Economics & Investing For Preppers

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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 collectible antique hand tools. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

 

Precious Metals:

First up, this article recommended by a blog reader in Alaska: Silver Threads among the Gold: What the Tea Leaves Seem to Be Telling Us

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Gold looking for a break of the 21-D SMA at $1,227

 

Stocks:

Tesla’s Wild Ride Gets Even Wilder

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Zack’s: In a Protracted Trade War, These Two Steel Stocks Will Be Among the Winners

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JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on Tool Storage (See the Gear section.)

 

Books:

The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump

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Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival

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Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy

 

Movies:

The Mechanic. (The original, with Charles Bronson. I much prefer it to the recent remake.) Available on DVD, but also available for free streaming to Amazon Prime members.

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George Marshall & the American Century

 

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“You often hear people speaking as if life was like striving upward toward a mountain peak. That is not so. Life is as if you were traveling a ridge crest. You have the gulf of inefficiency on one side and the gulf of wickedness on the other, and it helps not to have avoided one gulf if you fall into the other.”  – Theodore Roosevelt

Some Implications of the NRA’s Recommended Full Auto Amnesty

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Introductory Note: The following is not intended to be legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your own state.  This essay is simply conjecture on possible outcomes of a change in U.S. Treasury Department policy, in response to a recent suggestion by the National Rifle Association (NRA). Your perspective might be substantially different, your situation might not match what I’m suggesting, and “your mileage may vary.” Do not do anything illegal. The window of opportunity that I will describe does not yet exist. So this essay is just some conjectural food for thought.

The recent national kerfluffle over so-called “bumpfire” stocks has prompted thousands of Americans to send comments to the ATF. The NRA also sent a lengthy comment, in opposition. This followed a published Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on bumpfire stocks, that could possibly redefine them as “machineguns.” This NPRM is worse than many commentators had anticipated, in part because the proposed rule has no Grandfather Clause. By the ATF’s own estimates there are more than 350,000 American bumpfire stocks (worth about $96 million) already in circulation. The proposed rule would declare these stocks all contraband unregistered “machineguns”. They would have to be destroyed, taken out of U.S. territory, or turned in, with no compensation to their owners. The proposed unconstitutional “taking” rule provides no method provided to pay the $200 tax to register the stocks as $200 transfer-taxed machineguns.

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SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies of interest to preppers that are located in the region. The emphasis this week is on startup companies in the American Redoubt.

 

Idaho

Idaho’s startup hub? Turns out it’s Coeur d’Alene

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10 Best Tech Startups in Boise

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Reader Jon C. sent us this: Dozens of goats overtake Boise neighborhood, possibly plotting world domination

 

Montana

Montana Startups to Watch 2018: High-tech and Manufacturing

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How Tiny Bozeman, Montana, Became A Booming Tech Town

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Montana-based mapping startup onX raises a round of funding fit for Big Sky Country

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The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Venezuela is back in the news this week again.

Explosive-Carrying Drones

The Explosive-Carrying Drones in Venezuela Won’t Be the Last

JWR’s Comment: I first mentioned the emerging threat of UAVIEDs in SurvivalBlog back in 2006. Frankly, I’m surprised that it took this long for someone to use one against a head of state.

Baofeng Radios

Reader JMD wrote in to let us know of this upcoming change by the FCC that will make it illegal to sell radios (like the popular Baofengs) that can operate in the FRS radio band (462.5625 – 462.7250 MHz) and any other licensed band in a single device. Manufacturers will have to either quit selling them or block the FRS bands like they do for the current cellular bands. This is the relevant verbiage:

§ 95.591 Sales of FRS combination radios prohibited.

Effective September 30, 2019, no person shall sell or offer for sale hand-held portable radio equipment capable of operating under this subpart (FRS) and under any other licensed or licensed-by-rule radio services in this chapter (devices may be authorized under this subpart with part 15 unlicensed equipment authorizations).

Editor’s Comment:  I strongly recommend stocking up on dual band Baofeng handi-talkies before this regulatory change takes place. If bought in a set of five, the cost per transceiver is only around $23 each, postage paid!  By law, these presently may be bought by any adult. But a license is needed to operate them outside of the no-license  FRS, GMRS, and MURS bands. (That is, in the amateur operators’ bands.)

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Preparedness Notes for Monday – August 06, 2018

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On August 6th, 1945 at 8:16 a.m. (Japanese time), an American B-29 bomber– the Enola Gay– dropped the world’s first war-time atom bomb over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people were killed as a result of the blast, with another 35,000 injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout. History is always written by the victors, so the reasoning and justification for this will be argued for years to come. But one thing is for sure: this action officially ushered in the nuclear age in war and has generated mass fear among civilization ever since, even though the firebombing of Japanese cities caused far more damage and loss of life. An interesting side note is Tsutomu Yamaguchi. He was 3km from the Hiroshima blast but survived. Along with a few other survivors, he made his way to his hometown, Nagasaki, and was again within 3km of the second blast yet survived this one also.

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The prepper holiday “Paratus” will be celebrated on September 21st. Paratus was originated by “Commader Zero”, the pen name of the editor of the long-running Notes From The Bunker Blog.

CRKT “Kuk”, by Pat Cascio

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There is nothing really new, when it comes to the time-tested Ghurka blade, is there? Well, as a matter of fact, the all-new Columbia River Knife & Tool “Kuk”, designed by Ryan Johnson, puts a new twist on this blade, which is under review today.

My Collection of Military-Style Knives and Bayonets

I want to say that I was probably about 15 years old, maybe a little older or younger, when I started collecting military-style knives and bayonets. One of my favorite stops was a small Army/Navy Surplus store on the south end of downtown Chicago. Sadly, it is long gone. However, I spent untold hours in there, looking not only at U.S. military surplus clothing but all types of blades for my collection. It was there that I first learned about the Ghurka Kukri curved bladed knife. Even today, this type of blade is still often called a “Ghurka”, and that is incorrect. It was the Indian Ghurkas who carried this blade into combat with great effectiveness during WWII and beyond. Even today, they still use it. It’s a testament to the design and the ferociousness of these fights, often deployed/employed as mercenaries at times.

Sad to say, I no longer have the collection of military bayonets that came from all corners of the world. At some point, it was sold, when I needed some fast cash. I hated parting with all those knives, but ya do what ya gotta do to make ends meet at times. I want to say this collection was sold in the early 1970s, back in my old home town of Chicago, IL.

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Economics & Investing For Preppers

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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 the effects of higher interest rates on stock markets. (See the Stocks section and the Economy and Finance section.)

 

Precious Metals:

August’s Gold Market Looks ‘Ready For The Up Cycle’ – Sprott Money

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VIDEO — Michael DiRienzo of the Silver Institute on Silver’s Performance

 

Stocks (Effects of Higher Interest Rates):

At The Guardian: Apple hits $1trn stock market valuation; Bank of England raises interest rates – as it happened

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A viewpoint from the Persian Gulf: Will higher US interest rates and the stronger dollar destroy the stock market?

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I’m pretty busy these days with ‘normal’ stuff, but there’s always that little voice in the back of the head that says ‘Hey…stay frosty, man. Today could be The Day.’ It’s really easy to get lax when there’s electricity, hot water, and a fridge full of food at hand. All of that can change like that (:::snaps fingers:::) But, still, it’s hard to stay focused sometimes.

I’ve been cleaning up the ‘extra’ guns and getting them ready for the Deep Sleep. Basically it’s a very detailed cleaning, a generous amount of lubrication, and seal it up in a Pelican case with some desiccant. Handguns are easier…clean and oil, and then stuff them in a nice new ammo can with some ammo, a holster, and some other odds and ends. A package like that can get tucked behind some drywall and be perfectly serviceable in fifty or a hundred years.” – Commander Zero, in his Notes From The Bunker blog

Preparedness Notes for Sunday – August 05, 2018

August 5th is the sad anniversary of the Mann Gulch Firein Montana that took the lives of 13 firefighters (including 12 smokejumpers and one former smokejumper), in 1949. The intense, fast-moving forest fire took place in what later became the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness. The events of that fire were chronicled in the book Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean and immortalized in the haunting lyrics of the ballad Cold Missouri Waters by James Keelaghan.

Gunsmith Training: Starting the Class, by R2

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This week, I officially started the program. The first disc in the course is the student orientation disk. I realize that this is kind of an obligatory meeting, but I’ve always wondered why colleges and universities do this sort of thing.

New Student Orientation

When I went to college, the university had a “New Student Orientation” for every incoming student, and it always seemed like a waste to me. The new student is so overwhelmed that they will remember virtually nothing from the meeting. The paperwork handed out is what will be referred to. Even if you look at it like a cheerleading sort of class, it doesn’t make much sense to me. Why cheer for your school, when I’ve already made the decision to spend the money and attend. It just seems a waste of time.

That is what I expected, so I almost didn’t view this disc. But I’d made the decision to go through this whole course exactly like they had recommended. I popped the disc in and was pleasantly surprised at the content.

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