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 investing in rural land. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Gold & Oil: Another Inflationary Wave? o  o  o Jordan Roy-Byrne: They Don’t Ring a Bell at Bottoms. Economy & Finance: Peter wrote to mention that the St. Louis Fed chart shows that the yield curve is now …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — November 24, 2022

November 24th marks the day that John Knox died, in 1572.  He was born in 1514 “…near Haddington Scotland. He was influenced by George Wishart, who was burned for heresy in 1546, and the following year Knox became the spokesman for the Reformation in Scotland. After imprisonment and exile in England and the European continent, in 1559 he returned to Scotland, where he supervised the preparation of the constitution and liturgy of the Reformed Church.” — Ready Made Resources is running a pre-Black Friday sale, offering Goal Zero Yeti 6000 Solar Generators for $4,799 each. That is 20% off normal …


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 Agricultural imports and exports. A Frightening First: U.S. Will Import More Ag Products Than it Exports Reader H.L. sent this: US farmer worried Biden’s policies put industry in jeopardy. The …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — November 23, 2022

On November 23rd, 1980, a 7.2-magnitude quake struck southern Italy killing more than 3,000 people. The casualty toll was probably so high because the tremor struck during Sunday night mass, as many residents sat in churches that crumbled in the quake. The quake was centered in Eboli, south of Naples. In nearby Balvano, children were preparing to receive their first communion at the 1,000-year-old Conza Della Comapgna church. The church collapsed and killed dozens of people, including 26 children. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 103 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — First up, from WND: Concealed carry permit holders surge past 22 million, report says. o  o  o From the leftist Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB): Pulling from extremist playbook, Oregon sheriffs refuse to enforce gun laws. JWR’s Comments:  Note how OPB calls it “extremist” for sheriffs to defend Constitutional rights. But note the difference in …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — November 22, 2022

Today is the birthday of Adelbert Rinaldo Buffington, a well-known designer of military gun parts and accessories. Buffington rear sights were featured on many later-generation Trapdoor Springfield .45-70 rifles. Today is also remembered as the birthday of the late Eugene M. Stoner. (Born 1922, died April 24, 1997.) He was the designer of the AR-7, AR-10, AR-15, AR-180, the Stoner 63, and several other firearms. (The AR-10 was the basis of the AR-15 which in turn spawned the very widely used M16 and all of its variants including the now ubiquitous M4 Carbine.) It has been estimated that as  many …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, more links to news stories about the stabbing murders of four University of Idaho students, off-campus, in Moscow, Idaho. Please keep their families in your prayers. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho Update: Police release new details into the tragic murder of four University of Idaho …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“At the global level, Chinese order would involve seizing the opportunities of the “great changes unseen in a century” and displacing the United States as the world’s leading state. This would require successfully managing the principal risk flowing from the “great changes”—Washington’s unwillingness to gracefully accept decline—by weakening the forms of control supporting American global order while strengthening those forms of control supporting a Chinese alternative. That order would span a “zone of super-ordinate influence” in Asia as well as “partial hegemony” in swaths of the developing world that might gradually expand to encompass the world’s industrialized centers—a vision some …


Preparedness Notes for Monday — November 21, 2022

On November 21, 1916, Britannic, the sister ship to the Titanic, sank in the Aegean Sea, killing 30 people. In the wake of the Titanic disaster, the White Star Line had made significant modifications to the design of the ship, but on its way to pick up wounded soldiers near the Gulf of Athens, it was rocked by an explosion causing even more damage than that which had sunk the Titanic. Many of the dead were from some of the crew who attempted to launch lifeboats while the Captain tried to run the ship aground. The lifeboats were sucked up …


Recipe of the Week: S.A.’s Spicy Cornbread

The following spicy cornbread recipe comes from reader S.A., as a follow-on to her previous recipe article on how to expand on standard storage staple foods. I love cornbread, I’m a southerner. I’ve spent a lifetime making muffins from scratch, but here’s an easy way to expand your cornbread. My preference is sweet, jalapeño cornbread with small corn kernels for added texture and calories. Ingredients 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix 1 Can white shoepeg corn 2 teaspoon sugar Dehydrated jalapeños, to taste.  (Use more or less to match your tolerance for spiciness) Directions Grease or PAM-spray a 12-muffin tin. …


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 precious metals recycling. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Precious Metals E-Waste Recovery Market Size Worth $18.7 Billion by 2030 | CAGR: 7%: AMR.  This piece begins: “According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global precious metals e-waste recovery market garnered $9.4 billion in 2021, …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Progressivism was imported from Europe and would result in a radical break from America’s heritage. In fact, it is best described as an elitist-driven counterrevolution to the American Revolution, in which the sovereignty of the individual, natural law, natural rights, and the civil society—built on a foundation of thousands of years of enlightened thinking and human experience—would be drastically altered and even abandoned for an ideological agenda broadly characterized as “historical progress.” Progressivism is the idea of the inevitability of historical progress and the perfectibility of man—and his self-realization—through the national community or collective. While its intellectual and political advocates …