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. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR [1]. Today, we look at rural real estate. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
Precious Metals:
Gold and silver both were pushed down last week, as was Bitcoin. But in the long term, we know the fate of the U.S. Dollar.
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Record Silver Shortage in 2020? [2]
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A primer: Physical Gold vs. Gold Stocks: Which Perform Best In A Recession? [3]
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At Zero Hedge: JPMorgan Makes $1 Billion From Gold Trading After Paying $1 Billion Fine For Manipulating Gold Trading [4]
Economy & Finance:
Several readers sent this piece at Bloomberg: Rich Americans Are Increasingly Looking for Second Passport [5]
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Next, at Wolf Street: Taxpayers Face $435 Billion in Student-Loan Losses, Already Baked in: Leaked Education-Department Study [6]
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Also at Wolf Street: Who Bought the Monstrous $4.2 Trillion Added to the Incredibly Spiking US National Debt in 12 Months? Everyone but China [7]
Commodities:
Over at Seeking Alpha: Copper hits fresh multiyear highs as speculative momentum builds [8]. JWR’s Comments: Since Creepy Joe Biden’s policies will hurt the economy, we can expect to see a turn-down in Q2 of 2021. The price of copper depends on a robust global economy. That looks unlikely in the next four years. So I believe that this is a good time to take your profits on copper and any copper-related investments. But… continue to save your Nickels [9] for the long haul, as a hedge on general inflation.
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OilPrice News reports on oil futures: The Real Reason Oil Prices Went Negative In April [10]
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The API Will Do Everything In Its Power To Fight Biden’s Fracking Ban [11]
Cryptos:
Bitcoin was slammed down nearly 3% late last week [12], in U.S. Dollar terms. I don’t believe that that this was because of any renewed hopes for the long term value of the Dollar (which is dreadful). Rather, it had more to do with hopes of an economic recovery in the United States, Time will tell. In the meantime, hold on to your Bitcoin.
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Raymond Zhong of The New York Times wrote this: China’s Cryptocurrency Plan Has a Powerful Partner: Big Brother [13]
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At The Pomp Letter: Janet Yellen Is About To Create The Ultimate Bitcoin Tailwind [15]
Tangibles Investing:
Home prices see biggest spike in six years in September, according to S&P Case Shiller [16]
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This piece at Housing Wire was posted in August: New interest from city dwellers raising home prices in rural areas [17]
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Kenneth Rapoza at Forbes: 2020 Has Been A Terrible Year For Big City Life. Will Urban Real Estate Ever Recover? [18]
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Real estate news from Texas: We Are Living in the Weirdest Real Estate Market Ever [19]. (Looking to buy or sell in the pandemic? Here are the new North Texas rules.)
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A brief podcast with a view from New Zealand: Rural Real Estate Report. [20]
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This article from down in Oz ran two years ago: Endgame: How Australian preppers are bugging out and hunkering down [21]
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Finally: James Cameron’s prized Malibu compound lists for $25 million [22]. Buried deep in the article is this tidbit: “In addition to the two homes, the decorated director has owned plenty of undeveloped land in Malibu. He began buying parcels after the release of “Titanic” in 1997 and eventually amassed a collection of 730 acres of ranchland in the Santa Monica Mountains with plans to eventually develop it into a family sanctuary called “Tranquility Base.” And there was this news of James Cameron hedging his bets, as reported back in 2016: James Cameron Turns New Zealand Tour Guide in New Video [23]. “Since 2012, Cameron and his wife, Suzy Amis Cameron, have split their time between California and their coastal farm just outside of Wellington, on New Zealand’s North Island.”
Provisos:
SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos [24] page for our detailed disclaimers.
News Tips:
Please send your economics and investing news tips to JWR [1]. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form [25].) These are often especially relevant because they come from folks who closely watch specific markets. If you spot any news that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers, then please send it in. News items from local news outlets that are missed by the news wire services are especially appreciated. And it need not be only about commodities and precious metals. Thanks!
Comments Disabled To "Economics & Investing For Preppers"
#1 Comment By LargeMarge On November 30, 2020 @ 3:43 pm
re:
* “…value of US dollar…”
Fiat currency has zero-zero-zero value.
Fiat currency can be used to trade for something of value such as labor or material goods… as long as everybody agrees to the farce.
The problem?
Being the last person holding fiat currency.
You lose.
Can you imagine escaping Vietnam in 1976 with a suitcase full of Vietnamese fiat currency?
Hiking cross-country to Thailand as a refugee, then realizing you are carrying several # of tinder?
*****
re:
“…long-term hopes for the US dollar…”
Was the US dollar murdered in 1913 — over a century ago — then replaced with Federal Reserve Bankers Promissory Notes?
#2 Comment By Nathan&Lisa On November 30, 2020 @ 3:51 pm
Sure is disappointing to see so many great Patriot authors talking about a Biden win as if it is likely. I can only presume that they are consuming MSM (Mainstream Media). I don’t consume any MSM and everything I read seems pretty factual and confident that there is clear election fraud and that it is statistically impossible for Biden to win short of outright theft and inaction of Patriots. I read nothing that gives Biden a chance.
#3 Comment By Les On November 30, 2020 @ 5:24 pm
Agree, Nathan & Lisa. Its disheartening!
Most of what I’m seeing reflects a DJT win. I’m keeping my prayers going, for mercy for the US. God is not surprised by -any- of the mess we’re in now…!
Back to your point > Many don’t know how to research, or find the sites telling the truth. I’m really liking citizenfreepress.com; also whatfinger.com, & brighteon.com for videos.
Dr. Mercola also does great work on exposing the cv19 scam….worth signing up for his newsletter > mercola.com
Now all I need to find are folks who are willing to stop drinking the koolAid. 🙂
#4 Comment By q0h3l3t On November 30, 2020 @ 8:49 pm
> I read nothing that gives Biden a chance.
If you’ve read nothing that gives Biden a chance, then you should be reading elsewhere. Time will tell.
#5 Comment By Charles K. On December 1, 2020 @ 2:36 am
Nathan&Lisa:
We hope that the courts follow existing laws in all these states. So far, the state courts have been an abject failure. The federal courts have been better, but that also depends on how corrupt the judges are. The evidence is overwhelming in Trumps favor, yet the propagandists keep saying there is nothing to see here. I think we all know the truth, those truths are just sickening.
There are several state governors, state attorney generals, and state secretaries of state that should be facing firing squads for their acts of treason. If we follow the money, there should also be several globalist billionaires, from all over the world, facing those same firing squads. But, will that happen? I doubt it. We keep depending on the honor of thoroughly dishonorable people, from all levels of government.
#6 Comment By Ron On November 30, 2020 @ 3:56 pm
Bitcoin is so phony that it is a waste of time to even talk about it.
#7 Comment By Muddykid On November 30, 2020 @ 5:24 pm
I disagree. Early in 2009, I had $1000 I wanted to invest. I had read about bitcoin and many people were saying things similar to what you said, Ron.
I ended up spending that $1000 on silver. Which is close to a little less than $1000 today. Had I spent that $1000 on bitcoin, I would be a multi-millionaire today.
Bitcoin may not be good for a long-term retirement investment, but I missed the boat, entirely.
#8 Comment By BWL On November 30, 2020 @ 9:03 pm
Hindsight is always 20/20. My question way back was how it could be worth anything when it was just one guy with a computer. If course there is no real value outside of the fact that people want them.
#9 Comment By JBH On November 30, 2020 @ 4:30 pm
Has anyone read anything in detail regarding the alleged Scytl server raid in Germany where (if true) an Army unit fought CIA personnel to seize a server allegedly involved with the election fraud?
What I have read is five Army soldiers died and one CIA likely contractor died in Germany. I verified through unrelated (non political) sources that five Army soldiers allegedly died in Gaza I believe and one CIA guy allegedly died in Somalia in the correct time frame.
I have read that yes the server was successfully seized, no it wasn’t, yes it was, it never existed, yes it did, no it didn’t,…
My primary source for the Scytl story is Whatfinger. For the deaths it is SOFREP and other mainline news sources.
Sounds rather fanciful to me but with the sacking of SECDEF and the reallignment of SOCOM to now be a direct report to SECDEF immediately prior to this I can’t entirely dismiss it. From my read of the story, if true, the CIA is attempting an electronic coup and the Army is potentially fighting them. Very scary stuff.
Does anyone have any additional information or is it all nonsense?
#10 Comment By Muddykid On November 30, 2020 @ 5:42 pm
I have seen this reported on certain forums. I stopped caring about this story when one person pointed out the reality and legality of the CIA conducting raids in allied states.
Such raids may happen in smaller, weaker states, but in Germany? Very doubtful.
#11 Comment By JBH On December 1, 2020 @ 5:38 am
According to the story, the CIA was not conducting the raid but being raided. However I have thought about the legalities and optics of any raid such as that. However this entire year has been marked by illegal actions or at least actions that people would have thought illegal just a year or two alone. The improbable has been the norm this year so it makes me a little less skeptical about continuing improbable actions.
#12 Comment By RCB5472TN On November 30, 2020 @ 5:48 pm
JBH … [26]
#13 Comment By RCB5472TN On November 30, 2020 @ 5:49 pm
JBH… [27]
#14 Comment By william On November 30, 2020 @ 6:09 pm
jbh; heard two generals on WVW talking about the server seizure. If true we now know who the kraken that the lady lawyer was talking about.
#15 Comment By Anon On November 30, 2020 @ 6:10 pm
[28]
Long video, but two Generals on the interview. Discusses the Germany raid at some point, if I remember correctly. Might shed some light on the topic, but there’s a lot of chatter out there about the servers.
Also check out Sidney Powell’s lawsuits: [29]. There is mention of Iran and China being involved in the fraud. I think Giuliani has also spoken about the raid – try Dan Bongino’s channel on rumble.com (as opposed to youtube). He’s usually as “in the know” as one can be.
I don’t have the complete picture yet. But, there’s a lot of f*kry afoot (please pardon my French).
#16 Comment By Don Williams On November 30, 2020 @ 6:25 pm
I would think that if the Army actually fought CIA the casualties would be 50 CIA and 0 Army.
#17 Comment By JBH On November 30, 2020 @ 7:00 pm
Not if you are having to storm a hardened facility.
#18 Comment By Don Williams On December 1, 2020 @ 3:37 am
There’s no such thing as a hardened facility.
[30]
#19 Comment By JBH On December 1, 2020 @ 5:32 am
Yes I am familiar with those. They have been around a long time.
I was not necessarily referring to THAT hardened! Lol! However I have worked in places that are highly defendable. So short of a backpack nuke, I can see the offensive team taking a lot of casualties. And the CIA people potentially defending places like that often come from the special forces and then want to make more money as a contractor.
Not saying the original story is true. Just wanted to hear what others thought about it.
#20 Comment By Don Williams On December 1, 2020 @ 3:22 pm
Yes, I was joking.
#21 Comment By Paul Revere On December 1, 2020 @ 2:17 am
See a interview in thenewamerican.com
#22 Comment By benjammin On November 30, 2020 @ 5:56 pm
As is usually the case in politics, facts don’t really matter much. This election is in the hands of judges and bureaucrats, most with an agenda that only works if Biden wins. They are all human, so what would you expect will happen? Exactly what we are seeing; data being lost, hidden, or wiped clean, judges suppressing evidence or barring testimony, media spinning nothing but bias, SoS certifying vote counts without proper audit, and the beat goes on…
It is at this point irrelevent to the outcome of the election who actually got the most legal votes. TPTB want Biden in and Trump out, and no one and nothing is going to stop that from happening. We as a society have lost the will to stand on principle, so we will whine and complain and threaten, but everyone knows the people do not have the will to take action. So we will get what we deserve.
We could shut this country down in a day if we really wanted to make a difference. But we do not have the “E Pluribus Unum” anymore. Instead, it is more of “every man for himself”. So why would we expect anything to be done fairly in this country anymore? We are sheep, and all you have to do is look at how we have responded to the COVID BS and see we the people do nothing more than bleat and butt heads with each other while forming into the line we are being pushed into. The only question is does the line we’ve been put in lead to the shearing house, or the slaughter?
#23 Comment By Once a Marine… On December 1, 2020 @ 3:09 am
I remember about two weeks ago reading here that independent truckdrivers were going to stage a nationwide action on or near Thanksgiving Day.
SInce then…nada.
Did it happen? If so, what was the upshot?
Carry on
#24 Comment By Don in Oregon On December 1, 2020 @ 4:23 am
I wondered the same thing. It was a four-day holiday weekend anyway, probably little impact.
#25 Comment By N S On November 30, 2020 @ 6:51 pm
Re: LargeMarge; Was the US dollar murdered in 1913 — over a century ago — then replaced with Federal Reserve Bankers Promissory Notes?
You are quite possibly correct in that statement as I believe the entire creation of the federal reserve and departure from the “gold standard” left us open to the whims of fiat money in all it’s forms, allowing the feds to force upon the citizens it’s corrupt schemes and controls. Control the flow & printing of money and you control the populace.
Nathan & Lisa: I agree with your assessment on the Beijing Joe win as well. It appears that everyone has simply given up and accepted the screwing we are about to be exposed to. Even though there is more than ample evidence available they this entire election was a charade and illegal under any stretch of the imagination. It doesn’t take anyone with an IQ above that of bacteria to figure it out. Which goes to how corrupt our entire system is. Our entire gov in all its forms have become so corrupt I really don’t believe it’s salvageable.
#26 Comment By PrepHOU On December 1, 2020 @ 12:10 am
I heard about the Army getting the information about 3 weeks ago. Friend of mine. Seen it verified several places. Testimony today (11-30-20) in the AZ hearings regarding Dominion software and voting systems, should scare the living daylights out of anyone. Military dude spoke live to the public, as a information warfare specialist, with intel on Hugo Chavez and family, prior rigged elections, etc. Germany is no love of the US anymore. Of course, the servers were in Germany. It shouldn’t surprise us. Of course China, Iran and perhaps Russia are involved. I think the discovery is starting to happen. Word is that Trump will use the executive order he signed in 2018, regarding foreign interference in elections….to upend the election.
#27 Comment By Krissy On December 1, 2020 @ 3:33 am
“Word is that Trump will use the executive order he signed in 2018, regarding foreign interference in elections….to upend the election.”
Praise God!
#28 Comment By Nathan Hail (not to be confused with generic Nathan) On December 1, 2020 @ 2:02 am
I have not given up on the election. I am praying every day for President Trump to be given another 4 years as our President and that Joe Biden, Kamela Harris, or Nancy Pelosi never be allowed to be President of the United States. We all need to keep praying.
#29 Comment By Krissy On December 1, 2020 @ 3:36 am
Nathan Hail (not to be confused with generic Nathan), I have deep respect for you. Thank you for praying so faithfully. Blessings, Krissy
#30 Comment By Nathan Hail (not to be confused with generic Nathan) On December 1, 2020 @ 4:08 am
Thank you, Krissy. Your words are much appreciated. A few days ago I was getting discouraged but I kept praying and I think that is the way to go. Trust in God and His plan. I cannot believe that God would abandon the patriots of our country and President Trump. Thank you again.
#31 Comment By JBH On December 1, 2020 @ 3:51 pm
I am doing the same.
We are in God’s hand every day of our life and this matter is no exception. I don’t say that easily. Although it is a fact I have to remind myself of it all the time. Not easy to have peace in this situation but I think w are called to do just that.
#32 Comment By Skip On December 1, 2020 @ 3:44 am
A question to all, what could an American citizen do to make our frustrations known to change what is going on?
I hear it all the time that Americans are lazy and too busy to fight. But fight who and with what?
President Trump has ripped back the first layer of the Deep State and now we see its tentacles in every sector of government who does have serious power.
It’s a cancer that’s been growing since Bush Sr.
Anyway the left is hoping some group goes full militia and uses their second amendment on domestic enemies and that would be a perfect gift to them.
The only solution is prayer and living a life pleasing to the Lord Christ. Cheer up, we win in the end and not for a little while but forever.
#33 Comment By sirlancelot722 On December 1, 2020 @ 4:16 am
Been following this closely or as closely as an outsider can. There certainly seems to be a mountain of evidence pointing to a fraudulent election. However in the President’s last interview he voiced disappointment that local judges were dismissing these cases and getting something before The Supreme Court may or may not happen depending if they deem it worthy enough.
Perhaps this thing is so big nobody wants to be the one to light the fuse. Personally would like to see these criminals brought to justice . Damn the consequences.
#34 Comment By JBH On December 1, 2020 @ 4:03 pm
I personally am/was a 50% or better “birther”. That is I think there was significant evidence that Obama was not a citizen. Most of it from his own actions a statements.
I also think the principle you are talking about possibly came into effect with that issue. What do you do if it is proven true? How do you deal with all the legislation he signed? What do you do about the election itself? People potentially voted for an inelegible candidate. Does the VP become President even though he was on a fraudulent ticket? Or…?
I don’t think this principle is limited to these two situations either. I think it has happened numerous times in our history when certain wrong things have happened and people have been overwhelmed by the magnitude and shied away from dealing with or correcting them.