From the Merkel/Samaras get together today and taking headlines from BN, Merkel wants Greece to stay in the euro and Samaras does too. Merkel ‘expects Greece to stick to commitments’ and Samaras is saying they will ‘stick to its pledges.’ On the important point of a final decision of whether to give Greece more breathing room, whether via time and/or easier loan terms, Merkel will wait to see the troika report sometime in Sept. I specifically didn’t say whether Greece will be given more money because Germany has made it clear that it won’t happen. An aside, BN is reporting that the ECB will likely wait until after the German constitutional court officially decides on the validity of the ESM on Sept 12th before they officially unveil their bond buying plans. Thus, we will likely get little new news on Sept 6th when the ECB next meets. Elsewhere, Asian markets were lower across the board driven by more Chinese growth concerns that sent the Shanghai index to its lowest close since Mar ’09, again.
