Jim Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund before he turned 30 and retired at age thirty-seven. Since then, he has served as a sometime professor of finance at Columbia University’s business school, and as a media commentator worldwide. He is the author of A Bull in China, Hot Commodities, Adventure Capitalist, and Investment Biker. He recently moved to Asia with his wife and daughters. “Buy low and sell high” is the most important investment rule!
A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World’s Greatest Market (2008) by Jim Rogers
If the twentieth century was the American century, then the twenty-first century belongs to China. According to the one and only Jim Rogers, who’s been tracking the Chinese economy since he first went to China in 1984, any investor can get in on the ground floor of “the greatest economic boom since England’s Industrial Revolution.” But the time to act is now.
In A Bull in China, you’ll learn which industries offer the newest and best opportunities, from power, energy, and agriculture to tourism, water, and infrastructure. Rogers demystifies the state policies that are driving earnings and innovation, takes the intimidation factor out of the A-shares, B-shares, and ADRs of Chinese offerings, and profiles “Red Chip” companies, such as Yantai Changyu, China’s largest winemaker, which sells a “Healthy Liquor” line mixed with herbal medicines. Plus, if you want to export something to China yourself-or even buy land there-Rogers tells you the steps you need to take.
No other book-and no other author-can better help you benefit from the new Chinese revolution. Jim Rogers shows you how to make the “amazing energy, potential, and entrepreneurial spirit of a billion people” work for you.
Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World’s Best Market (2007)
According to Jim Rogers, “commodities get no respect.” Here are a few reasons why he thinks they should: they are easier to comprehend and study than stocks and behave more rationally since they are subject to the basic laws of supply and demand; they have outperformed many other investment options in recent years; it is foolish to ignore an entire sector of the marketplace; and a bull market is currently under way in commodities–a trend that Rogers expects to last for a least a decade longer. Further, Rogers believes that you cannot be a successful investor in stocks, bonds, or currencies without an understanding of commodities. Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World’s Best Market is designed to introduce the novice to the basics of investing in commodities as well as explain what they are and why they are important. In doing so, he shatters some myths about the relative risks of commodities, explains the relationship between the stock and commodities markets, and provides a succinct analysis and history of the global oil, gold, lead, sugar, and coffee markets.
Rogers also offers practical advice and information for beginners, including the best resources, how to read the commodities reports in the newspaper or on television, the various ways to open an account, information on index funds (such as Rogers’ own index fund that he started in 1998), mechanisms, terminology, and other vital details people must know before investing. Clearly written and entertaining, Hot Commodities offers a solid introduction to investments that many people, including financial advisors, fail to give the proper respect.
A Gift to My Children (2009) by Jim Rogers
In this book, he offers advice with his trademark candor and confidence, but this time he adds paternal compassion, protectiveness, and love. Rogers reveals how to learn from his triumphs and mistakes in order to achieve a prosperous, well-lived life. For example:
• Trust your own judgment: Rogers sensed China’s true potential way back in the 1980s, at a time when most analysts were highly skeptical of its prospects for growth.
• Focus on what you like: Rogers was five when he started collecting empty bottles at baseball games instead of playing.
• Be persistent: Coming to Yale from rural Alabama, and in over his head, Rogers never stopped studying and wound up with a scholarship to Oxford.
• See the world: In 1990, Rogers traveled through six continents by motorcycle, gaining a global perspective and learning how to evaluate prospects in rapidly developing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
• Nothing is really new: anything deemed “innovative” or “unprecedented” is usually just overhyped, as in the case of the Internet or TV, airplanes, and railroads before it
• And not a bit off the subject, and very important: Boys will need you more than you’ll need them!
Wise and warm, accessible and inspiring, A Gift to My Children is a great gift for all those just starting to invest in their futures.”