Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that ...

Bernanke: Other plans have moved ahead of buying Treasurys Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that other programs have jumped ahead of the idea of the central bank buying longer-term Treasurys. "We do have a couple of other things going on right now," Bernanke said, specifically mentioning the Fed's purchases of mortgage-backed securities and plans to start buying other consumer loans. Bernanke said he wants to keep "the option open" to buy Treasurys if needed to improve the functioning of private credit markets. "We're not trying to affect the cost of government financing per se," he said.

Bernanke: No purpose to nationalize biggest banks
There is no benefit from nationalizing the biggest U.S. banks as Washington regulators can pretty much get them to do what is needed to do already, Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday. The government is satisfied with a "public/private partnership" and will be a common shareholder along with private investors, Bernanke said. It most cases, the government will not be a majority shareholder, Bernanke said. Nationalizing banks would only destroy the franchise, he said. The stress test will uncover the size of the hole at these institutions, he said. The Obama administration has committed to provide capital to fill these holes. A clear sign of the recovery will be when banks to raise funds in private markets, he said.