GEAB 66: Global Systemic Crisis Red Alert !

Here are the highlights of GEAB 66 (June 2012) entitled "Red Alert Global Systemic Crisis September-October 2012 : When the 7 Jericho trumpets will blow for the world of before the crisis":

• Red Alert Global Systemic Crisis September-October 2012 : When the 7 Jericho trumpets will blow for the world of before the crisis. LEAP 2020 team has never seen so many economic, financial and political factors converge at the same time and this leads them to issue a Red Alert for Autumn 2012.They see 13 factors:
  
  1. Global recession.
  2. Insolvency of the financial system in the West.
  3. Increasing Weakness of bank assets such as sovereign debts, real estate and CDS.
  4. Slump of international trade.
  5. Geopolitical tensions, especially in the Middle East.
  6. Long term global geopolitical deadlock at the UN.
  7. Rapid collapse of funded pension plans in the Western economies.
  8. Increasing political rifts in major economies (USA, China, Russia).
  9. Lack of "miracle" solutions like in 2008/2009.
  10. Complete lack of credibility for countries battling with high private and public debts.
  11. Failure to reduce the unemployment rate and long term unemployment
  12. Failure of both monetary and financial stimulus policies and austerity policies.
  13. Complete lack of effectiveness of G20, G8, Rio+20, OMC... meetings
• Three economic-financial chocs at the heart of the heart of the historical choc of September/October 2012. "Taxmargeddon" will start in the US this summer, the City-Wall Street will have their own Bankia moment and QE will be too weak to be effective.
• Temporal converge of 4 major geopolitical crises for September/October 2012.  LEAP 2020 anticipate the Iran war will take place this year, along with continued conflicts in Syria, and the Afghanistan/Pakistan debacle. After the Arab Spring last year, they foresee the Arab Autumn.
  
• Strategic and operational recommendations. Need to re-adjust currency holdings,  stay invested in Gold, last chance to get out before massive stock market crash and major risk for banks. 
• GEAB $ Index June 2012 - First time since 2006 : The US dollar goes up against the currency basket €, ¥, Ұ et R$ .
• The GlobalEurometre - Results & Analyses. The majority of respondents think that a European solution to the crisis is better than national solutions (96% this month vs 91% last month)

The full GEAB 66 report (PDF format) is available to LEAP 2020 subscribers for 200 Euros per year for 10 new issues + the 6 issues published before subscription.

Jim Rogers on Gold, the Dollar, Agriculture, the US economy, 2013 Outlook and Government Statistics

Jim Rogers is interviewed by NewsMax on the 1st of June 2012.

First, he explains his views on the Eurozone crisis (particularly Spain and Greece) and the dollar: a terribly flawed currency, and certainly not a safe haven. Yet he owns the US dollar, because investors still perceive it as a safe haven.

Then he explains why he won't sell his Gold, and on the contrary expects to buy more, much more if it goes down further.

Switching to a typical subject for Jim Rogers: Agriculture. He explains that the agriculture sector will be the place to be in the decades ahead, especially as we run out of farmers.

He gives his outlook for 2013 and it's not pretty. This year should be OK, but a recession will strike hard in 2013 or in 2014 latest. Since the debt is so staggeringly high now, the next crisis will be worse, and recommend the hosts that if they are not worried about 2013, please — get worried.

Jim Rogers explains government statistics such as unemployment and inflation are massaged to look better. The US government is likely to abuse statistics at least until the presidential elections in November.

Finally, he sees the US Economic situation as being  very, very dire because at the beginning of next year, tax cuts are set to expire while automatic spending cuts,  are set to kick in at the same time, a combination dubbed by Wall Street as a “fiscal cliff.” And he says neither Romney or Obama will be able to fix the economy and they don't understand what's going on in the world.

Jim Rogers: Not a Good Time to Buy Stock, Might Sell Euros

Jim Rogers is interviewed by Henry Blodget on Business Insider on the 9th of May 2012.

Some people think it's the best time to buy stock in 50 years, but Jim Rogers disagrees. He does not own stock in the US, and heven have some shorts, and does not see how the US stock market could double within a few years as Dr. Jeremy Siegel claims, because the economy is in bad shape and will remain so for some time.

Henry Blodget then asks him if housing has bottomed, and here Jim Rogers agrees that real estate may have bottomed in some markets, and there may be good opportunities especially in the country side, but other places like Massachusetts have probably to go further down.

Switching to currencies... Although he's very pessimistic over the long term, he owns the US dollar, and might sell his Euro holdings because albeit Europeans have implemented austerities measures, they haven't managed to reduce their debt.

As previously stated, he expects Gold to correct further as it has gone up for 11 years in a row, but he will certainly buy if it goes down, and claims the Gold bull run is far from over and will probably end in a bubble, a Gold mania.

Finally, his views on crude oil haven't changed, the surprise is going to be how high it goes as reserves are going down, although a temporary correct could occur in case of serious crisis (e.g. Spain defaults on its debt).

Mike Maloney Interviews Jim Rogers

Mike Maloney, of goldsilver.com, interviews Jim Rogers on the 20th of March 2012. They discuss about  about markets, Bernanke, the East/West Cycle and more...

GEAB 63: Global Systemic Crisis: The 5 Devastating Storms of Summer 2012 at the Heart of the Global Geopolitical Dislocation

Here are the highlights of GEAB 63 (March 2012) entitled "Global Systemic Crisis: The 5 devastating storms of summer 2012 at the heart of global geopolitical dislocation":

• Global Systemic Crisis: The five devastating storms of summer 2012 at the heart of the global geopolitical dislocation.  Global recession, debt crises, stock market crashes, potential war with Iran.
  
• Summer 2012: The US falls back into recession as Europe stagnates and BRICs slow down. LEAP 2012 predicts a global recession in 2012.
• Summer 2012: Central banks roadblocks and the rise of interest rates. The US federal reserve must now manage two new problems: the lack of demand for US treasuries and the rise of two other currencies: the Euro and the Chinese yuan.
• Summer 2012: Storm on currency markets and western public debts. After several attempts to stabilize exchange rates over the last few quarters, the failure to come to an agreement for a new currency at the G20 in order to build a new monetary system will lead to more currency volatility and further debt crises in western economies.
• Summer 2012: Iran, the war "too many". Whether this war occurs or not, it will be the war too many for the western world.
• Summer 2012: The new stock market and financial institutions crash. Iran's allies, such as China, are likely to hurt Washington financially by diversifying US dollar assets into other currencies.by announcing with Moscow that they will stop buying US treasuries in order to stop the US war machine.
• 2015: "The great fall of western real estate" - Excerpt of the chapter on the evolution of US residential real estate. As the US manufactures less and less, the country will become poorer and accelerated the fall of American real estate.
• Strategic and operational recommendations. Consequence of the emergence of 3 main monetary zones (US Europe and China). Inflection point for Gold. Commodities: conflict vs recession. End of the illusion for the US economy. Orange alert (whatever that means) on financial products..
• The GlobalEurometre - Results & Analyses. 85% of respondents think of European governance is being put into place.

The full GEAB 63 (PDF format) is available to LEAP 2020 subscribers for 200 Euros per year (10 + 6 issues).

Peter Schiff Launches a US Equity Fund (EPUSX)

Image via Wikipedia

Euro Pacific Asset Management, affiliated with Peter Schiff's Euro Pacific Capital,has announced the launch of the EP Strategic US Equity Fund (EPUSX).

The EP Strategic US Equity Fund aims to provide capital appreciation and income over a long-term investment horizon by primarily investing in US-domiciled companies that the fund managers believe may benefit from increasing international sales in overseas markets in order to protect investors against the depreciation of the US dollar. 

Here's the rest of the press release:

 

The Fund is overseen by Peter Schiff, investment committee chairperson, and managed by Jim Nelson, CFA; the same team that oversees Euro Pacific Asset Management's other fund offerings. Patrick Rien, CFA, will serve as co-manager of the Fund. The Fund is designed for US-based investors who would like get exposure to US equity markets by owning a basket of American companies that derive a majority of their earnings from overseas. It is expected that such companies will benefit from an environment of US dollar weakness.  

"Many American investors believe strongly that global economic conditions will continue to push up key foreign markets at a faster growth trajectory than what will likely be seen in the United States" said Peter Schiff. "At the same time, many of these investors want, or in some cases need, to maintain exposure to the US equity market. We hope to bridge this gap by offering a fund that holds US companies that derive a majority of their earnings abroad."  

The Fund's portfolio management team will use a top-down approach to target attractive markets abroad, and a bottom-up approach to select US companies with the best fundamentals that have exposure to those markets. The team will favor markets that have shown a willingness to allow their currencies to strengthen against the US dollar, and that have high expected GDP growth, positive real interest rates, a sustainable current account surplus, and low levels of private and public debt. Additionally, the team will focus on companies that may benefit from country-specific trends such as growth in consumer spending, increasing foreign investment, or plentiful access to natural resources.  

"In an environment where the Dollar is weakening, it is of critical importance for investors to understand that some US companies are likely to perform better than others," said Jim Nelson. "With the EP Strategic US Equity Fund, an investor can own US businesses with overseas exposure to what we believe are the most attractive markets, while minimizing ownership of those firms focused solely on the spending habits of US consumers."

GEAB 62: Euroland 2012-2016 : Perennisation of a New Global Power Contigent On Democratization

Here are the highlights of GEAB 62 (February 2012) entitled "Global Systemic Crisis: Euroland 2012-2016 : Perennisation of a new global power contingent on democratization":

• Global Systemic Crisis: Euroland 2012-2016 : Perennisation of a New Global Power Contingent on Democratization. The Euroland will come out stronger of the crisis as long as people are involved in the Euroland project (and not just technocrats).
• 2013 : End of the US Dollar Supremacy in Global Commercial Transactions. The decreased amount of commercial transactions in US dollars will be the main trigger of the demise of the dollar, not USD currency reserves by foreign powers.
• 2015 – The Great Slump of Western Real Estate. LEAP 2020 forecasts important price correction for real estate in western economies by 2015. (Excerpt from a book to be published in March 2012)
• January 2012 GEAB $ Index: The US dollar accelerates its loss of value against the currency basket €, ¥, Ұ et R$.
  
• Strategic and operational recommendations. Many currencies will fall sharply, mind where you keep your Gold, solutions for Greece, winter stock market returns were a travesty and the coming great collapse of Western residential real estate.
• The GlobalEurometre - Results & Analyses. 69% of respondents (vs. 58% in January 2012) expect an important fall in the value of the US Dollar in the coming months.

The full GEAB 62 (PDF format) is available to LEAP 2020 subscribers for 200 Euros per year (10 + 6 issues).

Marc Faber on US and Europe Credit Ratings

Marc Faber interview on CNBC on Friday 13th 2012.

As France lost its AAA ratings, they discuss what could happen in the Europe, which countries could leave, which ones could stay and how it may affect the Euro. Marc Faber also said that he was not interested in buying any kind of government debt, be it French or American.

He expects the rest of the world (including Europe) to start outperforming the US markets sometimes in 2012, as the US market has better performed than most countries in 2011.

Finally, in case a further deterioration of the economy he expect massive money printing over the world and favor dividend paying high-quality companies such as Total and Novartis.

Jim Rogers: Central Banks and Governments are Ponzi Schemes

Jim Rogers has been interviewed on BBC Radio on the 26th of  December 2011 where he explains that the current flow of money between the governments and central banks around the world is a "ponzi scheme, a fraud and a sham" and everything is going to get much worse in the end.

Here's the transcript of the interview:


Jim Rogers: Martin, it's very serious. America is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world and it's getting bigger and bigger by leaps and bounds at the rate of over $1 trillion a year. And in Europe you have several bankrupt countries and no one is dealing with the problem. If you look at the projections for all the European countries, none of them have reduced debt a year or two or three from now. So, this situation is serious and getting worse.
Martin Webber: Thinking back to the mid-1990s, capitalism seemed ascendant, western capitalism had triumphed over communism, economies were growing, stock markets were growing. Who do you blame for the fact that we have ended up in this mess?
Jim Rogers: Well, essentially it's governments and central banks; especially in the US they just kept spending money and the central bank just kept printing money. But there are several culprits.
Martin Webber: Who else apart from these authorities?
Jim Rogers: The government of United Kingdom, the central bank in the United Kingdom, the governments in places like Greece which used phoney bookkeeping, but also even Italy and France and Germany. They all started using phoney bookkeeping. They knew that the other countries were using phoney bookkeeping and they all said, oh it's okay, everything will be okay in the end.
So, the central banks and the governments were going hand-in-hand and spending money they did not have. Now, that's wonderful. It's great. It can cause huge growth. As you just pointed out, for 15 years you had great growth. But eventually, somebody has to come up with and pay for it, or eventually you just run out of other people's money.
Martin Webber: What seems to be going on at the moment is that central banks are creating money, lending it to banks, who are then lending it to governments in terms of buying their bonds because the private investors are no longer doing that. So you have got government owned institutions effectively buying government bonds. People don't seem to really understand what on earth can be going on?
Jim Rogers: It is a recipe for disaster. I am glad you pointed it out because there is nothing more authoritative than the BBC. It's a Ponzi scheme, it's a fraud, it's a sham and we are all going to have to - we are already starting to pay for it, Martin. It's going to be much, much worse in the end.
Eventually one of two things has to happen. We have to get together now and ring-fence the problem and figure out how we are going to survive and start over. Or, in a year or two or three, the market is going to say, no more money, we won't put up any more money. And then the whole system collapses, then you have gigantic chaos, social unrest, governments failing, civil war - huge mess.
Martin Webber: Let's try the more optimistic scenario. You say it is possible still to get a grip on this problem, what are the measures that need to be taken right now then to avoid the other scenario of civil war?
Jim Rogers: Well, at the moment some governments have credibility, Germany for instance still has credibility. And if they all got into a room together and Mrs. Merkel said, okay, you guys are going to fail, you have failed, and now you are going to fail. We are going to hold these banks, these companies up. We are going to make sure they survive. We are going to make sure bank deposits are okay. We are going to make sure checks continue to clear and the system will survive. Some of you are going to take huge losses and huge pain, but then we start over.
It would be a terrible two- or three-year period, Martin, but then the system could survive and we could rebuild after the people who have made mistakes take the losses. That's what capitalism is supposed to be all about. If you fail, you fail.
Martin Webber: And what are the mistakes then? Is it that the people who bought government bonds of France, Italy and all the other countries are going to have to take losses?
Jim Rogers: Absolutely. The banks who made these loans, and the bondholders who bought these loans, and the stockholders who own stock in these banks. They were making mistakes. They are all going to have to take huge losses. Now you are going to say, that's very painful, that's bad.
Well, I will remind you Martin that in the early '90s, Scandinavia had the same problem. They did exactly this. They ring-fenced everybody, many people failed, there was horrible pain, but after three or four years Scandinavia has been one of the great growth areas of the past 15 years or so. That's the way the system is supposed to work.
In Japan in the early '90s, they said nobody will fail. Well you know they have lost two decades in Japan. You know about zombie banks. You know about zombie companies. The Japanese way doesn't work. It is not going to work in America or Europe.
Martin Webber: So we got a situation there where people invested in banks lose money, presumably people with pensions who have investments in these banks lose money, and government bonds lose money too. But the politicians have a much nicer sounding solution it seems, which they have just come up with, which is that the European Central Bank creates money, lends it to the IMF and the IMF then lends it back to them. Sounds much nicer, doesn't it?
Jim Rogers: It sounds wonderful, doesn't it? But it is not based on reality. It's based on "Never Never Land." It's based on the "tooth fairy." Somebody has got to come up with real money somewhere along the line and payoff real debts somewhere along the line.
Martin Webber: But isn't that possible, that if you are the government, you can create as much money as you want because it's your money?
Jim Rogers: You certainly can. You can debase currency, and history is replete with governments that have debased their own currency and ruined their own currency for hundreds of - well for thousands of years it has been going on. You can do that and everything is okay for a while, but eventually you have inflation, you have high interest rates, you have currency turmoil, you have people no longer trusting each other to invest with each other, and then you have the end of the system, and we have chaos, and it starts over again.
Martin Webber: Is that not the more likely scenario in that the politicians never like to tackle problems. They are always interested in the next day's headlines. Isn't it more likely they will find yet another ruse to put off the day of reckoning?
Jim Rogers: Absolutely. You are a very insightful observer of the passing scene. That's exactly what they are going to do. If a politician ran on the platform, oh my gosh, we have got to take a lot of pain. Even if he won, Martin, which is very unlikely, but even if that politician won, after six months or a year or two of serious pain, he will be either thrown out or assassinated or something would happen because people would say this is too much pain. We didn't know you meant it was going to be this bad. Let's get out of this.
Martin Webber: Now many people say it's the euro that's at the heart of this crisis. They are calling it the "euro crisis." Is that how you see it?
Jim Rogers: No, absolutely not. It's not the euro. The world needs the euro or something like it to compete with the US dollar. We need another sound currency. The eurozone as a whole is not a big debtor nation. The eurozone has some debtor problems, some debtor nations, debtor states, but it's not a big, big problem. The euro is good for the world. It needs to work.
Martin Webber: Do you think in the past that political leaders were stronger, perhaps were less influenced by short-term considerations, had a greater feeling for the common good, perhaps the people themselves had a greater community spirit and would actually be happier to take austerity to understand you have to live within your means. Do you think in a way it's not just the political class, this is something at issue in society as a whole?
Jim Rogers: That's good observation, yes. We did have more discipline and more understanding in the past few decades, but that's partly because of the history of those decades. We remembered the First and Second World War. We remembered the Great Depression. We remembered what happened when you got too leveraged and couldn't pay your bills. We knew what happened when you debased your currency.
But now of course, since the Second World War, we have had two or three generations grow up who don't remember all of that, haven't read their history, politicians who didn't know anything about history at all and don't know anything about economics at all. So everybody thinks there's a free lunch.
Martin Webber: Do you think the media is to blame?
Jim Rogers: Well, the media are the same ones, Martin. I mean, you and everybody else grew up went to the same schools, had the same teachings and had the same period of good times. Since the Second World War, things have been pretty good in most of the western world, the developed world anyway, and we all grew up thinking, well this is the way the world is and it has been that way. But that's not the way the world has been for the past few thousand years.
Martin Webber: We have had this "Occupy Wall Street" movement emerging. Do you have any sympathy with any of the things that they are saying?
Jim Rogers: Well, I do have sympathy with the fact that they are saying, we shouldn't have bailed out the banks. I would have let all those banks go bankrupt, as you've heard me say before. But beyond that I don't have too much sympathy with them. You know, we all want a free lunch. I would like somebody to pay my bills too. I would like somebody to take care of me the rest of my life too.
Listen it's outrageous that the government took the money and saved the banks. Absolutely, they are right about that. It's outrageous, totally outrageous that governments went and bailed out some banker so they could keep their Lamborghinis and their summerhouses. But beyond that, I don't have too much sympathy with them.
Martin, whenever there are hard times, people look for somebody to blame. And they always blame the financial people, they always blame foreigners, and they always blame reporters. They always say, well if the reporters didn't write about this problem, we wouldn't have a problem. So be careful. Financial types get blamed first, the foreigners get blamed second, you are next.
Martin Webber: Okay. I am prepared.

Jim Rogers Mainly Owns Precious Metals and Agricultural Commodities

Jim Rogers interview by the (Indian) Economic Times on the 8th of November 2011.

They first discuss about the current European debt crisis and that they still did not fix the problem as the debt is still going up: there will be more debt in one year and even more in two years.

He said (as in previous interviews) that QE3 has already started, because when Bernanke says he will keep interest rate at zero percent until 2013, he can't just sit he must intervene to keep the interest rate at that level and that shows in the money supply.

Precious metals (Gold and Silver) and agricultural commodities are his main commodity investments, but he also likes on base metals. He still prefers Silver rather than Gold because the former is still way down it's all time high.

Finally, he explains that crude oil will go higher than anyone expects because reserves are going down every year, although if a major event occurs (such as Spain going bankrupt), crude oil would go down with it, but that would then be a buying opportunity.

Marc Faber October 2011 Market Commentary Highlights

As I blogged on the 1st of October, Marc Faber is out with the latest issue of his famous Gloom, Boom, and Doom market commentary entitled "They are Ill Investors that think there is no Treasure Island, When They can See Nothing but a Sea of Problems".

A summary has been released by Nathaniel Crawford on Seeking Alpha:

• Stocks: Yes, stocks are very oversold, but that does not mean they cannot go lower. The dreadful price action in both Copper and the Shanghai Composite points to new lows for the equity markets. After US stocks make a new low below 1100 on the S&P 500, there could be a year-end rally followed by a more meaningful decline into 2012. Investors should use any bounce in stocks as an opportunity to reduce their equity exposure. At this point, Faber advises no more than 25% of your portfolio be in stocks.

• Gold: At $1900 gold was extremely overbought, and a correction was necessary. However, Faber now believes that gold could undergo a significant correction similar to what happened between 1974-1976, when gold fell 40%. Faber notes that a large decline in gold is now a distinct possibility. The first support level for gold is at the 200 day moving average around $1500. Despite the potential for a pullback, Faber still likes gold and believes it will trade significantly higher.

• Dollar: It's true that the dollar has no intrinsic value and is being printed into infinity, but the US dollar will be your best friend for the next few months. As global liquidity contracts on EU debt concerns and a possible hard landing in China, Faber advises investors to be long the dollar. Note this is a short-term call; longer term the dollar is going to zero.

• Treasuries: Despite being bullish on the US dollar, Faber does not recommend treasuries, noting that they are overbought and susceptible to a large correction.

• China and Copper: If you think the market is falling because of incompetent EU bureaucrats you are behind the curve. According to Faber, the price of copper is signaling a very serious slowdown (if not complete collapse) in China. This is what is really behind the move down in all commodities. A hard landing in China would be devastating for the global economy. The Shanghai composite is making new lows along with copper, which is very bearish. Also stay away from the Australian and Canadian currencies. If China crashes, these markets will get massacred.

• Emerging Markets: Stay away from these at all costs. All emerging markets are falling and making new lows. Even though Faber likes these longer term, they could still fall another 20%-30% before they would be good buys. These markets could even fall to their 2009 lows. However, this will represent a good buying opportunity because these markets will be the first to bottom.

• Short Opportunities: There is no doubt about it; shorting in this kind of manipulated market is dangerous, but if you must, here are a few ideas: Apple (APPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Salesforce.com (CRM). Only short these with very tight stops.

Jim Rogers: Tarrifs would be a Disaster

Jim Rogers interview on Russia Today America on the 3rd of October 2011.

They discussed about the currency law debated in congress mainly related to the Chinese RMB currency manipulation. Jim Rogers aid if the US implemented tariffs, everybody would suffer, the dollar could plunge and interest rates go up.

He then explained that he owned the US dollar because everybody was negative about the the dollar and that many people perceived the US dollar as a safe haven.

Finally, they talked about the economic outlook for the US and the world.

Jim Rogers: Invest in Myanmar and North Korea if you can

Jim has been Interviewed on GoldSeek Radio on the 27th of September 2011.

QE3 has already started when Bernanke announced he would keep the interest rate close to zero for 2 years. At that time, M2 measure of the money supply when straight up.

Jim Rogers expects a correction in Gold and Silver. Gold has gone up for 10 years in a row, this is unprecedented even during the 1970s bull market and a correct should be expected. He would buy Silver and Gold on further dips as all commodities will probably end up in a bubble. Of course, if the US dollar becomes confetti, there is no ceiling on the price of Gold.

There has been a recession every 4 to 6 years in the US, so he thinks we'll get another one this year or at least one within 2013. That time will be worse since there are no bullets left. The US had a huge debt problem and they can't triple the debt again, the market won't let them. Same thing for money printing, it would become very difficult now.

Developing countries won't be spared by the next recession occurring in the US and Europe as they are major economies and trade partners of emerging economies. Jim Rogers is actually currently shorting emerging economies.

He'd rather go the Scandinavian way (take the pain now) than the Japanese way (kick the can down the road) in reference to past crises.

Finally, when asked if he saw any investing opportunities right now, he recommended people to try to invest in Myanmar and North Korea if they can, as those 2 countries are starting to opening up like China did 30 years ago. Investing in those countries if illegal for American citizen. (For other individual investors, it's also difficult to get exposure since there are no ETF available yet.)

You can listen to the interview below.

Marc Faber: Obama Irrelevant, Accumulate Gold

Marc Faber was on CNBC-TV18 (India) on the 9th of September 2011.

When asked about the Obama Job plan, he said it was mostly irrelevant as it is more of the same and the public deficit won't decrease.

He also gave his take on Bernanke and QE3 and said that quantitative easing was unlikely at the moment because the money supply (M1 I suppose) was growing very rapidly at the moment.

He would avoid industrial commodities at the moment and recommend Gold.

He expects the market to correct further around 1000 or below (S&P 500) even tough the current rally may last a bit further. Emerging markets would also fall as the US market corrects. So if he was heavily invested, he would lighten his positions if the rally goes further.

Since the interview was in India, he also talks about the Indian Stock market and that investors will a long time horizon (5 years and more) should invest in the Indian stock market, but that they should not expect 20% yearly return and that 5 to 8 percents per year would be more likely..

The last question was about currencies and he explained that the US dollar is probably better than the Euro at the current time, but that all paper currencies are not desirable before of negative interest rates and recommend to accumulate Gold as he could make the case that Gold is cheaper than when it was at 300 USD based on the increase in debt and monetary base.

If you want to invest in the Indian Stock market you could do so with iShares S&P India Nifty 50 Index (INDY) in the US among other or iShares BSE SENSEX India Index ETF (2836.HK) in Hong Kong

Jim Rogers: Swiss Central Bank Move 'Huge Mistake'

Jim Rogers was interviewed on CNBC on Wednesday 7th September 2011 to discuss the recent move by the SNB (Swiss National Bank). I could not find media files (video or audio) for the interview, but here are his views on the move:

"The Swiss central bank's decision to set a limit on how much the Swiss franc can appreciate against the euro is "a huge mistake. The move will work for a while, but the market will have more money in the end than the SNB, the Swiss central bank risks losing a lot of money buying up lots of foreign currencies which they will eventually sell at a loss. Another risk is that the central bank will totally debase the Swiss franc trying to keep Switzerland 'competitive' which will then destroy the traditional Swiss financial industry. So this is a huge mistake for Switzerland since they are going to suffer more either way"

He also explain that the RMB is the next safe heaven:

"RMB is best, the US dollar is probably good in the short term, but the absolute worst over the long term. There are various ways to get RMB exposure outside China, investors can now open bank accounts in renminbi in various cities like New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Singapore and others and can buy renminbi-denominated bonds in the international markets."

Japanese Yen Back to Highs Despite Intervention

Do you remember the spectacular intervention of the BOJ on the currency markets on the 4th of August ? Well that "worked" only one week, as we are back to the end of July highs.
That shows fighting the markets is futile (even for central banks), at least in the currency markets.