Foreign Private Investors Dump Treasuries in Sept

MarketWatch alerted me to the fact that foreign private investors dumped the most Treasuries ever in the month of September based on Treasury International Capital System (TICS) data:

Foreign investors were net sellers of $18.3 billion of Treasurys in September, the largest amount on record, Treasury Department data released Friday showed. Overall, foreign investors bought a net $17.9 billion of long-term U.S. securities in September, down sharply from the $78.5 billion purchased in the prior month. This includes Treasurys, mortgage-related bonds, corporate bonds and equities. According to the data, China-based investors slightly increased their holdings of U.S. Treasurys in the month. Foreigners made net purchases of $23.4 billion of U.S. equities in September, up from $6.1 billion in the prior month

The official data is here if you want to see it. Here's hoping that private foreigners get rid of more of this dollar-denominated detritus in the near-term as we head towards the fiscal cliff and the inevitable downgrades of US sovereign debt. That should teach those current account deficit lovers a thing or two.