Reuters victory with ECB "strong vigilance"

The moment the euro lurched violently last week was on Thursday, March 3 when ECB chief Trichet sent a strong signal that euro zone interest rates would rise next month, by deploying the “strong vigilance” code phrase he used for years to signal a rate hike a month hence. It was a huge surprise and we beat Bloomberg by four seconds and Dow Jones by two with that key alert — narrow margins maybe, but enough time for a Reuters client to get off a trade while those looking elsewhere were still waiting. We had already got ourselves ahead of the game by filing a full factbox on the code words Trichet uses and what they generally mean, three days before the rate-setting meeting — which showed great foresight since they hadn’t really been used for three years. See graphic for the sharp euro climb that resulted.