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. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at the price of silver. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: After seeing highs above $25 in July and August, spot silver has been pushed down by the short sellers in recent weeks. When I last checked, spot silver had rebounded a bit, to $23.60. I expect to see a trend reversion …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — October 22, 2023

On October 22, 1934, infamous criminal Charles (“Pretty Boy”) Floyd was fatally shot in a field near East Liverpool, Ohio, by FBI agents. On October 22, 1797, André-Jacques Garnerin, an inspector in the French army who encouraged the use of balloons for military purposes, made a balloon ascent in order to give his first exhibition of parachuting, when he jumped from a height of about 3,200 feet (1,000 meters). This is the birthday of painter and book illustrator N.C. Wyeth (1882–1945). This is also the birthday of actor Jeff Goldblum (born 1952), who had unforgettable roles in Buckaroo Banzai, The …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: “Hey, Abdullah… I Heard That Our Best Intel Comes From Our Drones” “Nah, Muhammed, Our Best Intel Comes From The Mossad” Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks! Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.  


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — October 21, 2023

On this day in 1805, a fleet of 33 ships (18 French and 15 Spanish) under Admiral Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve fought and was defeated by a British fleet of 27 ships under Admiral Horatio Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar (combat was waged west of Cape Trafalgar, Spain). Today is also the birthday of late R.J. Rummel. (October 21, 1932 – March 2, 2014.) He was was professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii. He spent his career assembling data on collective violence and war with a view toward helping their resolution or elimination. Rummel coined the …


Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts. To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — October 20, 2023

On October 20, 1977, a plane carrying the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, known for such songs as Free Bird and Sweet Home Alabama, crashed in Gillsburg, Mississippi, killing singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines, among others. On October 20, 2011, Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi was killed by rebel forces following a revolt that received international military assistance. Today is the birthday of the late Tom Petty. (Born October 20, 1950, died October 2, 2017). He was a great singer-songwriter and a passable actor. He had a cameo role as the leader of Bridge City in the movie …


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. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at the developing shortage of 5.56mm NATO ammunition. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Off the record: silver looks better than gold in 2024 according to LBMA survey. o  o  o Gold SWOT: Could This Be the Start of a New Bull Market in Bullion? o  o  o Higher silver prices needed …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — October 19, 2023

On October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted nearly 23 percent, the largest one-day percentage drop in the stock market’s history. — October 19th is also the birthday of three notables– the late Alexander Zeisal “Zus” Bielski (born 1912), investor Jim Rogers (born 1942), and James Howard Kunstler (born 1948). Kunstler is well known to SurvivalBlog readers as the author of the novel World Made by Hand and the nonfiction book The Long Emergency. A fictionalized portrayal of Zus Bielski is seen in the movie Defiance. This movie was loosely based on the excellent book Defiance: The Bielski …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, we look at contemporary global military posturing and saber-rattling. Western Allies are Running Out of Ammo for Ukraine In the Left-of-Center Guardian: Western allies say they are running …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“As I will explain, the crash of 1987 was largely a trading event, not a fundamental or economic one. I don’t mean to sound overly boastful, and I certainly do not pretend to be the foremost expert on the crash of 1987, but I do think my vantage point was quite unique for this momentous event in history. Some might say you could blame the whole crash on Dan Rostenkowski. Okay, before you get all worked up, I don’t really blame the crash on Rostenkowski, who chaired the House Ways and Means Committee at the time and had spent many …


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — October 18, 2023

After much opposition, a deal negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward for the U.S. purchase of the Russian colony of Alaska was approved, and on this day in 1867 the U.S. flag was flown over the capital, Sitka. — October 18th, 1662 was the birthday of Matthew Henry (died 22 June 1714). He was a Presbyterian minister who lived primarily in Chester, England. Matthew Henry’s six-volume Exposition of the Old and New Testaments (commonly called Matthew Henry’s Commentary) is a must for the bookshelf of any serious Bible scholar. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry …