Bernanke: Bear Stearns Wasn't a Bailout

Of the Bear Stearns rescue, Bernanke said, "I hope this is a rare event, and I hope it's not something that we ever have to do again."

The Fed's regional bank in New York hired BlackRock Financial Management Inc. to manage the $30 billion portfolio of securities the Fed obtained from Bear Stearns.

Bernanke said that BlackRock was "reasonably confident that we will be able to recover the full amount if we dispose of these assets on a measured basis, rather than sell them all at once."

On Thursday, Bernanke and officials from the New York Fed, Treasury Department and Securities and Exchange Commission, along with officials from Bear Stearns and JP Morgan, are scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee.

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