Home
Subscription Info
Bookstore
Master Index
Press Releases
UrbanSurvival (Free site):
Consulting Services
News Sources Page
Street Level Economics
Related Sites
Strategic Living
Half Past Human
Prepping, Planning, Personal Finance,
and Sustainable Living
SUBSCRIBE NOW! Just $40/year CLICK HERE
May 22, 2013
America's Real Growth Rate
One of the toughest tasks any investor can undertake is to understand - and thus be in a position to profit from - any advance or decline in the US economy. If you do nothing else as an investor but this one thing, your fortune is assured. Get it wrong - more than once - and your Life can hit the skids in no time. Humans - couples in particular - don't do well in the absence of life's modern necessities: Food, shelter, transportation, and a good load of cash to keep it all working. So I thought we could spend some time today looking at how the real growth rate of America is doing. As we'll discover, just finding out how the economy is doing (and how to make a buck on it) isn't as easy as it once was. First, though, we'll pause for coffee, some headlines beginning with...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
May 18, 2013
Are We Past Peak Retirement? Back to the 1960s!
I've been thinking a lot about retirement lately, perhaps because Social Security is a major financial carrot that I expect government will try to snatch just as I get ready to take a bite out of it. So this morning we ponder a very interesting question: Did the current generation (on average) miss Peak Retirement? That and some interesting ponders on designing the retirement lifestyle after we paw through some headlines and the week's look at investing...which any more is akin to staying one step ahead of the highwaymen.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
May 15, 2013
Winners & Losers
I decided to make a cut at the data in our twice-weekly ChartPack this morning and develop a couple of charts to show which countries and regions have been particularly "hot" from an investment standpoint since the market lows in 2009. The reason for doing this? To get a better sense of where to park money...since overseas investing via index ETFs is pie-simple. After, that is, we get through some of the morning's headlines...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
May 11, 2013
You Want Advice? From ME?
Lots of reader email piled up this week as I am now all but 30-pages from being finished with the proofreading on Real Time Machines: The Future is an App which should be up on Amazon (with any luck) by mid week. I thought this morning I'd run through some of the mail because much of it is thought-provoking and I'm always willing to help the Victims of Process and the downtrodden in general. We'll also run through some expectation for next week and the week after, since big earthquake and options expiration for the month are just ahead.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
May 8, 2013
Building a Dream "Survival Shop"
Bet you've never thought about this one: In event of a serious national disaster, would you even be able to marginally "recover" your home, whip up a temporary shelter, or maybe craft a simple cabin? Or, have you become some overly dependent on power tools? Turns out there are some really ugly reasons that houses of old were built with nails instead of screws. Have we lost sight of something and been spoiled to a new level of rotten not knowing how to "bang nails?" It's a damn fine point to ponder while we wait for the market to stop going Viagra on us....and we'll do that just as soon as I've had my coffee and a roll in the headlines.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
May 4, 2013
Bye-Bye Free Press: Algorithmic News
The myth of the "free press" and so-called Fourth Estate is quickly leaving; disappearing into a cloud of software. In its place is a new way of generating "the news" which Americans depend on for their decision-making. I hate to report this development, but real humans with first-hand knowledge of events they're reporting on are quickly becoming historical relics. In their place is a new class of news-writing software. Press release in one end, public opinion out the other. But before we detail such a depressing (and distinctly anti-human) developments (and how it impacts events those of us in the fledgling field of predictive linguistics) what we have for an appetizer this morning is scenic tour through this morning's sorties and funfire, generated by humans aided increasingly by HAL 9000's offspring.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
May 1, 2013
A Personal Motivation Kit
I don't write much about motivation, since our focus (including this morning's report) is usually on the more mundane tasks in life - like making money! But a few subscribers have asked for a some insights into how get - and stay - highly motivated. To be sure, there are variances between people, but some generalizations can be made (which is what science is about, eh?) so we can sketch out a systematic approach to getting more control over ourselves and that, in turn, will change your personal outcome dramatically. Now, while that sinks in, how about a Danish, coffee, and tromp through some headlines?
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
April 27, 2013
Over-Prepping?
If there is a global coastal event in our future (before June 21, say predictive linguistics) there's no question about whether 'over-prepping' exists. The unequivocal answer is no way! If the lights were to go out, America were to be facing a displaced population in the many millions, there would be no way to be overly ready for such an event. But consider the flip-side: If nothing happens, well, what of all those prepping efforts then? It's a good question and one we'll ponder after we sample a few of the day's headlines.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
April 24, 2013
Global Catastrophic Event Nearing?
If you've been following the predictive linguistics developed by Clif at www.halfpasthuman.com for any length of time, you'll know that for many years there has been reference in the data to a global coastal event which is due just about any old time now. All of which doesn't mean it will necessarily happen. It just means that in a bunch of computer code there's a statistical anomaly which may come from an artifact in how the data is distilled, or it could be the project is being "spoofed" by forces that don't want the future closely inspected. Perhaps it could be that something as odd as headlines or a massive thought virus could be at work; not an actual planet-shaker. Still, even the possibility of something massive "dis-ordinary" happening in the next month that results in a moment to reflect on how modern complex society would fare if worse really does come to worse. This as more after headlines and coffee, of course. End of World talk is bad on an empty tummy.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
April 20, 2013
Micro Homes versus Lost Dreams
Sure, we'll cover the big stuff - like the capture of a suspect in Boston and the hints from a Fed official that indeed, Cyprus is a template for the West, but more important we'll talk about the future of mini homes and how that can become the new American Dream. So grab a cup and let's do some serious deep thinking this morning about how we rekindle the American dream...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
April 17, 2013
Avoiding "Slogatory"
plus Why New Cars are "Partly Free"
I told you last week how retail sales figures showed how about the only thing holding this economy above collapse has been car sales. I'll get out the chart in a sec. to make that point, but there are some interesting dynamics in play now that are definitely working in Detroit's (and Tokyo's and Seoul's) favor. But first, as always, a visit to the morning headlines along with some coffee and mental vitamins to help jump-start our mid-week thought processes...Oh! Almost forgot to mention we will show how UrbanSurvival readership Fridays may be telling us something about the trading day to come Monday. Fell out of some research I'm doing on my new book (about time) that will be recommended reading before tackling use of our Nostracodeus software... Oh...and one of our key indicators has just flipped over to "Time to be short..."
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
April 13, 2013
Strategic Planning for a Gen-X'er
One of our Peoplenomics subscribers is a Gen-X'er who is wondering what to do with his life financially - which means strategically - if the world doesn't collapse in a heap of broken bits around us. I asked him to share his situation including details about holding and such so that we could use him as a group example. He graciously supplied lots of details and using these (no personally identifiable information, though) we have a fine discussion lined up this morning. After - that is - we roll with coffee and headlines, plus maybe an aspirin (blood pressure not hangover) and a few vitamins and breakfast thoughts...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
April 10, 2013
Taking Out America: A Fictional Short Story
Sometimes it can be very entertaining - not to mention sharpening of the mind - to write a fictional account of the future since it puts things into perspective which otherwise might be dismissed by logical mind. Too easy, many times, to dismiss a good - and credible - scenario simply because the mind creates logical objections that are tantamount to saying "They'd never do that!" Examples may be found as near as Pearl Harbor, or at site of the Twin Towers which, we recall, had already been hit previously in a terrorist attempt. But before we "Go Clancy" on you, the usual sober looking at the morning's news and the very much inebriated markets which were hitting the rocket fuel to an extent that has to make North Korea envious. But as we all sadly reminded, space is not the final frontier yet: dirt is.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
April 6, 2013
Can Economics Simply 'Fail?'
Unlike tomatoes, which do well in plenty of sunlight, there are some aspects of economics that do better in the dark. Dark in in 'things the little people don't know' because - if they did - there would be pitchforks at the ready and villagers at the gate. This morning, a short summary of several areas where the whole field of economics is getting right up to the ragged edge: Everything from the Nth customer problem to the crashing of the labor participation rate, to a 260 gB data dump that outs the names, places, and amounts of keep trusts (of high net worth individuals) and corporations who are rather expert at tax dodging. This is especially troublesome because we're just nine days from the 'little people's' tax deadline. So have the blood pressure meds at the ready, and turn up this Youtube tune to set the mood...it's where economics is.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
April 3, 2013
Review of Personal War Preps
One of the greater mysteries of the "prepper" movement is "Why?" After all, on the surface things are not terribly bad, despite my sometimes acidic remarks about markets. As the car and truck report showed Tuesday, things aren't all that bad. Unfortunately, in many ways they are - and will likely continue so for the foreseeable future. So this morning's focus report will be on developments on (and about) the Korean peninsula. Before we get into developments and the personal contingency planning, however, a review of other headlines and plenty of coffee is in order.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
March 30, 2013
Bitcoin: Billionaires. Revolution, or Bubble?
Several readers have asked me for a review of Bitcoin and any thoughts/feelings I have on them since there are already reported to be millionaires in the making in the land of digital currency. Can peer-to-peer finance work out better than top-down finance? Or is it just another bubble? A discussion follows an explanation of how it works and how you can get some Bitcoins for yourself. Before we go there, however, there are the dreary morning headlines, not to mention trying to make money the old fashioned way, in the meantime.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
March 27, 2013
Prepper's Guide To Solar Power
In last weekend's report, we had a short course in DC system design and we developed a number of ideas including some of the basics. This week, we'll press forward in emergency power planning with a focus on the wiring and installing solar panels part. First, though, a cup or three of coffee and some headlines to get us rolling. Especially what may be turning into a war between factions in global banking....
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
March 23, 2013
Prepper's Guide Basic DC Power Systems
As couple of reader emails in the past few weeks have prompted me to write a short guide on using solar (and wind) power. But unlike in past issues of Peoplenomics, like issue #362 (*Robust Home Power, Aug. 10, 2008) which begins with the esoteric planning using a 'load sheet' /needs analysis and then designs a house-sized solar power system, this week's summary is a simple cheatsheet for emergency situationa. So, that's our task this morning: Build a pocket reference so the fellow who has a child in a wheelchair will be able to cobble up a suitable solar charging option in an emergency. Or, if you have aunt Millie on an oxygen concentrator, you can maybe keep her huffing until the power comes back on (if it does...). More importantly, even if you're not interested in having a two-page cheatsheet for use in a disaster setting, you'll be able to follow along as we condense knowledge, summarizing and get it ready to laminate and put with our prepper stash. Ah, but before we get into the prepping part, some steely-eyed review of overnight news and our charts await. So hoist that cup, slug that coffee, and let's 'git er' done...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
March 20, 2013
Bracing for the Bond Collapse/Death by Student Loan Cosigning
Two important concepts to learn from this morning’s Peoplenomics report. First and foremost we will talk about timing one’s exit from the bond market. This is a short lesson in “Getting while the getting’s good.” A causative subset of global economic collapse, the bond market is now fraught with risk. In this regard, we'll discuss how more and more parents are finding student loan collectors hot on their [parent] tails for cosigning on either Johnny or Suzi Sucker’s six-figure student loan bill. Gosh, doesn’t this sound like cheerful and uplifting reading? This kind of stuff that just makes you want to jump up and celebrate the day, doesn’t it? No? Well, how about as a warm up, then, we go sample global death, doom, destruction – starting with Cyprus – the latest country falling victim to a bankster gang-bang…the gang being the EU.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
March 16, 2013
Ugly Questions, Uglier Answers
So, you wanna be a prepper, eh? Well, fine and well, and bully for you, and gee, ain’t it all grand & stylish. But, as we were getting around to discussing in the Wednesday report, there are some parts of prepping that involve asking ugly questions and even uglier answers. There's the little matter of government and its relationship to the people which - if you haven't noticed - ain't exactly what it used to be. A candid discussion is in order, Q&A style, but not until we get a few cups of coffee, our usual assortment of charts, and a side order of hashnews with chaos sauce to get us rolling.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
March 13, 2013
Who's a "Domestic Terrorist?"
Touchy Issue Alert. This may seem a bit off point, as Peoplenomics is largely about alternative living & thinking, making money or improving one's lifestyle, but every so often we need to consider "keeping it out of the ditch." There is a growing (and blurring) line developing between being a "prepper" and being a "domestic terrorist." After a little research, talking to people, and looking up reference materials, I came to some pretty interesting conclusions. Before we go there, however, we'll kick of Wednesday with a few of the morning's top news stories to shake the brain cells into action. And if they don't, another cuppa coffee surely will...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
March 9, 2013
Will the REAL Inflation Number Please Stand Up?
OK - as I wrote for subscribers late last fall, when our trading model was about to go bullish - which it hasn't wavered from since December - if you're going to make intelligent decisions about whether to bail out on a house you're upside down in, saving both pennies in the 401-K, or even something as simple as deciding whether to buy a car, you need to sense what is going on around you in terms of inflation. So this week, even though people are confused by a crappy economy in many parts of the country, the market is soaring as if it had wings. So what gives? I mean surely, something is amiss....so what is it? The answer after a few headlines this morning...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
March 6, 2013
Liar's Depression: Notes To a New Nomad
When I started writing about how the global economic crack-up would become a reality sooner than later, it was 1997 and I was finishing an MBA late in life. Despite reading perhaps a hundred books, all told, on cyclical economics, past Depressions, Panics, and Crashes, it never truly got personal until this week when a long-time friend, someone I have done business and investing with for years, was on the verge of broke and was packing up his home office and preparing to head out. I promised myself that before he left, I would put some mental focus on what he's likely to face in declining-lifestyle America. Just jotting down this morning's report - as a checklist and toolset for him - has been one of the most bitter pieces of writing ever. But, before we get into that, how about we warm up a bit with coffee and headlines? Even bad instant will be less bitter than this morning's topic and we venture far beyond simple prepping...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
March 2, 2013
How Preppers Waste Money
(Ellijay, GA.) Our plans to return to Texas on Saturday blew up when a no-go item on the checklist failed on the test flight...no pilot-side mic keying. So, by the time that was fixed, it was too late to depart for Texas...so two more nights were planned waiting for some after-snow clearing due Sunday morning. Which left plenty of time to get up in the middle of the night, watch the cars in the parking lot get covered with snow, and think about how preppers waste money. Not that it's been exactly 'front on mind' for me, until we got into a discussion Friday about how planning for dogs in a prepper setting may be a huge waste. One thing led to another and that's how my list got started. Before we dig into that, however, a few morning headlines - and our chart pack - to get us rolling...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
February 27, 2013
How to Make Money in Down Markets
(Ellijay, GA.) A reader asked a simple question this week: If the stock market is going to tank (which we'll discuss, too) then how does a person make some real money on that possibility? So this morning a discussion of "How to be a bear..." After, first, rambling amongst the headlines to warm up the neurons a bit...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
February 23. 2013
Attacks on Property Rights - March of the Nanny State
(Ellijay, GA.) As we continue waiting for FedEx to deliver parts (they don't do Saturday deliveries in this part of the boondocks, we've learned) we've been somewhat surprised to learn of yet another case of "creeping government" where, to a large extent, government bureaucracies haven't been previously necessary. But, before we get into that, our usual run through Saturday morning news reports as we size up a week of mostly went nowhere...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
February 20, 2013
How to Judge Business Models
(Ellijay, GA.) Suppose for a minute that there were some kind of "other world" out there which had inhabitants in it and that one of the jobs of these "otherworlders" was to figure out an easy-to-use method of evaluating "good" people and distinguishing them from "bad" people. Could it be done? Since I'm sequestered (ahead of the rest of the country) writing my next book "Cradle to Grave" Everything's a business model" in a Georgia motel room, I've been working on precisely this question. It's a kind of Boolean IF - THEN. Suprisingly, the answer turned out to be easy, but only if you have been following our "WuJo" reports of late. So after a a look at some headlines, some thoughts on how "other-worlds" might judge human business models...and in turn, human progress. Why it might even work for us inmates in life, too...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
February 16, 2013
Dying On Schedule
A friend of mine, Dr. Ron Klatz who heads up the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, A4M.com, recently announced plans for something to be called Taskforce13. The reason this is such an important issue at present is that the global power elite are trying to figure out what to do with emergent anti-aging technologies which indisputably work. After being ready to railroad anti-aging, Klatz was one of the key people at the World Economic Conference in Dubai, who successfully argued in favor or age-extension technologies and that, at least for now, has a lot of shakers and movers in the PTB going back to the drawing board to figure out "OK, so what DO we do?" The reason is clear: The way ahead is particularly grim if you look just at the dollars and cents, instead of focusing first on the sense of what our real choices are. So this week, a look at the balance scale to see what life extension may - and may not - be able to do. After our usual morning headlines, first...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
February 13, 2013
An Updated Outlook
After a series of very long Peoplenomics articles, this morning we return to our economic roots as we ponder the way ahead. This is particularly important because of last night's State of the Union and some of the news items which popped up this spring in our monitoring of predictions and forecasts. Plus we can eye "record highs" in the market with a bit more suspicion now that the Fed has updated its online inflation calculator through 2013. It ain't pretty. As always, nothing like a few headlines to wake up the brain, so we'll deal with those straightaway...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
February 9, 2013
The "Moment Before Touch"
Although dreaming is one of those "soft" skills few respectable economists will admit to being curious about, their very industry depends on correctly capturing and correctly assessing key aspects of the future in order to make profitable investment decisions. Isn't "investing" simply buying "today" what will have greater value at some time in the "future?" So this morning we'll have a deep poke and prod at this soft-squishy stuff that arrives at the moment of touch; when all potential alternatives coalesce into Now. Since we've had a bunch of earthquakes in the South Pacific (more on them in a moment) we could be meandering toward what predictive linguistics suggests could be a Global Coastal Event in our future: this year. But practical matters first. Coffee, headlines, and charts.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
February 6, 2013
Quake Follow-up & Managing the MeCompany
First item of business this morning is a discussion of the 8.0 quake last night, a few notes on the possibility of a prequel to a Global Coastal Event and then we will pick up with what we started on last weekend, which was what? A discussion of investment ideas for young families and at the top of the agenda there is a discussion about how each of us is CEO of our own business empire - MeCompany for short. Since people are very much business models which operate like companies, we can then put some benchmarks out in terms of measuring how we're doing as MeCompany CEO's. First, as always, the tai chi and yes, now I know why yesterday's UrbanSurvival piece about the (possible) global coastal event was such a downer in yesterday's column....
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
February 2, 2013
Investment Ideas for Young Families
People ask some really good questions and this morning we've got a dandy email from a 28-year old Peoplenomics subscriber who wanted some basic questions about investing answered. But here's an example of inflation for you: The answer turned into a two-part Peoplenomics report after I jotted down the first 7-pages of notes on what a young family ought to be thinking about when it comes to money. THEN it occurred to me that I need to send this to our kids, too...and then it got more detailed from there. So this morning we're into the first part of a discussion for young Co-CEO's of families, after the tai chi of headlines and that blow-off market rally which our trading model called right...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
January 30, 2012
Quest for a New Metric
Periodically, I get hate mail...usually from non-subscribers who don't take the time to consider other points of view. But when people question the Aggregate Index and blather on about markets, it's time for a quick refresher course on how money degrades over time. So this morning, we'll look at some of the hard realities of how markets perform when money's bring watered-down. As I'll show: 2007 was only the market top if you 'drank the Kool-Aid' and don't correct for inflation. But that, however, leaves us with a new problem: If you can't trust market pricing to be good indicators (since the underlying money is corrupted) what then becomes the investment yardstick? First, however, a bit of mental tai chi with overnight headlines and a strong second cup.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
January 26, 2013
Deriving the Future With Search Engines
After our morning jaunt through a few headlines to warm-up the brain cells, this morning we will do some rudimentary "future seeing" by setting up our own system of data collection using off the shelf tools. Does it work for valuing companies and investment vehicles? Well, no reason why not. Depending on how much time you want to invest in the project, of course...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
January 23, 2013
The 'Secret' Investment No One Talks About
"...psst...wanna make north of 20% with low risk?" Back to our 'core" this morning...getting rich. The economy - more or less - sucks here lately. And although there are occasional ways to make something other than bank rates of interest, most of those come with a fair amount of risk. Still, there are a few 'sneakers' left - and IF we don't get a global coastal event, once Elaine and I get back from summer travels this year (with Panama Bates taking point at Uretopia in our absence) we will likely wade into this investment ourselves. As usual, more on the sport of "making money" - a topic that never goes out of style - after we turn over a few headlines and look to see what's under them.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
January 19, 2013
Is the Joke On Women?
As you may recall, since I've mentioned it a few times, that I'm in the process of writing my next book (concurrently with finishing the update to "How to Live on $10,000 a year, or less" [4th edition]. The new book is "Cradle to Grave: Everything's a Business Model" and it is an unabashed rethink of what the sheep have been taught...things like the history of the Women's Movement. This week I'll give you a short chapter first draft on exactly this poiont and present statistics that show the main beneficiaries of the women's moment may have been...MEN and corporations. Whether this was a good thing (furtherance of human rights) or just a business model (more jobs competition) designed to hold down labor costs and wreck the nuclear family, we can debate all day. Which we can after first delving into a few warmer-upper headlines to get the old blood pressure up. With some help from that hardest working woman of all...Mrs. Olson.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
January 16, 2013
Things We Don't Talk About In Public
This morning we open the mail bag and there are plenty of 'forbidden topics' kinds of questions that we don't necessarily want to be looking at or talking about in public. So this morning, for subscribers only, some answers to questions that people are asking - hard ones - that we normally don't mess with. After our usual dose of morning headlines, of course...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
January 12, 2013
D-153's "Incoming Executive Briefing"
Reality is funny stuff. It's how a person chooses from a wide assortment of sensory inputs, to assemble a rational framework to deal with their surroundings. As in the case of gun (or civil) rights, much of what is held as core belief set may, upon inspection, be found to have its roots in parental upbringing and message frequency in media...all of which is played as a fine harp by those expert in persuasion block principles. So in order to construct a little different 'reality' this morning, I thought it would be instructive to revisit our fictional Directorate 153 Project, which like the (allegedly fictional) Report From Iron Mountain
we can use to sort out conflicting viewpoints on things like Newtown and guns
(among other points) and thus get a little closer to the heart of what's going
on in America, and indeed the world, today. But first - as ever - some
headlines to speedy the workings upstairs and dust off the mental cobwebs which
seem to accumulate from Friday nights...More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
January 9, 2013
Is Gun Insurance the Answer?
I had a chance this week to arrive at something of a truce with a 'liberal' friend who is very much in the anti-gun camp. By sharing our concerns back and forth we've hammered out some ideas that may have some merit. Then, there's a short recap of last night presentation to the local ham radio club - some thoughts on emergency power systems for ham radio operators should the 'stuff' hit the fan. This is an important issue for a lot of people besides hams - like seniors and COPD victims who have to use an oxygen concentrator, for example. But, as always, we'll start off with a couple of cups of coffee on charts and headlines, since darn near everything depends on the operating environment around us...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
January 5, 2013
West Coast Quakes Risks
In the wake of the 7.5 quake off Southeast Alaska overnight, we recheck not only our earthquake recovery plans, and I also did a quick check around the country to sense what's out there. And we'll talk about a very personal indicator...which even my wife Elaine is coming around to believe in. But first - no change to our morning routine here - a check of overnight headlines and a detailed check of what our trading modelis telling us: Change is at hand...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
January 2, 2013
Budget Bill May Be Illegal?
I've had so many notes up on the computer that now that I've gone paperless they're all going to have to turn into reports. So this morning we look (yet again) gun control, calls to overthrow the Constitution with a replacement, a check of famine prospects, plus we pencil out the date when China will overtake the USA as biggest global economy. Hint: Sooner than you think. First, though, let's all wander off to the headlines and have some of that "The Economy is fixed" Kool-Aid being served up in Washington this morning where the Fiscal Cliff Kabuki - Phony Budget Cut Act is just getting out... Lace up your can-kickers...this is harsh...but watch markets rally like mad today. Until someone besides me figures out the spending bill may be illegal...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
December 29, 2012
Evolution of a Trading System
Don't look now, but that trading system I built (and am still following) kept up for going long in the past couple of weeks when it seemed that the market was poised for a meaningful breakout to the upside. Since that time, the cliff has arrived, and the market decline Friday seems to be hinting that there won't be any immediate long-term answers. So what? Well, we're at a point now where a second process may be added to our trading model. Not that I'm using it to make a fortune, but it's nice to be able to end the year with about the same net worth as we started it with. These days, breaking even - while everyone else seems to be getting hammered - is a good thing. But before we go there, a few laps around the funny papers...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
December 26, 2012
Is Prepping Worth It?
Earlier this year I was asked to write a chapter for a forthcoming book on prepping that never got around to materializing. But bec ause it's part of two chapters I had written for the book, I thought I'd share the first of them this morning since I think it sets a relevant tone for life in 2013. As usual, however, a quick glimpse at some of this morning's breaking news as our half-dozen ChartPack views of how markets are looking based on this morning's futures pricing... This morning's Peoplenomics will be updated around 8:15 when the new Case-Shiller/S&P Housing data is released...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
December 22, 2012
A 2013 Resolution: Finally Going Paperless
My life changed dramatically - and for the better - this week on Wednesday when I opened a box containing my early Christmas present: A Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner for PC ($409, Amazon). Why did my life change? Because I had made a personal commitment to myself to banish paper from my life in all but three rooms of our home: Two bathrooms and the kitchen where a few paper products are still OK. How'd I do it...and what were the SOHO plans around it? We'll paw through some of it in a sec but first a few headlines on the market's reaction to non-progress on the fiscal cliff and other matters.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
December 19, 2012
How the World REALLY Ends
With only two days to go and with some help from my consigliere who lives up north somewhere that it snows, we delve today into one way the world really could end and yet it's the kind of thing that while it would fill all of the items out of Clif's predictive linguistics work, it's not bloody likely to happen conveniently on some kind of a schedule this week. First, however, some warm up reps on the news, although I'm going to do my dead-level best not to feed any more into the Newtown school frenzy which has gripped media like a bad flu virus. We'll instead stick to America's core values greed & corporate plunder. But, since this is the last chance to chat before the world ends, lol, one last snapshot of doom before the non-event.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
December 15, 2012 2013:
Focus on Economic Survival
Assuming there really is an "after Christmas" this year - and massive quakes don't come get us one and all, we still can't look at 2013 with much more than nervous anticipation. The list of threats is long and the alternatives to muddle-through keep narrowing. So this week another "checklist" of items to avoid. After, that is, we sip a strong cuppa coffee and weed out the inbox which has been piling on stories of both some magnitude, but mostly a lot of media-distraction junk.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
December 12, 2013
How to Build Your "Sweat Equity" Plan for 2013
Want to be a Master of the Universe and really rise into an amazing lifestyle that brings you travel, new skills, and exciting adventure at every turn? Well, it's easier than you think and I've found that it all stems from a single - and very simple - concept: Sweat Equity. I'm going to share some of my personal plans for 2013 with you, and give you some ideas on where to invest your own sweat, but first (as every morning) a few headlines to get the old circulation going...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
December 8, 2012
How's the Herd Doing?
Still recovering from the flu, I thought I was hallucinating Friday morning when the unemployment report came out and purported the national unemployment rate had dropped to 7.7%. How'd it happen? Well, as we showed in the Friday UrbanSurvival posting, you simply need cut off the unemployment compensation to a lot of people (that accounted for 229,000 fewer statistical problems) and then whack another 350-thousand from the workforce...asserting they'd either decided to do something besides work, or they retired, or whatever. When the smoke cleared the fact was that 122,000 fewer people held jobs in November yet the stock market maniacally rallied on the news. So this morning I put on my forensic economist's hat and go looking for what's going on with "the herd" such that the bulls have that lustful look in their eyes again...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
December 5, 2012
Problems for the Paranoid to Ponder
Sadly, I have to pass on appearing as planned at TEDx in Tucson this weekend. I've had "flu-like symptoms" all week and this morning (after pushing too hard Wednesday) I am bad in the sweats and chills and all the other stuff you can read about. But in the meantime, the brain seems fine (but not well enough to drive the airplane, however) so we're focused on two interesting problems: Disappearing earthquake data, especially given the outlook for mid next year in predictive linguistics and other look-ahead technologies. While the other - and it's one of the slides in the TEDx talk - is what will be the next great engine of economic prosperity to drive growth from 2017 on.....or is there one? And we explore "artificial nucleation" of snow... But first, as usually, a tromp through the newsroom...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
December 1, 2012
A Sobering Look at 2013
Suppose, for a moment, that someone had asked me to do a TEDx talk (next weekend in Tucson, AZ, and I had tentatively accepted, pending flight planning): What would I talk about? I mean how do you "school" 300 people on the serious problems facing humans from now through mid-2013 and do that in15 minutes? So that's what we work on this morning...our annual outlook...after, of course, our usual review of the headlines...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
November 28, 2012
Encounter with an OBO
The world has been busily bifurcating, in case you haven't noticed: One branch has gone on the same old ways with no real changes in management, techniques of management science, and outlooks. But another, though some would call it heartless and evil, has gone completely lean, all virtual in management systems, and totally agnostic with regard to where its money comes from. As you might expect, humans have sort of "impedance matched" themselves in (and out) of the two models. But lately (in my consultant role) I have started to run into "impedance mismatches." In other words, people who aren't fitting in the digital world. So this morning, a few remarks (and tools) to avoid becoming on "obo" - short for obsolete human. Not, however, until after we cruise the morning's headlines
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
November 24, 2012
Two Heartless Business Models
(Branson, MO). Besides seeing some shows, and spending some time kicking around market counts and outlooks with my friend Robin Landry, getting away from the office put a couple of things into perspective for me this weekend including the particularly heartless way a couple of what sure look like business models could be operating just under the public's perception threshold. A few headlines for warm-ups, but a nice simple and (for me) rather to the point this week.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
November 21, 2012
Is There a Spiritual Side of Money?
With a holiday at hand, and with perhaps a little more time than normal to just "noodle" on things, I thought we'd kick back a little and ask some difficult questions about the relationship of humans to money and why some people end up with lots of it, while others are almost completely lacking it, despite what to outside observers is pretty near equal (and sometimes greater efforts) by those how have less. Before we start probing why (or how) the Universe is arranged as an apparently heartless place, though...our usual warm-up begins with some of this week's economic news.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
November 17, 2012
Number Crunching for Branson
Since we have been eyeing energy and its long-term future, a number of things are important as Elaine and I head up to Branson this coming week so fellow longwave econ adherent Robin Landry and I can work over the long weekend on outlooks and prospect for markets. I'm bringing up my laptop loaded with charts and figures which present a very unusual way of looking at markets so we can 'throw numbers up against the wall' and see how it holds up under harsh (but friendly/collegial) review. This morning some discussion of my outlook as we again tackle the recurring question "How far is down?" But first things first: Good strong hot cuppa coffee and a few headlines today especially about that how (pardon the directness) the weasel-dicks are lining up to rob social security to "balance the budget" on the backs or seniors.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
November 14, 2012
What would a "10" Be Like?
As we await seismic developments (and the resumption of year-en d tax selling once we get past the Turkey), it might be worth imagining what a 10 - the biggest earthquakes ever recorded could be like. It'd be a fine "worst case prepping" scenario. Just to fine tune our contingency plans and make sure we don't leave too many things out. First, however, we'll traipse through some headlines to clear the fog which seems to roll in between the ears overnight, until flushed out with plenty of coffee...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
November 10, 2012
If Patrick Geryl is Right: The Trigger
As I recounted on the UrbanSurvival site this week, when 2012 research Patrick Geryl started to make predictions about upcoming earthquakes with predicted magnitudes, and he turned in an impressive 11-"hits" in a row, I started taking his predictions very seriously. Now, we're only a couple of weeks (two weeks from Sunday) from when his new prediction "window" opens. If - as expected - he scores once again - this time with an 8.0 to 8.5 earthquake, it will be time to immediately "pull the trigger" on a large list of last-minute expenditures on vital prepping goods. This weekend, we review some of the possibilities and some of the options we will be putting in place so that upon hearing of a 7.9 or larger quake in his window, we'll be ready to order "topping off" supplies because his December forecast is grim at best.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
November 7, 2012
He's Baaaack: Same President, Same Problems
While I was tempted to skip the presidential results and instead focus on Washington and Colorado legalizing marijuana (challenges likely though), I don't want to say "I told you so..." but the laggardly performance of the market over the past month has been a major clue that the US elections would not result in major change, any more than 2008 did, although the market was set up for either a Romney or Obama win when you look at the technical picture. This morning we'll consider what the election returns mean, consider our next long-term investment position, and ponder what's ahead for the greatest nation on earth. But if you're looking for the nutshell summary? Same crap, different day, and whether either candidate would make much difference is debatable since in the end, the corptocracy still rules. And since my trading indicator went short a while back, all I can say is "Bears happen...." or is that "Do markets crap in the woods?"
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
November 3, 2012
So, Time to Do Solar?
This morning we take up a recurring theme around here: What is the best possible investment you can make right now which will have a reasonable chance of making a double-digit return - like our investments in gold and silver have done - over coming years. It's not a small task, but this may not be a small column, either. As usual, though, we will begin with a mental warm-set with some vigorous exercises starting with the one item of real import that I left out of Friday's UrbanSurvival column. No, it ain't chemtrails... inbox is still in "runneth over" mode from that. It's something far less debatable: Solar power.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
October 31, 2012
Jack-of-all-Preps
Two really interesting concepts are about to be married - the trademark application in is, the website name is reserved but I'm not going to spill the bean yet; there's simply too much other stuff that needs to happen first. Like the major 2013 update of the original "How to Live on $10,000 a year - or less!" which I hope to have out in a month. So while I can't give away the whole plot line here, I thought it would be interesting to look at some of the lessons which have come in over the past few weeks, and especially with Sandy coming ashore - that have fed my interest in doing this next book. Before that? Well, with markets planning to open this morning I suppose we could wander through some headlines and look at some of the fallout from the Tuesday morning housing numbers...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
October 27, 2012
November: Noodles & Nightmares
The arrival of November next Thursday promises more than the usual assortment of entertainment - even for a Presidential year. We've got a tremendous number of changes coming down the pike. With the election - and the fiscal cliff we're teetering on next year - we're at one of history's curious inflection points: If we break one way, high rates of inflation, soaring gold, and rising energy prices appear. But breaking the other? Well, gold collapses, the Depression gets rolling with a second leg down right away, and energy stays cheap mainly because no one has money, or much of anywhere to go. Some choice, huh? Before we get to the eggs and hash browns, let's start with coffee and a few headlines...such as the weather report on Sandy...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
October 24, 2012
Trading Model on the Verge
(East Ellijay, GA) I realize you may be skeptical of my attributing the poor performance of the market Tuesday ("have the Kleenex ready...") to the relative strength of the incumbent Obama in the final presidential debate Monday night. Bad earnings? That's something markets brush off when they are headed up. But numbers are numbers and the correlation between Obama poll strength and market declines has been pretty consistent. Similarly, good news for Romney seems to spell euphoria down on Wall St. Still, disappointing earnings could be a factor. Except, of course that we've had lots of them. So this morning we will look ahead and consider what our proprietary trading model offers for breakfast. I mean besides a bowl of cat chow for the "dead cat bounce"...
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
October 20, 2012
Remember the Part Where I Said....
I know it is a long time since Wednesday, but if you read my favorite chart (our Aggregate Index) I specifically said: "A sharp reversal here is possible..."? I can't speak for you, but in my book, a 205 point fall Friday is near enough to a sharp reversal. Which means what? Well, our gaming it all out -and looking for our next 10-year long term investment - begins as we ponder whether to "Hold 'Em or Fold 'Em?" after our morning news ramble and chart calisthenics. Why just spelling a word like that earns a second cup.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
October 17, 2012
Quarterly Housekeeping & the "Dirt Limit"
It's been a while since we stepped back from the passing madness of presidential politics to look into the bigger - global - workings of the world, but every quarter or so it's a good thing to do. It also makes a nice time to take care of other personal financial chores like the quarterly check-up on how your net worth is doing. Naturally, before we get into the really important stuff, we'll do some mental treadmill time warming up with leftovers including the debate last night. Not that it should come as much surprise: Romney won! Err...at least, that's what the markets said was going to happen. Now for the reality.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
October 13, 2012
Turkey's Tetrazzini and Middle East Stew
I deliberately didn't put some of the contents of this week's report out on the public side of my writing (UrbanSurvival) for reasons than will become apparent in a moment. But, before we deglaze the pan, so to speak, a run through some of the morning's headlines is in order and our weekly look at the charts to see what my trading indicator is saying about the period immediately ahead.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
October 10, 2012
Police State or Reasonable Response?
There are a number of interesting cases evolving which center on use of force, police powers, and the increasing military role inside the US homeland - drones, unauthorized photography - lots of indicators. While this much is evident from following the news...the more important question for the strategic investor is "OK, what do we do about it?" That's a tough one...but first some morning headlines to spin up the mental turbine.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
October 6, 2012
Broader View of the Bots, Part 2
Reslicing 2013 In our discussion Wednesday, we looked at a number of issues that pop up regarding this "predicting future" stuff including bias of interpreter, lack of previous templates for events and so forth. All of which is terribly interesting, and all, but still leaves us with an ugly prepping problem: What's the right thing to prep for? Damned difficult problem. But that's why I've been up since 3 AM thinking about today, when a more rational person would have the good sense to just roll over and go back to sleep. First, a few news items to get the old noggin rolling. Then we'll look again at what's coming...if anything....in 2013.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
October 3, 2012
A Broader View of the Bots
A surprising numbers of readers have asked me to comment this week on Clif's latest SHAPE report (from here, $10 dollars) which I assume you've read. More than a few have written in "hfs...holy freakin sh*t!" or words to that effect. No punches pulled in this one. Around here, though? No rising sense of panic...more a continuation of previous preps, than anything. Still, a little more data has trickled in this week, such as our (Oilman2) exposé on the reality of salt domes and sinkholes, plus some seasonal inputs on was in the Middle East. So many of these things are developing consistent patterns that we will likely set up a 2013 timing page so we can refer to the events as they arrive. Before that? No hearty bowl of oatmeal (with cream and real maple syrup, if you please?) would be complete without a serving of morning headlines to cleanse our constitution for clearer thinking.
More for Subscribers To Subscribe, CLICK HERE
Need Logon Assistance? Click here
There are over 500 issues in our library of past issues dating back to 2001! Ready to Subscribe? For subscription information, click here.
For only $40 a year, our subscribers think it's a great value. Things to open up your mind and expand your range of options.
George Ure Publisher
www.urbansurvival.com and www.peoplenomics.com
Site Disclaimer & Privacy Policy