Conquer Change with Robert Ian

Agriculture and Gold are the Places to Be

An interview recently appeared in BusinessWeek with legendary commodity investor Jim Rogers where he discussed one of the best places to be invested in the coming years. This week I delivered a speech to a group of 200 agriculture leaders and quoted his comments where he said:

"I really think agriculture is going to be the best place to be. Agriculture's been a horrible business for 30 years. For decades the money shufflers, the paper shufflers, have been the captains of the universe. That is now changing. The people who produce real things [will be on top]. You're going to see stockbrokers driving taxis. The smart ones will learn to drive tractors, because they'll be working for the farmers. It's going to be the 29-year-old farmers who have the Lamborghinis. So you should find yourself a nice farmer and hook up with him or her, because that's where the money's going to be in the next couple of decades."

Let me tell you... that quote literally brought the house down. Agriculture has taken a pounding along with the rest of the commodities the last 9 months. Those who are the real producers in our economy need to be reminded how important they are to our future success and prosperity. Like Steven Covey says in the 7 Habits for Highly Effective People, begin with the end in mind. Those in agriculture need to know how vital they are going to be to our success as we enter and move through this unfolding economic depression.

Starting with the end result in mind. Seeing yourself accomplishing a goal before it happens in real life is key critical to getting through these dark economic moments, especially for those invested in real things like agriculture, energy, base metals and precious metals.

Global gold expert Jim Sinclair recently posted an Elliott Wave Gold Update by Alf Field. The first wave up took us from $255 to $1015. The second wave down took us from $1015 to roughly $700. Now we're in the third wave up which can go from $700 to $3500 an ounce. The fourth wave down is from $3500 to $2500. And the fifth wave up is from $2500 to over $10,000.

Numbers like this are becoming more likely each day as the Fed and Treasury attempt to print their way out of the very mess they created. Remember, even though the Chairman of the Fed is appointed by the President, the Federal Reserve is still a privately owned corporation. The shareholders of the Federal Reserve are many of the big banks who Ben Bernanke continues to bail out. Isn't that just swell. Uncle Ben is taking your grandchildren's money to bail out his own shareholders. The result? You, your children and your grandchildren will all be left holding the bag. Talk about the crime of the century.

The trillions of dollars of bailouts all went somewhere. When those dollars eventually flood the system, whatever hasn't been destroyed by this temporary episode of deflation, will be destroyed in the coming hyperinflation.

Executive Pay to Hourly Wage

There was an article in this week's New York Times called "Going from Executive Pay to Hourly Wage". It chronicled several people who have lost their professional jobs, and their struggle, and acceptance of lower paying hourly jobs that pay 1/3 to 1/4 what they were making before. One gentleman went from a $70k a year job as a security manager to a $12/hr job as a janitor. He said everyday he's fighting despair, discouragement and depression. The competition for low wage work is intensifying. UPS said holiday applicants tripled this year from 500k to 1.4 million people looking for part time work. Many people are stripping down their resumes so that they don't appear over qualified for lower paying jobs. People are doing whatever it takes to close the monthly financial hemorrhage.

Stories like this only represent the first wave of tragic dislocations that are sweeping through our economy. What happens when all the job losses announced the last four months start to permeate the economy? What happens when all the job losses that will be announced in the coming months start to permeate the economy? The competition for any available job will multiply as will the fallout for those who are unable to find work.

The United States, and dare I say, many parts of the world, are in for a dramatic realignment of their values, their character and figuring out what really matters in this lifetime. It reminds me of what a very close friend told me after he was diagnosed with cancer. He was unable to continue with his work and had to close down his office. When I was helping him pack boxes that day, I asked him how he was coping with his illness, the loss of his business and all the emotions he must be feeling.

He looked at me and said, "Robert, I have to find a way to make this the best thing that ever happened to me". And he meant it.

And that's exactly what all of us must do. If you're facing hardship, if your back is against the wall, if you've had a blow to your identity and ego, muster up whatever strength you have and challenge yourself to find a way to make this the best thing that ever happened to you.

The next two years are all about financial and emotional survival. Unspoken pain is a common denominator for most people right now. But that pain can be turned into strength when you challenge yourself to make your hardship, your setback or your personal defeat the best thing that ever happened to you.