Economics
Bernanke Smoothly Cheers the Street
At his July 19 testimony before Congress, the Fed chief replaced mixed signals with balanced caution and calmed fears of a recession
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You may not be able to guess the Fed's next interest rate move, but you can bet on one thing: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke isn't about to dish to Maria Bartiromo after his July 19 testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.
Back in April, after appearing at one of his first congressional hearings, the newly minted Fed chief told the CNBC anchor (and regular columnist) off-the-record that the markets had misread him—thinking him an inflation dove on the verge of a rate pause. Wall Street doesn't like mixed signals, and financial markets sold off on May 2, the day after Bartiromo reported the conversation on TV.