– ECB Buys €3.7 Billion In Bonds Last Week, Total Now €207 Billion: All Eyes Turn To Tomorrow’s Sterilization Procedure (ZeroHedge, Dec. 5, 2011):
In a less than surprising turn of events, last week the ECB “only” bought €3.7 billion in peripheral bonds, which was to be expected considering the Fed announced the global FX liquidity swap rate cut on Wednesday morning providing a quite visible hand to push yields lower at least briefly, so in essence the ECB only had to keep the market up for half the required amount of time. Far more importantly, the total amount of bonds now carried on the ECB’s books is €207 billion. This is important, because as readers will recall the ECB failed to sterilize an amount lower than this, or €203.5 billion, last week, with just €194.2 billion in bids submitted. Naturally, with the total cumulative amount increasing every single week, the likelihood of future sterilization failures only gets bigger and bigger. We will find out if the European banks parking a near record amount of cash with the ECB as of today, will result in a second failed sterilization in a row tomorrow and just how favorable the market will approaching this particular latest flashing red light around 7 am Eastern tomorrow.
