Guides to Treasury data
Guides to US Treasury data
Plain-English guides to the numbers on this site, updated .
- Auctions · Guide
Bills, notes, bonds, TIPS and FRNs: the differences
The five kinds of marketable Treasury security, how each pays, why bill rates come in two versions, and what a reopening is. - Debt · Guide
The US debt limit, explained
What the debt limit is, why debt subject to the limit is not total debt, how suspensions and extraordinary measures work, and what an X-date is. - Auctions · Guide
How a US Treasury auction works
How the US Treasury borrows by auction, who may bid, how the yield is set and how results are published, with a real dated example. - Debt · Guide
Interest on the national debt, explained
The three official measures of what the US pays in interest, why they differ, how much that is per day, and who receives it. - Debt · Guide
What is the US national debt made of?
How Treasury's Monthly Statement of the Public Debt breaks the national debt into bills, notes, bonds, TIPS, FRNs and nonmarketable debt. - Auctions · Guide
How to read a TIPS auction result
What each line of a TIPS auction result means: the real high yield, the coupon, the index ratio, the two prices, bid-to-cover and who bought. - Auctions · Guide
When are US Treasury auctions held?
The weekly and monthly rhythm of US Treasury auctions, when each auction is announced, and why the size is known only days before. - Auctions · Guide
How to read a Treasury bill auction result
What each line of a T-bill auction result means: the high discount rate, the investment rate, the price, bid-to-cover and who bought the bills. - Debt · Guide
What is the Treasury General Account?
What Treasury's cash balance is, where the daily figure comes from, why it swings by billions a day, and how it ties to the debt limit. - Debt · Guide
The Treasury maturity wall, explained
How much US Treasury debt matures in the next year, how the amount is counted, and how Treasury rolls it over into new securities. - Auctions · Guide
What is the Treasury quarterly refunding?
What the US Treasury announces at its quarterly refunding, the two release days, and when the next refunding is due. - Auctions · Guide
How to read a Treasury auction result
What the bid-to-cover ratio, bidder shares and the tail measure, why a "weak" auction is a comparison with history, and how 500metrics shows it.