(Bloomberg) – It was not just retailers who made big money during the GameStop Corp. stock mania. A legendary billionaire investor has killed a minor by shortening the shares.
Bill Gross, then-mortgage king and co-founder of Pacific Investment Management Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday that he was betting about $ 10 million on the shares of the video game retailer.
But the trade did not go without problems.
“I came in too early,” Gross said. “I was about $ 10 million in the hole.” But he stuck with it to make a profit.
GameStop shares, which for months were one of the heaviest short-circuits on the New York Stock Exchange, rose more than 1,700% from January 1 to January 27, while a legion of Reddit users piled up, forcing clumsy traders to to take shares and brokers. the highly unusual step of restricting trade.
Amid the mania, Gross took a chance on betting on the stock: “I got options like a good Robinhood trader, I think.”
He’s not done yet.
“I still sell call options at $ 250 and $ 300,” Gross said. “I think this is the ideal opportunity for option sellers, not buyers, to take advantage.”
Gross was largely known for his commitment after four decades at Pimco, which he built into as one of the world’s largest asset managers. For many years he has been leading the way as a manager of the Pimco Total Return Fund, and in 2013 the company’s assets amounted to $ 2 billion. However, he was fired a year later after conspiring with his Pimco partners over strategy, succession and management control.
Gross subsequently joined Janus Henderson Group Plc as a money manager, shifting his focus from the pursuit of relative returns to a benchmark to an unlimited strategy. The goal was to achieve positive results regardless of the market conditions, but it did not succeed. Returns were disappointing and Gross retired in March 2019.
Gross comments on central bank policies and deficits and speculates in the securities markets with his personal fortune.
Read more: Bill Gross says he has little treasure chest
He said he soon entered the coffers sales of recent weeks, which increased the ten-year yield to a year-on-year high of more than 1.6%. He also continues to bet on 10-term contracts and the long mortgage. The investor predicts an advance in inflation that Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, “stands still” on the current policy of the central bank.
“Inflation, you know, is currently going to be less than 2% in the next few months, not below 2%,” Gross said. “I see a number of 3% to 4% ahead of us.”
(Updates with the gross view on inflation in the last paragraph.)
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