The Dow closed above 26k yesterday for the first time on what some are dubbing the FOMO rally or the “melt-up” market – WSJ and Bloomberg

Apple’s reportedly looking to capitalize on a one-time repatriation tax of 15.5% (nearly 20% less than under the prior system) tucked into the new tax code in order to bring back a sizeable chunk of the 94% of its total cash that it currently holds outside of the U.S. In total, that could mean a one-time $38 billion payment into IRS coffers – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg

Some thoughts from the Journal on why breaking up GE wouldn’t provide any “quick fix,” especially given the debt and pension problems weighing down the company – WSJ

There’s something awfully meta about Google selling A.I. to help others build A.I.  And since that’s the brave new world for machine learning that we’re in now, best to read up on it all – NYTimes

A proposed class of U.S. lenders has reached deals with Citi and HSBC worth roughly $27 million to resolve claims in “sprawling” MDL over alleged Libor rigging – Law360

Chipmaker Broadcom has revealed that it is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission for “potentially anticompetitive conduct.”  The company was quick to state that the review has “no impact” on its proposal to buy Qualcomm and that it’s unrelated to Broadcom’s wireless business – Bloomberg

A series of big banks are working on plans to use blockchain ledger technology to “help resurrect the packaging of home mortgages into securities.”   Their argument is that blockchain will make it easier to track the securitized loans. My argument is that the financial meltdown of 2008 wasn’t caused by a lack of RMBS document organization – Bloomberg

We learned yesterday that the CFPB was reconsidering its payday lending rules. But why stop there? Under interim chief Mick Mulvaney, the Bureau is engaging in a comprehensive public review of itself that “could lead to a significant overhaul of the agency created after the financial crisis” – WSJ and Law360

Everybody knows that a steeper yield curve is good news for bank profitability. What this Bank Underground post presupposes is, maybe it isn’t? – BankUnderground

And why, exactly, have you been seeing selfies next to works of art all over your social media platforms over the past few weeks?  You can thank the fine folks at Google (and their Arts & Culture App) for that – NYTimes