If Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke was hoping that the rescue of Bear Stearns would calm financial markets, he is likely to be disappointed. Last week's Senate hearings on the details of the rescue brought more of the gory details into the light. Investors might be tempted to phone...

Originally published at the Washington Independent

Stock markets rebounded mightily yesterday, dazzled by yet more center-stage virtuoso turns by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. Over the weekend, he out-Greenspanned Greenspan by engineering a takeover of Bear Stearns, and then opened the Fed's resources to investment banks in addition...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may be running for a "Hero of Wall Street" award. Over the last few months, he has opened up the Fed's coffers for banks and brokerages to the tune of hundreds of billions, and is accepting riskier loan collateral than ever before. Last week,...