Two words Ben Bernanke is loath to utter: recession and bailout. The Fed chief predicted on Apr. 2 in congressional testimony that the economy "will not grow much, if at all, over the first half of 2008 and could even contract slightly," but he never said the U.S. was in a recession. As for the Fed's financing to help JPMorgan Chase's (JPM) takeover of Bear Stearns (BSC), Bernanke said "sudden failure of Bear Stearns likely would have led to a chaotic unwinding of positions...and could have severely shaken confidence."