Here's what happens when the ECB talks about buying assets
What happens when the ECB gets aggressive? Stock markets generally rally.
I was curious what happens to markets when the ECB starts talking about QE. Since this is the first time an actual program has been announced, we don't have any real history.
However, we have several moments where Draghi did speak about upcoming programs or hint at QE, beginning with his now-famous July 26, 2012 speech where he said he would do "whatever it takes" to save the euro.
We asked our partners at Kensho to look at what happens when the ECB has made such comments, or announced actions around reviving the euro zone.
There have been nine such occurrences since that "Whatever it takes" speech. One day after these announcements, the S&P 500 has traded up 100 percent of the time with an average gain of 1.4 percent, while the German market was up 89 percent of the time (8 of 9 times), with an average gain of 1.7 percent.
The peripheral countries show the biggest gains: Spain and Italy have traded up seven of the nine times, with average gains of 3.6 and 3.2 percent, respectively.
Not surprisingly, a big loser has been the euro, trading lower against the dollar four of the nine times.