Stocks and mutual funds and such

So here's a poll - how heavy are folks invested in:
Oil/Gas
Other energy
Gold/precious metals
Other natural resources
?

Overall, I think we're probably 35-40%, well over half of which are the top two (energy).

Here's some investments I'm thinking about lately:
- Foreign gold. I'd like to get into gold, but if I do I'd like to get into a foreign security or fund, but I'm not sure which. any suggestions are welcome.

- Andarko. They bought some really nice gas reserves recently in its acquisition of whatchacallit. Folks didn't like it much, but I did - gas is only going up.

- PBW - it's an ETF that invests into a basket of clean energy stocks. The only one I could find like it. We own a fair bit already but am thinking about more.

- EPNIX - it's an aggressive oil & gas mutual fund that uses derivatives to match 150% of I believe the Dow Jones Oil & Gas index. Volatile and heavily into domestics, but something to think about nonetheless.

Here's what I'd like to get into if I were a little smarter about stuff:

- Something that would be inversely proportional to the dollar since it's going to collapse well before other currencies will. The bastards aren't letting me short the dollar like I'd really want to, so I need to figure out a proxy.

- A mutual fund that owns a bunch of trees and property, but doesn't get into the business of making and selling paper or other tree-based products.

Interesting data

An interesting article written by a geologist that discusses how Hubbard's methods of predicting peak oil have been shown to be effective, more so than the oil industry or goverments' estimates:

http://www.energybulletin.net/17009.html

The thing that struck me was that the author said that the North Sea peaked in 1999, and is already 25% below peak after 6 or 7 years. This implies that post-peak, production could drop precipitously.

Making preparation for peak all the more urgent in my paranoid mind :)

On posting

Brother Chris said I should insert my own thoughts into this thing. So here goes...

First of all, before I begin - I just learned that I can set it up so folks can post comments without being registered. Sorry about that. Have at it.

Today is Calypso's 16th month birthday. I remember it each month, and each month I feel remorse about how difficult her life is going to be. She won't travel around the world, or drive a fancy car, or retire early. She won't have an indulgent occupation where she can express her creativity, or her intellect, or her "passion for people." She's going to work very hard, for a very long time. Her life expectancy will be much lower than ours.

But on the other hand, she'll be accustomed to hard work. That means she won't get fat because of all the manual labor, and she won't be unhappy because of all of the hard work. She'll also be very practical, with little spare time for tomfoolery. She won't have the iron clamp of corporate america or big government around her neck. And learning will be a treasure, as opposed to something that's forced upon young people against their will...

Now what do they say about the five stages of grief? I can't tell what stage I'm on.

Ever meet a Mormon you didn't like?

I doubt it. For example, I think that the name "Bruce" is forbidden in the Book of Mormons. The only time Mormons stink is when you're in Utah trying to get a drink at 11pm.

So what do these crazy Mormons go and do?!?! Create a very comprehensive website about food storage and related topics. As you probably know, Mormons are required to have one years supply of food.

The info is awesome, very practical & thorough - one I'm keeping permanently:

http://www.providentliving.org/channel/1,11677,1706-1,00.html

A smattering of some very practical ideas

After the first few paragraphs of wistful reflections by a mediocre 30-something, there are *lots* of very practical ideas to prepare.

http://groovygreen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=252&Itemid=57

Read it carefully (at least after the first few paragraphs), and I'm sure you'll get at least an idea or two. Here are a couple that I walked away with:
- Rainwater collection barrels
- Planting fruit trees and grapevines
- The mormon website for food storage (see next post)

I'm also redoubling my resolve to get in better shape health-wise. In 25 years (or maybe less), there's not going to be healthcare like there is today - people will just be left to die. Therefore we need to do all we can now to avoid needing healthcare as we get older.

On gold & inflation

For you high finance folks, here's a good one (thx Chandra!)

http://www.billcara.com/archives/2006/06/why_the_gold_pr.html

I was wondering why inflation was rising and gold was falling - here's your chance to buy into gold.

Starter Peak Oil articles

Brother Chris sent a couple of handsomely-written editorials that you may read if you're not familiar with the idea of Peak Oil et al. If you are already quite familiar, I don't think you'll get much out of it. But maybe.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-09-30/cols_ventura.html

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-10-14/cols_ventura.html

One thing it mentions that I've been thinking about recently is getting into the salvage business. Wouldn't that be great?!?! Tearing up wrecked (or abandoned) cars to suck out the precious precious copper wires. Hey - I found an aluminum head! Whoo-hoo! I can see it now...

The lie of ethanol

Some of you have seen this, but for those of you who haven't - here is an article (citing data with sources) that makes it pretty clear that ethanol cannot make an appreciable dent in gasoline prices here in the US.

I especially like his discussion regarding the net energy produced by corn (after taking out the oil used in growing the stuff).

http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/5/23/23846/0807

My pic

First Post

SO WHAT THE HECK IS THIS BLOG ALL ABOUT ?!?!

This is a blog about surviving peak oil and other various calamities that may soon be upon us. Any "the party's almost over" thoughts are game here, but I'd especially like to discuss practical tips, like "learn how to garden without pesticides," or "buy a really good sleeping bag" or "avoid hippies."

In addition to preparing for the upcoming changes as they relate to peak oil/peak gas, I hope to include ways to thrive as well. Like a boss once said, "In every challenge is a cleverly disguised opportunity." The optimist in me likes to think there are opportunities out there as well. Even if there's not.

I'm planning to include articles and data that I come across that are particularly striking. I'd like to include yall's thoughts as well, so be sure to comment, send me an email when you see interesting content, or better yet - offer to post regularly! Why not - it's only Todd's blog! toddwking2000@yahoo.com

This blog may be more heavily focused on the end of cheap energy, but I'd like to include other calamities that can end or massively change civilization as well, such as:
- Global climate changes
- Significant dollar devaluation or the end of the global economy/financial institutions
- Geopolitical tensions/large-scale wars/weapons of mass destruction (the real ones)
- Religious or cultural "end of world" scenarios
... you get the idea.

Bottom line - the emphasis is not "if/when/why/how" these calamities will happen, but rather what to do if/when one does happen, and what we can do now to prepare.