Peak Prosperity

Cordwood Sheds and Cabins

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:04:45 -0400

A great set of examples of simple coodwood construction and how you can use a natural resource to build a well insulated structure.

http://www.inspirationgreen.com/cordwood-construction.html

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Raising Kids for a Resilient Future

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:45:36 -0400

We are heading into a future that does not follow the rules and expectations that the past few generations have been raised to expect. Parents and caregivers, relatives, friends, mentors – it makes no difference; we are raising the current generation together. We are all newcomers to this changing landscape. How can we teach young people to thrive in a future we do not yet fully understand ourselves?

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Living Two Lives

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:20:26 -0400

At the Rowe seminar in 2013, when we asked the participants what they hoped to get out of the event, we heard something very different from prior years. Where the first years of the seminar could be characterized by tactical requests such as I want to know how to store food and How and where do I buy gold?, this year we heard something very different.

One of the more pressing requests was I feel like I am living two lives; how do I manage this?

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Daily Digest 6/17 - Oil Market Jitters Caused By Syria, Gagged By Big Ag

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:47:15 -0400

McD's worker sues: Don't pay by debit card
Philly Archdiocese grappling with pensions for clergy
The Prism
Liquid Fuel Consumption is Unlikely to Fall While it is Still Subsidized
Syrian War Causes Oil Market Jitters
An Arid Arizona City Manages Its Thirst
Gagged By Big Ag

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Mark Skousen: Surveillance Technology Is Advancing Faster Than We Can Responsibly Use It

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:45:34 -0400

In the wake of the recent news revealing the extent of the NSA's level of citizen surveillance through supernetworks like PRISM, Chris speaks this week with Mark Skousen, former-CIA-agent turned founder-of-FreedomFest, one of the countries largest "gatherings of free minds."

Mark argues that in this case, technology has advanced at a far faster pace than our culture's ability to understand how to use it effectively, responsibly, and how to regulate it:

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Daily Digest 6/16 - Nuclear Plants Closing Early, What Sweden Can Tell Us About Obamacare

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 10:21:07 -0400

Even Pessimists Feel Optimistic About the American Economy
FX Rates Said to Face Global Regulation in Libor Review
Aetna Pulls Out Of California Individual Insurance Market In Response To Obamacare
Suddenly, Retiree Nest Eggs Look More Fragile
China’s Great Uprooting: Moving 250 Million Into Cities
What Sweden Can Tell Us About Obamacare
Nuclear Plants, Old and Uncompetitive, Are Closing Earlier Than Expected
Elon Musk Conceives New 'Hyperloop' Transportation System: Neither Plane, Train, Boat Nor Car. Is it ET3?

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Daily Digest 6/15 - Ghosts Of Shopping Past, Coal Industry Pins Hopes On Exports

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 10:28:19 -0400

US Silver Eagle Sales Best First Half Year Ever
Google launches Internet-beaming balloons
Justices, 9-0, Bar Patenting Human Genes
After Patent Ruling, Availability of Gene Tests Could Broaden
The Number: 2.5%
Ghosts Of Shopping Past
Coal Industry Pins Hopes on Exports as U.S. Market Shrinks
Strange, Glowing Night Clouds Continue to Spread

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A First-Hand Account of The Peak Prosperity Seminar

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 23:27:12 -0400

Have you ever wondered what happens at one of our Peak Prosperity weekend seminars? Every year, Chris and the Peak Prosperity team host two weekend-long retreats to explore topics related to the Crash Course, up close and personal. So what are these retreats like?

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Solar-Powered Aquaponics for Apartments

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:54:45 -0400

An innovative design to consider for setting up a small aquaponics system and getting things growing even if you are limited on space.

http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/solar-powered-aquaponics-your-apartments.html

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Daily Digest 6/14 - What's Happening In Japan, The Most Dangerous Cities in America

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:12:19 -0400

A Promise of Changes for Access to Secrets
Everything is Rigged, Vol. 9,713: This Time, It's Currencies
Here's What The Heck Is Happening In Japan
The Most Dangerous Cities in America
Political Scene: Privacy, Security, and Edward Snowden
What the Produce Section Looks Like in a World without Bees
Solar Power Offers Saudi Arabia a Win-Win Energy Solution
In Glittering Gems, Reading Earth's Story

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Off the Cuff: Interest Rates Getting 'Interesting'

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:12:08 -0400

In this week's Off the Cuff podcast, Chris and Mish discuss:

Interest Rates Breaking Out
- The last thing the economy needs right now
Loose Lending = Bad Loans
- Didn't we learn this lesson in 2008?
The Market vs. the Fed
- Market forces always prevail in the end

Well, the volatility predicted in recent Off the Cuff podcasts has arrived on schedule.

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Using Oil Lamps

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:56:23 -0400

If you have oil lamps as part of your preps, here are some good tips to keep the light shining and your family safe.

http://www.preparednesspro.com/tips-tricks-oil-lamps/

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Daily Digest 6/13 - Companies Scramble For Consumer Data, Technology And Freedom

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:26:48 -0400

Global Tumult Grips Markets
The Avatar Will See You Now
Neil Macdonald: Obama's whistleblower conundrum
Chinese Prepare for Public Flood into Gold
60% chance of global recession: Pimco
Technology and freedom: iSpy
Companies scramble for consumer data
Rick Rule: How He'd Invest $100,000 In Gold Right Now
Only 41, ex-Ficano aide to start collecting estimated $96,000 annual pension
What Helps Organic Soils Store More Carbon?

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The New Game-Changers for Gold & Silver

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:19:15 -0400

If you have not yet read Part I: Is Gold at a Turning Point?, available free to all readers, please read it first.

Executive Summary

Large players (and likely price manipulators) now have incentive for precious metals prices to rise
Investor demand for bullion remains at record highs
Competition for bullion from the East continues to heat up
Central banks buy more bullion as Comex inventories deplete
The key signs to know when it will be time to sell your gold & silver

If you have not yet read Part I: Is Gold at a Turning Point? available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

Manipulation

Much has been written across the Web (including here at PeakProsperity.com) about whether or not the precious metals markets are manipulated in price by big players (major multi-national banks such as JP Morgan). Without delving into the many arguments on both the pro and con sides, Chris and I are of the opinion that sufficient data exists to convince a reasonable observer that price manipulation in the PM markets is indeed real, or, at the very least, highly probable. (For those remaining doubters out there, have a look at the evidence here, here, and here, and let us know if you have a rational, non-manipulative explanation.)

One of the most glaring signs of likely manipulation has been the massive short positions that a small number of large banks (JP Morgan being the most prominent among them) have held for many years, particularly in the silver market [measure positions as % of world silver production]. And not only were these unlimited positions allowed, but this cabal of banks was allowed to naked-sell PMs short (i.e., sell metal without actually owning it first). On the other side of the coin, the long side, position limits were enforced, and there was no similar ability to buy more metal than one could pay for. This imbalance of rules certainly provides the mechanism by which PM prices could be artificially jockeyed more easily to the downside. In this context, a decline from the high $40s to the low $20s looks more understandable.

Well, a very important part of this story has just shifted. The CFTC (Commodities Futures Trading Commission) publishes a monthly report illustrating the positions taken in Comex Futures Contracts

After nearly ten years of being net short in Comex gold futures, U.S. banks have been recently decreasing those short positions, and – for the first time since 2004 (with the exception of a single month in 2008) – they have flipped to become net long gold in May (see bottom chart below)...

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Is Gold at a Turning Point?

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:18:21 -0400

There's no way to sugarcoat the dismal performance of the precious metals in recent months. But a revisitation of the reasons for owning them reveals no cracks in the underlying thesis for doing so.

In fact, there are a number of new compelling developments arguing that the long heartbreak for gold and silver holders will soon be over.

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Daily Digest 6/12 - CO Food Stamp Use Doubles, Mini Flash Crashes Strike Again

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:46:32 -0400

California tops list of states with water infrastructure needs
Pennsylvania struggles to chip away at bridge problem
Sacramento County sheriff warns of big patrol cuts at budget hearing
States look to tax hybrids to recoup road funding
May Gold Sales Fall At Perth, U.S. Mint
Food Stamp Use Doubles In Colorado
Retirement savings: Why $1M may not be enough
Dramatic honeybee shortage threatens Calif. almond crop, nation's food supply
Mini flash crashes strike again
Cost of insuring emerging market debt soars on fears Fed will taper

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The Benefits of Wheatgrass

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:30:16 -0400

At some point in your weekly excursion to the grocery store or natural food market, you may have come across a product in the veggie aisle that looked a lot like someone had cut a big chunk out of your front lawn – a big chunk of grass in a little plastic container. You might have thought, Why are they selling rabbit food here? If so, let me be the first person to introduce you to the highly beneficial and healthy food (for humans) called wheatgrass.

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45 Uses For Lemons

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:40:56 -0400

Some great ideas and uses for the lemons sitting in your fruit basket. Stock up and keep them on hand.

http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/05/45-uses-for-lemons-that-will-blow-your-socks-off.html

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Daily Digest 6/11 - The Logic Of The Surveillance State, The Myth Of Executive Accountability

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:43:48 -0400

The Logic of the Surveillance State
Damage Control Time: National Intelligence Releases PRISM "Facts"
Social Security: The New Deal’s Fiscal Ponzi
France Prohibits Sending Currency, “Coins And Precious Metals” By Mail
Silver Cycles: What Next?
The myth of executive accountability
Driving Factors Behind Improvements in Water and Energy Production
Farm Equipment That Runs on Oats

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Daily Digest 6/10 - Rains Plaguing Midwest Farms, Big Brother Is Listening And No One Cares

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:27:55 -0400

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: 'I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things'
Neil Macdonald: Big Brother is listening in and no one seems to care
Leaker’s Employer Became Wealthy by Maintaining Government Secrets
Gold Price Reflecting Mike Maloney’s “First Deflation Then Inflation”
World’s Largest Coal Company Invests in Solar Power to Reduce Energy Costs
The Sequester May Start To Show In Data
After Drought, Rains Plaguing Midwest Farms
Mott Green, a Free-Spirited Chocolatier, Dies at 47

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