But Bernanke fell short of announcing bold QE, rather, he chose to save his bullets and only extend Operation Twist, by which the Fed is attempting to lower longer-term interest rates by extending the average maturity of its Treasury portfolio.

FORBES: Biggest S&P 500 Loser Ryder Shows The Economy Is Going Nowhere

The accounting rules do allow you to designate assets as being held to maturity, or being held in the short-term.

FORBES: Intelligent Investing Briefing Book

When interest rates were plunging in 2000--03, these geniuses decided to shorten the average maturity instead of locking in long-term low yields.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

With some of its earlier backers now gone, I believe Facebook lacks the maturity in its executive team to go after a long term play like this, that requires commitment to infrastructure investment.

FORBES: CISCO, WebEx.

It required banks to write down the value of assets (such as long-term bonds) to market value, even if the banks intended to hold them until maturity.

FORBES: The Illusive Rally Top

While the decline in short-term yields is difficult to figure out, the reason for the rising interest rates on the longer end of the maturity spectrum has what seems to be an obvious cause: the U.S. government is going to have to pay for its bailout of America's financial industry by issuing bonds.

FORBES: Magazine Article