UK Bond Auction Implodes

From Bloomberg:

The U.K. failed to find enough buyers for 1.75 billion pounds ($2.55 billion) of bonds for the first time in almost seven years as debt investors repudiated Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s plan to stem the worst economic crisis in three decades...

“This is a warning signal investors are sending to the government,” said Neil Mackinnon, chief economist at hedge fund ECU Group Plc in London, who helps manage about $1 billion in assets and is a former U.K. Treasury official. “Investors are giving the thumbs down to the gilt market.”

Yesterday's U.S. bond auction, on the other hand, was extremely well bid. There was 3X more offers than there were bonds available. I can't imagine why anyone would buy U.S. government debt, but the buyers no doubt had good reason. The Fed has indicated that it will begin buying today. Still, might we learn a lesson from this? A word to the wise is sufficient!