We’ve got details on China’s proposed trade peace deal along with thoughts on whether it’ll be sufficient to satisfy a White House that’s been itching for a fight – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg

Time for our mid-week check-in with CES as we suss out the hits and misses of all that tech aims to bring our way in the coming year – NYTimes and Marketplace and Mashable

American Express revealed this week that it’s suspended a director in its forex department “as part of its ongoing investigation into pricing practices in the division” – WSJ

We’ve already this week considered the economic impact of the impending UK departure from the EU, and now we’ll look at the [mixed] messaging going along with the yet-to-be-determined deal/no-deal Brexit – NYTimes

Bloomberg gives us this nice look at how Silicon Valley old-timer PayPal’s managed to stay relevant “in the age of digital payments” – Bloomberg

Eddie Lampert and ESL’s bid to keep Sears alive—in some form at least—appears surprisingly NOT DEAD YET – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360

Markets have been behaving this week, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the VIX  – WSJ

Let’s see how they react when the Fed’s December meeting minutes drop later today – WSJ

The OCC is urging patience with its Fintech charter ruling, telling a DC federal judge that a “state regulator group’s latest challenged to a proposed special purpose charter for financial technology firms once again ‘must wait’” until the agency has at least actually approved any charter applications – Law360

Fiat Chrysler is reportedly nearing a deal with the DOJ to resolve a 2-year criminal investigation into “whether it knowingly sold diesel vehicles that violated clean-air rules” – Bloomberg

Some Law360 analysis regarding the High Court’s decision to take up the issue of class action challenges to M&A activity in the form of shareholders claiming they were misled about tender offers  – Law360

Ahhh, the elusive Millennial consumer.  Well, maybe not that elusive.  All it takes is a nifty combination of bubbles, an ironic font, social media savvy, and the magical nonintoxicating hemp extract CBD.  Anyone can do it – NYTimes