Gary Siegel

Saying he is “very supportive” of Operation Twist last week, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston president Eric Rosengren noted that the move took 18 basis points off 30-year Treasury yields and 22 basis points from 30-year mortgage rates the first day it was announced, and more since.

The Treasury Department auctioned $35 billion of five-year notes, with a 1% coupon, a 1.015% high yield, a price of 99.927052.

About 3,947,100 online job postings appeared on leading Internet job boards in September, a decrease of 43,500 from August, The Conference Board reported Wednesday.

Saying he is “very supportive” of the Fed’s “Twist” last week, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren noted the move took 18 basis points off 30-year Treasury yields and 22 basis points from 30 -year mortgage rates the first day.

The consumer confidence index inched up to 45.4 in September from an upwardly revised 45.2 last month, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The benefits of "Operation Twist" did not outweigh the perceived costs, said Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas president Richard Fisher, so he voted against it at the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

"Operation Twist" will have a modest impact on the economy, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president Dennis Lockhart.

The municipal market is witnessing the unwinding of the Fed’s Operation Twist as yields for tax-exempts and Treasuries are backing up in the day’s sell-off.

The benefits of “operation twist” did not outweigh the perceived costs, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President and CEO Richard W. Fisher, therefore he voted against it at the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The Treasury Department today auctioned $35 billion of two-year notes with a 1/8% coupon at a 0.249% yield, a price of 99.752770.

“Operation Twist” will have a modest impact, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis P. Lockhart.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $30 billion of four-week bills at a zero high yield, a price of par.

“Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region contracted at a less pronounced rate this month,” according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. “Looking at the main components of activity, employment grew at a slightly quicker rate, while shipments exhibited more moderate weakness and new orders slipped further into negative territory. Evidence of diminished weakness was also reflected in most other indicators. District contacts reported that backlogs, capacity utilization, and delivery times remained negative but improved from August's readings. Manufacturers reported somewhat quicker growth in finished goods inventories.”

“Service sector activity weakened in September,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday, “Revenues dropped at both retail and non-retail establishments. Retail shopper traffic fell, and big-ticket sales also ended the month in decline. Merchants' inventories edged up on pace with a month ago. Retailers expected sales to remain weak for the six months ahead, and non-retail services providers anticipated flattening in business prospects over that period.”

The consumer confidence index inched up to 45.4 in September from an upwardly revised 45.2 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index was up 0.6% in August to a seasonally adjusted level of 85.0, as three of the four regional sectors showed improvement, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.

While the Federal Reserve’s use of monetary “policy tools has been completely appropriate,” Fed governor Sarah Bloom Raskin said it would have been nice if the Fed could have provided “precise quantitative information” for what each tool would do, but the effects of the tools are subject to “considerable uncertainty.”

A rate increase “promised date,” which could be manipulated based on economic conditions, could be the primary policy tool when the federal funds rate target is near zero, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis president James Bullard.

A rate increase “promised date,” which can be manipulated based on economic conditions, could be the primary policy tool when the fed funds rate target is near zero, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department’s latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were higher, as the three-months incurred a 0.020% high rate, up from 0.010% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.035% high rate, up from 0.030% the week before.