Bloomberg

The full U.S. House of Representatives late this afternoon was still debating two impeachment articles accusing President Donald Trump of abusing his power and obstructing Congress. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump is an “ongoing threat” to national security and “gave us no choice.” The White House, meanwhile, spent the day delivering Christmas cards and a copy of Trump’s attack on Pelosi to the senators who may stand in judgment of him. Adoption of the articles would make Trump only the third president in American history to be impeached. If you’d like to tune in, here’s a viewing guide. For the latest updates from Bloomberg, click here. The vote is scheduled to occur tonight. —Josh Petri

Here are today’s top stories

U.S. stocks fell just before the closing bell following a flurry of corporate news.

The Trump administration is conceding defeat in the battle to derail a gas pipeline between Russia and Germany. U.S. officials believe Europe is too dependent on Russian gas.

Masayoshi Son’s Vision Fund is famous for making outsize bets on tech startups. It’s also been described as an environment of sycophancy and harassment.

Three women are suing Synapse Financial Technologies and its chief executive officer, Sankaet Pathak, for what they allege was a pattern of harassment and discrimination. 

In a major shift, private equity giants like Apollo and Blackstone are dishing out billions of dollars to lure borrowers away from the $1.2 trillion leveraged loan market.

Governments are pressing Uber to give employment benefits to its army of gig drivers. Uber, meanwhile, is applying its gig economy model to all kinds of work: It plans to invite its drivers to do cooking, cleaning or laundry jobs. 

What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about?The Bloomberg news director has a new take on Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency has plunged about 50% since the summer, but hope springs eternal, and many die-hards see good news coming this spring. In May of 2020, the volume of new Bitcoin creation will be cut in half. The theory is that with the diminished supply, price will shoot up. Of course anyone who believes in even the weakest version of efficient markets would think this is nonsense, Joe says. Markets move on surprises and unknown events, whereas the Bitcoin supply schedule is transparent for all the world to see. There’s literally a public countdown clock to the event right here. Nothing so telegraphed could make a difference to the price, yet prominent people in the community don’t believe it’s priced in, Joe says. While the halving is unlikely to produce a bull market, Joe argues it could actually produce a bear market. 

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Graphics

Here Is the Optimist’s Guide to 2020. Seriously

Populism. War. Climate Change. Since 2014, Bloomberg’s Pessimist’s Guide has imagined the world’s coming worries. But are things really that bad? We don’t think so. This year, we’ve decided to take a different approach. Science, technology and changing social attitudes can plant the seeds for a brighter world. So instead of looking at what could go wrong, we’re asking you to look at what could go right. Take a deep breath and get ready for a beautiful 2020.

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