Ruff Times Ahead? - Interview With Howard Ruff - Zing Talk

Howard Ruff is the mastermind behind the newsletter The Ruff Times.

He was nice enough to have a converstation with Benzinga's Alex Schiff. The interview is an installment of Benzinga's Podcast: Zing Talk.

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First, could you start off by telling us a little bit about yourself and The Ruff Times.

I've been publishing the Ruff Times since 1975, and about myself - I'm first and foremost a father and a grandfather. We have 14 children and 76 grandchildren, so I'm just kind of an old grandpa.

How did you get started in investing?

During the '70s, I got worried about the nature of the economy and inflation and I read a lot about the coming crash and inflation in our future. I also noticed how inflation helped certain types of investments, namely precious metals, gold and silver. Also, when I wrote, I wrote so that the average high school graduate could understand it.

How would you describe your approach to trading and investing?

First, I have no approach to trading. I don't believe in trading. Short-term trading is something I'm not very good at. What I'm interested in is finding long-term trends early in the game.

We saw you on CNBC a few weeks ago talking about non-traditional investments thriving in today’s market. Could you elaborate on that?

Gold and silver, not as an investment but as an insurance policy against devaluation. Mining stocks, which is gold and silver in the ground. I've got quite an investment menu in the Ruff Times in every issue. There's about seventy-nine investments there. I also like Uranium stocks, companies that drill for oil - not as much anymore, the government has clamped down on them.

In the same interview, I remember you saying something along the lines of, “I always vote incumbent, even if I voted to get him there.” It’s an interesting sentiment. Is there no politician the average voter should feel compelled to re-elect?

Well I think we should look at those who are as far away from those in the reigning socialism as you can get. Socialism is in charge, in the Obama Whitehouse, and the socialists in the Congress. But my job is not to pick candidates, I used to do that and I helped to get them elected. In fact, I'm now turning on some of my friends.

You’ve made a name for yourself over the years teaching investors how to prosper in down markets. Are these the same techniques across each downturn or does each bear market or recession generate unique and different opportunities?

Time changes and things change. I don't believe one size fits all. My first came on the scene from my first big best-selling book on gold and silver. Because of this I got labelled with the name gold bug, when only eleven of those years was I really concerned with gold and silver.

Are there any moves on a policy-level that we as a nation can take in order to avoid the rough times you predict in your latest book, How To Prosper in the Age of Obamanomics: A Ruff Plan For Hard Times Ahead?

You're not supposed to ask me hard questions I don't know the answer to! My constituency for Ruffanomics is the American middle class. I want them to adopt certain principles that will get them through all this. My constituency being the middle class, I write for them. I think we should reduce taxes, especially capital gains and taxs on dividends. I will believe we should be supportive of entrepeneurs - and many people should consider being entrepeneurs. Be a maverick. A maverick is a bovine that's left the herd, and I feel the majority of the herd is going to be turned into hamburger.

Against the backdrop of this environment, give us one stock to buy and one stock to short for the next 12 months.

I'm not going to answer that, because I don't know. I have seventy-nine stocks in my investment manual, if they pick a representative sample, they'll do well. I'm not smart enough to pick a particular stock, with the exception of precious metals, which will do very well.

You have a reputation as a perpetual naysayer, so to speak. Do you think a bull market is even possible anymore?

There will be rallies, and ups and downs, and certain stocks that do well. A classic bull market? I think that's a very low bet. I'm not betting on the stock market in general. There are certain groups that will prosper along the way. To your other surprise, I don't know everything - I used to think I did, but I didn't.

Okay, now that we’ve got the hard stuff out of the way, here are a few fun ones. What was your first, and what was your worst job?

My first job - I don't remember. I was preparing to be a professional singer with a group called the Victory Boys, so I was singing in nightclubs, and I was on call for forty different funeral homes. I also used to perform for synagogues. At one point, a synagogue in San Fransisco had a Cantor whose voice cracked, and so they got rid of him, and got me instead. That's how I became the only practicing Mormon Cantor in San Fransisco.

What is your favorite restaurant that you’ve ever been to?

I like a place called Joe's Crab Shack. I like seafood. I like Red Lobster. I'm pretty much a fan of some of the better franchises.

What do you like to do outside of finance and investing?

Over the years, I've been a fisherman. It helped bind my family. I used to take my bass boat and my house boat and go fishing. So fishing has been my favorite chore over the years. I don't do that much anymore, as you get older, you have a hitch in your get-along.

Okay, and this last one is Benzinga’s trademark question: What was the best, and what was the worst investment decision you’ve ever made?

I think the best investment I ever made was the precious metals in the '70s, and it is doing even better now. The poorest investment was that I recommended some start-up businesses that didn't work. I'm not going to tell you what they are. That's one reason I just don't do that anymore. Picking one investment out of the thousands available to you is a fool's game.