Foreign inflows fall short

Foreigners dropped their appetite for U.S. debt securities:

Foreign officials – read, central banks – were net sellers of $15 billion in U.S. securities, the first negative number since 2003 and the largest in more than six years. These are the steady flows that make our economy hum.

Among the sellers, the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, Japan, pared its position by about a billion to $679 billion. China, the No. 2 holder, reduced its stake by a billion and a half to $223 billion.

Closer to home, Great Britain was unseated from its position of No. 3 holder by a bunch of Caribbean hedge funds. These "fast-money" players raised their position to $137 billion from $105 billion.

This could be a trend which could lead to much higher interest rates.Dallas Morning News.