Looks like Americans are really getting fired up about the coming boom...

This from Financial Armageddon" - follow link to original.

Looks like folks are getting ready -- the question is, for what?
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Looks like Americans are really getting fired up about the coming boom...

"Booming Business of Fear: Sales of Safes Soar" (CNNMoney)

Amid the market turmoil, sales of security safes and vaults have spiked. While some shoppers sought to protect whatever valuables they had left, others needed a place to stash their newly-acquired safe haven assets such as gold and cash.

Port Charlotte, Fla.-based Value Safes said it sold an average of $13,000 in safes a day in the past week, more than tripling its daily average of $3,500 from the previous week. On Amazon.com, SentrySafe's $170 1.2-cubic foot combination safe was among the site's biggest "movers and shakers" Friday, with sales rising 44% over the past 24 hours.

Maximum Security, which sells safes for jewelry, coins, guns and other valuables, said it has seen demand climb by more than 30% over the past two weeks.

"People are just plain scared," said Nancy Bryan, owner of Santa Ana, Calif.-based Maximum Security, who noted that sales started increasing about three years ago at the onset of the recession.

"What is happening to our financial markets is the most recent addition," she added. "Folks are worried about the decreasing value of the dollar, burglaries on the rise in their neighborhoods ... and even the possibility that the unrest we are seeing in other parts of the world slipping over to our country."

"Obama Firearms Boom Continues" (American Thinker)

After slackening a bit in 2010, the demand for guns is once again on the rise. Shooting Industry Magazine recently reported:

The firearms industry is enjoying brisk-to-robust firearm sales during a time when much of the U.S. economy continues to suffer.

In April, dealers reported firearms sales that matched and even exceeded those of the six months following the 2008 national elections.

In May, the number of NSSF-adjusted NICS background checks reflects an 11.4-percent increase over May 2010. The positive May report is in stark contrast to news of the nation's economy, which hit another slowdown during the month.

NSSF reports that its adjusted NICS data shows increases for 2011, compared to 2010, of January: 9.7 percent; February: 13.6 percent; March: 15 percent; and April: 15.2 percent. NSSF also indicates that for 12 straight months, beginning in May 2010, there have been increases in the number of background checks.

"As Economy Falters, Security Services Are Hiring More Guards" (Spokesman-Review)

The fastest-growing occupation in Spokane County is not in health care or green technology. It can’t be found in casinos or computer labs.

It’s security guard – one of the few bright spots in job growth, thanks in part to a bad economy.

More firms are beefing up security in response to public safety budget cuts and higher crime rates.

Tom Currie, regional manager with Northwest Protective Service, sees a correlation between high unemployment and the need for more security guards.

“I think as the economy gets worse and worse, and more people are out of work, people get desperate to find some sort of income, so crime goes up, drug abuse goes up,” Currie said.

"Summer in a Jar: Canning's Comeback" (Detroit Free Press)

Lillian Smith has the answer for any gardener-cook looking for ways to tackle that familiar dilemma: too many tomatoes.

Almost a lost art, canning has come back in style as more people get into vegetable gardening. The interest in farmers markets and pick-your-own farms also fuels the trend.

"Starting two years ago, we saw many more people coming to our classes," said Smith, a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Food Preserver who teaches canning and other techniques.

"The food safety issue and economics -- that's driving the interest in canning. People want to know how to do it themselves."

Jarden Home Brands, makers of Ball home canning products, says sales have risen nearly 35% in the last three years.

On the plus side, I guess you could say that some parts of the economy are doing well -- right?