镜音双子之喂我陪你:违约阴影下美国国债遭抛售

Concern that the US Treasury may delay debt payments next week pushed yields on short-term bills to new peaks on Thursday, as traders and investors sold down their holdings ahead of a crucial vote in the House of Representatives.

由于担忧美国财政部(US Treasury)可能在下周推迟偿还债务，交易员和投资者在美国众议院(House of Representatives)举行关键投票之前纷纷减持美国国债，这使得短期国债收益率在周四达到新高。

With uncertainty still surrounding the prospects of a congressional agreement to lift America’s borrowing limit by August 2, Wall Street’s leading chief executives wrote to President Barack Obama and lawmakers to warn of the “very grave” consequences of a default and urged the politicians to cut a deal “this week”.

美国国会在8月2日前就提高债务上限达成协议的前景仍笼罩着不确定性，华尔街(Wall Street)最重要的十几名首席执行官致函美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)和国会议员，警告债务违约会产生“十分严峻”的后果，敦促政治人物“本周”达成妥协。

The yield on the bill that matures on August 4 , which returned no interest earlier this month, rose to 20 basis points. In a rare “inversion” of the short-term yield curve, it was deemed more risky than the bill maturing in three months’ time, which now yields 7 bps.

将于8月4日到期的美国国债的收益率上升到了20个基点，该只国债在本月初还没有利息回报率。短期债券收益率曲线出现罕见的“反向”走势，该只国债被认为比三个月后到期的国债风险更高，后者当前的收益率为7个基点。

A bill trader said his desk dumped all of their Treasuries maturing in August because “no one is sure what will happen”.

一名短期债券交易者称，他的团队抛售了所有将在8月到期的美国国债，因为“谁都不确定会发生什么”。

All eyes in Washington were on the outcome of a House vote on a two-stage plan, with a defeat threatening to further complicate the path to a deal. The main difference between the Democratic and Republican parties remains whether to extend the debt limit beyond the 2012 presidential election, as the White House prefers, or have to raise it again early next year.

华盛顿所有观察者的目光都集中在众议院两阶段方案的投票结果上，如果两阶段方案失败，将会使达成协议的路线更加复杂。民主党和共和党之间的主要分歧在于，要将债务上限一次性提高到2012年总统选举之后，还是在明年上半年再提高一次。白宫倾向于前者。

Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon were among 14 bank and insurance chief executives who signed the letter along with Rob Nichols, the head of the Financial Services Forum, the umbrella association for the biggest financial groups in the US.

联名写信的14名银行和保险公司的首席执行官包括高盛(Goldman Sachs)首席执行官劳尔德•贝兰克梵(Lloyd Blankfein)、摩根大通(JPMorgan)首席执行官杰米•戴蒙(Jamie Dimon)，还包括美国金融服务业论坛(Financial Services Forum)负责人罗伯特•尼科斯(Robert Nichols)。金融服务业论坛是由美国最大的金融集团所组成的行业团体。

The letter said a default, still perceived as unlikely, or a downgrade from triple A, which analysts believe is increasingly likely, “would be a tremendous blow to business and investor confidence – raising interest rates for everyone who borrows, undermining the value of the dollar, and roiling stock and bond markets”.

这封联名信称，债务违约（目前仍被视为可能性不高），或者主权评级降至低于AAA（分析师们认为可能性越来越高），“可能会对企业和投资者的信心造成巨大打击，提高各方的贷款利率，压低美元币值，重创股票和债券市场。”

Additional reporting by Richard Milne in London and Jamil Anderlini in Beijing

理查德•米尔恩(Richard Milne)伦敦，吉密欧(Jamil Anderlini)北京补充报道