Adjustments Announced for Rogers International Commodity Index (RICI)

In a press released Wednesday, November 7, Jim Rogers and Beeland Interests, Inc. announced it was making a couple of adjustments to the Rogers International Commodity Index (RICI).

The press released said this:

The RICI Committee has decided to replace ICE Coffee (2.0% Index Weight) with NYSE Liffe Coffee. In addition, ICE Cocoa (1.0% Index Weight) will be replaced by NYSE Liffe Cocoa. The addition of NYSE Liffe Cocoa, traded in GBP, will add that currency to the Index. These changes will be implemented during the January 2013 roll period, occurring at the end of January 2013.

According to the press release, RICI, which was created in 1997-1998, has jumped by 266 percent since in inception of the Index, and as of the end of October 2012.

Rogers is one of the foremost and most well-known commodity investors in the world.

Jim Rogers Likes Emerging Russia Story

Seeing Russia's President Vladimir Putin as probably being the leader to bring the large country into the modern business world, Jim Rogers says Putin is taking the right steps to make that a possibility.

Having said that, Rogers isn't putting his money into the country yet, as there are still enormous infrastructure and ethical problems which must be addressed to bring more transparency and predictability to the Russian market.

What Rogers says he is looking to do is to invest in the Russian ruble.

That is apparently one of the strategies Rogers employs when looking at emerging markets which are taking the needed steps to provide an environment which will allow business to grow and thrive.

Jim Rogers Doubtful of QE3

Billionaire investor and commodity expert Jim Rogers says he's not convinced the Federal Reserve and Chairman Ben Bernanke will implement another round of quantitative easing, saying they would "look like fools again."

"QE1 failed, QE2 failed, so I'm not so sure they would announce QE3, because they'll look like fools again," said Rogers.

He already thinks that's the case with the introduction of the Draghi plan for Europe, which was ruled as being in line with the constitution of Germany Wednesday by its Federal Constitutional Court.

Rogers concluded:

"We're all going to pay a horrible price for this in a year or two or three," adding that it's only a tool that is "unanimity towards mutual destruction" by the West.

Although it's almost a surety that the Federal Reserve will implement QE3, the ruling that the European Stability Mechanism can be implemented in the euro zone does make it possible that Bernanke will wait until later in 2012, or maybe early 2013 before launching QE3.

If Europe hadn't acted, Bernanke would have been under even more pressure than he is to stimulate the economy, even though it has proven to be a waste of money.

Rogers is correct concerning the consequences of the actions of central banks around the world, which continue to go deeper into debt as countries raise their debt ceilings and spending to unsustainable levels.

Over time commodities will thrive in this atmosphere, as prices will rise if stimulus continues, and they'll also rise because little in the way of new production is being entered into by commodity-producing companies because of the slow economic growth.

It's a win/win for commodity investors either way. Rogers recommends looking for commodities that are trading lower for best results, as commodity prices in many segments have been soaring lately.

Marc Faber, Jim Rogers on Greece Bailout

In a Bloomberg interview, Marc Faber reiterated what billionaire Jim Rogers has been saying for some time, and that is that Greece shouldn't be bailed out by the European Union or the IMF, as it's only postponing the inevitable, and rewarding excessive consumption.

By excessive consumption, it means the people of Greece being given handouts from the Greek government which the Greek government couldn't afford to pay.

That is obvious to everyone now, but it was hidden from their fellow European neighbors, who are now foolishly ready to bail out Greece, which will only postpone the crisis temporarily while inviting more countries to the postponement party.

Jim Rogers has stated in the recent past a number of times that if the EU was serious about the euro, they would allow Greece to fail so the rest of the EU countries with similar irresponsible financial practices will start getting their houses in order and implement much strong austerity programs.

In other words they need to cut down on spending and eliminate a lot of the government sponsored and central bank enabled programs and perks that are in no way sustainable. It's also another way of saying governments need to get smaller and central banks hopefully some day eliminated as being a part of the financial network around the world.

Faber adds that Greece, when looking at it in a similar way as you would any corporation, should be allowed to go bust and no loans should be extended to them.

Also banks holding loans should write off the loans from 30-50 percent of the face value of them.

In the end, all this will do is lead to the ultimate bust in the view of Faber, who says the only thing democracies are doing now is postponing everything until it all blows up in their faces. They will never escape this, and eventually they'll all have to pay the price.

Loans simply don't take care of the reason behind the crises in Europe and the other democracies, and the only tool in Faber's outlook they have is the tool of postponement by loans. There is a day coming when postponement will no longer work and the entire system will collapse under the weight of entitlement and political expediency.

Jim Rogers: Commodity Bull Market Continues

Jim Rogers on Commodities

Jim Rogers reiterated again recently that the commodity bull market will continue on its run, as demand for raw materials continues to rise and supply fights a losing battle to keep up with it.

Rogers added that gold investors should hold on to their positions in the metal, as he maintains it'll continue to rise on through the next decade.

While he acknowledges China and India have huge markets that will continue to grow, they alone cannot carry the rest of the world on its economic shoulders, and other countries will need to grow if we're to eventually experience a sustainable recovery ... and I would add, whenever that recovery actually begins.

Gold soared to a 3-month high Wednesday, as ongoing concerns over the Greece debacle continue, and liquidity seems to be the problem again, as consumers and others pull their money out, with banks doing their repo thing with Greek banks.

Although the dollar and yen will continue to be thought of in terms of places of safety, gold is becoming more and more to be thought of as an alternative currency which is far safer than any other in the world.

The U.S. dollar isn't really thought of as safe, just the lesser of evils between all paper currencies.

Jim Rogers on Commodities

Jim Rogers: Trading for Sissies

Jim Rogers on Trading

Of course Jim Rogers hasn't said this yet, but everything he does say underscores it, as Rogers isn't a trader. Let's immediately identify a trader. It's someone who moves in and out of the market trying to hit the big thing. This isn't investing, it's gambling, and an expensive form of gambling.

There was never a worst time in my investment life than when I was working for a brokerage and was bombarded with the next big thing about every 15 minutes. I was even (for a short time) caught up into doing the trading thing as the emotional swings in the office are hard to express unless you've been there, and they can pressure you immensely to do dumb things.

The reason I said in the title trading is for sissies, is because it doesn't take discipline and research to enter into a trade based for the most part on emotion and some type of "breaking tip" that you move on. Any wimp can do that.

It takes someone mature and disciplined to invest over the long haul, and Jim Rogers, others, and all research has shown this is the best way to build wealth.

Jim Rogers Says Commodities Should Come Back Strongly

Commodity expert Jim Rogers said in an interview today that he sees commodities continuing on their long-term upswing, in spite of the recent fall in prices, eyeing it as a temporary downturn.

"I don't see that it's the end of the bull market,'' the chairman of Rogers Holdings, said in an interview in Bangkok. ``Until either a lot of supply comes on stream or the economy collapses, the bull market will continue."

Rogers added that he's looking at base metals again as a possible commodity strategy, saying, "I haven't bought any for awhile."

According to Rogers, the only thing he sees interfering with the long-term bull market in commodities is if the supply increases in a big way, or the economy collapses. If neither happens, he's positive the bull market will continue on.

Rogers is especially bullish on agricultural commodities, and separately in the Chinese economy; specifically in power generation sectors, infrastructure, education and tourism.

Jim Rogers on US Economy, FED, Ron Paul, China, US Dollar

For this first post on Commodity Surge, I thought I'd include this interview in late November 2007 with commodity expert Jim Rogers.

Keep in mind when he's talking about what has real possibilities in the commodity market, that it's somewhat dated information.

Other than that, the underlying foundation of why he makes the comments he does is extremely important and valuable to learn.