(8-30-10) The Kansas City Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole Wyoming -- now called J-Hole, by media pundits -- has not given investors more confidence.

There were the usual namby-pamby nebulous pronouncements by Fed Chairman "Helicopter Ben" Bernanke on Friday, August 27, but the question remains -- is the Fed preparing for deflation, inflation, or economic collapse?

As the old joke goes, when the only tool you have left is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Or rather it has to be a nail. In other words, the markets remain skeptical, if not downright pessimistic, about the so-called economic "recovery."

So what did Bernanke say and what does it mean?

Bernanke's speech was anticipated by the markets as it capped off a week of exceptionally bearish economic news for the equity markets and indeed what some expected is that it's time for the Fed to come out with something hard and fast, meaning a new economic stimulus program, new measures that not only a double dip but what would come after which is a continuous and pernicious slide in domestic GDP.