Week in Review: The 'Nothing Matters Rally' Takes Hold

Jean-Claude Trichet was more dove-ish than expected in his press conference today after the European Central Bank's (ECB) latest meeting. The city was surprised, but Mario Draghi may come to be grateful. You might not have taken Trichet for a dove, listening to his stern words about the "upside" risks to inflation. But in the strange world of ECB-watching these days, it's not what is said, but the precise words that are used to say it.

CHARLEMAGNE summarises the latest developments from Europe:After seven gruelling hours in Luxembourg, which included a video conference with colleagues from G7 countries, the finance ministers of the 17 countries of the euro zone decided to delay until July the disbursement of €12 billion ($17 billion) in loans from the European Union and the IMF.

Ireland has surrendered. All that now remains is the detail - and we may not get that for some time.

By Peter Boone and Simon Johnson Is the global economic recovery still on track? The mainstream view is: yes, without a doubt. But increasingly, there are increasingly reasons to fear another financial disruption – particularly given the latest developments in Ireland.

MarketPulse FX submits: By Dean Popplewell

MarketPulse FX submits: By Dean Popplewell The Euro-region is up against it and is incapable of delivering the "‘grand bargain" that is expected to solve the peripheral sovereign financing problems at this weeks Euro summit. Policy makers are supposed to put pen to paper on an EFSF agreement. Not now, the region is now signaling that the final agreement for enlarging the EFSF lending capacity will not be reached until later in the second-quarter.

The European Central bank can afford to ignore the likes of Greece and the Republic of Ireland when it sets interest rates - for the same reason that the eurozone can afford to bail them out. They're small. Between them, the crisis economies on the periphery account for about 18% of eurozone GDP. Germany alone accounts for 30%, and it grew by 3.6% in 2010.