Chart 4. The title is "Asset Yields Have Plummeted over the Past Three Years".

Between 1991 and 2003, the average 10-year U.S. Treasury rate generally declined, falling from 7.86% to 4.02%, but experienced temporary increases during 1994, 1999, and 2000. Median yields on all earning assets and securities among banks were 9.7% and 8.04%, respectively, in 1991, but then dropped sharply through 1994. Both groups rose slightly during 1995 (following a year-earlier increase in long-term interest rates) and then remained relatively flat through 1997. During 1999 (following a decline in long-term interest rates) securities and earning asset yields fell, but then recovered slightly in 2000 as long-term interest rates rose. After 2000, securities and earning asset yields plummeted to 3.73% and 5.84%, respectively, by year-end 2003. During the entire period between 1991 and 2003, earning assets yields dropped from 9.7% to 5.84% while securities yields dropped from 8.04% to 3.73%.