Successful Entrepreneurs And Investors Are Nonconformists Who Swim Against The Current

The investor Jim Rogers studied history and philosophy at Yale and Oxford before he took a job on Wall Street in 1968. During what proved to be hard times for the U.S. stock market, he succeeded in laying the foundations for his wealth and success.

Rogers met George Soros at the Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder investment bank. Together, they founded the Quantum Fund. They tore up the investment banking rulebook, buying stocks, commodities, currencies and bonds from all over the world. They were also among the first to adopt innovative strategies such as short selling. They made investments nobody else would have dreamt of at the time and discovered new and interesting markets worldwide.

“He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Longest”

Defying received wisdom, Rogers frequently bought shares in companies that were in dire straits. In the mid-seventies, for example, he bought vast amounts of shares in the aircraft manufacturer Lockheed. 

Rogers once told the story of a typical encounter at a fancy dinner with bankers and investors. One of the other guests had got wind of the fact that Rogers had been buying Lockheed shares. At that time, Lockheed was embroiled in a number of scandals that made negative headlines on an almost daily basis and had already seen its share prices plummet.

“Who would invest in a company like that?” wondered the guest aloud—loudly enough to ensure that everybody at the dinner could hear him. The other guests joined in the laughter. Rogers felt humiliated—after all, he was the butt of their joke.­­

But, as the old adage would have it: “He who laughs last, laughs longest.” Rogers had done his homework and his positive analysis of the company’s prospects was to prove completely on the mark. Subsequently, the share price shot up and his fund made a huge profit. 

During a period when the S&P 500 Index only rose by 47%, the Quantum Fund managed by Rogers and Soros gained a staggering 4,200%. “When other people are laughing at you,” Rogers explained, “you know you’re going in the right direction. The more people are laughing at you, the more likely you’ll turn out to be right.”

- Source, Forbes, read more here

Why Jim Rogers Is Bullish on China, Russia and Commodities

Jim Rogers was interviewed on a segment of New Media on Aug. 19. Rogers is a famous investor who worked with George Soros in the Quantum Fund and later traveled the world as an investment writer and "retired" investor. 

He tends to take a very long-term macro view with value characteristics on all kinds of investments. Commodities tend to interest him and he takes somewhat of a value approach, often talking about buying when markets are at multi-year lows. Here's a summary of his best actionable advice.

America became the greatest country of the 20th century. Is had many problems along the way. But it became an astonishing success. So don't think that China won't have problems along the way. They will. But the Chinese have a wonderful word that we don't have in English. It's "weiji."

And weiji means catastrophe and opportunity are the same thing.

They go hand-in-hand. So when you see catastrophe, remember weiji. Rogers said he is panicked, He hopes we both remember weiji and take advantage of the opportunities because they will be here.

When Chinese companies start going bankrupt and if Beijing lets them go bankrupt, everybody's going to be in a panic, including me. At that time Jim hopes to be smart enough and brave enough to buy...

- Source, Guru Focus, read more here

Jim Rogers on US Economic Crisis, Gold & Bitcoin

In this edition of our podcast Trading Global Markets Decoded, our host Martin Essex is joined by investment supremo Jim Rogers. A renowned businessman and financial commentator, Jim is currently chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeline Interests.

- Source, Daily FX