Article written by Prieur du Plessis, editor of the Investment Postcards from Cape Town blog.
Bill Gross, co-founder and co-CIO of PIMCO, is to my mind one of the shrewdest money men around. His monthly newsletter, this month entitled “Two-Bits, Four-Bits, Six-Bits, a Dollar”, therefore always makes for thought-provoking reading.
The article can be summarized as follows:
- A successful handoff from public to private credit creation has yet to be accomplished, and it is that handoff that ultimately will determine the outlook for real growth and stability.
- Because quantitative easing has affected all risk spreads, the withdrawal of nearly $1.5 trillion in annualized check writing may have dramatic consequences.
- Who will buy Treasuries when the Fed doesn’t? The question really is at what yield, and what are the price repercussions if the adjustments are significant.
And here are the last two paragraphs:
“By eliminating QE II, the Fed would be ripping a Band-Aid off a partially healed scab. Ouch! 25 basis point policy rates for an “extended period of time” may not be enough to entice arbitrage Treasury buyers, nor bond fund asset allocators to reenter a Treasury market at today’s artificially low yields. Yields may have to go higher, maybe even much higher to attract buying interest.
“Investors should view June 30th, 2011 not as political historians view November 11th, 1918 (Armistice Day – a day of reconciliation and healing) but more like June 6th, 1944 (D-Day – a day fraught with hope for victory, but fueled with immediate uncertainty and fear as to what would happen in the short term). Bond yields and stock prices are resting on an artificial foundation of QE II credit that may or may not lead to a successful private market handoff and stability in currency and financial markets.”
Click here for the full article.
Gross also shared his message in the following CNBC interview:
Sources: Bill Gross, PIMCO – Investment Outlook, March 2011 and CNBC, March 3, 2011.
Who will buy Treasuries when the Fed doesn’t? asks Bill Gross was first posted on March 5, 2011 at 6:58 pm.
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