"Asset Backed Commercial Paper Market Has Stabilized" Says Bernanke. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress today, said "The asset-backed commercial paper market has stabilized". He stated, "Concerns about mortgage-backed securities and structured credit products (even those unrelated to mortgages) also greatly reduced investor appetite for asset-backed commercial paper, although that market has improved somewhat recently." Commercial paper and ABCP outstandings dropped by $15.6 billion and $29.5 billion, respectively, in the latest week ended Nov. 7, reports the Federal Reserve. Bloomberg's article on the weekly numbers quotes Morgan Stanley's Kevin Flanagan, "I don't think we're in the crisis of confidence scenario anymore, but there are still some uncertainties."
