Jim Rogers Investment Biker Investor
Jim Rogers is a multi-multi millionaire, outstanding investment market forecaster, and visionary of the future. Who could argue with this man?
Here is Jim Rogers on Dubai. “Dubai doesn’t have much oil, you can see this from doing your homework, Dubai will be out of oil in five years or something. Dubai is doing their best to become a center for the Middle East: for shopping, for finance, for technology, for everything else, because they are running out of oil.”
Jim Rogers is one of the most famous investors of the 20th and 21st centuries. After graduating from Yale in 1964, he got his first job on Wall Street, even though he knew virtually nothing about investing. Shortly afterwards by great luck he met George Soros and the two went on to found the Quantum Fund, one of the first hedge funds. The success of the Quantum Fund made Rogers and Soros fabulously wealthy billionaires.
Rogers retired a rich man at 37 and set out on a two year adventure, touring the world on a motorcycle. Investment Biker: On the Road with Jim Rogers , a best seller, chronicled that trip, revealing one nation after the next in which gradually weakening currencies and political structures had suddenly collapsed, resulting in total national ruin. He gets to the heart of what’s driving successful nations and economies upward and what’s slashing troubled ones downward.
Rogers is currently very bearish on the US and bullish on China. Rogers recently moved his family to Singapore so that he could more closely monitor his investments in China. Singapore is one of the most “wired” cities in the world and gives Rogers first class infrastructure from which to operate and expand his investment empire.
Rogers states that China intends to be a global player in technology and engineering, moving up the value-added chain. China was one country on his bike journey that greatly impressed Rogers. He said it was in the grip of statism but was nevertheless throwing off its yoke. China’s rapid advances in recent years towards becoming a world financial power has proved Rogers to be once again correct in his analysis.
One problem noted is that China has created a huge pollution problem in its race towards rapid industrialization. China’s massive pollution clouds have been known to travel the breadth of oceans, clogging up filters as far away as Lake Tahoe. With India following in China’s sooty footsteps, a global pollution epidemic may be in the works. Of course, this will present amazing opportunities for companies involved in controlling pollution.
Rogers believes that application of time tested criteria (P/E ratios, dividend yields, price to book ratios) show that Western stock markets are overvalued, similar to the 1970s with big trading ranges. Stock pickers might be able to exploit this successfully, but anyone brought upon buying and holding is likely to be in for a prolonged period of disappointment; as Rogers says about stock picking most people are not very good at this. Rogers, who retired at 37 after making a mint on Wall Street and then spent two years touring remote areas of the globe on two wheels. Following the dictum to invest in a company you know and in a product you love — often propounded by Wall Street types — he has bought shares in Harley-Davidson Inc. Rogers also owns a basket of 15 different currencies. The reason why Rogers went global is the basic investment principle of diversification.
Rogers mentioned recently an electronic equipment maker called Vestel Elektronic Sanayi ve Ticaret, which soon more than doubled. But he indicated at the time that he did not think Turkey had settled down enough, economically speaking, for him to commit his money there.
Jim Roger’s Investment Biker was a record of his trip and the world economy — getting to the heart of what drives successful nations and economies upward and what sends troubled ones downward. While that trip was made many years ago Rogers remains one of the world’s great investors.
Rogers accurately forecast several years ago the boom in commodity prices and feels that even with large run ups in price since his prediction the commodity bull market has several years to go. Of course, commodity markets within the uptrend will remain highly volatile, they almost always are, but Rogers believes that there is still plenty of room for even higher prices.
Some of Jim Rogers most recent advice is to learn to speak Chinese. Like it or not China is moving to center stage on the world forum.
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