ECB QE - No green light for interest rate risk: Last week the European Central Bank (ECB) announced plans to begin a large-scale bond buying program in an effort to shore up growth and prevent deflation. The ECB has dabbled with limited asset purchases in the past, but this will be its first foray into conventional quantitative easing (QE) using government bonds. Six years after the financial crisis, all of the G4 central banks have now deployed this monetary policy tool. Better late than never. This ECB's announcement was little surprise to markets following repeated leaks in the European press over the last couple of weeks. The size of the program impressed us, however. The ECB committed to purchasing €60 billion per month of eurozone bonds (a combination of government bonds, debt issued by European agencies and asset-backed securities), and said the purchases will begin in March and are intended to continue through September 2016. Thus, the bond-buying plan is expected to total around €1 trillion, and could expand beyond that if the inflation outlook fails to improve. Continued: (VIEW LINK)