RBS sent this: U.S. Foreclosure Filings Nearly Double in September Over Same Month a Year Ago o o o Thanks to L.W. for sending this link: Only Now, the Full Horror of Burmese Junta’s Repression of Monks Emerges o o o Morgan Stanley Traders Lost $390 Million in One Day o o o Hawaiian K. sent us this: Windbelt, Cheap Generator Alternative, Set to Power Third World
Steve H. and Ben L. both mentioned this: New fire-retardant gel can save homes. Ben’s comment: $12,000 to $20,000 may seem like quite a bit of money, but compared to the total price of a house, is it really that much? o o o I just noticed that JRH Enterprises had a couple of scarce Gen 3 AN/PVS-14 night vision weapon sights available. With the current heavy government contract demand to support the war in Iraq, these don’t hit the civilian market very often! o o o The price of wheat has gone up 75% in just the …
By way of SHTF Daily, James Saft of Reuters reports: Americans charge it as Bank of Subprime closes. A collective $909 billion balance on credit cards? ¡Ay Carumba! Meanwhile, we read at The Baltimore Sun: Credit card debt is ready to blow: (Thanks to Hawaiian K. for sending that link.) o o o RBS flagged this: Heating Oil Prices To Jump 22 Percent Over Last Winter, Says Energy Department o o o RBS also sent us this: Mortgage Lender Thornburg ups estimated loss on loan sales o o o I hope that most of you took my …
More “ARM Twisting” ahead: It has been widely reported that nearly one trillion dollars worth of adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) will reset to higher interest rates in the next 18 months. That is nearly 20% of all mortgage loans outstanding. Are the majority of sub-prime borrowers ready for the higher monthly payments? Probably not. So we can expect to see a lot more delinquencies and foreclosures in the next two years. As previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog, a small portion of rural foreclosures may represent a retreat buying opportunity. Monitor the market closely, either through a cooperative agent in your selected …
Speaking at the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole, Wyoming conclave in August, Yale University Professor Dr. Robert Shiller said that residential house prices might fall as much as 50% in some former real estate boom areas. As evidence, he cited how much home prices have escalated in comparison to rents. Personally, I think that 50% is an optimistic figure. Given the pendulum-like nature of macro market swings, I think that prices in some cities like Phoenix and San Diego may drop at much as 65% from their peak. And it may take five or six years before prices hit bottom. I …
Writing in the September, 2007 issue of The American Rifleman magazine, Walter J. Kuleck reports that there is a logistical support problem for the thousands of M14 rifles that have been issued to US troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kuleck writes: “…there is essentially no support available through Department of Defense channels–no parts, accessories, magazines, tools or documentation beyond a new Preventive Maintenance [PM] Magazine comic book and a 40-year-old manuals printed from on-line PDF files. The Army has made some efforts to buy back parts surplused decades ago and to purchase new walnut stocks, for example. Most components, …
Via SHTF Daily comes this commentary from Robert P. Murphy: The Worst Recession in 25 years? o o o Typhoon Season: China Evacuates 1 Million As Storm Hits o o o Blair recommended this article by Dr. Gary North (my hero): A 10-Step Personal Self-Defense Strategy Against a Coordinated Bioterrorist Attack o o o RBS flagged this piece from The Age (in Australia): Food shock as ‘agflation’ sees prices rise
Alphie sent us this: “Adding Insult to Injury Department ” news story: Lost your home? You may owe IRS o o o Homebuilders: Lennar’s Loss Deepens the Pain o o o DV sent us this item: Bird flu virus mutating into human-unfriendly form. The article begins: “The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated to infect people more easily, although it still has not transformed into a pandemic strain, researchers said…” o o o Found at the Drudge Report: Adventurer ends 13-year human-powered world trip
Sam M. sent us this: CIBC Economist: $100 Oil by End of ’08–Expert: Oil Prices Set to Hit $100 by End of ’08, and Will Likely Stay at Triple-Digit Level. Perhaps the “alarmist” Peak Oil crowd was not far from the mark. o o o A hat tip to Ben L. for forwarding us this article link: Tamiflu may create resistant bird flu o o o The folks at SHTF Daily linked to a great primer on sound, specie-backed money being replaced by fiat currency: The Rule of Planned Money o o o Chuck suggested ED-Day–Dead Sydney, …
Pending Home Sales Index Hits Record Low o o o From Newsweek‘s Daniel Gross: There’s No Inflation (If You Ignore Facts) o o o Green Mountain Gear has found a limited supply of some more original German HK91/G3 alloy magazines. This new batch is in new-in-the-wrapper condition. These are in the original factory wrappers, with factory labels and anti-corrosion paper strips on the followers. (Just as they left the factory in the 1960s.) They don’t come any better than this. o o o DV and David L. both suggested this article: Dollar’s double blow from Vietnam and Qatar
The Chartist Gnome chided me in a recent e-mail, after I had mentioned that after having dropped decisively through the 80 level: “Some analysts suggest 75 or perhaps even 72 as the next support level for the US Dollar Index.” He said that I was being overly optimistic. By his calculations, “the next logical support level for the USD Index is 72 and then if that fails to hold, we can expect a step off the cliff with no support until 42.” Lest you think that this is some wild-eyed exaggeration, Jordan Roy-Byrne (editor of The Trendsman) came up with …
Frequent contributor RBS sent this article link: Credit derivative volumes rise 32 percent to $45.5 trillion. I’ve warned SurvivalBlog readers about the threat of a derivatives implosion before, but for the sake of new readers, I’ll mention it again: Derivatives–The Mystery Man Who’ll Break the Global Bank at Monte Carlo o o o The bidding is now at $500 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction, for a scarce pre-1899 antique Finnish M39 Mosin Nagant rifle from my personal collection. This rifle was rebarreled by Valmet during WWII, and is in excellent condition. It comes with a replica bayonet, original sling, …
Reader Nathaniel noted that Netbank, a major online bank, just went under due to problems with subprime loans and other issues. Not a good sign… o o o “Florida Guy” mentioned a piece posted at This is London: Tom Cruise building ‘£5m bunker to protect against alien attack’ o o o SF in Hawaii mention this product as a valuable aid for teaching centerfire rifle and shotgun shooting for folks not yet accustomed to stout recoil. o o o The ever-vigilant Stephen in Iraq mentioned these two related news articles: Citigroup Sees 3Q Earns Down 60 Percent …
Five different readers sent us this: Alabama City Reopening Fallout Shelters o o o NFA sent us this link: A spike in the germination failure rate for commercially grown seeds? o o o Bill N. came across this web site for women with guns. Has some good information for any woman that may carry a gun. o o o A hat tip to Desert T. for sending this from The Wall Street Journal: Historic Surge In Grain Prices Roils Markets
There is an interesting thread in progress titled: “Popular Mechanics new take on Heinlein’s skill list“, over at The Mental Militia Forums (formerly called the Claire Files Forums.) I agree with the consensus view there. Parenthetically, I’m glad that I’m raising our kids out in the hinterboonies in a largely self-sufficient lifestyle with plenty of “do it yourself”–mostly by economic necessity but partly by choice. A boy should know how to build a field fence just as well as a web page. o o o From Bloomberg: U.S. New-Home Sales Drop, Prices Fall Most Since 1970 o o …