How'd you like to borrow money for 30 years at 2.95%?The U.S. government can, and it's making it easier for the federal government to fund its increasing budget deficit, as well as help build the case for a large fiscal stimulus package.
Treasury prices continued to rise Tuesday, pushing the yield on the 30-year government bond down to 2.95% -- close to its lowest level since regular sales began in 1977. The 10-year note yielded 2.48%; the 5-year note, 1.47%.
Further, while it may seem like a contradiction to have long-term interest rates fall at a time the U.S. government is on-track to record at least a record $600 billion (and probably much higher) budget deficit this fiscal year, there's a method to institutional investors' madness, so says economist Richard Felson.
"The landscape for private investment is poor. We have a recession on all continents, and there's a lack of places to deploy capital productively. That dearth of opportunities for return on investment plus fear of losses from toxic assets is driving investors to the safer investments, and one of the safest is the U.S. Treasury," Felson said. "It's the preferred place to be until the major economies start to recover."
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