Mexico

All downside, no upside...

• BP Oil Spill Leaves a 22-Mile Plume Migrating in Gulf of Mexico (Bloomberg)
• China May Introduce Stimulus to Boost Imports (China Daily)
• and yet, China Stocks Fall, Paring Weekly Gain, as Developers Decline on Inflation (Bloomberg)
• All over for the non-HFT quants? Shrinking ‘Quant’ Funds Struggle to Revive Boom (NYT)
• Weber Says ECB Should Plot Out Exit in First Quarter (Bloomberg) and appropriately, Trichet's Successor as ECB Head Doesn't Need to Be a Diplomat, Weber Says (Bloomberg)
• Russia Opening Iran Nuclear Plant Helps Bid to Be Power Broker (Bloomberg)
• The realization that financial monopolies (Goldman, Pimco) are bad is spreading: How Pimco Is Holding American Homeowners Hostage (Minyanville)
• We can't afford this government - Costs of bureaucracy spread like a deadly virus (WashTimes)

The fears of all those who had long believed that the administration, either in collboration with BP or otherwise, had been flagrantly lying about the true situation in the GOM, have been confirmed by The Guardian (via BNO). "A senior U.S. government scientist on Thursday admitted that
three-quarters of the oil that was released into the Gulf of Mexico
after BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill was still there, contradicting his
earlier claim that the worst of the spill had passed, the Guardian
reported. Bill Lehr, senior scientist at the National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), presented a radically different
picture than the one the White House had presented to the public earlier
this month. He contradicted his own reports from two weeks ago that
suggested that the majority of the oil had been captured or broken down.
“I would say most of that is still in the environment,” Lehr told the
House energy and commerce committee." So just how many other thing are the President and his crony corrupt "scientist experts" lying about?

• Sarkozy Calls Crisis Meeting to Avert Loss of AAA Rating (London Times, subscription required)
• Spain just says no to austerity - after all the bankrupt country can place Bills at 4% so all is good: Spain Restores €500m of Spending (FT)
• US Banks Receive Basel III Boost (FT)
• Citigroup's Sweetheart Deal Flunks Smell Test (Bloomberg)
• BOJ May Expand Corporate Loan Program to Help Weaken Yen, Sankei Reports (Bloomberg)
• Goldman's 2027 Call Means China Must Get Busy (Bloomberg)
• Double-dip recession talk will be heating up (Post)
• China Says Local Govt Borrowing Risks Manageable (Reuters)
• U.S. Must Tackle Deficit Without Denting Recovery (Reuters)

More insights from "smart money"....

Didn't you know that fish "process" oil, so all the oil will disappear ?...

Fishermen and shrimpers versus BP and the government ...

• Australia, Korea central banks harbor doubts on global outlook.
• Big banks ease standards on small-business lending - Fed survey.
• BOJ doesn't see threat in recent Yen rise.
• China cuts long-term US Treasuries by most ever as yields drop.
• German investor optimism may drop to 16-month low on weaker growth outlook.
• U.K. July annual consumer price inflation up 3.1%.
• Yen falls versus Euro on rebound in Asian stocks, intervention speculation.

Economic Calendar: Data on Housing Starts, Building Permits, PPI, July Industrial Production, Capacity Utilization to be released today.

What are the top hedge funds buying and selling?

Does BP?

A look at the key economic events in the relatively quiet week ahead from the perspective (and benchmarks) of Goldman Sachs.

The FDA and NOAA say that Gulf seafood is fine. President Obama ate a fish taco yesterday made with Gulf fish.

So does that mean Gulf seafood is safe to eat?

Norway's fund dropped $25 billion in the second quarter, pummeled by the European debt crisis and BP's downturn after the Gulf of Mexico spill.

No, its not global warming ...

Alabama is suing BP Plc and Transocean for damages sustained from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the state's attorney general said on Friday. "We are making this claim because we believe that BP has inflicted catastrophic harm on the state," attorney general Troy King told Reuters. "We are suing them for the amount it will take to make Alabama whole," he said, declining to name a figure.