Yesterday, the biggest federal contract went to a commodities broker — 42.4 million dollars in raw silver, bought by the U.S. Treasury for the Mint.

The seller, StoneX Financial, supplied bullion destined to become coin blanks; that single transaction put Treasury second among all agencies for the day.

Federal obligations totaled 392 million across 1,651 transactions — down 81 percent from the prior day's two-billion-dollar surge, but nearly five times the same weekday last week. Agriculture actually led at 59 million, with Leidos and Caddell Construction rounding out the top vendors.

Want to know what the Treasury bought yesterday that beat every defense contractor?