Pound Could Collapse Within Weeks, Predicts Billionaire Financier Jim Rogers

Discussion in 'Wall St. News' started by WallStWhizKid, Feb 25, 2010.

  1. February 25, 2010 - Press Dispensary - The UK Pound is on the brink of a collapse which will herald a downturn worse than 2008/9, it could well happen within weeks and the British government is powerless to prevent it. And this in turn will foreshadow a global economic winter that could come before the end of 2010 and make the last two years seem like a mild spring day.

    This is the dire prediction of the legendary George Soros’ former business partner, respected billionaire financier Jim Rogers, together with millionaire investment adviser and best-selling author Dr Marc Faber and the controversial millionaire trader and coach Vince Stanzione, ahead of their keynote appearances at next month’s Global Trading Day seminar in Westminster.

    As the UK economy stands on the brink of its much heralded double dip after a dismal January and rumblings about its credit rating, as Swiss Bank UBS speculates the risk of a run on the pound*, and as sterling hit a nine month low against the dollar on Friday, the three experts – who all have reputations for making much of their fortunes from predicting and riding economic downturns – are forecasting that a currency crash and then a full scale global “shakedown” are almost inevitable.

    “The last few months have seen a ‘false bounce’, shorn up by massive short-term injections of government underwriting,” says Rogers, “but it can’t last. We’ve been applying temporary sticking plasters, not long-term cures. Later this year we’ll see the start of the real recession, with more Lehman-scale disasters and a fallout which won’t stop until the underlying malaise is genuinely cured.”

    And for the UK, it could begin with the Pound.

    “Other currencies aren’t strong and the Euro has real problems, with cracks much wider than Greece beginning to show,” Rogers continues, “but it’s the Pound that’s most vulnerable. In real terms, it’s already devalued against virtually every currency barring the Zimbabwean dollar and it’s especially exposed over the weeks running up to the UK election. In a basket of currencies, the Pound is potentially a basket case. And that will put Britain in an extremely bad position for the shakedown.”

    Jim Rogers famously clashed with Lord Mandelson, as reported in the Daily Telegraph** last year, after Rogers predicted just how far behind other economies Britain would be in returning to growth. History is proving Rogers right.

    “It sounds like a lot of doom and gloom,” continues Rogers, partly in reference to Dr Marc Faber’s widely read monthly investment newsletter, ‘The Gloom Boom & Doom Report’. “But it doesn’t have to be. With foreknowledge, experience, advice and skill, even the steepest downward slide can be turned to advantage. Recession can be just as much a source of wealth as growth.”

    Marc Faber, who won his moniker ‘Dr Doom’ after advising investors to pull out of American stocks one week before the 1987 crash, and who was one of only a few vocal investors to predict the present troubles, believes that America is on the brink of bankruptcy as it is wholly unable to service its debt***. But, like Rogers, he sees foreknowledge as an opportunity, not just a threat.

    It is with all this in mind that Rogers and Faber are joining British investor, coach and author Vince Stanzione on the platform of the Global Trading Day seminar on March 19, 2010, in central London. All three are flying in especially for the day, to meet with investors who believe there’s investment wealth to be found in the coming market conditions and who want to learn its insider secrets from those who have already proven how effectively it can be done.

    As Stanzione says, “If the billionaires are betting on a deep second dip, the rest of the investment community should be doing more than looking on from the sidelines.”

    http://www.pressdispensary.co.uk/re...Predicts-Billionaire-Financier-Jim-Rogers.php
     
  2. i will wait until Soros chimes in...
     
  3. Forget the green street hooligans, it'll be the Kensington street hooligans soon enough.
     
  4. Jim Rogers is not even close to having a billion in net worth.
     
  5. spinn

    spinn

    he is closer than you.
     
  6. And Faber is worth even less, but I would not bet against them. Too many problems waiting to surface worldwide,
     
  7. HAHA:D
     
  8. MJUK

    MJUK

    You are failing to balance assets against liabilities.

    UK Government debt is lower than all other G7 nations.

    The reason the overall figure is so high is London is a global financial centre with lots of bank HQs. For example, while HSBC may have debts of 500 billion, they also have assets of 600 billion.

    It is not just financial debt but general corporate debt. The UK has many capital intensive global firms who raise a lot of debt. BP, Shell, Rio Tinto, BHP Bililiton for example are all HQed in Britian.

    This financial and corporate debt makes up about 200% of the figure you quoted.

    The public have about 100% of GDP worth of total debt -mainly mortgage debt - but have net assets of 150-200% of GDP.

    A study by PWC in 2008 showed the UK has a total net worth of £7 trillion pounds or $11 trillion at current exchange rates.

    As with most things, you need to look behind the numbers to get a real understanding of what's going on.

    Aa for the pound being exposed to a slide, certainly possible and might not be a bad thing. It would certainly help with driving export lead growth. I don't think the dollar or Euro look any stronger however.
     
  9. Me too. lol.
     
  10. Is that you Vince?
    [​IMG]
     
    #10     Feb 25, 2010