Only good to hear the word 'nuclear' when it comes to energy/Foreign treasury buying/Earnings
We certainly only want to hear the word 'nuclear' when it comes to providing clean base load power 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and which we are still long of in uranium, not when it comes out of Vladimir Putin's mouth. Treasuries are rallying in response and at least this could be one geopolitical disaster, god forbid, that would help the US government sell its debt.
As we debate the impact of ever rising US debts and deficits and the associated Treasury supply that comes with it, the monthly Treasury International Capital flow data, while somewhat dated when released, becomes an important number to thumb through. In September, obviously pre-election, foreigners bought a net $77b of US notes and bonds but the breakdown of the buyers is key to differentiate. 'Official' central banks continue to sell and for a 5th straight month led by Japan, China and Hong Kong. The offset was from private foreign buyers but even here could very well be mostly hedge funds and other short term focused buyers, especially ahead of the election. Euroclear, who facilitates cross border transactions, is based in Belgium and Belgium is the domicile of the largest foreign buyer in September. Who knows who is buying via there. Also, buyers via the UK and Luxembourg bought a combined $36b worth and could be anyone using banks there. The other huge buyer all year has been the Cayman Islands, certainly not the government but likely hedge funds putting on basis trades. In September though their buying cooled down after buying a combined $100b in the two prior months.
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