// definition
Bid-to-cover
Auction coverage ratio
Short definition
The ratio of the face amount bid to the face amount awarded within the defined scope of an auction. Bids reflect different price conditions. Interpretation requires comparable securities and auction rules, alongside prices and allocations; a universal threshold cannot establish the strength of demand.
risk atlas
Knowledge map
Intuition
The bid-to-cover measures the cushion of bids around an issue, but it is not enough without reading the tail and the split between dealers, directs and indirects.
Why it matters now
A large, uncompetitive bid can raise the ratio without changing awards. The volume bid needs to be read alongside the terms at which the securities were placed.
Related analyses
Related guides
- Reading the Treasuries marketCurve, auctions, holders and the term premium.
Related datasets
- risk.jsonPublic snapshot of the risk signals.
- debt-risk.jsonDebt Risk Radar snapshot with provenance.
- risk-diff.json1, 7 and 30-day diff of signals, sources and models.
- signals/history.jsonPoint-in-time history of the signals.
Signals using it
- MethodologyDebt, interest burden, current stress and structural vulnerability.
- Risk DiffRecent change in risk and source freshness.
- Black Box RecorderHashed frames to replay a point-in-time state.
Primary sources
- U.S. Treasury, bid-to-cover definitionRatio of face amounts and limits of interpretation.