Bids ÷ amount offered. Above 2.5× means strong demand. Also called: demand quorum, avg b2c. Finviro's term: “Bid-to-Cover”.
What this ratio is
Bid-to-Cover (Bid-to-Cover) measures investor appetite at US Treasury auctions: total bids submitted divided by the amount offered. A ratio of 2.5 means demand was two and a half times the supply. The reading comes from comparing it with recent auctions of the same maturity.
Why it matters to a stock trader at all
Because a weak auction means the world's largest debt market is asking a higher yield to absorb the supply. Yields rise, and so does the cost of discounting future earnings, which presses stock valuations, especially the longest-dated ones (growth and tech). A failed auction looks like a bond event but is really an event for every asset.
Reading both layers
The ratio alone is half the story. Read it with the auction tail (the gap between the auction yield and the trading yield just before it; a long tail means demand came on worse terms) and the buyer mix (the share of international and indirect buyers). Strong coverage with a long tail is a mixed message, not a success.
Hypothetical example
A 10-year note auction with coverage of 2.18 against an average of 2.52, and a wide tail: plainly lukewarm demand. Yields jumped after the result and growth stocks fell in the same hour. Anyone watching the auction understood the source of the wave before the evening headlines.
Common mistake
Reading the ratio in isolation from its sibling: coverage differs structurally between short and long maturities. 2.8 is ordinary for bills of a few months and excellent for 30-year bonds. Always compare against the average for the same maturity.
Read it in two layers, not as one number
The ratio alone is half the story. Read it with the auction tail (how far the auction yield sits from the trading yield just before it) and the buyer mix. Strong coverage with a long tail is a mixed message, not a success. Always compare against the average for the same maturity, not a general threshold.
Where to see it on the platform
The macro calendar schedules upcoming auctions, and the Treasury flows dashboard shows their results with ratios and tails against their averages.
The Treasury flows dashboard shows the ratios, tails and buyer mix against their averages.
