U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said on Thursday his recent, atypical
moves—viewed as aimed at lowering yields, including an expanded bond repo
facility and a rare yen intervention—were partly a response to Iranian actions
he said were trying to use bond yields or oil prices to create economic problems
for the U.S. He said, "I’m not doing this for the election." Bessent clarified a
comment two days earlier that "I’m the house" in the context of Japan and the
yen, saying he was not issuing a challenge to traders, did not mean he is always
right, but wanted to signal he has superior information and to provide markets a
reasoned framework to avoid panic.
