// definition
Primary dealer
Designated market maker in Treasuries
Short definition
A trading counterparty of the New York Fed, expected to bid on a pro-rata basis in Treasury auctions at reasonably competitive prices. In auction results, the primary-dealer category records bids for its own account. Its awards depend on bid prices and competing offers; its share alone identifies neither client purchases nor the strength of demand.
risk atlas
Knowledge map
Intuition
A dealer can bid for its own balance sheet and submit client bids. Auction categories separate these channels without tracing subsequent ownership.
Why it matters now
In a bigger, more volatile market, bond intermediation itself becomes a risk variable.
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
- New York Fed, Primary DealersCounterparty status and expected participation in Treasury auctions.
- TreasuryDirect, bidder categoriesOwn-account bids and client bids.