As Ben Bernanke wraps up his first term as Fed chairman, ITG’s Chief Economist Bob Barbera praises him for making the best of a bad situation. Bernanke shrugs off criticism from both the left and the right and Bob believes that the chairman recognizes the need for the Fed to step in with liquidity when the next financial panic breaks out. Also in Bob’s weekly note: how low mortgage rates, improved affordability and a pickup in sales activity paint a portrait of a housing bottom in six simple charts.