The one-two was more of a slap than anything else. The markets were expecting a lot from the meetings of the two most powerful central banks in the world, the Fed and the ECB. But in both cases the expectations were disappointed; no rabbits were pulled out of the hat. And Asian markets are down more than 1% this morning, halving the week's gain.
However, a more optimistic reading of the statements is possible in both the case of the Fed and that of the ECB. Basically, the Fed says it is ready to intervene, with a more binding choice of words than the dictates of the meeting a month ago. While Draghi was even more explicit, speaking of open market operations without setting limits, and openly mentioning the unacceptable 'reversibility premium', that is, that part of the spread that depends on fears of breaking up the euro. The game is open, given the opposition of the dinosaurs of the Bundesbank, but the contours of an agreement between governments and the central bank are emerging to counter in practice the levels of spreads judged unjustified with respect to the fundamentals.
