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 “Trump Slump 2.0” in the U.S. gun market.  (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: The Comex market Short Sellers made another attempt at torpedoing the price of silver this week. By Wednesday evening, they had pushed the spot price of silver down to $36.61 per Troy ounce. But with ongoing strong …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — July 10, 2025

101 years ago, today: On July 10, 1924, Denmark took sovereignty control of Greenland as Norway ended its claim. (Public domain photo by Markus Trienke.) JWR’s Comment:  I wonder which nation will control Greenland in 2034, and in 2124… — July 10th is also the birthday of British novelist John Wyndham. He was born in 1903 and died March 11, 1969. Harris was a good friend of fellow novelist Samuel Youd (1922-2012), who wrote under several pen names, including John Christopher. Both men were famous for writing what are often called “cozy catastrophies”. Several of Wyndham’s novels and short stories …


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, further examination of A.I. and aerial drone technologies. The Force-Feeding of AI on an Unwilling Public An insightful essay by Ted Gioia, over at The Honest Broker: The …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — July 9, 2025

July 8, 1386: Battle at Sempach: Swiss militia pikemen defeated the troops of Duke Leopold III of Austria. — On July 9th, 1755: The Battle of the Wilderness (also known as the Battle of The Monongahela) was fought. — On July 9, 1776, the US Declaration of Independence was read to George Washington’s assembled troops in New York. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 119 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

Our weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: 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. — Something is rotten in The District Of Criminals. On Tuesday, Johnny B. posted some news and memes on the now-it-is-claimed, ahem, “It never existed” Epstein client list: URGENT! We need to talk about PAM BONDI AND THE EPSTEIN LIST. Also see the video commentary by Dr. Steve Turley: Here’s The TRUTH about …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 8, 2025

On July 8, 1741, Theologian Jonathan Edwards preached perhaps the most famous of all American sermons, titled: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. It was preached at Enfield, Connecticut, during The Great Awakening — July 8, 1816: Frost reported in Waltham, Massachusetts during a “year without a summer”. This was attributed to a massive volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in the previous year. Something similar had happened in 1709, with even longer-lasting economic effects. But the cause of the Great Frost of 1709 has not yet been firmly established. — Today marks the birth of actor Kevin Bacon …


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 located in the American Redoubt region that are of interest to preppers and survivalists. Today, news about some Rainbow Trout stocking. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho IDFG to stock nearly 150,000 rainbow trout throughout Idaho in July. o  o  o Mudslide closes US Highway 95 north of Riggins. o  o  o One dead, multiple people hospitalized after crash south of …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 7, 2025

On July 7, 1908, the U.S Navy’s Great White Fleet departed San Francisco Bay.  The U.S. Atlantic Fleet then visited Honolulu, Hawaii; Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney, Melbourne, and Albany, Australia; Manila, Philippine Islands; Yokohama, Japan; Colombo, Ceylon. The ships arrived at Suez, Egypt, on January 3, 1909. — July 7, 1905: A high temperature of 127°F (53°C) was recorded in Parker, Arizona. This was a state record that held until 1994. — July 7th, 1907 was the birthday of science fiction novelist Robert A. Heinlein. He passed away on May 8, 1988, at age 80. — Please keep praying for …


Recipe of the Week: Whole Wheat Flour Sugar Cookies 

The following recipe for Whole Wheat Flour Sugar Cookies is from SurvivalBlog reader E.J.. Ingredients ¾ cup vegetable oil 1 cup sugar ½ cup powdered sugar 1 tbsp. water 2 large eggs ½ tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. cream of tartar 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour 3 cups of all-purpose flour 2 oz. white chocolate, melted (optional) Buttercream frosting (optional) Directions Cream together the butter, oil, and sugars until combined. Add the water and eggs, soda, cream of tartar, extract, salt and flour and mix until just combined. Note: Don’t overmix the dough. Using …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic:  The silent spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), caused by prions, among Deer and Elk populations in North America. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit, using USGS data.) The thumbnail below is click-expandable.         — Please send your graphics or graphics links to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“America’s contemporary police officers now almost reflexively say: ‘Show me your I.D.’  I see hardly any difference from the familiar old German Gestapo demand: ‘Deine Papiere, bitte.’  (‘Your papers, please.’) Or, less politely: ‘Zeig mir deine Papiere.’  (‘Show me your papers.’) If you are stopped by police but not placed under formal arrest, then you are not obliged to give your name or produce identity documents unless an officer can state a reasonable articulable suspicion of an actual crime that has been committed or that is about to be committed.  Without that reasonable articulable suspicion (under the Terry v. Ohio doctrine), …