“ Bond King ” Bill Gross ‘Frightened’ on the markets, gives 4 choices of actions

• Bill Gross says he is afraid every morning to discover what is going on in the markets and in the world.
• The “Bond King” told Bi that it feared that Trump’s prices will feed inflation and stifle growth.
• The billionaire investor has recommended four defensive shares, including Altria and AT&T.

Bill Gros says there are so many bad news at the moment that he is afraid of wakeing up every day and discovering what is going on in the financial markets and in the world.

“Frankly, I am afraid every morning to wake up at 5.30 pm and see what the day brings – markets and otherwise,” wrote Gross in an X post on Monday. “Be defensive.”

The billionaire investor is known as the “bond king” because he co -founded Titan Pimco with fixed income and increased his flagship fund with a total return to 270 billion dollars in almost three decades.

Gross told Business Insider that he was concerned about the slowdown in the American economy as “destructive” prices, and the war of Ukraine with Russia threatens to divide the Western nations.

“As an investor, these factors scare me at 5:30 am and throughout the day,” said Gross in an email. “They present downward risks for high P / E stocks in particular,” he added, referring to the price / profit ratio, a popular assessment metric.

Economists have carried out their American growth forecasts in recent days, citing a combination of the new prices of President Donald Trump on imports from countries such as Canada, Mexico and China, and the efforts of its administration to reduce public spending, led by Tesla CEO, Elon Musk.

The GDPNOW model of Atlanta Fed provides for an annualized contraction of 2.8% this quarter – a dramatic swing compared to last week when it estimated growth of 2.3%.

Defensive stocks

The inflation of the titles increased from 2.4% in September to 3% in January, much higher than the target of 2% of the federal reserve. Economists have warned that companies will compensate for the impact of prices by increasing their prices, feeding more inflation.

Gross told Bi that investors should bet on defensive actions to browse the economic storm. The octogenarian recommended tobacco stocks, in particular the owner of Philip Morris Altria and American British tobacco, which has brands of Cigarettes Lucky Strike and Camel. He also gave the boost to AT&T and Verizon, two of the largest American telecommunications companies.

Tobacco and telecommunications actions are considered to be defensive choices because they offer little growth but sell sticky products that customers are likely to continue to buy even in a recession, to negotiate themselves to relatively modest evaluations and to pay large dividends, providing support for their shares.

Action Altria jumped 43% in the past year and offers a dividend yield of 7.1%. BAT won 35% over the same period and has a yield of 7.4%. AT&T increased by 61% and has a yield of 4%, while Verizon climbed 10% and has a yield of 6.2%.