Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the housing slump will be a ``significant drag'' on U.S. growth into next year, though evidence of a broader impact on spending is limited. ``The Federal Reserve will continue to watch the situation closely and will act as needed to support efficient market functioning and to foster sustainable economic growth and price stability,'' Bernanke said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York today. Credit markets have improved, he added, while a full recovery will take time ``and we may well see some setbacks.'' Bernanke's speech, his first on the economy since August, comes as investors pared expectations for an interest-rate cut this month. Retail sales increased in September and jobs and wages picked up, suggesting consumers are weathering the worst housing slump since 1991 and reduced access to credit. The Fed chief, as Vice Chairman Donald Kohn did two weeks ago, pointed out risks to both growth and inflation, declining to steer investors on whether he favors lower borrowing costs. ``He was not giving away anything about what the Fed was going to do at the next meeting,'' said Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International, who attended the dinner. The dollar and Treasuries were little changed in Asian trading after Bernanke's remarks. The U.S. currency was at $1.4202 per euro at 9:16 a.m. in Tokyo and 10-year Treasury notes yielded 4.68 percent. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_6erMJbqHYs&refer=home Significant drag ? Come on, BEN ! Here is my advice =>
`Damn Things' ``I would like to know what those damn things are worth,'' Bernanke joked, referring to the products that investors have shunned in the credit rout. ``This episode has revealed a weakness in structured credit products,'' namely the difficulty in coming up with valuations in periods of stress.
Lets get that fed funds rate back to 2% where it belongs. Great photo, I am waiting the drop. No deflating this pig.