Treasury Sells TIPS at Negative Yields as Buyers Doubt Bernanke

The Treasury auctioned 10-year inflation-indexed notes at a negative yield for an eighth consecutive time as investors remain skeptical that Federal Reserve measures won’t lead to a resurgence in consumer prices.

The $13 billion in Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, which mature in January 2023, yielded negative 0.602 percent, versus the average forecast of negative 0.603 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of nine of the Fed’s 21 primary dealers that are required to bid on U.S. debt sales. Holders of TIPS receive an adjustment to the principal value of the securities equal to the change in the consumer price index, in addition to a fixed rate of interest that’s smaller than the interest paid to a holder of conventional debt.