Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on investing in M1 Garand rifles. (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Precious Metals:

The Gold-Silver Ratio Is Not ‘Subject To Any Kind Of Cap’ — ICBC.   JWR’s Comment:  Spot silver is now almost laughably low versus other tangibles. I’m actively buying silver.  Selling Bitcoin on days when it is over $8,000 USD, and then buying physical silver when it is under $16.50 per Troy ounce is just common sense.  And if you can get a coin dealer to sell you silver directly for Bitcoin, then all the better. Three precious metals companies that accept Bitcoin are: APMEX (a long-time SurvivalBlog advertiser), JMBullion, and SilverGoldBull.com. Buy low and sell high, folks.

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Get Ready: ‘Big Breakout For Gold’ Is Coming — Bloomberg Intelligence

Commodities:

New Oilfield Capex To Surpass $800 Billion By 2025

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China’s yuan-denominated oil futures – what took you so long? (From the perspective of a mainland Chinese reporter.)

Derivatives:

News from Singapore: MAS consulting on new rules requiring OTC derivatives to be traded on organised markets

Worst Case Economics:

Reader H.L. suggested this at Zero Hedge: What Happens When Your Money Is Worthless? Living With A Devalued Currency

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Chris Martenson: The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be

Economy & Finance:

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USN&WR: Five Things to Know About the Economy This Week: 3/31/2017

Tangibles Investing (M1 Garand Rifles)

America’s primary battle rifle used in World War II and the Korean War was the M1 Garand rifle. These make great tangible investments. The Garand (“U.S. Rifle, M1”) is a semiautomatic .30-06 that uses an unusual 8-round en bloc clip. This clip is ejected after the 8th round is fired. The M1 gave American infantrymen a decided advantage over their opponents, who were largely armed with bolt-action rifles. (The German K98 8mm Mauser, the Italian Carcano (ahem, briefly), and the Japanese 7.7mm Arisaka.)

One side note: Because so many veterans came home from the war accustomed to saying “clip” because of their M1 Garand shooting experience the term began being misapplied to describing box magazines. I suspect that some American shooters will be misusing the word “clip” for another 50 years!  It is indeed a correct term for the Garand’s spring steel en bloc clip, but it is not for box magazines.

They Only Go Up

M1 Garands have been steadily gaining in value, despite the fact that Civillian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has sporadically released several hundred thousand of them as surplus to civilian shooters. There were 5,468,772 M1 Garands manufactured between 1936 and 1957. But at least three million of those were loaned, gifted, or sold to allied countries in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. And more than 300,000 were foolishly scrapped under orders of the Jimmy Carter administration. Some of the Lend-Lease M1s have recently been returned from Denmark, Turkey, and the Philippines and will come out through the CMP. But sadly most of the “missing three million” will never return to our shores.

Back when I was in college in the early 1980s, a typical Garand sold at gun shows for $200. I thankfully bought a surplus field grade M1 from the DCM (the predecessor of the CMP) for $165. As I recall, that was in 1982. Today, they run from $950 (for a “beater”) to up to $3,500 on the open market. (The upper figure would be for a particularly rare variant.) And the CMP has adopted a sliding price scale that presently starts at $650 for Field Grade. They have a lottery and mail bid auctions for sales of the more scarce models.

Odds are that you will never lose money when you invest in an M1 Garand that its in very good or better condition. Expect to pay at least $1,200 for a nice one. But don’t fear, since they only seem to go up in value.  Even with 100,000 additional repatriated Garands soon to be released by the CMP, I do not expect prices to decline. They might just level off for a year or two.

What To Buy

For the best long-term gain in value, don’t just buy a “run of the mill” Grand at a gun show or a “rack grade” CMP Garand with a worn finish. And avoid any that have import marks stamped on the barrel. Instead, look for one made by Winchester, or a pre-war M1 with all-matching maker marks, or a rare variant (such as an M1C or M1D sniper rifle), or one with an exceptionally nice stock grain or fiddleback pattern, or one that is in exceptionally minty condition–but that hasn’t been re-arsenalized.

From a practical prepping standpoint, it might be worth looking for a civilian “Tanker” Garand conversion, with a shorter barrel. There haven’t been many of those made, and they are a handy length for practical shooting.

GetTING Smart on Garands

Here are a few good reference articles to bring you up to speed on the technical and collectability factors of M1 rifles:

• Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose an M1 Garand
• The International Harvester M1 Garand Rifle
• Who Made M1 Garands? How Many Were Made? When Were They Made?, by Scott Duff
• M1 Garand Inspection

And one good reference book that I can recommend is: The M1 Garand Owner’s Guide.

Provisos:

SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. So please see our Provisos page for our detailed disclaimers.

News Tips:

Please send your economics and investing news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who particularly watch individual markets. And due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target” investing news. We often “get the scoop” on economic and investing news that is probably ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!