How to Read a U.S. Treasury Auction Result — High Yield, Bid-to-Cover and Bidder Categories

As of 12 October 2026 (KST); latest 10-year note auction: October 7, 2026 (a reopening of CUSIP 91282CRF0, auctioned as a 9-year 10-month note); next 10-year note auction on Treasury's tentative schedule: November 10, 2026. Primary sources: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/annceresult/press/preanre/2026/R_20261007_2.pdf and https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/221/Tentative-Auction-Schedule.pdf^[1][7]

Comparison basis: both auctions sold the same security (CUSIP 91282CRF0, maturing August 15, 2036), first issued August 17, 2026; the September and October sales were reopenings. Yields, ratios and allotment percentages are as published; bidder shares are this page's calculation from accepted competitive amounts, rounded to one decimal place. Each result release covers one auction and gives no year-ago comparison.^[1][2]

In three lines 1. A Treasury result release gives the high yield, the share allotted at that yield, the bid-to-cover ratio and amounts by bidder group; it does not call an auction weak or strong. 2. In the October 7, 2026 10-year note auction the high yield was 5.300% and bid-to-cover 2.77, versus 4.834% and 2.71 on September 9. 3. The next 10-year note auction is tentatively scheduled for November 10, 2026.^[1][5][7]

Competitive vs noncompetitive. "If you bid noncompetitively, you'll be awarded the full amount of your bid for a security at the rate, yield, or discount margin determined at the auction close." "Noncompetitive bids are limited to $10 million per auction." Competitive bidders specify the yield they will accept; "Competitive awards are limited to 35% of the total offering amount minus net long position".^[5][6]

High yield. Treasury sells notes in single-price auctions: "In a single-price auction, all successful competitive bidders and all noncompetitive bidders are awarded securities at the price based on the highest rate, yield, or discount margin of awarded competitive tenders." Its auction page adds: "At the auction, Treasury first accepts all the non-competitive bids that comply with the auction rules. Then, we accept competitive bids based on their rate, yield, or discount margin (from lowest to highest) until the entire amount of the offering has been awarded. All successful bidders get the same rate, yield, or discount margin as the highest accepted bid." TreasuryDirect's glossary defines high yield for notes as "In single- and multiple-price auctions, the highest yield accepted and awarded." A 2005 New York Fed research article calls the highest accepted yield the 'stop'; the term 'stop-out' does not appear in the Treasury and New York Fed sources cited here.^{[5][6][10][11]}

Allotted at high, median and low yield. 'Allotted at High' is the percentage of the amount tendered at the high yield that was awarded; the release footnote adds that "All tenders at lower yields were accepted in full". TreasuryDirect's glossary describes this proration under 'Allocation Percentage at High Rate': "When the total amount of bids tendered exceeds the public offering amount, bids at the highest accepted rate, yield, or discount margin are only awarded a portion of their bid based on this percentage." A 2005 New York Fed article describes the allocation at the stop as "the ratio of (a) the quantity of securities that remain to be sold at the stop to (b) the quantity bid at the stop". For the median yield, the release says "50% of the amount of accepted competitive tenders was tendered at or below that yield."^[1][10][11]

Bid-to-cover ratio. The release states the calculation: "Bid-to-Cover Ratio: $108,068,999,700/$39,000,031,700 = 2.77". Both figures are the subtotal of competitive, noncompetitive and FIMA bids; SOMA (Federal Reserve) amounts are listed separately below the subtotal.^[1]

Primary dealers, direct and indirect bidders. TreasuryDirect describes a primary dealer in the results as one "bidding for its own house account" directly in the Debt Financing System. A direct bidder "refers to a non-primary dealer submitter bidding for its own house account". An indirect bidder "refers to a customer placing a competitive bid through a primary dealer or direct submitter." Bids from foreign and international monetary authorities placed through the New York Fed count as indirect, but the category "does not indicate the domicile of the bidder (foreign or domestic)". The New York Fed adds: "Primary dealers are trading counterparties of the New York Fed in its implementation of monetary policy. They are also expected to make markets for the New York Fed on behalf of its official accountholders as needed, and to bid on a pro-rata basis in all Treasury auctions at reasonably competitive prices."^[5][8]

The Treasury result release does not use the word 'tail'. According to Treasury material (charts for remarks by the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance on November 18, 2024), "Auction tail represents the yield set at the auction minus the yield in when-issued trading."^[1][9]

This page did not compute a tail for the October 7, 2026 auction because the result release does not include a when-issued yield (this page's reading).^[1]

Bid-to-cover vs allotted at high. Bid-to-cover rose from 2.71 to 2.77 between the September and October auctions, while the share filled at the high yield fell from 89.25% to 57.60%. The two describe different things: total demand relative to the amount sold, and how much of the demand at the final yield was filled (this page's comparison).^[1][2]

High yield vs median yield. In October the high yield (5.300%) was 0.045 percentage points above the median yield (5.255%); in September the gap was 0.065 points (4.834% vs 4.769%). These gaps are this page's calculation.^[1][2]

Primary dealers vs indirect bidders. Primary dealers were awarded 2.5% of accepted competitive amounts in October and indirect bidders 80.3%, after 4.3% and 79.2% in September (this page's calculation). Treasury notes that the indirect category "does not indicate the domicile of the bidder"; it is not a measure of foreign buying.^[1][2][5]

Offering vs SOMA. The October offering was $39,000,000,000, and the announcement states "SOMA Amounts Included in Offering Amount No"; the result shows $926,290,200 awarded to SOMA on top of that, outside the bid-to-cover subtotal.^[1][3]

Treasury publishes a tentative auction schedule at its quarterly refunding: "Four times a year, the Department of the Treasury holds a press conference to discusses Treasury marketable security auctions. This usually happens on the first Wednesday in February, May, August, and November." The Auction FAQs add: "The dates on the schedule can change, but seldom do." The current schedule lists 10-year note auctions on September 9 and October 7 (both reopenings), November 10 (announced November 4, settling November 16) and December 8, 2026 (reopening).^[5][6][7]