With all the turmoil going on in the financial markets these days, how is legendary investor Jim Rogers playing his cards? From India’s NDTV this past weekend:

NDTV: Will you buy when there’s blood on the street?
Jim Rogers: If the US and other world stock markets did have a selling climate then I would go for it.
NDTV: But what will you buy in terms of equity asset class?
Jim Rogers: Well, it depends on what goes down the most. I would probably buy stocks of airlines, water treatment, agriculture, and other recession proof companies. The way you are going to get rich in the side market is define by the companies that come through hard times with good results. Those are the companies when you have next bull market that you make a fortune.

The Globe And Mail’s (Canada) Brian Milner also talked about Rogers’ recommendations last Friday:

As for his own investing strategy in these tumultuous times, Mr. Rogers said he is “mainly watching” and recommends that other investors do the same.

But that doesn’t mean he’s sitting on his cash.

Recently, he has been adding more agricultural products, has resumed selectively buying Chinese stocks, invested in the Japanese yen and Swiss franc (he likes the Canadian dollar, too, but doesn’t own it) and shorted the long U.S. government bond. He has also bought some Asian and European airline stocks, as well as Canada’s WestJet Airlines Ltd.

2,000 Yen Banknote

Finally, Peter Koven of the Financial Post (Canada) wrote that same day about whether or not the Singapore-based investor believed the commodities’ boom was still alive:

Mr. Rogers, who famously spent three years driving around the world, argued that most people still “don’t know anything” about commodities despite the boom of the last five years (even saying that less than 100 of the world’s 70,000 mutual funds are focused on them). He pointed out that other resource booms have lasted 15 to 23 years, and there is no reason to think this one will be any different. He figures it could run to around 2018 or 2020.

Of course, the main reason he cited is China. He said the 21st century belongs to the Chinese the way the 20th belonged to America, and practically pleaded with the audience to teach their kids Mandarin. He added that three billion people in Asia want to live like we do, and this will continue to constrain supplies well into the future.

Source:

“Commodity bull run not over yet: Jim Rogers”
NDTV (India), October 4, 2008

“U.S. bailout ‘welfare for the rich’”
Brian Milner
Globe And Mail (Canada), October 3, 2008

“Jim Rogers: Commodities have another decade or longer to run”
Peter Koven
Financial Post (Canada), October 3, 2008

William Hanley of the Financial Post (Canada) caught up with legendary investor Jim Rogers while he was in Canada this week. Despite the U.S. government’s growing interventions in the financial system, the CEO of Rogers Holdings is still skeptical of a positive outcome. Hanley wrote:

“I’m pessimistic because America is in recession and that’s having an effect on Europe and Asia,” he says, adding that the recession will last longer than most and be deeper than most because the U. S. government keeps making mistakes by bailing out one entity after another.

“The 29-year-olds on Wall Street and Bay Street have been driving Maseratis,” Rogers says. “That’s about to change. All these guys are going to have to learn to drive taxis.”

The former partner of George Soros in the Quantum Fund believes there will be quite a few brokers-turned-cabbies due to changes taking place on the financial landscape. Hanley wrote:

“The new financial centre could be in Shanghai or maybe in Singapore,” Rogers says. “I really don’t know where, but it’s shifting from New York and London toward Asia.”

Rogers shared his investment strategy with the Financial Post reporter. From the piece:

He continues to own the commodities themselves, not commodities stocks, because the current drop in natural-resource prices is just a correction that could last a quarter, a half or even a year…

He has been buying shares in some airlines, “a disaster area that’s close to a bottom,” and some beaten-up Chinese stocks… Meanwhile, he is monitoring auto stocks, which may become the next disaster area over the coming years…

Rogers is holding on to the Canadian dollars – “one of the soundest fundamental currencies” — he began buying years ago when he saw the commodities boom unfolding against a much-improved Canadian fiscal backdrop. “And I will be buying more along the line.” But recently he has been buying Swiss francs and yen.

He has been shorting the U. S. long bond in the belief that the growing mountain of U. S. debt and the necessity to print money to finance it means bonds have made a long-term top. “Bonds will be a terrible place to be for many years to come.”

And for years to come, Rogers says, water treatment, agriculture and Chinese tourism will be good places to be. China and India, especially, have huge water problems, food inventories are falling even as farmland is taken out of production and 1.3 billion Chinese are now able to travel freely in the world.

Those are the next big things. The best thing to do now in these clamorous markets, Rogers tells a reporter, might be to do nothing unless you have to. “You might just want to head to the beach.”

Sanya, China
“The Hawaii of Asia”

CEP News’ Christine Wong also got the chance to talk to the Singapore-based investor a few hours ahead of his scheduled speech to the Toronto Chartered Financial Accountants Society. She wrote yesterday:

“The American government is getting it wrong… and bailing out the wrong people.” He accused the U.S. lawmakers behind the bailout plan of trying to “bail out their banking friends.”

He predicted that in two years, when other problems crop up in the U.S. financial system, “the American government will be out of bullets.”

Rogers pronounced that “America is in a recession and the world is in a recession.”

Wong also noted that Rogers isn’t too impressed by the Republican and Democratic candidates for the White House. She wrote:

U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain were also in Rogers’s firing line.

“Neither one of them has a clue. Both would be disastrous” for the U.S. economic recovery, he said.

Sources:

“Contrarian becomes pessimist”
William Hanley
Financial Post (Canada), October 3, 2008

“Canada Will Feel U.S. Problems, But Won’t Suffer as Much, U.S. Investment Guru Says”
Christine Wong
CEP News (Canada), October 2, 2008

India’s CNBC-TV18 spoke to well-known commodities investor Jim Rogers this morning. Rogers, the author of Hot Commodities, correctly predicted the rally in hard assets that began in 1999. Here are some notable excerpts from the exchange:

CNBC: We have seen commodities decline in the last couple of months, do you think it’s a moment to buy or there is more decline left in the market?
ROGERS: It is better to buy when things are going down rather than when they are going up but I have no idea whether this is the best time. Normally September and October in investment markets are weak months so you are at the right time to start investing in commodities if you have it.

CNBC: What would you buy? Would you buy commodities or funds or into mining companies, what seems best to you?
ROGERS: It depends on your ability. If you know a lot about commodities, you can invest in commodities and that’s difficult in India. If you are a good stock picker then you are much better investing in commodity companies or commodity funds. If you know a good stock picker who runs a fund buy that fund, you will make more money.

CNBC: What are you betting on the non-agro or the agricultural commodities?
ROGERS: I bought agricultural commodities recently. They have gone down and everything has been going down for the last couple of months. I would rather buy agriculture than most things these days.

CNBC: You have never liked US dollar but we have seen a resurge come in to that? How long do you think this would stay?
ROGERS: We are having a rally in the dollar because everybody is bearish on it including me and that always leads to a rally. I don’t know how long it’s going to last but I plan to sell this rally sometime in the next month or a year. I don’t know how long this is going to go but I know that US dollar is a terribly flawed currency and it has got terrible problems down the road.

CNBC: Gold prices have come down from USD 1,034/oz to USD 730/oz, do you think there is more downside left here or would you buy at these levels?
ROGERS: I am going to try to buy little bit of gold today here in India, not a major position. If it continues to go down, I hope I am smart enough to buy more. Gold could go to USD 500/oz and could have a big correction. All markets do that, they have big corrections and they scare everybody but a 50% correction is normal. If it goes down 50%, I hope I am smart enough to buy a lot more.

CNBC: What would you buy as of now?
ROGERS: I recently bought airline stocks, agriculture, Renminbi, Swiss Francs, and Japanese Yen.

CNBC: Do you still believe we are into a bull commodity market and we might see more highs going on from here?
ROGERS: Over the next decade, we are going to see more highs. The world is in a recession now; you may see lower prices for some commodities for a while just as you may see a lot lower prices for a lot of stocks. Of the two classes, I would rather own commodities than stocks because when the economies revive, commodities are going to revive first and go up the most.

Source:

“Invest in commodities now: Jim Rogers”
Moneycontrol.com (India), September 12, 2008

Jim Rogers, the CEO of Rogers Holdings who correctly predicted the start of the commodities rally in 1999, spoke with Bloomberg’s Betty Liu from Singapore yesterday. Rogers talked about his investment activity regarding U.S. financial stocks, crude oil, airlines, and long-term U.S. Treasuries.

U.S. Financial Stocks

I am still short all the investment banks. I haven’t covered any investment banks. I short them through the ETF. This chaos has further to go…

I’ve covered Citigroup. So, I’m no longer short it…

The balance sheets of many of these financial institutions are still terribly impaired. And there are more problems to come. Betty, we had the worst credit bubble we’ve had in world history. You don’t clean that out in a year or two or three. I wish you could, but it’s not going to happen.

Crude Oil

The bull market will not end until somebody finds a lot of oil, or unless we have worldwide economic collapse, perpetual economic collapse…

I will tell you I’ve not sold any oil. Even if it goes to $75, I don’t plan to sell any oil.

Airlines

I have not sold a single airline. I would hope to be able to buy more airlines if I can find some more that are cheap enough or they go down for some reason.

Long-Term U.S. Treasuries

I am still short Treasuries. Long-term U.S. Treasuries.

You can listen to the 9 minute 7 second interview here.

Source:

Jim Rogers Interview
Bloomberg, September 10, 2008

Legendary investor Jim Rogers spoke to Bloomberg’s Catherine Yang this morning about commodities, currencies, and his investments:

Commodities

In response to a question by Bloomberg’s Catherine Yang about whether or not the bull market in commodities will be intact 10 to 15 years from now, Rogers replied:

Bull market for commodities? Absolutely… I’d much rather own commodities than just about anything.

Oil:

Oil, the bull market started in 1999. Three times in the last nine years oil has gone down 40 or 50 percent. All the skeptics said- see, we told you it wasn’t a bull market. And every time it came back up and kept going higher. Oil could go down 50 percent again, that’s not a projection, I’m just explaining, that’s how markets work. There’s nothing to stop oil from going to $75, but it’s not the end of the bull market, because nobody’s discovered any oil.

Currencies

Dollar Recovery:

The dollar recovery is certainly taking place and it has a ways to go. Maybe a few weeks, few months, I don’t know, maybe another year or so that the dollar could recover because it was beaten down so much…

But the dollar recovery, I still plan to get out of my dollars sometime during this recovery, but I have no idea how long the recovery will last.

Carry Trade, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc:

I’m buying currencies which have been the victims of the carry trade, on the assumption that the carry trade will end someday, and when it does, the yen and the Swiss franc are the main victims, will go up for a while.

Australian, New Zealand Dollars:

The Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar were two of the main beneficiaries of the carry-trade… this reversal of the carry-trade will not last forever, it will last for a while. The Australian and New Zealand currencies are still two of the better currencies in the world longer-term.

Chinese Renminbi, Signapore Dollar:

I‘d rather own the renminbi than just about anything… the renminbi is one of the better investments one can make, and the Singapore dollar as well. The Singapore dollar is something else I own. I’m not buying it at the moment, because, as I’ve said, I’m focusing on these other currencies that have been victims of the carry-trade.

Other Investments

Airlines. I’ve been buying airlines for the summer, for a while now. Airlines, renminbi, Swiss franc, Japanese yen.

You can view the 4 minute 54 second segment here.

Source:

Jim Rogers Interview
Bloomberg, September 10, 2008

Marc Faber, known as “Dr. Doom” by the media, appeared on Bloomberg Television this morning from Bangkok and shared his short-term outlook for stocks and commodities. The editor of The Gloom Boom & Doom Report told Bloomberg viewers:

Global Economy:

For everyone, business is down. And in the U.S., if the statistics were compiled properly, the economy would be in recession also. The same in Europe. I travel extensively around the world. Compared to a year ago, all businesses are down.

Stocks:

I can see that stocks can rally because of psychological reasons. They’ve been oversold.

Crude Oil:

The oil price coming down is precisely a symptom of economic weakness. Not a symptom of strength.

Airlines:

Maybe there is a recovery going. I think one, in investing money, you should not look only at your personal experience. You can buy stocks of companies that are of poor quality. If they’re low enough, they can rebound. It’s like now the financial stocks. They have been hit very hard. Maybe they stabilize around this level and maybe they even rebound by 30 to 40 percent. I don’t think that they’re attractive from a longer-term perspective. I don’t think that stocks are attractive in real terms from a longer-term perspective. But I think that they can rebound somewhat.

U.S. Economy:

We have a tightening of global liquidity, and that tightening comes essentially from a diminishing U.S. trade and current account deficit. And I think that if the oil price continues to go down, as I think it’s very likely in the near-term for the next three to six months, as well as other commodities, then the trade and current account deficit of the U.S. could decline more than is perceived. And that would strengthen the dollar further, and in my opinion, if there is a contraction in consumption in the U.S., it is not a disaster for the U.S. because they don’t produce much anymore, but it would be very bad for the producing countries, the manufacturing centers of the world, that are mostly emerging economies.

Commodities:

The second half of 2008 of this year would not be favorable for commodity prices… As far as I’m concerned, we peaked out in commodity prices, and later on we will have to see whether it’s a longer-term peak or a short-term peak. But we don’t know yet.

You can view 9 minute 14 second Faber segment here.

Source:

Marc Faber Interview
Bloomberg, September 2, 2008

Last week, Greg Brown of the Internet news site NewsMax.com interviewed legendary investor Jim Rogers. During the conversation, which appeared on the NewsMax site on Friday, Brown pointed out that Rogers “correctly called the horrendous decline in financial stocks, including the Fannie and Freddie mess.” The CEO of Rogers Holdings talked about this issue, and more, saying:

Well, we’ve had a wave of failures, yes. And we’re going to have more, I assure you, they’re going to be more coming over the next few years…

Washington is making mistake after mistake after mistake…

We’re going to have one of the worst decades we’ve had in a long time.

Investment Strategy

I think the stock market is going to be a bad place to be for some time…

These days, I’m more or less watching. I have bought some airline stocks recently. I have bought some agricultural products recently. I have bought some Swiss francs, and some Japanese yen recently. Some Chinese renminbi recently. That’s about all I’ve done to buy in the last few, in the recent past.

U.S. Dollar

The United States dollar is now a terribly flawed currency…

They’re on official record of saying they’re going to debase the U.S. dollar. That’s never been good for any country in history. But our central bank is doing their best to drive the value down.

Inflation & Interest Rates

In my view, there’s more inflation coming. They are debasing the dollar, and that’s going to make the long-term interest rates, and medium-term interest rates, go higher. The central bank might be able to control short-term interest rates for a while, but in my view, all interest rates will be going higher over the next few years, because of inflation, and debasing the currency, and several reasons.

Economic Outlook

Well, these are perilous times, in the economy, in the world economy, quite largely because of mistakes that we’ve made in the United States, unfortunately. Ten years ago we had the Asian crisis which affected the world markets. This time, I’m afraid, it’s going to be the American crisis, which is affecting world markets. So be very, very careful about anything you buy anywhere. Certainly in the U.S. including the currency. I think everybody should learn about international diversification, because, I’m afraid, things are going to be better outside of America than inside America. I don’t particularly like saying that, but one has to accept facts, and face facts, if one’s going to survive.

You can listen to the 7 minute 28 second video here.

Source:

“Jim Rogers Interview: Washington is Making ‘Mistake After Mistake.’”
NewsMax.com, July 18, 2008

Legendary investor Jim Rogers appeared on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” yesterday. While the CEO of Rogers Holdings talked about how the U.S. government should not bail out U.S. mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and how high oil prices are here to stay unless the world finds a lot of new supply quickly, he also talked about what he’s investing in:

CNBC: So, you’re buying oil Jim?
ROGERS: No, I’m not buying oil now. Oil is at an all time high. I don’t like to buy things at all time highs.
CNBC: So, what are you buying then?
ROGERS: Well, I’m buying airlines. I’m buying…
CNBC: You’re buying airlines?
ROGERS: Yes.
CNBC: But oil prices are going up, you’re buying airlines?
ROGERS: Yes. Yes.
CNBC: Why?
ROGERS: If you fly a lot, you’ll see that there’s nobody, you can’t get a seat, the rates are all going higher and higher. All the airlines are taking the planes, the high-cost planes, out of production, or out of use, and it’s getting very, very tight out there. The capacity is coming down and the demand is still here. Maybe we’re all going to start taking the boat to Europe again. Maybe we’re all going to take the boat to America. But, unless that happens, airlines will probably have a much better future.
CNBC: Are you still buying Chinese stocks, because I know you’re pretty bullish in a Chinese equity market?
ROGERS: Well, I’m waiting for what I hope is going to be a selling climax.
CNBC: Isn’t there one now?
ROGERS: We might get one. Chinese shares were down 20% last month alone. It looks like a selling climax developing. And if it continues, and if we have a selling climax, I plan to buy Taiwan and China. Taiwan I’ve never bought in my whole life, and I’m 65-years-old. But, I think for the first time in my life there’s going to be peace, and if there’s really going to be peace, then Taiwan is a wonderful place to invest.

You can view the 8 minute 36 second CNBC interview here.

Source:

Jim Rogers Interview
CNBC, July 15, 2008

Yesterday, Reuters reported that Grand China Air, which is part-owned by billionaire investor George Soros, has agreed to form an airline in partnership with the Yunnan provincial government in China, according to a company executive. Reuters’ Fang Yan wrote:

Grand China Air, the largest shareholder of Hainan Airlines Co, will hold a controlling stake in the new carrier, the executive said, without providing financial details.

The new company, which is pending regulatory approval, will initially be limited to flights within the province but will apply for long-haul domestic and international routes in the future, he said.

The new carrier would be in direct competition with the Yunnan unit of China Eastern Airlines Corp, which controls more than 50 percent of the highly profitable market for flights in Yunnan, a popular tourist destination with striking mountain and river vistas.

Yunnan, China
Photo by Erica Law, stock.xchng

Source:

“Grand China Air, Yunnan govt to set up new airline”
Fang Yan
Reuters, June 10, 2008

Jim Rogers, the chairman of Rogers Holdings, spoke to Bloomberg’s Betty Liu from Singapore on Thursday on a number of topics. Below are some notable excerpts from their conversation:

Financial Sector

LIU: All right. Jim, first, talk to us about the story of the week that we’ve seen so far, Lehman Brothers, you know, you’ve been very critical so far about what’s been going on on Wall Street, the accounting, all of that. Do you believe, I mean this is relevant - do you believe that Lehman Brothers is in fact in so good shape that they’ve got no liquidity problems or what’s your view on this right now?
ROGERS: Well, okay, I am still all - short all of the investment banks on Wall Street through the ETF. I know they are all in trouble. I know most of them have phony accounting. And you know, in bear markets, they all go down to eight. So, I just presume they are all going to go to eight before it’s over, before the bear market is over.
LIU: Do you believe that we could another Bear Stearns as we did in March?
ROGERS: Oh, why not, sure. There are certainly - and I’m also short Citibank and I’m also short Fannie Mae. So, you know, some of these companies have - have horrendous balance sheets and if the bear market has a ways to go, which in my view, it does, then you are going to see some really, really low prices. But, Betty, there’s nothing unusual about this, just go back and look at any previous bear market. Financial stocks sell at unbelievably low prices during bear markets. This was not going to be any - well, this one may be a little different because it’s just going to be worse for the financial companies during this bear market, because the excesses during the past five or ten years have been so horrendous in the financial communities.

The co-founder of the Quantum Fund with George Soros and Bloomberg’s Liu revisited the topic of financials later on in the interview:

LIU: All right. And Jim, you know, I want to turn back to, of course, the Fed and the banks and all of that. You were talking before about some of the stocks that you’re short on. Are you short on Lehman Brothers?
ROGERS: I’m short the ETF, Betty, the investment bank ETF, which means I’m short all of them. I am not short any specific investment banks. First of all, I have too many friends at all of those places, I don’t want to short any of them specifically. So, I am just short at the ETF, which means I am short all of them, I mean some would do well, some will do probably too badly, but the ETF in my view is going to go down a lot more.
LIU: Well, does what happened with Lehman Brothers over the past week, does it perhaps stoke your interest in shorting Lehman along with Citigroup? And Fannie, I believe is the one you talked about as well.
ROGERS: I’m already short Fannie Mae and Citibank, and have been for sometime. I’m just going to kind of stay with the ETF. It’s easier for somebody like me, who’s too lazy to spend a lot of time on any specific one, except for Citibank and Fannie Mae.

Monetary Policy

LIU: All right, Jim. So, tell us, you have also been very critical of the Fed and Ben Bernanke. I want to ask you first one thing. How do think the Fed has handled so far what’s been going on on Wall Street? You think that they helped situations or actually made things worse?
ROGERS: They made things worse, Betty. They printed huge amounts of money, which has caused great inflation which could cause the dollar to go down, and the Federal Reserve has taken on something like $400 billion of bad assets on to its balance sheet. Now, you and I as American taxpayers are going to have to pay off that debt some day. What’s Bernanke going to do? Get in his helicopter, and fly around, collecting bad debt? Is he going to start repossessing cars, repossessing houses that go bad? I mean, this is insane Betty, the Federal Reserve has $800 billion on its balance sheet. They have already committed $400 billion to bad debt. What then they are going to do next? Where are they going to get the money the next time things start going wrong?

Investment Strategy

LIU: Okay. Okay, well, given that scenario, Jim, as an investor, where are you going to put your money right now?
ROGERS: I own commodities, I have been buying agriculture, I bought airlines today. I bought a lot of airlines around the world today, both stocks and bonds. Swiss franc, Japanese yen, renminbi, these are the few things I have been buying recently.

Airlines

LIU: You bought airlines? A lot of people are very bearish on the airlines, talking about the fuel cost. Why are you buying airlines?
ROGERS: Well, Betty, you just got through the same why, everybody is very bearish. No, I don’t buy things just because people are bearish, but I fly a lot, and the planes are full. You cannot buy a new – if you order a new plane today, you couldn’t get it for several years. This Boeing and Airbus have problems. You read every day that the airlines are cutting back their capacity. Fares are going up. I mean, Betty, everybody knows about the fuel cost. Is there any airline left that doesn’t know we have fuel problems? They are adjusting for all of it.
LIU: Well, that’s true. But there’s also talk about bankruptcies in the airline industry. And you think some could go bankrupt?
ROGERS: How much more bullish in the news do you want? Twenty-four airlines have gone bankrupt this year. That’s great news. You know, five out of the seven largest American airlines went bankrupt during this decade. So, fine. Bankruptcies are signs of bottoms, not signs of tops.

Commodities

LIU: Right. You know, staying with oil and commodities, we’ve seen a pullback in some commodities in recent months. But which commodities do you like right now, Jim, and which don’t you like?
ROGERS: Well, I mean, yes, a lot of commodities have come down pretty hard. If people are talking about a bubble, I’d like to know what they’re talking about. I mean, many commodities, nickel, zinc, lead are down 50 percent. Silver is down 80 percent from its all-time high. Sugar is down 80 percent from its all-time high. What kind of bubble is that? Cotton is down 40 percent from its all-time high. Coffee is down 60 percent from its all-time high. I have been buying agriculture recently, I’m holding off a little bit right now because it looks like Congress is determined to do something to drive down commodity prices. If they do, it’ll be a fantastic buying opportunity and I’ll buy more.
LIU: Jim, you - .
ROGERS: But what I bought most recently is more agriculture.
LIU: More agriculture? In China, did you buy?
ROGERS: I bought agriculture stocks in China. It’s not legal for - I mean, it’s almost impossible for foreigners to buy commodities - commodities and sales in China.
LIU: Right. Okay, also, you’ve said before that we’re half- way through the commodity bull run. You still think that, or I mean how long can this bull run last for?
ROGERS: Well, Betty, there are number of acres devoted to wheat farming. It’s been declining for 30 years. The inventory of food is at the lowest level in 50 or 60 years. We are burning a lot of our agricultural products in fuel tanks now, as fuel. That’s useless, that’s hopeless. Talk about a bubble, that’s a bubble. It’s crazy that we’re spending so much money burning our agricultural products as fuel. But you can go on a long time, nobody has discovered any major oil fields for over 40 years. Betty, all the oil fields in the world are in decline. I mean, there’s been one lead mine opened in the world in 25 years. The last lead smelter built in America was built in 1969. Unless somebody starts bringing on a lot more capacity soon, that bull market has got a ways to go.

Oil

LIU:All right. Jim, also talk to us about oil. You know, you’ve been very bullish on oil. We’ve had a lot of people talk about, you and I had a debate about whether or not there’s speculation in oil markets right now. You say no, others say yes, like Soros, he says it’s going to bubble. What do you know that others don’t about the oil market?
ROGERS: Look, look, Betty, there are always speculators in every market. Look at the New York Stock Exchange right now. You think there aren’t any speculators down there on the floor of the stock exchange? There are always speculators. That’s what business is all about. I submit to you that most of the people and - I don’t know about most of the people, I shouldn’t say that, but we know that the IEA, the definitive authority on oil has said that the world has an oil problem. The Saudis have told Bush that we have an oil problem. Betty, if there is lot of oil, please, would somebody tell us where it is, so we can all invest in it? The world has a serious oil problem. Now, Betty, that does not mean that oil cannot go down 50 percent. During this bull market since 1999, oil has gone down twice by 50 percent, going down by 50 percent in 2001 and again, in 2000 whatever it was, ‘05 or ‘06. So sure, you can have big reaction in any bull market. But that’s not the end of the bull market. There is no supply of oil unless you - somebody can tell us where the oil is, the bull market in oil has years to go despite new corrections which may or may not come.
LIU: Well, but you know, and I know you always hate having me ask you about - about limits or caps and all of that. But, given the supply/demand situation that you’re talking about, how high can oil go?
ROGERS: Betty, I know you - how you’re paid to ask questions like that, but I don’t know the answer. I’m not smart enough. I know that unless somebody discovers a lot of oil, the price of oil can go to $150, $200. You pick the number.

U.S. Dollar

LIU: All right, Jim. And I’ve got to turn to the dollar very quickly. What do you make of the comments by Bernanke earlier this week, noting the dollar slide, you have been very, very critical of Bernanke on this.
ROGERS: It is astonishing. Now, this is a man that under oath in Congress said, “If the price of the dollar goes down, it doesn’t affect ordinary - it doesn’t affect most Americans.” So, I almost fell out of my chair when I saw him say that. We know the man doesn’t know about markets, we know he doesn’t know about the currencies. Now, we know he doesn’t even understand civil economics, simple economics. So, I was astonished to see him, what, two or three days -
LIU: Right.
ROGERS: - suddenly said, “Well, if the dollar goes down, it affects us all.” It’s called inflation. So, somebody’s been teaching him economics. It’s about time, he should go back and take Economics 101.

The 11 minute 49 second Bloomberg interview can be viewed here.

Source:

“Rogers Says Bull Market in Oil Has ‘Years to Go’ (Transcript)”
Bloomberg, June 6, 2008