Reminder - Jim Rogers has been short investment banks for at least over a year
- Thread starter W4rl0ck
- Start date
The difference is his losing positions collectively tend not to lose that much, whereas his winners are frequently home runs. For example China he screwed up by not selling (although he sold all this other emerging market holdings - a great move), but he invested several years ago so is *still* up on that position despite the massacre this year. Short bonds has been a loser but not a huge loser. Yen has been a scratch and CHF is a mild winner. So on his "losing" portfolio you cited he is net profitable thanks to the near double on China since he put the trade on.
Now compare his winning positions - commodities up 300%+, short FNM up 99%, short investment banks up 50-99% depending on which he shorted, short C another homerun, short homebuilders must be up 50-75%.
Compare this to any standard portfolio performance over the last 2-3 years and really, how has Rogers done in comparison? How has he done compared to the typical hedge fund? Is there any investor or fund in the world that shorted FNM, investment banks, and homebuilders from the top to the present lows, and rode commodities for the whole boom to date?
Who cares when he bought? AFAIK he bought at the end of the 90s and added around 2200 in the Shanghai Composite Index this year.
Truth is he pumped China on Bloomberg and CNBC RIGHT AT THE PEAK, running his mouth how its not a bubble and the best investment right at the time of publishing his book.
Darn that Bloomberg. 
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aLr71mSZqOLI
The comments from Rogers, 65, come two days after he told investors at a conference in Nanjing not to ``give up'' on Chinese shares, which have made China the world's second worst performers this year. Rogers, who first started buying Chinese stocks in 1999, said he hadn't sold any of his holdings.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aLr71mSZqOLI
The comments from Rogers, 65, come two days after he told investors at a conference in Nanjing not to ``give up'' on Chinese shares, which have made China the world's second worst performers this year. Rogers, who first started buying Chinese stocks in 1999, said he hadn't sold any of his holdings.
I don't buy anything from Brazil except gas in my tank. Their women's asses are too big, even if they do take it Greek.