Wall Street apparently got together and decided that Monday was the day to start paying attention to the coronavirus for real. In the form of a massive selloff that left the Dow off more than 1000 points for its worst finish in nearly a year-and-a-half. Good to know – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch
A surge in cases of the infection outside of Asia (in Italy, in particular) appears to have caused the market freak-out – NYTimes and WSJ
Some thoughts about what the reaction could mean for Fed action in coming months – MarketWatch and WSJ
TurboTax and Mint parent Intuit is shelling out $7.1 billion to buy Credit Karma, one of the “most popular financial applications for young consumers.” The stock and cash deal has designs on creating a fintech company that “can serve as an online financial assistant for people, helping them get their credit scores, file their taxes and find new loans and financial products”—all in one place – NYTimes
E-cigarette giant Juul is hoping that a new “locked” version with accompanying age-verification system will allow it to stay on the market in the U.S. – WSJ
Mr. Buffett’s far from convinced that the “independent director” movement is doing what it was intended to do – NYTimes
Checking in on the fate of Fed nominee Judy Shelton after a rocky confirmation hearing – Bloomberg
The SEC’s Office of Credit Ratings is reportedly “rethinking its post-crisis effort to improve the quality of bond ratings” in an attempt to “limit the pressure firms such as S&P Global Inc. and Moody’s Corp. face to boost bond ratings.” The news, in the form of comments to a conference in Las Vegas by SEC official Jessica Kane, is being viewed as a “tacit acknowledgment that the decade-old program has been a failure” – WSJ
Some Law360 analysis on the merits of the upcoming High Court argument on the constitutionality of the CFPB’s leadership structure, including the work that SCOTUS-superstar Paul Clement has done on the agency’s behalf in briefing – Law360
In response to a hostile takeover bid from Xerox, HP has promised to buy back $15 billion of stock, “with at least $8 billion of that in the first year,” even while also promising to “leave the door open for a potential combination” – WSJ and MarketWatch
The G20 is pushing countries around the world to get serious about crypto regulation in an effort to cut off a dangerous new avenue for money laundering and terrorist financing – Law360
Here’s a fascinating look at Kanye West’s surprising choice of Cody, WY as his Western outpost. And trust me, as a former defenseman on the Sr. A Cody Stampede ice hockey team and weekend resident of the Irma, I can assure you that it is, indeed, surprising – NYTimes