US stocks followed their global counterparts yesterday on a nasty open to 2016 on Wall Street – NYTimes and WSJ

Andrew Ross Sorkin makes a byline appearance in Dealbook to discuss “designated lender counsel”—a “rather innocuous-sounding” term that’s part of a “new, insidious relationship” between the nation’s largest private equity firms, the banks that lend to them, and the law firms that advise on the deals.  The issue? Many PE firms require the banks they borrow from to use a PE-selected (and PE-paid) firm to review the deal. More on what that means here – NYTimes

The Journal offers up this feature on hedge funds’ go-to ideas guy, Penso Advisors LLC’s Ari Bergmann, a Brazilian immigrant with a doctorate in comparative religion perhaps best known for correctly forecasting the weakening of the yen in 2012-2013 and of Asian markets this summer. Ari’s most “obvious indulgence,” for those keeping track at home, is this little number – WSJ

The DOJ is taking a shot at VW with a civil suit filed yesterday in Federal District court in Detroit over VW’s emissions scandal – Bloomberg

Some details from SDNY Judge Jed Rakoff for the reasons behind his September denial of SJ for two accused insider-traders over a pending IBM deal. Judge Rakoff called the duo “remote tippees” and deemed it a jury question whether “it was more likely than not that the defendants made deliberate choices not to inquire further into the circumstances” under which they acquired the suspect information – Law360

Breakingviews is calling GM’s $500 million investment in Uber-competitor Lyft a hedge against a future that likely includes fewer car owners (and more autonomous and connected cars) – NYTimes

A MoFo duo gives us the inside scoop on this mouthful—the US Basel III “countercyclical capital buffer”—a “macroprudential tool” the Fed can employ to raise capital requirements when there’s an elevated risk of above-normal losses – Law360

Height and microwaves are replacing underground communication lines in Europe when it comes to high-frequency traders’ quest for speed – WSJ

Chipotle’s recent troubles have been well documented.  But even without e coli and norovirus problems, the fast-casual industry’s been struggling of late – Bloomberg

Our guy John Oliver has a few ideas on the struggle to keep those resolutions going strong.  Or at least, how to revise your way to success – Last Week Tonight

Here’s an architect/designer giving an entirely new meaning to “fast fashion” – Wired