20-Year Treasury Bond Auction: Results, Schedule & History
Ask Helious about the 20-Year Treasury Bond auction
{
"tenor": "20-year-bond",
"date": "2026-09-15",
"offering_usd": 13000000000,
"high_yield": 5.42,
"tail_bps": 2,
"bid_to_cover": 2.57,
"indirect_pct": 52.5,
"verdict": "WEAK"
}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%. 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.
Recent auction results
| DATE | CUSIP | ISSUE | OFFERED | HIGH YIELD | TAIL | B/C | INDIRECTS | DIRECTS | DEALERS | DESK RECAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 912810UX4 | Reopen | $13B | 5.420% | +2.0bp | 2.57 | 52.5% | 30.7% | 16.9% | WEAK → | |
| 912810UX4 | New | $16B | 5.204% | +0.5bp | 2.53 | 62.9% | 24.6% | 12.5% | IN LINE → | |
| 912810UV8 | Reopen | $13B | 5.163% | +0.5bp | 2.64 | 69.1% | 16.2% | 14.7% | IN LINE → | |
| 912810UV8 | Reopen | $13B | 4.927% | — | 2.75 | 71.6% | 19.9% | 8.5% | — | |
| 912810UV8 | New | $16B | 5.122% | — | 2.55 | 67.7% | 22.9% | 9.4% | — | |
| 912810UT3 | Reopen | $13B | 4.883% | — | 2.68 | 67.4% | 22.9% | 9.7% | — | |
| 912810UT3 | Reopen | $13B | 4.817% | — | 2.76 | 69.2% | 21.6% | 9.2% | — | |
| 912810UT3 | New | $16B | 4.664% | — | 2.36 | 55.2% | 27.2% | 17.6% | — | |
| 912810UQ9 | Reopen | $13B | 4.846% | — | 2.86 | 64.7% | 29.1% | 6.2% | — | |
| 912810UQ9 | Reopen | $13B | 4.798% | — | 2.67 | 65.2% | 22.2% | 12.6% | — | |
| 912810UQ9 | New | $16B | 4.706% | — | 2.41 | 59.5% | 29.1% | 11.4% | — | |
| 912810UN6 | Reopen | $13B | 4.506% | — | 2.73 | 63.6% | 26.3% | 10.0% | — |
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.
The desk captures each result and backfills the rest from the full auction record · download a sample (CSV, recent auctions). The full history comes through the Helious API and MCP at api.helious.io/mcp, with depth set by plan. Read what a tail means · bid-to-cover explained · who indirect bidders are · who direct bidders are.