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Some people are curious about prepping because they want to be more self-sufficient, while others may be considering this lifestyle to ensure their survival during more difficult times.

If you are worried about where to get supplies after your stockpile runs out when SHTF, you can try to learn more about bartering and the basics of trading in a post-collapse world.(h/t toTheOrganicPrepper.com)

The tips and information below come fromSelco Begovic, a man who survived one year inBosnia when his city was blockaded.

Begovic hails fromthe Balkan region, where residents struggled with harsh living conditions from 1992 to 1995. He lived there and survived for a yearin a city without running water, food distribution,electricity, fuel or supply of any goods.

The area also did not have any organized law or government.

While the information below is from an interview conducted in 2018,the topics discussed are still relevant for preppers or those who want to start prepping in 2023. Bartering after city lockdowns

According to Begovic, people started bartering weeks after the city was locked down. He added that ordinary folks only started bartering after several weeks went by because they did not immediately realize the severity of their situation.

As he tried to remember more about that time in his life,Begovic added thatthere were people who did not want to take money for goods. Instead, they asked for valuables like gold, jewelry or weapons for the items that they had wanted to trade with.

Some of these peoplewere smart enough to realize that money was going to become worthless soon.

Even valuables, such as gold and jewelry, were only good in the first period, and you would only benefit from themif you had a connection to the outside world to exchange them for something useful.

Ordinary people needed several weeks to get used to their situation, said Begovic. The process went from buying goods with money to buying goods from people who still accepted money but at outrageous prices, to the moment when money was worthless and people only accepted goods for other items.

While rare,Begovic said you could sometimes find someone who would sell you something for foreign money, but with at least 20 to 50 times higher prices. To illustrate,if a pack of cigarettes costs around 1.50 German Marks outside the war region,Begovic could buy that pack for 40 German Marks.

US dollars and Canadian dollars had even worse value. Thepeople who would accept that money had connections to the outside world, and some of them became millionaires because of that, said Begovic.

The same ratio was for precious metals and jewelry.For small and quick trades, the usual currency people used was cigarettes because of the large percentage of smokers in the area.

Sometimes, people would trade bullets.(Related: SHTF bartering must-haves: 13 Things that will be in demand after an EMP attack.) How to determine the value of trade items and setting terms

Begovic said nothing was fixed. During the lockdown,the value of goods went up and down based on different factors.

If aUnited Nations (UN) food convoy was able to enter the city and a local warlord took it all, which Begovic said happened often, and the majority of the food was canned fish, within that month those types of canned food would be cheaper than the month before.

In other cases, if U.S. airplanes managed to “hit” with airdrops in their area, then meals, ready-to-eat (MREs) were going to be cheaper.

Begovic also said once a rumor was planted by rival groups, such as rumors about “poisoned” cans of cookies, people did not value such items highly anymore.

However, some things did not change value too much during the whole period, such as alcohol, because it was available. The value of other things was a matter of the situation.

If your child was sick andyou needed antibiotics, once you spread the word, you can expect high prices because you gave out that information.Begovic added that usually, peopleknew the value of goods for that week, at least approximately.

The value of things and trading rules “on the ground” were similar to trade rules at normal life flea markets, said Begovic.

Some of those rules on the ground during trading were: If you need something, the price is going to increase. Begovic advised that it’s best not to look like you desperately need something to avoid this. You shouldn’t offer everything you have in “one hand” or on one try. Don’tgo to trade with your best items altogether because you will seem desperate, and you are losing the advantage. Don’t give someone a reason to take the risk of attacking you because you have too many desirable items or too many things with you. Before meeting up with someone,Begovic advised that you should only bring a set amount of food or ammo. If you need more items, do another trade at another time with more of your items. Always remember that people will take chances if they calculate it is a risk worth taking. Do not volunteer information abouthow much of the goods you actually have at home to avoid any incidents. Do nottrade at home, unless you trust the other person completely. This is important, especially if you are trading with someone you don’t know that well. Agreeing to trade at another person’s home might mean that you are at his “playground,” or he is stupid, and you are losing the advantage. Do not take the risk of trading on unknown terrain. Try to choose neutral ground where you can control the situation and give the other person the chance to feel safe, but not safer than you.

Begovic said the mostimportant thing to do is to understand that when SHTF, the only thing that protects you from losing everything is you.

Trade will require careful planning. Start with information about a person who has something you need, then check and double-check that information.

Communicate with him, then send information to let him know that you want to trade. Clearly set the terms about the place and number of people where you’re going to do the trade.

Usually, there would be rumors or information about who was safe to trade with. Begovic said there was also information about people who like to scam others during a trade.

If you completed a beneficial and fair trade with someone, remember him as a safe trader for future trade. The restis a matter of trust and your skills.

If you live in a nice town,Begovic said you might have access toa market where people can freely exchange their goods.

However, he never witnessed anything like that in Bosnia because a market like that requires an efficientsystem to back it. Bartering when SHTF is a high-risk situation because it is about resources, and there is no law or system in place to protect you and others. Skills vs. items

In the long run, Begovic said skills were more valuable because you can not “spend” your skills.

If you had medical skills, you could expect that over time, people would know about them through the word on the street. After SHTF, you will have different opportunities to get something for that skill.

After an SHTF event, skills for repairing would be valuable, along with technical skills. Begovic added that skills were safer to trade because if someone attacks or kills you, they still can’t take away your skills.

If you raise animalson your homestead, you can trade eggs, dairy or meat for other items that you need. With a home garden, you can trade fruits and vegetables for other pantry staples like flour or cooking oil.

Before SHTF, learn the basics of bartering so you can find more supplies before your stockpile runs out.

Watch the video below for tips on how to color-coordinate your pantry.

This video is fromThe Urban Prepper channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories:

Prepping for collapse, famine and nuclear war: 12 Tips that will help you be more resilient when SHTF.

Staying under the radar: Tips for efficient stealth prepping.

Prepper skills: How to barter effectively after SHTF.

Surces include:

TheOrganicPrepper.com

SHTFSchool.com

SurvivalFrog.com

Brighteon.com
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Ofwat could be scrapped in water reforms

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Ofwat could be scrapped in water reforms

An independent review of the water industry is to recommend sweeping changes to the way the sector is managed, including the potential replacement of Ofwat with a strengthened body combining economic and environmental regulation.

Former Bank of England governor Sir Jon Cunliffe will publish the findings of the Independent Water Commission on Monday, with stakeholders across the industry expecting significant changes to regulation to be at its heart.

The existing regulator Ofwat has been under fire from all sides in recent years amid rising public anger at levels of pollution and the financial management of water companies.

Read more:
Serious water pollution incidents in England up 60% last year

Why has there been a surge in water pollution?

Campaigners and politicians have accused Ofwat of failing to hold water operators to account, while the companies complain that its focus on keeping bills down has prevented appropriate investment in infrastructure.

In an interim report, published in June, Sir Jon identified the presence of multiple regulators with overlapping responsibilities as a key issue facing the industry.

While Ofwat is the economic regulator, the Environment Agency has responsibility for setting pollution standards, alongside the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

More on Environment

Sir Jon’s final report is expected to include a recommendation that the government consider a new regulator that combines Ofwat’s economic regulatory powers with the water-facing responsibilities currently managed by the EA.

In his interim report, Sir Jon said options for reform ranged from “rationalising” existing regulation to “fundamental, structural options for integrating regulatory remits and functions”.

He is understood to have discussed the implications of fundamental reform with senior figures in industry and government in the last week as he finalised his report.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed is expected to launch a consultation on the proposals following publication of the commission report.

The commission is also expected to recommend a “major shift” in the model of economic regulation, which currently relies on econometric modelling, to a supervisory approach that takes more account of individual company circumstances.

Read more from Sky News:
Police taking no further action over Kneecap’s Glastonbury show
New fee for Britons travelling to EU will cost more than expected

How water can teach Labour a much-needed lesson


Liz Bates

Liz Bates

Political correspondent

@wizbates

On Monday, the government’s long-awaited review into the UK’s water industry will finally report.

The expectation is that it will recommend sweeping changes – including the abolition of the regulator, Ofwat.

But frustrated customers of the water companies could rightly complain that the process of taking on this failing sector and its regulator has been slow and ineffective.

They may be forgiven for going further and suggesting that how Labour has dealt with water is symbolic of their inability to make an impact across many areas of public life, leaving many of their voters disappointed.

This is an industry that has been visibly and rapidly declining for decades, with the illegal sewage dumping and rotting pipes in stark contrast with the vast salaries and bonuses paid out to their executives.

It doesn’t take a review to see what’s gone wrong. Most informed members of the public could explain what has happened in a matter of minutes.

And yet, despite 14 years in opposition with plenty of time to put together a radical plan, a review is exactly what the government decided on before taking on Ofwat.

Month after month, they were asked if they believed the water industry regulator was fit for purpose despite the obvious disintegration on their watch. Every time the answer was ‘yes’.

As in so many areas of government, Labour, instead of acting, needed someone else to make the decision for them, meaning that it has taken over a year to come to the simple conclusion that the regulator is in fact, not fit for purpose.

As they enter their second year in office, maybe this can provide a lesson they desperately need to learn if they want to turn around their fortunes.

That bold decisions do not require months of review, endless consultations, or outside experts to endlessly analyse the problem.

They just need to get on with it. Voters will thank them.

Sir Jon has said the water industry requires long-term strategic planning and stability in order to make it attractive to “low-risk, low-return investors”.

The water industry has long complained that the current model, in which companies are benchmarked against a notional model operator, and penalised for failing to hit financial and environmental standards, risks a “doom loop”.

Thames Water, currently battling to complete an equity process to avoid falling into special administration, has said the imposition of huge fines for failing to meet pollution standards is one of the reasons it is in financial distress.

Publication of the Independent Commission report comes after the Environment Agency published figures showing that serious pollution incidents increased by 60% in 2024, and as Thames Water imposes a hosepipe ban on 15m customers.

Ofwat, Water UK and the Department for the Environment all declined to comment.

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Bitcoin becomes 5th global asset ahead of “Crypto Week,” flips Amazon: Finance Redefined

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Bitcoin becomes 5th global asset ahead of “Crypto Week,” flips Amazon: Finance Redefined

Bitcoin becomes 5th global asset ahead of “Crypto Week,” flips Amazon: Finance Redefined

Bitcoin adoption has been soaring, leading up to the optimistic regulatory expectations related to “Crypto Week” in Washington.

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The investor behind Opendoor’s 190% run nearly shut down his fund

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The investor behind Opendoor's 190% run nearly shut down his fund

Courtesy: Opendoor

On June 6, online real estate service Opendoor was so desperate to get its beaten-down stock price back over $1 and stay listed on the Nasdaq that management proposed a reverse split, potentially lifting the price of each share by as much as 50 times.

The stock inched its way up over the next five weeks.

Then Eric Jackson started cheerleading.

Jackson, a hedge fund manager who was bullish on Opendoor years earlier when the company appeared to be thriving and was worth roughly $20 billion, wrote on X on Monday that his firm, EMJ Capital, was back in the stock.

“@EMJCapital has taken a position in $OPEN — and we believe it could be a 100-bagger over the next few years,” Jackson wrote. He added later in the thread that the stock could get to $82.

It’s a long, long way from that mark.

Opendoor shares soared 189% this week, by far their best weekly performance since the company’s public market debut in late 2020. The stock closed on Friday at $2.25. The stock’s highest-volume trading days on record were Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week.

Jackson said in an interview on Thursday that the bulk of his firm’s Opendoor purchases came when the stock was in the 70s and 80s, meaning cents, and he’s bought options as well for his portfolio.

Nothing has fundamentally improved for the company since Jackson’s purchases. Opendoor remains a cash-burning, low-margin business with meager near-term growth prospects.

What has changed dramatically is Jackson’s online influence and the size of his following. The more he posts, the higher the stock goes.

“There’s a real hunger for buying the next big thing,” Jackson told CNBC, adding that investors like to find the “downtrodden.”

It’s something Jackson’s firm, based in Toronto, has in common with Opendoor.

Watch CNBC's full interview with Social Capital's Chamath Palihapitiya

When Opendoor went public through a special purpose acquisition company in 2020, it was riding a SPAC wave and broader gains driven by low interest rates and Covid-era market euphoria. Investors pumped money into the riskiest assets, lifting money-losing tech upstarts to astronomical valuations.

Opendoor’s business involved using technology to buy and sell homes, pocketing the gains. Zillow tried and failed to compete.

Opendoor shares peaked at over $39 in Feb. 2021 for a market cap just above $22.5 billion. But by the end of that year, the shares were trading below $15, before collapsing 92% in 2022 to end the year at $1.16.

Rising interest rates hammered the whole tech sector, hitting Opendoor particularly hard as increased borrowing costs reduced demand for homes.

Jackson, similarly, had a miserable 2022, coinciding with the worst year for the Nasdaq since 2008. Jackson said his key client withdrew its money at the end of the year, and “I’ve been small ever since.”

‘Epic comeback’

While his assets under management remain minimal, Jackson’s reputation for getting in early to a rebound story was burnished by the performance of Carvana.

The automotive e-commerce platform lost 98% of its value in 2022 as investors weighed the likelihood of bankruptcy. In the middle of that year, with Carvana still far from bottoming out, Jackson expressed his bullishness. He told CNBC that April that he liked the stock, and then promoted its recovery on a podcast in June. He also said he liked Opendoor at the time.

Investors willing to stomach further losses in 2022 were rewarded with a 1,000% gain in 2023, and a lot more upside from there. The stock closed on Friday at $347.52, up from a low of $3.72 in Dec. 2022, and almost triple its price at the time of Jackson’s appearance on CNBC in April of that year.

After Carvana’s 2022 slide, “then obviously began an epic comeback,” Jackson said. Opendoor, meanwhile, “continued to roll down the mountain,” he said.

Jackson said that the fallout of 2022 led him to pursue a different method of stockpicking. He started hiring a small team of developers, which is now four people, to build out artificial intelligence models. The firm has experimented with several models —some have worked and some haven’t — but he said the focus now is using what he’s learned from Carvana to find “100x” opportunities.

In addition to Opendoor, Jackson has been promoting IREN, a provider of power for bitcoin mining and AI workloads, and Cipher Mining, which is in a similar space. He’s seen his following on Elon Musk‘s social media site X, which he said was stuck for years between 32,000 and 34,000, swell to almost 50,000. And after a lengthy lull, investors are reaching out to him to try and put money into his fund, he said.

Jackson has a lot riding on Opendoor, a company that saw revenue and number of homes sold slip in the first quarter from a year earlier, and racked up almost $370 million in losses over the past four quarters.

In early June, Opendoor announced plans for a reverse split — ranging from 1 for 10 to 1 for 50 — to “give us optionality in preserving our listing on Nasdaq.” With the stock now well over $1, such a move appears less necessary, as shareholders prepare to vote on the proposal on July 28.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said Jackson. “Those things usually further cement a company’s move into oblivion rather than hail some big revival.”

Opendoor didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Banking on growth

Analysts are projecting a more than 5% drop in revenue this year, followed by 20% growth in 2026 and 12% expansion in 2017, according to LSEG. Losses are expected to narrow over that stretch.

Jackson said his analysis factors in projections of $11.5 billion in revenue for 2029, which would be well over double the company’s expected sales for this year. He looked at the multiples of companies like Zillow and Carvana, which he said trade for 4 to 7 times forward revenue. Opendoor’s forward price-to-sales ratio is currently well below 1.

With Zillow and Redfin having exited the instant-buying home market, Opendoor faces little competition in allowing homeowners to sell their property online for cash, rather than going through an extended bidding, sales and closing process.

Jackson is banking on revenue growth and increased market share to lead to a profitable business that will push investors to value the company with a multiple somewhere between Zillow and Carvana. At $82, Opendoor would be worth about $60 billion, which is roughly 5 times projected 2029 revenue.

Jackson said his model assumes that “like Carvana, Opendoor can prove that it can permanently turn the tide and get to sustained profitability” so that the “market multiple would get reassessed.”

In the meantime, he’ll keep posting on X.

On Friday, Jackson wrote a thread consisting of 11 posts, recounting the challenge of having “99.5% of my AUM” disappear overnight after his primary investor pulled out in 2022.

“Translation: he fired me for losing him too much money,” Jackson wrote. He said he almost shut down the fund, and was even encouraged to do so by his wife and accountant.

Now, Jackson is using his recent momentum on social media to try and attract investor money, while still reminding prospects that he could lose it.

“All I have is my reputation,” he wrote, “and, unless I keep picking good stocks, it will be gone.”

WATCH: Don’t yet know if IPO market is back to full health

Don't yet know if IPO market is back to full health, says Raymond James' Sunaina Sinha Haldea

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