Treasury Bonds, T-Bonds, Long Bond
Treasury bonds are also known as T-Bonds and the long bond. Of all the treasury instruments (like T-Bills and T-Notes) the have the longest maturity ranging from twenty to thirty years.
Like T-Notes they have a coupon payment every six months. Their most common issue maturity is thirty years.
There is a very active secondary market in T-Bonds which means that the most recent issues are commonly used as a proxy for long-term interest rates. When 30-year bonds have not recently been issued then the 10-year note will be used as this proxy.
For October-2001 to February-2006 the United States government suspended the issue of the 30-year T-Bond as it used its budget surpluses to pay down Federal debt. During this period the 10-year T-Note replaced the 30-year T-Bond as the proxy for the bond market.
At the time of writing this the 30-year T-Bond is issued quarterly.
Compare the following Treasury instruments: