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 rental property IRAs. (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Precious Metals:

First,  there’s this: CEO of the CME Tells Fox Biz “Gold Should Probably Be At $5-$6k/oz”

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Next, Jim Wyckoff offered this: Friday’s Charts for Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium, July 14

Commodities:

The latest commentary from Nick Cunningham: “Oil Market Rebalancing Hasn’t Even Started Yet”

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day

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“If you’re not shootin’, you should be loadin’. If you’re not loadin’, you should be movin’, if you’re not movin’, someone’s gonna cut your head off and put it on a stick.” – Clint Smith, Founder of the Thunder Ranch firearms training school

Sol-Ark Review, by James in Florida

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Over the course of the last year, I have bought my Sol-Ark system in increments as funds became available. First, I bought the Sol-Ark “brains” followed six months later by 15 solar panels. Then, last month, I purchased 16 AGM deep storage batteries.

Placement of the Sol-Ark Unit

I’m the kind of guy who likes to carefully think through a project before starting it. Having read the Sol-Ark installation instructions, which are very straight-forward and uncomplicated, I decided to mount the Sol-Ark unit in my garage utilities closet. I’m fortunate that my homebuilder actually made a mistake when building my house; my HVAC unit and water heater are in a closet with a wide door instead of being out in the open garage and subject to the heat and humidity. There is enough “leakage”, for lack of a better word, from my five year-old HVAC system that it keeps the closet moderately cool in the summer and warm in the cool few months of the year.

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Guest Post: Fine Gold versus F.I.N.E. Central Banks, by Gary Christenson

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Gold is one of nature’s finest creations.

On the other hand central banks create trillions of fiat currency units – dollars, euros, yen, quataloos, whatever – from nothing and use those currency units for purchases … Apple stock, salaries for a thousand Ph.D. economists, office buildings, lobbyists, politicians, gold bullion etc.

It is unfair that the Fed creates trillions of dollars from nothing and values those dollars equally with other dollars created from the efforts of millions of businesses and individuals.

Unfair? Of course it’s unfair. That’s the point! With their “unfair” ability to create fiat currency that spends the same as existing currency, central bankers increase their power and wealth at the expense of citizens. They own or control governments, congressmen, CEO’s, commercial bankers and more.

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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 clash of cultures with immigrants continues to be an issue. See the “Immigrant Issues” section below.

Dangerous Cities

What are the most dangerous cities in the world? 247Wallst did a little research and rated them for you. Their criteria was basically the homicide rate per 100,000 population. As expected, Venezuela, Columbia, Brazil and Mexico fill the list. However, the United States also has a couple of spots. At 26 on the list is Baltimore with 51.1 Homicides per 100,000 and St Louis is number 14 with 60.4 homicides per 100,000. Conspicuously missing was Chicago.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” – John 2:13-17 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – July 15, 2017

On July 15th, 1888, the Bandai Volcano erupted on the Japanese island of Honshu killing hundreds and burying many nearby villages in ash. While Honshu is in an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, this eruption was surprising. The volcano had erupted only four times in the 1,000 years prior and none had been particularly deadly. However, this eruption was different. The rumblings started just after 7 a.m. Within 30 minutes there was an explosion on the north side of the mountain and over the next two hours there were dozens of explosions giving villagers very little time to escape.

Being Unemployed And Starting A Home-Based Business, by W.L.

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This is my story of how I became unemployed and started a home-based business. It may be something useful to other preppers.

My Employment Story

I’m a prepper and have been doing so for the last thirteen years. Thank goodness I found SurvivalBlog then and began putting up canned goods and consumables ever since. I’ve had to live off my pantry for two years at a time and would have been in dire straits if I had not. Believe me, if you have not begun prepping for hard times, begin now. Even those with advanced degrees and certifications fall on hard times too.

Found Myself Unemployed 16 Times

I hold two senior certifications in the Human Resources field. Yet, over the last 25 years, I have been separated from my employment 16 times due to businesses closing and or being bought out by other larger conglomerates. I am, again, currently unemployed. However, I finally took the initiative and started an online business to bring in some extra cash. I am hoping that my story will help those who are unemployed, too.

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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 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 also welcome you to share your planned activities for increasing personal preparedness in the coming week. (Leave a Comment with your project details.) Let’s keep busy and be ready!

JWR

This week has been a lovely, and quite interesting week here in the northern half of the American Redoubt.

In the Garden

We are harvesting some Strawberries, Red Raspberries, Mesculin Lettuce, and Walking Onion bulbs. While weeding near one of my volunteer potatoes, I uncovered a two inch diameter  Red Potato. This is good news, because we are now just about out of last year’s stored potatoes. This means I can start harvesting the new crop, as we need them. I always harvest the volunteer potatoes first, since they’re scattered all around the garden. These almost always get an earlier start from the specifically planted potato patch.

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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”.  Air-conditioning without electricity is the name of the game.

Recycled Air-Conditioning

Reader G.P. sent in this article on how villagers in Daulatdia, Bangladesh are using recycled plastic bottles to cool their huts by as much as 10 degrees without using electricity and all the while providing fresh air in the home. The process works similar to how you can feel the difference in air temperature when you blow on your hand with an open mouth verses pursed lips. It’s an idea to consider when you live in an area that really needs air-conditioning.

Venezuela

A Mad Max scenario unfolded in Venezuela as bikers chased down a semi-truck with molotave cocktails to steal its payload of sugar. As an aside, You also get a good view of the condition of the 4 lane highway and its man-eating potholes. Bernie Sanders socialism at its prime. Thanks to reader W.W. for the link.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,  Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.  Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:  and he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.” – Numbers 25:10-13 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday – July 14, 2017

July 14th is the birthday of Colonel Einar A. Malmstrom. He was born in 1907 and died August 21, 1954 near Great Falls, Montana, in the crash of a T-33 jet. He was a decorated Air Force pilot, a Luft Stalag POW survivor, and test pilot. Malmstrom AFB was one of the settings for JWR’s novel Founders. (The base was named in his honor.)

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Just a quick reminder on the comments section of the blog. We encourage our readers to share their thoughts on the articles and join in the conversation, but please keep the comments on-topic and if you disagree with the author, make sure you are not personally attacking the person. We want to keep these comments useful to everyone. Disagreements and corrections are fine, but ad hominem attacks are not. If you have any questions, please refer to the Discussion Guidelines.

If you have a question or comment that is off-topic, please send it to us via our contact form or email. If it is intended for public consumption, we’ll probably use it as a Letter to the Editor. – HJL

Planning For Success During And After The SHTF- Part 2, by Old Bobbert

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Yesterday, we looked at the rules of planning for success during and after the SHTF and began examining the component of a good plan and the changes that might be required after SHTF. We already covered the areas of finances and food and began looking at the topic of medical. We will continue on to examine the area of medical and other topics today.

Medical (continued)

  1. Pre-incident acquisition of emergency and bartering medications and water purification tablets is very important. It is legal, and simple, to use any of the Internet search engines to determine and evaluate various pharmaceutical distribution sites located in other countries, especially India, marketing meds manufactured there and globally. Many are readily available. All Day Chemist is my regular favorite. They do have a constant $15 shipping charge, regardless of the size of the order. As an example of the cost savings, they offer my albuteral inhaler for COPD, brand-named VENTORLIN, to me for only $4.53 USD plus shipping. The shipping box is marked as “personal medication and not for resale”. It travels to me through both U.S. customs and the USPS without being opened for inspection. Even with shipping, on an order for 10 puffers, the cost to me is only $6.03 per item. That is still far below our regular local cost, with insurance! And my puffer is manufactured in Australia
  2. Remember that it is very good to have a “large“ supply of bandaging materials. These items, and many other medical supply items, are available at much lower costs from online veterinarian supply firms. Again, I have a favorite. Their prices are competitive, and the service is excellent. Of course, there are many good sources nationwide. Do your homework and find one you trust the most.
  3. Create a printout of the usage, dosage, and warnings for each and every one of the meds in your supply. Before you hand over the meds, read out loud to that person every word in your printout! The group medic should be the responsible person to teach about safe use of medications and about emergency procedures.

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Letter Re: Using Cloth Diapers in TEOTWAWKI

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Hugh,

This will not apply to most of your readers, but my wife and I are using cloth diapers for our newborn son. At $5 a piece they pay for themselves quickly and will be useful when items are hard to obtain during uncertain times. Thanks for the blog, and attached is a link for the diapers. – R.T.

HJL’s Comment: There are many advantages to cloth diapers. There are also many disadvantages. On our first child, we used cloth diapers (the standard white cotton with a separate plastic overpant). The point was to “go natural”, I think. However, I still remember swishing out the diapers in the toilet and the ammonia smell of the diaper pail to this day! For the second child, it was disposables all the way. It was good to know that we could use cloth if we needed to though.

In a TEOTWAWKI situation cloth will probably be the diaper that is used. But a word of warning for new prospective parents is in order. Just like anything else that has a significant “ick” factor to it, you need a procedure in place to deal with it. As a side note, the cloth diapers themselves have come a long way. No longer do you have to worry about impaling your baby with the diaper pins (or stepping on them in the middle of the night while you are half asleep trying to tend to your baby.)