Martchev. One such opportunity according to the resources advisor may be palladium.

Here, the in his Vital Resource Investor he looks at the overall market for the metals and a pair of mining plays in this specialized sector – Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC) and North American Palladium (ASE: PAL)

Martchev explains, "Palladium is the only one of the precious metals that still trades nearly 70% below its 2000 high. While that in and of itself doesn't suggest that palladium is undervalued, I think it has great potential."

He points out that the platinum group metals (PGMs) -- platinum, palladium, osmium, ruthenium, iridium and rhodium -- have unique characteristics as industrial metals. The most well known, he observes, is their use in catalytic converters for automobiles.

Indeed, he notes, the catalytic converter market drives platinum and palladium. He explains, "The recent bid under palladium is very much an expression of environmental concerns and tightening legislation worldwide on emission standards, which is likely to get tougher and tougher.

Meanwhile, he points out, "Only platinum and palladium have dedicated miners, while the rest of the PGMs are byproducts of platinum and palladium mining." And, he adds, the majority of PGMs are found in South Africa and Russia.

How do you play it as a US-based investor? He suggests that there are two primary North American miners that deal in PGMs, one in Canada, one in the US. The only US-based producer, he says, is Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC).