MutualFundWire.com: Did Pimco Say "No Vacays" and Tank the Stock Market?

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Monday, June 4, 2012

Did Pimco Say "No Vacays" and Tank the Stock Market?

Friday was the worst day of the year for U.S. stocks -- and some are blaming Pimco [profile]. How could a bond management giant in laid-back Newport Beach, California tank the equity markets?

Word is that Bill, Mohamed and Company told the staff to cancel their summer plans because there just might be a market meltdown in the next few months.

A report at Examiner.com cites tweets from a lunch for hedge fund types that kicked off rumors that then hit the market Friday. Read one tweet:

Hearing (not confirmed) @PIMCO asked employees to cancel vacations to have "all hands on deck" for a Lehman-type tail event. Confirm? [Todd Harrison tweet]

A second hedger chimed in with:

@todd_harrison @pimco I heard the same thing, but I also heard the same for "some" at JPM. Heard it today at a hedge fund luncheon. [Todd M. Schoenberger tweet]

Both tweets can be found here. The DJIA fell 274 points by the end of the day.

Don't tell us that Bill Gross's vacation memos will soon carry the same weight as his monthly essays.

Since this story was first published a Pimco spokesperson reached out with this comment:

PIMCO has not asked employees to cancel vacations. However like any other prudent investment manager we have been working over many months to prepare for a number of potential scenarios related to the situation in Europe. This is our responsibility to our clients as stewards of the assets they have entrusted us to manage, and consistent with how we have approached other periods of uncertainty.