Returning to Normal

Fed Funds at 5 1/4%, Matching Central Bank's Target
ECB Adds Cash for Third Day, Says Market Normalizing
It looks like things are stabilizing and starting to return to normal. Federal funds began trading at 5.25 percent, matching the Federal Reserve's target and suggesting the central bank's injection of $62 billion at the end of last week met banks' demand for cash. We will see in at 9:30 AM if the Fed will have to inject more money.

Goldman Global Equity Fund Gets $3 Billion in Capital
Goldman injected another $3 billion into its Global Equities Opportunities Fund after it lost $1.4 billion. The fears of continued forced selling by some of these funds seems to be receding on this news.

U.S. Retail Sales Rose 0.3% in July, Beating Forecast
Fears that retail sales were collapsing appear to be unfounded.

" The 0.3 percent increase followed a revised 0.7 percent decline the prior month that was smaller than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Purchases excluding automobiles climbed 0.4 percent after falling 0.2 percent. "