by Calculated Risk on 9/23/2011 03:25:00 PM

First on Europe ... it would really help to have a consistent message, or maybe Merkel and Schaeuble are just playing good cop, bad cop!

From the WSJ: New Doubts on Greece's Ability to Secure More Aid

New doubts about Greece's ability to secure further aid and avoid default emerged Friday ... German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble led the chorus, saying that Greece's creditors may need to revise the July 21 agreement on additional aid for the country, because conditions may have changed since the deal was reached.

... The week also saw increasing speculation that Greece may need to default or at least seek much more debt relief than was foreseen in July as a result of its repeated failures to meet targets for economic growth and deficit reduction.

"It would surprise me if the conditions for a disbursement of the next tranche of aid in September had changed, but not if the conditions for an additional program had changed," Mr. Schaeuble said at a news briefing on the sidelines of a series of international meetings in Washington. "However, I want to wait and see first."

From Bloomberg: Europe May Speed Permanent Fund Enactment

European governments are exploring speeding the setup of a permanent rescue fund ... Drawing on paid-in capital, the fund will wield a 500 billion-euro ($677 billion) war chest that could help shield countries like Italy. It also includes provisions for sharing costs with bondholders for countries with “unsustainable” debt.

Senior finance officials next week will examine the cost advantages of creating the fund, known as the European Stability Mechanism, in July 2012, a year ahead of schedule, according to a staff paper prepared for the meetings and obtained by Bloomberg News.

And on auto sales ...

From the LA Times: Car sales strengthen in September

The retail sales rate for new vehicles in the U.S. this month looks “much stronger than in August,” according to J.D. Power & Associates, which gathers sales data from about 8,900 dealers. That's about half of all the dealers selling cars nationally.

“Coming off a solid Labor Day sale, retail sales exhibited unexpected strength in the second week of September, as the recovering inventory levels have helped to bring buyers back into the market,” said Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting at J.D. Power.

The annual sales rate for all vehicles, including the retail segment of the market and what rental car companies, commercial customers and government agencies purchase, will hit 12.9 million this month ...

From the WSJ: Ford Analyst Sees Strong Sales for Sector

The annualized rate of sales in September is tracking at about 12.5 million cars and light trucks on a seasonally adjusted rate, the highest since April.

Another sign of sluggish growth.