Gary Siegel

The region’s manufacturing sector showed improvement in November, as the general business conditions index surged to 22.5 from 1.0 in October, this month’s Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

The composite index of leading economic indicators met economist expectations in October by growing 0.5%, the Conference Board reported Thursday.

NEW YORK – Monetary policy should be focused mostly on inflation, and to a lesser degree on output growth, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and Chief Executive Officer Charles I. Plosser said today.

NEW YORK – The federal Reserve should promote price stability to get the economy moving, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President and CEO Sandra Pianalto.

NEW YORK – A three-pronged approach to stimulus can provide the equivalent of a 100-basis-point rate cut by the Fed, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota said.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department said Wednesday it will auction $29 billion 91-day bills and $28 billion 182-day discount bills Monday.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department said it will auction $35 billion two-year notes on Monday, November 22, and $35 billion five-year notes on Tuesday, November 23.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department said it will auction $29 billion seven-year notes on Wednesday, November 24.

NEW YORK – The region's manufacturing sector showed improvement in November, as the general business conditions index surged to 22.5 from 1.0 in October, this month’s Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

NEW YORK - The composite index of Leading Economic Indicators grew 0.5% in October, the Conference Board reported today.

The private sector should provide housing finance, with neither government incentives nor taxpayer-backing, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis president and chief executive officer James Bullard said Wednesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee was spurred to action by the prospect of extended periods of high unemployment or disinflation, which “could be quite high and potentially very damaging,” Federal Reserve Bank of Boston president Eric Rosengren said Wednesday.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department today sold $25 billion 56-day cash management bills, dated November 19, due January 13, 2011, at a 0.125% high tender rate.

NEW YORK ¨C The private sector should provide housing finance, with no government incentives and no taxpayer-backing, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President and CEO James Bullard said Wednesday.

NEW YORK – With the economy still sluggish, the Federal Open Market Committee needed to take action because the costs of extended periods of high unemployment or disinflation “could be quite high and potentially very damaging,” Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President and Chief Executive Officer Eric S. Rosengren said today.

NEW YORK – Mortgage loan application volume fell 14.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ended November 12, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly mortgage applications survey, released Wednesday, as the cost of mortgages rose.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $23 billion of 364-day bills at a 0.280% high yield and a price of 99.716889.

Chain store sales fell 0.1% in the week ended Nov. 13, but were up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot released Tuesday.

Builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes lifted slightly in November as the National Association of Home Builders’ housing market index inched up to 16 from 15.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $25 billion of four-week bills at a 0.125% high yield, a price of 99.990278.