Gary Siegel

Existing home sales increased 1.4% in October to a seasonally adjusted 4.97 million-unit rate, after a downwardly revised 4.90 million unit rate in September, the National Association of Realtors announced Monday.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for October narrowed to negative 0.13 from a revised negative 0.20 reading in September, while the three-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) dropped to negative 0.27 in September, from October’s revised negative 0.16, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.

The composite index of leading economic indicators soared 0.9% in October, the Conference Board reported Friday.

The unemployment rate will remain above 7% for the next three years and the country won’t be at “maximum employment until 2016,” Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco president and chief executive John C. Williams said Friday.

The unemployment rate will remain above 7% for the next three years and the country won’t be at “maximum employment until 2016,” Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and CEO John C. Williams said Friday.

The composite index of Leading Economic Indicators soared 0.9% in October, the Conference Board reported Friday.

The Fed’s monetary policy is “appropriate in this economic environment,” supporting recovery and keeping inflation in check, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland president Sandra Pianalto.

The Fed can do more to help the economy and buying mortgage-backed securities could be a good start, since it would boost the beleaguered housing market, William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said Thursday.

The region’s manufacturing sector expanded in November but at an extremely slow pace, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicated.

The Fed can do more to help the economy, and buying mortgage-backed securities could be a good start, since it would boost the beleaguered housing market, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said Thursday.

The Treasury Department sold $11 billion of inflation-indexed 9-year 8-month TIPs at a 0.099% yield, an adjusted price of 105.733846, with a 5/8% coupon.

The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy is “appropriate in this economic environment,” supporting recovery and keeping inflation in check, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $35 billion two-year notes on Monday, Nov. 21, and $35 billion five-year notes on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $29 billion seven-year notes on Wednesday, Nov. 23.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $29 billion 91-day bills and $27 billion 182-day discount bills Monday.

The region's manufacturing sector expanded in November but at an extremely slow pace slower than in October, as the general business conditions index slipped to 3.6 from 8.7 in October, this month’s Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

The extraordinary actions taken by the Fed during the financial crisis were a “problematic exercise in credit allocation,” according to Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, who added that purchases of Treasuries could have created the same “expansion of reserve supply.”

Eric Rosengren, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, aimed to discredit four misconceptions about the Fed, including that further monetary policy actions will not help the economy.

The extraordinary actions taken by the Fed during the financial crisis were a “problematic exercise in credit allocation,” according to Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey M. Lacker, who added purchases of U.S. Treasury securities could have created the same “expansion of reserve supply.”

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President and Chief Executive Officer Eric S. Rosengren aimed to discredit four misconceptions about the Fed – that it is not audited or supervised, not transparent, has caused inflation by printing money, and that further monetary policy actions will not help the economy - in a speech to the Boston Economic Club.