Trump says the U.S. is very far from a recession, Fed minutes are due later, and Germany tests the bond market. No stimulus, yetPresident Donald Trump said that he is open to a range of possible actions to stave off a recession, while also suggesting those actions are not needed as there is no recession coming. A payroll tax cut or a capital-gains tax break are among the options being considered by the White House, with the president keen to point out the U.S. is "very far" from a downturn. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly agrees that the economy doesn't appear to be headed for a recession, comments which might please Trump, if not for the fact that he also wants the Fed to cut rates by 100 basis points. Fed minutesThe minutes of the Fed meeting in July will be published at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time today. Events subsequent to that decision may make the account seem a little stale but investors will as ever be on the lookout for fresh monetary clues. Economists are more likely to focus on Friday's speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium. With traders currently pricing in between 50 and 75 basis points of cuts by the end of the year, the possibility of a disappointment remains high. Bond test Germany auctioned a 30-year bond this morning with a 0% coupon for the first time as the country tests the demand for haven assets with its entire yield curve in negative territory. The instrument sold with a record low yield of -0.11%. Authorities in Berlin have recently looked at increasing fiscal spending, although this would only likely be done in reaction to an actual recession, rather than to try to stop one happening. Elsewhere in Europe, Italian debt was among the best-performing sovereign bonds in the region after reports suggested the country's president is ready to give Five Star and the opposition Democratic Party time to strike a deal to form a new government. Markets mixedOvernight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.3% while Japan's Topix index closed 0.6% lower as fears over a prolonged trade war increased again after Trump said he is not ready to make a deal with China. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 1.2% higher at 5:45 a.m. with Italian shares among the best performing, while car makers surged amid reports of renewed merger talks between Renault SA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. S&P 500 futures pointed to a bounce at the open, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 1.589% and gold slipped. Coming up…U.S. existing home sales numbers for July at 10:00 a.m. will give more insight into a housing market that is giving mixed signals. In earnings, Lowe's Cos Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and Target Corp. report results for the second quarter. One thing that is no longer coming up is President Trump's state visit to Denmark, which he cancelled after his offer to buy Greenland was met with a flat refusal. What we've been readingThis is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours. And finally, here's what Lorcan's interested in this morningTrump wants to do it. The Fed wants to do it. The ECB wants to do it. Even the Germans (maybe) want to do it. Stimulus is the word on everyone's lips these days as the world economy seems at greater risk of recession than it has been in years. The interesting thing about the discussions is that policymakers seem to be of the opinion that more-of-the-same is the solution to the problem. More tax cuts in the U.S. More QE from the ECB and more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. However, as San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said yesterday, it may be that the risk from recession is lower than might warrant a major global stimulus right now. The biggest risk, as she says, may well be that we are talking ourselves into a recession. While this is a real risk, it is also one that should be relatively easy to overcome. Rather than a major stimulus program which may or may not move sentiment, we need an event that changes the outlook. Right now, what's weighing most on the world economy is the trade war between the U.S. and China. Finding a resolution to that would boost sentiment and take the pressure off policymakers to introduce stimulus measures, which are only needed because the world's two largest economies have an ego problem.  Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. Learn more. | 
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