Thursday, 08 Dec 2011 11:21 AM

Investors should stick with commodities and even invest in things like farmland over the coming years for growth and safety, says noted commodities bull Jim Rogers.

Commodities prices may have dipped recently, but those declines were due in part to the bankruptcy of MF Global, a major player in the asset class.

Once MF Global accounts are liquidated and the market digests the company's failure, expect natural resources to continue climbing.

"I'm putting my money into real assets, things like commodities and natural resources because if the world economy gets better, I'm going to make money because of shortages and if the world economy doesn't get better, which is possible and maybe even probable, governments are going to print money," Rogers told Newsmax.TV in an exclusive interview.


"When they print money, you need to protect yourself in silver or rice — you pick natural resources. That's how you protect yourself and possibly make a lot of money," Rogers said.

Central Banks in major economies have flooded their financial systems with liquidity to fight deflation and fuel employment, which tends to weaken currencies.

When paper currencies weaken, commodities often strengthen as a hedge.

"I happen to own all commodities, I own more of agriculture and precious metals than the others, but I expect them all to continue to do well. Commodities over the past 10 to 12 years have done much better than stocks, and I expect that to continue to be the case," Rogers adds.

Gold has risen for 11 years and is due for a correction but don't abandon the asset, as a correction does not signify a more lasting reversal of an upward trend.

Demand issues will keep commodities going strong as well, as more and more Asian economies grow and will need things like grains, rice oil and copper to fuel their development

Plus uncertainties in stock and currency markets makes commodities a solid long-term play, especially with loose monetary policies coupled with political and general economic uncertainty.

"The problem is currencies everywhere are being debased, and that's why I would rather own real assets. I'd rather own silver or rice than Toyota or IBM," Rogers says.

"If you can get the right farmland I would suspect farmland would continue to be a wonderful place to continue to put money," Rogers tells Newsmax.TV.

"Become a farmer. Finance is finished."

While social unrest could roil the U.S. and Europe next year, governments could topple from it elsewhere, especially in countries
where one party has dominated for years.

"You're going to see more social unrest including in the United States, including in western and in developed countries. There's going to be a lot more social unrest. More governments are going to fall, more countries are going to fall," he said.

"When I say be careful, I mean be very careful in every way, not just with your investments but with your life," Rogers says, quick to clarify that social unrest in the United States and Europe won't lead to coups like it did in the Arab Spring uprising across the Middle East this year.

"I don't know if any European countries are totally going to fail. You've seen Libya totally fail as a country. You've seen Somalia. You will undoubtedly will see Syria totally collapse as a country. You might even see Iraq collapse as a country," Rogers says.

"You are going to see more countries where things have been stifled artificially, now that people have the Internet and Facebook and all this other stuff, you are going to see a lot more turmoil and governments being changed around the world especially the ones where you have had a one-party state for a long time."

In the U.S., whoever wins the 2012 presidential elections will be battling major economic problems and if President Barack Obama wins, he might want to pick a new team, Rogers suggests.

"Mr. Obama doesn't seem to understand what's going on in the world around him. His advisers certainly don't. I hate to laugh but I kept saying in 2009 that Mr. Obama has got to learn these guys don't have a clue," Rogers says.

"We're all going to learn in 2013, 2014 and in 2015 that they are going to make things worse and worse and worse because the world's got serious problems partly caused by these guys who don't have a clue. The idea that you have the people who caused the problems to solve the problems is bad for my nervous system."

Jim Roger’s on How To Protect Yourself From Inflation
Brittney Barrett @ 4:12 pm


According to the famed international investor, former Soros partner and general market maker, Jim Rogers, the U.S. federal Reserve has continue to pump money into the economy. Rogers, in recent blog post, described the Federal Reserve as being among the primary dangers to our economy. ”They don’t know what they are doing,” he said. Rogers gives credence to the potential impact of European debt problems and China’s slowing growth rates, but continues to see the U.S. as the main source of the problem.

While Presidential nominees and congress debate the impact of raising taxes on the wealthy and other measures with a questionable impact on the economy, Rogers believes that the nation’s wealth is already being deteriorated. Rogers point to low interest rates and a rising inflation rate as the reasons why the numbers on our bank statements may look the same but will not go as far. Rogers is accusing the Federal Government of what is essentially a smoke and mirrors act to cover up their market tinkering. “ Bernanke said last August he was keeping interest rates artificially low,” Rogers said in Yahoo Finance last week.”The only way you can do that is to go into the market.”

Within the article, he directed focus to an increase in the broad M2 measure of the United States Money supply. In spite of the Fed’s second quantitative easing program ending on June 30, there has been a 5 percent rise in the level. In total this represents a 20 percent increase since November 2008. These statistics, according to Roger are representative of major problems with inflation and he adopts the rather unpopular position that he would prefer that the Fed actually raised rates.

“Since August – well, this whole year – the M2 has jumped up,” he said in a recent interview “They’re in the market. They’re lying to us.”

Certainly, with the worries over the global economy and a domestic growth rate near zero, some do not object to the Fed’s presence in the economy and the printing of money. In fact Roger’s position that the group should raise rates could bring domestic economic growth to a tax, considering the low levels at which is stands today. Still, those who believe Roger’s statements regarding the position of the Fed in the economy right now, may want to heed the billionaire investor’s advice in terms of how to protect themselves against inflation.

Like many managers and individual investors, Rogers has been staying short on equities and going long on commodities and currencies. In the past, he has voiced his support for investment in the Swiss Franc, which remains a stable and reigning currency among European debt madness. In addition to the Franc, he is a proponent of Japanese currency investments. The Japanese economy has shrunk significantly as a result of the disasters that occurred there this year, but he believes this presents opportunities. Rogers, alongside the rest of the investing public, acknowledges the reasoning behind why many have fled from the nation’s currency and equities, but believes they have been more than priced into the market.

Beyond his long-term currency positions, Rogers is looking to take a defensive stance in commodities. The commodities tend is largely a defensive move and has been widely embraced amid fears of continued declines in the equity market in 2012. Additionally, commodities investments are among the few positions are protected from inflationary changes. Rogers says that for him, it’s a win-win situation. If the market recovers then the commodities will grow on the basis of increasing demand from China Chinese demand. He stresses that with pay rates rapidly rising in China and the expectations for life quickly shifting upwards, commodities of all kinds, from corn and wheat to industrial metals would all get a boost. In the event the economy continues to struggled and inflation heads higher, then his assets will be tucked away.

Have U.S. consumers already seen Jim Rogers’ “hard landing?”
Emerging Money

Posted 12/16/2011 11:14 AM by Emerging Money> from Emerging Money in Investing, International, Stocks


Household net worth fell by 4% in the most recent quarter to $57.4 trillion, the lowest level since the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in September 2008. Even more ominous: this is the second consecutive quarter that it declined.For Americans, home equity is the biggest source of wealth. With real estate prices soft at best, there is a natural hesitation to invest more or take other steps to create wealth.

"Going forward, you're going to see these ups and downs; the era of volatility is back. There's greater uncertainty among consumers," says Gregory Daco, the principal U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.

As detailed in a previous article on www.emergingmoney.com , legendary investor Jim Rogers claims that there is a "100% chance" of a new financial crisis and that will be worse than in 2008.

He predicts a "hard landing" for the United States. As a result, Jim Rogers is short American and European stocks and long commodities.

Is Rogers right? Or is this another case of those "ups and downs" that Daco mentioned?

Read more: http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2011-12/have-us-consumers-already-seen-jim-rogers-hard-landing.aspx?storyid=109442#ixzz1gjEQGDB7

anthonyC previously said:

Jim Rogers is one of the few pundits I actually pay attention to. Honest and transparent. He tells you where he puts his money.

What Jim Rogers Is Buying
Sammy Pollack December 14, 2011 |

Jim Rogers is a legend in the investment world, and if there is one person to listen to, it is him. So what has Rogers been doing?

Rogers remain broadly bullish on commodities for the long term, he told CNBC:

I'm long commodities and currencies, because if the world gets better, the shortages in commodities will make sure I make money; if the world economy doesn't get better, I'd rather own commodities because they're going to print money.

Rogers is long both gold and silver, but is expecting a correction in the short term:

Somewhere down the line gold will have a correction. Gold will continue to do what gold does best. Just give it a chance. I'd probably get more interested at $1,600. At $1,710 or whatever it is today, I'm not buying gold, I'm just watching. And likewise for silver.

Rogers has been bullish gold for a very long time, and has been correct. While he is still bullish on gold and silver, Rogers is more bullish on another commodity: food. Via his blog:

I suspect agriculture products would give better protection during the next several years although gold and silver will be good too – perhaps second best.

Though bearish on the U.S dollar in the long term, Rogers is buying the dollar right now (from CNBC):

I own the dollar, I own some other currencies as well, a year ago everybody was pessimistic about the dollar, including me…when everybody is on the same side of the boat, you go to the other side of the boat for a while.

Rogers is also buying some other currencies, including the Chinese renmimbi, Japanese yen, and Swedish krona. In terms of stocks, Rogers is largely bearish:

Stocks, in my view, in most countries are like they were in the 1970s. In the 1970s stock markets, and economies around the world did not do very much and were in a big sideways trading range for many years. We are in that kind of period now. (China Money Podcast)

I mainly short shares around the world. I have shorted American technology companies, I have shorted European stocks and shorted emerging market stocks. (Rogers blog)

One stock market that Rogers is more bullish on is the Japanese market. From his blog:

They will soon start losing money on the money invested abroad so a massive amount of that money is going to come back home. I doubt that will go into bank deposits or bonds because interest rates are so low. Then at least they can go to commodities or stocks.

How to position yourself like Jim Rogers:

Buy the U.S dollar for the short term (UUP)
Own gold (GLD) and silver (SLV)
Own agriculture commodities (DAG, DBA, CORN)
Own Japan (FXY, EWJ)
Own the Swedish krona (FXS)
Own the Chinese yuan (CYB)
Short U.S Stocks (Sell SPY short, or buy SH)
Short Europe Stocks (Sell VGK short)

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.