Wall Street may also be talking up its e-bond efforts in order to ward off the Securities and Exchange Commission, America's main markets regulator.

ECONOMIST: E-bonds, licensed to kill

Another electronic foray, E-Offerings, handles new bond issues.

FORBES: Fear, Greed And Technology

It launches in a few months and will put their municipal bond inventory online, through E-Trade and TD Waterhouse, giving Goldman national distribution at a small cost.

FORBES: Fear, Greed And Technology

Crucially, Mr Draghi explicitly left open whether the new bond purchases would be sterilised - i.e. whether the ECB would sell other assets, to leave the total money supply unchanged.

BBC: Draghi will do what it takes (give or take)

E-Trade moved into asset management in February 1999 and set up a bond center four months later.

FORBES: After the Bubble

Individual investors may not get as excited about e-bonds as they have about shares because, unlike some share prices, bond prices rarely double in 12 months.

ECONOMIST: E-bonds, licensed to kill

Unlike its rival E-Trade, it sidestepped the housing crisis by avoiding risky mortgages and sticking with stock-and-bond trading.

FORBES: Careers