Saturday, January 31, 2009

Treasury Funding May Force Interest Rates Higher

Bloomberg suggest that treasuries rose yesterday, but this chart shows them flat for the day. The article is still very interesting:

Treasuries fell for a second week after the U.S. sold $78 billion of notes, the start of what’s forecast to be a record amount of debt this year to pay for a burgeoning budget deficit and fiscal stimulus programs...
“In the long term, you’re going to see Treasury yields rise as we deal with the mother of all supply challenges,” said Kevin Flanagan, a Purchase, New York-based fixed-income strategist for Morgan Stanley’s individual-investor clients...
The U.S. will probably borrow $2.5 trillion this fiscal year ending Sept. 30, almost triple the $892 billion in notes and bonds sold the prior 12 months, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., one of the 17 primary dealers required to bid at Treasury auctions.

Here is the full article.