B-52s and Bank Accounts: Navigating the Iran Ceasefire

President Trump received a lot of hate for telling Iran, “A whole civilization will die tonight” if they didn’t concede to his demands for a ceasefire and to re-open the Straits of Hormuz, but his threats worked. And they were not idle threats; B-52 bombers were filmed taking off from bases in the UK in time to arrive just about when Trump’s 8 p.m. deadline expired.

Iran has agreed to Trump‘s terms, and Trump has agreed to hold off the bombing campaign for two weeks while further talks are conducted. As he said on Truth Social:

“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”

At the time of this writing, oil has dropped more than 14 percent, gold and silver are up nicely, and financial markets are rallying.

But questions still remain: will Iran stick to its word? Will the two sides reach an agreement? Or will they use this time to re-arm and ready themselves for the next phase of the war? Either way, you may have a brief window in which to take action and make some preps.

War is Ugly

President Trump remembered something many American politicians have forgotten: War is brutal and ugly. What he threatened to do—bomb bridges and power plants—is nothing new. It just took this war to another level. Taking that step often happens when attacking targets of military value ceases to generate the results one side wants. Here are just a few examples:

• The Battle of Britain in the early years of WWII, when Germany destroyed large swaths of London.
• Bombing Dresden, also in WWII, when allied forces dropped more than 3,900 tons of high explosives and incendiary bombs on the German city.
• When the U.S. used air power to destroy hydroelectric dams and irrigation dams in Korea during that conflict.
• Using B-52s in Vietnam during the “Christmas Bombings” of 1972 in Hanoi and Haiphong.
• The Soviet Union’s targeting of civilians and irrigation systems in Afghanistan

But tactics like those win wars. Just look at how the use of nuclear weapons is credited with causing the Japanese to surrender in WWII.

It is also a common threat. Think about how many times Putin has hinted at using nuclear weapons if Europeans or NATO join the war in Ukraine. Remember how many times a U.S. president has said, “All options are on the table.” Trump said the same thing, just in a less polite manner. Threatening their civilization seemed to be a threat Iran’s leaders took seriously.

Before the ceasefire was agreed upon, the U.S. upped the pressure with a heavy wave of strikes targeting bridges across Iran and military targets on Kharg Island. That showed there were teeth behind the threat.

Next Steps

None of us knows what happens next in the Middle East, and it’s too volatile to guess. Talks are supposed to start Friday in Pakistan, and news will dribble out. Markets will be up or down based in part on which side says what. If all goes well, gas prices will drop. Diesel will fall. Truck drivers will get relief, and the “fuel surcharges” that are getting tacked on by anyone who makes a delivery will fall. That will be good for the economy, but don’t expect the talking heads to talk about it. They want us worried as we head into the midterm elections.

Depending on the outcome, you either have a brief window in which to increase your preps or a longer one. So have a short-term plan and a multi-year plan. Right now, I am no longer focused on food, feeling like I have made some strides in that area. Instead, I am focused on increasing my income to be better prepared for a recession. Not necessarily caused by war, but because we experience a recession every 6.5 years on average, as I discussed in Monday’s post.

If we have a few good years ahead of us, use them as an opportunity to pay off debt and set aside an emergency fund. Use it to build your wealth, not only in money, but also in preps. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said I look at firewood like money in the bank. Many other preps are like that: resistant to inflation, unlikely to be confiscated by the tax man or a court, able to feed you when the shelves are bare, or there to defend you when the police cannot.

Brief Updates

We just had our first day of 2026 in which our solar power system made more than 50 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in a single day. We used less than 30 kWh, so that’s a big surplus. Our power bill for last month has not come in, but I expect they will owe us money this time.

I am moving closer to turning two of my AR pistols into short-barreled rifles, or SBRs. I decided to do this with both my 5.56 and .300BO guns because there is no longer a $200 tax stamp to buy. That could change after the next presidential election, maybe even sooner.

Two of the things standing in my way were the need to submit my fingerprints and the requirement to get the gun engraved with my name, city, and state after the paperwork is approved. (Just because it is free doesn’t mean there aren’t hoops to jump through.)

I have found a way to get a digital fingerprint file for only $30. The good news is that once I have the file, I will own it and can use it repeatedly at no additional cost. I was also given the names of two people, both FFLs, who have a laser engraver and can engrave the guns. I have yet to find out how much they charge. That’s next on my list.

My personal deadline is to have this done by the end of June, including the waiting time for BATF approval.