No headlines jump out from Bernanke’s comments, which focus on banking and credit rather than the broad economy. At the margin, he sounds concerned, which could be a slight nod to QE3.
- Recovery still ‘halting at times’, which is keeping credit demand sluggish and hurting consumer creditworthiness
- Credit generally improving
- But some areas like mortgage lending are tight and won’t turn quickly
- Tight lending standards may be preventing loans to creditworthy customers
- Overall credit conditions have improved significantly
