Investing in Startup's could be a Boom or a Bust

Jim Rogers explains why he invested in Graphene and other start-up company's,

"Graphene according to scientists is going to be as important to the world as scientists. I did not say that, but scientists say it – it is thinner than paper and stronger than steel and they can even use to purify salt water. I have been bullish on graphene for a long time, and all of a sudden an entrepreneur in this space shows up – he has been in this business for a while, and therefore I put some small amount of money."

Jim Rogers invests in Graphene - 2017



On cosmetic industry,

"You know the Chinese cosmetics industry is unbelievably booming. Who knows where the cosmetics it will go – the Chinese are now saying they don’t want Korean stuff because they are in bed with the Americans."



Risks involved with start-ups,

"If I lose all my startup investments, it is not the end of the world. The way I look at it – if these investments come to nothing, I won’t even notice. I don’t pay any attention to my startup investments."

"Many of the start-ups have become gigantic, or will become gigantic in the next 20 years. But thousands of start-ups have disappeared in the last 20 years. We remember Facebook because it is successful, but we don’t remember MySpace—it was a gigantic failure backed by unbelievably smart people with money including (News Corp Rupert) Murdoch.”

"Ask me again in 10 years, and even 10 years later, I don’t think I will have many more start-up investments than I have now. Maybe some really smart guy or woman comes and meets me, I may do something, but I am not changing my spots and my start-up investments are all coincidental."

"We don’t know what is going to happen to Uber. You read the press about Uber recently and you say, ‘what is going to happen to them?’ Tesla is making all time highs, but I know guys who short Tesla, and who swear to me saying it will go bankrupt. I don’t know – I don’t have a position long or short in Tesla. Ask me again in 10 years, and even 10 years later, I don’t think I will have many more startup investments than I have now. Maybe, some really smart guy or woman comes and meets me, I may do something, but I am not changing my spots and my startup investments here were all coincidental."

You Will See Governments And Countries Fail In The Next Crisis

Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget speaks with Jim Rogers on The Bottom Line

Blodget: So what is going to be with respect to the stock market? What’s going to happen?

Rogers: I learned very early in my investing careers: I better not invest in what I want. I better invest in what’s happening in the world. Otherwise I’ll be broke — dead broke. Well, what’s going to happen is it’s going to continue. Some stocks in America are turning into a bubble. The bubble’s gonna come. Then it’s going to collapse, and you should be very worried. But, Henry, this is good for you. Because someone has to report it. So you have job security. You’re a lucky soul.


Blodget: Well, yeah, TV ratings do seem to go up during crashes, but then they completely disappear when everyone is obliterated, so no one is hoping for that. So when is this going to happen?

Rogers: Well, it’s interesting because these things always start where we’re not looking. In 2007, Iceland went broke. People said, ‘Iceland? Is that a country? They have a market?’ And then Ireland went broke. And then Bear Stearns went broke. And Lehman Brothers went broke. They spiral like that.  Always happens where we’re not looking.

I don’t know. It could be an American pension plan that goes broke, and many of them are broke, as you know. It could be some country we’re not watching. It could be all sorts of things. It could be war — unlikely to be war, but it’s going to be something. When you’re watching Business Insider and you see, "That’s so interesting. I didn’t know that company could go broke." It goes broke. Send me an email, and then I’ll start watching.


Blodget: And how big a crash could we be looking at?

Rogers: It’s going to be the worst in your lifetime.


Blodget: I’ve had some pretty big ones in my lifetime.

Rogers: It’s going to be the biggest in my lifetime, and I’m older than you. No, it’s going to be serious stuff.

We’ve had financial problems in America — let’s use America — every four to seven years, since the beginning of the republic. Well, it’s been over eight since the last one.

This is the longest or second-longest in recorded history, so it’s coming. And the next time it comes — you know, in 2008, we had a problem because of debt. Henry, the debt now — that debt is nothing compared to what’s happening now.

In 2008, the Chinese had a lot of money saved for a rainy day. It started raining. They started spending the money. Now even the Chinese have debt, and the debt is much higher. The federal reserves, the central bank in America, the balance sheet is up over five times since 2008.

It’s going to be the worst in your lifetime — my lifetime too. Be worried.


Blodget: Can anybody rescue us?

Rogers: They will try. What’s going to happen is they’re going to raise interest rates some more. Then when things start going really bad, people are going to call and say, "You must save me. It’s Western civilization. It’s going to collapse." And the Fed, who is made up of bureaucrats and politicians, will say, "Well, we better do something." And they’ll try, but it won’t work. It’ll cause some rallies, but it won’t work this time.


Blodget: And we are in a situation where Western civilization already seems to be possibly collapsing, even with the market going up all the time. Often when you do have a financial calamity, you get huge turmoil in the political system. What happens politically if that happens?

Rogers: Well, that’s why I moved to Asia. My children speak Mandarin because of what’s coming.

You’re going to see governments fail. You’re going to see countries fail, this time around. Iceland failed last time. Other countries fail. You’re going to see more of that.

You’re going to see parties disappear. You’re going to see institutions that have been around for a long time -- Lehman Brothers had been around over 150 years. Gone. Not even a memory for most people. You’re going to see a lot more of that next around, whether it’s museums or hospitals or universities or financial firms.


via www.businessinsider.com/jim-rogers-worst-crash-lifetime-coming-2017-6

Asia is the place to be and teach your children Chinese says Jim Rogers

RT:  Many financial analysts say the resilience of the Russian economy is making it more attractive to investors. Can Russia expect an increase in foreign investment after it nosedived in recent years?

Jim Rogers: Absolutely. Russia was hated three years ago. Nobody was putting any money here. Well, I was, but most people weren’t. It’s got to get better and it is getting better, because Russia is getting better.

RT:  To what extent have Western sanctions harmed Russia's economy from your point of view, and what will it take for them to be lifted?

JR: In many ways the sanctions against Russia have helped Russia. It has made Russia an agricultural boom. It is a very, very strong growth industry right now. It pushed the Russians together with the Asians. When you come to Moscow or St. Petersburg airport now the Chinese are everywhere; Asians are everywhere. This is actually helping Russia in some ways, and it certainly is not helping America. We’re not getting anything out of it.

RT:  You’ve said at the forum you see countries moving eastwards to Asia. Is that accurate, do you think?

JR: Absolutely. I live in Asia now. One of the reasons I live in Asia is because of what’s happening there. There is no question that Asia is the place to be. That is where the money is; that is where the population is; that is where the energy is. Teach your children Chinese.

RT:  What is it about the International Economic Forum, the annual event in St. Petersburg? Roughly $11 trillion in capital here with all the big people in attendance. Any specific outcomes or expectations this year?

JR: Whenever I come here, I always keep my eyes and the ears open to see if I find some opportunities. So far I have not. I continue to invest in Russian. I bought more Russian shares this week, and bought Russia bonds last week. So far for me I haven’t found anything, but I am sure that things are here. And as far as $11 trillion – I only have a couple of hundred dollars – not a couple of hundred trillions [laughs.]

RT:  These sorts of events are often branded as “all talk but little action.” Is it so?

JR: I am sure that some people are going to find opportunities and meet people and make deals here. So far I haven’t. But I am mainly an investor in markets, stocks and bonds, and commodites. So it is unlikely I will find much here. But I see people meeting all day and all night. You cannot believe how late people are out talking about things. Something is happening here.

RT:  I want to bring us back to the issue of Russia and China buying gold. In December 2016 an official of Deutsche Bank admitted there was a gold fix. If there is indeed a manipulation of gold going on around the world. When do you think it might come to a stop and what effect could that have?

JR: I have some gold. I’ve got some gold here in my pocket. I even bought some of the Soviet gold yesterday. I am not buying any more in any significant way right now, but I do read that the Russians and the Chinese are buying more gold. Gold is going to go up a lot before this is over. We’re going to have chaos in the markets in the next few years and gold will skyrocket. I am not buying it now – I expect it go down first. If it goes down, I hope I am smart enough to buy a lot more gold, because before it is over the Chinese and the Russians are going to be in a very good position with all their gold.


rt.com/op-edge/390599-economic-forum-petersburg-international/

Jim Rogers on Asia based Coal mining company - Agritrade

"The company [Agritrade] is intriguing to me since it is in coal which most people don’t like ... [and] it is in Indonesia, which some people don’t like. I have learned in my investment career that if you find something that is being ignored or bad-mouthed, especially if it is cheap, you can [potentially] make a lot of money.”

Jim Rogers is a smart investor who co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros in 1973. By 1983 the fund gained more than 4000 percent.

People are happy when they are making money

Remember, whenever markets are going up, people ignore the bad things. You can go and say that the emperor has no cloths and people don’t care. They are so happy with all the money they are making.

There is no question that the next time the world is going to have economic problems, it is going to be the worst that we’ve ever had since the Second World War, and a lot of people are going to be very angry.

Already a lot of people are very angry—there are a lot of people who cannot get jobs, and they have been waiting angrily for what they’ve been promised.


It usually takes a year or two after the markets collapse for that anger to build up—if say the markets collapse in September this year, by the September of 2019, you are going to be having a lot of very, very angry people. 

Jim Rogers is a smart investor who co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros in 1973. By 1983 the fund gained more than 4000 percent.

Dont like to buy markets when they are at all time highs

I don’t prefer to buy when markets are at an all-time high. I don’t want to get on a moving train—when you jump onto it, you’ll get hurt. You won’t get hurt if you buy something that is ignored and sitting in the corner—you’ll not make any money for a while, but you won’t get hurt.