As fears over global markets grow, the European Central Bank (ECB) signaled that it would start buying more European-government bonds in an effort to prop up the economies and governments of beleaguered nations and the region as a whole. In other words, it will print even more money to temporarily bail out reckless regimes drowning in debt.

But rather than calming investors, the announcement only sparked more confusion and turmoil. Follow-up reports added fuel to the fire.

Citing traders, several news outlets claimed that the central bank bought Irish and Portuguese bonds on August 4 — not Spanish or Italian debt as was expected. Ireland and Portugal, of course, have both received hundreds of billions in bailouts already.

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Photo of European Central Bank: AP Images