Chennai: Veteran investor Jim Rogers finds that the bull-run in gold and silver will continue for next two-three years amidst rising global debt and geopolitical turmoil. He wants investors to remain cautious of the US dollar and warns that the meltdown of overheated equity markets is a closer reality.
“Do not sell your gold and silver now. The bull-run is not over yet. It will move up for next two-three years as the globe is facing many problems, including mounting debt and tensions,” Rogers, who co-founded Quantum Fund along with George Soros, told Financial Chronicle over the phone from Singapore.
According to him, the tensions between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Iran and involvement of larger players in the turmoil can drive commodity prices up. If the tensions continue and escalate, oil, gold and silver prices can rise further up to unimagined levels. As for oil, a level of $150 per barrel cannot be dismissed.
Even otherwise, the world is staring at a large crisis of mounting debt. “The US is now a debt nation. Countries have been printing more money to boost the economy. That is what they do to keep the jobs growing,” he said.
“Investors have been flocking towards the US dollar considering it as a safe haven amidst the turmoil. With the rising debt, the dollar is not safe and I plan to sell off my dollar in a few weeks. Even central banks of emerging markets have been going light on their dollar reserves due to the heavy debt and instead buying gold,” he said.
Rogers prefers to buy silver at this point of time. “I own gold as well as silver. Gold is at an all-time high level, but silver is yet to return to that level,” he said. He is not keen on cryptocurrencies as he finds that they are just ‘trading vehicles’ unlike gold and silver which have a ‘real purpose’.
He also wants investors to be cautious of equity markets. “Equity markets are at or near all-time high levels. Too many people are investing too much money into stock markets. Equities are trading at very high valuations. It is a sign of markets getting closer to the end,” he said. He finds that the meltdown of equity markets is a closer reality.