In lieu of the release of April's TIC.......>

US TSYS: In lieu of the release of April's TIC flow data J.P.Morgan noted that

"foreign investors sold a total of $176.7bn of long-term Treasuries, the second

largest sale on record following closely behind Mar '20. Similarly to Mar,

foreign private investors drove this selling, shedding $129.9bn... and official

institutions sold $46.4bn. Cumulatively, foreign investors have now sold $446bn

in Treasuries in '20, on track to eclipse the largest annual foreign selling of

$326bn observed in '16. To an extent, these massive sales indicate why it was so

easy for the Fed to buy nearly $650bn Treasuries in April. Just as we observed

last month, the Cayman Islands were the largest net sellers, shedding $66bn in

Treasuries over the month & over $200bn YTD: it is well known that a sig. share

of hedge funds are domiciled there, & this flow likely represents liquidations

of levered carry trades. Meanwhile, oil-exporting nations sold $18bn Treasuries,

likely to replace lost revenue as oil prices declined on avg in April & hovered

near their lowest levels since '03. Finally, Ireland sold $5.9bn: many

multinationals have ops there, and this selling was likely to raise liquidity

during a period where biz ground to a halt & capital markets largely shut down."