Day: January 18, 2016

Notes for Monday – January 18, 2016

In 1942, Germany began the deportations from Warsaw to Treblinka of Polish Jews. Within the first seven weeks of Himmler’s order, more than 250,000 Jews were taken to Treblinka by rail and gassed to death, making it the largest single act of destruction of any population group. After a four month pause, the deportations started up again on January 18th, 1943. A German SS unit entered the ghetto and began rounding up its denizens, but they did not go without a fight. Six hundred Jews were killed in the street as they struggled with the Germans. These Jews refused to …


Persevering Through the Panic of 2016

The first two weeks of 2016 have been disastrous for both the commodities markets and the equities markets. Looking at the DJIA and the S&P indexes, more than $3.5 trillion has been lost on paper in just two weeks. Crude oil has dropped to around $29 per barrel. There seems to be no end in sight for the bad economic news. I expect to see further deep market declines, intraday “circuit breaker” market interventions, and perhaps even full-day trading suspensions and bank holidays. I must remind you that I’m writing this on a three-day holiday weekend. (Martin Luther King Jr. …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Ruger’s New American Pro 9mm

I’ve been a huge fan of Ruger firearms since 1979, when I bought my first Ruger centerfire rifle in .300 Winchester Mag. Everyone anticipated the first cernterfire semiauto pistol from Ruger in 1985, when it was first announced. Alas, there were problems, and the Ruger P85 didn’t actually come out until 1987. I lived in Colorado Springs, CO at the time and operated a small gun business with a friend out of his gas station as well as gun shows, but we couldn’t get our hands on a P85. One gun shop in the entire city had received one sample, …


Recipe of the Week: Two By Four Soup, by Mama C

Ingredients: 2 cans Ro-tel (tomatoes and green chilis) 2 cans condensed Minestrone soup 2 cans pinto beans or your favorite 2 lbs. ground beef or venison 1 lb. Velveeta, cubed (or similar melting cheese) Directions: In a soup pot, brown ground meat and drain Add rotel, soup, beans, and meat, and cook over medium heat about 15 minutes. Add cheese, turn soup on low until cheese is melted. Stir well. Serve with tortilla chips, bread, or crackers. This recipe can be easily halved or doubled. If I don’t have canned beans, I have substituted diced, canned potatoes. Yummy both ways. …


Letter: Stocks, Gold and Gas

HJL, My wife and I were giving a home school economics lesson at the pumps the other day. We talked to our kids about how most people live and work and the daily driving it requires. My wife and I concluded that this gas price drop has put $350 per month back in the pocket of the average neighbor around here. That is no small thing. I saw sales at my antique store rise in the last half of December and continue at a brisk pace this month. That people are buying used stuff points to the new frugality that …


Economics and Investing:

Brandon Smith: The Advantages of Barter and Localism. Something that we all need to be good at in the coming crisis. o o o The Deflation Monster Has Arrived – G.G. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Credit Crunch Could Be Worse that the Housing Crisis (CNBC) Excerpt: “Oil and gas companies borrowed heavily when oil prices were soaring above $70 a barrel. But in the past 24 months, they’ve seen their values and cash flows erode ferociously as oil prices plunge — and that’s made it hard for some to pay back that debt. This could …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Water matters. “Michigan’s attorney general opened an investigation Friday into lead contamination in Flint’s drinking water, and the governor asked President Obama to declare a disaster as National Guard troops fanned out across this anxious city to help distribute bottled water, water filters and testing kits. The actions drew new scrutiny to an environmental crisis that poisoned the water supply for a year and a half before it was addressed. The contamination has left a city of 100,000 people unable to use tap water for drinking, cooking or bathing…” From the New York Times: Anger and Scrutiny Grow Over Poisoned …