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 election turmoil-driven ammunition buying. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

We’ll start off with this from outspoken investing pundit Jim Cramer: You need some gold to protect against inflation and economic chaos.

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Stimulus, Debt And Gold (Michael Kosares)

Economy & Finance:

Charles High Smith: How Systems Collapse: Reaping What We’ve Sown

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At Zero Hedge: After Correctly Calling The 10% Stock Correction, MS Now Sees An Imminent 100bps Surge In Yields

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Over at Wolf Street: What Took so Long? After Years of Brick & Mortar Meltdown Punctuated by the Pandemic, Two Mall REITs File for Bankruptcy

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By way of the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site, there is this, at Wolf Street: The next bear market will be the worst in at least 78 years, warns co-founder of Soros’s legendary Quantum Fund

Commodities:

Copper Prices Jump More Than 10% After Election But Underlying Causes Unclear. An excerpt:

“Copper prices rose by more than 10% last week, regaining price levels metals investors haven’t seen since July 2015. The red metal had been lagging behind growth in other metals prices through most of this year, then jumped by more than it has since 2011.

After seeing $2.08 per pound in late October, copper prices began a gradual rise and then really took off Nov. 8, the day of the U.S. general elections, hitting $2.55 at the end of last week before settling in to hover around $2.50 most of this week.”

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Charles Kennedy of OilPrice News reports: The U.S. Officially Quits The Paris Climate Agreement

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Four OPEC+ Members Favor Extended Cuts

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What Oil Companies Face: The WTF-Collapse of Consumption of Gasoline & Jet Fuel from Long-Term Weakness

Equities:

Stocks Close Sharply Higher After Biden Gains Swing-State Votes

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And at Seeking Alpha: Election 2020: EV stocks soar as presidential battle goes on

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How will the stock market react to the election results? Investors weigh in

Forex & Cryptos:

Reuters: FOREX-Dollar jumps as U.S. election race tightens; peso, yuan wilt

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GBP/USD Weekly Forecast: US Election the Main Risk, BoE to Boost QE

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Bitcoin Tops $14k As Billion-Dollar ‘Silk Road’ Wallet Moves For First Time Since 2015

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Ethereum 2.0 begins launch process as deposit contract goes live

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Record $816M in Bitcoin leaves Binance — Are whales preparing for a rally?

Tangibles Investing:

Shoppers stock up on ammo on Election Day. Here is a snippet:

“Blythe’s Sport Shops in Valparaiso and Griffith, Indiana, sold more than 80,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition within a half-hour of opening Tuesday, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported, citing the company’s chief operating officer – along with an entire shipment the night before.”

JWR’s Comments: The election turmoil hasn’t slowed the rush to buy guns and ammunition.  If Biden is declared the winner, then we can expect to see two or three years of sustained frantic ammo buying. Invest accordingly.

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A reminder from fellow blogger Commander Zero on the importance of stacking your magazines deep: It Approaches.

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Wolf Street: I’m in Awe of How Fast Rents Plunge in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Other Expensive Cities. Rents Decline Even in Houston & Dallas. National Average Turns Negative

Provisos:

SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. 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 closely watch specific markets. If you spot any news that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers, then please send it in. News items from local news outlets that are missed by the news wire services are especially appreciated. And it need not be only about commodities and precious metals. Thanks!




31 Comments

  1. Hmm, wolf street renting – saw on face book a post the other day ( I’m on face book only because of the kids and grandkids ). A young 20 /30 something is wondering why her land lord raised her rent after she voted to tax the wealthy / big land lords. Hmm, pay back is a b—h.

  2. Rents falling, In California this is just going to be another problem for the State. Falling rents = falling property values, as people sell these declining assets property taxes will decline and the state will naturally gear up to add more taxes on the rest of the population for their failed and ongoing feel good programs. I have given up on talking to the walking brain dead liberals.
    How’s this for lack of fore sight? I have just heard that several states have legalized Cocaine and Heroin in small amounts. I guess this can be justified by the mantra ” It’s for the Children”. Highly addictive drugs being allowed to freely circulate just makes it easier for unthinking kids to become addicts and ruin or shorten their lives. I have seen what Heroin can do to people first hand and hanging is to good for drug dealers and legislators that propose this type of legislation. It is hard to believe so many people drink this type of kool-aid. To those whose kids become addicts I say this is on your heads, not mine.
    I am reminded of the old cartoon where the guy carries a sign “The End is Near” all that can be said about him is that he is an optimist.

    1. From your post, Joe: “I have given up on talking to the walking brain dead liberals.”

      Understood completely. Sometimes we must step back, and allow them to fail. They are determined to do so. We should allow it to happen.

      It’s not that we won’t feel terrible heartache for the suffering that will come, but we must face the reality that 1) we cannot stop it, and 2) we may actually prolong the suffering that cannot be avoided — or even make it worse — but delaying the impact of the consequences that ultimately cannot be avoided.

      1. TofA: >Sometimes we must step back, and allow them to fail. They are determined to do so. We should allow it to happen.<
        I have to disagree. When it was just medicinal pot, I mean when it became recreational us, I mean when it is just a little coke or hash, it BECAME a big deal. Slow progression meant to destroy civilization.
        If you think of that statement in terms of the progressives' total agenda, we are all going to pay sooner or later, one way or another, much more than we can afford.

    2. Joe, Wonderful comments, and I agree with you on 99%.

      “To those whose kids become addicts I say this is on your heads, not mine,” is where I disagree.

      Parents are not responsible for the choices of their children. Each of us will stand before God as an individual. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could pass the buck and say, “It was his/her fault I did such and such a sin.” I’m sure you agree that is completely the opposite of the Bible’s teaching.

      “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;” Rom. 3:23 KJV

      Adam and Eve are the first example that God gave us the right to make mistakes.

      IMO, the parents of drug addicts need our compassion instead of judgment. When my children were little, I read the C.S. Lewis, “Chronicle of Narnia,” series to them. In book one, the reader learned the candy, Turkish delight, became addictive after Edmund had just one taste. He was deceived, and his addiction led him to betray his own family. Wonderfully, after much brokenness, forgiveness and reconciliation follows.

      While my children were never into drugs, they had their own temptations and sins to deal with. You have probably heard the saying, “But for the grace of God, go I.”

      Warmly, Krissy

  3. There is still some ammo out there, just have to be quick. On election night I bought another 5K rounds of Federal XM193. I wouldn’t say it was a “bargain” but it was not price gouging either. Ten minutes later they were sold out, and still are. Keep watching sites like Ammo Seek for opportunities.

  4. Oh, and for magazines, here in Colorado we cannot purchase standard capacity magazines. We are allowed to buy “repair kits” consisting of a magazine body, follower, base plate and spring.

    Sometimes I am glad legislators are idiots.

  5. Do not fear ! I know it looks dire, but this is all part of God’s plan. I know that we will win eventually. What do we have to go through in the mean time ? Will the democrats be able to steal the election ? I don’t believe so. But if they do, they will have to fight a real, shooting war, and they are vastly outnumbered, outgunned, and out planned. But never forget that even one plus God is a majority. We will win !

    1. Nathan Hail,
      I hope you’re right brother, but I have my doubts. If the Demon-crats win, they will do what they always do; cheat, lie and steal to achieve their goals. They will strip Republicans of as many rights as they can get away with, and change the game by stacking the courts, Senate, etc. That’s why Trump was fortuitous. He didn’t play by their rules, and was a street fighter. They never saw him coming, and didn’t take him seriously. Well, they took him seriously this time, and designed probably the only strategy that could possibly succeed – cheating.

      Remember, Obama won his first two campaigns by disqualifying his opponents, not fighting the good fight, or playing the game as designed. In 2012, he won by lying about Benghazi, and concocting the Iran deal for a perceived win.

      When they can’t win on the merits, they change the game.

      As always, hoping you…
      Seymour Liberty

    2. Nathan Hail…
      From your post: “Will the democrats be able to steal the election ? I don’t believe so.”

      I surely pray you are right, and believe with you that this is true. I also know from personal experience that God does not always take us “around” the storm. Sometimes He grabs us by the shirt collars, and pulls us “right straight through” em!

      Certainly a blessing that would come from this storm would be the cleaning out of the corruption, and the true restoration of our Constitutional Republic. That cannot happen until these corrupt actors are dragged into the light of day, exposed for who they are and what they are doing, and cleared out from any influence on future governance.

  6. The anger finally hit me full force today. When I get really really angry, my house usually gets really really clean. I realize we have until December for the election to be worked out while court battles have begun to stop the steal. Discussed in person with close family today. Neither of us were optimistic. Other families were thinking if we can hold the Senate and improve the Congress, we might be able to hold on to our liberties. I will be closely going through my “preps” to see if there are any holes and act accordingly. Other than that, it’s Katie bar the door time. I cannot make any recommendations (in print), but I’m sure many of you can guess my thoughts.

    I am a woman of deep Faith. However, I am not a woman who will sigh and say, “God’s got this!” while I turn on a movie and have a glass of wine to distract my mind. No. I feel that S-has-HTF and if anyone doesn’t feel that, then they aren’t facing reality. Our complacency is what will lose our Republic. Our desire for comfort over a fight. I don’t know what the answer is, for now, as I can’t recommend lining up all Communists against a wall and dispensing with our current troubles. I can recommend that people prepare for the long haul if they haven’t done so already.
    .02

    1. I believe another problem that goes along with complacency is people who “prepare” just by stocking up more stuff. We all need to be preparing ourselves mentally, spiritually, and by learning more skills and training constantly. It seems like a lot of folks neglect those things.

      1. To AY-..wwes…T of A … I know this is a spiritual battle and the words of Jesus as recorded in John 10:10 keep coming to my spirit… “ the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy, I come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly “ …

  7. what I’m going to say doesn’t have anything to do with any of the above. Just read a blurp about demonstrators trying to burn down a Portland Or. commissioner’s house and then later they set fire to the Portland Or city hall. The commis’s name is Dan Ryan, don’t know whether he is a democrat or a Republican. If he is a democrat, then they are starting to eat their own

  8. Research Operation Scorecard as revealed by Gen. Mckierney recently. The Obama admin illegally obtained a CIA program used to sway foreign elections. In the interview, it was mentioned it added 3% increases above the opposition. Supposedly untraceable. He also mentioned the Trump admin was aware of the threat. Lord I pray the veil of lies and deceit are lifted and the guilty are prosecuted here on earth. Everyone pray for Trump and his family. We need Gods intervention…

  9. “Copper Prices Jump More Than 10% After Election But Underlying Causes Unclear”
    Hmmm. Yeah, right. High demand outstrips supply is the way it usually happens. What is copper use for? Wire, maybe? Or maybe projectiles if someones, or some entity, is buying a lot.

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