4-Week Treasury Bill Sale Brings $10 Billion

The Treasury Department sold $10 billion in four-week bills at a discount rate of 3.56%, down from 3.59% last week, which marked the first auction of the new security.

The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors--3.621% for four-week bills with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,972.30.

Unlike the three-month and six-month Treasury bills, the new four-week bills cannot be purchased directly from the government by individual investors. Treasury says individual investors can purchase the four-week bills from banks, brokers and securities dealers.