Good Bernanke News Gives Wall Street a Boost

Well, it’s good news for Mr. Bernanke, at least: The U.S. stock market did better Monday than it had in the last three days of trading, thanks in part to signs that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s support in the Senate appeared solid. The sunny quarterly report from Apple Inc. — coming just days before the company was expected to make a major announcement — also helped reverse last week’s slide. –KA

Reuters via Google News:

U.S. lawmakers looked likely to approve Bernanke’s nomination after the White House defended his record fighting the financial crisis in an effort to rally votes. […]

“(Bernanke) is clearly what prompted it,” said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco, referring to the stock market’s recovery. “Coupled with the fact we were 600 points down in a straight line, we were due for a bounce.”

Massocca said private counts of Bernanke’s support showed well more than a majority of senators would vote for confirmation.

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