Wall Street bets on economic growth

On Wall Street, banks have wagered big bets that the economy will improve. The 18 banks that trade with the Federal Reserve have reported that holdings of U.S. government debt, in treasuries, has fallen at the fastest pace since 2004. Holdings of treasuries fell from $81.3 billion on November 24th to just $2.34 billion on December 29th. This dramatic drop indicates that the economy may be looking up, but it also makes the banks’ balance sheet look better since they hold less debt.

Louise Story, Wall Street and Finance reporter for The New York Times helps us understand the implications of Wall Street’s big sell off of treasuries.