When Bernanke speaks

When Ben Bernanke was tapped to become the new chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Wall Street hailed his fine communication skills, saying the plainspoken economics professor would improve the transparency of the Fed.

But now that blunt talk from the new Fed chief has thrown the markets into a two-day tailspin, many observers seem wistful for Bernanke's predecessor, the famously abstruse Alan Greenspan.