Credit bureau Equifax is closing in on an agreement with federal and state authorities in which it would pay $650-700 million to resolve claims related to the massive breach it revealed in September 2017 that exposed personal data of more than 145 million people – NYTimes and WSJ and MarketWatch

A recent reported dip in foreign real estate buying in the States appears to be part of a bigger shift in Chinese economic investment out of the United States, all a product of the recent trade war between the US and China. The flow of Chinese cash into the States has plummeted “nearly 90 percent” in the past 3 years – NYTimes

Still, requests from Chinese companies about buying US agricultural goods and Beijing tariff waivers suggest that an interest in resuming trade talks may actually be rekindling – Bloomberg

With the FOMC set to meet next week and Reserve Board director spots still sitting vacant, it feels like the right time to size up the playing field in what’s turned into a fascinating economic power struggle between Fed Chair Powell and the White House – Bloomberg

Turns out that e-commerce isn’t the only factor bedeviling brick & mortar retail locations. The very analog issue of high rents is wreaking havoc as well – WSJ

Leaders from Nissan and Renault went on record this weekend supporting the once-apparently doomed Renault-Nissan alliance, hinting that the existential threat posed by Silicon Valley companies like Google and Uber is such that they can only survive together, post-Ghosn mess be damned – NYTimes

A hearing kicking off today will be make or break for Johnson & Johnson, which “will make a high-stakes attempt to head off future losses” over claims that the company’s talc products cause cancer – WSJ

Hubble’s trying hard to become something akin to the Dollar Shave Club of contact lenses, offering deep bargains for lens delivery and raising more than $70 million in its disruption efforts. Of course, DSC isn’t facing allegations that it’s hurting its customers and violating American Optometric Association best practices – NYTimes

So apparently, in the Netherlands, snipe hunts are basically a government-sanctioned rite of passage. “Dropping,” friends. It’s real. And it’s only slightly messed up? – NYTimes