Austrians in China. Four Fortune Cookies. Retailers

(1) Tapping on the credit brakes, while flooring fiscal spending. (2) Should investors be unnerved by China’s policy shift, or impressed? (3) Soft or hard landing in China? (4) The Chinese have learned from the Fed’s mistakes. (5) Four Chinese proverbs for central bankers. (6) The utopian myth of the “Great Moderation.” (7) In the US, inventory cycle driving bank lending cycle. (8) Will Old World stock markets beat New World ones in 2010? (9) Large Speculators massively short S&P 500 and Euro. (10) World should grow in 2010, though more slowly. (11) US consumers haven’t lost the urge. (12) Retail stocks belie consumers’ naysayers. NOTICE: Our Morning Briefings are now available on FactSet.