Scary words when coming from the leader of the free world:
A senior US official told The New York Times that President Obama warned the Europeans – based on his own experiences early last year – that it was no good playing catch up with the markets. They had "to get out ahead as much as possible" by producing a rescue plan so enormous that market speculation, against the euro, and against heavily indebted EU countries, would be shocked into submission. Dealing with the markets was like dealing with a military enemy, Mr Obama said. You had to use "overwhelming force". He also offered help from Washington to buy up euros for dollars and ease the pressure on European central banks.
It would be more accurate to say that reality is the enemy. The governments need to credibly get their act together. The above quotes further confirms that world leaders are trying to use the US financial crisis playbook for the Greece/Soveriegn debt crisis. The market movement today suggests that the market is still skeptical of this bail out attempt. Even if people think it will work, it is useful to remember that TARP was passed on October 3, 2008 and the S&P 500 bottomed quite a few months later on March 6th, 2009.