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The White House says it’s open to tweaking the tax bill to preserve the state income tax break—a move that could help woo re-election-wary House Republicans in high-tax states. But it might not make a dent in the bill’s Senate hurdles, chief among them Susan Collins. Will she get the deal she was promised? And will it matter? —Sam Schulz

The 1,000 people who own 40 percent of the bitcoin market. With prices like these, the whales of bitcoin—some 1,000 people who collectively hold about two-fifths of all the cryptocurrency—have investors worried. If one decides to sell half her holdings, or if many of them do so in tandem, prices could plummet. While White House economic adviser Gary Cohn downplays the risks of bitcoin’s meteoric rise, not everyone is so sanguine, with many banks still weighing whether to offer futures contracts. And one of Wall Street's biggest bitcoin bulls has advice for how to make money off the cryptocurrency without actually owning it.

Inside Theresa May’s race to a late-night Brexit deal. While her staff sang karaoke at its Christmas party, the prime minister braced for another phone call with the leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Union Party. Arlene Foster was blocking an agreement on one of Brexit’s biggest hurdles. It was time to decide, May told her, and Foster relented. Seven hours later, May was in Brussels.

Susan Collins might not have her deal, and the GOP tax plan could hinge on what she does about it. Collins, a moderate Maine Republican, backed her Senate colleagues’ tax bill only after she was promised legislation to shore up Obamacare marketplaces. Whether the House will spring for it, though, is an open question. So could be Collins’ key support.

Americans aren’t afraid of losing their guns. That’s bad for business for gun makers. Under President Obama, sales spiked after mass shootings on fears of new gun control laws. Under President Trump, gun owners see no reason to fear new laws and no reason to buy except a bargain. That’s sparked an industry price war. Gun sales and profits have dropped, and the maker of Smith & Wesson has slashed its annual profit target.

U.S. allies had withering criticism for Trump’s decision to declare Jerusalem Israel’s capital and start moving the U.S. embassy. At an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Friday, the Swedish ambassador said the move “contradicts international law.” The British ambassador said it won’t help peace efforts. Deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, who has been closely involved with those efforts, is stepping down early next year.

A shale, a fail, a canal, Panama. It had seemed a fortuitous coincidence for the U.S. shale boom: wider new locks in the Panama Canal just as drillers prepared to ship out their first liquefied natural gas exports. But it’s not quite working out that way, and 17 months in, there’s clearance for just one tanker to pass every day.

Disney is making a killing on Star Wars. Five years after Disney bought it and Kathleen Kennedy took over running it, Lucasfilm is buried in a blizzard of projects: Star Wars Lands at theme parks in California and Florida, a TV show for Disney’s new subscription service, and, of course, the movies, with “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” set to open in a week.

To contact the author of this story: Samantha Schulz in New York at sschulz17@bloomberg.net.

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