Global investors should be concerned about potential economic turmoil as the United States is embarking on a recession and the greenback continues to be unsound, says Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings and bestselling author of “Hot Commodities.”
Rogers spoke with Bloomberg TV India on Tuesday and told the media outlet that the U.S. is “over-indebted” and maintains the largest amount of debt in the planet’s history.
He further explained that the U.S. dollar is not sound, and with potential turmoil on the horizon, investors believe that the U.S. dollar is a safe haven for them. This is wrong, says Rogers, who thinks the economic downturn will get worse and thus the dollar will grow and transform into a bubble.
This is when he’ll sell the dollar and perhaps buy more gold or even the Chinese renminbi.
“I expect nearly all economies around the world to slow down. In America, we have had nearly six or seven years without a correction in the economy or the markets. It is long overdue. Normally, we have corrections every four to seven years in the United States. So we are overdue,” Rogers stated.
“The debt is going higher and higher. Many of our customers are slowing down — China is slowing down and Japan is in recession. Now, I certainly expect more slowdown to come worldwide.”
Rogers talked once again of the Federal Reserve’s 25 basis points move last week. He noted that he wasn’t impressed and thinks the various moves performed by the Fed lead to more harm than anything else for the U.S. economy.
“The Fed is just made up of bureaucrats and academics. They don’t know very much,” he said. Rogers added that the first rake doesn’t mean much. When the Fed raises rates for the third time then “you have to start worrying.” As part of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) statement last week, the Fed expects to increase interest rates a couple of more times in 2016.
“If the Fed raises rates three or four times, then it is usually all over for the stock market. So just keep watching, be worried and be prepared,” he averred.
So just what is Rogers’s investment strategy? To hold gold and silver.
“I expect gold to go under $1,000 an ounce. What does that mean for silver — $12 or $10 an ounce — I haven’t figured it out. But certainly under a $1,000 for gold at which point I hope I am smart enough to take my hedges off and buy a lot of gold — whether its $950 or $900, I don’t know,” he concluded.
At the time of this writing, gold is trading at just under $1,070, while silver is around $14.25.
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