ECB/EURO: The euro, at $1.3717 (range $1.3698 to $1.3731) is holding up pretty
well ahead of comments from
ECB Governing Council member Jens Weidmann, who
speaks at 10:30 am ET in Berlin. 
RBC Capital Markets strategists say Weidmann
will get a chance "to confirm/deny yesterday's WSJ story." They remain cautious
about overly interpreting such sources stories. They point to a Jan 31 WSJ
story, which had the Bundesbank favoring an end to SMP sterilization. "That led
many to (incorrectly) expect sterilization to end at the Feb meeting," they say.
On Weidman/ECB, "If inflation is too low, clearly further easing is needed, but
if the tools used fall short of inflated market expectations (no negative depo
rate or a symbolic negative rate that is not forced on banks' excess reserves
held in their current accounts), EUR can still defy bears and bounce back (our
1-3 month view)," they say.