set -x can't see > actions

[Dan Jacobson]

I'm sure it's in accordance with the rules of set,

              -x      After  expanding  each simple command, dis-
                      play the expanded value of PS4, followed by
                      the command and its expanded arguments.

but I find it rather disquieting that running

a="comp.risks comp.security.announce gnu.announce"
set -x
cd /var/spool/news/interesting.groups &&
  for i in $a; do > $i; done
sleep 2
touch $a

reveals no trace whatsoever of the most significant action, ">"

+ cd /var/spool/news/interesting.groups
+ sleep 2
+ touch comp.risks comp.security.announce gnu.announce

it's just like it never happened, [or didn't it?].  Sure one can set
-v also, but that's not ideal either.

Hmmm, too bad one can't see output like
+ > comp.risks
+ > comp.security.announce
+ > gnu.announce

Again, I'm sure all's in accordance with the rules, it's just not
ideal, that's all.
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