Ben Bernanke to Wall Street: It's the beginning of the end

The bearded one says the Fed could soon pull its support for the economy

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke really knows how to make Wall Street panic.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

After almost a month of nervous speculation, jittery markets, and creeping interest rates, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke met the press this afternoon following a two-day policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. His chief message: The Fed is not ready to wind down its emergency stimulus programs just yet, an exit strategy that has come to be known as tapering. But if the economy continues to grow as projected, tapering will go into effect — as soon as this year.

Here, five key takeaways:

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Carmel Lobello is the business editor at TheWeek.com. Previously, she was an editor at DeathandTaxesMag.com.