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Tuesday has see little in the way of macroeconomic data, and much focus so far has remained on speculation over whether the ECB will buy periphery debt. Comments from the German ECB representative Jorge Asmussen overnight that he backs the ECB buying periphery debt as a means to prevent the "disintegration of the Euro", a seeming change in stance given that the Bundesbank continues to opposed such measures, lifted risk assets in early trade. As such, the Spanish and Italian spreads over the benchmark Bund are seen tighter by 12.9bps and 14.4bps on the day. Spain's 12- and 18-month T-bill was also well received, the country selling slightly more than the indicative range at EUR 4.512bln, with lower yields, though only the 18-month had a stronger bid/cover. Both the Spanish and the Italian 2-year yields have declined to lows last seen in May of this year. Similarly, two separate comments from German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) lawmakers concerning Greece and the possibility of making "small concessions" for the country so long as they lie within the existing programme also boosted risk appetite, as the probability of a Greek exit looks much less likely if it has the full support of Germany. Elsewhere, the UK unexpectedly posted a budget deficit in July as corporation tax receipts plunged, though this was slightly skewed due to the closure of Total's Elgin gas field in the North Sea. Today also saw UK CBI orders for August plunge, with the industrial order book balance at its lowest this year led by a weakening in the consumer goods sector.

India’s recent series of power blackouts, in which 600 million people lost electricity for several days, reminds us of the torrid pace at which populations in the developing world have moved onto the powergrid. Unfortunately, this great transition has been so rapid that infrastructure has mostly been unable to meet demand. India itself has failed to meets its own power capacity addition targets every year since 1951. This has left roughly one quarter of the country’s population without any (legal) access to electricity. That’s 300 million people out of a population of 1.2 billion. Indeed, it is the daily attempt of the underserved to access power that may have led to India’s recent grid crash. But the story of India’s inadequate infrastructure is only one part of the difficult, global transition away from liquid fossil fuels. Over the past decade, the majority of new energy demand has been met not through global oil, but through growth in electrical power. Frankly, this should be no surprise. After all, global production of oil started to flatten more than seven years ago, in 2005. And the developing world, which garners headlines for its increased demand for oil, is running mainly on coal-fired electrical power. There is no question that the non-OECD countries are leading the way as liquid-based transport – automobiles and airlines – have entered longterm decline. Why, therefore, do policy makers in both the developing and developed world continue to invest in automobile infrastructure?

AAPL is making headlines once again with its market-moving impact, its law-of-large-numbers-crushing daily moves, and its seeming cult of indifference among retail and hedge funds alike. As the stock price hits new all-time highs, we note that options prices are also breaking records with the complacency regarding any downside risk near post-2009 highs. The last three times we have been up at these levels has seen significant reversions in price: Nov 2010 -7.3% in 6 days, -12.68% in late July 2011, and a late Feb 2012 drop of 5.83% in 4 days.

A weekend article from Der Spiegel has been the centre of must attention this morning amid a light economic calendar on both sides of the pond. The article reported that the ECB would set limits to the yields of periphery country debt and intervene should these limits be breached. This weighed on the German Bund from the Eurex open and saw the Spanish curve trade lower by 25bps to 35b ps, as well as buoying the EUR currency and riskier assets in early trade. Risk-on moves in EUR and DAX futures were retraced as the ECB denied these reports, saying that it was misleading to report on decisions not yet taken, though it will act within its mandate. A German finance ministry spokesman also denied all knowledge of the reports a short while before hand. Furthermore, the latest monthly bulletin from the Bundesbank that once again reiterated the disapproving German stance toward the ECB's controversial bond-buying programme also dampened the mood.

Buy everything I say without limit. Leverage each purchase to the maximum allowed under the law. The markets will only go up and not down and 100,000 is the next stop for the S&P. It is to be Dow without Jones, assets without liabilities and wealth without poverty. The Middle Class has been evacuated and everyone is wealthy beyond belief. It is just there, of course, that the truth lies in this merry old land, “beyond belief.”

"I like fantasy---it wakes up the brain cells.”

- Dr. Seuss

The modern “debt jubilee” is characterised as “quantitative easing for the public”. It has been boiled down to a procedure where the central bank does not create new money by buying the sovereign debt of the government. Instead, it takes an arbitrary number, writes a check for that number, and deposits it in the bank account of every individual in the nation. Debtors must use the newly-created money to pay down or pay off debt. Those who are not in debt can use it as a free windfall to spend or “invest” as they see fit. This, it is said, is the only way left to restart economic “growth” and finally get the spectre of unending financial crisis out of the headlines. It is the latest of a long string of “print to cover” remedies.

In Europe, the "no news" vacation for the past month was great news. The news is back... As is Merkel.

• "The Euro Crisis May Last 20 Years" - Welt
• German finmin: no new aid programme for Greece - Reuters
• Westerwelle Opposes Relaxing Greek Aid Terms: Tagesspiegel
• Euro Countries Plan Strategies to Prevent Break-Up: Sueddeutsche (via Bloomberg)
• Deutsche Bank Among Four Said to Be in U.S. Laundering Probe - Bloomberg
• Bundesbank Vice-Head Opposes Schaeuble’s Banking Proposal: WiWo (via Bloomberg)
• Westerwelle Opposes Relaxing Greek Aid Terms: Tagesspiegel
• German Industry Group Head says No Place In Greece For Eurozone: WiWo  (via Bloomberg)
• German Taxpayer Association Head Criticises ESM: Euro am Sonntag (via Bloomberg)
• Spain says there must be no limit set on ECB bond buying - RTRS
• France Favors Greece Rescue Package, Opposing Germany: Welt (via Bloomberg)

How anyone can possibly do asset management business with the Goldmans, Morgan Stanleys or JP Morgans of the world is beyond me, and to even hint that they have analysis or performance on par with the independent shops is even worse than those "yo mamma" jokes from grade school!

Peripheral stock indices continued to outperform today, as market participants reacted to yet another reiteration of support for ECB’s pledge to do all necessary to defend the Eurozone. As a result, banks in Europe are trading up with decent gains, with health care sector in the red given its traditional appeal as a safe-haven investment. German DAX continues to consolidate above the key 7000 mark, being driven higher by Daimler and Deutsche Bank. Looking at other asset classes, there is visible outperformance in the short-end of the curve, with the in-focus Spanish 2s tighter by around 20bps mark. The ongoing speculation of an intervention in the bond market also weighed on the German Bund, which underperformed its US counterpart. USTs come off overnight highs to trade little changed, with the move attributed to deal related selling. In the FX market, the EUR continued to re-price risks surrounding what is inevitable an unlikely scenario of a Eurozone break up. To the upside, resistance levels are seen at the 55DMA line at 1.2395 and then at 1.2400, which is also an intraday option expiry for the session.

European equities opened higher, risk appetite boosted following overnight comments from Chinese Premier Wen that easing inflation in China left more room for monetary stimulus. However, summer thin volumes saw these gains pared, with particular underperformance in the FTSE 100, which currently trades in negative territory, despite stronger than expected UK retail sales for July. European CPI data for July was in line with market expectations, with no reaction seen across the asset classes following the release. Elsewhere, reports that Spain is to accelerate the bank bailout and is about to receive an emergency disbursement from the EUR 100bln bailout failed to support domestic bond market; the Spanish 2-year spread with respect to the German equivalent trading 6bps wider, though the Spanish 10-year spread is tighter on the day by 3.2bps and the 10-year yield is lower on the day,  currently at 6.852%. The Spanish IBEX is outperforming on the back of this news, led by Bankia and Banco Santander.

The National Association of Home Builders just released it latest monthly housing market index, which rose from 35 to 37. As headlines proudly blast, this is the highest level of confidence since February 2007. The NAHB chairman was positively giddy: "From the builder’s perspective, current sales conditions, sales prospects for the next six months and traffic of prospective buyers are all better than they have been in more than five years,” said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “While there is still much room for improvement, we have come a long way from the depths of the recession and the outlook appears to be brightening." Sadly, as the chart below proves, it doesn't take much to get the NAHB confident these days. We present the fudge free data on housing completions: not starts, not permits, completions, which is what you get on the other side of the homebuilding process once all i and t's have been dotted and crossed, because one can fudge both the start and permit metric more than Bank of Spain's X-13-ARIMA seasonal "models" can make MS' IPO track record successful. We leave it up to readers to decide just what homebuilders are so very confident about. Residual record hopium sloshing in the system notwithstanding.

The European morning session has been fairly quiet, with European equities opening lower following over night reports from China that the People's Bank of China might buy back government debt in the secondary market making the much speculated reserve ratio requirement cut it less likely. With several market closures across the Euro-area thanks to the Assumption of Mary holiday, volumes have been particularly light, and with a distinct lack of European data, market focus was on the release of the Bank of England's minutes for the August rate decision. As expected, the MPC voted unanimously to keep the APF unchanged at GBP 375bln and the benchmark rate unchanged at 0.50%, though some MPC members noted there was a good case for further expansion of QE. The better than expected UK jobs report also helped strength GBP.

Don't panic. Change is good. The S&P 500 futures market somehow dropped 1.25 points today - its worst in 10 days! - and yet, shock horror, data was positive, European leaders offered more jawboning support, and Treasuries weakened. NYSE volume remained bleak but S&P 500 e-mini futures (ES) volume rose to its highest in over a week (yes - we were stunned too - volume picked up as selling began) amid reasonable average trade size (especially as ES lost 1400). After VIX's implosion yesterday, it ramped over 1.25 vols higher today - testing back to 15% late on. The USD leaked higher all day, back to unchanged on the week (while Copper/Gold/Silver are all down 1.2-1.3% on the week - having gapped down on positive data this morning). Oil remains green on the week and spurted modestly higher on the day. Treasuries are still under pressure - not getting much back as equities sold off into the close - higher/steeper in yield by 4-8bps on the week now. Of course - the closing rampfest was inevitable as that stunning 4 point drop in ES was rapidly 'tickled' back up to near VWAP into the day-session close - though we note that ES was unable to get green and unable to reach the safety of VWAP with heavy 'down' volume after-hours. Cue 'Asian-opening-gap-worm' algo.

Fisker, whose Karma superburningcar made headlines two days ago for being the latest addition to America's New Spontaneously Combusting Green Normal, has decided to double down on that elusive spark, and has released the incendiary news that it has hired as CEO none other than head of that other hot selling eco-car, the Chevy Volt. From Reuters: "Fisker Automotive named the former head of General Motors Co's (GM.N) Chevrolet Volt program as chief executive on Tuesday, marking the second time the troubled, government-funded start-up has replaced its top executive this year. Tony Posawatz, who oversaw the development of the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid for six years before he left GM this summer, will replace outgoing CEO Tom LaSorda. "I've been recruiting him for quite a while and certainly had some people assist me in giving him the full story," LaSorda said during a conference call with reporters. "He's come in with eyes wide open."" Hopefully he's also come in with a fire extinguisher.

Instead of actually doing the work to figure out what is going on behind the headlines, both Goldman (which also hiked its Q3 forecast GDP to 2.3% as a result) and Bank of America rushed to come to market with their congratulatory notes praising the "far stronger than expected" retail sales number. And as a result clients of these two banks will be promptly skewered as happens now virtually all the time on belief that the "rebound" in the economy is real instead of an ARIMA driven seasonal adjustment abortion.