Jim Rogers has made some fantastic and some horrific investment decisions and financial predictions over the years. Here is a small sample of his best and worst ideas over the years:
"But most of his main investment themes have proved more hit than miss.
Prediction in the late 90s: "Commodities Will Rally"
From the late 1990s he started predicting that commodities, primary products such as metals and farm produce, were in for a decades-long bull run of soaring prices
Verdict: Prices largely soared between 1999 and 2007, though many have since retraced some of their gains;
Prediction: Oil Prices will Top 100 USD: In 2006, when the oil price was about $75 a barrel, he forecast it would smash through the $100 mark
Verdict: Crude rocketed to as high as $140 a barrel by 2008, though it has since fallen back to less than $50
Prediction: "Chinese Stock Market will Soar": He has taken a bullish view of China’s growth prospects for years. Five years ago, he said: “Investing in the Chinese market in 2004 is like investing in the Dow in 1904.” The Dow, or Dow Jones Industrial Average, is the index of US blue chips, which in the following century went up 150 times;
Verdict: While economic growth in China has been spectacular, it hasn’t always translated into huge profits for non-Chinese investors. Shares quadrupled between 2004 and 2007 but have fallen almost all the way back
Prediction: "The dollar is flawed and will fall": He has long been pessimistic about the dollar because of excessive government borrowing, recommending that Americans open foreign bank accounts to preserve their wealth
Verdict: Although now staging a bit of a rally, the dollar has weakened dramatically against the biggest alternative trading currency, the euro, in recent years
Prediction: "Buy Africa", he told investors in 1996, urging them in particular to pile into resource-rich Zimbabwe;
Verdict Catastrophic advice. The Zimbabwe dollar has collapsed in the face of hyper-inflation and the economy is on its knees, leaving foreign investors holding worthless bits of paper.
Prediction: "The Yen will Rally and the Carry Trades will unwind": This was one of his bst advices last year.
Prediction: "Fannie Mae and Fredie Mac will go bust", this was his best shot last year. Right on the money.
