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Crash Prophets, Part 2

In yesterday’s blog post, I talked about how some market watchers, specifically Richard Bookstaber, Peter Bernstein, Jeremy Grantham, and Gary Shilling, are warning of a fast-approaching U.S. financial crisis. Continuing the theme of “crash prophets,” today’s post focuses on legendary investors George Soros, Warren Buffett, and Jim Rogers, and what each is saying about the future of the U.S. economy.

George Soros is a Hungarian-born billionaire investor, philanthropist and author. The American businessman is known as “The Man Who Broke the Bank of England” as he earned $1.1 billion after speculating on the British pound in 1992, believing it was overvalued. He is also recognized for his involvement with the Quantum Fund, one of the most successful investment funds ever with an average annual return of 31% throughout its 30-year history. Back in January 2006, George Soros told an audience in Singapore that, “The soft landing (for the U.S. economy) will turn into a hard landing. That’s why I expect the recession to occur in 2007, not 2006.” Soros explained that a slowing U.S. housing market would be the catalyst for a U.S. recession in 2007. Back on June 2, 2007, AME Info quoted Soros as saying, “I believe the global economy has been sustained by a housing boom that took on the characteristics of a bubble,” and he cautioned, “I expect an initial soft landing to turn into a hard one when the slowdown does not end.” On the U.S. and global economy, “A slowdown in the United States will be transmitted to the rest of the world via a weaker dollar. That is why I expect a worldwide slowdown starting in 2007.” Finally, Mr. Soros stated that, “The savings of the world are sucked up into the center to finance over consumption by the richest and largest country, the United States. This cannot continue indefinitely and when it stops the global economy will suffer from a deficiency of demand.”

Warren Buffett, “The Oracle of Omaha,” is a famous investor, head of Berkshire Hathaway, and also the world’s second richest man. On October 26, 2003, Warren Buffet wrote a piece for Fortune entitled “Why I’m not buying the U.S. dollar.” Although a little dated, this article, and Buffett’s subsequent bet against the dollar, gives us insight as to where Mr. Buffett thinks the U.S. dollar and economy are going. Buffett said, “I started way back in 1987 to publicly worry about our mounting trade deficits — and, as you know, we’ve not only survived but also thrived. So on the trade front, score at least one “wolf” for me. Nevertheless, I am crying wolf again and this time backing it with Berkshire Hathaway’s money.” Regarding his actions on the U.S. dollar, he explains, “And my reason for finally putting my money where my mouth has been so long is that our trade deficit has greatly worsened, to the point that our country’s ‘net worth,’ so to speak, is now being transferred abroad at an alarming rate.” On the United States having avoided a financial crisis so far, Buffett says, “We were taught in Economics 101 that countries could not for long sustain large, ever-growing trade deficits. At a point, so it was claimed, the spree of the consumption-happy nation would be braked by currency-rate adjustments and by the unwillingness of creditor countries to accept an endless flow of IOUs from the big spenders. And that’s the way it has indeed worked for the rest of the world, as we can see by the abrupt shutoffs of credit that many profligate nations have suffered in recent decades. The U.S., however, enjoys special status. In effect, we can behave today as we wish because our past financial behavior was so exemplary — and because we are so rich. Neither our capacity nor our intention to pay is questioned, and we continue to have a mountain of desirable assets to trade for consumables. In other words, our national credit card allows us to charge truly breathtaking amounts. But that card’s credit line is not limitless.” Finally, Mr. Buffett closes with a warning to all those who think the trade deficit is just another obstacle that can be overcome. “We still have a truly remarkable country and economy. But I believe that in the trade deficit we also have a problem that is going to test all of our abilities to find a solution. A gently declining dollar will not provide the answer. True, it would reduce our trade deficit to a degree, but not by enough to halt the outflow of our country’s net worth and the resulting growth in our investment-income deficit.”

Jim Rogers is a legendary commodities trader who picked the bottom of the commodities bull market in 1999. He is also one of the co-founders of the Quantum Fund, along with George Soros. Of the three investors profiled, Rogers is the most vocal regarding the direction the U.S. is headed. In a Reuters article on December 16, 2006, Jim Rogers talked about the future of the U.S. dollar, and predicted, “It’s only a matter of time before the beleaguered U.S. dollar loses its status as the world’s reserve currency and medium of exchange.” He added, “The dollar is a terribly flawed currency… You should hold as few dollars as possible. The dollar’s decline would go on for years to come.” In an interview with iTulip on April 3, 2007, Rogers said that a U.S. recession will occur soon. “I see a recession, and for a variety of reasons. Automobiles are in recession. Housing is in recession. There’s been an inverted yield curve for a while. You have a slowdown in business spending. The subprime mortgage and junk bond markets are a disaster happening or waiting to happen in the financial area. There are plenty of things going on. Plus we’ve had recessions every four to eight years since the beginning of time, so there’s nothing unusual about the fact that we’re about to have another one.” On housing, Jim Rogers is especially bearish. In the same iTulip interview, he responded to a question about the housing downturn and the consensus of economists that the correction is largely over by replying, “It has a good long way to go because never before in American history have so many people been able to buy houses with no money down. Even during the 1920s when the banks first tried interest-only mortgages borrowers at least had to put some money down. This time a lot of borrowers have put no money down on interest only mortgages. The results will be much worse.” In a May 14, 2007, Reuters article, he predicts an eventual U.S. real estate crash. Rogers said, “You can’t believe how bad it’s going to get before it gets any better.” He adds, “It’s going to be a disaster for many people who don’t have a clue about what happens when a real estate bubble pops… Real estate prices will go down 40-50 percent in bubble areas. There will be massive defaults. This time it’ll be worse because we haven’t had this kind of speculative buying in U.S. history.”

“When markets turn from bubble to reality, a lot of people get burned.”

To be continued…