Treasury Bonds, T-Bonds, Long Bond

Treasury bonds are also known as T-Bonds and the long bond. Of all the treasury instruments (like T-Bills and T-Notes) the have the longest maturity ranging from twenty to thirty years.

Like T-Notes they have a coupon payment every six months. Their most common issue maturity is thirty years.

There is a very active secondary market in T-Bonds which means that the most recent issues are commonly used as a proxy for long-term interest rates. When 30-year bonds have not recently been issued then the 10-year note will be used as this proxy.

For October-2001 to February-2006 the United States government suspended the issue of the 30-year T-Bond as it used its budget surpluses to pay down Federal debt. During this period the 10-year T-Note replaced the 30-year T-Bond as the proxy for the bond market.

At the time of writing this the 30-year T-Bond is issued quarterly.

Compare the following Treasury instruments:

• Treasury Bills (T-Bills)
• Treasury Notes, (T-Notes)
• Treasury Bonds, (T-Bonds)
• Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS)
• Treasury STRIPS