We’ve all heard about the billions in tax savings associated with corporate tax inversions, but Deal Professor says the real tax-avoidance game is in a strategy called “earnings stripping”—a technique in which a multinational corporation arranges for the US part of its operations to borrow money from its foreign parent, with the interest the US subsidiary pays on that debt available to offset US earnings under the US tax code – NYTimes

Fed Chair Janet Yellen is set to testify before the House today as part of the Fed’s semiannual Monetary Policy Report.  She’ll do the same for the Senate tomorrow.  The Fed’s rate-raising plan and global economic uncertainty will likely be topics of inquiry for the good doctor – WSJ

Expiring hedges (that helped them weather previous boom/bust cycles) and oil prices in the $20s/barrel are forcing many oil companies to face a mountain of debt, poor prospects for paying it off, and impending bankruptcy – NYTimes

Breakingviews on Deutsche Bank’s big-time trouble with its hybrid AT1 bonds, which were touted as better at absorbing losses than the precrisis hybrids but didn’t account for how the market would handle those same losses – NYTimes

And while we’re at it for DB, a 5-day bench trial in NY state court has resulted in a $22 million judgment against the German bank in a breach-of-contract suit initiated by two hedge funds over a credit default swaps agreement – Law360

The Journal looks at how years of low interest rates helped bring about the squeeze (especially in share prices) that banks and other financial firms are feeling these days – WSJ

Stymied by regulators in its plans to merge with Sysco, US Foods has decided to go public – NYTimes and Bloomberg

Monsanto and the SEC have reached an $80 million deal to settle charges that the ag giant “misstated earnings after failing to properly account for the costs of a sales rebate program” for its Roundup herbicide  in 2009 – NYTimes and Law360

The SEC’s long-anticipated and much-delayed “consolidated audit trail,” which would “help regulators sift the wreckage of market crashes, is getting closer to coming on line. The new timetable is focused on a “go live” date of late 2017 – Law360

Some inside the exchange-traded fund industry anticipate that new SEC rules aimed at reducing  ETF riskiness will likely drive investors to its less-regulated (and riskier) rival, exchange-traded notes – Bloomberg

The Upshot was keeping a close eye on Super Bowl ads this weekend and found Quicken Loans’ “Rocket Mortgage” spot more than a little troubling, especially in light of the country’s recent history with easy credit – NYTimes

Oooh boy.  And you thought “Hamilton” was a tough ticket to score.  Just wait for 2018 – NYTimes

Never underestimate the power of the Bey Bounce – NBC