Tantalising glimpses that Spain might be ready to jump through well-positioned hoop This, for Draghi's (and everyone else's) eyes only, from Tuesday's FT: Or, "well, if you insist," says a senior official in Spain. And now, the government of Mariano Rajoy might be ready as well as willing, as the story reports that "Madrid has now found a formula that it feels comfortable with to make a rescue request." Can we get the OMT-show on the road then? Wait, what? Prepare to look really surprised now: Umm, Spain, the reason those borrowing costs have fallen is because markets view it as inevitable that assistance from the eurosystem will be requested. And talk about a great way to kick sand in the face of those offering assistance: Fret not, for if an atomic bomb is dropped, at least everyone is in the same place (and that place is a boat): The rates team at Rabobank think "pppfft, posturing!" Or more eloquently: We would rather judge this as a political face-saving exercise. After all, the Spanish opposition is likely to gain some significant political currency either from the govt willingly requesting a bailout (leaving it exposed to the charge that such a request would never have proven necessary) or from it being strong-armed into doing so by the market (this seeing it vulnerable to criticism it willfully exposed the country to market stresses thereby increasing the cost of a bailout). By putting the ball firmly in the court of its European peers the govt can perhaps hope to have its cake and eat it - i.e. only request aid when forced to do so but with the necessary market pressures being the result of core politician's unwillingness rather than that of Spain itself. We remain of the view, then, that market tension must necessarily build before a Spanish aid request will be forthcoming and that we would therefore remain constructive on core paper near term. Just another typical morning in euroland then. Related link: Spain prepares to make rescue request - FT