Dealbook’s Andrew Ross Sorkin offers more perspective on the economic cost of terrorism, suggesting—based on a disturbingly high data set of recent examples—that market volatility in the days following a major event isn’t the best indicator of the fallout from the Paris attacks – NYTimes

Here’s the real question coming out of the Marriott/Starwood deal: what’s going to happen to Starwood’s “best-of-class” loyalty program? [odds are decent some watering-down is in order] – WSJ

Public awareness of the SEC’s whistleblower (and bounty) program helped drive tips up yet again during the last fiscal year (ending Sept. 30), at more than 3900—up 8% from the year before – Law360

It seems Warren Buffet liked what he saw with IBM’s efforts to end a 2-year slide in revenue (noted here yesterday), as Berkshire increased its Big Blue ownership even as others have jumped ship – WSJ

“Flash Boys” hero and IEX chief Brad Katsuyama is the public face of the Investors Exchange’s bid to create the first new American stock exchange in 5 years—one that plans to use a 350-millisecond “speed bump” (already tested and used with approval by investors in IEX’s private exchange) to fight spoofing. Perhaps predictably, the proposal’s run into major opposition from other stock exchange companies and a spate of HFT firms – NYTimes

Quarterly SEC 13F filings for hedge funds—which came in yesterday—showed a Valeant-driven rough patch for many. Though the filings are “an imperfect window” because they’re “inherently backward-looking” and don’t include short positions, they did show the continuing tendency of “Wall Street’s biggest  and wealthiest money managers . . . to look a bit like a thundering herd when it comes to the stocks they buy and sell” – NYTimes

Bank of America is seeking dismissal of a $600 million suit by Ambac Assurance corporation—a bond insurer—over allegedly toxic mortgage debt originated by Countrywide Home Loans and affiliates. Ambac argued that any reps and warrants made regarding the loans and origination process were made in contracts to which it wasn’t a party – Law360

An update on the slow US rollout and adoption of microchip-embedded EMV payment cards—the global standard that aims to have consumers dipping rather than swiping – NYTimes

IMF Chief Christine Lagarde gave a bit of a surprising nod last week to the inclusion of China’s currency—the renminbi—as one of the IMF’s reserve currencies. One potential benefit of the move is that it would likely give China’s “major partners more confidence to include the [renminbi] among their foreign exchange holdings” – Law360

Just how strong is the Force? Enough to have a major impact on the Asian manufacturers who are happily supplying the Star Wars-themed light sabers, action figures, and video games associated with December’s “The Force Awakens” release – Bloomberg

The only thing more powerful than the big furry hat is . . . TWO big furry hats (and a comedy legend) – Late Show