PIMCO’s Bill Gross Asks The $64,000 Question: ‘Who Will Buy Treasuries When The Fed Doesn’t?’ His Answer: ‘I Don’t Know’; Gross Is Getting Out Of Risk

After serving as the inspiration for the Chairsatan’s latest appellation with his February missive, Bill Gross now goes for the jugular with the $64,000 question: with “nearly 70% of the annualized issuance since the beginning of QE II has been purchased by the Fed, with the balance absorbed by those old standbys – the Chinese, Japanese and other reserve surplus sovereigns.

Basically, the recent game plan is as simple as the Ohio State Buckeyes’ “three yards and a cloud of dust” in the 1960s. When applied to the Treasury market it translates to this: The Treasury issues bonds and the Fed buys them. What could be simpler, and who’s to worry? This Sammy Scheme as I’ve described it in recent Outlooks is as foolproof as Ponzi and Madoff until… until… well, until it isn’t. Because like at the end of a typical chain letter, the legitimate corollary question is – Who will buy Treasuries when the Fed doesn’t?” Bingo, we have a winner.

This is precisely the issue that Zero Hedge has been exposing over the past 6 months, and is the reason why the Fed is now locked in a QEasing corner from which there is no exit. To his credit, Gross attempts to provide an answer: “Someone will buy them, and we at PIMCO may even be among them.

The question really is at what yield and what are the price repercussions if the adjustments are significant… What I would point out is that Treasury yields are perhaps 150 basis points or 1½% too low when viewed on a historical context and when compared with expected nominal GDP growth of 5%.”

And the stunner: “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. 15% gratuities may lie ahead, but more than likely there is a negative two-bit or even eight-bit tip lying on the investment table. Like I did 45 years ago, PIMCO’s not sticking around to see the waitress’s reaction.” Translation: Pimco just issued a “sell” rating on everything.

Full article here: ZeroHedge

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