Odds ‘n Sods:

Yishai alerted us to this video clip from tele-pundit Jim Cramer: Banking Doom Is Upon Us    o o o Eric suggested this column from The Delta Farm Press: Batten down the hatches, road ahead’s looking rocky    o o o Investors Hide as Banks Come Knocking Here are some quotes from the Wall Street Journal piece: “Investors are tired of trying to catch a falling knife,” says one investment banker who specializes in the financial-services industry. “Investors have good reason to be skittish.” “Even the smart money isn’t looking so smart.” (Thanks to Kevin A. for finding us that …



Note from JWR:

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is at $350. This auction is for two cases (12 cans) of Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 cans donated by Ready Made Resources, valued at $260, a course certificate for a four-day Bushcraft & Survival Course valued at $550, 25 pounds of green (un-roasted) Colombian Supremo coffee courtesy of www.cmebrew.com valued at $88.75, and a set of 1,600 U.S. Military Manuals, Government Manuals, and Civil Defense Manuals, Firearm Manuals on two CD-ROM disks, valued at $20. Please e-mail us your bids, in $10 increments.


Letter Re: My Real, Live-Fire Self-Sufficiency Test

Well, I am back on the Internet for a time at least. Mind you, from the look of the soap opera world, I didn’t miss much. Grin A bit of background first for context. I am forecasting grim things for the fairly near future, particularly in financial terms. In one sense I am a type of survivalist, in that I want to prepare. Most survivalists tend to plan and prepare for a type of bunker at a fixed location to survive whatever doomsday they foresee coming. Such a plan has very distinct, real, and important advantages. However, the armed forces …


Letter Re: Huge Price Hikes by Dow Chemical are an Ominous Inflation Indicator

Jim, In the news today, Dow Chemical is announcing a 25% price increase, following a 20% increase three weeks ago. Since they produce the feedstock chemicals for almost every industry on earth, this should be a great indicator of what’s coming. – ZBM JWR Replies: Ay carumba! Dow produces a huge variety of chemicals and compounds that go into everything from fertilizers to plastics. This is an alarming indicator of consumer price increases in the near future. When paired with fuel price jumps, this becomes downright frightening for near-future food prices at the consumer level. At this point, precious metals …


Letter Re: An Amazing Closeout Sale

Jim, Memsahib, et al: I just finished an order into LAPoliceGear.com they’ve had this clearance sale going on for about three weeks. And I didn’t take a close look at the boots section, until today. Some of the Bates boots (women’s) are $9.99, regular price as much as $169.99. And the sizes available tend toward those with smaller feet. They also have a closeout on 5.11 pants, if you buy this stuff new it’s $50 a pair, on sale for $17. Lensatic compasses for five bucks (non-tritium). And some other nifty stuff. Thought you might like to pass along the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Thirty years on, inflation makes global comeback. I’ve said it before: In many ways, the current economy is starting to resemble the 1970s.    o o o From a San Diego, California newspaper: Diesel shortage hits other cities. The article mentions Americans crossing the border to buy government subsidized gas and diesel.    o o o Hawaiian K. notes: “Awareness seems to be bubbling up across the political spectrum. See this article [from a left-of-center web site].”    o o o Bill in Wyoming was the first of several readers to send us this article link: Food brawls among Wisconsin …



Note from JWR:

I occasionally hear from readers that some of the links to third party web sites in my older posts no longer work. Unfortunately, we live in an era where people change URLs and e-mail addresses almost as frequently as they change their socks. If you find any broken links in any of my static pages (the pages available with the buttons at the top of the main SurvivalBlog page) or if you find any broken links in any of the daily posts that are less two weeks old, then please let me know via e-mail, and I will do my …


Letter Re: Low RPM Diesel Generator Availability

Dear James – Thanks for the great article link on “growing fuel” and thanks again for all the information at SurvivalBlog! Low speed diesels [that were recently mentioned in the blog] such as the Lister and Listeroid clones are fantastic, but sadly that ship has sailed. The anemic dollar, high metal prices, rising shipping costs and the hassle of US Customs have pretty much halted importation. Also, word is that [the US] EPA will soon (if they haven’t already) re-block importation of these marvels because they don’t meet emissions requirements for stationary engines. As to that, Listeroids are extremely efficient …


Letter Re: Economic Impact of Increasing Gas Prices and Declining Real Estate Prices

Mr Rawles: I sent you a link awhile back about the old timer from Wall Street who is still working in the industry and lived through the first Depression – he was greatly worried about what was coming. I agreed with your assessment that he was wrong about staying in stocks. My own former husband is a Wall Streeter who has moved much of his money out of the country now. He manages part of my own retirement portfolio and has been saying that what’s coming is going to be horrific to bear. His grandparents arrived in the US at …


Two Letters Re: Tomorrow’s Headlines? — A Nationwide Banking Panic

Hi James, First, thanks for sharing Mike [“Mish”} Shedlock’s recent article with the SurvivalBlog.com community. Like you, I’ve grown to trust his observations and analysis and I read his work as often as I read yours – daily. I wanted to add a couple of comments, which will strengthen both Mish’s and your viewpoints concerning your observations on the potential for a nationwide banking panic. First – is that [as mentioned,] the FDIC is preparing for this crisis right now, by hiring back some retirees, with specific experience in dealing with bank failures, as they are expecting a large number …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Matt Bracken suggested this economic commentary with a preparedness message by James Macfarlane: The Thin Red White & Blue Line. Matt’s comment: “Make sure to read to the “What to Do” section at the end of the essay.” Macfarlane’s essay ends with this: “The wisest words I heard lately are these: In the next few years it’s not going to be about where you live, but about whom you live with. Make friends with your neighbors.”    o o o Krys in Idaho found this ABC News piece for us: Everything Seemingly Is Spinning out of Control. A comment from …



Note from JWR:

Today we present a guest article from Mike “Mish” Shedlock, a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. I highly value his investing analyses and his “big picture” view of the global economy.