Jim Rogers is a legendary trader/ investor who came to prominence in the early 1970’s when he set up the Quantum Fund alongside George Soros.
The Quantum Fund is one of the best performing hedge funds of all time and it’s success allowed Rogers the luxury of being able to retire from Wall Street at just 37. Since ‘retiring’, Rogers has been around the world on a couple of occasions, setting world records in the process, and continues to trade his own account successfully.
A guest post from ForexTime
Buy when something is severely depressed
Rogers is most commonly associated with commodities and it’s true that he has written a couple of books on commodity trading.
However, to say that he ignores other asset classes is completely false and Rogers has been a key figure in a number of high profile forex trades over the years.
Currently, Rogers has spoken that he is long the US dollar, owing to it being the best of a bad bunch, and regards the Chinese Remnimbi as a potential target, once the currency becomes freely exchangeable. He concludes that aggressive monetary easing by central banks will ultimately lead to the depreciation of the greenback and also feels the euro will eventually have to break up.
Rogers’ strategy, though, is not based on short term fluctuations or trends but the long term fundamentals that impact markets. He could best be described as a contrarian who likes to buy things amid fear or panic or when they are ‘severely depressed’.
Indeed, Jim is often quoted as saying he simply ‘waits till there is money lying on the floor and then goes over there and picks it up’.
Homework is key
To trade forex like Jim Rogers therefore requires going against the herd. It requires finding those currencies that are extremely oversold or overbought, perhaps due to some fundamental reason such as war or natural disaster.
In fact, Rogers has mentioned that he has made an awful lot of money buying the currencies and stocks of war torn nations. For Rogers, investing in this way ensures he is never too far away from the bottom.
Key to Rogers’ success though, ultimately comes down to an intense dedication and a lot of homework. He likes to study the fundamentals rigorously before making any trades and will always be alert to political events.
Rogers mentions in one of his books that he sometimes wishes that markets traded through the weekend, such is the pleasure that he derives from his craft.
Further reading:Â 5 most predictable currency pairs
