UrbanSurvival’s roots, as you know, go back to 1997 when I was finishing a distance-learning MBA.  As a result, we evolved a steely eye toward whatever the present “economic fairytale” might be. In the tradition of Fractured Fairytales, we’re stuck this morning in the sad case of Made-Up Markets.  The (not really) Federal Reserve is buying … Read More

If a discussion about toolboxes and whether a ShopSmith (serious multi-tool) seem like an odd pairing, relax.  It’s not.  Both have everything to do with how you get “the job” done. Let’s Do Toolboxes First It always struck me as odd:  That Pappy Ure’s shop was constantly piled with tools and projects.  Yet, when we … Read More

Elaine and I had a marvelous conversation Friday about what we remembered from our youth.  (Which for both is a decade over a half-century ago!). Green Jell-O at church gatherings came up. Her preference was for the Jell-O with cottage cheese.  Mine?  Green Jell-O with a (drained) can of mixed fruit cocktail in it.  Topped with a thick … Read More

Happy Easter.  An odd assortment of items today. We consider the perils of investing in a market gone vertical.  Plus some notes on rolling headlines including the odds of war in eastern Ukraine where limited fighting is reported. We tend to run shorter columns when people are “familifying.” A cup of coffee and much to … Read More

A day off (Good Friday) for some, but you wouldn’t know it around here. Who’s Working? The short answer is “Not as many as last year.”  The longer answer is wrapped up in the Labor Department monthly job report for March just out: “Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 916,000 in March, and the unemployment … Read More

We continue to ponder events to come.  Spiced with fresh data this morning including layoffs and first-time unemployment claims.  But first, a quick run to the whiteboard to lay out how “Partial Truths” work and why a focus on them is critical.  (And a marker huff, lol…) Going into the three-day weekend (for some) may … Read More

We continue looking at the wide range of investments today by looking at tangibles.  After (in part 1) seeing the only real (enduring) wealth is that between your ears.  If there is anything to “souls” and afterlife, then your carry-out from life is in your memories.Even once we’re taken out “paper” investment vehicles, there’s still … Read More

Before the S&P data, a heads up to look at the CNN story about “76 all-cash offers on one home. The housing madness shows no signs of slowing.” Proper foreplay for this morning’s S&P Housing report? “NEW YORK, MARCH 30, 2021: S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) today released the latest results for the S&P CoreLogic … Read More

You know the moment:  The morning’s “throne work” done, the handle is pressed and the efforts of the morning will soon be flushed away. But the flush is neither instantaneous nor complete in itself. No.  There is a pause as the flapper valve just opens.  In its advance, the water in the tank flows downward.  … Read More

Might as well buy a Lotto ticket, if you think you can make a quick buck in this pig of a market.  The reasons are obvious, yet hidden from the public. The Lying Fed? It has been painfully obvious for years that most of the so-called economic gains in America were the effects of pernicious money-printing by … Read More

Does Ure want a new top-of-the-line PowerMatic or Laguna, or StopSaw to whip out cabinets and have on hand when G2 gets here (eventually) and puts on his “house-building on the off-shift” pants? But, to tell you the truth, at age 72 even a “convicted tool-slut” (in the Court of Wifely Opinions, no less!), it’s hard for me … Read More

Main item today, one that could pop from China, the Middle East, and/or Ukraine.  Sure, we will also do more of that *(boring) making money stuff.  But war.,..sheesh!  Impacts everything.  So, we get a bit exercised when risks build… We will pick up our next episode of “Alt. Investments” this coming week.  That’s a touchstone … Read More