Is this a bad time to purchase U.S. treasury bills (t-bills)?
Treasury prices are up because interest rates are down. Price and yield move in opposite directions. The housing market isn’t causing this, but the two are related. The Federal Reserve is lowering *its* rates because of problems in the economy, and this drives down the yield on t-bills. They are “safe” in the sense that there is zero risk of default. The Treasury will never default on its loans because it is the only U.S. creditor with the ability to pay its bills by simply printing more money (that’s not meant as a joke. Seriously, that’s how it is!) There *is* price volatility risk, but that is extremely limited. Since bills always mature in 6-months or less, you won’t see much price volatility. If you hold them until maturity, you won’t see *any* volatility since the yield is all you’ll care about. So, is it a bad time to purchase them? That depends on your goals. The yields suck right now, so you won’t get rich. Don’t buy t-bills right now as a long term investment. However, if you
