Investors collectively own $28T in US Treasury securities

What are Treasury yields?

Treasury yields are the interest rates that the US government pays to borrow money for different lengths of time. Specifically, Treasury yields are interest rates on US government debt. They reflect economic outlooks and inflation expectations. Learn more about Treasury yields here.

Bond yields are the returns investors earn from their bond’s interest—and they're a key economic barometer

Bond yields are considered a major indicator of how the US and global economies are doing, and where they’re headed. When bond yields increase, this tends to mean the cost to borrow money is also increasing.

Nearly 70% of the US government’s debt is domestic

This includes intragovernmental holdings like the Social Security Trust Fund and investments from US citizens, banks, and mutual funds. About 30% is foreign-held, with countries like Japan and China as major creditors, investing in US Treasury securities due to their perceived safety.

If the US government paid off its debt, it could disrupt the entire bond market

Treasury bonds are some of the most common bonds for investors, and the majority of the national debt is in bonds.

Treasury bonds, notes, and bills are critical vehicles for the federal government to raise money for public expenses and manage the national debt

For investors, they're all usually considered low-risk options since they’re backed by the federal government.

The current federal budget, deficit, and debt, in charts

The US Treasury regularly publishes updated data on the federal budget, and this site hosts visualizations of that data. See reports on spending, revenues, deficits, and where the national debt stands.

The debt ceiling is the threshold Congress sets for federal borrowing

If the US reaches this limit and Congress doesn’t pass a bill to raise it, the government cannot repay its debts. Suddenly, investors would lose assurance that the Treasury would make good on its securities, which have long been considered the safest type of investment.

Stablecoins like USDC are backed by real assets including US Treasurys and cash

While Tether (USDT) is primarily backed by US Treasury bills (64.9%), USDC is mostly backed by US Treasury repurchase agreements (49.6%). USDC also goes by the name Circle, given that it is owned by the company Circle Internet Financial.

The Dow remains a shorthand for America’s economic health

For over a century, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been one of the most closely watched market barometers. Its rises and falls dominate headlines and politics, shaping how Americans perceive the strength of their economy.

The Federal Reserve follows the health of the US economy by tracking the money supply

That includes all of the physical and electronic money in circulation. It tracks not only US coins and bills, but also the money that moves through bank deposits. The Fed uses metrics called trackers to follow different types of transactions through the money supply.

Visualizing 40 years of interest rates

The history of interest rates are a proxy of macroeconomic conditions, with higher interest rates indicating periods of decline requiring artificial central stimulation. In a series of charts illustrating rates and their background conditions, you can see the movement of the economy over a forty-year period ending in 2020. Dive into the data here.

Understanding the low corporate tax rate in the US

Corporate taxes, which make up roughly a third of the federal government's revenue, have been calculated using a flat 21% rate since the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017. The current rate is considered low both by historic standards (it averaged over 50% in the 1950s and 1960s) and compared to other countries.

The US Government sells two types of savings bonds: EE bonds and I bonds

EE bonds have fixed interest rates that the buyer is informed of when they purchase the bond. I bonds, however, earn a rate that can change every six months. A comparative chart details the most significant differences between EE bonds and I bonds.

Visualizing the world's wealth in 2019

The world has a net worth of $360T. The U.S. economy continues to dominate given its sheer size, Asia and Europe are not that far behind.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

Private credit grew from a $250B asset class in 2010 to around $1.5T in early 2024

That's partly due to the industry's rising interest rates that created more upside for investors. Interest rates have increased in recent years alongside the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes beginning in 2022. Private credit loans typically stretch over multiple years (typically between five and seven years, although term lengths vary).

The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, was worth roughly $1.47T as of February 2024

That fund (and the other seven largest mutual funds by assets) is an index fund, meaning it invests in a specific set of preset securities.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Investors rely on the S&P 500 as a benchmark for the state of the economy

Since the index represents a broad range of diverse industries, it's become a proxy for the market itself and a common benchmark for investors to compare returns and performance patterns against. Generally speaking, when someone says a stock is under- or out-performing the market, that actually means under- or out-performing the S&P 500. The S&P 500 is exchange-agnostic, and includes companies listed on both the NYSE and Nasdaq.

Test your ETF knowledge

A 10-question quiz from the SEC allows investors to test their basic knowledge about exchange-traded funds and their investing counterparts, mutual funds. Here’s a sample question: Is the past performance of a fund a good indicator of future results? (Hint, the answer is no).

Evaluating college endowment returns

According to a new study, US college and university endowments achieved an average net return of 11.2% in fiscal year 2024. Harvard University maintained its position as the largest endowment, valued at $53.2B. Read this Forbes article to learn more about how institutions manage and grow their financial resources through endowments.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Securities is a term used to describe different types of investments

Not every type of investment qualifies as a security (like property or gold). Securities fall under four main categories (equity, debt, derivative, and hybrid) that serve different functions in the market.

Dive into the fascinating journey of a Federal Reserve note

Ever wondered how long an individual dollar bill lasts? After cash is designed and produced, money circulates in the economy, with $100 bills staying in use for the longest on average—roughly 15 years—and the $10 lasting just less than five.

The market share of institutional investors in the US housing market is less than 1%

Institutional investors have drawn negative media attention for their purported role in limiting housing supply and driving housing unaffordability. This report separates myth from fact in the nuanced discussion around institutional investors' role in the US housing market.

Mental illness in the US costs roughly $282B annually nationwide

That figure, estimated as part of a 2024 Yale analysis that aimed to better understand the macroeconomic implications of mental illness, included the costs of mental health treatment, income loss, and overarching economic setbacks associated with mental illness.

Why the employment report matters to Wall Street

On the first Friday of every month, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the infamous "jobs report." The report essentially tracks how US employment is doing, from the unemployment rate to the number of people in the US currently on payroll. But most importantly, the jobs report has major implications for the economy at large. To find out how this monthly report impacts Wall Street, read this article.

40 key stock market terms, explained

Liquidity. Forex. Capitalization. Blue chip stocks. These are just a few pieces of stock market vocabulary most people who don't spend all day on a trading floor might not know. Thankfully, we found a fun infographic that makes it easier to learn what 40 key stock market terms mean and why each of them matters.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

About 12.5% of US adults experience a phobia in their lifetime, a diagnosis that hinges on the intense fear interfering with daily life and persisting for at least six months.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day