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What Today's ECB Decision to Cut Rates Means for Investors

By Diane Alter, Contributing Writer, Money Morning - December 3, 2015

The European Central Bank announced a number of monetary policy changes Thursday in attempts to spur anemic growth and fend off slack inflation.

Disappointed investors sent stocks lower in early trading.

Here's what the ECB decision means for investors...

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What Today's ECB Decision to Cut Rates Means for Investors

By Diane Alter, Contributing Writer, Money Morning - December 3, 2015

The European Central Bank announced a number of monetary policy changes Thursday in attempts to spur anemic growth and fend off slack inflation.

Disappointed investors sent stocks lower in early trading.

Here's what the ECB decision means for investors...

Draghi's Pain Can Be Your Gain with This $10 Stock

By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report • @kfgtotalwealth - January 29, 2015

Many investors expect "Super" Mario Draghi's recently announced 1.2 trillion euro stimulus program to produce big market gains just like the Fed's QE did here in the United States.

What they're missing is that not all companies are going to benefit. In fact, the vast majority won't.

How do you know if the one you want to buy is one of 'em?

...because it's tied into one or more of the six unstoppable trends we're following.

That's what we're going to talk about today...

"Super Mario" Draghi's QE in One Photo

By Tara Clarke, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @TaraKateClarke - January 22, 2015

The European Central Bank (ECB) took a dramatic policy leap Thursday morning...
ECB President Mario Draghi launched a quantitative easing program (QE) that will pump hundreds of billions into Europe's economy.

Here's just what that means (and how it looks)...

Desperation in the Eurozone Is a Profit Play for Us

By Michael E. Lewitt, Global Credit Strategist, Money Morning • @MichaelELewitt - September 7, 2014

On September 4, the European Central Bank lowered the interest rate on its main refinancing operations by 10 basis points to 0.05%. In addition, the interest rate on its marginal lending facility was reduced by 10 basis points to 0.30% and the interest rate on its deposit facility was reduced by 10 basis points as well to -0.20%.

These rate cuts came as a bit of a surprise to the markets since only three months ago the central bank cut interest rates and was waiting for these cuts to stimulate economic growth.

Unfortunately, growth has slowed rather than jumped since then...

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Why a Rising Euro is Likely Despite Draghi Comments

By Guest Editorial, Money Morning - February 7, 2013

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned about excessive euro strength at a press conference today (Thursday) following his announcement that the ECB had left interest rates unchanged, as expected.

In response to a reporter's question on whether there was a currency war in progress, Draghi said, "I think we should have in mind one thing: changes in the exchange rates that we see today are not really deliberate competitive devaluations. They are more the effect of macroeconomic policies that are meant to revamp the economies - for example, very low interest rates, promises to stay low for a very long time.

"However, if these policies produce consequences on the exchange rates that do not reflect the G20 consensus, we will have to discuss this."

Draghi said the exchange rate is not a "policy target" but is "important for growth and price stability," adding, "We certainly want to see whether the appreciation - if sustained - will alter our risk assessment as far as price stability is concerned."

Observers blogging and tweeting from the room where the press conference was being held felt Draghi was being very careful in choosing his words and interpreted this as a sign that he was, in fact, attempting to talk down the euro or at least slow its rise against other major currencies.

Traders immediately sold the euro against the U.S. dollar and against the Japanese yen. The euro is currently trading down about 200 pips against the U.S. dollar and is off more than 150 pips against the Japanese yen.

There is no doubt Draghi succeeded in halting the rise of the euro, at least for today. But if the ECB is serious about putting a lid on the euro's strength, its options are limited.

Because the ECB must take into account the laws and preferences of its constituent national central banks, it would not be easy to intervene in the foreign exchanges market - except in extreme circumstances - or to undertake a competitive expansion of the ECB balance sheet as the Fed and the Bank of Japan are doing.

The ECB could create new credit by purchasing private-sector assets, as the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan have done, but it is unclear how the conservative Germans would react to such a plan.

Or Draghi could just keep talking.

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Enjoy the Rally While it Lasts, Super Mario Draghi’s Bazooka is a Dud

By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report • @kfgtotalwealth - September 7, 2012

Not too long ago I mentioned that whatever European Central Bank President "Super Mario" Draghi delivers, it had better be big.

Because the only way he could hope to shore up the beleaguered e uro, wrest control of interest rates from the modern day financial pirates that dominate credit default swaps and break the impasse between skittish investors was with a monetary "bazooka."

We certainly got one yesterday when he announced an unlimited bond purchase program designed to do exactly this.

The S&P 500 shot up 26.13 points while the Dow and Nasdaq both tacked on 216.01 and 62.80 points respectively. European markets also moved sharply higher on the news as well while Spanish and Italian yields tumbled at maturities of every length suggesting traders relaxed their risk aversion stance considerably.

Under Draghi's plan, the ECB will be buying unlimited amounts of short-term sovereign debt while also sterilizing that debt-- ostensibly to stave off concerns about hyperinflation and further money printing.

Up to now, the ECB has only purchased troubled EU bank bonds as a buyer of last resort. So this is a big change now that Draghi is talking about stepping up as a sovereign debt buyer, albeit also of last resort.

Draghi noted interestingly that the ECB will retain exclusive decision making on when to engage in purchases, the amounts purchased and when to stop. This effectively puts the politicians on notice that further bickering will not be tolerated.

Further, Draghi did not rule out purchases of Greek, Portuguese and Irish bonds when those countries regain practical access to the bond markets.

There are a couple of things that stand out here...

A Cause for Fear-Not Celebration

First, things are so bad that insiders are using euphemisms to describe Draghi's plan which is officially referred to as a "blueprint" and called "Monetary Outright Transactions."

I don't know about you but if it smells like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like one, too...odds are pretty good it's a duck.

It doesn't matter whether you are talking quantitative easing or bond purchasing. The fact that things are so bad that central banks - first the BOJ, then the Fed, now the ECB - have to wade in as lenders of last resort should be a cause for fear rather than celebration.

If not now, then a few years from now, when it all comes back to roost.

Here's why.

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