Jim Rogers Urges People to Sell U.S. Dollar Holdings

[FourScore]

Investor Jim Rogers urged people to get out of the dollar and says he expects to be rid of all his U.S. currency assets by summer next year.

"If you have dollars, I urge you to get out," Rogers said in an interview from Singapore. He is chairman of New York-based Rogers Holdings, formerly known as Beeland Interests Inc. "That's not a currency to own."

The dollar fell 9.5 percent this year against a basket of six major currencies as a housing slump slowed the economy and losses stemming from subprime mortgage defaults spread among U.S. banks. Rogers, who said last month he was shifting out of all his dollar assets, plans to buy commodities, Japan's yen, the Chinese yuan and the Swiss franc.

Interest rate futures traded on the Chicago Board of Trade show a 72 percent chance that the central bank will lower its target rate for overnight loans between banks to 4.25 percent on Dec. 11, its third reduction this year.

Rogers, who predicted the start of the global commodities rally in 1999, criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke for comments on the currency before a congressional committee on Nov. 8.

"He is a total fool," Rogers said. "He said Americans who buy only American goods are not affected if the value of the U.S. dollar goes down. I was terrified."

Bernanke said the only effect of a weaker dollar on a typical American with their wealth in dollars, buying consumer goods in dollars, would be "their buying powers, it makes imported goods more expensive."

Rogers said that's not right.

"If you only buy American products and the dollar goes down, the price of oil goes up, copper goes up, wheat goes up," he said. "That affects you. He doesn't understand the economy as far as I can see."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aXH9wCx1oydw

[SoCalDem]

1. Whew..I'm glad I spent all the money in my wallet..just in time too..

:rofl:

[aquart]

2. How bad is it, when the Fed Chairman is "a total fool"?

I'd say, BAD.

[FatDave]

5. Who "doesn't undertand the economy"?

I figured that would be an important concept for the job.

[aquart]

9. He's doin' a heckuva job.

[dantyrant]

6. I'd say he's more a tool than a fool. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. I've been telling my parents to divest from the US dollar

for two years now...

Do they listen? Nah, what could I know?

Now, I do need to go buy some Euros at the exchange house myself

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. How does one divest from the US dollar, when its the only currency

you can use in the US?

Am I missing something? Do people buy up dollar bills and invest in them the way they do gold nuggets?

[Sanity Claws]

14. I bought a mutual fund based in Europe and valued in Euros

That was the only way I could figure out how to do it. My American broker was able to do this for me.

[earth mom]

4. Meanwhile the rest of the country who live paycheck to paycheck...

:nuke:

[Habibi]

7. Okay, forgive the stupid question

but if everybody sells their dollars, isn't that like "a run on the banks" and pretty much guaranteeing that the value of the dollar will drop further? So, wouldn't that be a bad thing?

[NMDemDist2]

17. yes and hell yes n/t

[MADem]

8. The time to get out was when Warren Buffet did. If you're stuck, you may as well wait it out.

The idea is buy LOW, sell high. You'll pay a bundle in those dollars for those Euros.

Unless you're planning on leaving the country, you're better off just waiting it out.

[eShirl]

10. assuming things don't get a lot worse than they are now, I agree

[Lasher]

11. There's plenty of downside left.

Just watch when everyone starts trading for oil with euros instead of US dollars.

[Deja Q]

16. Isn't globalization a wonderful thing? They say it helps Americans.

How is it helping Americans?

In the long term, how?

[Lasher]

20. And they say the economy is booming too.

Just a decade ago global trade was OK but today's version of 'free' trade, with its elimination of protections like tariffs, is making all countries' populations more alike. The average worker in China, for example, is lifted up while those with more affluent standards of living like ours are dragged down. We will decline more than they advance since the world's poor are in the majority.

Amazing how many people are going along with this highjacking of the American dream. There are few winners in this country and most of them are the uber-rich. But it's full speed ahead to a brave new world of only two classes: The very rich and the very poor.

[Toots]

12. Well there is one term used almost daily in the Clinton Administration that is never

used in this one and it is "Overheated Economy" That means people have money and products are flying off the shelves. In fact the Fed raised interest rates time and time again for that very reason.They reasoned that with people buying so much it would create inflation. The last head of the Fed wasn't all that swift either, but he was highly partisan.

[Deja Q]

15. I thought American products would become more tempting due to the devalued dollar...

[KoKo]

18. problem is ....we don't make much of anything anymore....

so we are forced to buy "Made in China" of dubious quality containing who knows what stuff that can harm us.

[NMDemDist2]

19. interesting ancedotal info

my hubby is an avid amateur astronomer and is getting ready to change his set up (again) so is selling off his equipment on a used astronomy website. http://www.astromart.com/

he has done this a few times and bought and sold equipment there for years.

he has never had folks outside the US show interest in his equipment until now.

we are sending a set of bino viewers to Prague and the telescope is going to Sydney.

the USD tanking makes the shipping charges moot so we're shipping the equipment overseas for the first time ever in the last 8 years.


edit to add, Hi HT :hi: