The board of the ECB divided along a mostly North/South line about whether to buy Italian and Spanish bonds. Up to now bond buying programs were to be left to individual member states. Germany still thinks that they should be.
After the US downgrade on Friday, Jean Claude Trichet became determined to take the lead role in dealing with the financial crisis. He wants to avoid a world-wide financial meltdown. So he will buy bonds in a big way.
Germany does not want an outside entity dictating its financial policies. So I’m sure we’ll hear more of this conflict in the coming days.