Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World’s Best Market

Jim Rogers
Category: Business & Economics
Publisher: Random House
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Pub Date: January 2005

Rights Sold to:
Norway / Hegnar Media
UK / John Wiley
Germany / Finanzbuch
France / Valor
Japan / Nihon Keizai
China / Citic


The next bull market is here. It’s not in stocks. It’s not in bonds. It’s in commodities –and some smart investors will be riding that bull to record returns in the next decade.

Before Jim Rogers hit the road to write his bestselling books Investment Biker and Adventure Capitalist, he was one of the world’s most successful investors. He cofounded the Quantum Fund and made so much money that he never needed to work again. Yet despite his success, Rogers has never written a book of practical investment advice–until now.

In Hot Commodities, Rogers offers the lowdown on the most lucrative markets for today and tomorrow. In 1998, gliding under the radar, a bull market in commodities began. Rogers thinks it’s going to continue for at least fifteen years–and he’s put his money where his mouth is: In 1998, he started his own commodities index fund. It’s up 165% since then, with more than $200 million invested, and it’s the single-best performing index fund in the world in any asset class. Less risky than stocks and less sluggish than bonds,, commodities are where the money is–and will be in the years ahead. Rogers’s strategies are simple and straightforward. You can start small–a few thousand dollars will suffice. It’s all about putting your money into stuff you understand, the basic materials of everyday life, like coal, sugar, cotton, corn, or crude oil. Once you recognize the cyclical and historical trading patterns outlined here, you’ll be on your way.

In language that is both colorful and accessible, but Rogers explains why the world of commodity investing can be one of the simplest of all–and how commodities are the bases by which investors can value companies, markets, and whole economies. To be a truly great investor is to know something about commodities.

For small investors and high rollers alike, Hot Commodities is as good as gold . . . or lead, or aluminum, which are some of the commodities Rogers says could be as rewarding for investors.

From Booklist
Commodity investing has gotten a bad rap. Everyone seems to have heard of someone who "lost his shirt" trading commodity futures. What are commodities? Commodities are "things," the essential raw materials that go into making everything from bread to automobiles. This includes foodstuffs such as sugar, wheat, soybeans, and coffee; the fossil fuels crude oil and natural gas; and industrial materials such as lumber, copper, lead, gold, and silver. As a group, they typically do well when stocks are doing poorly, and vice versa. But unlike stocks, the price of commodities can never go to zero. Rogers, known for his world travels, his ability to size up any market, and his contrary approach to investing, says we are in the beginning of a multiyear bull market in commodities. Although he is promoting his new commodities fund, he makes a very good case that commodities belong in any balanced portfolio, particularly now. Rogers walks us through the sometimes obscure language of commodity trading, and shows us how to get involved without "losing our shirts." David Siegfried
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Jim Rogers cofounded the Quantum Fund and retired at age thirty-seven. Since then, he has served as a some time professor of finance at Columbia University’s business school, and as a media commentator worldwide. He is the author of Adventure Capitalist and Investment Biker. He lives in New York City.