Is it time to invest in the Russian economy? According to one legendary billionaire investor, you should forget China and instead place your bets on Russia.
Speaking in an interview with CNBC on Monday, Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings and bestselling author of “Hot Commodities,” noted that he is long the ruble and Russian markets. His newfound optimism in Moscow is because he believes relations between the United States and Russia will improve once Donald Trump takes office later this month.
Rogers reiterated Trump’s recent comments that only “stupid people or fools” would think having a good relationship with Russia is a bad thing.
“Trump is going to be friendly with Russia. That’s an enormous change. You’re going to see the rest of the world remove sanctions,” Rogers said. “But something has happened in the Kremlin. They understand that they cannot be the same old czarist and communist plutocrats that they were.”
He did warn that a lot of Russian stocks are expensive, adding that he got into the market early enough.
For years, Rogers has talked about the importance of investing in China and elsewhere across Asia. Does this investment strategy still hold true in Rogers’s books? Well, he isn’t exactly optimistic when it comes to investment prospects in China because of a potential trade war and Trump’s hawkish stance on Beijing.
“America and China could really boom together, [but] Trump seems to have it in for China. I don’t know why, since he and his family do huge amounts of business in China,” Rogers said.
“Some guys that Trump has appointed do understand how the world works. On the other hand, he’s got some people who are vehement that they need to attack China.”
Immediately following the upset victory of Trump, Russian ETFs soared to new highs, and they are still performing rather well, despite some hiccups and tough language from the current U.S. administration.
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