The ECB is dead...

...long live the ECB. They are now irrelevant puppets of the Euro project.

(from the EU press release regarding emergency backstop measures to fund Italy and...well...everyone else that is underfunded in the Euro area. Take your pick.)

Now, dear readers, I ask again, if the U.S. is now AA in the eyes of S&P, what is all of Europe given these massive guarantees?

5. It equally considers fundamental that governments stand ready to
activate the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) in the
secondary market, on the basis of an ECB analysis recognising the
existence of exceptional financial market circumstances and risks to
financial stability, once the EFSF is operational.

6. It is on the basis of the above assessments that the ECB will
actively implement its Securities Markets Programme. This programme
has been designed to help restoring a better transmission of our
monetary policy decisions – taking account of dysfunctional market
segments – and therefore to ensure price stability in the euro area.