FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's yacht Bull, two smaller boats and a Mercedes-Benz convertible were sold at auction yesterday for more than $1 million combined.

Madoff's 1969 Rybovich, a restored 55-foot fishing boat, sold for $700,000 to an unknown buyer. A 38-foot Shelter Island runabout named Sitting Bull went for $320,000 and the 24-foot Maverick center console Little Bull fetched $21,000. The Mercedes, a 1999 model, sold for $30,000.

A 61-foot Viking yacht once owned by a Madoff associate sold for $950,000.

The private auction was held by the U.S. Marshals service, which seized Madoff's assets after his massive Ponzi scheme was exposed. Proceeds will benefit Madoff's wronged investors.

Seventy bidders registered for the event, many of them putting up a $100,000 deposit to make offers on the yachts.

FACTORY OUTPUT DOWN IN OCTOBER

WASHINGTON — A decline in factory production in October signals that consumers and businesses remain cautious in their spending, with the economic recovery likely to be sluggish.

At the same time, the weak economy is taming inflation. Wholesale prices rose less than expected last month, giving the Federal Reserve more leeway to keep interest rates low to try to spur a stronger economic rebound.

Industrial production edged up 0.1 percent last month, the Fed reported yesterday. But auto output slipped 1.7 percent, dragging down total factory output, the biggest portion of industrial production.

RETAIL PROFITS UP AT TARGET, SAKS, TJX

CHICAGO — Deal-craving shoppers helped a trio of prominent U.S. retailers report yesterday that their third quarter managed to improve this year.

At Target, in-store revenue rose along with foot traffic during the three-month period. But shoppers there and at Saks and discount retailer TJX Cos. surprised analysts in seeming more willing to indulge.

Of the retailers that reported yesterday, TJX fared best, with quarterly profit up 32 percent. Saks posted a surprise profit, for the first time in 18 months, as it began selling more luxury brands at lower prices.

FEDERAL TASK FORCE ON FINANCIAL FRAUD

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has formed a new task force to target financial fraud — replacing an earlier corporate fraud task force.

Attorney General Eric Holder says the new group will have a broader scope — and incorporate state investigators as well as federal agencies — to investigate and prosecute financial crimes that worsened the market collapse.