Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on investing in Graveyard Plots (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Eric Reed at The Street: Investing in Silver: Four Ways to Invest and Why

o  o  o

Gold, Silver Pressured By Firmer USDX, Rally In U.S. Stock Market

Economy & Finance:

Robert Shiller: ‘This is a very different midterm election,’ and markets may act differently

o o o

Midterm elections and Trump: Tuesday’s vote is a referendum on the president’s economic vision

Stocks:

Stock Market Facing a 2019 Crash: 70% Correction Warning

o o o

Here’s How Stocks Perform After Every Midterm Election Since World War II

Tangibles Investing (Graveyard Plots):

Other writers have mentioned that some preppers buy graveyard plots as places to bury small caches. This wouldn’t be illegal in most jurisdictions, but it would very likely violate the policies of the owner/managers of many graveyards. That could constitute a breach of contract. Also, keep in mind that there are a variety of risks that could compromise such a cache. These include hobbyist metal detectors, or a plot that you own being dug for a grave, by mistake!

One other possibility that I’ve never seen mentioned is using the headstone of a relative as visual reference for locating a hidden USB stick “dead drop” micro-cache. This provides a fairly permanent location that is well-removed from burglars or  government agents armed with search warrants. It also provides plausible deniability for visiting it, at sporadic intervals. (“I was just leaving flowers at Aunt Tillie’s grave…”) Just beware that your greatest enemies will be moisture and lawnmowers. (Any spot on a headstone within 8 inches of the ground can be assumed to be at risk.) A gravestone-mounted flower vase/urn provides some interesting possibilities for hiding a USB stick.  But keep in mind that those vases are vulnerable to theft.

Graveyard plots can also be bought strictly as an investment: Look for graveyards in a booming state that are running out of ground, and that are hemmed in by developments. There, family members will probably be willing to pay inflated prices to be able to find a plot in the same graveyard as a loved one. Surprisingly, the current average rate of return on plot investments is around 8%.

Provisos:

SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for our detailed disclaimers.

News Tips:

Please send your economics and investing news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who particularly watch individual markets. And due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target” investing news. We often get the scoop on economic and investing news that is probably ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!