The DOJ has jumped on board claims made in existing civil class-action lawsuits and is considering criminal price-fixing charges against “some of the biggest American poultry companies, including Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride” based on allegation that Big Chicken “conspired to manipulate chicken prices” – NYTimes and Law360

Despite reportedly holding off on promised tariffs on Chinese goods ahead of G-20 talks with President Xi, the White House doubled down on new threats of import taxes, doing so by making “tariff” a verb all of a sudden – NYTimes and Bloomberg and MarketWatch

Which means it’s as good a time as any to step back and assess the long view of the increasingly dodgy high-stakes trade dispute between the U.S. and China – NYTimes and WSJ

And also worth considering how companies are rerouting goods through Vietnam and other countries in Asia as a means of avoiding the tariffs altogether. Transshipment, friends, has become the name of the game – WSJ

We weren’t exactly going out on a prognosticatorial limb yesterday in anticipating new attacks on Fed Chair Jay Powell, but still, nice to get it right every now and then – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg

A new lawsuit accuses Google and the University of Chicago of “sharing hundreds of thousands of patients’ records . . . without stripping identifiable date stamps or doctor’s note” in violation of the patients’ privacy rights. The data sharing was the result of a partnership between the U of C Medical Center and the tech company meant to “unlock information trapped in electronic health records and improve predictive analysis in medicine” – NYTimes

Boston Based hedge fund Adamas Partners LLC, a “$1.7 billion investment firm,” announced this week that it’s shutting down after 20 years in the business, primarily as a fund of funds – WSJ

Among the large list of skeptics of Facebook’s new Libra cryptocurrency: regulators [Law360], users [WSJ], and many of its partners. Good stuff, Zuck – NYTimes

Since we’re talking cryptos, here’s the latest on the resurgence of Bitcoin fever. Because it went so well last time around – MarketWatch

Activist Investor Carl Icahn has turned his sights to Occidental and is seeking to punish the company for its Anadarko bid by pushing for the replacement of four Occidental directors – WSJ

You road warriors out there will want to give a careful read to this Journal assessment of the best frequent-flier awards programs of 2019 – WSJ