More Turmoil to Come, Buy Real Assets: Jim Rogers
By: Deepanshu Bagchee | Managing Digital Editor, CNBC International
Jim Rogers, the chairman of Rogers Holdings, says he expects more turmoil in the global financial markets after several Asian stock markets on Friday fell to four-month lows.
"The world's got serious problems facing it, I don't particularly like saying it, but it's true," Rogers told CNBC.com on Friday morning in Singapore. "Unfortunately there will be more debt and currency turmoil to come."
Markets across Asia fell on Friday morning after Moody's cut credit ratings of 16 Spanish banks and the country's government had to pay over 5 percent for four-year bonds in a debt auction. Investors are growing increasingly worried that Greece's debt problems are spreading to Spain, Europe's fourth-largest economy.
Rogers said he had hedged nearly all the euros he owned and was no longer long the currency.
"I hope the euro survives, I think it will survive in some shape and form," Rogers said, adding he didn't own many equities around the world either.
The renowned commodities investor said he was long real assets, such as gold, silver and agricultural commodities.
"I own real assets because if the world economy gets better I'll make money because of shortages and if things get worse they'll print more money," which will drive up the value of hard assets, Rogers said.
He believes the market turmoil will escalate in the fall, and said he was surprised that things had gotten worse this early in the year.
"I thought this would start in the fall - this is an election year in America. They will print money and spend money before the elections; a lot of people are spending money to keep the economy going," he said.
Rogers said the trouble at JPMorgan, which last week reported a surprise $2 billion loss from a failed portfolio hedging strategy, would lead to more liquidation in the markets, as the bank would have to unwind a lot of positions to make up for the losses.
