Just like yesterday's 3 Year $32 billion bond auction, so today's 9-year 10-month $21 billion re-reopening of Cusip VB3 [4]was largely much better than last month's auction, if not quite stellar, driven likely by the jump in rates, which rose from 1.81% in May, to 2.21% in June to 2.67% today, which was on top of the 2.669% When Issued, and the highest auction yield since July 2011 or right before the first debt ceiling crisis. Today's Bid To Cover, while better than last month's ugly 2.53, was still the second worst since August's 2.49. Finally, the internals were uninspiring, with Dealers taking down $9.5 billion of the precious collateral (10 Year was once again special today at -0.30%) or 45.2% of the total meaning Bernanke can proceed to monetize another $10 or so billion in the 15 Year range for one more month, slightly higher than the LTM average, while Indirects left with 38.6% (in light with the average), and Directs got 16.3% of the auction. Altogether a forgettable auction that was just good enough to relieve the now monthly collateral shortage that gets worst just before auctions.

