Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joins exclusively to speak about the Treasury&#x27;s bond market intervention this week, the deficit, the war with Iran and much more. Then, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem joins exclusively to discuss his outlook for Fed rate policy and inflation. Plus, Morgan Stanley Head of Global Real Assets Lauren Hochfelder shares where she sees investment opportunity right now.<br><br>Squawk on the Street Disclaimer<br><br>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

11AM Hour: Exclusive Interviews with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent & St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem 8/20/26

Squawk on the Street

[SPEAKER_05] Good morning again. Welcome back to Squawk on the Street. I'm Sarah Eisen with Carl Quintanilla, live from Post 9 of the New York Stock Exchange. Today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joins us exclusively in just a moment, his first interview since the Treasury announced new buybacks in the bond market and intervention this week.

[SPEAKER_02] Then St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem joins us in an exclusive interview while he says the Fed probably should have hiked back in July.

[SPEAKER_05] Let's start, though, with this bond move. Yields are rebounding today after the Treasury increased its buyback limit on longer-dated securities yesterday. And joining us now in a CNBC exclusive interview to discuss is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Secretary Bessent, welcome back. It's good to see you.

[SPEAKER_09] Sarah, good morning. Good to see you.

[SPEAKER_05] So talk us through what you are trying to do here by announcing the increased size of the buybacks.

[SPEAKER_09] Yeah, we're trying to signal that we think that this is a thinly traded area of the market, that we're in August, and there's been a lot of corporate issuance that's influenced the market. And, you know, we believe that there are many underlying factors that the market is not looking at. And, you know, we are going to make a market in these.

[SPEAKER_09] We routinely do buybacks, and we're going to increase the size of the buyback. And, you know, Sarah, I would note that it could be more than the $4 billion per issue.

[SPEAKER_05] Yeah, I was going to ask how big this could get. If the signal here is that you're not happy with the direction of yields, you know, they've gone back the other way.

11AM Hour: Exclusive Interviews with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent & St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem 8/20/26

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

11AM Hour: Exclusive Interviews with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent & St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem 8/20/26

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.