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Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Justa Werkenstiff who wrote (14713)	6/23/2000 4:20:00 PM
From: Justa Werkenstiff	Respond to of 15132

U.S. debt futures end lower, near lows CHICAGO, June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. debt futures slipped through the floor of a three-week trading range and closed lower Friday, weighed down by a heavy slate of corporate issues and continued firm oil prices. ``It was a tough week for the interest rate futures markets,'' said Jim Collins, senior vice president at Salomon Smith Barney. The Chicago Board of Trade September bond contract broke through support at 96-6/32 and headed to a session low of 95-26/32 before ending 19/32 point lower at 95-30/32. Bonds led the decline throughout the session, traders said. A $1 billion issue of Tennessee Valley Authority (NYSE:TVA - news) bonds early in the session, followed by $400 million in Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO - news) debt, kept supply concerns at the forefront, traders said. One trader reported heightened activity in agency futures before and during the debt pricing. ``I assume because we saw some good buying come in that some people were lifting their hedges for that deal,'' he said. In addition, ``I suspect we saw some (dealers) putting on hedges for next week,'' Collins said. An $8 billion Deutsche Telekom debt issue and a $4 billion Freddie Mac sale scheduled for next week will likely continue to pressure a Treasury futures market already saddled with corporate supply concerns, analyst said. Thin trading conditions throughout the week most likely exaggerated the impact of any hedge activity. In addition, the lack of fresh data prompted long profit-taking after the run-up in the prior two weeks on data that showed slowing growth, analysts said. Firm oil prices added weight as traders weighed the impact on Fed policy of higher inflation versus recent data indicating a slowing in the economy. Most analysts do not expect the Fed to raise rates at the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee next week, although 26 of 29 analysts at primary dealers expect a 25 or 50 basis point hike at the August FOMC meeting. At settlement, September T-bonds were 19/32 lower at 95-30/32, 10-year notes dropped 11.5/32 to 97-12.5/32, five-year notes dropped 6.5/32 to 98-7/32, two-year notes were down 2.75/32 to 98-27.75/32, muni bonds down 12/32 to 94-22/32, and December Eurodollars were 0.010 lower at 92.800.