Gyroscopic Investing

I think I am missing something within Vanguard when trying figure out how to buy treasuries directly.

I have an IRA brokerage account already setup and can find the bonds and CDs. All of the bonds and CDs besides treasuries have a buy/sell button.

When I looked at the treasuries in auction I see a list of the different treasuries but no buy/sell buttons. Maybe this is because there are no treasuries currently in auction?

When I search for treasuries in secondary market I receive the message "No offerings matched your search criteria." I didn't change the filters except to check off all of the treasuries like t-bills, notes, bonds.

Am I searching incorrectly or are there really no treasuries currently available at Vanguard?

Vanguard treasury listings do not become active until the auction is announced (usually a week before the auction).

So Vanguard doesn't allow purchases on the secondary market?

Pointedstick wrote: So Vanguard doesn't allow purchases on the secondary market?

Yes they do. You can do it online using their bond desk. No need to wait for an auction.

Is it because I am searching the secondary market when the bond desk is closed?

I found this blurb from here:

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/help/F ... ontent.jsp

Please note that bond trading hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Eastern time.

Auctions need to be announced, or Vanguard will not allow you to place orders for upcoming auctions.

The bond desk needs to have securities available that meet your search criteria.

If I remember correctly, you need to search while the bond desk is open.  I believe I posted my experience to the bond buying tutorial.  Too tired to look up the link to the post now, but I may link to it tomorrow if I remember.  Otherwise, try searching again tomorrow during business hours.

I recall doing successful weekend searches on ZionsDirect, which uses the same BondDesk system.

Maybe Vanguard is different?

When I tried looking up T-bonds on Vanguard last night it said no bonds matched my search criteria. But when I tried again this morning, a list of bonds showed up and I successfully bought one of them. So you just need to do the search during business hours.