Gary Siegel

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department auctioned $29 billion of seven-year notes, with a 1 7/8% coupon, a 1.970% high yield, a price of 99.381826.

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

NEW YORK - Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s region “continued to expand moderately in October, and producers were increasingly optimistic about future activity. Price indexes in the survey edged up slightly for the second straight month,” according to the bank’s monthly manufacturing survey, released Thursday.

The Treasury Department auctioned $35 billion of five-year notes Wednesday, with a 1 1/4% coupon, a 1.330% high yield and a price of 99.614432. The bid-to-cover ratio was 2.82. Tenders at the high yield were allotted 83.81%. All competitive tenders at lower yields were accepted in full. The median yield was 1.288%. The low yield was 1.197%.

Mortgage loan application volume rose 3.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, as measured by the market composite index of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department auctioned $35 billion of five-year notes, with a 1 1/4% coupon, a 1.330% high yield, a price of 99.614432.

NEW YORK - The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index inched up 0.1% in September to a seasonally adjusted level of 80.2 after the August report showed a revised 1.3% decrease to 80.1, originally reported as a 1.4% slide to 79.9, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported today.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department today sold $25 billion 56-day cash management bills, dated October 28, due December 23, at a 0.150% high tender rate.

NEW YORK – Mortgage loan application volume rose 3.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, as measured by the market composite index of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 22.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $35 billion of two-year notes with a 3/8% coupon at a 0.400% yield and a price of 99.950315. The bid-to-cover ratio was 3.43.

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region rose modestly in October, following a slight pullback in September, according to a monthly business activity survey the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond released Tuesday.

The consumer confidence index climbed to 50.2 in October from an upwardly revised 48.6 last month, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department today auctioned $35 billion of two-year notes with a 3/8% coupon at a 0.400% yield, a price of 99.950315.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $22 billion of four-week bills at a 0.130% high yield, a price of 99.989528.

NEW YORK – “Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region advanced modestly in October, following a slight pullback in September,” according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. “Looking at the main components of activity, shipments and employment edged back into positive territory while the volume of new orders posted solid gains. Other indicators varied. District contacts reported that growth in order backlogs was virtually unchanged, while delivery times grew more slowly. Furthermore, manufacturers reported that capacity utilization grew at a faster pace, while inventories grew at a slightly slower rate.”

NEW YORK – “Service sector activity declined in October although the weakness in several indicators was less severe than a month earlier,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released today, “Retail sales contraction continued, nearly matching September's drop. Nevertheless, shopper traffic flattened after falling for four months and big-ticket sales declined more slowly than a month ago. Retail inventories grew for the first time since January of 2010. Revenue weakness at services-providing firms was virtually the same as last month's. However, survey participants' predictions for business prospects during the next six months jumped up in October.”

NEW YORK - The consumer confidence index climbed to 50.2 in October from an upwardly revised 48.6 last month, The Conference Board reported this morning.

Texas factory activity improved in October, according to the monthly business survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and released Monday.

The Chicago Fed national activity index for September declined to negative 0.58 from a revised negative 0.49 reading in August. Meanwhile, the three-month moving average slipped to negative 0.33 in September from August’s revised negative 0.32 reading, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.

Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he is concerned by foreclosure irregularities in the housing market.