A friend of mine who arranges estate sales told me about it, and I made an early purchase ahead of the auction.

Dealers had aggressively sold at the end of last week to bring prices down and yields up ahead of the auction.

Another factor was dealers clearing inventories ahead of the auction.

The yield spread between Italian and German bonds narrowed ahead of the auction, which is expected to mirror yesterday's success.

"They have to get their lots in, describe them and take good pictures, all two weeks ahead of the auction."

Since many had already sold some to customers ahead of the auction, they had to buy the notes quickly, which helped add momentum to the rally.

But because so many dealers wanted nothing to to with the new 30-year bond, they did not go short ahead of the auction, traders said.

Talk among traders ahead of the two-year auction indicated that they did not expect great demand.

In when-issued trading ahead of the auction, dealers were offering the notes at a price to yield 5.31 percent.

The euro is sliding in value this morning ahead of the French auction.