The U.S. wants to prevent Japan selling more U.S. bonds to stabilize the yen, which would send yields higher and interest rates up for U.S. consumers.
Demand for short-term bonds has fallen. Demand for longer-term bonds is still strong.
A potential currency swap with the U.S. may be less about financial distress and more about signaling status in the global dollar system.
Historically, bond investors more or less swallow the debt the U.S. government takes on, but this time they may be less inclined to do so.
A government debt sale this week went poorly because potential buyers were spooked by tariffs.
Try not to hold onto them past their maturation date.
Investors fear missing out on higher rates of return by locking up the money they put in for 10 years or more.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note reached a 16-year high Tuesday. That benchmark rate lifts interest rates on other loans.
The treasury secretary urges Congress to protect nation’s “full faith and credit” by raising the government’s borrowing authority.
Several of them were responsible for the 2008 financial crisis.
