Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds Discussion

[Rianne]

I actually just did. I got that "5.25% for 2 years". It was actually 5.180% and matures in 5/24 so just under 19 months. It is callable in 2/23 and yield to call is 4.845% so not too bad if it does get called.

Yeah, I don't like the callable part. But I want a good coupon rate for cash flow. We're thinking of a big buy in January with a nice coupon that will provide cash flow and protect our principal.

 

[disneysteve]

Yeah, I don't like the callable part. But I want a good coupon rate for cash flow. We're thinking of a big buy in January with a nice coupon that will provide cash flow and protect our principal.

I think getting called is unlikely. Rates are expected to go up again in November at least. I doubt they will fall by February.

 

[JoeWras]

17 wk T-Bill came in at 4.279% today.

The treasury site is slow, slow, slow. It is clear that interest is growing.

 

[Trailwalker]

17 wk T-Bill came in at 4.279% today.

The treasury site is slow, slow, slow. It is clear that interest is growing.

It was almost not usable. I've never encountered such slowness, and I've been a TD customer for many years. I almost gave up in my attempt to log on. Good thing I'm retired and amused by the challenge.

 

[JoeWras]

It is now unusable. I think the iBond witching day, along with the new found interest in treasury products (announcements near noon) are causing a meltdown.

Add in their useless update to the web page which did nothing but add more html requests, and you have a meltdown.

 

[Finance Dave]

I bought a small amount of CUSIP 91282CAQ4 back in late 2020. The article below was written at the time, and seems to imply this was not a good investment.

https://tipswatch.com/2020/10/22/new-5-year-tips-gets-real-yield-of-1-32-lower-than-expected/

I'm ok with what I bought.

 

[jldavid47]

On the VG bond page, there are "agencies" which are defined as government agencies. Right now, there are agency bonds at 5.25% for 2 years. Is anyone buying these?

I have bought some Federal Home Loan Bank notes at Schwab. I recently purchased a 5% 2-year callable note due 10/31/24 and a 6% 5-year callable note due 11/10/27. If they get called at least I got a good rate for the duration. Each are callable every three months starting 3 months after issuance.

 

[CRLLS]

I heard the financial pundit pushing I-bonds' deadline today on AM radio. Yeah, I still listen to live AM radio. That, and others I'm sure, are really talking it up. Likely part of the Treasury site being slow.

 

[Montecfo]

I have bought some Federal Home Loan Bank notes at Schwab. I recently purchased a 5% 2-year callable note due 10/31/24 and a 6% 5-year callable note due 11/10/27. If they get called at least I got a good rate for the duration. Each are callable every three months starting 3 months after issuance.

I bought some of the latter, or a similar issue, recently as well.

 

[Montecfo]

I heard the financial pundit pushing I-bonds' deadline today on AM radio. Yeah, I still listen to live AM radio. That, and others I'm sure, are really talking it up. Likely part of the Treasury site being slow.

Of course we have been talking about it for what a year or more? What a great site and find it so late to the party.

 

[Vincenzo Corleone]

The 52-week bill is up on Vanguard, with an auction cut-off date of 11/1, which I assume means I would not be able to place an order after that. If I want to buy it, is there any benefit/drawback to placing the order now as opposed to 10/31?

 

[jldavid47]

The 52-week bill is up on Vanguard, with an auction cut-off date of 11/1, which I assume means I would not be able to place an order after that. If I want to buy it, is there any benefit/drawback to placing the order now as opposed to 10/31?

No. It's all the same. Auction is on 11/1 (your money is committed on that day), settlement on 11/3 which is when money actually comes out of your account.

 

[JoeWras]

The 52-week bill is up on Vanguard, with an auction cut-off date of 11/1, which I assume means I would not be able to place an order after that. If I want to buy it, is there any benefit/drawback to placing the order now as opposed to 10/31?

No benefit outside of Vanguard having web issues later when you go to buy it. This is not theoretical considering their many recent issues. Also, they close their fixed income section every day from about 4:30 am until 6:30 am (times vary, but almost always closed 5 to 6) and it will be unavailable. That's just FYI in case you think you want to put out an order last minute, last day.

 

[MarieIG]

It was hard - but I managed not to put in any treasury orders this week.

(Some open orders executed, one matured and the sweep accounts seem to have settled, so at least I can see what is going on, so that is good.) I am going to try to hold off buying treasuries for two more weeks, but no guarantees that I will be successful.

 

[audreyh1]

Auction results - these include this morning and Wednesday and Thursday of last week. A 52 week t-bill is up for auction tomorrow.

Bills	CMB	CUSIP	Issue Date	High Rate	Investment Rate	Price per $100
4-Week	No	912796YS2	11/01/2022	3.600%	3.660%	$99.720000
8-Week	No	912796ZA0	11/01/2022	3.820%	3.896%	$99.405778
13-Week	No	912796XT1	11/03/2022	4.070%	4.169%	$98.971194
17-Week	No	912796Y78	11/01/2022	4.180%	4.297%	$98.618278
26-Week	No	912796YW3	11/03/2022	4.440%	4.605%	$97.755333

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Auction results - these include this morning and Wednesday and Thursday of last week. A 52 week t-bill is up for auction tomorrow.

Bills	CMB	CUSIP	Issue Date	High Rate	Investment Rate	Price per $100
4-Week	No	912796YS2	11/01/2022	3.600%	3.660%	$99.720000
8-Week	No	912796ZA0	11/01/2022	3.820%	3.896%	$99.405778
13-Week	No	912796XT1	11/03/2022	4.070%	4.169%	$98.971194
17-Week	No	912796Y78	11/01/2022	4.180%	4.297%	$98.618278
26-Week	No	912796YW3	11/03/2022	4.440%	4.605%	$97.755333

Nice.

I was set up for today’s auction with Schwab and logged in to find my order was Closed—Cancelled.

Did they run out of T-bills?

 

[audreyh1]

I think they accepted all the non-competitive bids, so something must have gone wrong at Schwab assuming you placed your order in time.

26-week results: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/annceresult/press/preanre/2022/R_20221031_2.pdf

 

[JoeWras]

Yep. Something went wrong. The non-competitive portion of bills is small compared to the offering (1.8B of a 45B offering, for example). They should be fulfilled.

The winning bidder(s) "run out" based on everyone behind them, including the non-competitive offers, so they only get part filled.

Latest 26 wk non-competitive result:
https://treasurydirect.gov/instit/annceresult/press/preanre/2022/NCR_20221031_2.pdf

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Nice.

I was set up for today’s auction with Schwab and logged in to find my order was Closed—Cancelled.

Did they run out of T-bills?

Did you do the 17-week bill?

 

[jldavid47]

I was set up for today’s auction with Schwab and logged in to find my order was Closed—Cancelled.

Did they run out of T-bills?

No. I just got off the phone with Schwab. They had some kind of routing issue. I bought the same 26 week bill on the secondary market for about the same price (I lost 36 cents total. Whoopee). You might want to try calling the general client services desk (not the fixed income desk) and see if they are going to try to reroute your order. The person I talked to wasn't sure if they were going to be able to do that. I gave him specific instructions not to reroute mine and leave it canceled.

 

[Sunset]

Auction results - these include this morning and Wednesday and Thursday of last week. A 52 week t-bill is up for auction tomorrow.

....

If this is the one showing at Vanguard, it says it is auctioned tomorrow, (unavailable to mere mortals at that time)

 

[audreyh1]

That's right. The 52 week t-bill is up for auction tomorrow. But it should be available to mere mortals. It shows as available for order on Fidelity.

 

[Graybeard]

Nice.

I was set up for today’s auction with Schwab and logged in to find my order was Closed—Cancelled.

Did they run out of T-bills?

I think they accepted all the non-competitive bids, so something must have gone wrong at Schwab assuming you placed your order in time.

26-week results: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/annceresult/press/preanre/2022/R_20221031_2.pdf

Yep. Something went wrong. The non-competitive portion of bills is small compared to the offering (1.8B of a 45B offering, for example). They should be fulfilled.

The winning bidder(s) "run out" based on everyone behind them, including the non-competitive offers, so they only get part filled.

Latest 26 wk non-competitive result:
https://treasurydirect.gov/instit/annceresult/press/preanre/2022/NCR_20221031_2.pdf

Can someone explain this? What "went wrong"? I've been buying 13 week T bills at Vanguard each week and never had an issue. Is this something I need to be concerned about?

What is "non-competitive offers"?

Thanks.

 

[jim584672]

I don't know why you all are bothering with the auction when secondary market is so much easier. You might pay just a bit more in spreads but it is simple and easy and no waiting.

 

[audreyh1]

Can someone explain this? What "went wrong"? I've been buying 13 week T bills at Vanguard each week and never had an issue. Is this something I need to be concerned about?

What is "non-competitive offers"?

Thanks.

The non-competitive bids is what we retail investors are entering at auction through our brokers. We are “going along for the ride” accepting whatever the competitive bidders determine at the auction. You can see the details in the pdf I linked above.