Spotting investment opportunities in depressed assets

I have learned that the more people ridicule and question you, you are probably onto a good thing no matter what it is. If you are observant and notice a change and that change is something cheap and ignored in the way that the Danish Krone was in the past, you are probably going to make a good investment.

Whatever people are doubting may be an investment opportunity. Agriculture in the United States is pretty depressed right now. This may be an area where there is an investment opportunity. However, you should be cautious about investing in an area just because it is depressed right now because that area could stay depressed for a very long period of time. This is why you have to find a change that is taking place as well. If you can find something cheap and if you can find a positive change, maybe you should do more homework and find an investment.

The change, or catalyst, could be anything. I want to emphasize that even when you see the catalyst, it is futile if everyone else sees it too and the effects come in quickly. It usually takes a while for the catalyst to work its way through.

Jim Rogers is a smart investor who co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros in 1973. By 1983 the fund gained more than 4000 percent.