The U.S. Department of the Treasury auctioned $13 billion in 30-year bonds today at an average yield of 3.66%, a gain of just half a basis point for the day. For comparison, yields on 10-year notes were lower by 3 basis points at 2.59% following the 30-year bond auction.

The bid-to-cover ratio was 2.26 and probably the main driver of the higher yields. Investors can’t seem to flee Treasuries fast enough, especially now that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has had a chance to clear up that little misunderstanding about when the Fed would begin to taper its asset purchases. Stocks are the purchase du jour today.

Over the last six sales of 30-year bonds the bid-to-cover ratio was 2.57, so that indicates just how ugly today’s auction was. Indirect bidders, a group that includes foreign central banks, took 40.2% of the offering, up from an average of 38.7% in recent sales. Direct bidders took 16.3% against an average at recent sales of 13.2%.

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