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Commercial Paper Starts Arduous Climb Back Towards $2 Trillion Level. For the second week in a row, commercial paper outstandings showed a modest increase, rising $4.9 billion to $1.865 trillion (seasonally adjusted), according to the Federal Reserve's weekly statistics. Last week, CP inched up by $4.5 billion, following a $260 billion freefall in August and a $55 billion decline in September. CP outstandings fell almost 15% from their high of $2.149 trillion in July. It should take some time to regain the $2 trillion level, but we're happy to see the numbers again going the right direction. CP represents the largest category of money market mutual fund holdings, accounting for 31% of taxable assets, according to the ICI's Mutual Fund Fact Book. Commercial paper is short-term, high quality debt. See Bloomberg's new CP supply article here.
