The chart above shows what happened just after 3 PM when Maria Bartiromo revealed the details of her weekend conversation with Ben Bernanke. People clearly aren't happy with 'Big Ben' and, to a lesser extent, Maria, after Maria dropped this little bombshell on the market just after 3:00:

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says that the media and the markets had misinterpreted his words last week as a signal that the Fed would stop after one more rate hike, according to CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo on Monday.

Bartiromo said she asked Bernanke in a conversation during a formal dinner on Saturday night whether "the markets got it right last week in speculating the Fed is done raising interest rates" after his testimony to Congress.

She reported that Bernanke replied no, and that he went on to say that he and his colleagues at the Federal Open Market Committee were trying to "create some flexibility for the Federal Reserve, saying the Fed may pause but the data will really dictate whether more rate hikes will occur at future meetings."

John Christy and David asked the question that I'd also like an answer to:

John: If this happened over the weekend, why didn’t CNBC break the news over the weekend? Or first thing this morning?

Am I the only one who finds this a little odd?

David also wrote:

So is helicopter Ben having a bit of a problem with on the job training? Sure seems that way as he now "hints" that he was "misunderstood" last week. How can prepared comments be "misunderstood" several days later? How long before we pine for the clear speaking former fed head?

Adam made this great observation (makes me wish I had CNBC on at the time):

Funny moment just now as Maria channels Big Mistaken Ben and then wonders why the bond pit behind her is going nuts. So who is more oblivious, Uncle Ben or Queen Maria? He probably came in with good intentions of being more intelligible than his predecessor, but this will only serve to eliminate any future candor.

Dr. Sen hit Bernanke with a body blow:

Ho-hum, nothing much happening until the CMO (Chief Monetary Obfuscator) Ben Bernanke emphasized 'data-dependent' instead of 'pause'. I guess it was a Lloyd Bentsen paraphrasing moment for the market, as in "I knew Alan Greenspan, and you're no Alan Greenspan."

And Kirk finished him off with an upper-cut:

As you can imagine, traders are fuming over this gaffe. While some have already communicated being upset about the Fed's daily nonsensical banter, today's stumble by the Fed is truly hard to fathom. If the media did "get it wrong" last week, why didn't the Fed take issue of that when it occurred? Secondly, how did CNBC officially become the Fed's mouthpiece through Mario Bartiromo?

All in all, the whole ordeal doesn't create a lot of confidence in the folks who are pulling the market's purse strings. Frankly, I think it is only just the beginning of what we're going to see in the days ahead as investors and the market lose confidence in Uncle Ben. Where's Greenie when you need him?

This does go a long way in explaining the new Fed Chair Curse -- perhaps it takes a while before the Chairs learn they are not still in Academia or where ever; it took Greenspan a long time to learn to speak for 4 hours straight -- and say nothing. I suspect it may take Bernanke a little longer to learn the dark art of obsfucation . . .

So there you have it, no love at all for Big Ben today. Well enough of that. Here are charts of the Nasdaq and S&P, both of which are mired in trading ranges / chop / muck: