The European Central Bank either knows something that the rest of us do not know, or they are in a total state of denial. If you can imagine all of the negative news that has been coming out of Europe and then NOT getting a rate cut, imagine it. The official decision was for no rate cut to the refi rate from the ECB. Mario Draghi appears to be more interested in buying bonds in perhaps what might be a combination of the TALF, the TARP and Operation Twist.

The official statement is far shorter than what we get to see from the FOMC:

At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.75%, 1.50% and 0.00% respectively.

The President of the ECB will comment on the considerations underlying these decisions at a press conference starting at 2.30 p.m. CET today.

So far equity futures have held their gains in the U.S., with S&P futures up close to 5 points and with DJIA futures up 43. The only good news so far is that the euro has ticked up as the rates will not be lower in Europe.

JON C. OGG