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. 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. Today, we look at market reactions to recent Federal Reserve signals. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Why is gold down nearly $100 after Fed shakes up markets? o  o  o Neils Christensen: Panic selling in gold could last a little longer as Wall Street turns bearish on gold, but many look …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — June 20, 2021

June 20th the anniversary of the 2013 death of novelist Vince Flynn. (Born April 6, 1966, died June 19, 2013.) His death at age 47 was a loss to the literary world. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 95 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: To share this, you can find it here: https://kapwi.ng/c/ClOK0IhA Meme Text: Hunter Biden’s Artworks are Expected to Fetch $500,000 Each But of Course, Those Payments Have Nothing To Do With Buying Influence Related News Link:  Hunter Biden’s abstract art to sell for $500K to ‘anonymous’ and ‘confidential’ collectors says his ex-con agent, raising serious questions about WHO the buyers are.  


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — June 19, 2021

June 19, 1834 was the birthday of Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon, who died 31 January 1892. He was a British Particular Baptist preacher. — Today’s feature review article was too short to be included in the judging for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Round 95 of the contest ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.  Thanks! – JWR


Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make 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 this column, in …



Preparedness Notes for Friday — June 18, 2021

June 18th is the birthday of Pastor Douglas Wilson. Born in 1953, he is the pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. Wilson is a prodigious author of books and articles on Reformed theology. — Please take note that we are running short of articles to post for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. So, if you have an article that you’ve drafted but haven’t completed, then please finish it up, and e-mail it to us. That will put you in the running for the thousands of dollars with of prizes that will be awarded in the first week of August. …


How Amazon Destroyed American Book Publishing

Most SurvivalBlog readers are aware that I’ve been an outspoken critic of Amazon.com’s business practices, their leftist agenda, and their blatant censorship. I even went so far as to very publicly resign from the Amazon Associates program. I did so on principle, knowing that it would cost me nearly $30,000 per year in sales commissions. But I didn’t hesitate, because I knew that it was the right thing to do. In this article, I will lay out some of the ways that Amazon has destroyed American book publishing, in their quest for monopolistic dominance. The Flood of Schlock Books To …


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. 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. Today, we look at America’s aging cars and trucks. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Gold and silver both dipped on Wednesday and Thursday (June 16-17, 2021) as traders responded to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks. Gold’s 4% dip marks a good buying opportunity.  In percentage terms, silver has dipped more than …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — June 17, 2021

Survivalist author Dean Ing (author of the nuclear war survival novel Pulling Through) was born June 17, 1931, and passed away on July 21, 2020. His best-known novel, The Ransom of Black Stealth One (1989), was a New York Times bestseller. He was a former member of the Citizens’ Advisory Council on National Space Policy. He wrote more than 30 novels, and co-authored novels with his friends Jerry Pournelle, S. M. Stirling, and Leik Myrabo. He also wrote articles for Mel Tappan’s P.S. Letter. This is also the birthday of musician Red Foley (born, 1910, died September 19, 1968). His …


Overcoming the American Era of Self-Loathing

There is a disturbing trend that I’ve seen in contemporary American culture: Self-loathing. People young and old are being indoctrinated to hate the things that made America exceptional: Capitalism, hard work, entrepreneurship, our Founding Fathers, farming, ranching, and wholesome family relationships. Our children are even being taught to hate the color of their own skin. Some key examples are the “Systemic Racism” mantra and the now pervasive “Critical Race Theory” curricula. This trend has been promulgated by both academia and the mass media.  Ironically, the same liberals who laudably preached “treat everyone equally” are now preaching that people should be …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— 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. Today, we look at some newly-developed camouflage-breaking software. The Advent of Camouflage-Breaking Software Let’s begin with this from SurvivalBlog reader C.B.: ‘Camouflage breakers’ can find a target in less than a second. Here is …