The markets fell before the open and struggled most of the day on word the mighty German economy contracted in the last three months of 2011. Doug Cote, the chief market strategist at ING Investment Management, offered some reassurance. While you can't ignore Europe, Cote says today's headlines were merely background noise. His attention is on China, where signs are pointing to the end of a housing bubble. And the Daily Pulse is down today on the “unhealthy correlation” between building skyscrapers and financial disasters. Seems they go hand in hand.