*** FT BeyondBRICs: RRR hikes: China’s liquidity mop ***
*** FT Alphaville: Smoke, mirrors, and Greek maturity swapping ***
*** FT Alphaville: The literal Bernanke put ***
*** FT Alphaville: More on the literal Bernanke put ***
*** FT Alphaville: Who’s afraid of Comex gold delivery? ***
*** Econbrowser: Brent-WTI spread ***
*** FT BeyondBRICs: Nigeria: good news for Goodluck ***
*** Slope Of Hope: The Spoiled Brats at Google ***

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S&P affirmed U.S. credit rating – AAA (long term), but changed outlook from stable to negative.

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Weekly economic calendar.

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Baltic dry index fell 5.8% last week; Capesize Index was down 3.0%; Panamax Index fell 10.7%; Supramax Index was down 3.0%; Handysize Index rose 1.3%.

Huge drop in thermal coal stockpiles; Huge drop in steel inventory; Rising inventory of iron ore. Prices are strong. Monetary tightening still not affecting Chinese commodity demand much.

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