ECB president, Mario Draghi, surprised markets with an unexpected interest rate cut taking the benchmark rate down 10 basis points to just 0.05%. The overnight deposit rate, the rate which depositors get for parking money at the ECB, was cut to a negative rate of 0.2%. The Euro, which had already fallen from 1.36 to 1.31 over the summer, fell another 1.6% on the news. European equities rose to levels not seen since January on the expectation that this effort to stimulate the economy can only be a good thing. The policy move was also accompanied by the unveiling of plans to buy covered bonds and asset-backed securities. This falls short of the full blown quantitative easing that many had hoped for, perhaps reflecting continued German political resistance to the idea.