Almost a year ago to the day, the European Central Bank averted financial disaster in the euro zone by offering banks an unlimited injection of cheap three-year cash. Hundreds of banks participated in the ECB's loan program and by March about 1 trillion euros had been pumped into the banking system via two tranches of the ECB's longer-term refinancing operations. The LTRO sugar hit was deemed a success, avoiding a liquidity squeeze, temporarily lifting markets and encouraging a flurry of bond issuance in January and February. But as euro zone worries resurfaced, it was Mario Draghi's pledge in July to do ... (full story)