LIVE: BERNANKE EXPLAINS HIMSELF

The Federal Reserve's FOMC monetary policymaking body just shocked markets with the decision to refrain from reducing the amount of monthly bond purchases it makes under its quantitative easing (QE) program.

A "tapering" of QE was widely expected on Wall Street, and judging by the market reaction to the release of this FOMC statement, it's pretty clear that markets were indeed pricing in an announcement of a reduction of bond purchases by the Fed going forward (stocks, bonds, and gold are surging in the wake of the release).

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver a press conference and Q&A with reporters beginning at 2:30 PM. We will be live-blogging it below.

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