CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday that the Treasury’s expanded bond buybacks may ease pressure on markets for now, but the unusual intervention underscores the strain in the government debt market. “I think people want this [stock market] rally preserved in the worst way, and some would say they’re doing it in the worst way,” Cramer said on ” Squawk on the Street .” The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it will more than double the maximum size of its buybacks of longer-dated government debt to at least $4 billion from $2 billion. The move follows a recent sharp rise in bond yields, which move inversely to price. On Tuesday, the 30-year Treasury topped 5.33%, its highest level in nearly two decades . Yields fell sharply following Wednesday’s announcement, while stocks rose . “It’s a put. It’s an obvious put,” Cramer said, using an options term for a contract designed to protect an investor from downside risk. Cramer and others in the past have referred to the Trump administration’s tendency toward market-friendly policies as a “Trump put.” In Wednesday’s announcement, the Treasury said it will target securities in the 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year portions of the bond market, where demand has weakened. The program does not reduce the government’s overall debt load, but is designed to improve liquidity by buying back existing securities. Long-term yields have surged for several reasons, according to Cramer, including investors demanding greater compensation to hold longer-dated government debt, shifts in the Treasury buyer base, and a flood of corporate borrowing tied to the AI buildout. He said that corporate issuance competes with Treasury debt for investor capital, adding another source of pressure. Alphabet announced on Tuesday that it raised $3.9 billion through its first Australian-dollar bond offering, following plans to sell $85 billion worth of stock back in June. Cramer is cautious because while Treasury buying can ease yield pressure, it won’t eliminate the inflationary worries about Iran war-elevated oil prices that have pushed yields higher in the first place.
