Mario Draghi’s trillion-euro journey is under way. The European Central Bank will announce the result of its first targeted lending program today as part of its effort to stave off deflation in the euro area. The so-called TLTRO is among a package of measures that the ECB’s president says will boost its balance sheet to as much as 3 trillion euros ($3.9 trillion) from 2 trillion euros. Draghi’s first step may not take him very far, with estimates for today’s offer, which is linked to the size of banks’ loans to the real economy, ranging from 100 billion euros to 300 billion euros. That’ll shift the focus to later ... (full story)