warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Stocks Volatile After Bernanke's Speech

Subrina Hudson |
August 31, 2012 | 12:14 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

Bernanke said Fed will take more action if economy and job market doesn't improve. (Medill DC/Flickr)
Bernanke said Fed will take more action if economy and job market doesn't improve. (Medill DC/Flickr)
Stocks traded higher on Friday but couldn’t hang on after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared that the Fed is ready to take more action to help an economy that’s “far from satisfactory.”

Bernanke was speaking at the annual Federal Reserve conference in Wyoming.

Investors have been watching to see whether the Fed will buy more bonds to lower long-term interest rates. Bernanke said the Fed “should not rule out” new policies to improve the job market, but stopped short of committing the Fed to any specific move, according to Times-Sandard.

Stocks had been up strongly in the morning and briefly gave up their gains, then rebounded. At one point, reports Times-Standard, the Dow was up as many as 151 points.

Frank Fantozzi, CEO of Planned Financial Services in Cleveland said Bernanke “was a primary reason for the markets being as volatile as they are today.”

Bernanke’s comments received a more uniformed reception in energy markets. Oil prices jumped $1.56 to $96.18 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas, heating oil and wholesale gasoline prices all rose more than one percent.

Reach Executive Producer Subrina Hudson here; follow her on Twitter here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.