Reader I.T.N. wrote me to ask: “I noticed that [the base metal value of] a nickel is [down to] now 4.9 cents. (due to a sharp decline in nickel as of late) Do you think this is temporary, or should I begin to spend the milk jugs full of nickels I acquired.” I expect that spot price of nickel will rebound in coming months, as the US Dollar resumes its decline. With more rapid inflation looking likely, I expect that a US five cent piece will have a base metal value of 10 cents (twice its face value) within two years. And in the long run, as I’ve predicted previously, nickels will begin to be worth 3X to 4X their face value. Once that happens, speculators will begin to acquire $100 (or larger) face value bags, as a speculative hedge against inflation. Hang on to those nickels! Someday you’ll be very glad that you did.
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Eric sent us a link with some more about making newspaper logs.
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The new Katadyn VARIO water filter has a unique design that allows it to be adjusted, depending on the input water quality. I recommend it. OBTW, SurvivalBlog readers will get free shipping on a VARIO filter if they call Ready Made Resources at: 1(800) 627-3809.
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Readers PNG, Niall, and Michael Z. Williamson all mentioned this new product development, perhaps as a starting point for designing a vehicular Get Out of Dodge kit: The Shelter Box. PNF notes: “Not available for retail sale, but an interesting point of comparison.”
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SurvivalBlog’s Economic Editor Cheryl N. sent us this gem: SF Wachovia Bank Under Siege By People Facing Foreclosure. File this under “A” for Audacity. OBTW, I think that the leftist ACORN group made an appropriate choice for the color of their t-shirts. True to form, Cheryl also sent us several pieces of news and commentary: US Deficit Nears $407 Billion, Government Takes Control of Fannie & Freddie, Bush: I Wouldn’t Call it a Bailout, World Stocks Soar on US Mortgage Bailout, Fannie/Freddie Bailout Offer Banks Stock Reprieve, Mexico Stocks Gain After US Bailout; Peso Slips, Taxpayer’s Might Make Money on Fannie/Freddie Grab, China Frets at US Risk After Fannie/Freddie Bailout, A $75 Trillion Fright Fest: 8 Megahorror Debts Chilling The US, Why the US Moved on Mortgage Giants, Best Financial Quotes of August 2008, Ten Worst Insurance Companies (PDF), GMAC May File For Bankruptcy as Early as Tomorrow, and, Treason at the US Treasury. This last piece includes this: “I will tell you openly, the rule of economic law has ended in the USA. Say what you will, the open seizure of Fannie and Freddie by the US government, without cause or recourse, and the destruction of private equity is the Rubicon. We shall not go back from this point. It is kaput.”