by Calculated Risk on 7/24/2012 09:28:00 PM

Perhaps a little good housing news on Wednesday, but first, on Europe from Tim Duy: Is There Even a Panic Button in Europe?

I didn't think it was possible, but my confidence in the ability of European policymakers to pull the Continent out of crisis continues to fall. This is saying a lot because I had virtually no confidence to begin with.
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The Greeks were never given a bailout plan that had any hope of success.
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Whether or not Greece can be forced from the Euro with little impact elsewhere remains to be seen. I doubt we will need to wait much longer to learn the outcome of Grexit. But the devastating train that is the debt crisis keeps rolling right along, currently crashing through Spain's economy.

And make no mistake, European policymakers have learned nothing from the Greek experience. One gets the sense that policymakers think the prescription was correct, but that the patient was simply unwilling to take the medicine. Where Greece failed, Spain will succeed ...

Europe is still getting "Schäuble'd" as policymakers continue to repeat the same mistakes. Oh well, the beatings will continue until morale improves.

On Wednesday:
• At 7:00 AM ET, The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the mortgage purchase applications and refinance indexes. I expect record low mortgage rates and more refinance activity.


• At 10:00 AM, the New Home Sales report for June is scheduled to be released by the Census Bureau. The consensus is for an increase in sales to 370 thousand Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in June from 369 thousand in May.