Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Food for thought


Readers will recall that I recently mentioned what I'm doing to prepare for the economic hard times I (and many others) foresee in the not too distant future.  One of my steps was to convert 10% of our cash assets into precious metals:  one-ounce silver coins, plus a few 1/10-ounce gold coins.  I've also spoken before of establishing a food reserve sufficient for at least 30 days.

Now comes the news that an American retailer is doing precisely the same thing - and not in a small way, either.

One week ago [Overstock.com's Chairman Jonathan Johnson], who is also candidate for Utah governor, spoke at the United Precious Metals Association ... What did Johnson tell the UPMA? Here are some choice quotes:

We are not big fans of Wall Street and we don't trust them. We foresaw the financial crisis, we fought against the financial crisis that happened in 2008; we don't trust the banks still and we foresee that with QE3, and QE4 and QE N that at some point there is going to be another significant financial crisis.

So what do we do as a business so that we would be prepared when that happens? One thing that we do that is fairly unique: we have about $10 million in gold, mostly the small button-sized coins, that we keep outside of the banking system. We expect that when there is a financial crisis there will be a banking holiday. I don't know if it will be 2 days, or 2 weeks, or 2 months. We have $10 million in gold and silver in denominations small enough that we can use for payroll. We want to be able to keep our employees paid, safe and our site up and running during a financial crisis.

We also happen to have three months of food supply for every employee that we can live on.

There's more at the link.

Folks, that's a heck of a corporate investment in emergency preparations!  If a 1½-billion-dollar-turnover US company takes the current economic situation that seriously . . . why aren't we???

Peter

8 comments:

Old NFO said...

Because we're lazy and 'hoping' nothing happens... I'll be 'starting' some of that soon... Just sayin...

ZerCool said...

I suspect there are a few things factoring in here...
1: He's talking to a precious metals association.
2: $10M in gold and silver is a sizable chunk, but without knowing their payroll needs it's tough to say how useful it is.
3: He's in Utah. His voting base is going to expect that kind of preparation.
4: If there is a financial crisis such that they are digging in to their coins and stashed food, what does he think people are going to use to buy things from his company - and as such, why worry that much about keeping a website up?

Still, a sobering read.

Uncle Lar said...

LDS encourages their members to keep a one year food supply on hand.
One of the church's major efforts is businesses that specialize in long term food storage.
One concern is that Mr. Johnson made such a public statement. When it hits the fan and things get tight the first thing the feds are going to do is come tapping on his door to confiscate his "hoard" to distribute to the less fortunate. And they will do that with armed soldiers.

tweell said...

Well, that's $10 million in gold that the Feds can pick up easy. FDR did it 80 years ago, so Hillary! will have no problems ordering the same thing. The food will be a bonus.

Unknown said...

Just a serious question. If the central bank outlaws paper money, what will role will gold and silver play? Will there be demand for these coins?

Uncle Lar said...

Gold and silver are tangible portable commodities that are universally known as repositories of wealth. Eventually that will be important. Short term in a SHTF situation water, food, shelter will be more pressing needs.
Once the feds finish their objective to totally destroy faith in paper or electronic symbols of wealth you are immediately relegated to a barter economy.
Personally, much of my crisis investment strategy rests on three other precious metals: copper, lead, and brass.

mobius said...

@Uncle Lar- I use those metals to store powder. ;o)
I've spent the last 12 years building infrastructure. 1500 sq ft of garden, all natural- no outside inputs. CHicken poop fertilizer operation, not to mention eggs. Refurbished (somewhat) apple orchard and lots of wildlife habitat. Hoping to get some goats next year, if things hold together.

I haven't got the income to have much of a stash so I've concentrated on tools and skills.

*I don't know how much skill is involved in my gardening so far, but I've mastered making dirt. compost compost compost

Bibliotheca Servare said...

I had this post bookmarked, and tapped on that bookmark instead of the bayou renaissance man homepage bookmark. (Which is why I'm commenting on a comment from October, lol) Anyway, you make a good point (though I wish that weren't so) the feds wouldn't (and haven't in the past) blink an eye at pillaging the "hoard" of a citizen who bothered to prepare to take care of his family in a calamity. They'd think "he can go to the bread line like everyone else has to!" Eric Flint wrote that same scenario in the original "1632" book. (The first book in the series) It pissed me off then, but not as much as it does now. Amazing how baldfaced robbery becomes virtuous when it happens to someone else, and/or when the government does it, isn't it? *depressed sigh* God bless! :)