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 a cleverly simple penny sorting device. (See the Precious Metals and Base Metals section.)

Precious Metals and Base Metals:

Reader Jeff K. sent a link to a video showing a brilliantly simple and inexpensive solution to copper penny sorting: The Home-Built Magnetic Penny Sorter.

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Weak electronic demand to push silver prices back to $18 by year end – Capital Economics.

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Gold Price Forecast – Watch Out! Gold in Bear Market.

Economy & Finance:

Zero Hedge reports on the ongoing rout in the markets: Down $29 Trillion Since November. JWR’s Comment:  This shows the difference between the Fed’s jawboning about raising interest rates, and actually raising rates from their prolonged artificial low range.

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The Standard & Poors (S&P) 500 Index dropped 2.1% on Thursday (September 29, 2022) to a quite bearish new low of 3,641. So the S&P index is now down 23.6% for the year to date. Ouch. Please, dear readers, lighten up on your equities holdings. They have much further to fall.

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Great Resignation: Half of Americans think they’ll leave job within next year, flexibility major reason why.

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Cost of canceling student debt: $400 billion, agency says.

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At Wolf Street: To Compete with Spiking Treasury Yields, Banks Now Offer 4%+ on “Brokered” CDs of 6 Months to 5 Years.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Remember, the Fed does not control interest rates, they only control their discount rate.  When the market stampedes into bonds there’s nothing the Fed can do to keep rates from falling.  The panic will send short term rates way above long term, and will lash a lesson into the smug complacency that has kept the creditworthiness spread between US treasury securities and all other debt, from high grade corporate to junk.  Y’all strap yourselves in for one wild ride.” – Franklin Sanders

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — September 29, 2022

Episode 3, of Season 3 of The Twilight Zone, titled The Shelter originally aired on September 29, 1961. Of particular interest to preppers, this was one of the few episodes of that television series that didn’t feature supernatural or sci-fi elements.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 102 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool (a $189 value) and a WoodOx Sling (a $79.95 value), courtesy of LogOx, both made in USA.
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $750,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 102 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Ways to Combat News-Overload Induced Worry, by Elli O.

During these times of instability and unc+ertainty both in our country and throughout the world, it is easy to become concerned about our future. In fact, if you are a Pollyanna who is not concerned about the future, then your head is probably in the sand dunes of Egypt and you are not being realistic in your thinking.

But these are unstable times. There is constantly a threat to our way of life and the peace to which we have become accustomed. Whether it be man-made or by nature, ranging from the international conflicts (pick any two countries- Russia and Ukraine, China and Taiwan, North Korea and South Korea, Israel and Palestine… etc.) and the tensions within our own nation, to the increase of solar flares and abundance of hurricanes/floods/tornadoes/droughts, there are more than enough situations to cause worry.

Watching/reading/ listening to the news can keep us informed, but it can also cause us to be overwhelmed with anxiety and fear. Hearing about the skyrocketing rates of murders and other felonious crimes, as well as the pending economic collapse and the disappearance of our pensions and double-digit inflation hitting almost every area of our lives, can fill us with a deep sense of dread.

To combat this sense of dread, some would just advise us to stop listening to the news altogether. Some would counsel us to disregard the news because there is nothing we can do about it anyway. And although they are generally correct in regards to world and state news, we can often have a positive effect on our local situations- the ones we find out about on the local news.

Others would try to convince us that the situation is not as bad as we believe it to be. I always wonder what news these people are listening to, because it IS bad and it seems to only be getting worse by the day.

What are we to do?  It is my opinion that a good citizen should be aware of the circumstances affecting our lives, so turning off the news completely is not good guidance IMHO.

We need to find a compromise- something between worrying after watching the news on one end and being ignorant and oblivious from not being informed on the other end. I have listed some recommendations below that will help you to be informed without becoming overwhelmed.Continue reading“Ways to Combat News-Overload Induced Worry, by Elli O.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘nx Sods— 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. Since September is National Preparedness Month, we are focusing this week’s column on war, pandemic, and natural disaster planning.

Inside Raven Rock Mountain Nuclear War Bunker

Terry suggested this article that ran in Newsweek, earlier this year: Inside Raven Rock Mountain Complex, Biden’s Bunker in Face of Nuclear War.

FEMA’s Continuity Resource Toolkit

Some web searching led me to this: FEMA’s Continuity Resource Toolkit. This unclassified guide is designed for planners at all levels of government. Their own high-level Continuity of Government (COG) plans for the Federal government are classified and parts of it are compartmented information programs (Secret/SCI and even Top Secret/SCI), to tightly limit access.

Mystery Leaks in Russian Gas Pipelines

H.L. sent this: Mystery leaks in Russian gas pipelines spark fears. JWR’s Comment: It is likely that this will be used as an excuse for a total disruption of Russian natural gas — probably just before deep winter sets in. This will spell maximum misery in western Europe.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — September 28, 2022

On September 28, 1066, William The Conqueror invaded England, landing at Pevensey Bay, Sussex.

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Today’s guest article was written by Brandon Smith of the great Alt-Market blog.

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Just two days left! We are seeking entries for Round 102 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Round 102 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Europe Is Facing Energy Disaster And It’s Going To Bleed Over Into The US, by Brandon Smith

Editor’s Introductory Note: This article by Brandon Smith was originally published at Birch Gold Group.  It is reposted with permission.

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Though the situation is ever changing, currently the Russian government has announced an official shutdown of all natural gas exports to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and plans to maintain the shutdown until the EU ends its economic sanctions over the war in Ukraine. This means that around 40% of Europe’s energy resources are now gone, with supply chain issues surrounding the other 60% and prices skyrocketing for households and businesses.

Back in March in an article titled ‘The Biggest Lies (So Far) Surrounding Russia And Ukraine’ I noted that:

“…There’s something else the media does not talk about much, which is Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and natural gas. If you want to see actual price inflation caused by Russia, let the EU ban Russian oil imports, or watch as Putin cuts off the supply. Europe is dependent on Russian oil and gas for about 40% of overall energy production. They cannot even survive a single year without it. If Russia retaliated and blocked energy exports to Europe, the the EU would have to siphon oil from many other countries, reducing global supply dramatically. This would cause gas prices to explode to double or even triple current levels.”

Back in April of this year in my article ‘The Media Is Ignoring These Two Events Which Could Cause Economic Collapse’ I predicted that:

“…The Russian economy is not about to fold anytime soon, and now the EU, which is reliant on Russian oil and gas exports for 40% of their energy needs, is about to face economic doom unless they submit to paying for energy in rubles (which they won’t) or find a replacement source for gas and oil (which is impossible). Furthermore, with Europe on the global market looking for alternative oil sources, a big chunk of the oil market will be rerouted.

What does this mean? Less oil and gas to fulfill the demand in other countries. In other words, prices are about to skyrocket higher yet again.”

The media disinformation surrounding the economic situation with Russia disarmed millions of people and fooled them into believing that it was Russia facing fiscal disaster rather than Europe or potentially the US. Now, it would seem my predictions of a full spectrum crisis are coming true. The question is, what happens next?Continue reading“Europe Is Facing Energy Disaster And It’s Going To Bleed Over Into The US, by Brandon Smith”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: 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.

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Reader C.B. found this: Common gene variant linked to COVID mortality.

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In Oregon, farmers are revamping century-old irrigation canals to stem water loss. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)

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SaraSue sent us this update:

I weaned the calf at five months old. Interesting fact: Dairy heifers, Jerseys in particular, can come into heat earlier than other breeds and cycle every 17-21 days. She’s just had her second heat and was driving her mother crazy, mounting her, head butting, bawling, pacing, etc. She’s a very big girl, so I decided the time had come. My criteria was that she was plenty fat, was a good grazer on her own, and would drink plenty of water. She’s done pretty well in her own pasture, with occasional bawling. She can see her mother – i.e., “fence line weaning”. She gets hay and a little grain treat in addition to having about an acre of good grass – more than she needs. I spend time with her every day and we have “conversations” about her plight. She grunts and moos as I talk to her.

I’m officially drowning in milk – approximately 21+ gallons/week. Learning all the ways of making milk into cheeses and yogurt, in addition to supplying family and friends with fresh milk. Butter and sour cream require cream. The calf was getting all the cream because mom would “hold up” and save the cream for the calf. Dairy cows have an innate “on/off switch” for their calves. They can and will save the best for their baby, even if you are milking them. Now that I’m [in effect] the baby, she is giving the cream to me. Soon I will be able to make butter and sour cream. Right now, processing the milk is time-consuming, and my refrigerator is not big enough to hold the volumes of milk coming in twice a day. Took a hay delivery of about 150 square bales this week from a local source.”

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Lawsuit filed after FBI agents raided 1,400 deposit boxes at a US Private Vaults branch claims owners’ items have still not been returned.

And, in a similar raid, more recently: FBI Misled Judge to Seize $86M Cash during Raid.

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South Africa in electricity crisis, nationwide blackouts.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The choice facing the nation is between two totally different ways of life. And what a prize we have to fight for: no less than the chance to banish from our land the dark, divisive clouds of Marxist socialism and bring together men and women from all walks of life who share a belief in freedom.” – Margaret Thatcher

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — September 27, 2022

September 27th is the birthday of Samuel Adams (not counting the change in dates due to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar). He was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 102 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool (a $189 value) and a WoodOx Sling (a $79.95 value), courtesy of LogOx, both made in USA.
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $750,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 102 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Locksmithing for TEOTWAWKI, by R.M.G.

Let’s take a moment to think about all the things/issues a locksmith might help us with today, that we might be able to prepare ourselves for tomorrow.

We have keys and locks that secure our house, our vehicles, the storage shed/workshop out back, our place of business, our guns, our money/important papers/silver/gold. The list goes on and on, and most of it is stuff we take for granted. Many of us have no idea that there are things that we can do to better secure all or most of the things listed above and most people don’t know that there are things that you can do to reduce the chances of you needing to call a locksmith to help you with a crisis/emergency.

Let’s start with your house. Residential lock hardware is typically not as secure as commercial hardware. This basically means that the materials used are not as stout, not as durable, and the tolerances(how well they are put together) are not as good. Did you know that you can put commercial hardware into most residential doors. Speaking of doors, the quality, the construction of a residential door versus a commercial grade door can be significant, so the doors themselves are something to check into as well.

Let’s talk a little about doors for a moment. If you were to go out to your local home improvement store, you would discover that the measurements on most doors and how they are prepped for door hardware is pretty standard. If the builder of your home installed a special sized door, then you probably won’t find it in your local home improvement store. So, most residential doors are “prepped” for residential hardware and require a 2 3/8” backset for the knob/lever that would be installed. Commercial doors are typically 2 3/4” backset for the knob/lever that would be installed. Backset is the distance from the edge of the door to the centerline of the hole in the door where the knob/lever would be installed. The difference between the two backsets listed above is enough to prevent residential hardware from working in the commercial prep and commercial hardware from working in the residential prepped door. Manufacturers of both types of hardware make parts (latches, mainly) that will make the conversion possible, but my intention is to get you interested in the better commercial hardware.Continue reading“Locksmithing for TEOTWAWKI, by R.M.G.”

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 of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, some links to some travel videos — mostly aerial — filmed throughout the Redoubt region.

Region-Wide

Off the Beaten Path: North Idaho & Eastern Washington BDR Adventure.

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Southeastern Washington and North Idaho:

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Continental Divide Trail – Montana / Idaho

Idaho

Great scenery, via gyroplane: Lake Pend Oreille & Clark Fork Delta.

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Wheat Fields Run in Idaho Sunset.

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Some 2022 adventures from GravityKnightFlying:

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Backcountry flying and camping, July 2022. The hot springs and footbridge shown in the still photos are at Jerry Johnson Hot Springs.

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Lewiston, Idaho drone footage.

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Mackay Bar Airstrip – Main Salmon River, Idaho.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Whenever there is a jackboot stepping on a human face, there will be a well-heeled Western Liberal to explain that the face does, after all, enjoy free health care and 100% literacy.” – John Derbyshire

Preparedness Notes for Monday — September 26, 2022

On September 26, 1908 an ad for the Edison Phonograph first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post.

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Today’s feature article was written by our Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio.

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Some quick updates on my side business: I’ve added a couple of newly-acquired pre-1899 long guns to the inventory at Elk Creek Company: A 7.62mm NATO-converted Ludwig Loewe Chilean Mauser and a scarce Argentine Mauser Cavalry Carbine — also produced by Loewe.  I’ve put all of my remaining inventory of black powder replica guns on sale, until November 9th. And take note that there are now 27 listings of American-made knives and bayonets. So you can get an early start on shopping for Christmas and Hanukkah presents.