Orange County rumors lift bond prices.

WASHINGTON -- Talk of a possible bankruptcy filing by Orange County, Calif., after its derivatives debacle ignited a flight to quality yesterday, pushing Treasury security prices up across the board, analysts said.

The long bond was quoted up 30/32 late yesterday at a price of 96 2/32, pushing the yield down to 7.84%. The 10-year note climbed 25/32 to 101 1/32 with a 7.72% yield.

The short end also gained for the first time in several days. Yields on three-month bills fell six basis points to 5.94%, and yields on six-month bills dropped seven basis points to 6.52%.

Treasury Market Yields Previous Previous Tuesday Week Month3-Month Bill 5.94 5.51 5.356-Month Bill 6.56 6.08 5.881-Year Bill 7.09 6.68 6.362-Year Note 7.57 7.33 7.043-Year Note 7.67 7.56 7.315-Year Note 7.76 7.75 7.727-Year Note 7.79 7.78 7.8710-Year Note 7.81 7.86 8.0230-Year Bond 7.91 7.97 8.16

Source: Cantor, Fitzgerald/Telerate

Stats

Stock Market: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.03 points yesterday, to close at 3745.95.

Foreign Exchange: In late New York trading yesterday, the dollar was quoted at 100.07 Japanese yen and 1.5717 German marks.

Commodities: The Commodity Research Bureau's index closed up 0.96 point yesterday, at 227.99.

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