Jimmy Mengel,
Director of Customer Experience
Jan. 23, 2026
One decade ago, I met famed investor Jim Rogers while in line for coffee at San Francisco’s Hilton Hotel. You can spot that bowtie a mile away.
I’d been a fan of his work since Adventure Capitalist - a book detailing his three-year drive around the world in a bright yellow Mercedes. Jim spouted investment wisdom he learned while visiting over one hundred countries. It contained gems like: “I know that one can learn more about a country from speaking to the madam of a brothel or a black marketeer than from meeting a foreign minister.”
A great quote, to be sure. Especially coming from the same guy that co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros and returned 4,200% over a 10-year span. Jim knows what he’s doing and I wanted to pick his brain while I had the chance.
I sauntered up behind him while he was engaged in very serious deliberation: was it too early to eat a brownie and – if it wasn’t – would he prefer the blondie or dark fudge? Things that make you go hmmm…
He decided it was never too early for a brownie and went full fudge.
Jim and I were both speaking at the San Francisco Money Show. I was booked to give a speech on the burgeoning cannabis industry at the time. My readers and I were making money hand over fist and I felt like a genius for being early to the party.
Jim was there to speak about the commodities sector – especially why he was so bullish on precious metals.
After the confection conundrum was all wrapped up, I approached him.
“Hello Mr. Rogers,” I said. “I really enjoy your work.”
He was incredibly down-to-earth for such a wealthy guy – like he couldn’t believe I was bothering to approach him. He stuck out his hand and replied, “Well good morning young man! Whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”
We had a nice pleasant conversation, with me offering my thoughts about the cannabis market that he hadn’t yet dabbled into. “Everyone’s buying Mary Jane, huh?” he said in a somewhat perplexed way.
I asked what he was buying. Unlike the brownie situation, he didn’t skip a beat.
“Silver.”
Now I was the perplexed one. At that time I was reaping in triple-digit gains like clockwork and this millionaire investor was loading up on gold’s ugly sister. Of all of the things to invest in, why was he dumping money into what many consider to be the less attractive alternative to gold?
He pointed out that silver was a superior, undervalued, and safer long-term investment compared to gold – especially during inflationary periods and economic crises. I could see his point; We were only a few years removed from the housing crisis that saw silver skyrocket 500% from $9/oz lows in October 2008 to approaching $50/oz in 2011.
But at the time Jim and I spoke, silver had dropped back to under $20. I naively assumed that $50 silver was a historic number based on the greatest financial collapse I’d ever witnessed. Did he think it was ever going back to 2011 levels?
“It’ll go up way more than that,” he snapped. “You just have to be patient.”
I thanked him for his time and insight and bid him adieu. But not before a shameless selfie:
(I’ve trimmed my beard in the decade since.)
To say that Mr. Rogers was right would be a massive understatement. Not only did silver blow through those $50 records – they've doubled them!
Quite an impressive performance that, as Mr. Rogers warned me, was even better than gold.
COMEX silver futures reached $95.78/oz this week as silver continues to make higher highs and begins to challenge that psychological $100 level. Mr. Rogers just told the Economic Times that ”I bought more silver last week. If silver continues, I hope I am smart enough to buy more.”
The last time I spoke with Jim he was living in Singapore. Because of the time difference he had to cut our conversation short. He “had a date at the disco.”
My suggestion is to learn from my mistakes. Don’t wait around to get your exposure to silver and gold because they’re at record highs. Higher highs are on the way.
In fact, the best way to do it right now is to get your disco date in advance. With one simple move you not only get to take gold’s ugly sister dancing – you can take the pretty one too.
Buy your ticket now and enjoy the dance.
Godspeed,
Jimmy Mengel
Director of Customer Experience, Daily Profit Cycle