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 investing in common caliber ammunition, primarily for barter. (See the Tangibles Investing section, below.)

Gold and Silver Market Morning: June 5 2017 – Gold consolidating with a positive bias

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The South Africa Chamber of Mines has released their annual statistics for the preceding year. Despite their cheery verbiage, the cold hard fact is that South African gold production is less than half of what it was in 2001. Most of this decline has been caused by labor issues rather than lack of gold reserves or mining technical problems.

Stocks:

Where The Booming Stock Market Goes From Here

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Over at Seeking Alpha, Bradley Lamensdorf offered this: Watch Out, Indicators Point To A Break In The Stock Market

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Tech stocks send another bearish warning of bigger market sell-off, even with Apple at highs. (This web page has auto-start video.)

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Letter Re: Cats Moving into the Neighborhood

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Hugh,

In response to the comment about cats moving into the neighborhood: be grateful. The Lyme spirochete has been around for millions of years. Lyme disease started to explode in the 1970’s and 1980’s, which is when the national spay-neuter programs got started, and the population of outdoor cats dropped like a rock.

I remember as a child in the 1950’s seeing kittens running around outdoors in the summer. In the last thirty years, except for my own protected outdoor cat colony, I’ve seen only one outdoor kitten.

The ticks that carry Lyme have a two year life cycle. The first year they spend on small animals; mostly mice and other rodents. The second year they move to larger animals such as deer, dogs and people.

Cats were selected by people for thousands of years to over-hunt, in order to protect farmers’ crops from rodents. A top hunter was valuable livestock.

What people didn’t know was that the cats were also protecting them from rodent-borne diseases. Like Lyme, plague, and other nasties.

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Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representative who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions.” – Jerry Pournelle, Chaos Manor View 408, April 3-9, 2006

Preparedness Notes for Sunday – August 06, 2017

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 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.

Recognizing and Resolving Common Vitamin Deficiencies, by J.F. Texas

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Ideally every person from birth through old age would get all the nutrients they need from the food they consume, but deficiencies occur. There are times when the optimal amount of nutrients from food intake are not possible. People who consume energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods can develop a marginal micronutrient intake and low serum concentrations of vitamins. In times of food shortages or limited access to fresh foods, nutrient deficiencies can become even more common, especially vitamin deficiencies.

What are vitamins?

Vitamins are organic molecules required in small amounts to prevent deficiency signs and symptoms. The most concern is for water-soluble vitamins—the B vitamins and vitamin C. These are essential nutrients the body cannot make. The body does not store water soluble vitamins in large quantities. You should consume them every day. Water-soluble vitamins are lost during processing because they are fragile. This increases the risk of inadequate intake even in times of plenty. This article will focus on the most common B vitamins and vitamin C, and I write this as someone with Master of Science and Doctorate degrees in Nutrition.

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Letter Re: Approaching Grand Solar Minimum

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HJL,

I have recently heard about the grand solar minimum and am wondering if you guys have any thoughts on it? It seems to have some pretty serious implications regarding more extreme weather and how our climate is changing (which it always has been). I live on the gulf coast so preparedness for me has always been important due to hurricanes. My question is: out of all the climate hype that we have been inundated with over the last decade or so, is this something to really be taken seriously? It is wise to stay prepared nonetheless, however if the implications of a grand solar minimum are correct, could this be a perfect example of “the boy who cried wolf?” No one will bother to believe its implications.

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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”. The question of the day? How much corrupt government are you willing to tolerate? Check it out below:

Self-Sufficient Haulout

SurvivalBlog reader T.J. sent in this article on the Quidnon boat about having a self-sufficient haulout capability. There are times when you need your boat out of water. Perhaps you need to do some maintenance or you want to secure it before a hurricane. In any case, having the ability to do the haulout yourself without the help of a major dock is a great advantage.

Immigration

California labor officials are kicking ICE officials to the curb. Labor Commissioner Julie Su has directed her staff to turn away Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents unless they have warrants in hand. California repeatedly demonstrates their disdain of all things conservative.

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Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Matthew 23:38-39 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – August 05, 2017

August 5th is the sad anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire in 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 Watersby James Keelaghan.

Guest Post: In A Better World, by Gary Christenson

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In a better world we might expect:

  • Individuals, corporations, and governments spend no more than their income.
  • “Honest” money is used by all, has intrinsic value, retains its purchasing power and is not counterfeited by individuals or bankers.
  • Governments and bankers support and encourage “honest” money.

Alas, we live in this world and must realize that:

  • Debt has increased rapidly for the past century. Example: U.S. national debt has expanded from roughly $3 billion to $20 trillion.
  • Currencies are IOU’s issued by central banks who promote ever-increasing currency in circulation, expanding debt, and continual devaluations in purchasing power.
  • The “fiat-currency-game” will continue until it implodes.

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The Editors’ Preps for the Week

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To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities.  They also share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, 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 the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!  This week’s focus is on homemade bug spray for livestock.

JWR

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers,
This week has been very warm, sunny, and hazy from some distant regional forest fires.  Relatives are visiting for the next three weeks, so not much prepping other than gardening will be occurring.  This week we did dig up/rob many volunteer potatoes.  We had a few meals with only what we have raised here on the ranch: Lettuce, cucumber, tomato salad, beef roast, fried potatoes, fried zucchini and lots of raspberries for dessert.  We made chicken soup from our own chicken, celery and potatoes.  It’s very exciting to eat food that you have raised yourself!  This feeling never gets old to us.   We did freeze more zucchini, red and black raspberries from our garden. We also froze some purchased blueberries, from Costco.

With the young’uns, we’ve continued to practice and refine our water safety, rescue skills, and swimming strokes and endurance. Also we continued evening mountain bike rides around the ranch in up in the adjoining National Forest.

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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”. More absurdness from our public schools is revealed today.

Communications Sans Cellphones

Imaging trying to communicate with your loved ones if the cell phone network suddenly stopped working. Can you reach your spouse at work? How about your kids while at their friends house or at some activity they are participating in? Most preppers have at least considered the possibility and many have actively planned for alternat communications. If you are one of the few that haven’t, you need to read this introductory article that reader DSV sent in on How To Talk When Cell Phones Don’t Work.

Second Amendment

We’ve already reported on Seattle’s legal battle to keep the revenue generated by their ridiculous gun tax private and how they lost in court. It wasn’t surprizing that most people simply purchased guns and ammo outside of where the tax was collected. Now, because of the legal battle they lost to the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), we find two interesting things:

  1. Over 80% of the measly$108,013.04 tax revenue generated was from one single gun shop. The city expected anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000.
  2. The cost of defending the legal suit brought by SAF to force them to release the records cost more than the revenue collected from the tax.

Thanks to P.S. for that link.

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Editors’ Quote of the Day

“O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?” Deuteronomy 3:24 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday – August 04, 2017

On August 4th, 1944, 15-year old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family were captured by the Nazi Gestapo. The Franks had taken shelter in a small space in a sealed off area of an Amsterdam warehouse along with another Jewish family and a single Jewish man. They were aided by Christian friends who brought them food and supplies. Her diary survived the war, overlooked by the Gestapo, but Anne and nearly all of the others perished in the Nazi death camps.

July in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

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Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover the price action of gold and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers.

What Did Gold Do In July?

Gold started July off with a bang but not the kind it wanted. A big jump in wholesale prices in the manufacturing sector on July 3rd sent gold plunging to the $1,220 mark. On July 3rd, North Korea successfully tested its first ICBM capable of reaching the United States. North Korean TV reported that dictator for life Kim Jung Un called the test “an early fireworks gift for the United States”. This started a month of bad behavior that helped gold prices.

On July 7th, an orchestrated take-down of the silver price cratered prices below $15 before the market could recover. This pretty much hobbled silver prices until the last half of the month.

Non-farm payrolls showed 222,000 new jobs were created in June, which is far higher than the expected 178,000. Gold dropped $8 an ounce, which triggered a waterfall of automatic selling. By the end of the day, gold was $14 lower at $1,211 an ounce.

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