Rogers, Hendry and Edwards fight it out

Jim Rogers, Hugh Hendry and Albert Edwards are three people I have a lot of respect for. So if the three disagree about a subject, that means we are in interesting but conflicting times. In this case Rogers claims there is no hard landing for China, contrary to Hendry and Edwards. I tend to side with Hendry and Edwards, based on anecdotic evidence from China, Singapore's GDP shrinking and Western economies doing badly.

Article from investmentweek:

Rogers: Why Hendry and Edwards are wrong on China
23 Jul 2012, Katie Holliday

Jim Rogers has dismissed fears of a hard landing in China, saying slowing growth is simply proof the authorities are managing the economy as they intended.

Rogers’ bullish views on China’s long-term economic prospects place him at odds with well-known China bears Hugh Hendry of Eclectica and SocGen’s Albert Edwards.

“Hugh has been dead wrong about China for three years now and China has not collapsed as he predicted, loudly, verbally and widely,” said Rogers.

“Albert has been bearish on everything for a long time. So if you are telling me he is bearish on China and bullish on everything else that would be different. But no, he is bearish on everything, including you, me and Mother Teresa.”

Hendry, who runs the CF Eclectica Absolute Macro fund, has refuted claims China will act as the main driver for global economic growth and is extremely bearish on Asia as a whole, while SocGen’s Edwards expects China to suffer an extreme hard landing which will prompt stocks to collapse.

China’s benchmark index hit its lowest level in three and a half years last week, and the region’s slowing growth continues to fuel investor concern. The Shanghai Composite index closed at 2,147 on Monday – its lowest level since March 2009 and 40% down on August 2009 highs of 3,471.

In March, Rogers told Investment Week he was banking on a sharp sell-off of Chinese shares as an opportunity to buy back in, and last week’s price falls have caught his attention.

“The lower they go, the more interested I become,” he said. A full blown share price collapse could be triggered by any kind of shock event, according to Rogers, from a bankruptcy in Spain, Italy or the UK, to rocketing inflation or a natural disaster.