Minicast Episode 16: The EU Tax Raids

May 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

German-police

I read 3 separate stories that I think gives us a good foreshadowing of what is to come in the U.S.  While I know we are different, etc, etc, And i have never thought everything would mirror the EU when our time comes, I think it gives one a good idea of how thinks will probably resemble when we hid the skids…the big one!

Now I believe that our government is watching closely all the different ‘programs’ and things being implemented in various countries, and seeing how the people react and how they work out.  This can probably give them a good idea as to how to refine it to be more “American”, or at least more “palatable” to us.

I talk about.

  • The Raids on the “Rich” Tax Evaders in Germany
  • How things always start with the rich then end up with us
  • How Massive Tax hikes are coming to the EU and how they may affect us
  • Seizure of Privately held gold in Italy
  • How we wont see a confiscation of Gold or Guns on a massive scale like some like to think we will and why

 

Minicast Episode 16: EU Tax Raids and More [ 41:17 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1236)

 

NOTES


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Prepper Silver and Gold Coin Video

November 16, 2012 by 1 Comment

Hey everyone I posted this video on youtube, going over the coins i have and why.

I also put it on the post i put up on Prepper Silver and Gold coin investing as well.

Here it is!


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Prepper Gold and Silver: A Primer on Coins

November 13, 2012 by 18 Comments

To help you in investing in Precious metals as a hedge against inflation, I’ll show you what I’ve learned over the years, and my opinions on what to look for and whats important.

 

Before I do that there are a few terms you need to understand to help you.

SPOT PRICE: This is the commodity price for that metal on the market at the time dictate by the BID and ASK prices for that metal, and COMEX prices.  Don’t get wrapped up in the Spot Price when buying or selling, it is only a starting point for the ultimate price you will buy or sell at and doesn’t take into account the NUMISMATIC value, which i will go over in a second.

MELT VALUE: This is the nominal value of a precious metal in an item, and what refiners would pay for that metal.  That is say that your coin is .999 Fine Silver, whatever that amount is x Spot Price will dictate its melt value.  However Melt value differs when talking about alloyed coins, most coins are alloyed with some other metals such copper in Gold coins to give it more durability and the melt price may be less because the refiners have to go through more expense to extract the pure metal from the alloy.  Depending on the metal and coins demand the amount below or above melt will change, if the coin or metal is in high demand people may pay 5% over or under, it just depends on the market

NUMISMATIC VALUE: This is the premium over spot that the coin is worth depending on the collectibility of the coin.  This all depends on the demand for the coin, an example is Kruggerands vs. American Gold Eagles.  Because American Eagles are in higher demand and have more collectibility at the moment, they have a higher NUMISMATIC value than Krugerrands, as of October 31 2012, a $27 difference.


When investing in metals I don’t care about numismatic value, i pay it, but the lowest I can find.  When buying coins for future use as a hedge against inflation you can buy anything that is gold because you will be able to go in have it tested trade it in for currency and buy what you need.  In a truly bad situation where you have to barter with individuals you will want the things you barter with be easily recognizeable or proven to be what it is.  if you walk up with a bar of gold, unless that individual has the ability to test it they may have to just take your word for it, which they may not.  So in my opinion having a Book with common national coins, their measures, weights etc

Such as…

1901-2000 Standard Catalog of World Coins.

This book has photos, weights and measures for all world coins from the last century.

 

2001-2011 World Coins

This has all the most recently minted World Coins, photos, weights and measures.

Along with this i would get….

COIN SCALE

To measure the weight

CALIPER

To measure the size

JEWELERS LOUPE

To inspect the quality

 

With all of this if ANYONE came to you with a coin and said hey i have a Canadian Maple leaf coin, you can inspect and check the measurements against the published ones, if they match up and it looks right, then ‘You have yourself a deal sir’ and if not ‘POUND SAND!’

 

GOLD

Gold is a great investment if you have the cash, the advantage of Gold over Silver is that it is a more compact form of wealth, A 1 oz Gold coin is worth currently $1700 compared to $32 for a 1 oz Silver Coin (as of October 2012).  In this you can store a large amount of your wealth in just your pockets versus a backpack if you had to leave quickly.

I will go over my favorite coins and why in order of likeability, i wont go over every coin out there…i don’t have 2 months to work on one post!

KRUGERRAND

I like Kruggerands because they are a well-known Gold Coin, but hold a much lower numismatic value than other Gold coins, which means, you get MORE GOLD FOR YOUR DOLLAR!

I have a 1 one ounce coin and just recently acquired some 1/10 oz Kruggerands since the price was right.

 

AMERICAN GOLD EAGLE

I don’t own any one ounce Gold eagles, but have a few 1/10 ounces i bought back in the day.  It is a beautiful coin and a favorite among collectors throughout the world.  in my opinion it is one of most beautiful coins in the world.  however it carries a much higher numismatic value that the Kruggerands.  Today (11/12/12) it is around $46 higher than a Kruggerand.

 

There are also many other ‘common’ gold coins such as…

CANADIAN GOLD MAPLE LEAF

The Canadian Maple is usually about $10 more than the Kruggerand

AUSTRIAN GOLD PHILHARMONIC

The Austrian Philharmonic is usually about $10 more than the Krugerrand

CHINESE GOLD PANDA

The Chinese Panda is only a few dollars more than the Kruggerrand and you can find deals for these as well, a good one to keep an eye on.

 

As ive said there are pro’s and con’s to every coin.  American Gold Eagles, are known everywhere, loved by collectors and if on the off-chance unicorns come fly in an save the day, or just after things settle down, collectors value will come into play again.

For me personally I want the most metal for my dollar, that’s why I go for the kruggerands for gold and pre-65′ for silver….for the most part!  Like I said recognizable coins like this are good in that if someone is willing to trade for your gold or silver but doesn’t know much about it, and is uneasy you can pull out this book, show the measurements and then show them the coins measurements and that they match up, etc and you can prove it.

 

SILVER

Now I went over why I think silver is a better buy in my Precious Metals investing section and don’t want to rehash it again, this is more about WHAT to buy then WHY.

Silver is poor mans gold, it has intrinsic worth based on the current and historical value placed on it.  You may not care about Gold or silver and think its stupid to pay 100x as much for a necklace of silver vs steel or gold-plated vs the real thing, etc.  Good for you, but the rest of the world doesn’t think that so you can either accept the value the world places on these things or ignore it at your own peril.  You wont be bartering and trading with yourself, you are trading with other people.

 

AMERICAN SILVER EAGLE

I absolutely love the silver eagles, and it is one of my favorite coins out there, I bought a lot of them in 2009 when i first started buying my bullion (they were $17 then!).  In retrospect I wish i had bought half the amount I did (or even less) and used that to buy pre 65′ coinage.  However just like gold, the silver eagles are easily recognizable and able to be proven as “real”.

A side note here, is that no one FAKES 1 oz silver pieces it’s too expensive to do, unless it weighs nothing and looks like aluminum, you don’t need to worry about someone selling you “fakes”.  However check what the condition is noted as, if it is sold as “uncirculated” and you get it and it looks old and not mirrorlike and shiny, then you need to call them up, email, whatever and work on a partial refund, because if they are selling the coin as uncirculated at the uncirculated price, then you need to receive the value you paid for.

On a sidenote, Bullion Direct has just put on their site (11/2012), “Damaged” American Silver Eagles, These are about 2 dollars less than the “pristine” Silver Eagles.  I bought some and am going to sell some of my ‘nicer’ ones to make a little money for preps.  This way i can have the recognizability of the “real” coin with a lower price point.  You can look into it for yourself.  There is still 1 oz of silver in them, they just have errors or damages to their numismatic value.

 

CANADIAN SILVER MAPLE

Just like the Gold versions, the Canadian Maple offers you more silver for your dollar than the American Eagle does.  I personally don’t own any, but i have seen them and they are a quality and beautiful coin.

 

AUSTRIAN SILVER PHILHARMONIC

Roughly about the same price as the Canadian Maple leaf.  These are an option for lower cost, nationally minted Silver coins, however If you live in North America I would stick to coins with English on them for easier recognizability.

PRE-65′ COINAGE

Ok my favorite! and the favorite of many preppers.  Here’s why I like them so much…

1) They are recognizable as U.S. coinage and as having 90% silver content.

2) They are VERY CHEAP, relative to other coins containing silver

3) They are much more divisible, and you can use them for very small purchases and sell off’s. Don’t read too much into Patriots the Coming Collapse while i see there being a time when you can trade these, not everyone has them so the idea that every swap meet and barter exchange is going to no longer be listed in “this=$1″ and now “This=.20 pre-65′ ” is a joke to me.

Anyways, ALL U.S. Dimes,Quarters and Half Dollars were 90% Silver until 1965, when they were then changed to the Copper/Nickel Clad that we know today.   From 1965-1970 Half Dollars were reduced to 40% because Kennedy’s face had just been put on it and they didn’t want to dishonor the recently assassinated President (However dishonoring the American people was just ok).  There were coins with 90% silver in them produced up to 1966 but they were stamped 1964 regardless.

I’ll go over some of the different types

Quarters

DIMES

This is called the MERCURY HEAD DIME, which was produced from 1916-1945

This is the standard Roosevelt Dime that we still know today, which replaced the Mercury Head in 1946 after the late Presidents Death.  This coin like the rest was silver up until 1965.

HALF DOLLARS

This looks like the same as the American Silver Eagle right? Well the Walking Liberty design is the same.  This Half Dollar was produced from 1916-1947.

This is the Franklin Half Dollar Produced from 1948-1963, It was replaced by the Kennedy Half Dollar in 1964.

The Kennedy Half Dollar was introduced in 1964 after the Presidents Assassination.  the 1964 is the only 90% Silver Kennedy Half Dollar.  The 1965-1970 versions were reduced to 40% Silver as explained above.

1965-1970 SILVER COINS

I already explained this, but I wanted to separate this with a different category in case you were skipping the text!

From 1965-1970 Kennedy Half Dollars were reduced to 40% Silver and then phased out entirely to the Copper Nickel Clad starting in 1971.

 

SILVER WAR NICKELS 35%

During WWII Nickel was in much higher demand for building “The Arsenal of Democracy”, so Nickels from 10-8-1942 – 1945 were replaced by a 35% Silver, 56% Copper and 9% manganese.  Currently (11/12/2012) this nickels melt value would be 1.82 versus 2.34 for a Roosevelt Dime with Silver at $32 an ounce for future reference.  These nickels are hard to find and valued more for their collectability value more than their silver content.

CONCLUSION

In my opinion, and what I am doing personally this is my take.

Gold: For compact storeable wealth, I can throw a few of these coins in my BOB and be able to have a months salary weighing a few ounces or less.

Silver: The bulk of your ‘investment’ to help buffer yourself against an economic collapse and use for bartering. Have put the vast bulk of my wealth and metals investment in this.

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH

MAKE THE BEST DECISION FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

DO NOT BASE ANYTHING ON WHAT I DO OR OTHERS DO

YOU ARE YOUR OWN BASTION OF LIBERTY AND YOU ALONE KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU

 

 

ENTER TODAY TO WIN

A KATADYN WATER FILTER, WISE COMPANY FOOD BUCKET, BUG OUT BAG AND MORE

IN THE GNP PREPPER CONTEST! ITS FREE!

 

 

 

 


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Ways to profit from the Obama Second Term

November 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Sounds weird right?

Im not saying Im happy he won, but as preppers we dont always get to pick our battles or circumstances, but we can be PREPARED for them, and thrive.

Just like my other disclaimers, this is my opinion.

Take what i have to say, check it out, do your OWN research, see if it works best for you, make your own decision, and then live with that decision.  I dont say this to “cover my bases” or that i really dont believe in what im saying, its because well…life is unpredictable, you can be 99% sure of something, but on occasion that 1% can really bite your ass, and often Hard!

  1. HEALTH CARE COMPANIES

Obamacare, like it or not, is going to be enacted, the mandate will come to pass and EVERYONE will now have “access” to healthcare and eventually this will turn into a British style NHS system, where you wont have Aetna or BCBS, but a government run national system, thats just how it will be, its not written to do that immediately but it is written so that eventually the ability for insurance companies will operate will not be profitable as people jump to the government funded one.

I know i say go into metals, but that doesnt mean you cant profit in the stock market on occassion, despite the underlying foundations of our economy and coming collapse, you can still make money.  Even after Black Friday (The Great Depression) people still made money in the market.

I would look at not insurance companies but pharmaceuticals and medical supply companies.

BE WARY OF MEDICAL SUPPLY PRODUCERS!

In the new bill there is a tax on these companies at 2.3%, well for their products going online next year (2013).  This well be everything from wheelchairs to pacemakers.  This “tax” will be passed onto the consumer, however the bill offsets this by allowing more “access” to products by those covered under the bill.  The increase demand could mean higher profits and stock prices, but for some companies that work on small margins of profit, this may mean a death knell, just be careful.

I would look at pharmaceutical companies, there will be an even larger demand for their products, especially the manufacturers of generics once the people of the country get “free” access to them.

Companies like

  • Prizer (+70% since 08′)
  • United Health Group (+73% since 08′)
  • SPDR Health Care (+252% since 08′)
  • Alexion Pharmaceuticals (+31% since 2010)

These are not guarantees but they have been showing promise over the last years since O’ took office.

2. HOME BUILDING/REAL ESTATE

Now does this mean i think Real estate Will come back to the 90′s/00′s level and be fine again everything will be grand?

NO! Home prices as well as real estate were never allowed to correct, they have alot more to fall

However the new QE infinity will probably boost prices before they begin to drop again to correct the price issue they were never allowed to in 2008

However in the short term, smart trading could net you some profit.

  • Lennar
  • Pulte Group
  • Louisiana Pacific
  • Nationstar financial
  • Home Loan Services

 

3. Financial Services

These are credit companies, will they fall to new lows once the monetary/debt bubble pops?

Yes, but until that happens they will continue to rise as Americans feel the false recovery occuring, they will start to spend more, but spend smartly and not be as delinquent as trends have been showing.

  • Discover Financial Services
  • Capital One Financial
  • Mastercard

These are risky, but could be a payout, if you play it smart, read the tea leaves, and pay attention.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

 

WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR

  1. Do not invest in ANY companies that run FOR PROFIT colleges such as
  • Everest College owned by Corinthian Colleges
  • Art Institute owned by Education Management Corp
  • Sanford Brown owned by Career Education Corp

to name a few.  While experts dont expect new regulations, you can guess there will be more “scrutiny” and perhaps witholding of grants or the now federally managed student loans for these colleges.  The Teachers Unions are strong and will probably do whatever they can to eliminate ANY competition.

2. ENERGY/COAL RELATED STOCKS

Stay out of Coal, Stay out of Coal, Stay out of Coal

Big things are coming down and coal producers are going to be hit hard, as well as companies that provide energy from coal producing plants.  Things will get passed to the consumer, but they will also hurt.

 

CONCLUSION

Obama will be good for some areas and not others in the short term, however the system is cracking, the massive amounts of stimulus are currently being held in reserve by various banks and financial institutions, once that dam breaks and the VELOCITY of that money makes it way into the system, dollars will be devalued, anything denominated in dollars will be devalued, and things of intrinsic value will become more important.

ie: commodities like grains, gold, etc.

Thats where your preps come in, so you are now eating $1 cans of food that are now listed at $15, and while others are losing thier life savings in 401k’s that are being devalue as the dollar loses its worth, the gold or silver you have will continue to hold its value relative to the dollars loss.

I would reccomend these things most of all.

Food: To eat, to live on and survive and to help out your families and friends, while the prices skyrocket your are comfortable.

Land: To live and thrive on, grow your own food, raise animals for meat.

Metals: Mostly silver to continue to be able to trade that silver for dollars to buy what you need, that silver will still buy what it did when you bought it, while the dollars in the bank will buy less and less.

These ideas for stocks and companies to buy shares in are for informational purposes, you make the decision.  In the end, these three things above will carry you farther than anything else.


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Minicast Episode 6: Investing in Silver now

November 5, 2012 by 3 Comments

I know I know, I havent released episodes 3-5!

Well i had recorded those and then started recording this one, and realized i should get it out there!


So…First off Disclaimer!

I am not a financial advisor, economist, soothsayer, or anything else then someone who likes to read, watch and listen to those who know more than himself and learn from them.

So with that, do you your own research, come to your own conclusions and then make your decision.

DO NOT DO IT BASED ON JUST MY OPINION? CLEAR? CLARO?

Minicast Episode 6: Invest in Silver Now [ 16:38 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1615)

Notes:

  • I mentioned Greg Mannarino, here is his info

Greg Mannarino Youtube Channel
Also Greg’s Book “The Politics of Money”  I am currently writing the review for this book, but Trust me IT IS a GOOD READ

 

  • I buy my Gold, Silver, etc from BULLION DIRECT.  i have no affiliation with them, other than that its where i buy my silver and gold.

 

There is also the Silver Shield Round which i have had up on the site, it really is a great deal!

and Members get an even better deal, so sign up and check it out

 

 


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Dude Wheres my Gold?

November 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I read this story on zero hedge about the practice of some of Vietnam’s banks of basically stealing depositors gold to create the illusion of liquidity in their institution.

Heres the rundown.

Lets say Bao lives in Vietnam and he has a few ounces of Gold, and he wants to keep it safe, as well as make him some money without selling it.

HEY GOOD LUCK FOR YOU! The local branch of Ho Chi Minh (fictitious name) Bank will offer you storage in their bank PLUS PAY YOU A DIVIDEND! Basically like your cash you put in the account, the Gold you store earns you a set rate of dividends (ie they pay you a certain amount per month/year/etc. like a savings account).

So Bao does this and he thinks his gold is sitting in a little box Marked “Bao, 3 ozs, acct#11111″

In reality it was an empty box…… The bank was taking the gold of depositors and selling it to boos their “liquidity reserves” of cash so they could appear to be in good standing and solvent.

The banks were found out and now the central bank of Vietnam is “allowing” them to buy up to 20 tons of gold over the next few months, as a ban on using gold for operation capital is soon approaching.

Basically they got caught doing stealing, to do something illegal (use gold to boost operating capital) and they were heavily penalized by…being able to buy more gold….


As “Tyler Durden” from Zero Hedge points out, this basically means that any gold anywhere that is not in your physical possession and has been “handed over to an insolvent bank…for “safekeeping”, is currently being sold, lent out…and otherwise traded with…”

 

This is something to take notice of.

This is not based on anything but pure opinion, but i feel you may start to see this with U.S. banks, where they will offer to store gold as the dollar begins to tank for “safekeeping”, “look at the crime rate lately, its skyrocketing you should keep your metals investments with us, and we will even pay you a dividend!”

Upon which you will never see your Gold again

If you ever see this offered by a bank or investment company, DO NOT DO IT!

Your hedge against inflation will disappear into the vaults of the bank and never return.


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Platinum vs Gold: The Economic Indicator?

October 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Platinum is a precious metal, along with Gold, Silver, etc.  Often we think of it as a luxury metal, or something that rappers coat their teeth in, but in fact its biggest use is in our old friend the Catalytic Converter.

So one can deduce that Platinums price is heavily tied to the auto industry, the more cars produced, the more catalytic converters are needed and the higher the value of the metal due to its increased use and thus more valuable due to there being less of it to mine.


Platinums price has been pretty steady, except for the crash in 2008 which you can see in the chart below

This was due to everyone basically crapping their pants, and the auto industry going farther into the tank, and being saved by the bailouts from the Federal Government.

Gold however has stayed pretty consistent until 2004, when it began to skyrocket after, this is due to the fact that Gold is not tied to any industry in particular and has always been a store of value in tough economic times and people flock to it when they see instability in world/national economies and/or currency issues, of which we see both in the present.

 

Looking at a Chart here of Gold vs. Platinum we can see that even during the “crash” Platinum stayed above Gold prices until just recently.

in 2011 when Gold jumped to its highest we see it pacing with Platinum and by the beginning of 2012 Platinum was being outpaced by Gold, Which we still see today.

Prior to this we have to look back to the early 1970′s when The market was facing a recession and Gold skyrocketed and outpaced Platinum.

Platinum despite being a precious metal is seen more as an Industrial metal and a good indicator of correlation to economic growth while gold prices are a good correlating measure of lack of confidence in “traditional” investments and currencies.

On a few survival Blogs out there, there has been a call to “buy platinum” since it is currently under-performing gold, and historically outpaces it.  This i believe is shortsighted.  Now any purchase of precious metals is a “Good Buy” in my eyes, but to buy Platinum over Gold because of its price, is not a “Good Buy” overall.  Like iv illustrated platinum rises during times of economic expansion, when more cars are produced for people who have the extra cash to buy new cars.

I don’t see any real economic expansion on the horizon, and personally I would not buy Platinum in large amounts.  It is always good to be prepared, this means being prepared for good times as well, which is why having some Platinum in your Prepper Portfolio would be a good thing.  I recommend a 10-20% investment of precious metals of your overall wealth and savings, but no more than 15% of that should be in platinum at the moment.  I see platinum being outpaced by gold for the time being, however it might return to its position if the election kicks out Obama and markets take confidence in false Republican economic plans.

CONCLUSION

BUY SILVER over GOLD, BUY GOLD OVER PLATINUM

Silver is still a better buy.  Platinum prices are only ANOTHER indicator that things are not going well and you need to take note, and continue to prep

Platinum should be in your metals as a LONG LONG LONG term holding.  Why?

Because platinum has uses.  When the crash of our monetary system comes, there WILL be something to replace it, what that is I dont know, but eventually there will be some kind of reboot to the system and people will need to buy cars again at some point, making platinum more needed once again.  If this crisis/crash stretches over our whole lifetimes, Gold would be a better buy, but like i just said you need to prep for Good times as well.

 

What do you think?


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Austerity: Greecetown USA

October 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment

To many of us Greece’s problems seem like a world away…

“Eurozone problems”

“They were lazy”

“Look at their entitlements”

Things like this pop into our heads and conversations, but in reality we are almost the same as they are but have the “fortune” of the Federal Reserve and the Worlds Reserve currency to keep us from having this happen on our streets…for now…..
Greece has a Debt to GDP ratio of 152.3% The U.S.A. 99.5% (End of 2011)

By 2016 Greece is expected to have a ratio of 145.5% and the U.S.A? 111.9%

GDP or Gross Domestic Product is market value of ALL recognized goods and services produced within a country. This is calculated by Adding Private Consumption, Gross Investment, Government Spending and then the (exports – imports) number.

While there are many parallels in government spending, and a lack of manufacturing nationwide, There are differences.

  • Greece has a LONG history of overspending, over the past 179 years they have been in default 50% of the time
  • Greece does not have control over its own currency, it cannot, as Iceland did, devalue its currency to pay off debts (this would have to be combined with serious cuts to entitlements and government spending, but it is doable)
  • Greece has never been an economic beacon, it has always lagged in production of goods, and the work ethic is abysmal by traditional American Standards
  • Greece does not hold the worlds reserve currency
  • Greece does not have a powerful central bank that could extend its life by hidden inflation


The U.S. does have many problems, we have TRILLION’S of dollars in UNFUNDED LIABILITIES

What is an unfunded liability?

Thats basically a check you’ve written with your mouth that your ass can’t cash.

Or, in technical terms, it is a expense or promise of payment that does not have savings or investment set aside to pay for it.

Example:

You make $100 a day, you spend 90, and you promise one guy you’ll pay him $10 a week starting in a month, another guy $5 a week, another guy $25, etc.  This is money you have promised to pay, without having any savings to pay it and your only source of income to pay it is the one you are already making.

 

Here’s a rundown of the current statistics.

Social Security: 21.4 Trillion

Medicare: 25+ Trillion

Military Retirements: 3.6 Trillion

Federal Employee Retirement Benefits: 2 Trillion

State, Local Govt. Obligations: 5.2 Trillion

 

Politicians want to be elected. People on Social Security don’t vote for people who say they are going to have to cut it, they vote for those who say they are going to keep it or increase it.

People on Medicare do the same, Federal Employees who account for 2,840,00 votes and their retired counterparts who account for 1,572,855 (as of 2006) account for over 4 million votes.  These days can a politician afford to alienate over 4 million voters?  Yes they can they alienate the other 307 million of us to pay for promises of pixie dust they made to “public servants”.

Hard choices will have to be made to get the debt under control as well as future unfunded liabilities.  unfortunately if history proves to be correct these hard choices will be made 2 days late and tens of Trillions of dollars short.  There will only be a concerted effort to reduce the debt and liabilities when forced with a no out scenarioOR the coming inflation will lead it to moot point as the 3.6 Trillion in retirement payments to military vets will only be worth say 1.5 Trillion after devaluation comes.

I don’t say this to scare you.  I don’t say this to spur you into action to get “fiscal conservatives” elected.  The national stage is a lost cause in my opinion, we must look to ourselves, prepare ourselves and our families so we are in a good position to help our communities.  When this all shakes out the Govt is going to continue to promise to “help” the country and “Get us through this” and do some previously unimaginable stuff for the “Greater good”

It will be up to us to foster that liberty mindset in our communities, a return to simpler times, and intelligent governance.  Why is community so dang important?  Because communities who are broken and in despair will latch onto whoever and WHATEVER promises them a better future.  This will be a government who will give them food and water in return for guns and stored supplies.  This will be people who say “We have a plan to return this country to greatness”, when they were the same ones who got us in this mess.

Let us build communities so when they come rolling in and say “I’m from the government and I’m here to help” Communities across the Nation can say. No thanks, take your snake oil somewhere else, we are fine and don’t need your empty promises AGAIN.

Think that austerity measures wont bring violence to our streets?  Look at Atlanta Where the food stamps didn’t get sent out on the normal day, there was damn near a riot at the office.

This was ONE DAY, not cutting benefits by 10,20 50%

As we said in the Marines

THE MORE YOU SWEAT IN PEACE THE LESS YOU BLEED IN WAR

The same for preppers

THE MORE YOU PREP NOW THE LESS YOU STARVE IN AUSTERITY

 

 

 

 

 

 


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HYPERINFLATION: The Reality

October 11, 2012 by 1 Comment

While flicking through the internet i came upon an old friend from my childhood…Cracked.com (from cracked magazine) and they had a very interesting article on hyperinflation in Hungary…so I decided to add a few others to help round these out for a good picture of the issue, and what it really means

HUNGARY 1945-1946

After their loss in WWI (1918) Hungary went through a period of hyperinflation, but luckily the League of Nations was able to give them a big fat loan, which helped ease their issues for the short-term.  The government then wisely replaced the KORONA with the gold backed PENGO, which for a time afterwards gave them the most stable currency in the region.  When the Great Depression hit them, it knocked the crap out of their agricultural currency (We often forget the Depression was worldwide and not just in the good ole’ US of A).  This was combined with the fact that the government had decided to go back to the tried and true method of printing money (and more as times got harder) and inflation kicked in…HARD (sound familiar???).  This resulted in possibly the worst hyperinflation in history with 13,600,000,000,000,000 total inflation, going up 200% a day and prices doubling in as little as every 15 hours!

As with all intelligent government action when faced with runaway inflation, they printed more, and more, and more and more resulting in the 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 Pengo note…thats right the HUNDRED QUINTILLION PENGO NOTE!

Eventually the government got rid of the Pengo, was given massive foreign investment and backed their currency with gold, and the situation improved.


 

ARGENTINA 1975-1992

At the beginning to the 20th Century, Argentina was the 7th richest Nation in the world (Currently held by Brazil right below the U.K).  By the 1980′s Argentina had borrowed a lot of money…ALOT of money from foreign creditors, countries and others.  Spending was also out of control, as around 30% of the countries GDP was government spending.  When the foreign money dried up, the currency went into free fall, prices skyrocketed and grocery stores would actually have men with microphones announcing the prices of items, which sometimes increased 30% or more every few hours.  In 1975 the largest denomination was a 1,000 Peso, by 1979 there was a 10,000 Peso and by 1981 the 1,000,000 peso note was introduced.  In 1983 the Peso Argentino was introduced, In 1985 the Austral was introduced and then in 1992 the New Peso was minted.  In 2008 there was a “coin shortage”, no coins could be found and commerce was immobilized, large businesses refused to sell anything and smaller business literally paid your change in candy and small items.  Banks refused even under threat of fines to give out more than a few coins, and bus companies would amass coins from fares and then sell them at rates like “20 bucks for one quarter”.  The monetary and fiscal policies that led to this are still around, and inflation still has not been tamed.

 

This book written by Fernando Ferfal Aguirre, who live through and escaped the Hyperinflation nightmare in Argentina

ZIMBABWE 2000-Present

When Zimbabwe became their own nation, their currency was actually more valuable than the dollar, similar to exchange rates for the Euro now.  Through numerous government policies of racially based land seizures and massive printing of money, Zimbabwe destroyed her currency and economy.  Early in this century inflation began to hit the country, by 2004 Inflation hit 624% and by 2006 it was 1730%.  The government attempted to curb this by introducing a New Zimbabwe dollar at a rate of 1 to 1,000, but the faulty policies were still present and yearly inflation increased by 11,000%.  In 2008 the 100 and 250 million dollar notes were introduced within three weeks the 5, 25 and 50 BILLION dollar notes were printed.  In august of 2008 a new currency was established and the annual inflation rate is 500 quintillion percent and monthly increase of 18 Billion percent.  Currently they are using a combination of foreign currencies, but as of this year no decision has been made.

 

SO WHATS THE DEAL?

Well here’s the deal…Too often we get all freaked out over hyperinflation due to the fact that well…we are going down the same road, enacting the same policies and expecting different results.  Well we can expect different results, and we are experiencing them, at least for now.  From what you read out there you usually get two opinions…

1) That these were different times, different countries and the U.S. is different because we are the reserve world currency, and even in a bad economy we still are the economic driver of the world

2) We are two steps from being Zimbabwe and very soon we will be experiencing hyperinflation (usually this is said year after year after year)

 

They are BOTH RIGHT!

 

We are different, We have the worlds reserve currency, anyone that buys oil must first convert to dollars, which strengthens our currency.  We are also the economic powerhouse of the world…for the time being, and that gives us a lot of leverage in the world and over the economic workings of the world which we can bend to our benefit.  Unfortunately if that wasnt true we WOULD be in the same boat as these other countries, and WE WILL experience this to some degree or another, so the second guy is right as well.

Our status as the reserve currency is ending and we can see that with countries like Russia and India buying oil from Iran with gold, sooner or later when our economy, influence and power deteriorates further more countries will start to ask…”Why can we buy oil with OUR money?” and they will start to do so and we will be powerless to stop it, and a FLOOD of dollars will come back to us, which will be another big log of straw on the proverbial camels back.

We are doing and have been doing the same things as the countries listed above. Like Hungary and Zimbabwe we have been devaluating our currency and run FAR off any kind of ‘Standard’ that has every existed.  Like Argentina we have been running up massive deficits, but have been hiding it with massive pumping of money into the system, because WE HAVE the reserve currency and as bad as things are here in the U.S. we are still the best show in town for the moment.  With the massive wealth in retirement accounts in this country being redirected from Money Market accounts to Government bonds we are able to continue to hide the true devaluation of our currency behind accountant sleight of hand tricks…not really sleight of hand you just have to pay attention and you will see it with your own eyes!

 

*The book on the Argentinian Hyperinflation is an affiliate link, this site will get a small commission from Amazon if you buy the book after you click the link*


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Why Silver is a Better Buy

September 18, 2012 by 1 Comment

In my section on Prepper Precious Metals Investing, I opine quite a bit on why I think that Silver is better overall than Gold.  Allow me to rehash a bit.

Whats Better about Silver?

  • Silver is kind of like the Poor mans Gold, You can buy large quantities for relatively cheap prices.  1 oz of Silver will run you a little over $30 right now, while Gold is over $1600.
  • You can buy Junk Silver at a extremely low premium, and It is easily identifiable and recognized.
  • Lets face it, most of us buy it for the collapse scenario, or at least a economic meltdown scenario where metals and barter will emerge as a driving force of commerce.  You wont be buying yachts and mansions, you will be wanting to use your Prepper Silver to buy household goods and food.  With 1 oz of gold you could probably get half a cow, but you dont need that you need some ground beef.  What are you going to do? saw it in 1/16th’s?  A few Junk Silver dimes and quarters could get that done.
  • Silver I feel has a lot farther to go than Gold does, relative to the price point right now (Ill explain that in just a bit)

Redeeming Qualities of Gold

  • Gold is also easily recognizable, and accepted as something of value in any society throughout History (for the most part).
  • Gold can make a more COMPACT form of wealth, versus silver.  1 oz of gold would be 40 silver eagles, which is  a HUGE space and weight difference.  Gold could also do well for the big purchases, say someone was folding up their ranch, and maybe they dont want 5 backpacks full of silver versus a Crown Royal Bag of Gold.
  • This reason is the same as before. Compact, I heard a great reason for holding gold from someone, and I wish i could remember what podcast it was, but it escapes me.  For a Family that say lives in the city, or plans to leave the country, you can hide your savings in Gold on your person and in items very easily compared to that same amount in silver.  You could have a fake beltbuckle and have enough wealth stashed to feed your family for months if you really needed to head out quick.

 

Historical Reasons for Buying Silver now

Like i said in the Prepper Precious Metals page, Historically there has always been a yin/yang relationship between Gold and Silver.  Usually its measured in a 27.28-1 ratio, that is 27.28 ounces of silver in the ground throughout the world for every 1 oz of Gold, hence why gold is worth more.

This rate is currently at 50:1, and that too me means that Gold is either over valued or that Silver is undervalued.  Thus if you buy gold, maybe it is valued correctly but silver will go up, or that Gold is overvalued and gold will go down.  That being said if Silver was being true to its Historical average, the price SHOULD be $61 an ounce.

This chart shows the last 324 years, of Gold to Silver Price ratios, and you can see how there has been a lot of stability until the time of the Civil War.  right around the beginning of the 1920′s it dipped to the pre-Civil War ratio and then jumped back up….hmm around the time the Federal Reserve came into effect and skyrocketed after the fleecing of American Citizens Metals under FDR.

The original article can be found at Seekingalpha.com and it gets into some real nitty gritty numbers, but i don’t want to regurgitate that here!  Read it for yourself and make an informed decision.  Remember get multiple sources and make your own decision, I cant prep for you, nor can anyone else, just you!

How/Where to Buy

I have always bought my Silver and Gold from Bulliondirect.com  This is not an affiliate link or anything, im not associated with them in anyway.  Ive always been pleased with the product and they offer a neat option called the “nucleo market” which is like an ebay for precious metals.  You can look at the current bids for a product and the current asks.  You can then put in an order for say $10 face 90% pre-1965 coins for $205.  when someone who wants to sell offers theirs at that price you are matched up and your order is filled either fully or partially.  Also look on ebay people can sell their stuff at decent prices, you just have to watch, and ebay offers some protections against it being fake or not the quality that was listed.

I Prefer Junk Silver over anything else, you get more silver per dollar than silver eagles or anything.  The nice thing about silver eagles and other minted coins is that you do get some  numismatic value (the value of the coin’s prettiness over the spot price of silver).  With this, even if things don’t go bad they are now an heirloom item you can pass down.  Know that spot price is just a median range for buyers and sellers to go use, its not a guarantee. As a buy you will almost always buy above spot price (if the seller didn’t sell it above that then they wouldn’t make much profit depending).

I always go for quantity over the numismatic value, but there is a point to be made for buying minted coins.  people can see them and recognize them immediately and know their worth and value as well as authenticity, with a run of coins that are stamped with local business (or as some that i bought, saying they are good for one or more beers throughout the world) they don’t have the official “you can trust us” look to them.  Don’t buy big bars, those can and have been faked or had steel rods inserted into them (most aren’t faked, but its not worth it to do that for coins, so you’re pretty much guaranteed the real deal).  Know the weight and feel of your coin, so you know what to look for in others.

I would buy  numismatic coin book with all the measurements as well as a coin calipers to measure the correct dimension to authenticate it.  This could be real helpful in authenticating real coins in times of crisis if they are brought to you in trade as well as show the person you are trading them to.  With a official pre-collapse journal and proper measuring devices this could go a long way.


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