It’s a very busy week for the markets and economy coming off the ECB’s long anticipated announcement of Euro QE last week. On the one hand I thought it was smart to leak the $50B euros per month plan so that markets could digest it ahead of the official statement. It was also a great move to then exceed the number that was leaked by $10B euros.
On the other hand, I am not in favor of this piecemeal approach when everyone already knows that $60B euros per month won’t be enough. If Mario Draghi was truly committed to QE and saving the euro “at any cost”, they would have pulled all stops and done the shock and awe of AT LEAST $100B euros per month right away. It would caught everyone off guard in a positive way except for those who are positioned against QE, exactly the folks the ECB is trying to combat. It would have sent such a powerful message to the markets.
Yes, I know. The Germans are ardently opposed to QE. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That may be their public stance with Merkel pounding the table in opposition, but in reality with their export economy on the verge of recession, a weaker euro is precisely what the doctor ordered. As I have long discussed, this is just another currency battle in what some have termed, “a race to the bottom”, meaning that countries are devaluing their way to prosperity. (Insert incredulous look, head scratch and head shake)
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