Tantalising glimpses that Spain might be ready to jump through well-positioned hoop: Lisa picks up on a story that suggests Madrid is edging towards a bailout request. Of course: "The Spanish government does not feel it has to make any immediate move." And why would it? This is an "atomic bomb" that can only be used once. There was some interesting detail in the September loan data published over the weekend by the People's Bank of China. It's all about "discounted bills," a type of short term financing product, on total lending numbers, which have been responsible for much of the growth in year-to-date lending. However discount bills have actually had the opposite effect in September alone: they suddenly declined, actually undermining the growth rate in total lending. Kate takes you through the possible reasons why. Cardiff has a look at the issue of mortgage refinancing and the idea that much of the banks" refinancing business will be going to borrowers either with impeccable credit histories, or who had already refinanced before. Better than nothing but for a properly accelerating recovery in housing activity and the wider macroeconomic benefits it would generate, at some point the banks will have to be more willing to increase credit access. House committee pours our Fed documents on Libor. The cache includes thousands of pages of communications within the New York Fed, as well as with UK and other US regulators. The House Financial Services Committee is looking into who knew what when and what was, or was not, done about it. US Mortgages: Dominance of the mortgage market by a few big banks is undermining monetary policy, said a senior policy maker at the US Federal Reserve, in comments that may herald greater scrutiny of lenders such as Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. Retail sales in the US rose for the third consecutive month in September, according to seasonally-adjusted data released by the Commerce Department on Monday. While this marks an improvement from the spring, the figures are prone to volatility. Sprint Nextel has been given $8bn in capital it can use to better compete with Verizon Wireless and AT&T after SoftBank, the Japanese telecoms group, made a $20.1bn deal to take 70 per cent of the third-largest US mobile phone operator. Jefferies has received a licence to trade futures in Singapore as the US broker expands in Asia after buying Prudential Bache's business in the region last year. US Election Watch: President Barack Obama is in a better position heading into Tuesday's debate against Mitt Romney as polls suggested that he had closed the Republican candidate's lead and new data signalled consumers were feeling more confident about the economy. Rebekah Brooks: The former chief executive of News International, Rupert Murdoch's UK newspapers business, received a pay-off totalling more than £7m following her resignation from the newspaper publisher last year. The package also included clawback clauses, described by one of the two people as "substantial." Markets: Growth-sensitive assets are gaining ground as investors feel a bit more confident about global economic prospects and corporate earnings. The "backstop" of major central bank liquidity programmes - such as the US Federal Reserve's $40bn a month of security purchases - are also helping to underpin the market. FT's Global Market Overview