Net Long-Term TIC Flows

Net Long-Term TIC Flows is the short name for Net Foreign Acquisition of Long-Term Securities. It is published by the US Department of the Treasury through TIC, Treasury International Capital. It tracks monthly portfolio flows, meaning stock and bond trades without business control, between US and foreign residents. It covers debt and shares with maturity over 1 year, excluding direct investment, meaning controlling stakes, plus valuation shifts and bank positions.

Data cover a month ending about 1.5 months before release. Release comes around business day 11 plus 0 to 3 days at 4 pm Washington time. The press release appears first on the Treasury press page, with data posted soon after. If Washington offices close on release day, release waits until after reopening.

Tables show billions of dollars without seasonal smoothing, with short-term securities, bank liabilities, private-official splits and 12-month totals. 4 releases each year revise data for 12 months, other releases revise data for 3 months, with long-term lines revised up to 24 months. Quarterly companions add derivatives and nonbank positions, while annual surveys cover portfolio holdings.

Flows split into US securities bought by foreigners and foreign securities bought by US residents, each by security type.

• US Treasury bonds and notes: Captures foreign net buying of long-term Treasury debt, split into private and official demand.
• US agency bonds: Captures foreign demand for agency long-term debt from government-linked bodies.
• US corporate and other bonds: Captures demand for corporate and other long-term debt, including asset-backed securities backed by loans.
• US equities: Captures demand for US shares, including ADRs counted as US equities.
• Foreign bonds and equities: Captures US buying of foreign bonds and shares, where negative values mean net US buying, a capital outflow.
• Other acquisitions: Captures leftover adjustments for bond repayments, stock swaps and nonmarketable notes, and it equals 0.0 by rule.

In one published release, foreigners bought US long-term securities net 131.6 billion dollars, with private buyers at 120.1 and official buyers at 11.4. Inside the official total, official investors sold Treasury bonds and notes net -6.4 and agency bonds net -3.5, with private equities at 77.2. US residents bought foreign securities shown as -35.4, with foreign bonds at -28.5 and equities at -6.9, partly offsetting the inflow. Net transactions were 96.1 and other acquisitions were 0.0, so the headline was 96.1, with a 12-month total of 681.4.

1. Domestic securities, net: Gross US sales of US securities minus gross US purchases, where positive means net foreign buying, an inflow. Example: 500.0 minus 470.0 equals 30.0.
2. Foreign securities, net: Gross US sales of foreign securities minus gross purchases, where negative means net US buying, an outflow. Example: 150.0 minus 162.0 equals -12.0.
3. Net transactions: Domestic net plus foreign net, for example 30.0 plus -12.0 equals 18.0.
4. Other acquisitions: Leftover adjustments for repayments, swaps and nonmarketable notes, and it equals 0.0 by rule.
5. Headline: Transactions plus other acquisitions, so 18.0 plus 0.0 equals 18.0 billion dollars of net foreign acquisition.
6. No weighting or seasonal adjustment: Totals are raw billions of dollars with no weights or calendar smoothing.