But Friday's moves were slim, as a dearth of news and low trading volume gave investors little incentive to take a stand ahead of the long New Year-holiday weekend.

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With the IOR rate far above the 90-day T-bill rate, banks had no incentive to do anything with the huge volume of newly created reserves other than to sit on them, and sit on them they did.

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They often have an incentive to reduce waste anyway, since most already pay for disposal by volume.

ECONOMIST: Less is more

This improvement is principally due to higher auction and private sale commission revenues, partially offset by an increase in operating expenses that is due, in part, to higher incentive compensation costs, a higher level of direct costs consistent with the volume and composition of auction sales, and the cost of investments in strategic initiatives.

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