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 full capacity magazines (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
Precious Metals:
Gold In 2019: Fed Pausing Could Mean Everything For Gold [1]
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This Market Will Drive Gold Price In 2019 [2]
Economy & Finance:
Debt Worldwide Hits Record $184 Trillion, or $86,000 Per Person [3]. JWR’s Summary: Bankers and government collude to create debt-based funny money–out of thin air. Consumers then go on a low-interest rate buying spree. They become deeply indebted to the bankers, who rake in billions in interest, fees, float, and stock profits. When banks do fail, taxpayers bail them out. When will people wake up an get out of their debt slavery, and demand honest money? Oh, and as a correction to that headline, reader Mark in New York points out: “$184 Trillion divided by 7 billion souls is more like $26,285. per person, not $86K.”
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Stocks
Monday A.M. update: Stocks fall deeper into correction as Dow drops more than 150 points [5]
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The DJIA dropped 500 points on Friday [6]. Over at the CNBC Cheering Section, the stock hucksters are still urging: “Buy on this dip.” As Batman would say: “Those poor deluded souls…”
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Commodities:
I missed this article when it ran last month: Goldman Predicts Commodities Will Soar in 2019 [7]
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OPEC+ production cut proved though process [8]
Cryptos:
On Sunday morning, when I last checked the market value of Bitcoin, it was down to $3,225 USD. That must be painful for the Bitcoin die-hards. My general advice is to never get emotionally attached to any investment–even your tangibles. If you can be dispassionate and ready to sell after very brief deliberation, then you will get burned less often–or at least less extensively. The folks who were committed “buy and hold, long term” in cryptos are now figuratively suffering from extensive 3rd degree burns.
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French Financial Watchdog Blacklists More Cryptocurrency Websites [9]
Tangibles Investing (Full Capacity Magazines):
Incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi can hardly wait to take action, in January. So one tangible investment seems to be almost certain to rise in 2019: full capacity magazines.
New Jersey just implemented an expansion of their old 16+ round magazine ban. The new limit is on 11+ round magazines which they have the temerity to call “high capacity.” The sniveling statist New Jersey courts upheld the ban. Eventually, that law may be struck down by a higher court, since it is a clear violation of the 5th Amendment’s Takings clause. (It is an outright ban without any compensation, and without a grandfather clause.)
I expect a new Federal 11+ round magazine ban to be passed in the now Democrat-dominated U.S. House of Representatives. Whether or not it passes in the Senate is anyone’s guess. But it is safe to assume that our Senators may experience another 1968 or 1994 Senior Moment. And do not assume that any such new full capacity magazines ban legislation will be vetoed by President Trump. If Pelosi and Schumer conspire to bundle it in to a legislative package that includes DJT’s coveted $5 Billion USD in border wall funding, then he may decide that it is all just part of The Art of The Deal [10].
If there is a Federal ban on full capacity magazines enacted, then it will undoubtedly have a grandfather clause [11]. Federal legislators have a long track record of doing so, and the Federal courts uniformly insist upon it.
Regardless of the outcome of the political maneuverings in the District of Criminals, anxiety over future legislation will high. That equates to high demand and high prices. Do you remember the 8+ year drought in .22LR ammo availabilty? Prices of this mundane plinking ammo quadrupled and even quintupled. We may see something similar for 11+ round magazines. Just imagine paying these prices:
- $75 for a 17-round Glock 9mm magazine
- $125 for a 33-round Glock 9mm magazine
- $35 for an alloy USGI AR-15 30 round magazine–and $50 for one made by Colt
- $80 for a steel Ruger factory-made Mini-14 30 round magazine
- $90 for a steel (Sterling) 40-round AR-15/AR-180 magazine
- $500 for a 50-round Thompson SMG drum
- $675 for a Beta C-MAG (100 round drum for AR)
Those are not just speculative numbers that I’m projecting. Those are historical numbers, from “pre-ban” magazine market prices during the 1994-2004 Federal magazine ban. Thankfully, that law had a 10-year Sunset Clause that made it automatically expire in 2004. Just think what will happen to magazine prices if a ban without a sunset clause is enacted!
My advice: Stock up, in quantity! Buy enough full capacity magazines–not for just for yourself, but also your children and grandchildren. Be sure to shop around for the best prices. Stack them deep: AR magazines, PMAGs, Glock magazines, et cetera. My current favorite supplier is GunMagWarehouse.com [12]. They formerly bought advertising space on SurvivalBlog, and now are one of our affiliate advertisers [13]. They are well-known for their fast shipping and competitive prices.
Do not dawdle on this, folks. You can presently buy full capacity magazines at commodity prices. But if you delay in stocking up, then you will probably pay double or triple for magazines–possibly as soon as February of 2019. I’ve heard that many U.S. distributors have already bumped up their prices, so expect to see the prices of guns, magazines, and gun parts to go up, at the retail level, in January.
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!
Comments Disabled To "Economics & Investing For Preppers"
#1 Comment By Ohio Guy On December 17, 2018 @ 11:26 am
@JWR, Good advice on the Magazines! My bi weekly visits to my local sports store always include such purchases. Currently, my magazine collection fills nearly a cubic yard sized box. The “shop chatter” about the possible bans, etc., is the same as you discussed. As always, thanks for helping us all stay informed. God bless.
#2 Comment By Daniel R Miles On December 17, 2018 @ 8:06 pm
In Canada , we are not looking at so much as buying more magazines , rather burying them deeper … out of site ….out of mind
#3 Comment By Brooksy On December 17, 2018 @ 2:16 pm
Good Golly, after the Obummer years you should already have mags coming out of your ears.
#4 Comment By Jeff H On December 17, 2018 @ 2:23 pm
Palmetto State Armory has both their own allow mags and PMAGs for under $10 in their stores.
#5 Comment By anonymous On December 17, 2018 @ 2:25 pm
U.S. Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, that expired in 2004,
I remember having to replace a 13 rnd OEM Glock 21 mag for almost $200, with a worn out used one.
Younger folks don’t seem to feel the pain of that ten years of purgatory…
Up until that point, mags were cheap and expendable…
A cheap piece of metal or plastic that was easily replaceable…
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#6 Comment By Deplorable Silver Stacker On December 17, 2018 @ 3:05 pm
“Debt Worldwide Hits Record $184 Trillion, or $86,000 Per Person.”
I only wish my house mortgage were that low ($86,000). It’s the only debt I have. Everything else is paid off in full monthly.
#7 Comment By No One of Consequence On December 17, 2018 @ 4:35 pm
Are there are any plans out there for a homemade AR magazine? You know, for purely academic study purposes. I know there’s a 3D-printed one, but that’s not practical for everyone.
#8 Comment By Professor Wagstaff On December 17, 2018 @ 6:25 pm
Perhaps a better tactic would be to use an existing, say 5 or 10 round mag and modify it into a 20 or 30 round mag. This would probably be less expensive and more reliable than building one from scratch.
I’m not an expert in these matters, but I’ve done a little research. The most critical part to manufacture are the “lips” that retain the cartridge before its stripped by the bolt. This part can cause the majority of mis-feeding problems, if they aren’t shaped exactly right. They have to be precise and properly heat treated. A lot of poorly manufactured or used mags have this problem.
That being said, I’d like to see a book or article detailing the process of making a magazine from scratch if anyone knows of one.
#9 Comment By No One of Consequence On December 17, 2018 @ 5:07 pm
Also, does anyone know if full-cap magazine parts (full-length springs, followers, etc) were affected by the 94 ban? I can’t seem to find that that information anywhere.
#10 Comment By anonymous On December 17, 2018 @ 6:41 pm
During the AWB, mag rebuild kits with springs, followers and base plates, were available for purchase.
The only problem with that is a lot of mags wear out in the feed area, so the rebuild kit doesn’t help with that issue.
If you find them on sale, a whole new mag right now is cheaper than the rebuild kits were back then.
Also, due to the 3D printer thing, rebuild kits might not be an option this time around, with the legislation closing that loophole.
Buy ten mags per semi-auto right now…
#11 Comment By theirritablearchitect On December 17, 2018 @ 9:04 pm
“During the AWB, mag rebuild kits with springs, followers and base plates, were available for purchase.
The only problem with that is a lot of mags wear out in the feed area, so the rebuild kit doesn’t help with that issue…”
The BATFE made a ruling at one point on this, though it did take some time to surface. The basic premise was that if you owned a full capacity magazine, the springs, followers, baseplates, and even the body, were serviceable items, but cautioned that using parts to assemble a new magazine put you in contravention of the law, though one must wonder how that would be proven.
#12 Comment By Professor Wagstaff On December 17, 2018 @ 6:31 pm
An article on maintaining older mags…
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#13 Comment By L Tecolote On December 17, 2018 @ 8:02 pm
@JWR: “When will people wake up an get out of their debt slavery, and demand honest money?”
It’s a worthwhile question, but sadly, I think the answer is that most never will. Proud graduates of the Public Fool System, they didn’t learn enough arithmetic to fully comprehend their (our) peril in mathematical terms, and the only history lesson they learned really well, was that they so hated studying history, that they are now unable to understand how the Fedgov betrayed us into this dishonest money mess.
#14 Comment By Once a Marine… On December 17, 2018 @ 11:46 pm
Re: The DJIA dropped 500 points on Friday. Over at the CNBC Cheering Section, the stock hucksters are still urging: “Buy on this dip.” As Batman would say: “Those poor deluded souls…”
I know a woman whose grandfather was a member of the AMerican Communist Party from the 1920s, when he lost his farm to the banksters until the 80s when he died. She quotes him as often saying that “The stock market is a game rigged by the rich to steal from the rest of us.”
I often note, as I read SB and left-leaning sites, the many similarities of opinion. It appears there are liberty-loving people at both ends of the political spectrum.
Carry on.
#15 Comment By Old Shooter Dave On December 18, 2018 @ 5:31 am
I was an active collector, shooter and competitor before and during the high cap magazine ban, the Brady Bill, the assault weapons ban. In my opinion, we would be better off if a ban were announced today than we were back then for a couple reasons related to increased production capacity and capability. Here are a few thoughts on the subject:
There are more magazine manufacturers today with far more production capacity than there were 25 or 30 years ago. Since MagPul paved the way, there has been an explosion of manufacturers using new materials and new designs and most of them work darn well: Lancer, HexMag, and Troy spring immediately to mind.
Getting a magazine for an AR in 7.62×39 during the ban was next to impossible. If I was going to stock magazines as an investment, I would diversify to also include magazines forcalibers and guns that are popular, but have less infrastructure in place to support them than the AR15, such as the AR10, the M14, the FAL, the Mini 14, Mini 30, etc.
Pistol magazines are also a good investment, IMHO, but here I would aim for common brands, models and calibers to ensure good demand. I bet most pistol owners have only 2 or maybe 3 mags for their gun.
25 years ago, you owned a Colt if you were lucky and a Bushmaster if you couldn’t afford the Colt. OK, I’m exaggerating a little, but today there are far more manufacturers of AR guns, parts and accessories than there were then. We are truly in a sweet spot of low price, high quality, and enhanced capability today compared to 25 years ago. And it probably won’t last.
AR prices are also lower than ever. You can buy stripped lowers for $39 and full parts kits for $300 to $350 or a base model from a major manufacturer for $500.
Magazine are still a good investment because they wear out, get damaged, get lost, and their absence renders a semi-auto less useful than a bolt action. But I would also stock ammo, the ultimate consumable. And right now, you can buy 1,000 rounds of 55 grain 5.56 for under $300. That’s hard to beat for new, U.S.-made ammo from big name.