No Debt Plan

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Nothing like some pure speculation to get the Monday morning going. What does Ben Bernanke’s portfolio look like? What is he currently invested in?

I wonder if this sort of information is available publicly. A very powerful person in the finance world. What does his portfolio look like?

I did a Google search and the only thing I can find is a CNN Money article from a few years back. Nothing more recent. The Money article did seem to mention that he had a very plain, basic portfolio with nothing really extravagant in it. He also earns a “modest” salary in comparison to what he could earn on Wall Street.

The Federal Reserve is an interesting beast of an organization. They have government-like powers, but they aren’t a government institution. Despite not being a government institution, they carry a government domain name (federalreserve.gov).

Are there rules or laws in place to limit what the leaders of the board can invest in?

What if…

• Ben bought Bear Sterns’ stock at $2 then allowed/encouraged the price to go to $10 per share?
• Every time a significant change was going to happen in the interest rates that Ben bought securities that would benefit from the lower/higher rates?

There are a bunch of scenarios you could come up with that would seem quite sketchy. Anyone out there know about the “rules” for people like Ben when it comes to investing?