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US Debt Auctions, Week of August 3, 2025

By August 7, 2025Commentary2 min read

A three-year note auction on Tuesday, with a face value of $58 billion. The high yield was 3.67%, down from last month’s but somewhat higher than expected.  Overall demand was slightly weak and foreign demand was lower than typical.  Not a great auction, but so much uncertainty over interest rates, the deficit, trade and tariffs and the overall economy that it isn’t a surprise.

And then on Wednesday, we did see a really pretty bad auction, of a longer-term issue, the critical ten-year note.  $42 billion worth, a pretty high amount for this series.  The high yield was 4.26%, lower than for the same series last month, but higher than expected, the first time that has occurred in 6 months.  The demand stats were the real problem.  Overall demand was very weak, far weaker than for recent 10-year note auctions and foreign buying was somewhat weak, with domestic buyers not filling the gap.  The week will close with a 30-year bond auction tomorrow and that will be quite interesting.

And the bad week for Treasury issuance continued today, with a 30-year bond auction that was also ugly.  $25 billion were sold at a high yield of 4.81%, a little lower than in July, but higher than expected.  Demand was again weaker than usual, including from foreign and domestic buyers.  After-market yields across the debt spectrum rose.  No matter what the Federal Reserve does with interest rates, the buyers are demanding a certain level in order to keep buying our ever-growing debt pile.

Kevin Roche

Author Kevin Roche

The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry through Roche Consulting, LLC. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.

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