United States

• Crude sinks 4 percent as market braces for more Iranian oil (Reuters)
• Plunge in crude oil prices send stock futures sliding (Reuters)
• Oil Slides, Deepening Gloom in Stocks as Bond Buyers Celebrate (BBG)
• China Stocks Enter Bear Market, Erasing Gains From State Rescue (BBG)
• Goldman Says It Will Pay $5.1b in U.S. Mortgage Probe (CBS)
• Friendly no more: Trump, Cruz erupt in bitter fight at Republican debate (Reuters)
• China to expand coverage of advantaged import tax policies nationwide (Xinhua)

   "We're gonna need a bigger Bullard"

    - overheard on a trading desk this morning.

Among the presidential candidates of the Republican Party and their foreign policy leaders on Capitol Hill the cry is almost universal:

Barack Obama has no strategy for winning the war on ISIS.

This criticism, however, sounds strange coming from a party that controls Congress but has yet to devise its own strategy, or even to authorize the use of U.S. military force in Syria.

Congress has punted. And compared to the cacophony from Republican ranks, Barack Obama sounds like Prince Bismarck.

It appears the world is ganging up on The Fed as following China's recent clear and present threat should the USD strengthen, BoJ's Kuroda warned that further QQE might threaten the bank's finances - implicitly demanding moar from Yellen because he knows he's out of bullets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has named the date he plans to release proof that the US government and intelligence agencies were responsible for the “controlled demolition” of the World Trade Centre in the 9/11 attacks. Like a boxer confident in his own strength, Putin has been absorbing pressure from the US and biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. The evidence is so explosive he knows he only has to hit once.