Bessent's efforts in the Treasury market so far haven't worked. Here's what else he can try

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted Thursday that he has multiple weapons at his disposal to quell liquidity problems in the government debt market and restore calm.

While that's true in itself, a two-pronged effort he has deployed so far — accelerated buybacks and an effort to talk the market into accepting the rationale — has met with little success.

The Treasury announcement Wednesday that it would at least double its bond buybacks starting in early September sent yields tumbling as investors applauded a backstop for longer-maturity government bonds.

However, yields at the long end quickly rose again Thursday as market experts showed skepticism at whether the push would succeed against a bevy of factors working against Treasurys.

Then on Thursday, Bessent appeared on CNBC with assurances that the intervention was merely aimed at providing market liquidity and not at trying to control the yield curve. While yields initially nudged lower, they quickly rebounded amid criticism of how the prior day's announcement was rolled out, leading one analyst to characterize the appearance as having "minimal impact" on the market pressures.

Still, that leaves Bessent with a variety of options that he may yet choose to deploy.

"We have a big toolkit," the Treasury chief said. "Part of it is signaling here and to show that we believe that the yields don't reflect the underlying fundamentals."

Yet markets are still worried, and criticism rose that the size of the buybacks, which Bessent confirmed could exceed $4 billion, would be rendered ineffective in such a large market.