we're going to try to figure out bernanke. i was worried the health care system spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. information on my phone. connection to doctors who get where i'm from. and tools to estimate what my care may cost. so i never missed a beat. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. >>> welcome back to "the kudlow report." in this half hour, look at these violent scenes from michigan. the right to work battle was far from peaceful in the state capital yesterday, and it's not over. why are these unions so angry about giving workers free choice? why is so much of the news me

bernanke just said. later in the program, we'll talk to pimco's kneneal ashkari. >>> a surprise from ben bernanke, linking unemployment to monetary policy. rates will be staying where they are right now, which is close to zero, of course. until at the very least the jobless rate falls to 6.5%. we can only cross our fingers wherefore when that might be. ben bernanke says these changes will make the central bank more transparent adding they can only help the markets. the central bank ramped up its asset purchase program adding $40 billion to its $40 billion a month purchases of mortgage-backed bonds. he spoke about the objectives during wednesday's news conference. >> the asset purchases and the rate increases have different objectives. the asset purchases are about creating near term momentum in the economy, trying to strengthen growth and job creation in the near term. and the increases in the federal funds rate are about objectives. >> on that note, let's get dino's take on the latest move. >> grpg mont

fed chairman ben bernanke and other policy makers said they will keep their key interest rate near zero until the unemployment rate falls below 6.5% or inflation rises to 2.5%. now, this is the first time the fed has set a clear economic target for how long interest rates will stay at record lows. the surprise decision means the central bank will continue stimulating the economy by buying bonds. darren gersh explains the dramatic move. >> reporter: ben bernanke and his colleagues will no longer mark a date on the calendar for when they expect to begin raising interest rates. from now on, they'll make that call based on a target for the unemployment rate and inflation. >> it'll act to some extent as an automatic stabilizer. so if the outlook worsens and that leads markets to think that the increase in rates is further out in the future, that will tend to lower longer term rates, and that will tend to be supportive of the economy. so that has an automatic stabilizer-type effect. it offsets adverse shocks. >> reporter: as it turns out, the fed expects the unemployment rate to fall below 6.

darren gersh explains the dramatic move. >> reporter: ben bernanke and his colleagues will no longer mark a date on the calendar for when they expect to begin raising interest rates. from now on, they'll make that call based on a target for the unemployment rate and inflation. >> it'll act to some extent as an automatic stabilizer. so if the outlook worsens and that leads markets to think that the increase in rates is further out in the future, that will tend to lower longer term rates, and that will tend to be supportive of the economy. so that has an automatic stabilizer-type effect. it offsets adverse shocks. >> reporter: as it turns out, the fed expects the unemployment rate to fall below 6.5% until 2015, exactly when the fed said a few months ago it expected to begin raising interest rates. so this isn't much of a change in policy. bernanke also said the central bank will continue buying bonds, $85 billion a month, to help bring down interest rates and boost growth. and the fed plans to keep doing that until the labor market shows a solid pickup or there are other signs of troub

>> ben bernanke address that in his report. none of these numeric thresholds are an absolute trigger. he said if we get below 6.5% but inflation is still low, they may think raising rates could still be inappropriate for he was very clear the fed still have a lot of wiggle room but at least you don't have to worry about raising interest rates until we get those markers. liz: what was your second biggest surprise? >> the shift in the threshold was a little bit of a surprise. is that what you're referring to? it is a little bit of inside baseball, if you will. they did kind of shorts and a maturity of the treacheries they are buying. only marginally, but it spooked the long end of the market. liz: it did. >> they have been buying a lot of support out for 30-year maturities, just about the only buyers of that sector anymore and the fact the fed will be buying only a small amount less. to some extent unsettled the market, so that's a very long end of the market we saw a little upward pressure on yields. it is mostly 30s. for most o

if we look at -- you know ben bernanke. this is it. the last scheduled meeting unless there is an emergency. what do you say? >> there are a couple things to watch here. this is all about getting housing going again. this is why they are buying mortgage bonds. they talked about it in several statements. the economy -- you are starting to see a cat that housing recovery. we are going into the slow season, winter is usually the slow season for housing. if they do more than expected will be in mortgage bonds. dennis: which would you rather have the fed buy more of? mortgage-backed securities for u.s. treasurys? >> for much there same reason constance said, mortgage-backed securities. treasury rates are low and housing is where you get the multiplier effect in this economy. if you get more housing sales whether it is new or existing homes you will see more transportation of raw materials. >> the fed watches a new round of bond buying. a new bond buying program, a new round of quantitative easing as expected. $45 billion a month in treasury

we are minutes away from fed chairman's ben bernanke's news conference. there is a specific employment rate along with inflation target, there is a lot to talk about. let us bring in steve with more and the fed's outlook, steve? >> i think the story here today is federal reserve despite saying it will spend something like a trillion dollars in additional qe this year or next year is lowering its economic forecast. if you look at the outlook for 2012 through 2015, it actually lowered the outlook from its september forecast. take a look here. tenth off of 2012. tenth off of 13. 15 bases points out of 2014 and 2015. look at what the federal reserve did with unemployment rate.

ben bernanke has become the jobs commander in chief. we've heard nothing but carping on air in the blog sphere as you the fed's latest actions today. i ska give me a break. bernanke said my legacy will be that i helped people get a job. and i care more about the unemployed than i do about taxing or not taxing the wealthiest 2%. further, bernanke's implied with this action to keep buying bonds. buy buy buy buy buy buy! to force interest rates to stay low until we get to a 6.5% unemployment? well, he's saying he's very worried about our country going over the fiscal cliff. and he's extremely anxious about how that new found mandated austerity will mean huge job losses. yeah. lots and lots of people not being able to pay for dinner. our network calculates that while there'll be some powerful initial debt reductions from the reduced spending and much higher taxes, going over this cliff women cost this country 2 million jobs. do you ever hear that during the day? 2 million jobs. a lot of jobs. which is why we believe congress and the preside

that's ben bernanke and toy story. very famous role for ben bernanke. the minute they heard, we will keep going and going and going, the stock market froze. we are now up, mandy, six days in a row. seven-week highs. expansion of new highs at the new york stock exchange. predictably, dollar concerns. inflationary concerns. dollar weakness. there's the dollar index moving to the down side. that helps commodity, copper moving up. material stocks one of the big movers on this announcement. you see the material index moving up. and s&p index is at 52-week high. there it is, 329. i want to note that bond market is freaking out a little bit because of obvious inflationary implications of what the federal reserve is doing. there's your battle. inflation hawks. >> i want to throw a question at you. and it something that steve said a moment ago. that means we are getting less bang for qe buck. will the same go for what kind of impact it will have on the stock market as well? >> i think studies indicate we have less bang as qe programs are announced. bottom line t

bernanke? >> i think bernanke has done a very good job and he has kept interest rates low and they continue to buy secure ilts sec of the marketplace, to the tune if they continue with the sovereign wealth bonds, there won't be that many left for us to buy from seven years on out. so they've done what they did k do. the rest is all policy. and i don't think that is something that is set by the fed. this is set now by congress. and the president. and so he is standing by and i think he is living up to his end of the bargain and i don't think we should expect that they do more. >> how do you feel about europe and would you put money to work in parts of europe? >> right now, i would not. i still think there aresome problems to work out, it is my third choice. u.s. first, europe second. and i think there is more beyond with the government having an emerging plan. this is just taking a long period of time and i think that will continue on to next year. >> a very interesting guy, robert kapito. you j

bernanke this afternoon? >> i would probably ask him why the sense of urgency when you are trying to signal that you're trying to keep your foot on the pedal and stimulus policy talking about an exit strategy of switching to an economic outcome based approach to guidance rather than the current calendar, what was the current calendar based on the exit of the fed funds rate. it is surprisingly got a consensus view, and i like to hear the other members who probably are not on board were as convinced as the chairman himself. tracy: michael, i'm really hoping you will ask him what his favorite ice cream flavor is. >> i think we need to know how the world of federal reserve is going to get the unemployment rate down. nothing in their tools allow them to do this. it is a function of bad fiscal policy in particular government mandated health care which spot to drive the unemployment rate up again, not down and it's not that the fed has anything in the policy to be able to lower that. we will keep the pedal to the me

i think bernanke is the only grownup in the whole town. he wants to get a deal to balance the budget longer term in order to get the economy going now. you know he can't do anything to get a deal himself. so he's giving us the best alternative he's got out there to the ridiculous partisanship and inability to cut entitlement spending. it's all necessary if we're going to have long term organic growth. not from this low interest rates he's creating right now that allow companies to refinance their balance sheets and use some of those gains to put people to work if they have any demand that needs to be met by expansion. can't put people to work if you don't have any demand for your product. what works when the fed does this? we know the sector that's most sensitive, the largest sector that held up all day. housing related plays, banks react terrifically to this kind of news. that's where all the s & p gains were. they remained the best place to go. housing and housing related. while we await some sort of resolution in washington. even if it'

if i were bernanke, here's what i'm thinking. i'm thinking, if i get the grand bargain, i don't have to do anything additional to what i'm doing now because the economy is going to explode fwr trom the pent-up corporate spending. if i wait, let them take care of it. that's unlikely, though. i think the fed is in a holding pattern and let the market bounce around without the upside gains. >> is that it, or are you just getting warmed up? >> let's go to murph. >> if you don't get anything from bernanke today, the market is going to sell off. if we see bernanke step away from the easing today, we're going to go a lot lower on the mark market. i don't think that's going to happen. i think you'll see him extend and see what happens with the fiscal cliff. >> what does the market want to hear from the fed today. jim is chief financial strategist for wells capital management. thanks for coming back. >> thanks for having me. >> what does the market need to hear today? >> well, i think the market is priced right now for the fed to eliminat

bernanke took pains yesterday to emphasize that's not the case. he said 6.5% is not a direct trigger raising rates. the fed could keep policy at zero if the rate gets to 6.5% so long as they are be a dued. it is unclear how investors should trade relative to that target. the fed may have taken a step backward on clarity here in an effort to foster more transparency. we have made the move to the calendar date because the fed thought 2 was unworkable and unclear and thought it could be better with a number. but we don't know how to trade the number. we don't know the sensitivity -- >> we don't bet on the fed, we bet on the number. >> this is one of your questions too. why the threshold. why the tarkets. >> why the then sort of go back off of the targets. >> especially if they are not a hard target anyway. not immediately triggering rate hikes. >> why do we have it there? >> exactly. >> help me. >> help us help you help us. thank you for helping, steve. >> my pleasure. >> that clears sthings things up. not. >>> the question remains, what do you do wi

the podium waiting for ben bernanke to make his announcement. steve is inside that room and we will have live coverage of that event for you sccoming up as "street signs" comes up at 2. ceo of destination wealth management, i know you will be waiting to see how the fed chief elab rates on the process of coming to these particular targets. >> yeah, it will be fascinating as reported already. we have historic targets. something very specific that people have been screaming for. when is unwinding going to happen? he set the targets now. we will see what the language is. >> very quickly. what three stocks do you think would be a good play given the environment we're in. >> three quick names. first of all, master card. master card will continue to

you had both ben bernanke. you had the minnesota fed chairman -- >> coach likota. >> thank you for bailing me out. >> liesman will be happy i knew that. >> the economy was getting better and the ten-year went from 1.8% all the way up to 2.40. what happened in april? you printed 68,000. the message of the market was wrong. fast forward to september, same thing. the announcement of qe3 was supposed to be reflationary. within one week it was the high of the s&p. >> let's go to stephanie link before we bring in the professor to decide if any of you are getting an "a" on this pone. >> i think the fed will continue to keep rates low because we're only growing gdp at 2.7%. we're looking at the fiscal cliff and austerity and he's doing what he can just to keep this thing afloat and to not go back into a recession. i think rates stay low for an extended period of time. i don't know if we get to 6.5% next year or in two years from now, but that's not -- it's not going to be like all of a sudden we get to 6.5 and bam, he

i listened to bernanke and bernanke says, listen, i know they aren't going to come to deal. i see a lot of republicans on air saying we start to understand what they are they want as cuts. not hearing anything from the president. made me feel grim about the fiscal cliff, good about what the fed wants to do, very grim about the power of the fed, beyond what it's already done. >> the "wall street journal"/nbc news poll of americans about the fiscal cliff, some very interesting findings, just to that point, jim, two-thirds polled want congress to strike a deal and cut the budget, even if that means social security and medicare cuts. so, according to this poll, the people are saying, yes, go ahead, cut entitlements and say that obama has a mandate, among those that did not vote for obama, they have -- that they say that there is a mandate of obama to actually raise the taxes on top earners. >> i think a mandate do both. the fed -- a lot of people blame the fed for everything, seems a little ludicrous, what the fed is saying, listen, guys, compromise and if you don't, you got to

. >> fed chief ben bernanke, he should have quit at hello. the market lost all of their games plus a point. 6.5%, that is the point say unemployment rate at which ben bernanke says any future rate moves will now be tied. a news conference in washington, he emphasized his top priority now shoring up the job market. the decision to live up the printing presses in january. the fed investors said they will not stop buying bonds until they drop. 85 alien dollars and we created money each and every month, 45 billion of that put in longer dated treasuries. by mortgage-backed securities. dow jones industrials really straddling the flat line. up more than 81 points after the announcement of markets like this announcement and started to take a second look. the nasdaq has been down most of the day. investors gave the plan a thumbs-up and saw stocks at their best levels since october but giving up the games as you see, what went on. big intraday swings around 12:30 p.m. eastern when the fed made the decisions known. take a look at the financials, giving

ben bernanke, chairman of the federal reserve. who, because he surrounded us with free money and his low interest rate policy triggered a stock market rally all year long, an economy that while moving slowly certainly showed growth throughout the year. bernanke's policies encouraged lending, it encouraged borrowing, and also told us that there are few alternatives with any returns for our money beyond stocks and housing. for all of that, ben bernanke is my pick for businessperson of the year 2012. that will do it for us for today. thank you of so much for joining me. next week bewe will coming to you with a brand new look and a brand new name. look for "on the money with maria bartiromo." i'll continue to be here with you as are all of our great guests every week where wall street meets main street. happy new year, everybody, wish you the best for 2013. i'll see you next weekend.

. >> someone in dc is focussed on job, fed chairman ben bernanke pledging more easy money to cut the unemployment rate. what does the economy look like in the new year, wells fargo chief economist, john silvio next. lou: chairman ben bernanke made a historic move sitting unemployment rate as a target for monetary policy. we'll be taking that up, talking with wells fargo chief economist john silv sylvia in moments, and announcing they will spend -- a month buying mortgage-backed security. what the market expected and stocks rallied a bit on the announcement, a little. then ben bernanke talked about the fiscal cliff that ended that rally, stocks coming off their highs, index, swung 102 points over second, and s&p finished where it began, nascar -- nazdaq down over 8 points, and trading on big board, busiest in the week, walmart a big mover, dropping retailer part of an overall weak group, best answer, profit taking with the sell-off walmart up, 18 -- almost 19ers in on the year, 10 year, yield rising to 1.69%, and crude market, up, joining me now, wells fargo chief economist, john silv

bernanke spoke today. stocks gave back some early gains. here's how we're finishing the day on wall street. as we were saying, the dow was up 80 points at the peak today until the news conference began with the fed chairman, and the devil was in the details. the dow down 12, now 6 points. we're finishing near final figures down to 13,241. nasdaq down 8 points and the s&p hanging in there, at least for the moment, still settling out but at 1428 and change. >> indeed. with the marks losing steam during the fed chairman's press conference. why don't we take a closer look at today's moves as we've got lots of people lined up here and a couple on the set as well? >> randy bateman from huntington funds is over there. stephanie link, cnbc contributor and bruce mccain with key private bank in cleveland and michael pento of pento portfolios, no idea where you are, and bob pisani on the floor of the new york stock exchange. what did you make, stephanie, of today's market action? you're the trader and follow the short-term swings. what was the message

ategyhairman ben bernanke said the employment target is a better signal to investors and the public of just how long interest rates will stay low. >> a strategy that we believe ill help support household and business confidence and spending. >> reporter: to control interest rates, the fed plans to buy $85 eellion worth of bonds every ownth, $45 billion in treasury bills, $40 billion worth of hinggage bonds. the mortgage buying program has already driven rates to historic lows and driven up mortgage applications by 10%. but bernanke says the economy afeds more confidence now because of the uncertain fiscal cliff negotiations in unshington. and the harm from the fiscal cliff won't just happen in the enedre. bernanke said that's happening now. >> it's already affecting absiness investment and hiring decisions by creating uncertainty, or creating r:ssimism. ai saw what happened recently to consumer sentiment, which fell, tesumably in part because of concerns about the fiscal cliff. t reporter: the other main concern for the fed is inflation. but, scott, there's good news here. despite the

. >> fed chairman bernanke who literally redefined the role of the federal reserve board and changed monetary policy dramatically and helped us get out of the recession. >> really? you are right on the money. >> original thinking jim messina, campaign manager for obama's campaign who rewrote the book in a lot of ways, number one. outside of that -- >> the most original thinker chief justice roberts for defining president obama's health care debate as a tax. some say it's a real leap his ipad. >> clarence? mark? >> the picture of obama and christie after the hurricane hit. that was the single best photo that changed the whole campaign. >> that was a killer for a while. >> scott van doozer. remember that name. he was a florida pizza shop owner who gave obama such a big hug that it took obama off the ground. >> i am going to elevate this conversation. the best photo op this year was the space shuttle discovery and the shuttle endeavor flying in their final flights on top of 747 airliners. remember that? >> oh, yeah. >> how uplifting that was. okay. enough already award pat. >> georgetow

what does the economy look like in the new year, wells fargo chief lou: chairman ben bernanke made a historic move sitting unemployment rate as a target for monetary policy. we'll be taking that up, talking with wells fargo chief economist john silv sylvia in moments, and announcing they will spend -- a month buying mortgage-backed security. what the market expected and stocks rallied a bit on the announcement, a little. then ben bernanke talked about the fiscal cliff that ended that rally, stocks coming off their highs, index, swung 102 points over second, and s&p finished where it began, nascar -- nazdaq down over 8 points, and trading on big board, busiest in the week, walmart a big mover, dropping retailer part of an overall weak group, best answer, profit taking with the sell-off walmart up, 18 -- almost 19ers in on the year, 10 year, yield rising to 1.69%, and crude market, up, joining me now, wells fargo chief economist, john silviia, 6.5% is target for fed chairman and the fed, that is the unemployment rate they want to hit, i have never heard of the fed doing this before. ha

ben bernanke, chairman of the federal reserve. who, because he surrounded us with free money and h his low interest rate policy triggered a stock market rally all year long, an economy that while moving slowly certainly showed growth throughout the year. bernanke's policies encouraged lending, it encouraged borrowing, and also told us that the are few alternatives with any returns for our money beyond stocks and housing. for all of that, ben bernanke is my pick for businessperson of the year 2012. that will do it for us for today. thanyou of so much for joining me. next week bewe will coming to you with a brand new look and a brand new name. look for "on the money with maria bartiromo." i'll continue to be here with you as are all of our great guests every week where wall street meets main street. happy new year, everody, wish you the best for 2013. i'll see you next weekend. hey, look! a shooting star! make a wish! i wish we could lie e here forer. i wish this test drive was over, so we could head back to the dealership. [ male n

ben bernanke, chairman of the federal reserve. why, because he surrounded us with free money and his low interest rate policy triggered a stock market rally all year long, an economy that while moving slowly certainly showed growth throughout the year. bernanke's policies encouraged lending, it encouraged borrowing, and also told us that there are few alternatives with any returns for our money beyond stocks and housing. for all of that, ben bernanke is my pick for businessperson of the year 2012. that will do it for us for today. thank you of so much for joining me. next week we will coming to you with a brand new look and a brand new name. look for "on the money with maria bartiromo." i'll continue to be here with you, as will all of our great guests every week where wall street meets main street. happy new year, everybody. wish you the best for 2013. i'll see you next weekend.

especially lauren especially when the forecasting concerns the future i can i'm older than chairman bernanke and i have many more arrows under my belt therefore much more experience but let us not forget that these people missed the biggest cyclical event of their lives in the two thousand and seven eight and nine experience i mean how about just a little bit of humility in the face of the ignorance we all confront in the thing we call the future i mean so any way you are asking for me i think i don't do it that side so so. so the federal reserve wants us to know that it will be vigilant when inflation reaches the measured rate of two and a half percent but it is a truism our financial lives that the thing you want to measure somehow disappears when you try to measure it for example the measured rate of inflation was very manageable seemingly in two thousand and six and seven the thing that was inflating was the thing as it turned out that would guide our collective economic destiny for the next five years namely house prices and the powers that be simply didn't notice . inflation is defined

the fed will have some measure of responsibility you know or well i was waiting for the ask chairman bernanke you mr mr chairman do you want people to buy stocks you want them to buy special of great corporate if when the prices of these things collapses will you be writing letters to the bravery of what what a man's will you make as a federal functionary and yet have something they're going to start getting any of those and i'm sure that they will say that that is not in their mandate unfortunately and they can always rely on that and jim grant that i may ask you to hold right there we will come back to you in a couple minutes i just have to get to this break but we'll have more with jim grant founder and editor of grant's interest rate observer because still ahead japan's voters head to the polls this weekend and this vote might have a major impact on japanese monetary policy i know we are going to say they have been rare enough on monetary policy for decades but jim brown tell us why we should pay attention but first your closing market numbers. well. it's technology innovations all the de

i can i'm older than chairman bernanke i have many more arrows had in my belt therefore much more experience but let us not forget that these people missed the biggest cyclical event of their lives in the two thousand and seven eight and nine experience i mean how about just a little bit of humility in the face of the ignorance we all confront in the thing we call the future i mean so any way you are asking for me i think i don't know if that side so so. so the federal reserve wants us to know that it will be vigilant when inflation reaches the measured rate of two and a half percent but it is a truism our financial lives that the thing you want to measure somehow disappears when you try to measure it for example the measured rate of inflation was very manageable seemingly in two thousand and six and seven the thing that was inflating was the thing as it turned out that would guide our collective economic destinies for the next five years namely house prices and the powers that be simply didn't notice. inflation is defined turn who's to say that inflation the checkout counter is the real per

especially lauren especially when the forecasting concerns the future i can i'm older than chairman bernanke and i have many more arrows under my belt therefore much more experience but let us not forget that these people missed the biggest cyclical event of their lives in the two thousand and seven eight and nine experience i mean how about just a little bit of humility in the face of the ignorance we all confront in the thing we call the future i mean so any way you are asking for me i think i don't do it outside so so. so the federal reserve wants us to know that it will be vigilant when inflation reaches the measured rate of two and a half percent but it is a truism of our financial lives that the thing you want to measure somehow disappears when you try to measure it for example the measured rate of inflation was very manageable seemingly in two thousand and six and seven the thing that was inflating was the thing as it turned out that would guide our collective economic destinies for the next five years namely house prices and the powers that be simply didn't notice. inflation is a def

the fed will have some measure of responsibility no or well i was waiting for the ask chairman bernanke you mr mr chairman do you want people to buy stocks you want to buy special of great corporate debt if the price of these things collapses will you be writing letters to the be removed what amends will you make as a federal functionary have something they're going to start getting i mean any of those and i'm sure that they will say that that is not in their mandate unfortunately and they can always rely on that jim grant though i may ask you to hold right there we will come back to you in a couple minutes i just have to get to this break but we'll have more with jim graham founder and editor of grant's interest rate observer because still ahead japan's voters head to the polls this weekend and this vote might have a major impact on japanese monetary policy i know you're going to say they have been rare enough on monetary policy for decades but jim brann don't tell us why we should pay attention but first your closing market numbers. here is mitt romney trying to figure out the name of

i can i'm older than chairman bernanke and i have many more arrows under my belt therefore much more experience but let us not forget that these people missed the biggest cyclical event of their lives in the two thousand and seven eight and nine experience let me help out just a little bit of humility in the face of the ignorance we all confront and the thing we call the future i mean so anyway you were asking for me i think i don't go right up the side so so. so the federal reserve wants us to know that it will be vigilant when inflation reaches the measured rate of two and a half percent but it is a truism of our financial lives that the thing you want to measure somehow disappears when you try to measure it for example the remeasured rate of inflation was very manageable seemingly in two thousand and six and seven the thing that was inflating was the thing as it turned out that would guide our collective economic destinies for the next five years namely house prices. the powers that be simply didn't notice. inflation is a fine turn who's to say that inflation the checkout counter

the fed will have some measure of responsibility no or well i was waiting for the ask chairman bernanke you mr mr chairman do you want people to buy stocks you want to buy special of great corporate debt if the prices of these things collapses will you be writing letters to the be removed what or what amends will you make as a federal functionary yet have something they're going to start getting any of those and i'm sure that they will say that that is not in their mandate unfortunately and they can always rely on that jim grant though i may ask you to hold right there we will come back to you in a couple minutes i just have to get to this break but we'll have more with jim grant founder and editor of grant's interest rate observer because still ahead japan's voters head to the polls this weekend and this vote might have a major impact on japanese monetary policy i know we're going to say they have been rare enough on monetary policy for decades but jim brown tell us why we should pay attention but first your closing market numbers. which brighten if you move. from place to. please plea

and ben bernanke said household confidence is starting to wane. businesses aren't spending money because of the fiscal cliff. so it's so elusive. it's almost right there. next year could be a good year if we can get some of these uncertainties settled. >> thank you so much, christine. appreciate it. >>> 26 minutes past the hour. >>> without it, a lot of iphone users were lost without it. literally. the app that just made a big comeback. switchgrass in argentina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. he opened up jake's very private world. at first, jake's family thought they saved ziggy, but his connection with jake has been a lifesaver. f

may want to go and check that out now tomorrow of course is the f o m c minute meetings results ben bernanke has a presser jim rickards author of currency wars will be here with his insights he's always amazing on the fed you can watch us and h.d. on hulu there's the address right there and from every here at capital account thank you so much for watching and have a great night. you see. destruction with and see. what could be just really. saying a great sacrifice. and. understood by drugs which.

thank you, susan. >>> ben bernanke also had big news for investors. the feds taking unprecedented action in keeping interest rates at their record-low levels. erica ferrari is here in new york with that. erica, good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. for the first time ever, the fed said they would link its actions to specific economic milestones. they said they'll keep the interest rate to 0% until the unemployment rate falls to below 6.5%. the jobless rate may not reach that point until 2015. it's at 7.7% now. rates will also stay low as long as inflation remains below 2.5%. the fed will continue its program of spending $85 billion a month on bond purchases. all of these steps are aimed at spurring borrowing and lending. and news from the federallied most asian markets. tokyo's nikkei added 1.5%. hong kong's hang seng lost a quarter percent. the dow lost nearly 3 points. the nasdaq was down 8. and the u.s. is on track to run up its fifth straight deficit or manufacture than a trillion dollars. the treasury department says the budget gap rose

it's way more straightforward than what we get from this same rate manipulator the fed now despite ben bernanke in the past suggesting the central bank could do a better job of communicating with the public we still hear a prevalence of fed speak in need of translation here is some well that's circumstance the committee would no longer be increasing the policy accommodation its policy stance would remain highly supportive of growth finally the committee today also modified its guidance about future repros seek to provide more information to the public about how to dissipate or react to evolving economic conditions are not exactly a common language and translating fed changes in language gives rise to questions like this here's a tweet from a reporter what does the beige book change for moderate to modest growth mean now i spoke to james savage earlier he was v.p. of public affairs at the cleveland fed from two thousand and eight to two thousand and eleven now he runs a company building and managing corporate reputations which is why lately he's been thinking a lot about the missteps fed's. so t

bernanke says is already showing its negative effect. question, is the fed's new policy an enlightened departure from tradition or a dangerous departure from tradition? pat buchanan. by the way, i'm having second thoughts about the name of that journalist that i mentioned to you earlier. >> it was carl rowan, and he shot some kid in his pool in d.c. but, yeah, this is extremely risky. >> now can you answer my question. >> i think artificiallily, it will lead to inflation and we are going to see higher interest rates. >> i think bernanke sees the light here. he is putting the emphasis on jobs and tie black the fed does to getting unemployment. >> hold on. >> very smart. >> it's been the savior of this economy to date because without that loose monetary policy, we would be in a terribly deeper recession. so he is the only person that is able to do it. we're not able to do that much on the fiscal side. tess single most important player at this stage of the game going forward. >> does he -- >> yes, it does. it expands our trade, okay. that's

way more straightforward than what we get from this station rate manipulator the fed now despite ben bernanke in the past suggesting the central bank could do a better job of communicating with the public we still hear a prevalence of fed speak in need of translation here's some well that's circumstance the committee would no longer be increasing policy accommodation its policy stance would remain highly supportive of growth finally the committee today also modified its guidance about future rate policy to provide more information to the public about how it is just a pace to react to evolving economic conditions. not exactly common language and translating fed changes in language gives rise to questions like this here's a tweet from a reporter what does the beige book change from moderate to modest growth mean now i spoke to james savage earlier he was v.p. of public affairs at the cleveland fed from two thousand and eight to two thousand and eleven i now he runs a company building and managing corporate reputations which is why lately he's been thinking a lot about the fed missteps. so the w

but if they're not going to be able to do that, then bernanke is smart. and again, it's unprecedented for him to do that. it's smart for him to go in and continue to try to stimulate the economy. >> you know, it's one thing for him to say that he is very concerned about the fiscal cliff and what it would do to the economy. but then to back it up with this move. >> yeah. you got to give the guy a lot of credit. it might be his bid for a third term as fed chairman, frankly, because it is creative. it's unprecedented, and by the way, the europeans are now following his lead. >> what is the danger here? >> well, the danger is that we're creating a bit of a bubble with these low interest rates, just like we did, unfortunately, in 2003 and 2004 when greenspan kept interest rates low. and that created the housing bubble, because investors were looking for higher yield. and when investors start looking for higher yielding bonds, then they take risks that they wouldn't ordinarily take. and that's the risk here that we're creating a bubble in interest rates. and of

that's not what bernanke -- that's not what bernanke thinks. but there is this sense that maybe just the politics of it and the optics of it would actually strengthen the president's hand. but you're right. if people start looking at their 401(k)s and seeing that decline, it could spell trouble for the white house because ultimately i think the economy and the stock market -- >> i don't think it's a bungee jump. i think it's a cliff. thank you, nia-malika henderson. we'll be right back with my thoughts about what's going on right now. [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. to the best vacation sp(all) the gulf! it doesn't matter which of our great sta

a rally was up 80 points on the dow at one time until midday when bernanke had his news conference and took all the wind out of the sales. down three points at 13,245. that does it for "the closing bell." >> "fast money" starts right now and i do believe maria is back tomorrow. >> she will be. see you tomorrow. >>> traders get what they wanted. >> if unemployment never goes below 6.5% again, we're going to have a quarter percent forever. >> so, now it's a race to see who can buy more lumber futures for printing currency between the japanese and the americans. >> but chairman bernanke is a buzz kill for stocks today. >> the asset purchases are a less well understood tool. we have -- we'll be learning over time about how every cautious they are, about what costs they may carry with them in terms of untended consequences. >> and we're back to worrying about a thelma and louise finish to the fiscal cliff. maybe that wouldn't presidentbeo so bad. >> when the government does things, it usually doesn't end well. >> only 12 trading days left until d-day. we're here to help you navigate it. thi

this is ben bernanke's fed. its his legacy going forward, and then we leave the table and we're still friends. so, can i sell it to you? i can't sell it with passion. but i will say that this is action in a city called washington, or sometimes in texas we call it washington-stand where people never get anything done or don't appear to be easily able to get things done. we do get things done. we make a decision and we proceed. >> i think that's one thing you can say about the fomc and this leader's chairmanship. we're going in new direction. the question is, is the efficacy of what we're doing solid or not? we'll continue to examine that. and if it's not, we're going to have to change course. it's the best i can tell you, joe. >> i understand. i understand. and you're a reasonable, calm, conciliatory, collegial, the fed is very collegial. but i would -- >> that's right. >> -- at some point wonder whether you might just snap? because you've been on in the past, with much less significant, and much less -- much sma

and then we really watched as ben bernanke was speaking the market lose its steam. the nasdaq also went negative where it is right now, and, you know, bill, i guess we'll ask our guests what it is that the market was disappointed by when listening in to him. a couple of things that i latched on to and one of them is the fact that we don't have the tools if we go over the fiscal cliff. it's going to be costly regardless, even if we go over short term, and the other one was the ability to provide accommodation is not unlimited, ie, we may think that qe will go on forever, but he's saying, guess what, folks, it won't. >> sometimes reality hurts the markets there. >> yeah. >> let's get reaction from our guests, tyler verne oven builtmore capital and our friend ron insana and rick sell who got a shutout during the news conference identified as steve liesman's nemesis and steve who was the first questioner there during the chairman's news conference will be joining us shortly here as well. tyler vernon, what do you make of the fed's new view of monetary policy? they are t

fed will have some measure of responsibility you know or well i was waiting for me to ask chairman bernanke you mr mr chairman you want people to buy stocks you want them to buy special of great corporate debt . if the price of these things collapses will you be writing letters to the be removed what or what the loans will you make is a federal functionary. so i think they're going to start going to get near those and i'm sure that they will say that that is not in their mandate unfortunately and they can always rely on that and jim grant that i may ask you to hold right there we will come back to you in a couple minutes i just have to get to this break but we will have more with jim grant founder and editor of grants interest rate observer because still ahead japan's voters head to the polls this weekend and this vote might have a major impact on japanese monetary policy i know we are going to say they have been rare enough on monetary policy for decades but jim brown tell us why we should pay attention but first your closing market numbers. wealthy british soil it's time to. market why no

it's way more straightforward than what we get from this same rate manipulator the fed now despite ben bernanke in the past suggesting the central bank could do a better job of communicating with the public we still hear a prevalence of fed speak in need of translation here is some well that's circumstance the committee would no longer be increasing from a policy accommodation its policy stance would remain highly supportive of growth finally the committee today also modified its guidance about future rate policy to provide more information to the public but how do you suppose to react to evolving economic conditions. not exactly common language and translating fed changes in language gives rise to questions like this here's a tweet from a reporter what does the beige book change for a moderate to modest growth mean now i spoke to james savage earlier he was v.p. of public affairs at the cleveland fed from two thousand and eight to two thousand and eleven now he runs a company building and managing corporate reputations which is why lately he's been thinking a lot about the missteps fed's. so t