When the history books are written or market participants look at charts three months from now, the past two weeks may go down as the most important of 2012 – aside from how the US government handles the fiscal cliff (which may not occur this year anyway). The ECB introduction of the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT), China’s approval of construction projects to spur growth, the German Constitutional Court decision that paved the way for Germany to ratify the ESM and fiscal compact, and the Fed’s decision to introduce an open ended purchase program – which may one day include Treasuries – represent a bazooka blast of monetary and, to a much lesser extent, fiscal policy support. — Morgan Stanley’s interest rate strategist Matthew Hornbach

It seems plausible that if the iPhone 5 is going to have such a positive impact on the economy, then the much-hyped device may have been a drag on electronics spending (as everyone saved up for the biggest consumer electronics release in history) during the month before the launch. — BI’s Joe Weisenthal