The 20-Year Treasury Bond auction on Sep 15, 2026 put $13B on offer and stopped at a high yield of 5.42%, tailing 2.0bp against the when-issued yield. The bid-to-cover was 2.57, against a twelve-month average of 2.63. Indirects took 52.5%, directs 30.7% and primary dealers 16.9%. That stop is 21.6bp above the Aug 19, 2026 auction, and the highest 20-year bond stop since January 1986. Helious captured the result live as it crossed and graded it WEAK.
Treasury brought the 20-year back in 2020 and the market never really took to it. It trades cheaper than anywhere else on the curve, and hardly any account has a natural reason to own it. That thin buyer base is what makes these auctions worth watching, because nothing tells you as plainly how much duration buyers actually want. When 20s tail badly, meaning the auction stops at a higher yield than the market was bidding into it, that often lands on a local high in long-end yields. It shoves the 10s20s30s butterfly around too.
NEXT AUCTION
Auctioned monthly: mid-to-late month (typically wednesday); new issue feb/may/aug/nov, reopenings other months; results cross ~13:00 ET.
Read a new result against these numbers. When cover, indirects and directs come in above the
average, that is solid investor demand. An above-average dealer take means the street absorbed the balance.
The shares are percentages of competitive accepted, so indirects, directs and dealers add up to 100.
The issue column says which kind of auction it was. A
reopening re-auctions a security that
already exists, under the same CUSIP, and that is the norm for coupons outside refunding months.
"New" sets a fresh coupon. Offered is the amount the Treasury
announced for sale at that auction. The tail is the high yield
minus the when-issued yield at the bid
deadline, in basis points. A positive number means the auction had to concede yield to clear, and a
negative one means it stopped through. A dash in that column means no tail exists, or none was
captured. Bills never have one, because they price off a discount rate and have no when-issued
market. Rows before desk coverage began in July 2026 predate tail capture, and the official records
publish no when-issued yield at all. The last column, the
desk recap, is the desk's live verdict, posted the moment
results cross.
What did the last 20-Year Treasury Bond auction come in at?
The 20-Year Treasury Bond auction on Sep 15, 2026 put $13B on offer and stopped at a high yield of 5.42%, tailing 2.0bp against the when-issued yield. The bid-to-cover was 2.57, against a twelve-month average of 2.63. Indirects took 52.5%, directs 30.7% and primary dealers 16.9%. That stop is 21.6bp above the Aug 19, 2026 auction, and the highest 20-year bond stop since January 1986. Helious captured the result live as it crossed and graded it WEAK.
When is the next 20-Year Treasury Bond auction?
Treasury has not announced the next 20-Year Treasury Bond auction yet. It is auctioned monthly: mid-to-late month (typically Wednesday); new issue Feb/May/Aug/Nov, reopenings other months. This page lists the date the moment it is announced, and the recap posts within seconds of the result.
How should a 20-Year Treasury Bond auction result be read?
Read it against the tenor's own twelve-month averages: a bid-to-cover of 2.63, indirects at 65.1%, directs at 23.82%, a dealer take of 11.07%. Cover and indirects above the average with a small dealer take mean real-money demand absorbed the paper. A negative tail means the auction stopped through the when-issued yield, which is strong. A positive tail means it had to concede yield to clear. Helious graded the latest one WEAK.
