The moment during the press conference when bonds started melting down, and Bernanke's intentions became clear

The release of the statement from the Federal Reserve's latest FOMC monetary policy meeting today and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's subsequent press conference sent bonds tumbling.

The chart below shows the exact moments that triggered the sell-off in 10-year Treasury futures that caused bond yields to soar today.

The initial leg down in bonds came right after the release of the FOMC statement and updated macroeconomic forecasts at 2 PM ET. The FOMC is more optimistic on the economy than before, which means tapering back of bond purchases under the central bank's program of monetary stimulus will probably come sooner than previously expected.

The second, more notable, leg of the sell-off was triggered around 2:45 PM by Bernanke's response to a reporter's question about the sell-off in the Treasury market over the past several weeks that has sent bond yields soaring.