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 rapidly rising car prices — both new and used. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Reuters: Gold pops over 1% as U.S. jobs data miss cools Fed taper bets.

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Capital Economics looks for silver prices to drop 5% to $21.50 before year-end.

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Raeder Mark in Montana wrote:  “Silver is looking cheap…it may drop more initially as interest rates go up but this is a good time to be accumulating…”

Economy & Finance:

Another sign of default angst:  Fed Reverse Repo Use Hits $1.6 Trillion on Last Day of Quarter.

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At Zero Hedge: The Big Trade Hidden Under The Surface.

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Workers Who Maintain Supply Chains Issue Bone-Chilling Warning Every American Needs to Hear.

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Reader Ryan C. spotted this headline: Coca-Cola is so desperate for freight space it’s importing ingredients on coal ships. JWR’s Comment:  Most folks don’t realize that many bulk freighter holds are routinely alternated between carrying cargoes including various ores, grain, coal, legumes, salts, and concrete.

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How South Dakota became a haven for both billionaires and full-time RV-ers. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — October 10, 2021

On October 10th, 1913, the Panama Canal officially linked the Atlantic to the Pacific when the Gamboa dike was breached with dynamite charges. Pictured are the canal’s Gatun Locks.

Today is also the birthday of composer Giuseppe Verdi. (Born 1813, died 1901.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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. 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,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $150 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!

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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 ends on November 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.

Slowing Evaporation From a Zippo Lighter, by The Novice

The iconic Zippo lighter is an excellent tool for starting fires. Battlefield tested from World War 2 to the War on Terror, it has proven to be a versatile, durable, and reliable tool in daily use.

One major drawback of the Zippo is that it loses fuel fairly quickly due to evaporation. I had previously read about an old trick for slowing this evaporation by using a piece of bicycle inner tube. I decided to give it a try.

Lighter History

A lighter is a portable and reusable device designed to produce a flame.

Already in the 1600s, the first lighter-type devices were developed. These devices were tinderboxes that used a wheel lock mechanism similar to those employed by the firearms of the time. Sparks from the lock were used to ignite gunpowder or other flammable substances in order to create a flame. When firearms advanced from the wheel lock to the flintlock, these early lighters followed in their footsteps.

Then in the 1800s, chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner invented a device that created a flame by passing hydrogen over a platinum catalyst. The device proved quite popular, although it was unwieldy and somewhat dangerous to use.

The next major step forward in lighter technology was built upon the development of ferrocerium by Carl Auer von Welsbach in 1903. For the next six decades and longer, sparks produced by ferrocerium became the most widely used ignition source for lighters.

During World War I, trench warfare was characterized by some as long periods of boredom punctuated by short interludes of pure terror. Many soldiers coped with the periods of boredom by crafting lighters from readily salvageable battlefield materials like spent cartridge cases of various sizes. Their frequent exposure to the elements inspired these soldiers to introduce design improvements like perforated chimneys intended to help protect the lighter’s flame from the wind. These improvements were adopted into the lighter designs of the interwar period.

In the early 1930s, George G. Blaisdell observed a friend using an Austrian-made lighter. Blaisdell felt that he could improve on the concept, and in 1932 he introduced his new “Zippo” lighter.Continue reading“Slowing Evaporation From a Zippo Lighter, by The Novice”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 7:1-21 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — October 9, 2021

On October 9, 1000, Leif Ericson discovered “Vinland” (possibly at what was later named L’Anse aux Meadows, Canada) reputedly becoming first European to reach North America.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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. 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,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $150 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!

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 ends on November 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.

Post Facto Vaccine Countermeasures, by S.F. in Oregon

Editor’s Introductory Note:  The following is not medical advice. It is presented for informational purposes only. Consult your family doctor before undertaking any self-administered procedures.

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While I don’t suggest anyone get a COVID vaccine, some people have told me that they feel they have no choice. One case in point, a mother with a special needs child who can’t afford to lose her job. Another, a man who has served 18 years in the military who doesn’t want to lose his retirement benefits. Finally, if it gets dystopian enough, hypothetically consider the plight of an anti-vax patriot traveling with his family that gets vaxxed at gunpoint at an unexpected police or military checkpoint.

As such, let us discuss post facto vaccine countermeasures.

We are going to treat the vaccination like a bite from a poisonous snake. In both cases, vaccination and snakebite, the poison goes into the soft tissue, then the lymphatics, then general circulation.

Our goal is to keep the poisons at the injection site and away from the internal organs for as long as possible. This buys us the time to do the second part, which is the administration of anti-toxins to neutralize the poisons.Continue reading“Post Facto Vaccine Countermeasures, by S.F. in Oregon”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in this column, in the Odds ‘n Sods Column, and in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

Since returning the Rawles Ranch, I have plunged into my chores and projects.  At the top of my list was burning slash piles. There were seven piles, most of them small. Only one of them could be called “medium-size.” It was 15 feet long, eight feet wide, and seven feet tall. Since these piles included only a couple of 18″ diameter stumps, the burning project only took two days.

Next, with the help of our daughters, I removed the tarp covers from the tops of our chicken tractors. That will hopefully keep the tractors from collapsing under snow, this winter. Next on the “Honey Do” list was draining, coiling, and stowing more than 800 feet of garden hoses. Then it was back to the summer firewood project. After 2.5 hours and four refills of mixed gas, I had the last of the year’s firewood all cut to length. The girls are stacking the last of that, as I’m writing this. There are a few rounds that need to be split, but now we’ll have all the firewood under cover. It feels so good to be ready for winter!  Having that sense of self-sufficient  contentment is almost indescribable.

While I was helping the girls get started stacking stove-length rounds, I saw M. — one of our younger barn cats — chasing our resident wild turkey hen across the barnyard. What a naughty cat! I shouted at him, but he just looked over his shoulder in my direction, but then kept on chasing until that hen took flight. Someday that big hen may turn around teach him a lesson. She’s at least twice the weight of that teenager cat.

I’ve also been busy packing and mailing out orders for our home-based mailorder biz, Elk Creek Company. Now, over to Lily…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.

But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.” – Jeremiah 10:1-8 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — October 8, 2021

On October 8, 1957 Jerry Lee Lewis recorded “Great Balls Of Fire” in Memphis, Tennessee.

October 8th is the birthday of economist and libertarian commentator J. Orlin Grabbe. (Born, 1947, died March 15, 2008.)

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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. 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,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $150 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!

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 ends on November 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.

The Joys of Canning, by St. Funogas

It was one of those intolerably hot and muggy days of August. My sister in the Redoubt called to say they could see the smoke from the big fires in California and the Northwest and how hot the weather had gotten even near the Tetons. She said in no uncertain terms, “Only a fool would be trying to get any work done today instead of lounging in a hammock with some lemonade!” And there I was slaving over a hot stove canning three-bean salad before the beans got overripe, the steam making the muggy day even muggier.

And yet, I was enjoying myself. I suppose that makes me a fool according to my sister, something she’s known all along anyway, but the joys of canning can’t be put on hold just because the mercury is threatening to bust out of the top of the thermometer.

I started canning in high school when my dad showed me how to can the many types of fruits from the orchards scattered everywhere in our little hamlet in the boonies. I earned money during the summers picking cherries, apricots, and peaches and after quitting for the day we could take home any fruit lying on the ground. While much was canned, most of the apricots went straight to the solar dryer. They were easy to prepare: in one quick motion pull them in half along the seam and with a flick of the wrist, send the pit flying. No fruit was easier to dry and peaches were a close second. Both were sweeter than candy and a real treat while splitting firewood or backpacking in the nearby pine-forested mountains.Continue reading“The Joys of Canning, by St. Funogas”

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 the U.S. Treasury’s Trillion Dollar Coin Backup Plan. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Trillion-dollar platinum coin could be minted at the last minute.  JWR’s Comments: The absurdity of this proposal illustrates just how detached from reality both our monetary system and the Federal budget process have become.  My suggestion is this: If they are going to “create a trillion” then they should mint it on an aluminum blank, to save the taxpayers about $950.  Oh, and they might as well go Full Gideon Gono, and denominate that coin for $10 Trillion USD. That way, they’ll be ready for the next year of Federal over-spending. And they can just blame it on Trump, as is their habit.

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Arkadiusz Sieroń:  Will Q4 2021 Be Better for Gold?

Economy & Finance:

Finance executives say default risk is already hurting the economy.

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At Zero Hedge: Dry Bulk Shipping Rates Hit $80,000 Per Day As Buyers Scramble For Coal.

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U.S. trade deficit jumps to a record high in August.

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At Wolf Street: The Ugly Math: GM, Ford, other Legacy Automakers Throw Hundreds of Billions at EVs, Only Auto Segment that’s Growing. Tesla Made Them Do It.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“In retrospect, the spark might seem as ominous as a financial crash, as ordinary as a national election, or as trivial as a Tea Party. The catalyst will unfold according to a basic Crisis dynamic that underlies all of these scenarios: An initial spark will trigger a chain reaction of unyielding responses and further emergencies. The core elements of these scenarios (debt, civic decay, global disorder) will matter more than the details, which the catalyst will juxtapose and connect in some unknowable way. If foreign societies are also entering a Fourth Turning, this could accelerate the chain reaction. At home and abroad, these events will reflect the tearing of the civic fabric at points of extreme vulnerability – problem areas where America will have neglected, denied, or delayed needed action.” – Neal Howe (pictured) and William Straus, The Fourth Turning

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — October 7, 2021

The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement taking place on 7 October 1571 in which a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of European Catholic maritime states arranged by Pope Pius V and led by Spanish admiral Don Juan of Austria, decisively defeated the fleet of the Ottoman Empire on the northern edge of the Gulf of Corinth, off western Greece.

October 7th is the day that we remember the 96 American POWs from Wake Island that were executed in 1943 on the orders of the commander of the Japanese garrison on the island, Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara. The execution of those American POWs who were blindfolded and shot in cold blood, remains one of the more brutal episodes of the war in the Pacific.