In The Days

• Source: Money News
• News Date: 1/18/10
• Author: Dan Weil
• Submitted By: Phil

Legendary investor Jim Rogers remains bullish on commodities and says the world will soon face food shortages.

To view dictionary popup window put your cursor on the blue scripture words.

Famines and Troubles

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines•Strongs 3042:limos, lee-mos´; probably from 3007 (through the idea of destitution); a scarcity of food:—dearth, famine, hunger. and troubles•Strongs 5016: tarache, tar-akh-ay´; feminine from 5015; disturbance, i.e. (of water) roiling, or (of a mob) sedition:—trouble(-ing). these are the beginnings of sorrows•Strongs 5604 din, o-deen´; akin to 3601; a pang or throe, especially of childbirth:—pain, sorrow, travail.
•Strongs 3601: odune, od-oo´-nay; from 1416; grief (as dejecting):—sorrow..”
—Mark 13:8

“The fundamentals (for agriculture) have gotten better,” he says.

“The inventories are now at the lowest they’ve been in decades, not in years.”

And that trend is just intensifying, Rogers tells CNBC.

“Things are getting worse. Many farmers can’t get loans to buy fertilizer now, even though we have big shortages developing.”

And what will be the end result of this dynamic?

“Sometime in the next few years we’re going to have very serious shortages of food everywhere in the world, and prices are going to go through the roof,” Rogers said.

Agriculture is his favorite sector in the commodity space, but Rogers likes other commodities as well.

Take oil, for example.

“Over the next decade or so, oil is going to go much higher, because known reserves of oil are declining at a very rapid rate,” Rogers said.

He also favors gold for the long term, saying that if it drops $200 an ounce, he’ll buy more.

But if you’re looking for precious metals to acquire now, Rogers recommends silver or palladium, because they haven’t soared as high as gold.

Many experts share Rogers’ bullishness on commodities.

Goldman Sachs, for example, sees the S&P GSCI Enhanced Total Return Index appreciating 17.5 percent this year.

“Demand is growing on a global basis,” Peter Sorrentino, a money manager at Huntington Asset Advisors, told Bloomberg.