Bloomberg.com: "Fed Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has revived confidence in U.S. financial firms"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

All together now...let's give Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke a big, wet kiss to show our appreciation.



:grouphug:

Commodities Drop, Rally in Dollar, Stocks Vindicate Bernanke

By Pham-Duy Nguyen

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGnGoiVO0304&refer=home

March 21 (Bloomberg) -- The biggest commodity collapse in at least five decades may signal Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has revived confidence in U.S. financial firms.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index posted its first weekly gain in a month, and the dollar leapt from its lowest level since 1973 after the Fed stepped in March 16 to rescue Bear Stearns Cos., the fifth-largest U.S. securities firm, and expanded its role as lender of last resort to embrace the biggest dealers in Treasury notes.

Investors who had poured money into gold, oil and corn, seeking a hedge against inflation and a weak dollar, sold commodities to raise cash or buy stocks. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities tumbled 8.3 percent this week, the most since at least 1956, after touching a record on Feb. 29.

``Bernanke took care of the commodity bubble,'' said Ron Goodis, the retail trading director at Equidex Brokerage Group Inc. in Closter, New Jersey. ``Commodities are coming back to earth. The stock market looks OK, and Bernanke is starting to look a little better.''