Gary Siegel

Initial jobless claims dropped 2,000 to 339,000 in the week ended November 9, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The Treasury Department auctioned $24 billion of 10-year notes with a 2 3/4% coupon at a 2.750% high yield, a price of par.

The Treasury Department Wednesday auctioned $25 billion of 364-day bills at a 0.135% high yield, a price of 99.863500.

The Treasury Department Wednesday auctioned $45 billion of four-week bills at a 0.060% high yield, a price of 99.995333.

The Federal Open Market Committee's recent statement that tapering will depend on the economic outlook and the "costs and efficacy," could suggest to some The FOMC "is not following a goal-oriented approach to monetary policy," Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota said Tuesday.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $30 billion of three-year notes with a 5/8% coupon at a 0.644% yield, a price of 99.943637.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were higher, as the three-months incurred a 0.075% high rate, up from 0.050% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.095% high rate, up from 0.085% the week before.

The Treasury Department said Tuesday it will sell $45 billion of four-week discount bills Wednesday.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) slipped to 113.65 in September from a downwardly revised 114.68 in September, initially reported as 114.78, and is up 4.9% from a year ago, the group announced Tuesday.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for September grew to positive 0.14 from a revised positive 0.13 reading in August, while the three-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) improved to negative 0.03 from a revised negative 0.15 in August, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Tuesday.

The University of Michigan's preliminary November consumer sentiment index reading was 72.0, compared to the final October 73.2, the preliminary October 75.2 reading, and the final September 77.5, according to market sources.

U.S. inflationary pressures were slightly lower in October, as the U.S. future inflation gauge inched down to 99.5 from the revised September 100.1 reading, originally reported 100.0, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

Non-farm payrolls rose by 204,000 in October and the unemployment rate climbed to 7.3% from 7.2% in in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $25 billion year bills on Nov. 13.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $33 billion 91-day bills and $29 billion 182-day discount bills Tuesday.

The European Central Bank announced its Governing Council cut interest rates 25 basis points on its main refinancing rate at its latest monetary policy meeting Thursday.

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form increased about $385 million in October to a total of $202.512 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Wednesday.

While labor markets have made "meaningful progress" since quantitative easing began, inflation remains below the 2% target set by the Fed, and with "limited experience with asset purchases," Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President and CEO Sandra Pianalto, said "it pays to be cautious."

The composite index of Leading Economic Indicators was up 0.7% in September following an unrevised 0.7% increase in August, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The Treasury Department said it will raise $6.5 billion in new cash with its November quarterly refunding, selling $63.5 billion: $30 billion 3-year notes on November 12, $24 billion in 10-year notes on November 13 and $16 billion in 30-year bonds on November 14.