Discount window seems work

--Loans made from the Federal Reserve's little-used discount window shot up after the Fed eased borrowing conditions and invited banks to borrow last Friday, though a sizable chunk was soon repaid, new data from the Fed show. --As of Wednesday, the only discount loans still outstanding appear to be those announced with fanfare by the nation's four largest banks that day, according to weekly discount-window data released yesterday. --The data suggest that the Fed has had some initial success in getting banks to assist in calming credit conditions, but whether that will continue is an open question. Officials have played down expectations for borrowing, arguing that just the availability of the discount window should be a confidence booster, whether or not it is utilized. --The Fed said in its weekly report that as of Wednesday, there was $2.001 billion in loans outstanding under the Fed's primary credit program. It doesn't identify the borrowers, but the country's four largest banks -- Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp. -- each said Wednesday they had borrowed $500 million that day. That means only an additional $1 million of loans to other banks was outstanding that day. Wednesday's total was the largest since April 12, 2006, when $3.6 billion worth of loans were made through the discount window, the Fed said.