Yahoo Finance Jim Rogers LOVES the U.S. dollar -- for now
Jim Rogers has long criticized the Federal Reserve for excessive money printing and warned massive U.S. government deficits will ultimately cripple America's economy. Many people think of him primarily as a commodity bull and gold advocate. But Rogers is a trader above all else and is "delighted" by recent strength in the U.S. dollar.
"It's my largest currency position," he says in the accompanying interview. "I own it not so much because of the central bank but because they'll be more currency turmoil -- all sorts of turmoil. And in times of turmoil people flee to safe havens and many people still think the U.S. dollar is a safe haven."
For the record, Rogers does not believe the dollar is a 'safe haven' -- but "since people perceive it as a safe haven I own the U.S. dollar. Of course, if the U.S. central bank is a little tighter than some of the other people, that too will add to the strength of the dollar."
Related: Jim Rogers "absolutely" still bullish on China
Rogers, who is quick to point out that he's not a market timer or a "guessing man" predicts the dollar's strength will likely continue for the intermediate-term, noting that bubbles are starting to emerge in several world markets.
"The Chinese stock market is beginning to form a bubble" that could spread to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, while Japan "is printing so much money" a bubble could form there as well, he says. "If you start having bubbles developing, that's going to cause turmoil and the dollar will go higher as bubbles pop. That would be the top for the dollar."
At that point, "people would probably flee to gold...because they don't know what else to do," he says.
Indeed, Rogers predicts "gold going to end in a bubble during this period of economic history" but, for now, the famed investor is avoiding the metal and even hedging some of his holdings. "It's having a big correction that's going to last for some time," Rogers says of gold. "It expect to buy more some time in next few years if the opportunity presents itself. If...if gold goes below $1000 I hope I"m smart enough to buy a lot."
In recent trading, gold was up 0.2% to $1195.30 per ounce.
Aaron Task is Editor-at-Large of Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter at @aarontask or email him at atask@yahoo-inc.com.
