Breaking News: het grootste obligatiefonds ter wereld dumpt al z’n posities in Amerikaanse staatsobligaties! Dit is een behoorlijk schokkende verklaring van Bill Gross, beheerder bij Pacific Investment Management Co’s (PIMCO) Total Return fund, aan Reuters.

(Reuters) – The world’s largest bond fund dumped all of its U.S. government debt in the biggest signal yet of how negative investors have become about the U.S. Treasury market. The move by Bill Gross’s $236.9 billion PIMCO Total Return fund comes in the wake of a vicious Treasury market sell-off and just days after he questioned who will buy Treasuries once the Federal Reserve halts its latest round of bond purchases in June. Bond prices have come under severe selling pressure because of a strengthening U.S. economy and as investors brace for what could happen when the U.S. central bank ends its controversial quantitative easing program. The 10-year Treasury yield hit a 9-1/2 month high of 3.77 percent on February 9, rising 40 basis points in the short period from the end of January. Last week, Gross told Reuters Insider that a 4.0 percent yield for 10-year notes is a “rational expectation” if the Fed “disappears as the buyer of last resort,” Gross said. Pacific Investment Management Co’s Total Return fund sold all its U.S. government-related securities, including U.S. Treasuries and agency debt, a source familiar with the fund’s holdings said on Wednesday. A PIMCO spokesman declined to comment.

Gross & Co hechten nog maar weinig hoop aan een goede afloop van het escalerende Amerikaanse schuldprobleem. h/t Corry