Econoday Economic Report: 52-Week Bill Auction January 31, 2017

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52-Week Bill Auction

Released On 1/31/2017 11:30:00 AM For 1/31/2017 11:30:00 AM

Auction Results
Total Amount	$20 B
Bid/Cover	3.48
52-Week Bill Rate	0.810%

Highlights
Coverage, at 3.48, was moderate for today's 52-week T-bill auction, but the bid from end investors was the strongest since June, with non-dealers taking down 54 percent of the $20 billion offering. The high discount rate awarded at 0.810 percent was down 6 basis from the previous auction, held on January 3.

Definition
Treasury bills are sold at public auctions every week. The 12-month bill is also known as the 52-week bill. Competitive bids at these auctions determine the interest rate paid on each issue. A group of securities dealers, known as primary dealers, are authorized and obligated to submit competitive tenders at Treasury auctions. Dealers can hold the bills, resell the bills to their clients or trade them with other securities firms. Typically, the New York Fed approves about 20 securities firms to be primary dealers but that number dropped sharply during the 2008 financial crisis as some were merged into other firms or went bankrupt. The Fed has been rebuilding that number regularly and the latest list can be found here. Since these are public auctions, the Treasury must announce the size, date and time of the auction every week. 52-week bills are announced on Thursday for auction the following Monday and issued (settled) on Thursday. If a Monday is a banking holiday, the bills are auctioned on Tuesday. (Department of the Treasury) Why Investors Care

Data Source: Haver Analytics

The yield on the 52-week Treasury bill is typically somewhat higher than the federal funds rate except when markets expect upward or downward changes in monetary policy through the fed funds rate. The chart depicts the high discount rate awarded at 52-week T-bill auctions since January 2012 up to and including the latest auction results.
Data Source: Haver Analytics