Did the US temporarily quit auctioning a 20 year treasury bond during some period?

Hi lindylou!

To answer your question, yes and no.  Yes, the US stopped auctioning
20-year treasury bonds, but no, it's not temporary.

The following is an excerpt from Scott Burns' Dallas Morning News
column entitled "Where's the Beef?" (Sunday, May 27, 2001.)

"Investments that produce actual income are becoming rare. One hint
comes from the Mother of All Investment Income, the U.S. Treasury. Not
long ago the Treasury had a nice menagerie of offerings. You could by
cute little bills that matured in 3 months, 6 months, or one year. You
could also buy handy notes that matured in 2, 3, 5, or 10 years. And
you could buy serious bonds that matured in 20 or 30 years.

Now they’re dropping like flies. 

The first to go was the 20-year Treasury bond. The last bunch of these
was auctioned in January 1986. With only five years of issuance still
outstanding, they’re beginning to look like a gathering of World War I
veterans."

(You can learn more about Scott Burns at
http://www.scottburns.com/wwabout.htm although you can no longer get
to the Scott Burns home page.  It has been folded into the Dallas
Morning News site.)


The Motley Fool offers the following description of Treasury bonds:

"Treasury bonds are the U.S. government's long-term bonds. They come
in only one maturity - 30 years. They are sold to individuals in
multiples of $1000. The 30-year bonds are sold three times a year, in
February, August, and November. Interest is paid semi-annually. "

( http://www.fool.com/school/basics/investingbasics005.htm#treasury )


I hope this answers your question... feel free to request
clarification if I can be of further assistance!


I searched for:

"20 year treasury bond" (
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&querytime=bIRAh&q=%2220+year+treasury+bond%22
)

I turned to the Motley Fool as a matter of well-rewarded habit.

---

Clarification of Answer by rebeccam-ga on 18 Jun 2002 15:21 PDT

Lindylou,

Here's the link to the Scott Burns article I cited... apologies for
omitting it!

http://www.scottburns.com/010527SU.htm

(Interestingly, while reading about Scott Burns, I learned that he
studied with Archibald MacLeish, my favorite poet.  Thanks for asking
the question that led me to that discovery!)

Best,
Rebecca

The Burns article was a perfect fit & looks like a great on-going
resource.  Thanks so much.

My pleasure, glad I could help :)