Cut-out-n-keep guide to Bernanke's testimony: Bernanke is starring today at the House Financial Services committee, and his comments there and at the Senate Banking committee tomorrow are probably his best communication opportunity for some time, as the FT's Robin Harding points out - there being no July FOMC press conference scheduled. So Kate has assembled here some what-to-look-for highlights from the FT, WSJ, and Goldman Sachs, plus a few others. Barclays fined $470m over US power prices: The US electricity market's overseer has slapped Barclays with a record $470m penalty over manipulating power prices, in the latest heavy regulatory sanction against the UK bank. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's fines matched the amount proposed last year when it accused four former Barclays traders of manipulating physical power prices in California and other western US states in order to fraudulently boost financial derivative positions. Mark Carney got everyone on the MPC to vote to maintain QE at its current level of £375bn at the Bank of England's 3/4 July meeting. Sterling did this on Wednesday after the minutes were released: Also of interest since it seems that the committee has fallen in behind the forward guidance plan with QE taking a backseat: [As expected] On 7 August, alongside the release of the Inflation Report at 10.30, the Committee will respond to the Chancellor's request for its assessment of the use of thresholds and forward guidance, as well as its view of the trade off between growth and inflation. Any announcement regarding the implementation of thresholds and forward guidance will be made then, rather than immediately after the Committee's next policy meeting on 1 August. The EU is proposing to cap card transaction fees: A draft plan seen by the FT would introduce a ceiling for charges on all consumer debit and credit card transactions, and would require payment card schemes and the entities that process transactions to be legally separated - a forced split that would remake the business model for the main payment groups. BHP's iron ore production beats expectations: Output from its most profitable Western Australian mines was 19% higher in the June quarter on a sequential basis, and full-year output was up 7% to June 30, exceeding company guidance. Google has recently approached media companies about licensing their content for an Internet TV service that would stream traditional TV programming, people familiar with the matter say. Markets: Stocks are mixed but the dollar is strengthening as investors await testimony on Capitol Hill from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke later today. But until the Fed successfully negotiates an exit, markets are likely to remain in thrall to the words of Mr Bernanke. European equity markets opened broadly higher, but key Asian indices were mixed, and the FTSE All World index has not broken out of Tuesday's trading range at all so far this session. Overnight, the S&P 500 narrowly failed to set a new closing high, ending the session 0.4 per cent lower. . The dollar has resumed its strengthening trend, up 0.1 per cent against the euro and 0.5 per cent against the yen, while gold has fallen 0.4 per cent to $1,287 a troy ounce. But as with stocks, the two major currency pairs and gold have not broken out of Tuesday trading ranges according to the FT Global Market Overview.