Economics & Investing For Preppers

54 Comments

1. Amazon and Netflix are both being hit hard but 3M(mask maker) and Chlorox are both strong. I know that gold was hit hard by billion$ shorts but silver has also rolled back for reasons I can’t determine. Money fleeing for safety has driven treasurys below key levels and inverted yield curves. Plunge Protection Teams may be acting but getting overwhelmed. Check the action of the last hour of stock market(trading closed to manipulators) a straight drop off gathering momentum to the close.

2. Silver and gold have both taken a hit because in this type of selling people panic and sell everything to raise cash. Silver is also an industrial medal and will suffer when companies suffer. The gold silver ratio is irrelevant at this time. If the economy suffers so will silver. I would expect gold to bounce back faster than silver and gold stocks to suffer far more than bullion.

   In a serious bear market few stocks, even blue chips, will prevail against the tide. We are down 10% from the high in the Dow and S & P 500. Are we looking at 20-30%? Perhaps.

   1. Ditto on silver

   2. Ladywest said:

      “In a serious bear market few stocks, even blue chips, will prevail against the tide. We are down 10% from the high in the Dow and S & P 500. Are we looking at 20-30%? Perhaps.”

      Yes, something like that. Perhaps lower. These modern markets are a different animal that will likely behave differently than market crashes of the past. It is now largely an automated system that has been successfully engineered to these outrageous heights. The virus is the Black Swan event, a game changer, and it may be a very long time before the markets return to recent levels. We are now entering a whole new era. And Trump may now loose the election, and we will have to deal with a communist President controlled by Globalists. Hopefully this virus is not man made, and does not weaken the rest of the global economy to the point that it can no longer support the failing banking system. Trump is being mislead by the deep state controlled CDC, and led to a political slaughter. He will be blamed for everything bad that happens, including the falling markets, an out of control pandemic, and who know what’all will happen next…

      1. I’m really annoyed that everyone is using the word pandemic. It is not yet but this constant talk about it blows everything out of proportion. However, if they don’t talk about it and it gets out of hand then they’ll get brickbats for not talking about it. By any meaningful measure to date it is nothing compared to the pandemic of 1918. 16,000 people die of the regular flu a year. The real problem is if this flu mutates to the lethality of 1918. But only time will tell.

         As I read the financial press, supply lines are already being affected and the market is expecting a quarter of lower GDP. Perhaps the worse is two quarters. This is not the end of the world. But the market is not just worried about the corona virus.

         It’s worrying about a possible Trump loss with someone like Sanders winning (God forbid). Or the guy who wants to buy the presidency. And take your guns away from you.

         It’s worried about earnings which for many companies are not real because as the Fed shovels out dollars they buy back their shares making earnings look great when there is no real organic growth.

         It’s (now) worried about debt which everyone has taken on up to their necks. Governments, corporations and individuals.

         Don’t get me started on computers with their algorithms. I’m too old for that. But basically, the market is too high with all the potential problems and a correction is needed and healthy to show that things don’t grow to the sky forever. The markets reflect human nature. Which is fear and greed. What we have seen the past two weeks is fear which will taper off if the corona virus doesn’t become much worse.

         I also happen to like the CDC. They will be just fine if the government keeps their hands off of it and doesn’t follow through with requiring them to vet everything they say with the WH. You politicize the NIH or CDC by not allowing them to speak freely (in their area of expertise) and it’s all over. My 2 cents.

         1. After deep involvement with the topic since it’s emergence, this is what I believe is currently the situation. I have no credentials, so anyone may easily reject even my best formed argument, and profuse obtuse, or keen suppositions and assertions. There are few facts to offer. For the possible subsequent elucidation of anyone :

            – WHO and the CDC will soon officially announce that this is a pandemic, but only as it becomes obvious. This will likely happen in the next week or two, as the virus has had time to grow exponentially, and severe cases requiring hospital care arrive at the hospitals. Unfortunately most hospitals in this country do not have reliable test kits available, and cannot confirm a diagnoses, and provide appropriate treatment. Italy and Korea have an ample supply of test kits, and has discovered that infection doubles about every 2 to 3 days. It is highly contagious.

            – The CDC has failed to test more than 500 persons, and has ordered hospitals that testing should not be performed. If testing is not performed, there can be no results to report. There is therefore no way to confirm the presents or absence of the virus, and therefore there can be no epidemic declared in this country. However, Orange County in Southern California and elsewhere, have already declared a State of Emergency. Perhaps when major hospitals are forced to turn way those requiring hospitalization for any reason due to flood of demand, perhaps they will begin testing if the CDC permits, and provides reliable test kits. At some point a pandemic will be obvious to all, and market will suffer more.

            – This virus can be considered a ‘black swan’, as it is an unusual and unforeseen event that directly or indirectly, caused a major event to occur that initiates a cascading series of follow-on events that are significant in nature, and commonly considered to detrimental.
            In this situation, the virus caused China to force the quarantine of 750 million person and cease 90% of it’s economic output, that in turn has caused markets to anticipate a sudden reduction in earnings.

            China’s first attempts to restart it’s industries is currently proving to be unsuccessful as workers fear infection, and only 30% has returned to work. The average death rate with hospitalization in China exceeds 2%. It is closer to 15% to 20% without hospitalization. Because of the high infection rate, Chinese hospitals are overwhelm and now staff also becomes infected also succumb. Those who are between the ages of 60 to 69 have a death rate after hospitalization of at least 8%, and as high as 14% as they approach 80 years of age. Without hospitalization, the case fatality rate would be far greater.

            Should it require another month or so,to reignite production, the intertwined small and large businesses in China, will not have adequate capital to resume operations. Markets will likely respond accordingly over time should this occur. Also consider the effect of the virus is not limited to China, and will infect and reduce the output of 52% of the global economy activity that is generated by the counties that are India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand etc. Eventually the other half of the global economy will also decline.

            There is much more, yet I offer this ‘in-a-nutshell’ summation. The world is awash in debt. Unable to service it, can result in a cascade of defaults from top to bottom. I believe there is room to assume that a worst case scenario is possible. It appears that this could be evolving into a ‘perfect storm’.

            Thanks for listening.

            1. Yes, I agree that it can become the perfect storm. Let’s pray that it does not.

               For myself, I found a site a couple of years ago which I particularly like and can be found at…cidrap.umn.edu…where they have established a COVID-19 Resource Center and update it daily. I discovered it because I read a couple of books by its director on weaponized infectious diseases and other issues using his expertise in epidemiology. He’s been warning for years about the potential for just what’s happening. Without success I might add.

               They also have many more technical articles on the genome of various flu and coronavirus strains. More than I can understand.

               Thanks, Tunnel Rabbit, for sharing. It helps my understanding on a difficult subject.

      2. You really don’t need to worry about a Democratic president. The constitution is rigged. Right now senators from states containing less than 20% of the US population can stop any law from passing. A democratic president won’t be able to get anything passed. About the only difference will be laws are actually enforced so the air will be cleaner, your water cleaner, cars will cost less over their life, fewer emergency room visits, pre-existing conditions will continue to be covered by health insurance, social security won’t be cut, medicare won’t be cut, the country will be safer, …

3. Just an observation: if the virus gets general, self isolation will only work if you are truly isolated. This means that you cannot pick up your mail, put out your trash cans, order from Amazon or elsewhere, pump gas, go shopping etc. as humans touch, cough, and breath on all these things. Get your supplies in NOW and be ready to isolate if necessary for an extended period of time if you are in the group of people that are more at risk.

   1. These are also our thoughts… Isolation means ISOLATION. We’re not sure how we’re going to resolve necessary Rxs if the time required exceeds the isolation period, but we’re already talking about that. In addition to gloves and goggles (etc), we have also purchased a UV light wand.

      1. If isolation time is appearing to exceed your limited amount of Rxs, you will need to establish a planned time frame for weaning off of them before they run out so you’re not going cold turkey, which often is a dangerous action.

         1. There are several online pharmacies that will mail order you yours Rx.

            One here is capsule pharmacy.

            On a long term synthetic and natural to some extent pills you can look into back channel Chinese Chemlabs. Just don’t use your physical location for those (it’s a pre isolation move) customs will seize some of them sometimes so you gotta write them off

            Note this is not illegal as long as your not doing narcotics or selling them.

            Most Chem companies if you specify what chemical compound your looking for and state it’s for human consumption will give you a very controlled high quality product.

            It’s the knock off drugs bought from China that are adulterated thier chemists are top notch and chemical supplies are delivered and made professionally.

            If it’s illegal for them to make in China they simply will refuse. If it’s illegal to import the chemical here customs will seize it. If none of the above it’s ok provided you don’t sell lend give or distribute in any way.

            1. Thank you, JMZB! The idea of mail order is a good one. We are going to look into this… Wonder if the pharmacy through which we regularly refill Rxs might even do this, especially under the circumstances. This is something we are going to explore further. Good suggestion!

         2. A good thought for some medicines (and you’re right about weaning when that can be accomplished). Unfortunately not an option for us… We have a complicated and difficult situation. One of our adult children has epilepsy, and has already been in status once related to a seizure event (so is at elevated risk for sudden death from epileptic seizure). That event necessitated the use of several medications (enough to tranquilize the proverbial elephant) and a life flight. Weaning is not one of our options. We are backing up emergency medications should the supply chain fail us. We are also consulting with the specialists. It’s just a tough, tough situation. We are understandably very, very concerned. Many prayers are needed.

            1. Oh, I didn’t realize your situation. It is very concerning indeed. May the specialists be able to give you alternative remedies and may your child, just not ever, ever have another, regardless if the meds., get used up and can’t be replaced. I am sending up prayers for you all! We will need to arm ourselves with the promises of the LORD found in His scriptures for health, healing and FAITH, if and when, we no longer have supplies or access to medical care. These are areas in which we all must prepare ourselves for if this will be the scenario in the future. The Lord WILL BE our only hope and prayer in that day! Psalm 121.

               Blessings,

               Lily

            2. Heartfelt thanks to you, Avalanche Lily, for the beautiful thoughts and prayers. God hears all our voices, and He will answer. The supply chain may fail us, but God never will. His guidance has delivered us all to safety so many times. God never leaves our sides. We know this experience, and the deep truths found in the beliefs of our Christian faith, are known to many among this community too! Thank you, thank you!

            3. T of A

               Does Gabapentin help? I can share our supply.

            4. Wheatley Fisher… Your message in reply to the post brought tears to my eyes. I was simply overcome. How blessed we are to have one another within this amazing community of people. My husband and I want you to know how grateful we are for your offer, and we promise to reach out if we get to that place. Just knowing people like you are there (and available to help) lifts up our hearts, and extends real comfort to us. Please know that we are lifting you and your family up in our prayers of thanks.

               We are working on this every day. Our plan now is multi-fold. We are renewing the primary medication as quickly as the pharmacy will allow us to do so. We have also requested and received Rx’s for 2 emergency intervention medications (should there be even as much as a seizure aura with or without the primary medication). One of these emergency measures is a medicine that dissolves in the mouth. The other is an injection. The good news is that the dissolving medication has refills (limited, but refills nevertheless). We are going to refill those as we’re allowed and for as long as we can, and preserve any unused portions in the freezer — praying these are never needed.

               You know… We had a shortage experience once before when the injection-based Rx could not be produced because the plant was hit by Hurricane Maria. No one could get this medication (not even hospitals) because it simply was not available. It was not so long ago either… In fact, it took a very long time to bring production back online. We were just recently able to refill that medication, and it’s one used commonly in hospitals, by first responders, on life flights, and by family members providing care as we do to a person who is medically fragile due to epilepsy. So many times God has presented us with an experience in life that has prepared us for something else coming. We also know He provides answers at just the right times, and intervenes. He hears our voices, all our voices, and He answers.

               This evening on the news came the report of the first medicine to be in shortage in the U.S. tied to COVID-19. They’re not saying which one it is… I know you’ll understand, and many other readers too, how we felt receiving that report. It was hard, even in the presence of deep faith, to realize that these shortages are already upon us. All of this has happened quickly.

               …and then came your message through the Survival Blog.

               I want you to know how grateful my husband and I are for the blessing and gift of your reply. You and your family are being lifted up to Our Good and Loving Lord in our prayers.

4. Silver to gold ratio today/right now at 96 to 1, what a deal on silver…

   1. Hey NJ Tax Pro, I’d like a second opinion on trading gold for silver. At this ratio it’s obviously an excellent time to trade gold for silver. My understanding is that this is considered a like kind exchange by the IRS and therefore not taxable until the silver is sold at some future date. Can you confirm?

      Related question: if you sell SLV in the stock market and convert it to physical, is that also considered a like kind exchange and therefore not taxable until some future date when the physical is redeemed?

      1. In Rev Rul 82-166, the exchange of gold bullion held for investment for silver bullion held for investment does not qualify for nonrecognition of gain as an exchange of like kind property under section 1031(a) of the Code. As such, you can’t have a like kind exchange between gold and silver.

         If you sell SLV, that is a completed transaction. Buying physical is a separate transaction. The first transaction does not carry over to the second transaction for tax purposes.

         1. Thank you for that reply with citations. 🙂 Same old story, Uncle Sam wins every time.

            Isn’t it also correct that even though SLV and GLD are paper, they still count as collectibles and are taxed as such at a higher rate?

            Thanks in advance!

            1. Correct taxed at 28% flat rate.

               http://www.spdrgoldshares.com/media/GLD/file/SPDR-Gold-Trust-Tax-Information-2019.pdf

5. The stock market is doing abysmal!

   Just look at this chart and see…

   https://hookagency.com/financial-statistics-graphs/

   I mean really that dip is very worry some

   1. Dear j.m.z.b. and NormlChuck,

      This is a warning to you two: You need to STOP making snide comments and jabs. at each other. I am tired of reading and monitoring you two. I’m tired of your “doubting” comments. I don’t have time for it. Those are not acceptable behaviors. This blog is not your playground. I’ve deleted half a dozen comments from you two in the past 24 hours. Keep it civil, post those ideas which will bless and help other people. You have now been warned: Cease and desist, or you will be banned from the Comments area!

      Avalanche Lily

      1. Ok understood. Getting told it’s unwanted ends it

         1. Thank You!

            1. Lily,
               Like a lot of your long-time readers and sometimes-contributors, I have been too busy actually double-checking and adding to my preps to follow the comments over the past 24 hours so I applaud your diligence. I believe those less than civil comments provide a fascinating look into the psyche of some who frequently haunt survival sites such as yours. Since no one other than The Almighty knows what the future holds, the very nature of preparedness planning is entirely hypothetical. I would argue most of us understand this. I find it amusing that some will defend to the death and insult those who do not agree that THEIR way is the best and only way to do, think, or believe, despite the fact that none of us really knows what the future holds. We can only try and do the best we can. As a reminder to all: prepping/investing/life advice from random, anonymous people on the internet should always be taken with a grain of salt.
               Thanks again to you and JWR for giving us SurvivalBlog and may God bless you in the troubling times ahead.

            2. Well said, D.D,!

      2. A.L.
         Thanks for your diligence on this. I was considering saying something, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Thank you & Jim for providing this forum, & keeping it civil.

6. What I want to know, but at what level of performance and drop do we see a loss of faith in the stock (market) system.

   What would the key loss triggers be for us to get ready to dump our green backs whole sale into tangibles with no real regard for rent payments?

   Cuz looking at historical data there is a long distance before we hit 2009 and 2009 was hardship levels no collapse

7. Not sure how to link the article here, but some drivel from the Atlantic ragazine showed up in my news titled “The Mysterious Meaning of the Second Amendment.” Against my blood pressure’s be better judgement I read it. Another attempt by the Left to obfuscate and confuse people on not only the right, but the duty contained in the Second Amendment. This time using computers to scan documents for word groupings. For those who accept this I see it as one more brick in the digital panopticon being constructed.

   1. Gun control laws issues statements …. Ridiculous.

      Magazine restrictions… Fundamentally asinine.
      It don’t matter if it’s got 5 or 50 rounds. A firearm is a fire arm.

      I could be wrong but I highly doubt that any fire arm (at this point) has ever walked it’s self out of its case and started shooting. Maybe some of these new computer controlled on will ….

      Here in NYC they have almost totally disarmed the populace … No knife bigger than 4 inches any thing framed to have been modified or used in a way to injury people is illegal.

      The result? With a totally legally disarmed populace?

      Well you got criminals still shooting people still mugging people raping people…. There was a period of time not to long ago when the criminal element was walking around randomly stabbing people.

      I been here 5 years and have never seen the murder rate for a year get below 100…. In fact they had blizzards come in one year and shut the city down kinda and celebrated that they had a month with less than 100 murders.

      Meanwhile in my home town you can still throw your gun on a rack and drive around…. Thier murder rate is like 3 a year….

8. With stocks in a massive selloff, my question is, who is doing the buying?

   1. This is total capitulation. I’ve been through this before a few times, and know how it feels. It’ll bottom somewhere between 25 and 50%, and then bounce around for awhile looking for support. Most of the selling is automated. It is tripping all the stop losses, and causing massive margin calls that force the sale of everything not in the account to satisfy the call. And the shorts pile in and sell some more, adding downward momentum. It is like a wildfire that creates it’s own winds. Once it is out of fuel, it will slow down, and then the Plunge Protection Team can stabilize it, and then it will recover some of the loss we are seeing. It’s not the end of the world.

9. A tip to those looking for N95 masks- most big box and online retailers have limited stock or are sold out. Price gouging is being reported.
   I just visited one of my drywall distributors- they still stock N95s and price is better than big boxes pre- WuFlu scare. I picked up 4 boxes of (10) for less than $100.
   Most wholesalers dont sell to the public, but for those in need of this prep- maybe you know someone in the business that help you out. Most metro areas have many construction wholesalers- many haven’t been ransacked yet.

10. I want to get the opinion of readers in this forum. Lagging mortality rate consideration: nobody that gets sick dies immediately, there is at minimum a 1 week delay as the body tries to fight and succumbs. Of the 83k confirmed infected, the current count is 36,686 “recovered.” That leaves some 43k+ (less the 2,858 unfortunate souls) still in limbo. The point here being the case fatality rate is probably not as simple as the 2,867 / 83,867 = 3.4%. I’ve read that there are discussions in the medical community that we should be looking at the infection rate 7-10 days ago to understand how many of those sick at that time ended up dead. Until we close the gap between Total Confirmed and Total recovered, I think the case fatality rate is very fluid.

    Thoughts?

    1. Knowledge is Power (nice alias, btw)

       We do not know, and cannot know, so we make the best educated estimates/guess we can support from the scant and obscure numbers that are in actually lies. From the start I argued that all we really need to know is how China is dealing with this to gauge the severity. For those who believe it is just another flu, please explain why China has locked down 750 million people and shut down 90% of it’s economy? It really is that simple.

       A comparison to the CFR of 2 to 3% of the Spanish Flu is useful to a certain extent, yet does not explore the dynamics of our modern world, and the stealthy and highly contagious nature of this virus. If the death rate of those who have first class hospital care is say a modest 1%, yet because carriers are asymptomatic for up to 27 days, and can now fly around the world at 450 mph 24/7, a very large percentage of the population quickly becomes infected. Of the initial population who are susceptible, we’ll presume that only 5% of those infected requires hospitalization. The hospitals will then be quickly overwhelmed not be able to accept others requiring ICU levels of care. Without all a hospital can offer, the death rate rapidly escalates to say, a conservative 5%, and is now on par, or twice as bad as the Spanish Flu, if only Case Fatality Rates are the only useful comparison. Whatever the actual statics, it is certainly enough to disrupt a modern economy such as happened to China. If this happen to the rest of Asia, it will disrupt 52% of the global economy. If what happens in the country is only 25% as bad as it in China, we are in deep doodoo. The story in China, and the rest of Asia, has only begun. The global depression surely to follow, will cause millions to die of starvation as well. This is my best case scenario.

       1. Tunnel Rabbit, thank you for your assessment of this situation. For some, your words should be frightening, I think the scenario you suggest is not only possible but probable. We have been living quite happily and securely in this country for a very long time, we’ve not been tested as generations before us most certainly have. We very possibly will face trials and tribulations as not experienced in our time, hopefully we will be up to the task. I have my doubts.

          This life is but a mist, a vapor when compared to eternity. I thank God for His peace and offer of salvation, if only I believe on His name. No fear here, I rest in His arms.

          1. Thanks. Just doing the best I can. An early spring and a hot summer may slow it down and buy us time. It’s not just a bad flu bug. Early videos from China proved that. What it really is, no one knows, except the Chinese. The disinformation from China, WHO, and our CDC has been effective. An early report from a Chinese Doctor working in a hospital got out before the censors got control, was the most revealing. Again, this is not a flu bug, or something like that. It is a big deal. Those who missed that, and lots of other, missed out on some valuable intel.

             The best time to gather information after these kind things, is in the first few days, and weeks before it is cut off and replaced by disinformation. There is no way to replace that lost opportunity.

11. Learned a new word today, Shrinkflation, which we have all experienced and talked about for years.

    I was trying to explain it to someone, but didn’t realize there was a word for it…

    They were having an issue with their annual case food purchases of “normal” sized items, that certain products ordered years ago, are now smaller… Need to check those box weights, or you may come up short…

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinkflation

    Shrinkflation Intensifies – Stealth Inflation As Thousands of Food Products Shrink In Size, Not Price
    by GoldCore
    Mon, 02/05/2018
    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-05/shrinkflation-intensifies-stealth-inflation-thousands-food-products-shrink-size-not

12. Two things popped up for me today: 1) Silver took a nice dip today. Hard to pass that up. One of the local PM shops was busy with folks selling their PMs and coins (noted bags of silver dimes in the case as well). Apparently, it was a response to market selloff. 2) In a local Costco in the PNW, sorta panic buying was already starting. Half the carts in the store had a flat of toilet paper AND a flat of bottled water. Another 1/3rd had Clorox cleaning products. Lines were busy, busier than a normal Friday usually is. It was somewhat fascinating to see what people were buying/stocking up on. One flatbed had flats of water, several cases of champagne, several flats of TP, clorox, wipes and chips. Quite the party at that place . . .

13. I don’t like to give out investment hints but since Jim mentioned United Airlines, Amazon, and Netflix, here’s a link and something to think about for anyone with money still stuck in a 401k.

    Since the science behind the coronavirus has fascinated me so much, I’ve read over 100 papers in science and medical journals in the past 6 weeks. In the process, I’ve run across some companies working on vaccines, testing kits, making PPE, etc. that have to do with the CoV. My 401k money has been sitting in cash since last August waiting for an opportunity.

    In addition to some companies I found on my own, I found a few investment articles back in January similar to this one:

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/18-medical-stocks-watch-amid-202500253.html

    At any rate, it was a no-brainer that once America finally woke up, this coronavirus was going to be a great investment opportunity.

    Indeed it has been. If you look at the 30-day chart of most of the 18 stocks in the article you can see a similar pattern: Flat, then lots of activity in late January, early February when the first statistics started coming out of China in medical journals and science papers. Then everybody got bored with coronavirus for a few weeks and these stocks all flat-lined at very cheap prices. I finally got in last Friday right as the market closed. And then on Monday… HOLY GUACAMOLE!

    The Dow is down 14.5% this week as I write this. My 401k is up 51.4% this week as I write this.

    Most of these 18 stocks in the article are down today due to profit taking and I did some of that myself this week (with really bad timing!). Monday was the very first day that Fox News website had the coronavirus as their lead story. People are news weary by now with the virus. Investors are profit taking. I’m just guessing that these 18 stocks are going to be doing so more wild and crazy things each and every time there some more headlines about the coronavirus.

    Please save the “stock market money is only electrons” speeches for another day. I gladly paid the penalties and took some of those electrons from my 401k and bought 20 acres and build my little homestead 10 years ago. And as soon as all these coronavirus stocks are too high for my comfort zone, I’ll do some more of that.

    (I don’t know Jack Schumer and the information which is summarized herein does not constitute professional advice and is general in nature. It does not take into account your specific circumstances and should not be acted on without full understanding of your current situation and future goals and objectives by a fully qualified financial advisor. In doing so you risk making commitment to a product and/or strategy that may not be suitable to your needs.)

14. Went to the bank today and it was really busy. When I said I should have come earlier, the teller said they were busy all day and all their branches were almost out of cash, especially big bills. She attributed it to people getting the tax refunds and heading off to buy a new vehicle. Maybe. Maybe not. A great thing to tell the teller!
    She also said that some amounts were too large to accommodate and they were on a waiting list to get their money next week. Huh? Maybe.
    Next at the pharmacy, a local, compounding pharmacy, I asked them what their contingency plan was in case of shortages. Huh? She told me to call and ask the owner on Monday. I will and report on what he says.
    Tomorrow morning early I am going to waltz around Walmart just to see what it looks like and pick up some stuff at the garden center. Last time I asked about peat moss and the worker said he didn’t think they would be getting any this year. They had tons of heirloom seeds.

15. I meant to add that the corona virus cases seems so odd – some are deathly ill and practically drop over quickly and others just suffer a minor inconvenience, not necessarily based on age. Don’t know what explains that.

16. I scored some physical PMs today and just so happened to lock in at the lows right before they somewhat came back up
    Phew!!! Bet that’ll never happen again

    1. Actually keep an eye out. If the s doesn’t hit the f…

       There will be a selling of the gold that was used by the masses to lock in thier wealth.

       Same with bit coin.

       Right now people are buying precious metals to hedge against pandemic and financial instability… Given the populations short memory they will sell it for short term gain.

       Save some greenbacks aside and wait then scoop as much as you’ve saved for.

17. Watch out this weekend. There’s lots of shoppers out there.

    It’s payday impact time from today through Monday close of business.

    I’ve been getting clothing at regional Goodwill stores all week, and cheap pants at Costco.

    Just bought a stovetop pressure cooker for 5 bucks to cook beans and rice on the woodstove.

18. That new Bronco looks pretty cool!
    I kinda have a crush on the Jeep Gladiator too!!

19. I’m looking at this mess as a birth pang leading up to the rapture. Not too much to worry about except to keep looking up. The real problem may be that after this panic, people are going to go back to being unprepped. Wait till the rapture hits and the first 4 seals get broken! Then they’ll wish they had kept prepping!

    With the market, I’m holding! Dividends will come in at the end of march, and hopefully buy more shares at lower prices, which only helps in the long run. On PM’s, I’ve been buying out a pawn shops silver that was running about 10% over spot. Only the dollar coins were well beyond 30%, so I’ve stayed away from those. Bagged about $500 face value in dimes, quarters, and halves. They had bars at a good price, but had Chinese characters on the bars, and I don’t trust those!

    Survival food is sold out everywhere!!!

    1. The rapture occurs just before God pours out His WRATH on unrepentant mankind. The Rapture is during the 6th Trump, while the Wrath is poured out at the 7th Trump. Believers are not destined for His wrath. Therefore we will be going through the Tribulation. Prepare your hearts and homes accordingly.

       1. Thank you for the encouragement, Lily… You bless us.

       2. Very true Avalanche Lily We are going to go through nearly all of it but He will not forsake us…

20. Without our anchor in Jesus, my heart would fail me. THAT, i know! Without the support here that we have been blessed with, i fear my compass wouldn’t be as steady as it is. So a HUGE THANK YOU to JWR and AL as you provide a stable, trustworthy and Godly place for gathering. (A special shout out to Tunnel Rabbit for the hours of effort you have been logging to keep us all up to date as possible on this approaching cloud of Covid-19.) Not only links but personal observations from you all make understanding and preparing a bit more manageable in our lives. EVERYONE is busy trying to do the daily “getting it done” stuff. Even though we are all allocated the same 24hours, the daily burdens of those in this community are not so equitable. We lift up in prayer those who have a heavy load and are grateful for the generosity of all who help to lift up anyone in need…even when in need themselves. i am humbled by the Grace found here. Each commentator adds to the whole.

    As the future becomes the “now,” it will be more understandable but not easier, as you have witnessed SO unfailingly of the Tribulation to come Avalanche Lily. However, if this gathering place was not available tomorrow, your witness will remain, steadying us in our hearts and minds.

    Like Esther, each one of us was born for “such a time as this.” Avalanche Lily…you are bold and brave! And seeing your witness helps make me brave too…blessings to your household and all who gather under the watchful eye of SB.

Comments are closed.