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Long touted as hands-down the world's "safe haven" securities, the behavior of U.S. Treasuries during and after the COVID-19 pandemic calls that label into question, suggesting they are little different from the debt issued by the likes of Germany, Britain, France, or even big corporations. That's the key finding of new research presented at the Kansas City Fed's annual research conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It examines a shift in investor behavior in that period that raises questions about the "exorbitant privilege" the U.S. government has long enjoyed to borrow broadly on the global market even as federal budget gaps...

Warren Buffett hasn’t found a lot to like in the stock market recently.In each of the last six quarters, Buffett has sold more stocks for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) than he bought. Last quarter, he sold off a big chunk of his Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) position and the entirety of his Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA) investment. All told, he sold nearly $20 billion worth of stocks from Berkshire’s portfolio, and he bought less than $3 billion.Buffett lamented investment opportunities for Berkshire are few and far between as the company grows bigger. With a market cap of about $877 billion, there...

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - Investors are bracing for a wave of U.S. government bond issuance as the Treasury plans to refill its depleted coffers quickly after the recent suspension of the debt limit. The Treasury General Account has fallen sharply since January when Treasury hit its limit on borrowing. Cash balance targets indicate it will need to rebuild its account quickly now that the borrowing cap has been lifted.

President Barack Obama's best hope of re-election lies in provoking Republicans to force the United States into technical default, engineering a brief but severe financial crisis in order to appear as crisis-manager-in-chief. The Tea Party movement may be marching into a political ambush, in which Obama will be able to portray the born-again budget-cutters as irresponsible fanatics who threaten to tip America into a new depression. The now unpopular president then would assume the role of national savior in time of crisis. What would happen if August arrives without an increase in the US debt ceiling? There is no good...

CHICAGO (CNNMoney) -- Pimco founder Bill Gross reiterated his warning to cash out of Treasuries Wednesday afternoon. Investors who have been betting on Treasuries are destined "to get cooked like frogs in an increasingly hot pot of water," the well-known bond bear told attendees at a Morningstar Investment conference in Chicago. Gross, who manages the $235 billion Pimco Total Return Fund (PTTAX), said real interest rates, which remove the effect of inflation to measure the actual yield an investor receives, have fallen into negative territory. He pointed out that Treasury inflation-protected securities with a maturity of 5 years are trading...

The Market Has Exposed Its Bluff Against The Dollar And U.S. Sovereign Debt Vincent Fernando, CFA and Gregory White May. 4, 2010, 12:51 PM Despite all the beating America takes in the media for its currency and sovereign debt, investors are still fleeing out of most assets and into U.S. government bonds when markets get shaky. The 30 year treasury is rallying, sending its yield to a 2010 low at 4.46%. Moreover, U.S. inflation expectations appear relatively tame. The spread between the regular 30-year bond and the inflation protected 30-year bond is 2.64%. On a five year view, looking at...

The first warning was in mid February, the bad news was that led by China, foreign countries dumped U.S. Treasury bills at a record rate in December. The worry was that the weak marketplace lead to a rise in interest rates to make the bills more attractive to investors. The interest rate rise which could be the beginning of an inflationary period. According to the Treasury Department foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury bills fell by a record $53 billion in December. That topped the previous record drop of $44.5 billion in April 2009. In the intervening six weeks since the...

Led by China, foreign countries dumped U.S. Treasury bills at a record rate in December, which could signal a rise in interest rates to make the bills more attractive to investors. The interest rate rise which could be the beginning of an inflationary period. According to the Treasury Department foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury bills fell by a record $53 billion in December. That topped the previous record drop of $44.5 billion in April 2009. The move triggered concerns about China's continuing appetite to loan money to the U.S. amid a mounting budget deficit here and tensions between Washington and...

MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES (in billions of dollars as of 12/09) China, Mainland 789.6 Japan 757.3 United Kingdom 2/ 277.5 Oil Exporters 3/ 187.7 Carib Bnkng Ctrs 4/ 179.8 Brazil 157.1 Hong Kong 146.2 Russia 128.1 Luxembourg 91.7 Taiwan 78.4 Germany 53.6 France 47.5 Canada 46.6 Korea, South 39.1 Ireland 38.8 Singapore 36.4 Thailand 31.7 India 31.6 Turkey 29.6 Norway 26.2 Mexico 26.2 Egypt 25.3 Netherlands 20.3 Sweden 19.4 Italy 19.1 Israel 16.6 Colombia 15.6 Belgium 15.3 Chile 12.2 Philippines 12.2 Australia 11.5 Malaysia 11.1 All Other 142.3 Grand Total 3597.5 Of which: For. Official 2404.6 Treasury Bills...

At the start of the year, the consensus was that long-term U.S. Treasury debt would be the dud investment of 2010. Just weeks later, some investors are beginning to reconsider. With Greece in turmoil and threatening to spread its woes throughout Europe, Treasurys are again benefiting from their safe-haven status. Treasury debt prices surged this past week, pushing their interest rates, or yields, lower. Late Friday in New York, the 10-year Treasury note yielded 3.55%, its lowest since Dec. 17. While the risk of a default by Greece or any other sovereign borrower remains low, the troubles are at least...

King Bloomberg has decreed FR cannot post text of His material. Here's the link.