Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims

This weeks Initial claims showed a big improvement in the number of people claiming unemployment.  Initial claims are the number of people filing for unemployment insurance for the first time in the prior week.   The forecast called for 416k initial claims, but the actual headline number was 388k.  

The delta in revisions are staying around the 2/3k area, which is a good sign they are stabilizing.

James Rickards on China

FED POMO Purchase

The FED printed more money today through the POMO (Permanent Open Market Operation) mechanism. Today $5.387 billion was printed bringing the total since August 17th 2010 to $240.580 billion dollars and since Nov 3rd (when the FED announced the printing of $600/900 billion) $176.120 billion dollars.

OPERATION 1 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/29/2010
Operation Type:	Outright Coupon Purchase
Release Time:	10:15 AM
Close Time:	11:00 AM
Settlement Date:	12/30/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	06/30/2012 - 06/15/2013
Total Par Amt Accepted (mlns) :	$5,387
Total Par Amt Submitted (mlns) :	$21,802

Weekly Fund Flows

This past weeks fund flows showed inflows of cash into stocks (Domestic and Foreign) and outflows of cash from Bonds.  Domestic stocks had $335 million in inflows, Foreign stocks saw inflows of $3.604 billion, Taxable bonds saw outflows of $837 million and Municipals experienced another large outflow of $3.531 billion.

Just a stunning reversal in Bonds has taken place and stocks turning the other direction as investors grow tired of watching the market go up without them (due to money printing and injection by the FED).  Investors seem to be dipping their toe in the stock market.

Last week marked the first time in months that money flowed into Domestic stocks, we'll have to watch going forward to see if this was just a breather or something more.

CB Consumer Confidence Dips in December

Well this was somewhat of a surprise due to all the rhetoric surrounding consumer spending going up, consumer confidence has gone down in the month of December.  The CB Consumer Confidence Index is the level of a composite index based on surveyed households ( is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households) and is considered to be a leading indicator of consumer confidence. Uh Oh, somebody should have told the retailers that. The forecast for the CBCC Index called for an index of 56.2, but the actual headline number was 52.5.  Lynn Franco, Director of the Consumer Research said:

"Despite this month's modest decline, consumer confidence is no worse off today than it was a year ago. Consumers' assessment of the current state of the economy and labor market remains tepid, and their outlook remains cautious. Thus, all signs continue to suggest that the economic expansion will continue well into 2011, but that the pace of growth will remain moderate."

Wow, well a year ago everybody's expectations were pretty much in the toilet and with retail sales reported to be "better than its been in years" how do these two correlate.  Well we know that their is a correlation between retail sales and consumer spending (consumers have to spend to make retailers sales go up), normally consumers spend when they feel things are growing positive (consumer confidence), not negative.  Well, perhaps retailers did well due to recession fatigue and consumers just gave in, but I am still asking around and keeping my eye out and I don't see more shoppers than last year, I see less.  Perhaps online sales surpassed "brick and motar" sales (definite possibility).  It does leave me wondering though.

FED POMO Purchase

The FED executed another POMO (Permanent Open Market Operation) purchase today in the amount of $6.78 billion dollars.  This brings the total since August 17th 2010 to $235.193 billion dollars and for the month of December $97.664 billion dollars.

OPERATION 1 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/28/2010
Operation Type:	Outright Coupon Purchase
Release Time:	10:15 AM
Close Time:	11:00 AM
Settlement Date:	12/29/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	06/30/2013 - 11/30/2014
Total Par Amt Accepted (mlns) :	$6,780
Total Par Amt Submitted (mlns) :	$23,567

Holiday Dance Number (Very Funny)

Meredith Whitney on the Economy

Meredith explains why people are spending again as they have stopped paying their mortgage and spent on other things now.  She also talks about government layoffs which are coming.

Whose Buying Domestic Stocks

Trimtabs cannot find where the money is actually coming from that is flowing into the market as fund flows show massive exodus from Domestic stocks and flowing into foreign stocks (no leaving bonds). Charles Biderman suspects it can only be the government with QE money and asks a question that we all need to consider, what happens when QE ends?

Reference fund flows post:  fund flows

Silver Manipulation

Clearly these two videos were created to drive silver sales, but make very good points in a real situation that is under investigation right now for silver manipulation. Insiders have been reporting to the CFTC when manipulations were going to happen and how (re: gata.org) and nothing has been done to date on it. This story will be very interesting to follow in the coming year. Video number 2 is very interesting.

Monthly Personal Income/Spending

November's Personal Income, Disposable Income and Personal Spending came out today.   All three are pretty self explanatory.  These factors (especially spending is very important to the economy as in our current keynesian economy we need to drive spending to ensure growth.  Personal income increased $42.3 billion or 0.3% from month to month (percent change down from October).  Personal consumption or spending increased $43.3 billion or 0.4% from month to month (down from October in terms of percent change).   Real disposable income was flat month over month in terms of percent change (still increased, just at the same rate).  

Even though Personal Income, Disposable Income and Spending were all up, Personal Savings decreased showing a willingness to loosen up on the wallet.  Personal savings is back on a decline as of November.  Of course this make some sense as it is the Christmas spending season and Americans are feeling pent up from saving for the past 2 years.  It will be interesting to see the next couple months as the tax extensions were extended to see if spending continues and savings persists its decline.

Percent change from preceding month in 2010

Category	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov
Personal income, current dollars	0.1	0.5	0.0	0.4	0.3
Disposable personal income:
Current dollars	0.0	0.4	-0.1	0.3	0.3
Chained (2005) dollars	-0.2	0.3	-0.2	0.2	0.2
Personal consumption expenditures:
Current dollars	0.3	0.5	0.3	0.7	0.4
Chained (2005) dollars	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.5	0.3

November Core/Durable Goods

Today the Core Durable and Durable goods number was released today.  Durable goods are the change in the total value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers for durable goods. Core durable goods is durable goods minus the change in the total value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers for durable goods, excluding transportation items.  The durable goods number was forecasted to be -0.5%, but the actual headline number was -1.3%.  When you strip out transportation items from the durable goods number (Core Durable Goods) the headline number was 2.4%, which was better than 1.7% that was forecasted.

Having new orders or a strong order pipeline is important to economic health.  The following comments where made with respect to new orders:

New orders for manufactured durable goods in November decreased $2.6 billion or 1.3 percent to $193.7 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, down three of the last four months, followed a 3.1 percent October decrease.  Excluding transportation, new orders increased 2.4 percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 2.3 percent

Transportation equipment, also down three of the last four months, had the largest decrease, $6.2 billion or 11.9 percent to $45.5 billion. This was due to nondefense aircraft and parts, which decreased $6.6 billion. 

 Additionally, build up of new orders is a bad sign.  The following comments were made with respect to inventories:

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in November, up eleven consecutive months, increased $1.9 billion or 0.6 percent to $319.1 billion.  This followed a 0.6 percent October increase. 

Transportation equipment, also up eleven consecutive months, had the largest increase, $1.1 billion or 1.3 percent to $84.3 billion.   

Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims

Last weeks initial unemployment claims were released today.  Initial claims are the number of persons who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time in the past week.  This is an indicator of economic health as if the number declines week over week it is a sign that employers are hiring or unemployment is slowing down.  The forecast called for 421k initial claims, but the actual headline number came in at 420k. If our delta continues to hold up though, this is a disappointment because you need to add 3k to the number.  It is too early to tell whether we met or beat the prior weeks number.

Revisions remain relatively steady allowing us to add about 2 to 3k to any headline number that is released. 

November New Home Sales

The November New Home Sales were released today.  New home sales are the annualized number of new single-family homes that were sold during the previous month.  It is considered a leading indicator of economic health due to its ripple effect throughout the economy.  The forecast called for 301k new home sales, but the actual headline number was 290k.  This was better than Octobers adjusted 275k, but did not meet forecasts.

Year over Year on actual houses sold, shows a trend down for all regions of the U.S.  The midwest was impacted the hardest in year over year change in number of houses sold.  

Month over month changes in New home sales shows the Northeast losing sales and the South and West showed a more positive outlook from October to November.

The supply of New houses for sales decreased from 8.8% in October to 8.2% in November.  This is still a larger supply of new houses on the market than a year prior which was 7.7%.

Existing Home Sales

Novembers Existing Home Sales numbers were released today with better growth than the previous month, but disappointed vs the forecast.  Existing home sales measures the annualized number of residential buildings that were sold during the previous month, excluding new construction.  Existing home sales is considered a leading indicator due to its ripple effects it has throughout the economy.  The forecast called for 4.72 M, the actual headline number came in at 4.68 M.  Yet, the data shows the trend upward since July has resumed, which is positive if you think homes can carry our economy forward again.  It is a component and will be a factor in helping the economy, but won't be a driving force.  

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist made the following comment regarding inventory.

Total housing inventory at the end of November fell 4.0 percent to 3.71 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.5-month supply4 at the current sales pace, down from a 10.5-month supply in October.

Ron Phipps, NAR president made the following comments regarding near term buying opportunities.

“Traditionally there are far fewer buyers competing for properties at this time of the year, so serious buyers have a lot of opportunities during the winter months,” he said. “Buyers will enjoy favorable affordability conditions into the new year, although mortgage rates are expected to gradually rise as 2011 progresses.”

Of course interest rates will depend on how the markets react to the FED's efforts in suppressing them, recently they have risen in response.  Also, we need to see if banks fall back to the old ways in financing anybody with interest only or variable interest rate mortgages where the mortgage interest reset (rarely understood by consumers) reset and we do this all over again. 

Weekly Fund Flows

We had another week of money flowing out of domestic stocks, taxable bonds and municipal bonds.  This past week, bonds accelerated their sell off by billions more.  With the potential for defaults in the municipal market being talked about, it seems that investors are electing to depart the municipals instead of being a part of a potential free fall.  Figure 1 shows the large reversal in bonds from inflows to outflows.

Figure 1.

Domestic funds (shown in figure 2) continue their sell off since I started tracking this and has been selling off billions week for week.  Foreign money flows continue on the upside with $2.241 billion of inflows this past week.

Figure 2.

Taxable mutual funds started their sell off the week before, but accelerated its sell off from -$401 million to -$3.766 billion.

Figure 3.

FED POMO Purchase

The FED performed only one POMO (Permanent Open Market Operation) purchase today in the amount of $2.07 billion dollars.  This brings the total since August 17th 2010 to $228.413 billion dollars printed and since Nov 3rd (when the FED announced the printing of $600/900 billion by June 2011) to $163.953 billion dollars.  To meet the goal of $600 billion by the end of June 2011, the FED now only has to print  $72.67 billion per month or $122.67 billion per month to reach $900 billion (assuming no more printing for the year 2010).

OPERATION 1 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/22/2010
Operation Type:	Outright Coupon Purchase
Release Time:	10:15 AM
Close Time:	11:00 AM
Settlement Date:	12/23/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	02/15/2021 - 11/15/2027
Total Par Amt Accepted (mlns) :	$2,070
Total Par Amt Submitted (mlns) :	$13,055

FED POMO Purchases

The FED executed 2 POMO (Permanent Open Market Operation) purchases today for a total of $9.409 billion dollars.  This brings the total since August 17th 2010 to $226.343 billion dollars and brings the total since November 3rd (when the FED committed to $600/900 billion by June 2011) to $161.883 billion.

OPERATION 1 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/21/2010
Operation Type:	Outright Coupon Purchase
Release Time:	10:15 AM
Close Time:	11:00 AM
Settlement Date:	12/22/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	06/30/2016 - 11/30/2017
Total Par Amt Accepted (mlns) :	$7,790
Total Par Amt Submitted (mlns) :	$18,224

OPERATION 2 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/21/2010
Operation Type:	Outright TIPS Purchase
Release Time:	1:16 PM
Close Time:	2:00 PM
Settlement Date:	12/22/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	07/15/2012 - 02/15/2040
Total Par Amt Accepted (mlns) :	$1,619
Total Par Amt Submitted (mlns) :	$4,718

Comedic 2010 in Review by JibJab

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Consequences of Government Actions by NIA

FED POMO Update

Today the FED executed 2 POMO (Permanent Open Market Operation) purchases, the first in the amount of $7.79 billion and then in the afternoon of $6.779 billion dollars.   Combined today's POMO purchase equalled $14.569 billion dollars.  This brings the total since August 17th 2010 to $216.934 billion and brings the total since November 3rd (when he announced the printing of $600/900 billion) to $152.454 billion dollars.

Operation 1 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/20/2010
Operation Type:	Outright Coupon Purchase
Release Time:	10:15 AM
Close Time:	11:00 AM
Settlement Date:	12/21/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	02/15/2018 - 11/15/2020
Total Par Amt Accepted (mlns) :	$7,790
Total Par Amt Submitted (mlns) :	$17,215

Operation 2 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/20/2010
Operation Type:	Outright Coupon Purchase
Release Time:	1:15 PM
Close Time:	2:00 PM
Settlement Date:	12/21/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	12/31/2014 - 05/31/2016
Total Par Amt Accepted (mlns) :	$6,779
Total Par Amt Submitted (mlns) :	$16,355

Debt of Advanced Economies

The following chart is a nice view of Governmental debt by most of the advanced economies to aid you in your  decision processes.  It provides a great view of countries having issues in 2010 and how they will fair in 2011.  

Weekly KWN Interviews

This week King World News interviews Victor Sparendeo, Ben Davies, Robin Griffiths and Jim Rickards.  Discussions range from U.S. money printing, the FED, the EU/European/Euro problems ahead and Gold.

Victor Sparendeo - Discusses where George Soros really thinks gold is going.  Victor talks about inflation that is to come down the road and gives a brief history of inflation in the U.S.  Victor discusses what George Soros means when he says Gold is in a bubble, which means it is heading for a bubble but is not necessarily in a bubble yet (hence why he is still a buyer).

Ben Davies - Discusses the Soveriegn and Banking crisis in the EU and how that is coming to roost.  He discusses how all these fiat currency systems are a giant ponzi scheme and breaks down past issues with various currencies.  Ben discusses in detail the Euro and the issues of countries leaving the Euro or staying in the Euro.  Ben also discusses the possibilities of the Euro falling around 2012 and put pressure on all other currencies.

Robin Griffiths - Discusses the mass exodus from the bond market that is occurring now.  Robin discusses the ties between Germany and Ireland and why they continue to back Ireland, as well as why the European community has a lot of changes down the road to continue to get bailed out.  Robin talks about how important China/Asia is for the world and how they have a lot of power in the world currently.

Jim Rickards - Discusses 2010 in an economic review of the year and issues that were incurred in 2010 and prior.  Jim also talks about the actions of the FED and the repercussions of its actions.  One thing pointed out by Jim is that "Job 1 of the FED is to protect the interests of the banks".  Jim points out that the way you help the banks is by creating inflation and that seems to be the FED's main mission.  Jim also talks about themes in 2011.

Weekly Unofficial Problem Bank List Update

CalculatedRisk has updated the Unofficial Problem Bank List bringing the total of problem banks to 920 institutions with $411.40 billion in assets.

The Unofficial Problem Bank List finished the week at 920 institutions with assets of $411.4 billion, up from 919 institutions last week. Assets were essentially unchanged. This week there were six failures, but only four were on the list -- The Bank of Miami, National Association, Coral Gables, FL ($448 million); Chestatee State Bank, Dawsonville, GA ($244 million); United Americas Bank, National Association, Atlanta, GA ($242 million); and Appalachian Community Bank, F.S.B., McCaysville, GA ($68 million Ticker: APAB).

As anticipated, the OCC released its actions through mid-November, which contributed to the five additions the weeks. Newly joining the list are Omnibank, National Association, Houston, TX ($384 million); Empire National Bank, Islandia, NY ($319 million Ticker: EMPK); The First National Bank of Mercersburg, Mercersburg, PA ($188 million Ticker: MCBG); The Headland National Bank, Headland, AL ($114 million); and The First National Bank of Fleming, Fleming, CO ($18 million).

The OCC strengthened actions against First Citizens Bank of Polson, National Association, Polson, MT ($26 million) and Metropolitan National Bank, New York, NY ($600 million) by replacing Formal Agreements with Consent Orders. The other change was a Prompt Corrective Action order being issued by the Federal Reserve against The Park Avenue Bank, Valdosta, GA ($1.0 billion).

We anticipate the FDIC will release its actions for November 2010 next week, and it is likely they will take the rest of the year off executing closures.

Weekly Bank Failure Update

This past week bore witness to 6 additional bank failures brining the total to 158 banks failed in 2010 so far.  The state of Georgia was hit the worst losing 3 of the 6 banks; United Americas Bank in Atlanta, Appalachian Community Bank in McCaysville and Chestatee State Bank in Dawsonville.  The other banks that failed were; Community National Bank in Lino Lakes MN, First Southern Bank in Batesville AZ and The Bank of Miami in Coral Gables FL.

Interactive Map of Unemployment per State

FED POMO Purchase

Yesterday the FED performed another POMO (Permanent Open Market Operation) purchase of $2.03 billion dollars.  This brings the grand total since August 17th 2010 to $202.365 billion dollars and since November 3rd 2010 (when he announced the $600/900 billion dollar purchase plan) to $137.905 billion dollars.  The target is to purchase $75 billion per month and the FED has already purchased $64.836 in the month of December.

OPERATION 1 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/17/2010
Operation:	Coupon Purchase
Settlement Date:	12/20/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	08/15/2028 - 11/15/2040
Total Par Accepted:	$2,030
Total Par Amt Submitted:	$6,679

FED POMO Purchase

The FED performed another POMO (Permanent Open Market Operation) purchase today in the same amount as yesterdays $6.78 billion dollars.  This brings the grand total since August 17th 2010 to $200.335 billion dollars and since Nov 3rd 2010 (when the FED committed to 600/900 billion in printing) to $135.875 billion dollars.

OPERATION 1 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/16/2010
Operation Type:	Outright Coupon Purchase
Release Time:	10:15 AM
Close Time:	11:00 AM
Settlement Date:	12/17/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	06/30/2013 - 11/30/2014
Total Par Amt Accepted (mlns) :	$6,780
Total Par Amt Submitted (mlns) :	$22,084

Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims

Last weeks Initial Unemployment Claims were released today with better than expected news.  Initial Unemployment Claims are the number of person whom filed for unemployment for the first time in the prior week.  Last weeks number of 421K was revised up by 2k to 423k.  This weeks forecasted number called for 421k and actually came in at 420k.  We see that the 4 wk Moving average is trending downward as has since the Augusts timeframes high of 504k.  It is somewhat coincidental that stores started the Christmas shopping season earlier and thus needed additional staff for this, but I don't have those figures (merely an observation on my part).

The Delta in revisions are staying more steady as last weeks revision was a revision up by 2k which has been a norm lately.  Going on past revisions and adding 2k to this weeks number we most likely have a number more like 422k which would have disappointed, but is progress non-the-less.

Weekly Fund Flows

The week ending 12/8/2010, saw additional outflows from Bonds (both Taxable and Municipal) and domestic stocks.  Foreign flows continued to see money flowing in.  Flows for Stocks and Bonds overall were negative as Domestic outflows outweighed Foreign inflows.

Figure 1

As usual with billions flowing out of Domestic stocks per week as you can see in figure 2, you have to wonder where does the money come from that is elevating the stock market (FED Printing press and the PPG or primary dealers? It seems logical).

Figure 2

Bond flows continue to show signs of stress as Taxable bonds join the sell off that municipal bonds started the week ending 11/10/2010.  More worrisome is the municipal bonds with outflows continuing, it leads you to wonder if municipalities will have enough or be able to get enough to float their budgets.  As I don't track bond auctions I don't know how much they are looking for and how much they are falling short, this would be a great statistic to get.

Figure 3

Yesterday's FED POMO Purchase

I apologize for the late post on this, but yesterday the FED performed another POMO (Permanent Open Market Operation) purchase to the tune of $6.78 billion dollars.  This brings the total since August 17th 2010 to $193.555 billion dollars and since November 3rd when he announced the purchase of $600 billion (really $900 billion) by June of 2011 the total purchased is $129.095 billion dollars.

OPERATION 1 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/15/2010
Operation Type:	Outright Coupon Purchase
Release Time:	10:16 AM
Close Time:	11:00 AM
Settlement Date:	12/16/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	12/31/2014 - 05/31/2016
Total Par Amt Accepted (mlns) :	$6,780
Total Par Amt Submitted (mlns) :	$13,114

Monthly Business Inventories

The Manufacturing and Trade inventories report showed a better than expected number in the month of October.  Business Inventories are the change in the total value of goods held in inventory by manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. It is considered a signal of future business spending as companies are more likely to spend on materials to build up inventories if their current inventories are depleted.  The forecasted number called for a 0.9% increase, the actual headline number came in at 0.7%.  This seems negative, but considering the prior months number was -1.3%, this months number provides a sigh of relief.

When compared to the prior year we see sales are up YoY (Year over Year) as well as inventories.  If inventories were the only items up and sales were down or flat then there would be concern.  This inventory buildup is more than likely due to expected turnover due to sales.  We will have to keep a watch on inventories after the holiday season to better assess.

Monthly Core/PPI

The Core PPI and PPI (Producer Price Index) were released today showing positive news.  The PPI is the change in the price of finished goods and services sold by producers and Core PPI is PPI excluding food and energy. Core/PPI is a leading indicator of inflation and can have ripple effects on prices of goods and consumer spending.

Category	Forecast	Actual
PPI	0.6%	0.8%
Core PPI	0.2%	0.3%

So what does this data tell us.  Well it says that Food and energy are 0.5% of the increase and the cost of brining food and energy to market have gone up significantly, which will then have to be passed on to the consumer.  This can be a troublesome sign as food and energy are not discretionary items, they are "must have" for survival.  The other 0.3%, depending on what it is, is less concerning because consumers can just choose to do without.  This is the largest jump in PPI since February of this year where the increase was 1.4%.  We will have to keep an eye on the coming numbers to see if a trend begins from this.

Monthly Core/Retail Sales Numbers

The monthly retails sales numbers were released today showing a better than expected number. Retail sales are change in the total value of sales at the retail level and is considered a primary gauge of consumers spending.  The forecasted number called for a 0.6% MoM (Month over Month) increase, but the actual headline number was a 0.8% MoM increase.  This number makes sense due to the holiday season and increased sales due to the holiday spending season.

Core Retail Sales numbers were also better than expected beating the prior months 0.8% increase.  Core Retail sales are the change in the total value of sales at the retail level, excluding automobiles and are considered a more accurate gauge of consumer spending due to the removal of Auto's. The forecasted number called for a 0.7% increase, but the actual headline number came in at 1.2%.  

The report showed an increase from 2009 by a larger margin, across the board the month of November 2010 beat November 2009's spending. 

Courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau

You can view the full report here.

Dylan Ratigan on Tax Cut Vote

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Europe's Debt Domino Effect

Spotlight on Banks' Exposure In Europe

The WSJ's Nina Koeppen wrote an article in todays Money and Investing section entitled "Spotlight On Banks' Exposure In Europe" where Nina points out that German and French banks exposure to Ireland and the southern rim of the euro zone was greater than previously thought for the second quarter.   Quoting the BIS data, here are the following countries exposures. 

Country	Total Exposure
Greece	$252.1B
Ireland	$746.8B
Portugal	$292.6B
Spain	$989.8B

Total Exposure to the PIGS is $2.2813 trillion dollars.  Of this Germany is exposed to $512.7bn or 22.47%, France is exposed to $410.2 bn or 17.98%, USA is exposed to $352.9 or 15.47% and Great Britain is exposed to $370bn or 16.2% and finally other Euro areas are exposed to $281.1 or 12.3%.  Here is the link to the BIS report.

FED POMO Update

The FED performed another POMO (Permanent Open Market Operation) purchase today for $7.79 billion dollars.  This brings the total since August 17th 2010 to $186.775 billion dollars and since the FED announced a $600 billion (really $900 b) on Nov 3rd/4th 2010 it has printed $122.315 billion dollars.  According to the schedule the FED was going to target anywhere between $7b - $9b for todays purchase and almost came in the middle of that range.  Wednesday the 15th is scheduled another $6 to $8 billion.

OPERATION 1 - RESULTS

Operation Date:	12/13/2010
Operation Type:	Outright Coupon Purchase
Release Time:	10:15 AM
Close Time:	11:00 AM
Settlement Date:	12/14/2010
Maturity/Call Date Range:	06/30/2016 - 11/30/2017
Total Par Amt Accepted (mlns) :	$7,790
Total Par Amt Submitted (mlns) :	$18,268