The Fed released minutes from its November meeting yesterday, and they reinforced the expected December rate hike while showing a more uncertain path for hikes in 2019 – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg

While Wall Street’s response was far more muted than its elation over Chair Powell’s comments on Wednesday, the minutes did help pull markets up on Thursday to a near break-even close – NYTimes and WSJ

Marriott has disclosed a data breach in its Starwood reservation system that has “potentially affected up to 500 million guests who made reservations at Starwood properties since 2014.” Though “usually encrypted,” payment card information was affected in at least some cases – WSJ and Bloomberg

After a pretty good run in the second half of 2018, oil has dipped back below $50/barrel. And while that mark certainly has some fans, America’s new status as major oil producer means that low-price oil isn’t an automatic win for the U.S. – NYTimes

The SEC will soon take up the White House’s proposal that it end its requirement for public companies to make quarterly earnings reports, a practice that some have criticized as encouraging a “short-term approach to investing” – WSJ

German chemical and pharma giant Bayer AG announced plans on Thursday to cut 12,000 jobs and sell off various businesses, including Coppertone and Dr. Scholl’s, “in an effort to win back investors’ trust after a string of setbacks and a sharp fall in its share price” – WSJ

The DOJ is quietly backing away from the 2015 Yates Memo and its focus on companies offering up individual employees in criminal investigations over misconduct in order to receive cooperation credit – Law360

Following a massive scandal at its home Danske Bank and yesterday’s news of a massive Deutsche Bank raid, Danish lawmakers are encouraging investigators to double down on efforts to root out money laundering at banks across the EU – Bloomberg

More blinking red warning lights about the massive buildup of corporate debt in the U.S. – MarketWatch

With G-20 meetings and side caucusing kicking off yesterday, it’s worth a few minutes to discuss how tariffs actually work – NYTimes

Some holiday help for the bookworms on your list – NYTimes

Have a great weekend.