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A kid in Bill Gross' high school nicknamed 'God of Thunder' eventually fell on hard times
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Thor, God of Thunder.
Bill Gross had a big kid in his high school class (which was, we learned, the Los Altos class of '62).
"Long ago and far away in the adolescent cauldron known as Los Altos High School, I attended a senior U.S. history class with a man-child named Delos Roman," Gross writes in his latest investment outlook.
"He was appropriately christened it seems, because his body resembled that of Zeus, the God of Thunder, and at 6’4”/230 pounds, he rumbled down the football sidelines like a Mack truck on a downhill mountain road."
Somehow Nietzsche gets in there. There's also a bit in there about being optimistic.
And then Roman comes back!
Gross:
I was reminded of Delos when the phone rang at my office several months ago and my assistant said there was a Mr. Roman on the line. He had had a hard life, he said, and wanted to know how to invest the $50,000 he had received from his mother's will. He spoke softly and was almost inaudible, "I've been in and out of trouble all my life," he murmured, "beginning in junior high when I was tough enough to beat up high school seniors." His story had a ring of the famous Marlon Brando soliloquy in "On the Waterfront." "I could’ve been somebody," he said in so many words, "but I was too big for my own good."
This may or may not have something to do with the global economy.
I mean, sure, we all know that Gross is no fan of the policies central banks have undertaken in the wake of crisis, particularly the last few years as the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, and the European Central Bank have been reluctant to change course.
In Wednesday's note Gross outlines economic failing he sees in:
Venezuela
Puerto Rico
Brazil
Japan
"Euroland"
China
US
So, congrats to the countries and regions that were not mentioned, I guess.
Gross concludes on what, for regular readers of his updates, is a familiar(ish) note:
What I do know is that our finance-based global economy is transitioning due to the impotence of monetary policy which has always, and is now increasingly focused on the elixir of low/negative interest rates. Don’t go near any modern day Delos Romans; don’t go near high risk markets, stay safe and plain vanilla. It’s not predetermined or guaranteed, but a more prosperous outcome should be somewhere around the corner if you do.
Surprisingly optimistic!
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