Bernanke, speaks today at 10 a.m.

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Bernanke, speaks today at 10 a.m.  His and other scholars' papers and remarks will deal with how emerging markets are affecting industrialized economies and their policies.

Bernanke, Fed chairman since February, takes the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, podium today after two days of reports showing home sales and prices retreating after a five-year boom..

Given real estate's importance to the economy, the Fed may have to hold interest rates steady even as inflation exceeds Bernanke's comfort zone of 1 percent to 2 percent, excluding food and energy.

Bernanke has maintained his academic view that asset prices are indicators and not something to target. The Fed is taking into account the recent slowdown in housing prices and sales when it looks to set policy.

This week's reports showed that July sales of new and previously owned homes fell more than economists had estimated, validating the Aug. 8 decision by Bernanke and the rest of the Federal Open Market Committee to suspend the rate increases.