Part 3/10:
In November, the US Treasury attempted to auction off $24 billion worth of 30-year Treasury bonds. The outcome was disastrous—what was supposed to be a routine sale turned into a troubling auction failure. The sale was so poor that primary dealers, the major banks responsible for purchasing large portions of this debt, had to step in and buy nearly twice their typical volume to absorb the available securities. This unusual intervention underscores the waning confidence among traditional buyers, including countries like China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Japan, which historically purchased significant amounts of US debt.