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 used vehicle prices. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Barclay’s Bank’s Moser is looking for more upside in gold. o  o  o Gold prices holding gains as U.S. ADP shows 534K jobs gains in November. Economy & Finance: Even the left-leaning NY Post admits: Socialists & Joe-cialists twist …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 2, 2021

On December 2nd, 1823, what became known as the Monroe Doctrine was declared by President James Monroe to Congress outlining a foreign policy initiative that forbade European interference in the American hemisphere but also asserted U.S. neutrality in regard to future European conflicts. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 98 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 …


Hoping For TEOTWAWKI – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) TEOTWAWKI would get rid of both the 24-hour news cycle and the time-wasting crime that television is. By the time after The Day when the new normal has been established, kids (and most parents) will be thin and active and unafraid again, knowing how to ride bikes, developing ingenuity and problem-solving skills by building go-carts and tree forts, and seeing what neat critters there are under rocks and logs when you roll them over. After their many newly-acquired post-SHTF chores are finished, boys and girls will go down to the swimming hole …


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 storing eggs. States Adopting Digital Drivers Licenses First and foremost, over at the GraniteGrok blog: State’s Are Adopting Digital Drivers Licenses – A Digital Identity That Could go Well Beyond Driving. …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 1, 2021

This is the birthday of novelist Rex Stout (1886–1975). Rex Stout was the brother of Ruth Stout, the gardener who wrote about no-till, year-round mulching, organic gardening in her book Gardening Without Work: For the Aging, the Busy, and the Indolent. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present the first entry for Round 98 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 …


Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced: Round 97

We’ve completed the judging for Round 97 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prize winners are: First Prize: Anthony B., for Progressive Reloading for Beginners, posted on November 24, 2021. His prizes will include: 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 one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, …


November 2021 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in November? November ended up being a battle to keep gold prices above $1,850. Bulls managed to run a rally above $1,850 for seven straight sessions in mid-November, but gold bears started selling into every rally for the rest of the month. The bears, assisted by Fed boss Jerome Powell, succeeded in dragging prices lower to end the month at $1,776 an …


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. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — JWR Observes: The recent panic over the Omicron Wu Flu variant now has world leaders threatening to lock down the citizenries of many nations. It will start with travel bans. Then back to masking and public gathering restrictions.The CDC’s own published figures: A 99.997% survival rate for people ages 0 to 19, 99.98% for people …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — November 30, 2021

Satirical novelist Jonathan Swift was born on November 30th, 1667. — We are seeking one or two more prize donors for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. It is a great way to promote your business. If you have a product or service that would appeal to SurvivalBlog readers and you are willing to commit to providing a prize with a value of at least $200 for at least three contest rounds (six months), then please contact us. Thanks!  


The Incredible Disappearing Retreat in the Woods (Update)

Today I’m providing an update and expansion to an article that I posted back in early 2009. This is something that I first shared with a few of my consulting clients. It is an approach at rural retreat construction that can make a rural retreat of 10 acres or more essentially “disappear”. House SitEs and Road Building If there is a thick screen of trees or tall brush between the public road and potential building sites at your undeveloped country retreat parcel, then your property might have a good candidate for a “hidden retreat house”. This is accomplished by making …


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, we cover Missoula, Montana’s most recent resident grizzly bear sow. (See the Montana section.) Idaho Chronic wasting disease found in two deer in Idaho. o  o  o Idaho Supreme Court consolidates redistricting map lawsuits. o  o  o I stumbled into this vlog: Living Right Debt …