On September 21, 2011, Ben Bernanke's Fed announced Operation Twist. Actually, it was Twist #2 since the Fed had first thought up and executed a program like it all the way back in the 1960's. The mechanics of a twist are simple enough. As shorter-term UST debt that the Fed already holds comes due, the proceeds are reinvested in replacement securities having a comparatively longer maturity. That's the twist.
The reason the central bank had come into possession of so many Treasury bonds and bills was quantitative easing, or QE. That sort of program had already been repeated and had been terminated only a few months before.
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