Quick Overview

• Christine Lagarde, the IMF's new boss, announced that "nothing should be taken for granted on Greece”. (Brilliant I tell you BRILLIANT)

• The Bank of Japan maintained its interest-rate, as widely expected, and is more upbeat in its overall economic assessment.
• YoY Japan's wholesale prices rose 2.5% in June
• Japanese consumer confidence improved for a second straight month in June. The index of sentiment among households made up of two or more people, rose to 35.3 in June, from 34.2 in May

• Today’s USDA report shows new crop stocks to use for corn at only 6.4%...second lowest in history.

• (Spiegel) The European Commission, estimates that 75 percent of fish stocks in the region are overexploited, and that 30 to 40 percent of Europe's fishing fleet of 80,000 registered vessels will be financially unsustainable in the longer term. The EU has the world's third-largest fisheries sector after Peru and China.

• Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized the U.S. monetary policy on Monday, calling it "hooliganism".  (He should know!)

• Chinas FX reserves rose $197bn in Q1, and rose another $153bn in Q2

•  Moody's cuts Ireland's rating to junk

• Heat is expanding out of the South into the Midwest and Northeast

• Temperatures in eastern Japan, including Tokyo, were 3.8 degrees higher than the 30-year average in the last 10 days of June.

• (FT) Its latest 10-K statement showed that although the corporate tax rate in the US is 35 per cent, News Corp’s effective tax rate last year was 20 per cent. The company earned $2.5bn in profits and still managed to receive a tax benefit.

• Rice new high this evening!

• YoY China's crude oil imports fell 11.5 % in June to a eight-month low of 19.70 million tons, or 4.82 million barrels a day (bpd), the latest government data showed.