Solid demand for the Btp Italia, even if far from the records.
But above all, 'mini' size orders for the security that protects against inflation, with an average size of contracts signed by Italians that has never been so low, which signals a rush by small savers to look for an anti-inflation 'shield'.
It is the balance sheet of the first day of subscription of the new round of shares.
That the Treasury was betting precisely on savings, for a bond that has already been created for retail customers to whom the first three days of the placement are dedicated (Thursday it closes with institutional ones), was clear right away.
Six years of duration, a reduced time just to meet savings.
A guaranteed minimum rate of 1.6%, the six-monthly coupon, and the real rate linked to inflation, and then the loyalty bonus of 8 per thousand and the preferential taxation.
But there is something else that is pushing many simple savers to bet on the Btp Italia: from the banks filters a race of many current account holders to bet on an investment that protects against inflation, guarantees regular payments, allows the use of money , left in the current account, are literally 'eaten' by 10% inflation.
And so it is not so much asset management, or private banking, that is moving.
But rather it is the small saver who has decided to defend himself against the price boom,
at the bank counter or increasingly via home banking.
The numbers of the first day of subscription of the Btp Italia, which in its eighteenth edition celebrates ten years with the new November 2028 deadline, are 3.185 billion euros of requests, a figure slightly lower than the June edition and far from past records.
The number of contracts is high, over 103,077, well above the 88,590 in June and just below the 'record' of 109,025 of the May 2020 edition, amidst the chaos of the pandemic.
But above all, dividing the amount by the contracts we arrive at an average of 30,899: a sign that, if it is not the return of the 'Bot-People', surely the average availability to invest of the subscribers is lower.
More and more families, perhaps frightened by the roller coaster of the Stock Exchange and looking for a port and safe returns.
Good news for the Treasury: for months the goal has been to diversify subscribers to 'bonds' by increasingly involving retail.
Because the central banks are in retreat (the ECB will discuss quantitative tightening in December, i.e. how to 'dismantle' quantitative easing).
And the commercial banks, now that the ECB has started withdrawing the maxi Tltro loans, removing an undeniable incentive for the 'carry trade' (borrowing short-term and using funds long-term),
