Thursday, December 11, 2008

Talk Grows of a U.S. Treasury Bubble

More and more voices are expressing concern at the growing debt bubble of the U.S. Government. Now, Bill Gross of Pimco and others are joining the chorus:

"Treasuries have some bubble characteristics, certainly the Treasury bill does" Bill Gross, Pimco CEO
“The flight out of Treasuries is something that will be breathtaking.” Mitchell Stapley, Fifth Third Asset Management

The problem is growing so serious that short-term treasury yields this week dropped below zero percent yield, even lower than last week's. An investor who purchases $1 million of three-month treasuries would lose $25.56 by the time the bills mature just three months later!

The U.S. Treasury officials indicated yesterday in New York that it will need to finance $1.5 to $2.0 trillion in 2009, a staggering amount of new debt.

"The U.S. pledged $8.5 trillion, more than half of the country’s gross domestic product, to spur lending and limit the damage of the recession."--Bloomberg

Here is a Bloomberg story.