The Commerce Department on Thursday announced a deal with China that will see the US lift stringent American sanctions on telecom giant ZTE in exchange for ZTE’s payment of a $1 billion fine and allowing the US to “more closely inspect the company” – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Marketplace and Law360

Dealbook’s Common Sense column suggests that the softening stance towards trade ultimatums with China likely has a good deal to do with farmers in the heartland.  Trust me, it’s not that far of a jump given the global nature of the economy these days – NYTimes

Then again . . .  – WSJ

McDonald’s will lay off a yet-to-be-announced number of US corporate employees as it continues to stay relevant and keep pace in an increasingly competitive US fast food landscape – WSJ

Deutsche Bank’s Chair Paul Achleitner has been in talks with shareholders about a possible plan to merge with “cross-town rival Commerzbank AG,” though no formal combo plans between the two banks are ongoing – Bloomberg

Here’s one to tuck away for the future: former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke suggests that the timing of the massive tax overhaul bill “makes the Fed’s job more difficult all around” and could create a “Wile E. Coyote” moment of reckoning in 2020 – Bloomberg

Mulvaney week rolls on, with the acting CFPB director dismissing the agency’s administrative proceedings against mortgage servicer PHH Corp.  The action, begun in 2014, initially led to a $109 million penalty against the servicer and a series of appeals in which PHH questioned the constitutionality of the CFPB’s entire structure – Law360

The OCC has concluded that other major banks don’t share the “systemic issues” that have plagued Wells Fargo over the past few years, though the regulator did find other instances of banks opening accounts “without proof of customers’ consent” – WSJ

Altaba—the entity formerly known as (part of) Yahoo—announced this week that it was selling nearly 100 million shares of its Alibaba holdings (about 25% of its stake) in order to finance a tender offer to purchase 195 million of its own outstanding shares – MarketWatch

The Golden Knights’ magical Stanley Cup run came to an end last night with a 4-3 loss to the Capitals—the first national championship for DC since 1992.  On the plus side, I suppose, Vegas’ sports book business managed to not totally cannibalize itself in the process – ESPN

A nifty bit of video helps detail the little-known role of 1915’s Equitable Building on New York’s iconic skyline and a creative workaround known as the “setback ratio” – Bloomberg

Have a great weekend.