Economics & Investing

 

Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks to watch, investing opportunities, hedges, and the precious metals markets, all from the quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR:

Stocks:

Should we embrace the froth or dump the currently over-bought American stocks? Prudence dictates the latter. Therefore hedge into tangibles like silver, folks.

Commodities Economics:

Because of higher crude prices and the first approved shipments to Asia, the Bakken shale oil producing region as well as the adjoining oil fields in Alberta seem to be bouncing back from their recent slump. (That slump can be directly traced to a secret agreement between the Obama Administration and the Saudi monarchy.  Hence there was a glut in oil production and consequently a collapse in global crude oil prices.)

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Notes for Tuesday – May 02, 2017

On May 2, 1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.

Also, today is  Iyar 5th (May 2nd in 2017), The Independence day of Israel.

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Seed for Security is having a sale where all eight collections are now 20% off. Plan ahead – plant a garden-learn how to save seeds or store fresh seeds for future gardens.

April in Precious Metals by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

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

What Did Gold Do in April?

Gold prices started April steady, after gaining 8.1% in the first three months of this year. This changed on the 4th, when gold rallied after North Korea launched a missile into the Sea of Japan. President Trump ordered a cruise missile strike boosing Gold. The Syrian airfield is thought to have been the staging point for a poison gas attack on civilians. The resulting safe haven demand saw gold gain $30 an ounce in three days.  Gold made runs closing above $1,290 multiple times. However, it was unable to sustain more than momentary breaks above this important level. Even so, spot gold stayed above $1,280 an ounce until the French Presidential elections on the 23rd. The centrist candidate won the first round. That began a slide in gold prices to end near where it started the month.

Continue reading“April in Precious Metals by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins”

Letter Re: Karatbars

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Hugh, I love your site and read it almost daily. I was wondering if you know anything about Karatbars? One of my coworker’s pastor is promoting them. The ones he has shown me look like gold leaf on a business type card. Is this worth looking at, in your opinion? It’s European Euros currency exchange from what I see. Thanks for your time and input.

HJL’s Comment

Karatbars is nothing more than a multi-level marketing scheme. As I write this, you can purchase 1 troy ounce of gold from APMEX for $1294.49. Karatbars is selling 1 troy ounce of gold for $2090 if you buy in bulk (100gm for $6270) or $2262 if bought by the 1gm bar. You can get better pricing by buying into the multi-level marketing, but they are still way over-priced. In addition, their product is an “unknown”, as there currently isn’t any convenient way to verify authenticity if TEOTWAWKI happens. I would stick with standard products in standard denominations. If gold is too pricey, look to silver in the smaller denominations. I wouldn’t touch Karatbars with a “10-foot pole”.

For information on trading in precious metals, you might consider this article on SurvivalBlog: Trading in Precious Metals, by Kestrel

Economics and Investing:

U.S. Shale Rebound Hobbled By Higher Drilling Costs. While the U.S. oil majors are seeing earnings improve in the first quarter of 2017, breakeven prices are on the rise and could limit profitability of E&P’s

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What The Gold Futures Curve Could Be Telling Us

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Build Your Own Home DIY Without a Bank Loan: “Avoid Regulation, Crime and Floods”

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Gold Manipulation And $1.2 Quadrillion In Derivatives

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

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Good-bye to cabin life: U.S. government tells owners in U.P. to leave – S.R.

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Gun Control Fail: Baltimore Mayor Asks FBI to Stem Rising Murder Rate – H.L.

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The Pentagon may send up to 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan “The Pentagon is considering sending between 3,000 to 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to advise Afghan military and police units fighting the Taliban, as well as an unspecified number of special operations forces to fight ISIS and al-Qaida militants along the Pakistani border.” – T.P.

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Spokane’s own End Times prepper turns inventions into profit – Level 3A bullet resistant clothing. – H.L.

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Trump Leaves Open Possibility of Military Action Against North Korea

S&W SD9 VE, by Pat Cascio

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Truth be told, I’ve never been rich. All of my life, I’ve been forced to scrimp and save every penny I could get my hands on. My extra I could come up with from time to time wasn’t put in the bank. Instead, it went to raising a family as best I could. My kids didn’t lack for the necessities in life. That’s for sure.

My interest in firearms started when I was 15 years old. I still have a great interest in firearms. Needless to say, I can’t buy, or hardly ever buy, guns out of my own pocket. Instead, I’m quite adept at working trades. Everyone who reads my articles probably believes I have hundreds of firearms in my “collection”. Well, I don’t! Many of the guns I test and write about are on loan from gun makers. They either get returned or, if I can’t afford to purchase them, I allow the local gun shop to purchase them at a reduced price from the gun maker. Still, I’m one who used to always want the newest and coolest guns seen on the cover of gun magazines each month. A guy can dream, right?

Continue reading“S&W SD9 VE, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Italian Stuffed Peppers, by JFG

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Hey HJL! I’m a huge fan of SurvivalBlog.com. Thanks to you and JWR for all you do. Here is a recipe I like to make when camping. I use a Dutch oven on the fire, but you can easily make this at home in the kitchen. The beauty of this “oldie, but goodie” is that you can substitute any meat/protein you have on hand as well as add any canned veggies to the mix to make it go farther. This is the recipe I prefer.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb. to 1 lb. dehydrated ground beef (reconstituted), fresh ground beef, or ground venison
  • 4 large bell peppers, any color
  • 1 cup rice, cooked
  • 1 14 oz. can tomato sauce
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 large sweet, yellow, or Vidalia onion, diced
  • 1 cup shredded cheese of your choice
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground or fresh black pepper
  • 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp. Savory herb, dried or fresh (optional)
  • 1 tsp. Marjoram herb, dried or fresh (optional)

Continue reading“Recipe of the Week: Italian Stuffed Peppers, by JFG”

Letter Re: Suidlanders, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

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Suidlanders

Conservative Christian white citizens of South Africa believe that anarchy and a racial civil war are soon coming there. So, they have created a national emergency response plan consistent with the Geneva Convention as a Civil Defense organization. They have limited this organization’s activities in order to be internationally recognized and legally protected

  • Warnings
  • Evacuations
  • Management of temporary shelters
  • Management of collapsing infrastructure (life saving)
  • Medical services, including first aid
  • Firefighting identifying and marking dangerous areas
  • Disinfecting and similar safety measures
  • Supplying emergency accommodation and supplies
  • Emergency management and restoring order to crisis stricken areas
  • Assisting in the maintenance of infrastructure essential to survival
  • Handling the dead
  • Assisting in the maintenance of important resources
  • Additional activities required to do any of the above mentioned tasks, including but not limited to planning and organizing.

Continue reading“Letter Re: Suidlanders, by ShepherdFarmerGeek”

Economics and Investing:

New Jersey Town Takes On Wells Fargo Bank: ‘They Stole Our Wealth’ – DSV

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Economic Reality: Bottom 50% of Americans No Longer Matter. “The unfortunate truth of the matter is a record Half of American Families Live Paycheck to Paycheck.”

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Central Banks’ Obsession with Price Stability Leads to Economic Instability

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Analytical Charts – Jim Wyckoff Gold Scores a Solid 1st Quarter Performance

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.