Jim Rogers Repents Missed Multibagger Gains But Still Makes Child-Like Excuses To Avoid Buying Stocks

Provocative statements of Jim Rogers

Jim Rogers’ statements were so provocative that they made the blood of the Gurus boil.

“Cleaning toilets is wonderful, but as far as building the economy or changing India (goes), he has not done very much,” Jim said in a contemptuous tone about NAMO.

“Modi has done nothing but talk …. International investors are getting a bit tired of the Modi talk unless something real happens soon … I don’t know how much longer I and other global investors will hold on to the Indian markets,” he raged.

Jim Rogers’ diatribe provided fodder to eminent intellectuals like Deepak Parekh, the Chairman of HDFC, to attack NAMO.

“Nothing has changed in the Modi Raj… after nine months, there is a little bit of impatience creeping in as to why no changes are happening and why this is taking so long having effect on the ground,” Deepak Parekh said.

Akash Prakash, the founder of Amansa Capital, also took a cue from this and sent a veiled threat to NAMO that foreign investors are “deeply disappointed” and that they are packing their bags to leave the Country. “India is not the only game in town” he warned in a chilling tone.

Junkyard politicians like Sanjay Jha of the Congress party took the opportunity to demean NAMO.

So Jim Rogers, big-time hedge fund investor sells stock and exits India! Modi Sarkar, whatever happened? Alarm bells!http://t.co/B3FqaPIrbf

— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) September 3, 2015

Even Markandey Katju, the eccentric retired Judge of the Supreme Court had his say.

You can't invest just on hope ( i.e. jumlas )http://t.co/7b61IvweIJ

— Markandey Katju (@mkatju) September 2, 2015

Gurus rough up Jim Rogers

The Gurus united as one to attack Jim Rogers and discredit him.

While Porinju Veliyath and Samir Arora took pot shots at Jim Rogers on twitter, Sandip Sabharwal wrote a detailed piece in which he called Jim Rogers a one-hit wonder and said he is shocked “to see the kind of publicity Jim Rogers is getting in India for his anti India rants and a distorted view of India”.

Nilesh Shah, the whiz-kid with Kotak Securities, took the game away by writing an open letter to Jim Rogers in which he recounted all the achievements of NAMO and counselled Jim about the virtues of India in a way one would do with an ultra novice investor.

“I urge you to consider investing in equity mutual funds as most of us are outperforming the benchmark indices by large margins ….. Don’t go by the headlines …. Do your own analysis …. India is changing with newer and better business models. There will be many winners and a few losers …. Most of the times, it makes sense to listen to all but to choose your own path,” Nilesh said, talking in a slow and measured manner so that Jim could comprehend.

Apology by Gurus

However, then the unthinkable happened. The markets went into a savage tail spin. All the negative things that Jim Rogers had said about India appeared to have come true.

One can gauge the extent of the bearishness at that time from the fact that Porinju Veliyath, who is otherwise famed for his perpetual bullish stance, tendered a formal apology to Jim Rogers and also deleted his tweets.

I sincerely apologise for my tweet on 2-Sept-15 & retracting negative comments on Veteran Market Guru, @AllJimRogers https://t.co/D2Kml2miiJ

— Porinju Veliyath (@porinju) February 20, 2016

Understandably, Porinju’s action sparked fear amongst his army of followers that a prolonged Bear market is here to stay.

@porinju Looks like @AllJimRogers proved smarter than us. Exited at top while we all were living in hope. @livemint

— Sidharth Jain (@sidharth_jain) February 20, 2016

@porinju Do U think its an bear market ?

— Vishal More (@VishalMore1555) February 23, 2016

@porinju now you realize that u were wrong after 700-800 points down nifty from sep 2015 n took 5-6 months @AllJimRogers

— Habeeb Ansari (@habeebansari19) February 20, 2016

@porinju @AllJimRogers so does it mean you now endorse his views.apparently jim appears to be right in exiting

— Hum Hindustani (@patriotindian12) February 20, 2016

@porinju so does this mean the legend Porinju accept failure of Modi?

— Girish (@girish00008) February 24, 2016

Now, Jim Rogers repents selling out early and missing out on multibagger gains

Today, the wheel has come full circle. The correction of the past is now a forgotten memory. The markets are surging to new heights.

“I am amazed, shocked and stunned on GST,” Jim Rogers said, rubbing his eyes in disbelief at the magnificent achievements of NAMO.

“If Modi continues doing stuff like GST, then not just me, everybody has to pay a lot more attention to India,” he added.

Jim lamented his premature decision to sell off Indian stocks.

“I believed that Modi did nothing but talk, hence I sold out of India. The currency and Indian markets have gone up quite a bit after I sold out,” he said with a sheepish smile.

JIM ROGERS, Liberal media celebrared his exiting India. Takes Uturn, feels Missed Bus on India. Amazed at Modis performance & Will Re-enter. pic.twitter.com/Lh5O9Zavot

— Sriram? (@srirambjp) April 13, 2017

But adamant attitude to not invest in India continues

The astonishing aspect is that despite the realisation that he committed a major goof up by selling Indian stocks prematurely, Jim Rogers is behaving with child-like obstinacy and finding new excuses to avoid buying stocks.

“The Indian Equity markets are at an all-time high …. I am not aware of any big steps to boost FDI …. I don’t want to jump into a moving train. When you jump into a moving train, you get hurt,” Rogers ranted even as Ayesha Faridi, the charming editor of ETNow, stared at him with a bemused expressed on her face at his naivety.

Gurus again give Jim Rogers a piece of their mind

Understandably, Jim Rogers’ recalcitrant attitude with regard to Indian stocks has again got on the nerves of the savvy investors.

Nilesh Shah has again written an open letter titled “Don’t repent, please return to D-Street” in which he has tutored Jim Rogers the way one does to a nervous novice investor who is investing for the first time.

“Numerically, Sensex is near an all-time high level, but from the valuation point of view, it is far away from the levels seen in bubble years of 1992 and 2000 or expensive valuations of end 2007. My recommendation will be to look at valuation, not numerical level of index,” Nilesh said in a soothing tone to calm Rogers’ nerves that the valuations are too high.

“We have made money for our unit holders for the past 20 years by investing even at times when markets were at an ‘all-time high’, as you like to say. We could do it as we were focused on stocks,” he added.

Nilesh drew an analogy between planting a tree and investing in stocks, knowing that even a dimwit would understand the comparison.

“You can make money by picking up good stocks and giving them time to deliver. Equity investing is like growing a tree. Find a good seed, plant it in right place, nurture it well and wait for it to deliver delicious fruits.”

Jim Rogers’ comment that he does not like to “jump into moving trains” met with a scathing response from Nilesh.

“For the last 20 years, I have advised my investors that you must jump into equity train irrespective of whether it is standing or running. There are chances that you might get hurt if you catch a running train. But time will heal all your wounds. What is more important is to be on the train rather than waiting on the platform for the next train to arrive”.

“My recommendation will be to take some risk and get the thrill of catching a running train. It will be equally joyful like your bike ride around the world,” Nilesh added with a wicked smile on his face.

“For a long-term patient investor, India will remain a good opportunity. I strongly recommend you to jump in the moving train and be part of the fabulous India Growth Story. I am sure you won’t be regretting that decision in future,” Nilesh beseeched Rogers.

Unbelievable co incidence- I thought the same about Jim Rogers. https://t.co/93jSYkMh4H

— Samir Arora (@Iamsamirarora) April 17, 2017

@Iamsamirarora Jim Rogers hangs out with Ruchir Sharma and Pranoy https://t.co/mAIoru4LmU influenced by the anti Modi gang and dig his grave

— Santosh Nayak (@santoshn1559) April 17, 2017

Conclusion

It is obvious that Nilesh Shah’s diatribe towards Jim Rogers is actually directed towards novice investors like you and me. We also have the bad habit of making child-like excuses to avoid making investment decisions. This has already cost us dearly and we will continue to pay a steep price if we continue our abstinence. We need to pay heed to Nilesh’s advice and “jump into the moving train” even if it means “getting hurt” in the short-term!