One of the most poignant (and painful to some) lessons of the past decade - especially to contrarian, bearish investors such as Odey and Horseman - is that the Fed can keep print money far longer than any short can remain solvent.

After a pause of a few months, the world's leading central banks are "printing" money again to try to bolster their economies. Commonly known as quantitative easing or QE, the European Central Bank (ECB) resumed its programme just before the turn of the year.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, will become the head of the ECB. Already, she has made a fool out of herself. Following a two-day marathon in which "Spitzenkandidat" Failed and Merkel's Plan A and Plan B Dumped Lagarde will now head the ECB and give up her job at the IMF.