Mortgage rates were little changed Tuesday ahead of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech at the National Association of Business Economics annual meeting. His comments are expected to focus on the current global financial crisis and will be closely watched by investors. The Fed announced a plan to purchase US Commercial Paper in an effort to ease liquidity for businesses. The minutes from the September 16 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will be released at 2:00 PM, although much has changed in recent weeks, so the information may be of little value. The dollar moved lower on expectations of an imminent rate cut by the Fed. Stocks were mixed.