Bernanke Nudges Fed Toward Mortgage Sales

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke nudged the U.S. central bank Thursday toward gradually selling some of its $1.25 trillion portfolio of mortgage securities, an idea he had been lukewarm about before.

Mr. Bernanke's stand on the issue is important to millions of U.S. homeowners and many investors because sales of the securities could push down their prices and push up mortgage rates. Still, Fed officials are tiptoeing in that direction as a way to gradually get monetary policy back to normal.