STOCKS RALLY: Here’s What You Need To Know

SAM RO

 SEP. 27, 2014

REUTERS/Jim Young

Bill Gross

We had a nice big rally in the stock market today.

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 17,110, +164.8, (+0.9%)
• S&P 500: 1,982.7, +16.7, (+0.8%)
• Nasdaq: 4,512.1, +45.4, (+1.0%)

And now, the top stories on Thursday:

1. Economic reports were overshadowed by a big move in the financial services industry. Janus Capital announced that bond king Bill Gross was leaving PIMCO to manage its Global Unconstrained Bond Fund. This follows months of tumult at the firm Gross co-founded. “Janus is the right fit at the right time in my career — and my life,” Gross said.

2. Gross leaves behind the $221 billion PIMCO Total Return Fund for the $12.8 million Janus Unconstrained Bond Fund. Shares of $2 billion Janus Capital went nuclear, surging by over 40%. PIMCO parent Allianz fell by around 6%.

3. As expected, Q2 GDP growth was revised up to 4.6% from a previous estimate of 4.2%. “The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, private inventory investment, nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending, and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased,” the BEA said.

4. The University of Michigan’s confidence index was 84.6 in September, up from 82.5 in August. While it was slightly lighter than the 84.8 expected by economists, the September level nevertheless reflects a seven-year high.

5. Amid all this, US Treasury securities sold off a bit. The 10-year yield went from 2.49% to as high as 2.55%. Here’s NYSE floor governor Rich Barry: “Meanwhile, in the trading pits, the Bill Gross/PIMCO news is shaking up the bond market. Treasuries are lower on speculation that the exit of Gross from the firm may prompt the world’s biggest manager of bond funds to shift away from U.S. government debt.”