The European Central Bank (ECB) is scheduled to meet on Thursday and expectations are high that the central bank will announce a program of sovereign-bond purchases of around 500 billion euros to stimulate the deflation-hit euro zone.
The meeting comes on the back of a shocking move by the Swiss National Bank last week to break its currency's peg against the euro, and ahead of the Greek elections on January 25 which will determine whether Greece remains in the currency union.
The case for quantitative easing in the euro area is overwhelming, analysts say. A combination of a feeble economy, along with headline inflation turning negative last December and lower inflation expectations in the longer term, have led markets into pricing in drastic action by the ECB.
"If [ECB governor Mario] Draghi doesn't deliver on what the market wants, he will risk becoming the boy who cried wolf because he becomes the guy who didn't do whatever it takes to save Europe," said Paul Krake, Founder of View from the Peak: Macro Strategies.
In light of this, which scenario do you think will create the most chaos for financial markets?