EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Having just weathered a blizzard of economic reports, investors and traders can look ahead to a fairly light calendar next week.

The ECB sees the euro zone strong enough to not need monetary help, but the bank's confidence in that outlook appears paper thin.

Despite small rise in sentiment in December, the latest euro zone data still presented a decidedly downbeat economic picture.

The U.S. trade deficit likely narrowed in November, and the euro-zone recession probably worsened at the end of last year.

ECB President Draghi faced a hostile reception at a monthly q-and-a session, as the media pressured him on Europe's economic woes.

Superstorm Sandy will likely put dent in the November jobs report.

In a nutshell: Things in Europe are bad … and getting worse.

This week, the two largest economies will have political transitions, three central banks will meet, and Greece's parliament is set to vote on key reforms.

Confusion reigns after the EU summit ends, and leaders are still at odds over a future banking union.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's assessment of current conditions, as well as data on inflation and trade, will highlight the economic calendar this week.

ECB President Mario Draghi Thursday said his bank's recent actions had worked, and pushed political leaders to get-a-move-on.

Spain's and Italy's borrowing costs dropped dramatically at the start of the month on ECB promises, but more are losing confidence in the bank's plans.

Many European banks have used easy credit from the European Central Bank to expand their balance sheet rather than use the easy credit to slim down and cut the level of risk in the assets they hold. In other words, too-big-to-fail is alive and well in the recession-plagued euro zone.

Three key U.S. housing reports Wednesday are expected to show small improvements in the market.

Most of the Asian markets dropped Tuesday as investor confidence was weighed down by the intensifying tensions between China and Japan and the increasing concerns over the euro zone debt crisis.

London copper slipped on Monday, but still retained most of the previous session's steep climb to a 4-1/2 month top as a new round of U.S. monetary stimulus measures and a weak dollar continued to support prices.

Asian stock markets ended mixed Monday after they rallied to a four-month high in the previous session following the U.S. Federal Reserve's move to boost growth in the world's largest economy with a third round of bond purchases.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a lower open Monday after the rally seen last week following the announcement of the Federal Reserve's plan to buy mortgage securities.

European markets fell Monday as investor sentiment turned negative after fears of the debt crisis affecting the euro zone were revived undermining the optimism over the stimulus measures announced by policymakers to bolster economic growth.

Most of the Asian markets dropped Monday after the rally last week when investor confidence was buoyed by the optimism that the stimulus measures announced by the central banks in the U.S. and the Europe would help revive the global economic growth momentum.

Asian stock markets posted their biggest weekly gains in almost nine months after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced that it would purchase $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities per month for an open-ended period until the labor market improved substantially.