The new Treasury Secretary has now been on the job for a week, and today he gave some signals to markets.

Signal #1): This morning, the Treasury released plans to rollover Treasury debt that matures in the quarter.

Remember, Bessent himself said that Janet Yellen left the bond market in a vulnerable position.  She funded the deficit last year, largely with short-term debt.  That helped to suppress longer-term interest rates, which proved to maintain confidence in markets at the time.

But it leaves Bessent with a third of the outstanding government debt to rollover this year.

For now, Bessent is going to stick with the Yellen’s strategy — not to rock the bond market boat.

It signals near-term stability, and the perception that Bessent is confident he’ll see lower rates later in the year, to issue longer term maturities.

The bond market liked it.  The 10-year yield fell 20 basis points on the day.

Signal #2): In an interview later in the day, Bessent made his appeal to Congress to make the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent.  And adding a little pressure, he warned not doing so would result in the biggest tax hike in history.

Remember, in his Senate confirmation hearing three weeks ago, he said that if Congress were to communicate to markets, the intent to make the tax cuts permanent, that it would unleash animal spirits and “a new golden age” for the economy.

Signal #3): In the same interview, he conveyed confidence that inflation would come down, rates would come down, and wars would end, with the presence of lower energy prices (by “unleashing American oil”).

Signal #4):  When prodded for an official statement on the dollar, as Treasury Secretary, Bessent said, “there is no alternative to the dollar.”