California’s trouble-plagued Pacific Gas & Electric utility has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing debts of more than $51.7 billion. The company has struggled in recent years with the alleged role of its equipment in igniting a “series of devastating wildfires that killed more than 100 people and scorched hundreds of thousands of acres in California over the courts of two years” – Bloomberg and NYTimes and WSJ
The slowing Chinese economy sparked Monday warnings from Caterpillar and Nvidia Corp that combined to send shares slumping yesterday – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
As the Fed prepares to hold its January Open Markets Committee meetings this week, its plan to shrink the Federal Reserve’s $4 trillion bond portfolio is coming under attack as the favored bogeyman behind recent market volatility (a critique that “puzzles” Fed officials and others “because there is little evidence of turmoil in the markets in the two markets where the central bank actively intervened: Treasurys and mortgage debt”) – WSJ
Law360 updates us on the SEC’s efforts to dig out from its substantial government shutdown backlog – Law360
Dealbook helps put the challenge of “Made in America” and the global economy in context with the handy device of a tiny screw—the kind that Apple needed to complete a version of its MacPro, the kind that American manufacturers couldn’t churn out quickly enough, and the kind that helps illustrate the “problems that Apple would face if it tried to move a significant amount of manufacturing out of China” – NYTimes
Today’s installment of the US/Huawei drama sees the DOJ filing criminal charges against the company over alleged “sanctions violations and theft of trade secrets” – Bloomberg and Law360
British lawmakers will vote today on a series of amendments to PM May’s so-called Brexit Plan B, and if you can make it through the “opaque and arcane” amendment process itself, you’ll note that the some of the proposals could drastically remake the Brexit struggle embroiling the UK – NYTimes and Bloomberg
In a Monday ruling, a Florida federal judge has ordered Woodbridge Group and its CEO to pay more than $1 billion to resolve SEC claims that it operated a Ponzi scheme involving “a complex web of allegedly phony real estate investments and unregistered Florida-based funds” – Law360
A new report from cryptocurrency transaction tracking company Chainalysis reports that “two groups of highly sophisticated cyber criminals likely have stolen some $1 billion in cryptocurrency hacks,” a staggering sum that amounts to more than half of all cryptos stolen over the years – WSJ
Given his lack of bad-boy antics and headline-grabbing public statements, you’d be forgiven for almost overlooking altogether Lyft CEO Logan Green. But as his ride-hailing company moves rapidly toward a 2019 IPO, Green’s ability to maintain his low profile could face a challenge that rivals his company’s bid to beat Uber to the markets – NYTimes
S&P has won official Beijing approval to open up its credit-rating services in China, the first US company to be given that right – WSJ
Back in my day, power plays were all about a good umbrella with plenty of cycling—usually good enough to give a box defense a run for its money any day. But today’s uber-skilled players have helped bring a 1-3-1 to the fore, and its success is evident in the numbers. So yeah, hockey anyone? – NYTimes
