Doctor J's Contributions

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4:30 AM came early for this would be prospector. But I arose, made some strong coffee, and tried to wake up while catching up on the overnight posts at TFMR. I crawled in my truck, which had been loaded with shovels and buckets and rubber boots the night before, and headed south to the Goldfields near Prescott AZ. After a 2 Hour drive, I met one of my buddies, we’ll call him “Stumpy.” We planned this prospecting trip to get rich.

Since we may all be thinking of other things instead of metals today, and seeing that chart this morning with silver swatted down yet again, I am certainly focusing on other things. Well, perhaps the bankers just gave metals a mean look and said, “Get back in your room!” rather than a full trip to the woodshed.

(My gut says, “If silver really does drop to single digits, crack open the piggy bank [credit] and make a purchase.”)

When I started about my prepping Odyssey of building a home for the future, I'd hoped that folks here in T–ville might learn from some of my blunders. I think we have a fine opportunity to learn such things today. Coincidentally, my mood over the past month is perfectly reflected by the weekend silver chart.

I'm tired of looking at property. But making a poor decision at this point could be costly. What can you do but prioritize your needs and keep looking? We have searched far and wide for the promised land, looking at places through realtor websites and Google Earth, then driving to see close and promising ones.

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Back in the tumultuous days of 2011, I was certain that the world economy would crash at any moment. Some would say my wife and I had already bugged out, living an hour from any large metropolitan area. We had a 5 acre wooded property on the edge of a 40K town, with a modest house. But I was troubled.

I don’t mean technical analysis .

1. Have you ever sworn off trading, but only lasted for a couple of days?
2. Have you ever slammed your fist on your desk when you get stopped out, or just miss filling your order by one penny?
3. Do you believe you can stop trading any time you want, even though you keep losing?

If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, you may need to slow down and rethink your life. You just may be a … Trade-a-holic!

Two weeks ago, on FOMC day, I loaded a number of ammo-cans into my truck and drove down to the LCS to show them what was inside and see if they wanted to buy it. The contents were precious to me, containing most of my stack of silver and all of my gold. but I learned a few things about myself and about dealing in precious metals. I need to learn more.

Pining emailed me the other day and suggested we get on the phone and chat about metals and preperation stuff for a while so that Turd can more thoroughly enjoy his vacation. Since we are both teachers, off for the summer, and with plenty of time to kill, it seemed like a good idea. Here is what happened...

In late October of 2016, I foolishly posted my reasons for voting for Trump on Facebook for all my friends & family to read. They did. And they proceeded to beat the hell out of me, or stand by and watch. No doubt most thought, “Don’t know what’s wrong with that boy.” “He’s gone off the deep end”

“What did gold do last night?” what is gold gonna do today? Will gold move higher, lower, or run flat? My best friend calls me each week and asks, "Where is gold heading?"

How mysterious it all is… when gold rises or falls. No wonder you have to be a “wizard” to understand the markets.

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The other night, I could not sleep, and as usual I went downstairs, stoked up the fire, and began to let my mind wander, digging out my subconscious concerns so I could face them. And as usual, my 22 year old daughter, who is a night owl, wandered downstairs and said, “Hi Dad. Can’t sleep? What’s on your mind?” She plopped down on the couch next to me and we started talking.

In 2007, my wife and I owned 8 rental properties and a home in the Midwest. We were up to our ears in debt, but the budget worked due to incoming rents. The recession punched our rental business in the nose. All of our equity was wiped out in a few months. Every property was “under water.” Even our home was under water. As the housing market slowly recovered from 2009 to 2016, we were able to finally sell all the property and move back West closer to family, but we still booked a loss on every single one. Four years ago we left behind our 5 acre paradise and moved into a condo in a college town. Now I am ready for a different kind of life.