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US Treasury The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue. The Department is administered by the Secretary of the Treasury, who is a member of the Cabinet.
The first Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton, who was sworn into office on September 11, 1789. Hamilton was asked by President George Washington to serve after first having asked Robert Morris (who declined, recommending Hamilton instead). Hamilton almost single-handedly worked out the nation’s early financial system, and for several years was a major presence in Washington’s administration as well. His portrait is on the obverse of the U.S. ten-dollar bill and the Treasury Department building is shown on the reverse.
Besides the Secretary, one of the best-known Treasury officials is the Treasurer of the United States, who receives and keeps the money of the U.S. Facsimile signatures of the Secretary and the Treasurer appear on all modern U.S. currency.
The Treasury prints and mints all paper currency and coins in circulation through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Mint. The Department also collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, and manages U.S. government debt instruments. (Wikipedia Feb 2010)
US Bond Market
By John Schroy, on February 20th, 2006 | 
This article describes the factors that influence the four primary US bond markets: Treasuries, Agencies, Municipals, and Corporates.
The analysis indicates that a high percentage of the supply side of the bond market is opportunistic and sensitive to interest rates, which explains why long-term interest rates have been relatively stable, despite increasing demand.
This analysis also suggests that should the flow of funds from the trade deficit suddenly dry up, the first impact would be a rapid reduction in the size of the residential mortgage market, rather than a sharp increase in interest rates.
US Bond Market 1995-2004
By John Schroy, on February 18th, 2006 | 
Over the decade, 1995-2004, the demand for US bonds of all types has surpassed new bond issues in eight of the last ten years. This is the reason that bond prices have held firm, even in 2003, when net new issues reached almost $1.8 trillion.
In most years, buyers had to go to the secondary market to get all the bonds they wanted. On the demand side, steady buying pressure, accounting for about two-thirds of the market, has come from foreign investors, insurance companies, federal, state, and local governments, and banks and savings institutions — each acting for difference reasons.
US Trade Deficit
By John Schroy, on March 31st, 2005 | 
Since the 1980s, the US. trade deficit has been a constant force in the American economy, rising more some years than others, while corporate bond yields have been generally falling.
Because rising trade deficits lead to increased demand for fixed income securities, and because issuers have not fully met this demand, the price of bonds has risen for twenty years, while bond yields have fallen.
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