For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce.
For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
Turn to page R8 to see how our specialists can answer all your futures questions.
Last week: DJIA 24331.32 À 607.63 2.6%
What’s
News
Business & Finance
actory furloughs across
F the U.S. are becoming
permanent shutdowns, a sign
of the heavy damage the cor-
onavirus pandemic is exerting
on the industrial economy. A1
 The pandemic is exposing
weakness in mortgage firms
that aren’t built to handle an
economic collapse or help
customers through one. A1
 The Trump administration
and semiconductor compa-
nies are looking to jump-start
development of new U.S. chip
factories as concern grows
about reliance on Asia. A6
 Tesla asked a judge to al-
low it to reopen its sole U.S.
assembly plant, calling a lo-
cal-government refusal an un-
constitutional power grab. B1
 Avianca filed for bank-
ruptcy protection in the U.S.
as travel curbs curtail flights
and the Colombian airline
vies for public assistance. B1
 Low interest rates and
expectations they won’t
soon rebound are leading
U.S. insurers to reject some
customers for life policies. B1
 Fed officials are unlikely
to consider using negative
rates to stimulate growth
in the current downturn. B6
 Vroom, the online used-car
seller, has filed confidentially
for an initial public offering
it hopes to stage in June. B3
World-Wide
 Large numbers of Covid-19
patients with low blood-oxy-
gen levels are surprisingly not
struggling to breathe, rapidly
changing how many doctors
are treating the disease. A1
 U.S. health regulators
are developing proposals
that would allow visitors
to return to nursing homes
hit hard by the coronavi-
rus despite lockdowns. A4
 The Trump administration
plans to warn that hackers
tied to Beijing are trying to
pilfer coronavirus vaccine data
from U.S. researchers. A6
 Johnson said the U.K.
would take small steps
this week to ease the lock-
down in that country. A9
 Talks among lawmakers
and the White House on the
next crisis-aid package are on
ice because of disagreements
over its pace and content. A5
 Court hearings for un-
accompanied migrant chil-
dren in U.S. custody are
continuing despite the cor-
onavirus outbreak. A3
 Indian and Chinese secu-
rity forces scuffled along the
two countries’ disputed bor-
der, Indian officials said. A18
 Died: Little Richard, 87,
rock ’n’ roll trailblazer. A2
JOURNAL REPORT
Small Business: What I
love—and hate—about
being an entrepreneur.
R1-8
CONTENTS
Business & Finance B2,6
Business News....... B3
Crossword.............. A14
Heard on Street... B10
Life & Arts...... A11-13
Markets............... B9-10
s 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
How do I diversify with futures?
* * * * * *
NASDAQ 9121.32 À 6.0%
Family in India Buries Its Dead as Global Cases Pass 4 Million
SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
IN MOURNING: Relatives in protective gear prepared the body of a victim of Covid-19 for burial at a graveyard in New
Delhi on Sunday. Across the world, the number of cases has surpassed 4 million, with more than 280,000 deaths. A4
Mortgage Firms Show Strain
er s
m er
Nonbank share of
mortgage market
50%
m rp
Origination
40
30
co Fo
20
Servicing
10
0 other business lines to cushion
2005 ’10
Sources: Urban Institute (servicing); Inside
Mortgage Finance (origination)
Ventilator Use Scaled Back
n-
BY SARAH TOY
no
AND DENISE ROLAND
Many Covid-19 patients ar-
rive at hospitals with blood-
oxygen levels so low they
should be unconscious or on
the verge of organ failure. In-
stead, they are awake and
talking—not struggling to
breathe.
Although nobody is quite
sure what about the coronavi-
rus causes these patients to re-
act this way, they are rapidly
changing how many doctors
are treating the disease. In-
Iron Man, Black Widow vs. the
Coronavirus? Discuss.
Fan fiction puts popular heroes at the
center of the Covid-19 fight
BY JAMES HOOKWAY
Peter Parker—Spider-Man
out of costume—pleads for his
Aunt May to stay home, safe
Opinion.............. A15-17 from the coronavirus infection.
Outlook....................... A2
Sports....................... A14 Harry Potter, meanwhile,
Technology................ B4 races to prevent it from spread-
U.S. News............. A2-3 ing through Hogwarts and pick-
Weather................... A14
World News......... A18
ing off vulnerable children.
“Real life writes plot,” said
Speedygal, one of the pen
> names of a fan-fiction
writer from Knox
County, Ill., who
wrote the “Harry
Potter” scenario.
Writers of fan
fiction have placed
MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXV NO. 110
STOXX 600 341.05 À 1.1%
on
us ,
l
e
al a
ci on
BY BEN EISEN
59%
The U.S. mortgage market
still functions much as it did
before the last financial crisis.
The coronavirus pandemic has
49% exposed its cracks.
The virus has forced millions
of homeowners to stop making
their monthly payments. At the
same time, many mortgage
companies aren’t positioned to
help their customers through
the economic collapse.
Many of them are nonbanks
that don’t have deposits or
’15 ’19 the blow, and they have raised
concerns that fronting pay-
ments for struggling borrow-
stead of rushing to put such
patients on mechanical ventila-
tors for fear of their suddenly
getting worse and dying, some
doctors are now holding off on
the invasive treatment, believ-
ing that many of these patients
will do just fine without them.
Pre-Covid-19, doctors look-
ing to boost a patient’s blood-
oxygen levels would often turn
first to less invasive methods
of support such as CPAP or Bi-
PAP machines that push air
into a patient’s airway through
a face mask, or high-flow nasal
cannulas—prongs that blow
i
i i
their favorite characters in the
middle of the Covid-19 crisis,
imagining how they would be-
have, whether to cure the ill-
ness and save humanity, or
merely pass the time under
lockdown.
“It’s a way to process my
feelings and fears,” said
Amanda Sorrento, a 21-year-
old student from Hamilton,
N.J., who wrote
the “Spider-Man”
story and posted it on
FanFiction.net. “At first
my grandparents
didn’t realize the se-
Please turn to
page A10
ADVERTISEMENT
WSJ.com HHHH $4.00
10-YR. TREASURY g 13/32 , yield 0.679% OIL $24.74 À $4.96 EURO $1.0838 YEN 106.63
Factory
Closures
Imperil
Industrial
Economy
BY AUSTEN HUFFORD
AND BOB TITA
Factory furloughs are be-
coming permanent closings, a
sign of the heavy damage the
coronavirus pandemic and
.
shutdowns are exerting on the
industrial economy.
ly
Makers of dishware in North
Carolina, furniture foam in Ore-
gon and cutting boards in Michi-
gan are among the companies
closing factories in recent
weeks. Caterpillar Inc. said it is
considering closing plants in
Germany, boat-and-motorcycle-
maker Polaris Inc. plans to close
a plant in Syracuse, Ind., and
tire maker Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Co. plans to close a
plant in Gadsden, Ala.
Factory shutdowns in the
U.S. will further erode an indus-
trial workforce that has been
shrinking as a share of the na-
tion’s overall economy for de-
cades. While manufacturing
output last year surpassed a
ers will quickly drain them of more conservative. previous peak from 2007, fac-
capital. What regulators didn’t focus tory employment never re-
Over the past decade, the on was the strength of the Please turn to page A6
business of originating and ser- mortgage companies them-
vicing mortgages has shifted selves. Though the loans are
THE
toward nonbanks. They made sturdier, the infrastructure
59% of U.S. mortgages last year, largely didn’t change.
the highest level on record, ac- Ann Winn called her mort- CORONAVIRUS
PANDEMIC
cording to industry-research gage company, nonbank lender
group Inside Mortgage Finance. Freedom Mortgage Corp., to
The mortgage meltdown see about pausing payments in
more than a decade ago, in late March, soon after she had
which loans to people with to shut down the salon she Reopening nursing
shakier credit histories were owns in a suburb of Austin, homes is weighed, A4
repackaged and sold in ever Texas. New outbreak tests
more exotic financial instru- What followed, she said, strategy in South Korea, A8
ments, helped fuel the financial were hours of tense calls and
Older Europeans fight call
crisis of 2008-09. Regulators emails with the company. Free-
to stay home, A9
tightened standards, and mort- dom agreed to let her skip a
gages made today are generally Please turn to page A9
INSIDE
heated, humidified oxygen into
a patient’s nostrils. If that
BRIAN MOLYNEAUX FOR WSJ
didn’t work, physicians would
JOSHUA LOTT FOR WSJ
use mechanical ventilators.
But people with Covid-19
began showing up at the hos-
pital with rarely seen, ultralow
blood-oxygen levels. Even for
those who weren’t struggling
to breathe, doctors were con-
cerned that patients’ condi- LIFE & ARTS BUSINESS & FINANCE
tions could suddenly worsen, An executive ramps up Tesla goes to court to
which with Covid-19 could
swiftly turn deadly. So they of-
her running mileage challenge factory-
for inspiration on closing order in
ten intubated sooner.
“In the past, you’d see these the job. A12 California. B1
Please turn to page A6
Big Investment Firms Take
Lead in Stimulus Program
BlackRock will buy billions of dollars in corporate bonds for the Fed
BY DAWN LIM AND GREGORY ZUCKERMAN ready up and running.
The two firms could eventually invest hun-
The Federal Reserve’s giant program of dreds of billions of central-bank dollars.
corporate bond buying is about to kick in. It Their role as agents of the Fed’s interven-
will hand a critical new role in propping the tion is the latest chapter in a decadelong shift
struggling economy to a business with in- in the financial power structure, with the
creasing clout in the financial world: money largest asset managers gaining ground on
management. Wall Street banks.
The central bank has tapped BlackRock Inc. A few leading asset managers have become
to help it direct money into both new and al- critical conduits for directing the money of
ready-issued corporate bonds, assisting the individuals, pension plans and endowments
Fed in its recently adopted role as lender of into U.S. companies. BlackRock and Pimco are
last resort for businesses. The Fed is ex- shareholders and debtholders in thousands of
pected to launch the program in coming days. companies on behalf of funds they manage.
The Fed also has given Pacific Investment The shareholder votes they control and
Management Co., or Pimco, the job of helping Please turn to page A10
it purchase commercial paper, or companies’
short-term borrowings. That program is al-  Talks stall on next stimulus package............... A5
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
A2 | Monday, May 11, 2020
THE OUTLOOK | By Josh Zumbrun
This Crisis Is Very Unlike the 1930s
News sto-
ries often de-
scribe the cor-
onavirus-
induced global
economic
downturn as the worst since
the Great Depression.
This is likely to be literally
true. Yet for many, the com-
parison does more to terrify
than clarify. Economists say
there is likely to be a big dif-
ference between a downturn
that is the worst since the
Depression and conditions as
bad as the Depression.
“I don’t find comparing the
current downturn with the
Great Depression to be very
helpful,” said former Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Ber-
nanke, who has studied that
1930s era. “The expected du-
ration is much less, and the
causes are very different.”
The trajectory of the pan-
demic and economy remains
uncertain. How quickly health
officials can contain the cri-
sis, how much the public will
cooperate and whether poli-
cies will spark a swift recov-
ery remains to be seen. Even
so, many economists find a
scenario rivaling the Great
Depression in severity and
duration hard to imagine.
“The breakdown of the fi-
nancial system was a major
reason for both the Great De-
pression and the 2007-09 re-
cession,” Mr. Bernanke said.
Today, however, “the banks
are stronger and much better
capitalized.”
By most estimates, the cur-
rent downturn is likely to be
comparable in scale and dura-
tion to that 2000s recession
ANDY LYONS/GETTY IMAGES
Little Richard kept busy in recent decades. Above, he performed at a Dec. 31, 2004, halftime show at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.
Rock ’n’ Roll Pioneer Created New Blueprint
no
BY NEIL SHAH
Little Richard, a rock ’n’ roll
pioneer whose ecstatic perfor-
mances, flamboyant showman-
ship and cacophony of shrieks,
screams and shouts provided a
blueprint for
OBITUARY generations
LITTLE RICHARD of soul, funk
1932-2020 and rock art-
ists from
Otis Redding to Prince, died
early Saturday at the age of 87.
The cause was cancer, ac-
cording to his son, Dan Penni-
man. Born Richard Wayne Pen-
niman in Macon, Ga., in 1932,
Little Richard performed well
into his 70s, having survived
hip surgery and a heart attack,
though he was confined to a
wheelchair in recent years.
An innovator during rock
’n’ roll’s first wave, Little Rich-
ard merged fiery gospel vocals
with R&B and boogie-woogie,
whooping and hollering while
pounding his piano—creating
a boisterous racket that has
given rock ’n’ roll one of its
most identifiable sounds.
Raised in a religious family
that frowned upon R&B, he
sang and played saxophone
early on, and started perform-
ing R&B professionally in the
early 1950s, inspired by artists
such as Billy Wright. A demo
sent to Specialty Records in
1955 led to a recording session
and—during a break at the
Dew Drop Inn—Little Richard’s
risqué ditty about sodomy,
“Tutti Frutti,” which (after the
lyrics were tweaked) became
his first major hit.
and the other major post-
World War II recession, in the
early 1980s.
Comparisons with the De-
pression are difficult because
most of the data sets today
didn’t exist in the 1930s. But
some rough measures are
available, including global
trade tallies from the League
of Nations, Federal Reserve
data on factories and Works
Progress Administration re-
cords on joblessness.
I
n the 1930s, industrial
production fell by more
than half. Production
slowly made up ground for al-
most four years, only to de-
cline sharply again in 1937-38.
By contrast, production de-
clined by about 15% in
2007-09 and 10% in the early
1980s.
When the coronavirus hit,
industrial production had al-
ready been dipping as a result
of the recent trade wars.
While many factories closed
as consumer demand shrank,
some are rapidly retooling.
Auto makers General Motors
Co. and Ford Motor Co. have
switched from making cars to
ventilators. Medical-supply
factories are struggling to
keep pace with demand.
From 1929 to 1933, the
economy shrank for 43 con-
secutive months, according to
contemporaneous estimates.
Unemployment climbed to
nearly 25% before slowly be-
ginning its descent, but it re-
mained above 10% for an en-
tire decade.
on
That compares with a 16-
us ,
month decline in the early
l
1980s and an 18-month fall
e
al a
ci on
er s
m er
m rp
co Fo
n-
That started a brief string of
hits—“Long Tall Sally,” “Jenny,
Jenny,” “Good Golly, Miss
Molly”—that shaped the soul,
funk and rock music of the
1960s and 1970s. Elvis Presley
and Pat Boone covered his
songs. Little Richard appeared
in rock ’n’ roll movies, includ-
ing “The Girl Can’t Help It.”
Little Richard’s rise to star-
dom marked a shift in Ameri-
can popular music: The rau-
cous forces of rock ’n’ roll
were taking over, opening pop
music’s doors to outsiders like
Little Richard—especially
black artists.
Little Richard was among
the first crossover artists, at-
tracting a mix of white and
black audiences—and he re-
mained proud of his uphill
climb through his career.
“When I came out they wasn’t
playing no black artists on no
Top 40 stations,” he once said.
He thanked Elvis Presley for
paving the way.
Few live performers
matched Little Richard. His
electrifying vocals and freaky
style made him a singular
presence. If Elvis’s pelvic
thrusts were a gimmick, Little
Richard had his shrieks. What
differentiated him from other
R&B singers were his raw vo-
cal sounds, which found ad-
mirers among Paul McCartney,
Creedence Clearwater Re-
vival’s John Fogerty and even
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. “I
can sing anything,” Little Rich-
ard said in a 1972 interview.
“I’m not just screaming. I
know what I’m doing.”
U.S. NEWS
Jobless Eras, Collapsing Trade
Unemployment is forecast initially to climb more rapidly than even
the beginning of the Great Depression, but not to climb as high.
Trade volume isn’t forcast to be as severe as the Great Recession.
Unemployment rate
5%
Great
 Depression
5 Covid-19
Financial crisis

Early 1980s
5 he International Mone-
Forecast
 (dash)
0 10 20 30 40
MONTH SINCE TROUGH
Note: Gofr Trade, Great Depression peak in April 1929, Great Recession peak in Jan. 2008, most
recent peak in Oct. 2018. For unemployment start dates, Oct. 1929 (Depression), Jan. 1980 (1980s
recession), Dec. 2007 (Great Recession), February 2020 (coronavirus)
Sources: League of Nations (Great Depression trade), World Trade Monitor (global trade in recent
years), International Monetary Fund (global trade forecast); Petrosky-Nadeau/Zhang (Depression
unemployment), Labor Department (Post World War I unemployment); WSJ Economist Survey
(unemployment forecasts)
from 2007 to 2009. This time,
many economists believe a re-
bound could begin this year
or early next year if the virus
is sufficiently contained.
While unemployment in
the U.S. hit 14.7% in April and
is likely to rise further, the
blow today is softened by
safety-net programs such as
unemployment insurance.
“Many people are suffering
now, and the economy won’t
recover in only a quarter or
two,” Mr. Bernanke said. “But
if we’re able to get reasonable
control of the virus, the econ-
omy will substantially re-
cover, and this downturn
Along with Chuck Berry’s
tales of girls and cars, Little
Richard’s nonsensical verbal
a c r o b a t i c s — “Aw o p - b o p -
aloobop alop-bam-boom!”—
gave rock ’n’ roll a sense of
uninhibited fun that would
dissipate by the late 1950s.
Dressed in colorful suits, a
six-inch-high pompadour and a
pencil-thin mustache, Little
Richard also cut a strange, ef-
feminate figure, anticipating
the androgyny of future rock
stars such as Mick Jagger, Da-
vid Bowie and Prince.
At the height of his fame, in
1957, Little Richard shocked
the music business by quit-
ting. He saw a ball of fire in
the sky above a stadium while
touring and decided he wanted
to get right with God, give up
Little Richard
merged fiery gospel
vocals with R&B
and boogie-woogie.
secular music and study to be-
come a minister. (The ball of
fire turned out to be Sputnik,
the Russian satellite. Little
Richard’s changed plans did,
however, keep him from
boarding a flight that crashed
into the Pacific Ocean.) He vir-
tually disappeared from the
public, before returning as a
gospel singer in early 1960s.
Prompted by a concert pro-
moter, Little Richard began
Change in global trade volume
since pre-recession peak
% Great Recession
Covid-19
–
IMF forecast
(dash)
–
Great
Depression
–6
–8
0 10 20 30 40
WEEKS SINCE PEAK
should be much shorter than
the Great Depression.”
The second quarter of
2020 is likely to be the worst
ever for many economies. The
median estimate of econo-
mists surveyed by The Wall
Street Journal calls for a de-
cline of 25% at an annual rate
in the U.S. Some estimates
are closer to 50%.
But annualized rates can
be misleading. They assume
that one quarter’s pace con-
tinues for a year. If 10% of the
economy shuts down for one
quarter, that would be consid-
ered a 40% decline at an an-
nual rate.
touring as a rock ‘n’ roller
again, with support from first
the Beatles and then the Roll-
ing Stones, who idolized him. A
minor hit, “Bama Lama Bama
Loo,” followed in 1964; for a
time, Jimi Hendrix was in his
backing band, the Upsetters.
While Little Richard contin-
ued to perform and record, his
music met with less success
and he grew frustrated with
producers. Still, rock’s popu-
larity in the late 1960s and
early 1970s and several head-
line-making performances and
TV appearances kept audi-
ences excited about Little
Richard’s hits.
By the late 1970s, he re-
turned to the church, before
re-entering show business
again. Though his biggest hits
came during a stretch in the
1950s, Little Richard kept busy
in recent decades, taking
movie roles and putting music
on soundtracks. He was in-
ducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 1986.
Throughout his life, Little
Richard shuttled back and
forth between preaching as an
evangelist and the secular
world of rock ’n’ roll (and, of-
ten, drugs such as cocaine).
Little Richard’s seemingly
contradictory fusion of the sa-
cred and the profane has
echoes in the career of the man
who is arguably his greatest
heir, Prince, who died in 2016.
In later years, Little Richard
would appear to reconcile these
forces somewhat—but he still
talked fervently of the need to
be right with God.
* * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
ECONOMIC
CALENDAR
Economic data out this week
will again reflect the impact of
“We’ve had this very the coronavirus.
abrupt, very sharp, immediate Tuesday
reduction in economic activ- China’s consumer inflation is
ity, driven by government expected to continue easing in
policies to shut down econo- April while producer-price defla-
mies. And because it’s very tion deepens, reflecting weaker
abrupt, the numbers are as- external demand amid the pan-
tronomical,” said Douglas Ir- demic.
win, a professor at Dartmouth U.S. inflation is expected to
College who has studied U.S. soften. The consumer-price in-
trade policy during the De- dex for April is likely to reflect
pression. By contrast, he said, crashing energy prices and fal-
“The way the world evolved tering demand for a range of
into the Great Depression was goods and services.
a slow and steady decline. It Wednesday
was a slow strangulation of U.K. gross domestic product
the economy.” is expected to contract in the
first quarter after efforts to con-
T
tain the coronavirus crushed
tary Fund estimates the consumer spending and curtailed
world economy shrank broader activity during the final
about 10% during the Great weeks of March.
Depression, versus an expec- Thursday
tation of about 3% this year U.S. weekly initial jobless
and an expected return to claims have been falling after a
growth next year. Advanced historic wave of layoffs, though
economies shrank about 16% the number of people continuing
in the Depression, compared to receive benefits is likely to
with about 6% forecast for push deeper into record territory
this year. as the economy remains par-
A series of policy mistakes tially shut down.
around the world exacerbated Friday
the length and severity of the China’s industrial produc-
Great Depression. Central tion, retail sales and fixed-as-
banks tightened monetary set investment data for March
policy to maintain the gold are expected to show the worst
standard. The result was se- of the country’s downturn has
vere deflation, which in- passed.
.
creased the value of debt and Figures from Germany’s sta-
lowered incomes.
ly
tistics agency are anticipated to
Governments also initially show that the eurozone’s larg-
cut spending in reaction to est economy contracted, though
declining revenue. And as less sharply than Italy, Spain
economies deteriorated, coun-
tries raised trade barriers in
an effort to protect their do-
mestic industries. The result,
and France during the first
quarter.
U.S. retail sales and indus-
trial production figures for
though, was a global contrac- April are forecast to be the lat-
tion in demand, which only est indications of the country’s
deepened the depression. sharp economic downturn.
U.S. WATCH
WEST VIRGINIA an unknown shark species, the
California State Parks said.
Mother’s Day With The water one mile north and
A Twist in Birthplace south of the attack will be
closed for several more days.
In Grafton, W. Va., where Signs warning beachgoers of the
Mother’s Day started 112 years attack said it happened within
ago, there was another first on 100 yards of shore.
Sunday: an online-only audience —Associated Press
due to the coronavirus pan-
demic. MAINE
The pews were empty as an
organist played the opening Moose Hunt Still On,
hymn at the International Applications Are Due
Mother’s Day Shrine in Grafton.
The tradition began when Maine wildlife managers are
Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her collecting the last applications to
late mother on the second Sun- participate in the state’s moose
day of every May. The first ser- hunt this year.
vice was held in 1908 in Grafton, The applications are due by
three years after her mother’s the end of the day on Thursday.
death. Tens of thousands of people
Six years later, President typically apply to participate in
Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the the moose hunt and only a cou-
second Sunday in May as ple of thousand permits are
Mother’s Day. awarded.
—Associated Press The state will award the per-
mits via a lottery in June. The
CALIFORNIA lottery is usually a live event,
but this year it is being held on-
Shark Kills Surfer
Close to Shore
line to limit the spread of the
new coronavirus.
State officials have said hunt-
A surfer was killed in a shark ing is still allowed when the
attack off a Northern California state is under a stay-at-home
beach, state park officials said. order and social distancing rules
The 26-year-old man was are in place. The state’s spring
surfing off Manresa State Beach turkey hunt is currently going
on the northern end of Monte- on. The moose hunt season
rey Bay around 1:30 p.m. on Sat- takes place in the fall.
urday when he was attacked by —Associated Press
CORRECTIONS  AMPLIFICATIONS
The Johns Hopkins Center Wall Street Journal staff
for Health Security was mis- members are working re-
identified as John Hopkins in motely during the pandemic.
a Personal Technology column For the foreseeable future,
on Saturday about contact- please send reader comments
tracing apps. only by email or phone, using
the contacts below, not via
Notice to readers U.S. Mail.
Readers can alert The Wall Street Journal to any errors in news articles by
emailing wsjcontact@wsj.com or by calling 888-410-2667.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
(USPS 664-880) (Eastern Edition ISSN 0099-9660)
(Central Edition ISSN 1092-0935) (Western Edition ISSN 0193-2241)
Editorial and publication headquarters: 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10036
Published daily except Sundays and general legal holidays.
Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and other mailing offices.
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Wall Street Journal,
200 Burnett Rd., Chicopee, MA 01020.
All Advertising published in The Wall Street Journal is subject to the applicable rate card,
copies of which are available from the Advertising Services Department, Dow Jones & Co. Inc.,
1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10036. The Journal reserves the right not to
accept an advertiser’s order. Only publication of an advertisement shall constitute final
acceptance of the advertiser’s order.
Letters to the Editor: Fax: 212-416-2891; email: wsj.ltrs@wsj.com
Need assistance with your subscription?
By web: customercenter.wsj.com; By email: wsjsupport@wsj.com
By phone: 1-800-JOURNAL (1-800-568-7625)
Reprints & licensing:
By email: customreprints@dowjones.com
By phone: 1-800-843-0008
WSJ back issues and framed pages: wsjshop.com
Our newspapers are 100% sourced from sustainably certified mills.
GOT A TIP FOR US? SUBMIT IT AT WSJ.COM/TIPS
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
New Format
Pulls Thomas
Into the Fray
BY BRENT KENDALL troverted, that is not the way
AND JESS BRAVIN you learn.”
Within the court, many say
WASHINGTON—Justice Clar- Justice Thomas is warm, out-
ence Thomas’s years of silence going and courteous. “He
during the Supreme Court’s knows the name of every sin-
oral arguments have left him gle employee in the building,”
hidden in plain sight. But his Justice Sonia Sotomayor said
emergence during the court’s in 2018. “I just love the man as
telephonic hearings served no- a person,” she said, despite
tice that he remains an active, frequently disagreeing with
if idiosyncratic, participant in him about the law.
the court’s deliberations. When the day’s cases are
Empowered by the court’s done, he often hangs back as
orderly format during the cor- the frail Justice Ruth Bader
onavirus, under which justices Ginsburg descends from the
speak in order of seniority bench, taking her hand as they
rather than jump in at will, disappear behind crimson cur-
Justice Thomas said more dur- tains to the court’s robing
ing oral arguments last week room.
than he has in many years During arguments, however,
combined, asking questions of he is best known for his re-
every attorney in the four serve. While rarely asking
cases the court heard by tele- questions, he speaks quietly
conference. with seatmate Justice Stephen
He will face a batch of high- Breyer. He calls for court staff
stakes cases this week as the to bring him additional legal
court’s teleconferenced pro- materials. He leans back in his
ceedings continue with dis- chair and looks up at the or-
putes over subpoenas for Pres- nate ceiling.
ident Trump’s financial records Before the telephonic argu-
and rules for the Electoral Col- ments, Justice Thomas spoke
lege. in 32 of about 2,400 cases the
“He’s asking some interest- court has heard since he suc-
ing questions and sounds just ceeded Justice Thurgood Mar-
like any other justice during shall in 1991, according to re-
these telephonic arguments,”
says Cornell law professor Mi-
chael Dorf. “The big mystery is
search by University of
Minnesota political scientist
Timothy Johnson. Justice
Thomas’s questions took up 26
on
minutes over those 29 years,
us ,
Mr. Johnson found. By compar-
l
ison, he spoke for approxi-
e
al a
mately 7½ minutes over four
MANDEL NGAN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
cases in the past week alone.
Justice Thomas once went a
ci on
decade without speaking in
oral argument at all, a streak
he ended in 2016 when he
voiced concerns about the gov-
ernment permanently stripping
er s
individuals of gun-ownership
rights if they once had been
m er
convicted of domestic abuse.
As the court’s longest-serv-
ing member, Justice Thomas’s
turn came first last week after
Chief Justice John Roberts.
m rp
Justice Thomas didn’t hesitate:
He took issue with lower-court
‘I don’t learn by judges issuing nationwide in-
back-and-forth a junctions against executive-
branch policies. He probed
lot,’ Justice Thomas
co Fo
about individual privacy inter-
said last year. ests in a case involving cell-
phone robocalls. He asked how
trademark law applies to on-
line domain names and vanity
why he’s so reticent in ordi- 1-800 phone numbers.
nary oral arguments.”
Normally, the court’s argu-
ment sessions are a free-for-
all, with justices frequently in-
Elbert Lin, a former Thomas
clerk, said the justice had re-
marked in chambers that other
justices often ask the questions
terrupting the lawyers, and that were on his mind, so he
one another, to air their que- had no need to pile on. The
ries and concerns. Justice new format, Mr. Lin said,
n-
Thomas nearly always sits out meant that Justice Thomas
that fray. Over the years, he had to take matters in his own
has suggested the aggressive hands.
questioning interferes with “You saw in several argu-
no
lawyers making their cases, ments that Justice Breyer,
and that he is inclined toward Ginsburg or others said, ‘I have
reading and listening rather the same question as Justice
than dialogue. Thomas,’” Mr. Lin noted.
“I don’t learn by back-and- To be sure, Justice
forth a lot,” he said last year at Thomas’s newfound volubility
a Supreme Court Historical So- has limits: He declined to com-
ciety event. “When you are in- ment for this article.
Longtime Justice In the current term, he has
advocated for discarding a de-
Goes His Own Way cadeslong doctrine that has al-
lowed civil-damages lawsuits
against federal officers, and dis-
Justice Clarence Thomas, sented when the other justices
whose 1991 Senate confirmation granted federal workers greater
hearings were a national spec- protections against age discrimi-
tacle, remains polarizing, and his nation. In a concurring opinion
heterodox legal views can set last week, he alone argued that
him apart even from other con- precedents dating from 1940
servative justices. went too far in protecting free-
He ascribes little importance dom of speech and of the press
to precedent, instead arguing by making it too easy for courts
that longstanding interpreta- to strike down laws on First
tions of constitutional law be Amendment grounds.
discarded in favor of what he While Justice Thomas’s un-
believes the text written by the bending views have endeared
framers originally meant. him to some conservative legal
He has questioned whether theorists, they have limited his
the First Amendment forbids influence even on a right-leaning
states from establishing their court; he usually has been un-
own official churches, whether it able to attract a majority for his
is unconstitutional to strike ju- most provocative ideas. Because
rors because of their race and the court tries to assign each
whether prison inmates can justice a roughly equal number
claim inhumane conditions are of decisions to write, that often
unconstitutionally cruel and un- has left him the less controver-
usual punishments. sial cases, such as those involv-
In the court’s last term, he ing intellectual-property rights
called for the court to overrule or technical interpretations of
several widely accepted prece- federal statutes.
dents, positions which, if ad- He says he is comfortable
opted, would make it easier for with his role on the court. “I re-
public officials to sue news or- ally don’t have a lot of stress,”
ganizations, states to endorse Justice Thomas joked at the Su-
religion and prosecutors to re- preme Court Historical Society
move black jurors. event last year. “I cause stress.”
Monday, May 11, 2020 | A3
U.S. NEWS
FROM LEFT: DAVID CRANE/ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/ZUMA PRESS; MICHAEL BLOOD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democrat Christy Smith and Republican Mike Garcia face off Tuesday for a House seat. Ballots were ordered mailed to the entire district.
California Election Offers Preview
Of Mail-In Voting on Large Scale
BY KRISTINA PETERSON quiring county elections offi- Ms. Smith “and her liberal to expand vote-by-mail op-
cials to mail a ballot to every Dem allies didn’t say anything tions. Republicans, who voice
WASHINGTON—Republi- registered voter in the Califor- for weeks even though the concerns about ballot security,
cans have a chance to pick up nia House district. Some in- polling places were in full counter that such decisions
.
a House seat in a special elec- person voting will also be al- view of the public,” Mr. Garcia should be left to the states.
tion in California this week, in lowed, as state law requires. said. “Even after every voter Mr. Trump said last month
ly
a race that will test the uncer- President Trump became received a ballot, they are des- that mail-in voting has “tre-
tain dynamics of mail-in vot- more involved in the race with perate and trying to change mendous potential for voter
ing headed into its broader a series of tweets over the the rules to steal an election.” fraud, and for whatever rea-
use this fall due to the corona-
virus pandemic.
Nonpartisan analysts have
given Republican Mike Garcia,
weekend alleging it was rigged
after county officials on Friday
said they were adding a new
in-person polling station in a
Ms. Smith said Mr. Trump
was trying to suppress the
votes of black and Latino resi-
son, doesn’t work out well for
Republicans.”
Absentee-voter fraud exists,
but independent researchers
a former Navy fighter pilot, part of the district with more have found it to be very rare.
the edge in a tight race minority voters. Mr. Garcia is seen as one of
Some in-person
against Democratic state As- “They are trying to steal House Republicans’ best re-
semblywoman Christy Smith another election. It’s all rigged voting will also be cruits of the election cycle—a
in Tuesday’s race to succeed out there. These votes must Hispanic candidate in a dis-
former Rep. Katie Hill, a Dem- not count. SCAM!” Mr. Trump
allowed, as state law trict that is about 38% His-
ocrat. tweeted Saturday. requires. panic, as well as a military
The winner will hold the The Los Angeles County veteran who now works in the
seat through the calendar Registrar-Recorder/County defense industry. He is cur-
year, while a November re- Clerk said Friday it would rently on leave from his job at
match between the two candi- open an in-person voting cen- dents in the district. Raytheon Technologies, an
dates will determine who will ter in Lancaster at the request “This president doesn’t aerospace company.
take office in January for the of the city’s Republican mayor. want a majority African Amer- Ms. Smith says her experi-
next two years. The head of the Los Angeles ican, Latino community to ence in the state Assembly and
If Mr. Garcia wins the seat, County Democratic Party had vote,” she said on Twitter Sat- as president of the Newhall
it would be the first time the complained that the registrar’s urday. “In CA we believe in ex- School District makes her bet-
GOP has picked up a California office had failed to provide pansive voting rights.” ter prepared to both legislate
seat since 1998. Ms. Hill, who voting centers in areas that More states are turning to and handle crises like the cor-
resigned last fall after sexually are predominantly black or La- mail-in voting as a way to onavirus pandemic.
suggestive photos of her were tino and called for an addi- avoid getting voters and poll If he wins, Mr. Garcia would
published and her relationship tional voting center in Lancas- workers sick on Election Day, face stiffer headwinds defend-
with a campaign staffer was ter. but the issue has also sparked ing the seat in November,
exposed, unseated a Republi- Mr. Garcia said on Twitter political fights. when presidential turnout typ-
can incumbent in 2018. Friday night that Democrats Democrats on Capitol Hill, ically favors Democrats. This
In March, California Gov. had waited until the last min- who typically back looser vot- year, however, the effect of the
Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, ute to call for a new polling ing restrictions, have called coronavirus pandemic on vot-
signed an executive order re- center. for boosting funding for states ing is hard to predict.
Hearings for Child Migrants Press Ahead
BY ALICIA A. CALDWELL Total number of pending cases
in immigration courts involving
PHOENIX—The coronavirus unaccompanied minors
pandemic has shut down
nearly every facet of the immi- 100 thousand
gration system, but one has
PAUL RATJE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
continued without interrup- 80
tion: court hearings for the
thousands of children in gov-
ernment custody who crossed 60
the border without an adult.
On a recent Friday, an im- 40
migration judge ran through
the cases of 17 such minors in
about two hours. None of the 20
children were with Judge Mu-
nish Sharda in Phoenix. They 0
participated from government
2010 2020
shelters in the area and ap-
peared on a television via Migrants waited in line at the U.S. border in April at the Paso del Note: Last data point from 1Q FY 2020
through Dec. 31, 2019
webcam—a system instituted Norte International Bridge in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Source: U.S. Department of Justice
in late March for the sake of
social distancing. stay in the U.S., or if they are Florence Project, a legal-aid minors, according to federal
Immigration lawyers and deported to their home coun- group, said immigration court data. The median length of
advocates have called for a tries. proceedings are complicated time for such cases to be re-
halt of the children’s docket The Executive Office for Im- for children to understand solved was more than a year
during the pandemic, arguing migration Review, the Justice even when everyone is in the and a half during the govern-
in part that the videoconfer- Department agency that runs same room. ment’s last fiscal year.
ence proceedings are confus- the federal immigration “I don’t believe these Judge Sharda, his face cov-
ing for minors who range in courts, said its “current opera- [video] hearings are safe- ered with a blue disposable
age from 17 to as young as tional status is largely in line guarding their due-process paper mask, conducted hear-
four. They want the children with that of most federal rights,” Ms. Aponte said. “Ev- ings that Friday from a court-
to be released immediately to courts across the country, ery single encounter that a room that was empty save for
family members or sponsors which have continued to re- child has in their immigration a translator and a clerk. In ad-
and for a series of hearings ceive and process filings and court proceedings is signifi- dition to the children on web-
that could take years to re- to hold critical hearings, while cant, and I think a child’s abil- cam, who ranged from 12 to 17,
solve to be held later. deferring others as appropri- ity to participate…is para- attorneys from Immigration
The Trump administration ate.” mount.” and Customs Enforcement and
has used videoconferencing Andrew Arthur, a former The union representing im- the Florence Project, the latter
for other immigration hear- immigration judge who over- migration judges has also ob- of whom joined as a friend of
ings and has routinely de- saw a juvenile docket at times jected to anything but the the court, were on the phone.
fended its use. Most immigra- in his career, said holding pre- most urgent matters being The government objected to
tion courts closed on March liminary hearings for children heard during the pandemic. the aid group’s presence in ev-
15. while they are still in shelters Unaccompanied minors, the ery case, with Judge Sharda
The remote hearings with allows those with strong cases union’s president said, overruling the objection each
children in shelters are in- to have their status resolved shouldn’t qualify as urgent, time.
tended to advise them of their sooner. particularly because their In nearly every case, Judge
rights and deal with prelimi- “Stopping their hearings re- court hearings won’t affect Sharda asked the migrants if
nary issues so that a final ally doesn’t benefit the chil- how soon they are released to they had received a list of free
hearing can move more dren,” said Mr. Arthur, who is family members in the U.S. or low-cost lawyers, got an
swiftly. The final hearing, typi- now a resident fellow at the When children are released update from the government
cally held after the minor is Center for Immigration Stud- from government custody, about when the young mi-
released to a relative or spon- ies, a nonprofit that advocates they join a national immigra- grants were expected to be re-
sor, determines whether they for less immigration. tion court backlog of more leased from the government’s
are granted asylum or other Lillian Aponte, manager of than 1.1 million, about 94,000 care and then gave most a new
relief allowing them to legally the children’s program at the of whom are unaccompanied court date.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
A4 | Monday, May 11, 2020
ERIC THAYER/GETTY IMAGES
People crowded the boardwalk on Sunday in Ocean City, Md. The city reopened the beach but officials said this initial phase was designed primarily for local residents.
States Aim to Test and Loosen Up
BY LAURA KUSISTO
AND CHUN HAN WONG
State leaders across the U.S.
sought to increase testing for
the coronavirus while easing re-
strictions, even as some coun-
tries that had seen a decline in
cases of the illness report a re-
surgence.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said
Sunday his state was in the sec-
ond phase of a five-stage plan
for reopening, now allowing re-
tailers to offer curbside pickup
and elective surgeries to re-
sume. Speaking on CNN, the
governor said some restrictions
would remain, including requir-
ing all citizens to wear masks in
public when social distancing
isn’t possible and keeping res-
taurants and bars closed except
for takeout.
The number of coronavirus
cases continued to climb in Illi-
nois, as the state ramps up test-
ing capabilities to 20,000 people
a day. Experts say it would need
to test closer to three times that
many people for the state to
safely lift restrictions.
Mr. Pritzker said he believes
Illinois can have a large-scale
contact-tracing effort up in the
Thousands More Contact Tracers Needed
BY JOSHUA JAMERSON
When the coronavirus pan-
demic hit the U.S. in March,
George Roberts, chief execu-
tive of the Northeast Texas
Public Health District, set his
three contact tracers to work
tracking everyone who had
no
been close to infected people.
“They were absolutely over-
whelmed within moments,” Mr.
Roberts said.
Desperate for help, he re-
cruited employees of nearby
Tyler, Texas, including police
officers, firefighters and the
district attorney’s office, beef-
ing up his staff to 26.
But, like many public offi-
cials, Mr. Roberts now has to
worry about holding on to
those temporary staffers, just
as the nation needs thousands
more contact tracers to help
avoid a resurgence in infec-
tions as states and counties
start relaxing social-distancing
regulations. The more Ameri-
cans venture out, the more
that law enforcement, nurses
and food-safety inspectors
temporarily reassigned to con-
tact tracing will need to go
back to their normal jobs.
Many public-health officials
say they don’t know who will
fill in the gaps—let alone pro-
vide the necessary added re-
sources.
“When you’re in a pan-
demic, it’s all hands on deck in
the local health department,”
said Lori Tremmel Freeman,
chief executive of the National
Association of County and City
Health Officials. But eventually,
she added, “we need people to
go back to inspecting restau-
rants, so they lose their con-
tact tracers.”
Contact tracers locate
Covid-19 patients and try to
jog their memories about
where they have been and with
whom they were in contact
since at least two days before
the onset of symptoms. They
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Coronavirus Daily Update
As of 11:32 p.m. EDT May 10
1,329,791
U.S. cases
on
4,102,849 282,719
us ,
l
World-wide cases
e
al a
Source: Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering
ci on
next few weeks. “We’re going it
alone as the White House has
left all the states to do,” the
Democratic governor said.
States are frantically working
er s
to ramp up testing capacity as
part of their reopening strategy
m er
because doing so will help de-
termine who can safely go back
to work.
Trump administration offi-
cials say they have led an un-
m rp
precedented effort to boost test-
ing across the country, but some
state leaders say the effort has
been insufficient.
New York is opening 22 addi-
co Fo
tional sites meant to provide
coronavirus testing for thou-
then follow up with anyone
who may have been exposed to
the patient and typically ad-
vise those people to self-quar-
antine until 14 days after the
n-
encounter.
Already, the U.S. is far be-
hind in training and deploying
the number of contact tracers
it will need for a stable reopen-
ing of the economy, according
to public-health experts.
A group of five public-
health organizations in late
April said the nation needs
100,000 contact tracers.
Though the organizations
don’t keep a nationwide count
of contact tracers, the current
number is “relatively small,”
according to Ms. Freeman.
There were only 2,200 contact
tracers nationwide before
Covid-19, according to experts.
“Where does this cadre of
Many public-health
officials say they
don’t know who will
fill in the gaps.
contact tracers come from?
Who’s going to pay for them?”
asked Kevin Sumner, health di-
rector for the Middle-Brook
Regional Health Commission in
Green Brook, N.J., a suburb of
New York City. “I haven’t really
gotten a lot of information at
this point, and that makes it
really challenging to plan in a
way that’s meaningful.”
The public-health groups
have asked Congress to allo-
cate $7.6 billion to expand the
scale of contact tracing nation-
wide. The Trump administra-
tion allocated more than $600
million to state and local gov-
ernments to increase testing
and contact-tracing capacity
last month.
A number of tech compa-
P W L C 10 11 12
79,528
U.S. deaths
World-wide deaths
sands of residents and enable
epidemiologists to trace the dis-
ease’s spread. The expansion
would target the state’s black
and Hispanic communities that
have been disproportionately af-
fected by the disease, Gov. An-
drew Cuomo said.
On Sunday, Mr. Cuomo also
unveiled a new testing regime
for workers in nursing homes,
which have seen thousands of
infections and numerous deaths.
All nursing-home staff must
now be tested for Covid-19
twice a week, the governor said.
Other states including Dela-
ware and Connecticut have also
said they are developing new
nies and researchers are devel-
oping apps that promise to au-
tomate contact tracing by
using location data to deter-
mine with whom an infected
person has come in close con-
tact in a 14-day window. Apple
Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google
have joined forces to build a
platform that could power
such apps. Some states have
already launched their own,
though implementing them has
proven challenging.
As with most public-health
efforts during the pandemic,
the federal government has
largely left contact tracing to
state and local governments.
Many states, like Arizona and
Utah, are centralizing re-
sources, building teams of con-
tact tracers that cities and
counties can tap.
The public-health authority
in Summit County, Utah, has
just five contact tracers. Caro-
lyn Rose, the nursing director
there, said her department of-
ten kicks cases to the state
health department, which has
moved dozens of its workers
into contact-tracing teams.
“It’s easier and more efficient
for us to use the state,” Ms.
Rose said. “I don’t have to
train them.”
Utah’s state Department of
Health has about a dozen con-
tact tracers normally but has
temporarily reassigned 250
state employees to assist dur-
ing the pandemic.
States including New York,
Georgia and California are hir-
ing droves of outside workers
to do contact-tracing work.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
recently said that two univer-
sities had started 20-hour pro-
grams with the goal of training
20,000 new contact tracers in
two months. Former New York
City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg’s philanthropic arm
is helping New York state iden-
tify and recruit as many as
17,000 contact tracers.
H T G K R F A M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 O I X X ****** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Reopening
Nursing
Homes
Weighed
BY ANNA WILDE MATHEWS
AND JON KAMP
Federal health regulators
are developing guidelines for
reopening nursing homes, peo-
ple with knowledge of the mat-
ter said, proposing steps that
would allow visitors to return
to facilities that have been hit
hard by the coronavirus pan-
demic despite lockdowns.
A draft version of the rec-
ommendations, which propose
a multiphase reopening of
nursing homes, is raising con-
cerns among industry officials
and infection-control experts
worried that moving too fast
in reopening these facilities
could increase the risks for
frail and elderly residents, who
have been dying in the thou-
sands because of the virus.
After the Centers for Medi-
care and Medicaid Services cir-
culated the draft of the guide-
lines last week, some industry
officials objected they were too
vague. For instance, the pro-
posals didn’t specify the test-
ing needed to confirm a facility
is free of coronavirus before a
reopening, the people said.
rus last week, Vice President “Even with the current re-
.
Mike Pence didn’t attend a meet- strictions, it has been really
ing with the president and se- challenging to control the
ly
nior military leaders on Satur- transmission through the facil-
216,169
day. Following reports that the ities, so I don’t think they
vice president was self-isolating, should be opening up yet,”
U.S. recoveries
Pence spokesman Devin O’Mal-
ley issued a statement saying Mr.
Pence wasn’t in quarantine and
said Morgan Katz, an assistant
professor at Johns Hopkins
University who specializes in
1,411,619
would be at the White House on infectious diseases.
Monday. The vice president has The final version of the
tested negative for the virus ev- guidelines might be signifi-
World-wide recoveries ery day, Mr. O’Malley said. cantly different from the early
Other top administration of- draft, however. The timing of
ficials, including Centers for their completion and release is
Disease Control and Prevention unclear. The draft guidelines
testing capabilities, in hopes of Director Robert Redfield, Food aim for state and local officials
curbing transmission of the vi- and Drug Administration Com- to play a key role in deciding
rus by identifying carriers. missioner Stephen Hahn and when and how to move for-
Maine plans to triple its testing National Institute of Allergy ward, one of the people famil-
capacity, as the state makes and Infectious Diseases director iar with the matter said.
slow steps toward reopening, Anthony Fauci, began quaran- Katie Smith Sloan, the chief
with retailers in some counties tining to varying degrees in re- executive of LeadingAge,
able to do business Monday cent days after coming into which represents nonprofit
with restrictions. contact with a person infected providers of aging services,
The gradual reopening of with the coronavirus. didn’t mention any draft
states comes as April’s unemploy- Senate health committee guidelines in a call with re-
ment rate surged to a record Chairman Lamar Alexander (R., porters on Thursday but said
14.7%. Speaking Sunday on CBS, Tenn.) said he would chair a “states should not reopen
Kevin Hassett, a senior White hearing on Tuesday remotely, without ensuring older Ameri-
House economic adviser, said he after a staff member tested cans are safe and protected.”
expects the peak jobless rate in positive for Covid-19. Dr. Fauci, A CMS spokesman said the
May or June to be over 20%. Dr. Redfield and two other wit- agency doesn’t comment on
After his press secretary nesses who are self-quarantin- leaked documents, but after
tested positive for the coronavi- ing will also appear remotely. “leading the charge” to close
nursing homes, “it only makes
sense that CMS would also be
highly engaged with working
with stakeholders to plan for a
potential future reopening.”
The agency is focused on
Health departments are tracing down those who had contact keeping residents safe, the
with a confirmed Covid-19 patient to help stem the spread. Here's spokesman said.
how they do it in Utah. The back-and-forth over the
draft guidelines suggests the
Assessing risk continuing challenge of protect-
Contact tracers interview an infected person about their recent ing elderly, often infirm nurs-
movements and with whom they may have come into significant contact. ing-home residents who have
They then call those people and ask questions to determine their risk of proven vulnerable to infection
infection and next steps. with the coronavirus, while also
1
providing families access to
Do you live in the same house as the case?
loved ones in facilities that
2 Are you their intimate partner?
have been shut off for weeks.
3 Have you provided any care to the patient while he or she was sick? “There’s a risk and a liabil-
ity when we reopen, no matter
If no to all If yes to one how we craft it,” said Kathryn
or more Hyer, a professor at the Uni-
1 Were you in the same indoor environment like a versity of South Florida. “It’s
classroom with the patient for 15 minutes or more going to be very difficult.”
during his or her infectious period? CMS restricted visitors and
communal activities in nursing
If yes or unknown If no homes on March 13. The mea-
sures blocked nearly all visi-
1 Were you within six feet of the patient No Identifiable Risk
tors in a bid to protect resi-
for 15 minutes or more? dents from the coronavirus and
2
Covid-19, the illness it causes.
Has the patient coughed or sneezed on
you since 48 hours before they fell ill? Despite the moves, nursing
homes and other long-term-
If no to both care facilities have been
If yes or unknown among the hardest-hit by the
to at least one
virus, with more than 140,000
1 cases and 27,000 deaths linked
While the patient has been ill, has he or she been
spending most time in a different room from you? to Covid-19, according to a
2 When you are in the same room, and in all your Wall Street Journal tally of re-
interactions, are you using a face mask and gloves? cent data reported by states.
Nursing-home industry
If yes to both If no to at least one groups have been warning
that facilities need far more
Medium Risk
resources and support before
High Risk
they can safely reopen.
Mark Parkinson, chief exec-
1 Do you have a fever, cough or shortness of breath?
utive of the American Health
Care Association, has urged
pegging reopenings to specific
If yes If no
benchmarks such as having on
hand enough masks and other
Isolate yourself until at least seven Quarantine for 14 days since your
personal protective equipment
days have passed since symptom last exposure to the patient. Stay
onset and 72 hours since fever home as much as possible and six for residents, staff and visi-
resolved and respiratory symptoms feet from others when you must tors.
improved. Seek testing if possible. go out. Watch for any symptoms. The capability to conduct
frequent, broad testing is also
crucial, industry officials and
infection-control experts said.
If a contact receives a positive Health officials contact daily to Without it, facilities can’t
test result, restart the process, check for symptoms. If symptoms know whether the virus is
tracing the new case’s contacts. develop, isolate immediately. present inside and the extent
of its spread. Nor can facilities
know if outsiders seeking to
Source: state public health officials Lindsay Huth/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL visit carry the virus.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 11, 2020 | A5

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Democrats Push Aid Plan Amid Break in Talks

BY NATALIE ANDREWS
WASHINGTON—House Dem-
ocrats are pushing to complete
their next coronavirus-aid pro-
posal this week in the face of
deepening economic gloom,
but talks with the White House
and the Republican-controlled
Senate are on ice over dis-
agreements over the pace and
content of the next package.
Democrats argue for urgent
new spending, on top of the
roughly $3 trillion allocated so
far for businesses, households,
states and cities, among oth-
ers. But some Republicans and
President Trump counter that
lawmakers should take a wait-
and-see stance on more pay-
ments and have prioritized
other policies, such as shield-
ing businesses from liability.
The unemployment rate
surged in April to a record 14.7%
and payrolls dropped by 20.5
million workers. An economic
recovery remains uncertain.
Bipartisan meetings, which
have driven previous aid bills
toward passage, are on pause.
Larry Kudlow, a top economic
adviser to Mr. Trump, on Fri-
day said formal negotiations
over the next coronavirus re-
lief package wouldn’t resume
until late May or early June.
In an interview Sunday on
Fox, Treasury Secretary Ste-
ven Mnuchin said the adminis-
tration wants to take the next
few weeks to talk to both sides
and consult with businesspeo-
ple. “We just want to make
sure that before we jump back
in and spend another few tril-
lion of tax payers’ money that
we do it carefully,” he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D., Calif.) is pulling together
the House legislation and could
release a draft as early as this
week. It is expected to include
more than $750 billion in aid to
state and local governments, as
well as direct support to Ameri-
cans, lawmakers and aides said.
Mrs. Pelosi said Democrats will
focus on ideas that can gain
support from Republicans.
House Republicans say they
have largely been left out of
the negotiations and have
called for Mrs. Pelosi to recon-
vene the House to begin de-
bate on legislation. She has
declined to bring lawmakers
back to Washington except for
crucial votes, citing health
concerns raised by convening
during the pandemic.

Jobless
Claims
Surge in
Kentucky
BY KIM MACKRAEL

Nearly a third of Kentucky’s

labor force has filed for unem-
ployment insurance, the larg-
est share of any U.S. state,
partly reflecting officials’ en-

Can I rely on a partner with

couragement to do so and an
early move to expand workers’
eligibility.
Those factors, combined
with a high concentration of
factories and the postpone-
ment of the Kentucky Derby,
nearly 90 years of experience
caused about 671,000 state
residents to seek jobless bene-
navigating market volatility?

.
fits in the seven weeks ended
May 2, according to the U.S.

ly
Labor Department. That is
equivalent to about 32% of the
February workforce and well
above the 20% for the U.S.
With Capital Group,
on
overall.
“The state has bent over
backwards to build out as
much capacity as they could,” I can.
us ,

said Michael Gritton, executive

l

director for Kentuckiana-

e
al a

Works, the workforce-develop-

ment board for the Louisville
area, which oversees career
ci on

centers that help people apply

for benefits and look for work.
Kentucky Gov. Andy
Beshear, a Democrat, regularly
urges people during his daily
er s

media briefings to apply for

jobless benefits. He included
m er

the message on a list of 10

steps he has promoted to help
the state get through the coro-
navirus pandemic. In addition
to waiving job-search and
m rp

waiting-period requirements,
Kentucky was among the first
states to expand eligibility to
include self-employed contract
co Fo

The state moved to

close down business
activity beginning in
mid-March.

and gig workers.

“We have the most claims
because we have been the
n-

most aggressive at trying to

help out those that are strug-
gling,” Mr. Beshear said. “As
the federal government has of-
no

fered more flexibility—and in

fact more dollars—to help
people get by, I want to make
sure that my people here in
Kentucky have access to that.”
The state also increased the
number of employees dealing
with unemployment insurance
to about 1,000 now from 12
before the novel coronavirus
pandemic and began using
Amazon Web Services to allow
staff to take calls from home.
By May 5, the state said
100,000 people were receiving
pandemic unemployment as-
sistance, which applies to con-
tract workers and others who
wouldn’t normally qualify for
unemployment benefits. Some
states have yet to make appli-
cations for the federal pro-
gram available.
Jobless claims are applica-
tions for unemployment-insur-
ance payments—not all of
which are approved. Each laid- Find resources you need at
off worker can file one claim
at a time, and can’t file an-
other until a previous request
CapitalGroup.com/MarketVolatility
is either rejected or benefits
expire.
Home of American Funds
Kentucky, which has a rela-
tively low number of reported
coronavirus cases, moved
quickly to close down business
activity beginning in mid-
March. Mr. Beshear ordered
restaurant dining rooms and
certain businesses, such as
gyms and hair salons, to halt
operations beginning the week
of March 16 and closed most
bricks-and-mortar retail stores Investments are not FDIC-insured, nor are they deposits of or guaranteed by a bank or any other entity, so they may lose value.
the following week.
The state’s reopening plans American Funds Distributors, Inc., member FINRA.
are similarly cautious, espe-
cially relative to nearby states © 2020 Capital Group. All rights reserved.
to the south.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

A6 | Monday, May 11, 2020 * **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Chip Firms, Trump Seek Onshore Plants U.S. Sees

China Bid
The Trump administration
and semiconductor companies
are looking to jump-start devel-
opment of new chip factories in
To Hack
the U.S. as concern grows about
reliance on Asia as a source of
critical technology.
Virus Data
A new crop of cutting-edge BY DUSTIN VOLZ
chip factories in the U.S. would
reshape the industry and mark WASHINGTON—The Trump
a U-turn after decades of ex- administration plans to issue a
pansion into Asia by many warning that hackers tied to
American companies eager to the Chinese government are
reap investment incentives and attempting to pilfer informa-
take part in a robust regional tion from U.S. researchers
supply chain. working to develop a corona-
virus vaccine, a person famil-
By Asa Fitch, iar with the matter said.
Kate O’Keeffe The alert, from the Federal
and Bob Davis Bureau of Investigation and
Department of Homeland Se-
The coronavirus pandemic curity, is expected to accuse
has underscored longstanding Beijing of working to steal
concern by U.S. officials and ex- from American institutions in-
DING TING/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS

ecutives about protecting global tellectual property and health

supply chains from disruption. information related to corona-
Administration officials say virus vaccines and treatment
they are particularly concerned through hacking and other il-
about reliance on Taiwan, the licit means and may come
self-governing island China within days, the person said.
claims as its own, and the home The warning wasn’t completed
of Taiwan Semiconductor and plans around its release
Manufacturing Co., the world’s Employees at a Shanghai chip company. U.S. officials and executives have long been concerned about protecting global supply chains. could change, the person said.
largest contract chip manufac- Such a warning would in-
turer and one of only three com- Intel’s plan would be to operate with the conversations said. “The administration is com- to Defense Department officials crease tensions between the U.S.
panies capable of making the a plant that could provide ad- TSMC said it is open to build- mitted to ensuring continued expressing his company’s readi- and China that have already de-
fastest, most cutting-edge chips. vanced chips securely for both ing an overseas plant. “We are U.S. technological leadership,” a ness to build a commercial teriorated rapidly in recent
Trump administration offi- the government and other cus- actively evaluating all the suit- senior official said in a state- foundry—an industry term typ- months as the coronavirus has
cials are in talks with Intel tomers. “We think it’s a good able locations, including in the ment. “The U.S. government ically referring to a chip factory spread around the globe.
Corp., the largest American opportunity,” he said. “The tim- U.S., but there is no concrete plan continues to coordinate with that can make products on con- China has historically denied
chip maker, and with TSMC, to ing is better and the demand yet,” the company said. state, local and private-sector tract for other companies—in accusations from the U.S. or
build factories in the U.S., ac- for this is greater than it has Some U.S. officials are also in- partners as well as our allies partnership with the Pentagon. other governments that it en-

.
cording to correspondence been in the past, even from the terested in trying to help South and partners abroad, to collab- Strengthening U.S. domestic gages in cyberattacks to steal
viewed by The Wall Street commercial side.” Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., orate on research and develop- production and ensuring tech- intellectual property.

ly
Journal and people familiar TSMC has been talking to which operates a chip factory in ment, manufacturing, supply- nological leadership is “more The Chinese Embassy didn’t
with the discussions. the Commerce and Defense de- Austin, Texas, to expand its con- chain management, and important than ever, given the respond to a request for com-
“We’re very serious about partments as well as to Apple tract-manufacturing operations workforce development oppor- uncertainty created by the cur- ment. The New York Times re-
this,” said Greg Slater, Intel’s
vice president of policy and
technical affairs. Mr. Slater said
Inc., one of its largest custom-
ers, about building a chip fac-
tory in the U.S., people familiar
on in the U.S. to produce more ad-
vanced chips, a person familiar
with the matter said.
tunities.”
Bob Swan, Intel’s chief exec-
utive, sent a letter on April 28
rent geopolitical environment,”
Mr. Swan wrote in the letter,
viewed by the Journal.
ported earlier about the admin-
istration’s plans for an alert.
The Trump administration
has repeatedly accused China
of stealing billions of dollars
us ,

Furloughs Make or Break its plant in Roseville, Mich., af- annually in intellectual prop-
l

ter losing its only two custom- erty from U.S. businesses, in-
e
al a

As the pandemic took hold, ...as did factory orders ...contributing to a steep drop in ers within several weeks. First, cluding in the sensitive field of
U.S. manufacturing output for many durable goods... manufacturing employment,
Become declined precipitously which had never returned to
furniture chain Art Van Furni-
ture LLC filed for bankruptcy in
biomedical research.
Those accusations have typ-
ci on

in March... levels reached pre-recession. early March. Weeks later, Con- ically come years after the al-
Manufacturers’ monthly new
Permanent Industrial production
(manufacturing) index
durable-goods orders, change
from previous year
Total nonfarm private
manufacturing employment
necticut-based chain Bob’s Dis-
count Furniture canceled or-
ders and closed its warehouses
leged hacks or espionage cases
and been supported by indict-
ments or technical informa-
110 40% 16 million to new deliveries because it had tion. It couldn’t be determined
er s

Continued from Page One closed its stores during the cri- what evidence, if any, the
RECESSION RECESSION RECESSION
turned to levels reached before 105 sis. planned alert would contain. A
m er

the financial crisis. 20 12 John La Tocha, a machine op- warning that China was trying
It isn’t just manufacturing. erator at Michigan Maple Block to steal information about the
100
While aerospace suppliers Gen- for more than 20 years, said the coronavirus would be an un-
eral Electric Co. and Raytheon February, April company had struggled to recap- usually quick assessment from
95 0 8
Technologies Corp. have an- ture business lost after the the U.S. government about
m rp

March March 2010 11.488

nounced job cuts or said they 99.5 11.453 million million housing market collapsed in the hacking activity and would fol-
planned to reduce head count, 90 2008 recession, and only re- low other allegations from the
so have Uber Technologies Inc. –20 4 cently reversed some pay cuts Trump administration that
and Airbnb Inc. MGM Resorts 85 March implemented at that time. China is to blame for the out-
International warned that some -16.2% Now, the dimming construc- break.
co Fo

of the 63,000 employees it has 80 –40 0 tion outlook and restaurant clo- While scientists say the vi-
furloughed may be let go perma- 2007 ’09 ’11 ’13 ’15 ’17 ’19 ’09 ’11 ’13 ’15 ’17 ’19 2007 ’09 ’11 ’13 ’15 ’17 ’19 sures will sap orders for the rus appears to have emerged
nently starting in August. Job- company’s cutting boards and from the Chinese province of
listings site Glassdoor and Note: Seasonally adjusted counters. Wuhan, Secretary of State Mike
United Airlines Holdings Inc. Sources: Federal Reserve (industrial production); U.S. Census (orders); Bureau of Labor Statistics (employment) Mr. La Tocha said he doesn’t Pompeo has asserted without
also said they had reduced jobs expect to find another wood- citing evidence that it came
or planned to do so. mented a stay-at-home order life,” Ms. Conway said. permanent layoffs, the worse the working job in northern Michi- from a Chinese lab in the area.
The burst of job-cut an- on March 24. A month later, The factory closures suggest chances of a strong recovery gan, where the economy has Mr. Pompeo later said there
nouncements indicates many the manufacturer of cutting a growing share of the record start to look,” Mr. Ehrlich said. shifted toward tourism. was evidence only that the vi-
companies are bearing down boards and industrial table tops job losses in recent weeks won’t Manufacturers in recent years Michigan officials are allow- rus came from the vicinity of
for a sustained slowdown. told employees the plant would be temporary, said Gabriel Ehr- have pushed up output faster ing factories to open again on the Wuhan Institute of Virol-
Some are also using the mo- close for good. lich, an economic forecaster at than they have expanded pay- Monday. Michigan Maple Block ogy. The U.S. intelligence com-
ment to accelerate strategic A second factory in Pennsyl- the University of Michigan. The rolls, in part by investing in au- won’t be among them. munity confirmed last month it
n-

shifts. In April, payrolls fell by vania will remain open because more that job losses turn from tomation. Since the pandemic “When I started to work is investigating the origin of
a record 20.5 million, erasing a of cheaper energy costs, said temporary to permanent, he took hold, capital investment by there, it was one of the best the virus as it related to the
decade of job gains. Ann Dau Conway, president of said, the harder the hit to con- manufacturers has cratered. jobs in the area,” he said. “If it laboratory in Wuhan, but said
Michigan Maple Block Co. the company that her family sumer spending and every com- Layoff notices indicate a rise opened back up, I’d go back to it agreed with the broad scien-
no

furloughed most of its 56 work- has owned for generations. pany that relies on it—including in permanent factory closures in work right away.” tific consensus that “the
ers at its plant in Petoskey, “The hardest decision of my manufacturers. recent weeks. In one, Blue Bell —Micah Maidenberg Covid-19 virus wasn’t man-
Mich., when the state imple- life. Not just my professional “The higher the proportion of Mattress Co. said it was closing contributed to this article. made or genetically modified.”

Ventilator nasal cannula to boost the pa-

tient’s oxygen levels. They also
turned him on his front, a
that Covid-19 patients who
start ventilation tend to be the
sickest, and therefore the least

Reliance method known as “prone posi-

tioning” that doctors have
found can also help boost oxy-
likely to survive.
At the outset of the pan-
demic, doctors rushed to put

Is Reduced gen levels partly by reducing

the pressure of the heart and
diaphragm on the lungs. The
Covid-19 patients on ventilators
in part due to concerns that
less invasive methods—where
patient was never put on a ven- the air patients breathe in and
Continued from Page One tilator and was discharged in a out isn’t contained in tubes—
ASHLEE REZIN GARCIA/CHICAGO SUN-TIMES/ASSOCIATED PRESS

kinds of oxygen levels, and your week, Dr. Weingart said. posed a greater infection risk
brain would intuit all these Several other doctors said to health-care workers.
other things,” said Scott Wein- they are having success with Benjamin Medoff, chief of
gart, chief of emergency critical such simpler approaches. the division of pulmonary and
care in the department of That, in turn, is reducing de- critical care medicine at Mas-
emergency medicine at Stony mand for ventilators—a criti- sachusetts General Hospital in
Brook Hospital in Stony Brook, cal concern early in the cri- Boston, said his hospital con-
N.Y. “For instance, you’d as- sis—and easing strain on tinues to recommend against
sume the patient’s lungs must hospital staff, they say. the routine use of these less in-
be so bad that if we don’t intu- Abdul Khan, medical direc- vasive methods because the de-
bate now, they might crap out.” tor for Ochsner Medical Cen- vices can potentially push virus
Doctors have dubbed these ter’s West Bank intensive care particles into the air, and CPAP
patients “happy hypoxemics,” a unit in Gretna, La., has encoun- and BiPAP masks can leak. (Dr.
reference to the paradox of ab- tered these so-called happy hy- Khan of Ochsner West Bank
normally low levels of oxygen poxemic Covid-19 patients. and Dr. Weingart of Stony
found in their blood combined “We’ve learned that they Brook said their hospitals place
with an ability to breathe rela- are able to tolerate these A patient received noninvasive ventilation at Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago last month. filters on these masks and use
tively easily. In recent weeks, lower levels of oxygen for a specially ventilated rooms to
doctors at Stony Brook Hospital significant period of time,” he the lung from collapsing. not be as effective at keeping cording to historic data. Of the keep their staff safe.)
have used ventilators less on said. Dr. Khan and his col- Ventilators play an impor- seriously ill Covid-19 patients Covid-19 patients placed on In a study recently pub-
these patients, turning instead leagues now use ventilators as tant part in care, but there are alive as they are with other basic breathing support, 17.8% lished in the American Journal
to the CPAP or BiPAP machines a last resort for such patients. serious risks to being on one patients with severe respira- died. of Respiratory and Critical Care
or high-flow nasal cannulas. Mechanical ventilators help for too long. Patients can get tory problems. In New York, 88% of 320 Medicine, Dr. Medoff and other
Dr. Weingart remembers one people breathe when they can’t secondary infections like bacte- In the U.K., 58.8% of Covid-19 patients placed on researchers at MGH and Beth
of his first such patients in on their own. A tube is in- rial pneumonia. They can get Covid-19 patients on invasive mechanical ventilation in the Israel Deaconess Medical Cen-
March—a 42-year-old man with serted through the nose or urinary tract infections from breathing support had died as state’s Northwell Health Sys- ter said 50 of the 66 patients
blood-oxygen levels so low he mouth into the trachea. The being bed-bound and are at of May 7, according to data tem died, according to a study on mechanical ventilators be-
should have been unconscious. tube is connected to the venti- higher risk of kidney failure from the country’s National in the Journal of the American tween March 11 and March 30
Instead, he was sitting up, lator, which pushes a mix of air and getting blood clots. If the Health Service. That compares Medical Association. Of the at those hospitals were dis-
smiling and talking. He was and oxygen into patients’ lungs. ventilator isn’t set properly, pa- with a 34.5% death rate among 2,314 who didn’t receive me- charged from the ICU, while 11
breathing quickly but seemed The ventilator can also apply a tients can sustain lung injury. patients with other types of chanical ventilation, 11.7% died. of the patients died.
fine otherwise. Dr. Weingart constant amount of low pres- Recently published data viral pneumonia who receive Experts note that the stud- —Mark Maremont
and his team used a high-flow sure that helps keep air sacs in also suggest ventilators may invasive breathing support, ac- ies may at least partly reflect contributed to this article.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Academics Create Go-To Tracking Site
Professor, students
from Johns Hopkins
tally virus numbers
watched around world
BY JON HILSENRATH
AND JON KAMP
Lauren Gardner, an associ-
ate engineering professor at
Johns Hopkins University, was
sitting in a school coffee shop
with two graduate students in
January, chatting about their
work on measles, Dengue fever
and the Zika virus, when con-
versation turned to an emerg-
ing coronavirus in China.
The students, both from
China, wanted to track it, and
Dr. Gardner, who researches
how transportation systems
propagate the spread of dis-
ease, was game. They built a
website in a day, a Covid-19
dashboard, and after launch-
ing it on Jan. 22, found them-
selves at the center of a his-
toric first: tracking a deadly,
fast-moving pandemic as it
spread globally.
The website became a far
bigger hit than anyone antici-
pated. With swelling bright-
red dots and grim tallies of
death across nations, it has
become an indispensable re-
source for anybody following
the pandemic, a centerpiece in
situation rooms around the
world—including the opera-
tion center at the U.S. Depart-
ment Health and Human Ser-
vices—and a regular feature
on television newscasts. The
Wall Street Journal regularly
cites the dashboard while re-
porting on the pandemic.
In March the website that
hosts the online map, arc-
gis.com, generated nearly a
billion visits, according to web
tracker SimilarWeb. That was
more than LinkedIn, CNN or
eBay, and it was among the
100 most visited sites in the
world, according to Similar-
Web data. President Trump
stood before a chart built in
part with data from the Johns
Hopkins tracker that month
when announcing a call for so-
cial distancing.
no
The U.S. government hasn’t
produced anything compara-
ble. Others have followed with
similar sites, including news
organizations, the World
Health Organization and a
nonprofit run by software de-
velopers called Worldometers.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention website in-
cludes similar U.S. data, but
doesn’t update as frequently.
“While case counts are not
perfect, they are invaluable
when compared with having
nothing,” said David Finnoff, a
University of Wyoming eco-
nomics professor who studies
pathogens and pandemics.
Dr. Gardner’s experience is
a window into the challenges
of chasing a rapidly spreading
virus and understanding its
health implications. Sparse
testing, asymptomatic cases
and disparate government
methods for reporting infec-
tions and deaths have made it
hard to know the scope of the
disease. In some places, offi-
cials who produce data that
feed the website may have in-
centives to misreport num-
bers.
Dr. Gardner thinks corona-
virus cases and Covid-related
deaths have been under-
counted. She is also near com-
pleting a study that finds so-
cial distancing helped slow the
spread of the virus, just as
many states, businesses and
households tire of distancing
policies and the economic
damage they cause.
“Absolutely it works. We
have very clear evidence,” Dr.
Gardner said of social distanc-
ing in an interview. “We have
observed data to quantify so-
cial distancing and observed
on
case data to quantify the out-
us ,
break growth rate and can
l
show there is definitely a
e
al a
strong correlation between the
two.”
The 35-year-old Texan has
ci on
an engineering Ph.D. from the
University of Texas at Austin.
She arrived at Johns Hopkins
last year after spending sev-
eral years as a civil engineer-
er s
ing lecturer at the University
of New South Wales in Sydney.
m er
The project began in almost
m rp
co Fo
n-
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Prof. Lauren Gardner, Ensheng Dong and another of her students built the website in day.
slapdash fashion. One of Dr.
Gardner’s students, Ensheng
Dong, was worried about fam-
ily back home in Shanxi prov-
ince, north of Wuhan. A geog-
raphy and mapping specialist
who has studied and worked
in the U.S. since 2012, he spent
long hours inputting data by
hand while also taking classes.
They started with a couple
of websites, news reports and
their Twitter feeds for data.
Because the disease was cen-
tered in China, a primary
source was DXY.cn, an online
community for Chinese medical
professionals that tracked offi-
cial coronavirus counts locally.
“We were thinking this
would be really cool if maybe
like dozens or a hundred re-
searchers ever want to use it,”
Dr. Gardner said. Mr. Dong
also wanted data for his dis-
sertation. “We pulled it to-
gether that night.”
The site became more so-
phisticated and automated as
the disease grew and people
turned to it for updates. The
team started scraping official
figures from U.S. cities and
states, in addition to official
websites from countries, prov-
inces, cities and other govern-
ment entities around the
world. Dr. Gardner says there
Right now,
We all need the right facts.
About social distancing.
Needing a face mask.
The global supply of medical equipment.
And supporting healthcare workers.
Facts on who qualifies for a PPP loan.
How small businesses will recover.
How the economy will restart.
When we can return to work.
Facts that debunk myths.
That are researched.
And challenge rumor.
Facts that have been fact-checked.
That provide context.
The facts are needed every day.
They have never been more important.
We have the facts you need.
For a collection of reporting that’s free to all
visit WSJ.com/coronavirus
© 2020 Dow Jones & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. 6DJ7906
are roughly 7,000 data points
in all to track from dozens of
sources, including several
data-aggregation sites.
The team, which expanded
and drew resources from else-
where at Hopkins, now spends
most of its time staying on top
of data pouring in. That in-
cludes an “anomaly detection
system” to spot quirky inputs,
Dr. Gardner said.
Many government officials,
in turn, relied on it to trace
Monday, May 11, 2020 | A7
discuss declaring civil-pre-
paredness and public-health
emergencies.
The federal government’s
coronavirus task force relied on
modeling from Seattle’s Uni-
versity of Washington Institute
for Health Metrics and Evalua-
tion, which relied on data on
deaths gathered in the Hopkins
Covid-19 dashboard, according
to a spokeswoman for the
IHME. On many days, coronavi-
rus task force meetings in the
White House Situation Room
WILL KIRK/JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
began with Dr. Deborah Birx,
the White House coronavirus
response coordinator, and Dr.
Anthony Fauci, the govern-
ment’s top infectious-disease
official, reviewing the IHME
models.
Behind the maps is a com-
plicated data supply chain re-
plete with challenges that
come from gathering and
packaging raw information
from thousands of sources
around the world.
Testing varies across the
nation. New York has con-
ducted 6,464 tests for every
100,000 individuals in the
state, according to Hopkins.
That compares with 1,526 per
100,000 in Arizona. With test-
ing limited and varied, and
many infected people who
never show symptoms, it is
hard to know the true spread
of the virus.
Tabulating deaths is tricky
.
too. Some states count proba-
ble deaths for cases where
ly
there weren’t test results
available but where the de-
ENSHENG DONG
ceased had symptoms of the
disease, in line with the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention’s guidance. Other
states don’t yet include proba-
where the virus spread. ble case data in the numbers
“At the very beginning, it they post online.
was far and away the best in- Dr. Gardner said she be-
formation that we had about lieves that China, like other
what was going on around the countries, including the U.S.,
region and the U.S. in real has undercounted cases. She
time,” said Max Reiss, a said she couldn’t say if this is
spokesman for Connecticut due to “malicious intent” or
Gov. Ned Lamont. just the challenge authorities
The map was on a big everywhere face keeping pace
screen when Mr. Lamont and with a fast-moving, new dis-
state officials crowded around ease.
a table in an emergency opera- —Stephanie Armour
tions center on March 10 to contributed to this article.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

A8 | Monday, May 11, 2020 * * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

New Outbreak
South Korea's daily confirmed
cases of the new coronavirus
100

Tests Strategy 75

In South Korea
50

25

Government rethinks heavy contact tracing and a 0

easing, Seoul closes
bars, clubs amid rash of
cases tied to one man
BY TIMOTHY W. MARTIN
AND DASL YOON
April May
willingness by many to stay in-
doors. The use of face masks
remains widespread.
Note: As of May 9
Source: Johns Hopkins CSSE
On Sunday, South Korean
officials said 54 cases had ing allowed investigators to
been linked to Seoul’s night pinpoint the 29-year-old man’s
clubs and bars. President whereabouts from the evening
YONHAP/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Moon Jae-in, in a national ad- of May 1 until the early hours

SEOUL—South Korea, which
largely succeeded in quelling
the initial spread of the coro-
navirus, is back on the defen-
sive, with Seoul’s bars and
clubs ordered closed, as the
country reported its biggest
one-day increase in new infec-
tions in a month.
More than 50 cases have
been linked to a 29-year-old
man who, in a single night last
weekend, visited five clubs
and bars in a popular Seoul
neighborhood, health officials
said. He tested positive on
Wednesday—the same day the
South Korean government
rolled out relaxed social-dis-
tancing measures.
The fresh virus cases, follow-
ing days of no reported local
infections, show how difficult it
might be to return to normalcy.
dress, pointed to the new clus- of the following day. A report
ter of cases and warned a sec- published on the local dis-
ond wave of infections could trict’s website provided his
arise anytime and anywhere. travel details, the company he
“It will be a long time be- works for and other sensitive
fore the Covid-19 outbreak has information.
ended completely,” Mr. Moon Yoido Full Gospel Church, South Korea’s biggest Protestant church, held a service in Seoul on Sunday. While authorities didn’t re-
said on Sunday. “It’s not over lease the man’s name, some
until it’s over.” expanded their investigation area, requires customers to have more than a third of the people believe his identity
South Korea was an early to more than 5,000 individu- their temperatures checked and roughly 5,000 people. They could be determined from the
victim in the pandemic. Lauded als. Some of the clubbers have provide their name and phone suspect clubbers had provided information they did disclose.
for a quick response to its out- infected family members. number. He suspects the closure inaccurate information. Seoul-based LGBT rights or-
break, the Seoul government On Saturday, Seoul Mayor might affect only bars with When the 29-year-old man’s ganizations issued statements
spent weeks contemplating a Park Won-soon issued an ad- dancing, rather than his venues, case was made public, South asking citizens to stop criticiz-
new playbook for managing life ministrative order, lasting at which also operate as restau- Korean media reported the es- ing and mocking sexual minor-
with coronavirus. In late April, least a month, banning large rants. He plans to stay open. tablishments he visited were ities, saying it did little to aid
it released guidelines advising crowds at clubs, bars and But the new cluster of in- some of Seoul’s most popular preventive measures. They
against high-fives at sporting other entertainment venues. fections has pushed back ex- gay clubs, which could explain were also critical of the publi-
events and for zigzag seating Violators are subject to severe pectations among local busi- why some clubbers provided cation of the 29-year-old
at restaurants as well as out- punishment, he added, includ- ness owners that there could inaccurate contact information. man’s sensitive information.
lining how close visitors may ing fines. “Carelessness can be a return to normal in May. Same-sex marriage isn’t le- Jung Eun-kyeong, the head
stand to each other at zoos. lead to an explosion in infec- “I think that’s been pushed gal in South Korea, which of South Korea’s Centers for
But before those measures tions,” Mr. Park said. “The ef- back a month,” Mr. Louie said. ranked fourth lowest for gay Disease Control and Preven-
could take effect, new infec- fort made by the citizens and “Now everybody is hoping it’ll and transgender inclusiveness tion, said personal information

.
The country of roughly 51 mil- tions had begun to spread in medical staff could turn to be June.” among 35 countries surveyed would be protected as much as
lion people hadn’t resorted to a Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood. dust in a moment.” The Itaewon venues had for a 2017 report published by possible. But Ms. Jung said

lockdown like the U.S. and Eu-
rope. Instead, South Korea re-
lied on aggressive testing, tech-
ly
Health officials, poring over Wendell Louie, who owns also taken down phone num- the Organization for Economic people who had been to the
security-camera footage and multiple establishments, includ- bers, though health officials Cooperation and Development. Itaewon clubs recently should
credit-card statements, have ing a cocktail bar in the Itaewon have been unable to reach South Korea’s contact-trac- get tested.
on
Mild Cases Quarantine
us ,

Outside Home in Asia

l
e
al a

Across swaths of Asia, from which account for roughly half

China’s coronavirus epicenter of of the confirmed cases.
ci on

Wuhan to Singapore and South In cities like Milan, infected

Korea, the well-known strate-
gies of tracing and testing have
worked in tandem with a third
big logistical task: isolating
er s
people are given the option to
isolate in dedicated hotels. But
encouraging them to move
away from their families

mild cases outside their homes. hasn’t been a government pri-

ority, and most of the sick are
m er

By Niharika Mandhana choosing to stay home, health

in Singapore, officials said.
Margherita Stancati That is a mistake that
in Rome and needs to be remedied, warned
SANTIAGO ARCOS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (2)

Dasl Yoon in Seoul Roberto Burioni, a virologist

m rp

at Milan’s San Raffaele hospi-

A sprawling Singapore exhi-
bition center known for host-
ing an aerospace show now
has thousands of beds for pa-
co Fo
tal. “It’s essential,” he said.
Experts say it is tough to
cut off contact at home. Even
mild cases often need physical

tients with mild or no symp- and emotional care, and fami-

toms. South Korea used dor-
mitories, including those
belonging to Samsung Life In-
surance Co. and LG Display
Co., for the same purpose.
Since March 4, when the coun-
try’s infectious-diseases law
Workers built graveyard vaults last week in a suburb of Guayaquil, Ecuador, where thousands of people have died from Covid-19. was tightened, people who
test positive can neither de-
lies tend to become lax about
separation a few days in, said
Annelies Wilder-Smith, a pro-
fessor of emerging infectious
diseases at the London School
of Hygiene and Tropical Medi-
cine. People are even less
careful when they suspect
they have Covid-19, the dis-

Ecuador Death Toll Defies Tallying

cline to be isolated in these fa- ease caused by the new coro-
cilities nor remain at home. navirus, but aren’t tested,
In Vietnam and Hong sometimes concluding, when
n-

Kong—where relatively con- symptoms subside, that per-

BY JOHN OTIS Mr. Moreno didn’t respond tained outbreaks have made it haps they never had it.
to a request for comment. possible for hospitals to take Dr. Wilder-Smith was part
Ecuadorean businessman In late February, growing in both mild and severe of a team that modeled and
no

Jorge Wated has run every-
thing from the national devel-
opment bank to the country’s
version of Pottery Barn, but
lately he has used his manage-
ment skills to count and bury
bodies.
Though one of South Amer-
ica’s smallest countries, Ecua-
dor has the continent’s second-
highest number of Covid-19
deaths after Brazil. Nearly
three-quarters of the victims
lived in or around the steamy
Pacific port of Guayaquil,
whose mayor compared the
devastation to “a Hiroshima
bomb” hitting the city.
In the past month, as the
city’s cemeteries overflowed,
corpses wrapped in bedsheets
and plastic were at one point
lying in people’s homes and on
streets and sidewalks. In re-
sponse, President Lenín Mo-
reno put Mr. Wated in charge
of an army-police task force to
collect the cadavers and inter
them.
Though the city appears to
be past the worst of its out-
break, Mr. Wated estimated
that in the first few days of
April his task force collected
some 700 bodies from homes,
and another 700 from hospi-
tals. Hundreds more followed in
recent weeks.
Rather than driving truck-
loads of cadavers through the
city and dumping them in mass
graves, the task force collected
four or five bodies at a time
which were laid in row upon
row of hastily built crypts.
“Guayaquil has many beau-
tiful things,” the 45-year-old
Mr. Wated said. “But we have
become an example of some-
numbers of cases prompted cases—authorities have gone a compared the two isolation
the Moreno government to be- step further. They separate not practices, published as a letter
gin a gradual lockdown, in- just confirmed cases but also to the medical journal the Lan-
cluding a prohibition on mass close contacts of the sick in fa- cet. In a city of four million
gatherings in Guayaquil. How- cilities. The reason: If the con- people, home-based isolation
ever, local officials defied the tacts are infected, they could would result in 190,000 fewer
ban by allowing a March 4 pass on the virus to others cases, representing a 20% re-
professional soccer match to even before they themselves duction, they found. With
be played before thousands of develop symptoms or without what they call institution-
fans at the city’s stadium. ever showing symptoms at all. based isolation, that number
The city’s nonstop flow of This approach is vastly dif- would be nearly 550,000, or a
people fostered wider transmis- ferent from much of the West, 57% reduction.
sion of the virus, said Rafael where those that need medical But isolation outside the
Caputi, a Guayaquil doctor who care are admitted to hospitals, home is seen as unpalatable in
‘Guayaquil has many beautiful things,’ said task-force chief Jorge has lost 20 of his medical col- while mild cases, which make much of Europe and the U.S.,
Wated, center. ‘We have become an example of something so cruel.’ leagues to Covid-19. Adding to up the majority of infections, she said, adding: “This sounds
the death toll, health officials are largely asked to self-iso- terrifying to the West.”
thing so cruel.” the state development bank, say, was a simultaneous out- late. Many public-health ex- The earliest argument
Mr. Wated, who lost three BanEcuador, and the Ecuador- break of dengue fever. perts in Europe and the U.S. against home isolation came
uncles within a 10-day period ean retail chain, Almacenes Part of Mr. Wated’s job has say it is time to change that, from Wuhan, where the pan-
to the Covid-19 illness caused Buenhogar. He has been tapped been helping to figure out who, while others argue it goes too demic first surfaced. Authori-
by the coronavirus, has also several times in the past to exactly, had died, including far by constraining civil liber- ties, discovering transmission
tried to come up with an accu- clean up state institutions. some 150 bodies in morgues ties and separating people among family members, began
rate count of how many people The government is now ac- and refrigerated trucks. from their loved ones. an aggressive quarantine re-
died in the city. knowledging that the death People were dying so fast In Italy, where there are at gime in February. Suspected
In a survey of hospitals and toll is likely far higher, even if that some of their ID papers least 217,000 confirmed cases, or mild cases—and even
clinics in and around Guayaquil, the official toll as of Friday were lost in the confusion while officials are learning that homes healthy close contacts of con-
Mr. Wated found that during stood at 1,704. Political ana- a few of the living were de- have become prime venues for firmed cases—were sent to
the first half of April, 6,703 lysts say the conflicting data clared dead. Among them was a transmission. Andrea Checchi, makeshift hospitals and tem-
people had died of Covid-19 or is just one example of the er- 74-year-old woman who woke the mayor of San Donato Mila- porary quarantine centers.
other causes—nearly seven ratic response to the crisis by up from a coma only to learn nese, a satellite town of Milan In South Korea, when infec-
times the normal death rate local and national authorities. that health officials had sent badly hit by the outbreak, said tions jumped in late February,
previous to the outbreak. Ecuador’s health minister her relatives an urn that, they he was struck by a pattern many mild cases were isolated
His figures shocked Ecua- abruptly quit in late March were told, contained her ashes. when he looked at the list of at home because the country
doreans at a time when Inte- amid a scandal over the coun- Mr. Moreno said he believes people infected in his town. didn’t have hospital beds for
rior Minister María Paula try’s lack of Covid-19 test kits. the worst is over and ordered a “The same names and everyone. Authorities moved
Romo was insisting that the The government also has come gradual opening recently. But phone numbers kept reappear- to rapidly convert corporate
official Covid-19 death toll was under criticism for filling key because authorities fear a sec- ing,” he recalled. “Lots of peo- dormitories for those who
just 507. Still, Mr. Wated’s emergency-management posts ond wave of infections, Guaya- ple are getting infected within weren’t in critical or serious
higher figure seemed to fit with political appointees. quil has yet to officially reopen. families.” condition.
given the low rate of testing Mr. Moreno, who was In recent days, the president The National Health Insti- “This incremental expense
and the logjam at Guayaquil’s nearly ousted in antigovern- asked Mr. Wated to oversee a tute, Italy’s chief disease-con- would actually be a rounding
graveyards—dystopian scenes ment protests last year, also network of public hospitals af- trol body, found that more than error in the overall cost of the
that prompted the president balked at forming a central ter a series of scandals in one in five people who tested pandemic,” Dr. Fineberg said.
to order the construction of a command to coordinate his ac- which the government overpaid positive since April 1 were “If all it did was to shorten the
new cemetery. tions with governors and for items like masks and body likely infected by family mem- course of the pandemic by six
“I am trying to tell people mayors. The result, Quito po- bags. “When the president asks bers, according to data updated weeks because it accelerates
the truth,” said Mr. Wated, a lo- litical analyst José Hernández you to do something,” he said, last week. That is second only the deceleration, that would
gistics whiz who formerly ran said, “has been chaos.” “it’s hard to say ‘no.’” to infections in nursing homes, repay itself many times over.”
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Older Europeans Fight Call to Stay Home
One of the continent’s
largest demographics
calls move ageist;
governments blink
BY STACY MEICHTRY
PARIS—Older generations
across Europe are resisting
pressure to remain isolated
from the rest of society as
countries begin to reopen their
economies and brace for the
possibility of a resurgence in
coronavirus infections.
The pushback risks under-
cutting a major pillar in health
authorities’ strategy for re-
opening Europe’s economy: Al-
low the young and healthy to
resume activity while keeping
the people most susceptible to
the disease in isolation. That
could allow countries to avoid
another wave of deadly infec-
tions and future economic
shutdowns.
European authorities began
issuing guidelines in April
aimed at limiting the activities
of people above a certain age
once the lockdown lifted, as-
suming older generations were
willing to cooperate. Younger
people, who face fewer health
risks from the virus, had only a
month earlier fulfilled their
end of the social contract—call-
ing off weddings, vacations and
staying home from work and
school—in order to protect
their parents and grandparents.
Instead, the guidelines
sparked a wave of opposition
from one of Europe’s largest
and wealthiest demographics.
Older people decried the move
as ageist, forcing governments
to backpedal.
“We won’t go for it and
never will,” Stefano Taravella, a
70-year-old local leader for
Unitre, an association for older
people, wrote in an open letter
that he described as “a simple,
U.K. Unveils Plan to Ease Lockdown Putin Holds a Subdued
BY STEPHEN FIDLER
British Prime Minister Bo-
ris Johnson said the U.K.
would take some small steps
this week to ease the lock-
down he put in place seven
weeks ago, but made clear
that Britons faced a slow and
uncertain walk out of quaran-
tine.
In a televised speech on
Sunday evening, Mr. Johnson
laid out a cautious and condi-
tional program to lift restric-
tions as the country feels its
way out of the crisis caused
by the coronavirus epidemic.
He said the spread of the
disease would be monitored at
a national, regional and local
level. “If there are outbreaks,
if there are problems, we will
not hesitate to put on the
brakes,” he said.
The country has suffered
the highest numbers of deaths
in Europe, according to official
no
statistics, with nearly 32,000
people dying from the disease,
bringing Mr. Johnson’s deci-
sion to delay the lockdown un-
til March 23 under scrutiny.
Meanwhile, the economy
has collapsed. Bank of England
governor Andrew Bailey has
said the economy could shrink
by as much as 35% in the sec-
ond quarter if the lockdown
Mortgage
Companies
Show Strain
Continued from Page One
few payments—but only if she
would repay them in a lump
sum this summer. Ms. Winn
didn’t know when she would be
back at work, so she declined.
“I’m just not going to pay
my other bills,” she said, “be-
cause I don’t want to lose my
home.”
Many nonbanks, like United
Wholesale Mortgage and
loanDepot.com LLC, are barely
known outside the industry but
dominant inside it. Quicken
Loans Inc., one of the few with
name recognition, ranked as
the largest mortgage lender by
originations for the first time
this year, elbowing aside Wells
Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan
Chase & Co.
As big banks refocused their
* * * *
Stefano Taravella, 70 years old, played with his grandchildren in Lodi, Italy. He opposes mandating that older people continue to stay home.
desperate cry for dignity.”
The British government has
withdrawn advice warning that
people over 70 should “be par-
ticularly stringent in following
social distancing measures.”
U.K. Health Secretary Matt
Hancock said there was no
“blanket ban” for older genera-
tions after criticism from sev-
eral senior lawmakers that
older people should be left to
judge the risk for themselves.
”Why do we not just give
them the best information and
advice and let them limit their
risk for themselves,” said Gra-
onbeen more vocal. Jeanne Pault,
ham Brady, a Conservative law-
us ,
maker.
l
In the U.S., the idea of pro-
e
al a
longing lockdowns for older
generations hasn’t been
greeted with the same level of
ci on
er s
m er
m rp
co Fo
Boris Johnson said curbs will be eased gradually and could be reversed.
measures continue.
Starting Monday, Mr. John-
son said workers in the con-
struction and manufacturing
n-
industry and others who can’t
work from home will be en-
couraged to work—but that
people should avoid public
transport where possible.
As of Wednesday, people
will be able to spend more
time outdoors for sunbathing,
driving and playing sports
with members of the same
household. But fines will be
increased for people failing to
abide by social-distancing
rules. He said, “this is not the
time simply to end the lock-
mortgage operations
wealthier borrowers, nonbanks
stepped into the void, often
on
representing the only path to a
mortgage for buyers of lesser
means. Their retreat could lock
many would-be borrowers out
of homeownership and make it
harder for the economy to
bounce back.
Nonbanks also expanded in
the crucial business of servic-
ing mortgages. They now ser-
vice roughly half of them, five
times their share from a decade
ago, according to the Urban In-
stitute. In good times, that task
involves collecting payments
from borrowers and handing
them to investors that own the
loans, plus handling odds and
ends such as taxes. The servicer
then gets a slice of the interest.
In bad times, servicers are
supposed to create new pay-
ment plans for struggling bor-
rowers, which takes much more
work and expense. When all
else fails, servicers initiate
foreclosures.
For years after the financial
crisis, regulators, mortgage ex-
ecutives and consumer advo-
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
outrage. The governor of Geor- have the virus and me neither.
gia, one of the first states to We could at least see each
start reopening, signed an ex- other every now and then, just
ecutive order that requires to chat a little bit.” She adds
older people and anyone who is that she had lost the desire to
medically fragile to shelter in eat.
place until June 12. But all over “Madam, your grief upsets
the country, residents of long- us all,” President Emmanuel
term care facilities have begun Macron tweeted in response,
asking when their families will adding that his government
be allowed to resume making had authorized nursing homes
visits. to resume family visits with ex-
In Europe, the pleas have tra precautions.
a 96-year-old nursing-home
resident in France, appealed for
some form of social contact in
People above the age of 65
have much higher rates of hos-
pitalization and mortality from
the virus. Many rely on care
a video that was posted on from younger relatives or nurs-
Twitter and viewed more than ing-home staff, both of whom
a million times. have emerged as vectors for
“I’m closed inside all day contagion. In France, nearly
long,” Ms. Pault says in the 10,000 deaths have occurred in
video. “My neighbors don’t nursing homes alone, about
industry and other public
places could reopen, with so-
cial distancing maintained.
ANDREW PARSONS/DOWNING STREET/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
The program leaves many
unanswered questions for
businesses and workers. Some
trade unions have questioned
the safety of allowing schools
and workplaces to reopen. It
isn’t clear how many people
can get to work if they can’t
use public transport.
Carolyn Fairbairn, head of
the Confederation of British
Industry employers’ group,
said businesses will want to
see a firm road map for re-
opening with dates they can
plan for.
Mr. Johnson said the U.K.
down this week,” adding it would introduce a new alert
would be “madness” to allow a system that would track the
second jump in infections. rate of infection and the num-
Mr. Johnson said the U.K. ber of new coronavirus cases.
would soon introduce mea- Level one would be with the
sures to impose quarantines disease no longer present in
on people arriving in the the U.K., and level five with
country by air. He also out- the health system over-
lined possible next steps to re- whelmed. During the lock-
open schools, shops and eater- down, the country had been at
ies. By June 1, a phased level four, and now is in a po-
reopening of shops and pri- sition to move gradually to
mary schools could begin. level three, he said.
Some secondary-school pupils He said to move ahead the
could also be allowed back country must rapidly reverse
into schools before the sum- the epidemics in nursing
mer vacation. homes and introduce a system
In July at the earliest, some for testing possible victims
businesses in the hospitality and tracing their contacts.
FROM PAGE ONE
cates discussed how to improve
this market. They floated ideas
about changing the way ser-
mortgage is one of the roughly
two-thirds guaranteed by Fannie
Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie
vicers are paid so they collect a
bigger fee when a loan becomes
delinquent. They considered
Mae. But that is a slow process.
Lawmakers recently outlined
how struggling borrowers can
having the servicers fund a cen-
tral utility to handle defaulted
mortgages. But those ideas
request so-called forbearance
plans, by which they pause
their monthly payments. If the
never gained traction, according mortgage is government-
to people involved. backed, then companies are
“There was a big focus on
the consumer experience,” said
Michael Bright, the former
head of government mortgage
The lenders often
corporation Ginnie Mae, which don’t have cash to
backs Federal Housing Admin-
istration loans. “But there
cushion the blow
wasn’t much focus on the qual- when payments stop.
ity of a servicer.”
The structure of the U.S.
mortgage market is much the
same as it was before the crisis generally supposed to grant the
of the 2000s. Pools of mortgages request.
are packaged and sold to inves- That has thrust both banks
tors around the world. When a and nonbanks into the position
borrower stops paying, servicers of cushioning the blow for their
are caught in the middle, forced customers. Nonbanks, which
to front payments to the inves- depend on short-term bank
tor, even though they aren’t re- loans to fund daily operations,
ceiving money from the bor- are struggling to do so.
rower. The servicer will “This is a systemic prob-
eventually get reimbursed if the lem,” said Karan Kaul, a senior
Monday, May 11, 2020 | A9
the discovery of a vaccine.
European Commission Presi-
dent Ursula von der Leyen sug-
gested a similar timeline when
asked in an interview with Ger-
man newspaper Bild about re-
strictions on nursing-home vis-
its. “Without a vaccine, senior
contacts must remain re-
stricted as far as possible. I
know that is difficult and lone-
liness is oppressive. But it’s
about life, not just our own. We
have to stay disciplined and be
very patient,” she said.
An uproar ensued across
France as older people and
their supporters accused au-
thorities of attempting to tram-
ple their rights. An online peti-
CHIARA GOIA FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
tion in French that garnered
more than 85,000 signatures
branded Ms. von der Leyen’s
remarks as “catastrophic.”
In Lombardy, the region in
northern Italy hit hardest by
the virus, local authorities pub-
lished a list of precautions, ti-
tled “If You Visit Your Grand-
parents,” as Italians prepared
for the country’s lockdown to
begin to lift on May 4.
The guidelines advised
younger people to wear masks
40% of the national death toll. during any visits; to abstain
In mid-April, Jean-François from eating together; and to
Delfraissy, president of the bring around only one grand-
French government’s scientific child at a time.
advisory board, told a Senate Mr. Taravella, who tested
hearing that his modeling for positive for the coronavirus but
how the virus would spread has remained asymptomatic,
once France eases its lockdown says he maintains his distance
.
on May 11 assumed that 18 mil- when he looks after his grand-
lion French—mainly those children. He also expects to re-
ly
older than 65 and younger peo- sume planning events starting
ple with chronic illness—would in September for the 500 mem-
remain in isolation. That would bers of his Unitre chapter in
allow 50 million younger peo-
ple to resume their activities,
he said.
“These 18 million people—
the town of Lodi, near Milan.
Authorities’ advice for older
people to remain home is para-
doxical, he said, adding: “If
and this is hardly news—will there’s anyone who should stay
continue on in confinement,” home it’s the young. They’re
Dr. Delfraissy said. “Under the ones with the risky life-
which conditions and for how styles.”
long I don’t know.” He added —Max Colchester
that much would depend on contributed to this article.
Victory Day Celebration
BY ANN M. SIMMONS The spread of the coronavi-
rus, which as of Saturday has
MOSCOW—Russian Presi- infected more than 198,000
dent Vladimir Putin held a wa- and killed 1,827, also forced
tered-down celebration of the Mr. Putin to indefinitely post-
Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany, pone a referendum on consti-
with the coronavirus pandemic tutional changes, originally
denying him what had been planned for April, that is the
slated to be an extravagant final hurdle the Kremlin leader
display of military might. must clear before he is able to
Mr. Putin instead sought to run again after his fourth pres-
unite the nation around its idential term ends in four
most revered collective mem- years.
ory. “We are united by a com- “The parade this month was
mon memory and common almost meant to be Putin’s cor-
hopes, our common aspira- onation in a way,” said Alina
tions, our responsibility for the Polyakova, president and CEO
present and future,” Mr. Putin of the Center for European
said Saturday in a short tele- Policy Analysis, a Washington-
vised address after laying a based research institute.
bouquet of red roses at the Russians, who have been
Eternal Flame near the Krem- under a partial lockdown since
lin walls. March 30, are growing increas-
The Russian leader made no ingly restless and discontent
mention of the coronavirus over the level of assistance
that last month forced him to from the state. A fifth of Rus-
shelve a 75th anniversary Vic- sian employees already have
tory Day parade that was to lost their jobs or are on unpaid
feature thousands of troops leave, according to an April
and hundreds of pieces of mili- survey by pollster Online Mar-
tary hardware rolling across ket Intelligence.
Red Square before Mr. Putin Polls this week from the in-
and high-profile guests. dependent Levada Center
French President Emmanuel found that Mr. Putin’s approval
Macron and U.S. national secu- rating has hit a historic low of
rity adviser Robert O’Brien 59%, and 33% disapproved of
were to attend the festivities. the president’s work.
research associate at the Urban
Institute.
About 7.5% of borrowers ob-
loan program, which is meant
for first-time and modest-in-
come buyers. Later, they
tained forbearances as of April
26, according to a survey by
the Mortgage Bankers Associa-
learned their lender had passed
the servicing rights to Freedom.
Ms. Winn had little interac-
tion, or MBA. That means
about 3.8 million homeowners
are skipping their monthly pay-
tion with Freedom until calling
in March. A Freedom represen-
tative told Ms. Winn she could
ments with permission. skip payments for April, May
If forbearance rates reach and June, but would then have
the mid-to-high teens, few ser- to pay four months all at once.
vicers are expected to have the Another representative told her
cash to meet their advance ob- she could later ask to tack the
ligations, according to Warren missed payments onto the end
Kornfeld, who covers nonbank of the loan, but that there was
mortgage companies at no guarantee she would be ap-
Moody’s Investors Service. proved. In late April, she re-
Mortgage servicers, both ceived a letter saying she had
banks and nonbanks, were on been automatically opted into
the hook for about $4.5 billion the first plan. She intends to
a month in servicing advances keep making her monthly pay-
on government-backed loans ments anyway, because she
because of forbearances as of doesn’t want to pay for four
Thursday. That is roughly 25 months at once.
times as much as they were on Chief Executive Stanley Mid-
the hook for at the end of Feb- dleman said in a statement that
ruary, according to Black Freedom is “managing a great
Knight Inc., a mortgage-data deal of unplanned activity” but
and technology firm. plans to fix any issues that
Ms. Winn and her husband arise. “We are doing the best
bought their Leander, Texas, we can and will continue to do
home in 2014 using the FHA so,” Mr. Middleman said.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
A10 | Monday, May 11, 2020
Heroes Vs.
Covid-19
Villainy
Continued from Page One
verity of it. But now I won’t
even visit my grandmother
who lives around the corner.”
The authors, many of them
teenagers or young adults, post
their takes on FanFiction.net,
Archive of Our Own, Wattpad
and other websites, which host
hundreds of categories for sto-
ries and discussions.
One online debate is over
which superhero would be the
best—or worst—Covid-fighter.
Who would come up with a
vaccine first: Dr. Bruce Banner,
aka The Hulk, or Tony Stark,
the billionaire inventor better
known as Iron Man?
“Stark solved time-travel
like eighth-grade maths home-
work, so he could whip up a
vaccine,” Shrekosaurus_rex
wrote in one debate.
“Bruce is a biochemistry
master,” countered Khanfkhan.
In some stories, other su-
perheroes from the “Avengers”
series play pranks on each
other—Clint Barton, aka
Hawkeye, plans high jinks with
the Black Widow, Natasha Ro-
manov—to relieve boredom as
they shelter in place in New
Fed Turns
to Money
Managers
Continued from Page One
their role as creditors give
them powerful levers. The two
collectively manage more than
$8 trillion, across markets
from bonds to private equity.
They oversee money in ex-
change-traded funds and tradi-
tional mutual funds that are
held mainly by individuals. The
firms run all kinds of funds and
managed accounts. In these, a
client entrusts the money-man-
agement firm with cash that
the firm invests in line with
the mandate it’s given, whether
betting on individual compa-
nies, targeting certain indus-
tries or mirroring a market.
Although money-manage-
ment firms played roles in the
2008 financial crisis, helping to
handle toxic assets for the Fed,
their remit in the new crisis is
far bigger.
They will be central players
in what is expected to be a
multitrillion-dollar overall pro-
gram of central-bank support
to the economy and markets, a
program that will help decide
which businesses survive the
pandemic.
“Here’s a chance for asset
managers to show they could
be powerful partners in the re-
covery,” said Ben Phillips, a
principal at Deloitte consulting
arm Casey Quirk. “They’re or-
ganizing capital, as opposed to
no
using their own balance sheet,
and can think longer term.”
They are taking on new im-
portance as the biggest invest-
ment firms have pushed back
on the idea that their reach
brings unintended risks for fi-
nancial systems. Asset manag-
ers have successfully fought
against the label as “systemi-
cally important financial insti-
tutions” and the regulations
that come with it.
BlackRock will steer as
much as $750 billion to the
corporate debt market for the
Fed. “BlackRock is acting as a
fiduciary to the Federal Re-
serve Bank of New York,” a
firm spokesman said in a writ-
ten statement.
“BlackRock will execute this
mandate at the sole discretion
of the Bank, and in accordance
with their detailed investment
guidelines,” he said, “in order
to provide broad support to
credit markets and achieve the
government’s objective of sup-
porting access to credit for US
employers and supporting the
American economy.”
Former government officials
encouraged administration of-
ficials not to hire banks for the
corporate-bond buying, said
people familiar with the mat-
ter. They believed that money-
management firms, by not be-
ing in the business of
arranging debt offerings or
maintaining an inventory of
bonds for clients, would be
best positioned to be impartial.
Also suiting them for the
Fed operation, the biggest in-
vestment firms have experi-
ence managing central bank
money, have systems to cordon
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, of New York City. Below, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter.
York. One involves wrapping
rubber bands around Thor’s
hammer.
Some fans reckon the Norse
god would spend his time at
home hoarding Pop-Tarts—to
which he was introduced in the
recent blockbuster movies. “He
would definitely turn into such
a slob in lockdown,” said
Sharon Atkins, a 20-year-old
student from Glasgow, Scot-
land. “Pop-Tarts and beer.”
The price of BlackRock’s iShares
iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate
Bond ETF has varied widely from the
net asset value of the bonds it holds.*
$135
130
125
120
us ,
115 Closing price
al a
Net asset value
110
ci on
105
Jan. ’20 March
er s
m er
m rp
2 2
co Fo
1 1
0 0
2008 ’09 ’10
*Price is set by supply and demand; net asset value is set by fund accountants. Data are through May 6. †Includes emergency loan programs
Sources: FactSet (ETF); Federal Reserve (assets); the company (assets under management)
off work for different clients,
and can make informed pur-
n-
chases because they sit in the
middle of a stream of informa-
tion about buying and selling
all kinds of securities, the for-
mer officials said.
In early March, when data
signalled market strains a few
weeks after the first U.S. coro-
navirus cases, Fed staffers ex-
amined the tools used in the
2008 crisis. They also laid the
groundwork for potentially
having the central bank act
much more broadly.
Through March’s extreme
market volatility, Fed and gov-
ernment officials were on the
phone with investors at Black-
Rock and Pimco as well as
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s as-
set-management arm, JPMor-
gan Chase & Co.’s investment
team and State Street Corp.,
said people familiar with the
outreach. They consulted
prominent investors such as
Mohamed El-Erian, chief eco-
nomic adviser to Pimco parent
Allianz SE.
The officials tapped all
kinds of networks to under-
stand what was happening in
the commercial paper market;
the state of the “repo” market
where firms borrow and lend
cash and Treasurys; and how
the bond market was doing.
There was deep trouble in al-
most every corner of the bond
world by mid-March. Junk
bonds, investment-grade
bonds, Treasurys—all saw
shortages of buyers.
During the week of March
15, a Fed official phoned Scott
Simon, a former Pimco head of
trading and portfolio manage-
ment, for perspective. Mr. Si-
mon advised the official to re-
gard mortgage real-estate
investment trusts as coal-mine
canaries signaling danger.
Mortgage REITs, which borrow
FROM PAGE ONE
A number of fan works
show Captain America—a
known goody two shoes—nag-
ging people to wash their
hands. In one, “Again with the
Plague,” he and his sidekick,
Bucky Barnes, reminisce about
their sixth-grade teacher while
waiting for some lasagna to
reheat in the microwave. “Mr.
Rollinson,” Bucky says. “He
was a nightmare.”
Traffic on the main fan-fic-
The Federal Reserve shored up markets
by expanding its balance sheet
Federal Reserve assets
on
l
e
May
4 4
3 3
’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15
Laurence Fink, chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc.
and invest the proceeds in
mortgages, and which rarely
play a meaningful role in the
overall economy, saw their
share prices tumble.
Mr. Simon also pointed to
an exchange-traded fund,
BlackRock’s iShares iBoxx $ In-
vestment Grade Corporate
Bond ETF, which was among a
swath of bond ETFs trading at
steep discounts to the values of
the bonds inside them. He said
the gap was a sign the bond
market was frozen.
“If you don’t fix” the market
for top-rated bonds, “it will get
away from you,” he told the
Fed official, according to a per-
son close to the matter.
During one of the worst
weeks in Wall Street history,
BlackRock Chief Executive Lau-
rence Fink went to Washington
and huddled with President
Trump as a pandemic with no
equivalent in modern history
roiled markets.
Stocks fell more than 7% the
day they met, March 18, and
trading almost stopped in sev-
eral bond markets, making it
hard for corporations as well
as cities to raise needed cash.
The Fed had said it would
tion sites has surged in recent
weeks. An Archive of Our Own
administrator pleaded with us-
ers to be patient in waiting for
the read-count figures after av-
erage weekly reads climbed to
nearly 300 million in March,
straining its servers.
“I think whenever something
huge happens, whether person-
ally or out in the world, it is
natural for people who live in
these fandom-spaces to wonder
April 29
Total assets
$6.7 trillion
$5 trillion
Liquidity facilities†
$542.5 billion
’16 ’17 ’18 ’19
intervene substantially in
money-market funds, and
would shift its purchases of
Treasury bills toward a
broader range of maturities.
Then on March 23 it unveiled
sweeping measures. It said it
would purchase all kinds of
bonds, pledging to do whatever
was needed to shore up the
economy.
The Fed works with outside
The Federal Reserve
is expected to
launch the program
in coming weeks.
firms if it believes they bring
speed and expertise the central
bank can’t provide on its own.
Moving fast, it tapped Black-
Rock’s financial markets advi-
sory business to buy corporate
bonds for it, without a tender
process that would let others
bid for the job.
That arm of BlackRock, sep-
arate from its money-manage-
ment business, worked for the
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
how their favorite characters
would deal with it,” said Han-
nah Moskowitz, 29, of Silver
Spring, Md., who writes fan fic-
tion when she isn’t working on
PARAMOUNT/EVERETT COLLECTION
Young Adult novels. “It’s a
touchstone for us, something
that can stay constant in unfa-
miliar territory. We know these
characters like the back of our
hands, how they talk and how
they respond, so seeing them
still be themselves adds some
stability to a scary situation.”
In the modern era, the origi-
nal “Star Trek” television series
in the 1960s inspired some of
the first attempts at fan fiction,
often in homemade fanzines
sold at science-fiction conven-
tions or mailed off to subscrib-
WARNER BROS/EVERETT COLLECTION
ers eager to hear more about
Captain James T. Kirk and his
crew on the USS Enterprise.
The internet made it easier
to publish the stories, many of
which tackle subjects in the
news, including Covid-19.
“The virus is on my mind all
the time now, so I thought I’d
try to blend that into a story,”
said Tracy Neis, a 57-year-old
résumé adviser and writer from
Placentia, Calif. After toying
with takes on Camus’ “The
Plague” and Poe’s “The Masque
of the Red Death,” Ms. Neis set-
tled on a story about the Beat-
les and the toilet paper short-
age: A person who shelled out a
small fortune for a collector’s
item—a roll of toilet paper once
owned by the band—resorts to
using it as supplies run low.
BlackRock assets
under management
ly
$6.5T‡
$6 trillion
5
’20 2010 ’15 ’20
‡As of March 31
Fed in handling assets of
American International Group
Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. af-
ter both collapsed early in the
financial crisis.
The issue was who could get
a program up and moving fast,
said a former senior U.S. offi-
cial who was an informal ad-
SIMON DAWSON/BLOOMBERG NEWS
viser to Treasury officials and
other policy makers as they
formulated plans.
The Fed first focused on the
highest-rated companies, those
least likely to default. It wres-
tled with a question: What
about companies that would be
highly rated except that coro-
navirus-related troubles had
cut them to junk? Would it be
right to leave them out? When
the Fed said on April 9 it would
buy fallen-angel bonds too, its
word sparked a bond rally long
before any Fed buying.
As part of its role, Black-
Rock would buy bond ETFs.
Fed officials saw this as a way
to buoy broad swaths of the
market rapidly, said a person
with knowledge of their think-
ing. Rivals cried foul. Some
economists and commentators
voiced concern the Fed man-
date would allow BlackRock to
boost its own ETFs.
“If you’re an asset manager
working for the Fed, your own
funds should be excluded from
the purchases,” said Nouriel
Roubini, an economics profes-
sor at the New York Univer-
sity’s Stern School of Business
and chief executive of Roubini
Macro Associates.
During a call with analysts
April 16, BlackRock’s Mr. Fink
bristled at the suggestion the
Fed mandate was a bailout for
the ETF industry or his firm.
“I think it’s insulting,” he
said. “What we’re doing with
governments is based on great
practices.”
The Fed will use predeter-
Some of the people produc-
ing fanfics prefer to remain
anonymous, partly because
they are an escape from their
day jobs, and partly because of
a credo that stories are more
important than authors.
Some writers have written
about pop stars self-isolating.
One described how the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles had to
find another home after the
sewers of New York City, where
they normally live, were in-
fected with the coronavirus.
There is a retelling of Jane
Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,”
where the virus is an obstacle
in the path to true love be-
tween Elizabeth Bennet and Mr.
Darcy. In the latest chapter,
Elizabeth’s efforts to arrange a
suitable marriage for her sister
are disrupted by a fresh out-
break of the disease.
“Star Trek” remains core. At
least one story describes Mr.
Spock contracting Vulcan flu
and his attempts to isolate him-
self on the Enterprise.
“Star Trek seems to be
adaptable enough to discuss
pretty much anything,” said
Bernie Danaher, a mother of
two from Birmingham, England.
In one of her stories, “Ob-
server Effect,” an advanced
race of aliens watches as hu-
mans risk themselves for the
sake of others during the coro-
navirus pandemic. At first they
think such behavior is illogical.
Then they begin to see it as a
mark of a civilized society.
mined rules to guide its invest-
.
ments, to avoid picking win-
ners and losers, said people
familiar with the matter.
The central bank said in
preliminary disclosures that
BlackRock would assess its
own ETFs on equal footing
with those of competitors, and
the firm won’t charge fees on
investing in any ETFs. Black-
Rock will credit income it
could earn on the Fed pro-
gram’s holdings of the firm’s
ETFs back to the central bank.
There would also be limits on
how much of any one ETF
could be bought.
That hasn’t stopped inves-
tors from trying to get in
ahead of the Fed. In April,
traders rushed into corporate-
bond ETFs, including the one
Mr. Simon flagged. They
briefly drove the ETF’s price
sharply above the bonds’
value. The gap between its
price and the net asset value
of its underlying bonds has
since narrowed.
The central bank gave
Pimco a commercial-paper role
similar to what it had in 2008,
and disclosed no limit on total
purchases of the short-term
corporate debt. The Fed did
give banks one job—processing
emergency loans for busi-
nesses. State Street will hold
custody of assets for a number
of Fed programs.
Other firms will be allowed
to bid on BlackRock’s and
Pimco’s work for the Fed as
soon as this summer, said peo-
ple familiar with the plans.
“If you’re the firm running a
large mandate, you’re going to
be the first call from brokers
and the destination for infor-
mation. It could make it diffi-
cult for other investors to com-
pete,” said Patrick Luby, a
municipal strategist at re-
search firm CreditSights Inc.
“But there will be benefits for
others who can now take ad-
vantage of a healthy function-
ing market,” he added.
The Treasury promised to
shoulder any initial losses on
the Fed’s mammoth purchases.
The central bank isn’t allowed
to risk taxpayer money by
propping up insolvent compa-
nies. During negotiations over
the Treasury funds, Senate
banking committee members
tried to lock in prescriptive
terms on how the Fed and
Treasury would deploy the
money. Fed officials voiced
concerns, and won flexibility.
Some Democratic lawmak-
ers said BlackRock’s outsize
role risks unintended conse-
quences for the financial sys-
tem. In April, one group circu-
lated a letter to the Fed urging
the government to come up
with safeguards so the econ-
omy doesn’t become over-reli-
ant on BlackRock.
“We’re choosing financial
champions,” said Itamar
Drechsler, a professor at the
University of Pennsylvania’s
Wharton School who studies
the effects of central bank pol-
icies.
“Hiring a big firm to exe-
cute the buying is in a sense a
simple way to get expertise,
but there are good reasons
why people are wary of having
national champions,” Mr.
Drechsler said.
—Scott Patterson
contributed to this article.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Medical Examiners
Limit Virus Testing
With supplies short,
family interviews and
health records help
link deaths to Covid-19
BY LEE HAWKINS
New York City’s Office of
Chief Medical Examiner isn’t
performing widespread post-
mortem Covid-19 tests on peo-
ple who have died at home
during the new coronavirus
outbreak because of a national
shortage of testing supplies,
city officials say.
Instead, investigators from
the office have mainly been de-
termining whether home deaths
are related to the virus through
interviews with decedents’ fami-
lies and, if available, medical re-
cords that could help inform an
opinion, the officials say. If the
investigators believe the virus
played a role, then the deaths
are labeled “Covid-probable.”
The office of New York
City’s chief medical examiner,
Barbara Sampson, is responsi-
ble for investigating sudden or
unexpected deaths, as well as
most deaths at home. Thou-
sands of people have died at
home in New York during the
coronavirus outbreak.
Police Brace for Surge in Crime After Lockdown Lifts
BY BEN CHAPMAN
AND SHAN LI
The New York Police Depart-
ment is preparing for a jump in
crime when New York City re-
opens businesses and eases re-
strictions on social gatherings
after earlier measures led to a
steep drop in arrests.
The department’s commis-
sioner, Dermot Shea, said in
an interview that crime could
rise in part because of the
mass release of inmates from
city jails to stem the spread of
the disease among incarcer-
ated populations and jail staff-
ers. More than 1,600 people
were released from city jails
during the coronavirus pan-
demic, according to city Board
of Correction records.
At the same time, the virus
has taken a toll on the NYPD,
with one in five officers out sick
at the peak of the outbreak in
the city. As of Thursday, 1,624
uniformed members of the
NYPD were out sick, accounting
for about 4.5% of the depart-
ment’s uniformed workforce,
police officials said. Before the
pandemic, the department av-
eraged around 3% out sick.
Mr. Shea said the loss of
manpower could also affect
operations in a reopening of
the city, particularly at a time
when the NYPD is contending
with a number of factors, in-
no
cluding a bail law enacted in
January that allows many de-
fendants to remain free as
they await trials.
The changes were opposed
by Mr. Shea, who has blamed
them for a rise in crime before
the virus struck. “I worry
about that storm on the hori-
zon,” he said.
STATE STREET | By Jimmy Vielkind
State Legislators Look to Washington, and Maybe to Taxes
Leaders of
the New York
state Legisla-
ture say they
are waiting to
see what Con-
gress does before they de-
velop plans for their own law-
making session. And they said
tax hikes are on the table if
additional aid to deal with the
coronavirus pandemic isn’t
forthcoming from Washington.
Members of both the state
Assembly and Senate left the
Capitol after adopting a $178
billion budget during the
first week of April. The Dem-
ocrats, who control both
chambers, have been talking
internally about their plans
to return, and scheduled a
virtual hearing on Wednes-
day to examine the pan-
demic’s impact on small
businesses and agriculture.
State legislators have in-
troduced more than 300 bills
since they left the Capitol,
many of which pertain to the
coronavirus crisis. One mea-
* *
GREATER NEW YORK
“We are in the midst of un-
precedented circumstances,”
said Aja Worthy-Davis, a
spokeswoman for the office.
“Given the number of deaths
and limited supply of testing
resources, it is unlikely that
every single probable death
will be tested postmortem.”
Forensic pathologists and
medical researchers say medi-
cal examiners who aren’t test-
ing may not always be able to
accurately determine which at-
home natural deaths—such as
heart attacks and strokes—
were triggered by Covid-19.
“Home deaths will be un-
dercounted because testing is
not available in some jurisdic-
tions, like poor rural jurisdic-
tions where they may not do
much of an investigation,” said
Sally Aiken, a Spokane, Wash.-
based forensic pathologist and
medical examiner who is pres-
ident of the National Associa-
tion of Medical Examiners.
Some medical examiners, in-
cluding in Washington state,
Massachusetts, Virginia, Wash-
ington, D.C., and California, are
performing postmortem
Covid-19 tests on at-home de-
cedents who were thought to
have been exposed to the virus,
according to forensics officials
in those states. The testing is
on
us ,
l
e
al a
ci on
er s
m er
m rp
co Fo
NYPD officers have taken on more responsibility during the crisis, ramping up patrols of the subway system as it closed overnight for disinfection.
In the weeks after Mayor
Bill de Blasio declared a state
of emergency and enacted
n-
rules to stop the spread of the
disease in mid-March, major
crimes in the city fell by more
than a quarter, and arrests
plummeted by more than half.
However, auto thefts, commer-
cial burglaries, shootings and
murders increased.
At the same time, the depart-
ment’s officers took on more re-
sponsibility, enforcing the city’s
rules on social distancing and
ramping up patrols of the sub-
way system as it closed over-
sure would make it easier for
restaurants to file insurance
claims for business interrup-
tion. Another bill would
waive commercial and resi-
dential rent payments for
tenants who lost their jobs
or were forced to close be-
cause of the pandemic.
Assembly Speaker Carl
Heastie said in an interview
it was too early to say ex-
actly what would come up
for a vote.
“It’s hard to predict a
game plan for the next two
months when every day
brings a new set of issues,”
he said. “The path to the fin-
ish line on some of these bills
depends on what the federal
government is going to do.”
After the state’s first coro-
navirus cases in early March,
lawmakers granted Gov. An-
drew Cuomo broad power to
deal with the outbreak. He
has closed schools and busi-
nesses, rescheduled elections
and placed a moratorium on
evictions through August.
NY
easier for cities that have
lower numbers of Covid-19 fa-
talities, Dr. Aiken said.
The medical examiners in
these states typically inter-
view decedents’ families and
administer tests on those that
they determine to be “Covid-
probable.” Some localities are
conducting tests on every sin-
gle decedent, Dr. Aiken said.
At an April 15 press confer-
ence on the coronavirus out-
break, New York City health
commissioner Oxiris Barbot
raised concerns about the pos-
sible undercounting of virus-
related deaths in the city.
About 32,000 people died in
New York City between March
11 and May 6, according to the
city’s health department.
Of that figure, 14,162 were
confirmed Covid-19 deaths, ac-
cording to the health depart-
ment. An additional 4,234
were “Covid-probable” deaths.
Another 1,144 were potentially
probable cases that were
pending investigation. About
12,609 deaths weren’t known
to be confirmed or probable
Covid-19 cases, according to
the health department.
In New York City, death cer-
tificates for people suspected
of having Covid-19 generally
are signed by physicians in
night for disinfection.
Officers who previously pa-
trolled public schools were re-
assigned to work in city parks,
and detectives who normally
worked in narcotics were re-
deployed to fight a jump in
commercial burglaries. “It rad-
ically changed how we police,
literally overnight,” Mr. Shea
said of the virus.
New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo last week began to out-
line conditions under which
areas including New York City
might begin to reopen aspects
of society in phases.
Neither Mr. Heastie nor
Senate Majority Leader An-
drea Stewart-Cousins would
set a firm date for the re-
sumption of the legislative
session. When they do re-
convene, there could be a
clash on fiscal policy.
Legislators gave the Dem-
ocratic governor even more
power as part of the budget
agreement enacted April 3.
Mr. Cuomo’s budget director,
Robert Mujica, has the uni-
lateral power to reduce state
spending if revenues don’t
materialize. Legislators can
enact their own fiscal adjust-
ment plan within 10 days.
Mr. Mujica said revenues
are $13.3 billion short of the
level projected in February.
A Budget Division spokes-
man said the state is re-
questing $60 billion from the
federal government to cover
for lost revenue over the
next several years.
Democrats who control
the U.S. House of Represen-
tatives are working on their
Refrigeration trucks served as a morgue last week outside the city medical examiner’s office.
hospitals. Doctors there or
medical examiners investigat-
ing home deaths can choose to
administer tests at their dis-
cretion, Ms. Worthy-Davis said.
Both Dr. Aiken and Wash-
ington, D.C.’s chief medical ex-
aminer, Roger Mitchell, de-
fended New York City, saying
that relying on investigations
in the absence of widespread
postmortem testing is an ade-
quate practice.
Dr. Mitchell said the chal-
lenge is “not just the availabil-
ity of tests,” but “the number
of deaths and the human re-
sources to be able to manage
the number of deaths.”
The lack of postmortem
Covid-19 testing has frustrated
NYPD Chief of Crime Con-
trol Strategies Michael LiPetri
said he is wary of an uptick in
certain crimes, including vio-
lent acts, as residents return
to public spaces. Thefts of per-
sonal belongings may increase
as well, he said.
Chief LiPetri said he has
met with members of his staff
to plan for a possible rise in
crimes as the city relaxes re-
strictions. “We are prepared to
move resources,” he said.
The pandemic poses differ-
ent challenges to the police
compared with other major
next aid proposal, which is
expected to include hundreds
of billions of dollars in new
aid for states and cities. Re-
publicans in charge of the
U.S. Senate are prioritizing a
liability shield for businesses.
Messrs. Mujica and Cuomo
plan to reduce spending by
around $10 billion, which
When lawmakers
reconvene, there
could be a clash on
fiscal policy,
will mean steep funding cuts
to schools and localities. The
state will release more de-
tails on the cuts in mid-May.
Mr. Heastie, a Democrat
from the Bronx, called these
cuts unacceptable and said
they would be “harmful and
devastating to communities
across the state.”
Monday, May 11, 2020 | A10A
PETER FOLEY/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
some families of people who iner’s office “determined it was
died at home in New York City. a cardiac arrest and said they
The family of 75-year-old didn’t want to do the test on
Edgard Donado said they him,” Mr. Hernandez said. Ms.
pushed to get a “Covid-proba- Worthy-Davis said the request
ble” designation on his death was likely declined because “it
certificate after the Fire De- wasn’t deemed necessary to
partment of New York pro- file the death certificate.”
nounced him dead of cardiac Mr. Donado’s daughter,
arrest outside his Brooklyn Jenny Hernandez, followed up
apartment on April 11. by calling the medical exam-
Because Mr. Donado showed iner’s office to say that two
“flulike” symptoms for two family members who inter-
weeks, his family asked for a acted with Mr. Donado tested
postmortem Covid-19 test, said positive for coronavirus. She
Daniel Hernandez, his son-in- said she was eventually told
law. The request was in part that “Covid-probable” would
because Mr. Donado’s seven be put on his death certificate.
roommates were worried “We extend our condo-
.
about possible exposure. lences for this family’s loss,”
However, the medical exam- Ms. Worthy-Davis said.
ly
That can mean increases in
crimes such as burglaries of
commercial establishments, as
well as auto thefts, he said.
Brooklyn Borough President
Eric Adams said the city will be
tested as emergency measures
gradually lift. New Yorkers will
be free to go out, but will then
encounter the continued clo-
sure of many public spaces
such as community centers and
swimming pools, he said.
“What I don’t want are
those melees on a hot summer
night, where people are angry
because the beaches are closed,
the pools are closed, they can’t
COREY SIPKIN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
go anywhere,” he said.
Mr. Adams, a former NYPD
captain, predicted an increase
in crimes such as domestic vio-
lence because there will be few
public places of leisure open.
During normal times, crime
tends to drop in the immedi-
ate aftermath of natural disas-
ters like hurricanes, but
bounces back to normal rates
within a few days, said Chris-
topher Herrmann, a professor
at John Jay College of Crimi-
nal Justice in New York.
But Mr. Herrmann said he
events like natural disasters, doubts that New York City will
said Daniel Nagin, a professor experience a similar burst of
specializing in criminology crime immediately after the
and public policy at Carnegie emergency measures end.
Mellon University. Even as businesses and public
Those tend to be events spaces reopen, many people
concentrated within a short will remain fearful of crowded
time span, followed by a brief places such as bars and res-
burst of opportunistic crimes taurants, he said.
like looting, Mr. Nagin said. “Just because you open up a
“Whereas this is much more movie theater doesn’t mean
persistent, and when it’s more everybody is going to flock to
persistent, other factors may the movie theater,” he said. “I
come into play affecting crime think the majority of people
besides opportunity,” Mr. are still going to be very hesi-
Nagin said, “like people be- tant to go out and go back to
coming desperate for money.” routine activities.”
The speaker said Demo- cial markets. Republicans op-
crats were set to include posed the measure at the
higher tax rates on people time and say they don’t sup-
reporting more than $1 mil- port tax increases now.
lion income as part of their In addition to an income
counterproposal to Mr. tax increase, lawmakers are
Cuomo’s budget, but the doc- looking at a targeted sur-
ument was never released charge on high-dollar second
because of the outbreak. residences—a so-called pied-
Ms. Stewart-Cousins, a à-terre tax—and possibly re-
Democrat from Yonkers, also instating a fee on stock sales
said she was looking to Con- on New York exchanges. Con-
gress. In a separate inter- sumer advocate Ralph Nader
view, the state Senate major- is among those on the left
ity leader said her colleagues who have pushed the idea,
are examining tax and hous- which business groups say
ing proposals. will simply move trading ac-
“In this critical juncture, tivity to other states.
everything is on the table,” Mr. Cuomo has repeatedly
she said. “We are trying to said he doesn’t believe the
look at a variety of things to state should raise taxes dur-
make sure there’s no one ing the pandemic, and Mr.
segment of our society that Mujica said Friday he didn’t
is overburdened while others think there was “an appetite”
are not also equally respon- for a dramatic increase. Asked
sible for helping all of us to on May 2 if he would categor-
move forward.” ically rule out raising taxes on
The state raised income the wealthy, Mr. Cuomo re-
taxes in March 2009, in re- plied, “I don’t know.”
sponse to shortfalls caused
by the 2008 crash in finan- jimmy.vielkind@wsj.com
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

A10B | Monday, May 11, 2020 NY * * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

GREATER NEW YORK

Mobile Clinic Screens the Urban Poor

BY LESLIE BRODY

Alexander Salerno, a pri-

mary-care doctor who has
served New Jersey’s urban
poor for decades, was so dis-
mayed by the dearth of coro-
navirus testing that he took
matters into his own hands.
Shelling out $42,000 for a
van with a sink and a generator,
he launched a pop-up clinic last
week to test hundreds of people
a day in parking lots around Or-
ange and Irvington, low-income
communities near Newark.
In Dr. Salerno’s view, the
Covid-19 crisis has laid bare
the U.S.’s lack of a proactive

CHRISTOPHER GREGORY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (2)

public-health system. Having
“100,000 tests a day for a
country of over 300 million
people is not something to
boast about, it’s something to
be embarrassed about,” Dr. Sa-
lerno said. “We were flat-
footed.”
He hopes grass-roots ef-
forts like this mobile testing
clinic can be a model for fill-
ing in gaps.
While running a private
practice in East Orange and
Newark, the 52-year-old also
oversees a nonprofit, the Ur-
ban Healthcare Initiative Pro- Alexander Salerno, above, launched a pop-up clinic to administer
gram. It offers education on coronavirus and antibody tests to hundreds of people in parking lots
health issues to residents, who around Orange and Irvington, low-income New Jersey communities.
have disproportionately high Left, a patient had blood drawn last week in Orange, where people
rates of diabetes, asthma, hy- seeking tests lined up for hours outside the doctor’s van.
pertension and other condi-
tions that can make them more A few fights have broken country have found higher rates commuting in on NJ Transit as $5.25 for N95 masks that would have antibodies are protected

.
vulnerable to the infection. out as some in line accused of coronavirus among some mi- an essential worker though it usually cost about $1 each. from a second infection.
Because of shortages of others of cutting in. “Tensions nority communities. Experts was depressing to lose his rou- He estimates his practice Dr. Salerno aims to bring

tests, early testing efforts in
the U.S. were largely limited to
essential workers, the seri-
ously ill and those thought to
have been exposed to the vi-
rus. But supplies are increas-
ing, and some experts say
broader testing is vital to un-
are high,” Dr. Salerno said.
“People have been cooped up
for weeks with nothing except
listening to the news and get-
ting scared.”
On Wednesday’s cold, damp
morning, the van and a staff of
on
about 10 were humming next
us ,
say that could be because of
economic disparities, including
working in jobs that can’t be
done from home, and living in
multigenerational households,
which can expand exposure.
Jamila Ya-Sin, a 76-year-old
retired teacher, brought her
tine of stopping at a friend’s
deli for a pastrami sandwich
and a newsstand for a lottery
ticket. Both had closed.
“It’s a shame,” he said. “It’s
their livelihood.”
Medicare and other insur-
ance covered the testing with-
ly
has spent nearly $60,000 so
far on personal protective
equipment for 106 employees,
who staff the van and three
medical offices. To his frustra-
tion, he had to compete
against public agencies to buy
PPE, he said, and one of his
the van to senior housing sites
in coming weeks. It is crucial
to find “silent spreaders” of
the contagion who are unwit-
tingly making matters worse,
he said.
Scrambling to add staff is a
daily battle. About 40 of his

derstanding the virus’s spread to the police headquarters in 93-year-old mother, who has out a copay. Those without in- vendors’ shipments was di- employees have gotten the vi-
l

and containing it. Orange, a city of roughly diabetes and a heart condi- surance could also get tested verted for government use. rus and recovered. Three more
e
al a

People seeking tests in Or- 31,000. Mayor Dwayne Warren tion, and who had suddenly free if they had a Social Secu- To Dr. Salerno’s delight, were diagnosed with it last
ange have waited for hours had notified constituents by shown signs of confusion. rity card. Others had to pay however, only nine of 198 peo- week. To gear up for a second
outside the white van, which is robocall about the free tests. “I’m happy they’re doing $152 for the tests and lab fees. ple tested at the van last Mon- wave predicted for the fall, Dr.
ci on

decorated with red spiky balls
depicting the powerful virus. A
medical team offers oral swabs
to check whether people cur-
rently have the infection and
Residents who arrived for
testing—many older adults—
sat on chairs 6 feet apart.
Their backgrounds reflected
Orange, where 95% of resi-
er s
this,” Ms. Ya-Sin said. “Every-
one’s working on a hope and a
prayer these days.”
Carlos Ramirez, who works
as a security guard in Mid-
Dr. Salerno said his office
made no profit on the service:
He pays his exhausted staff for
long days and has had to resort
to buying overpriced masks,
day were positive. He was still
waiting for results on antibod-
ies. Having them might offer
little comfort: The World
Health Organization said April
Salerno bought an airfreight
container to store personal
protective equipment that he
hopes to stockpile when prices
come down.

blood tests to check for anti- dents are black or Hispanic, town Manhattan, came be- gowns and gloves. Early on, 24 that there was currently no Covid-19 “continues to be a
bodies that might indicate according to census data. cause he felt “a little under markups were 700% of regular evidence that people who re- very humbling disease,” he
m er

they already had it. Large cities around the the weather.” He said he kept prices. Now he says he pays covered from Covid-19 and said.
m rp
co Fo

Medicine in the Raw

n-

Healthcare Starts with Healthy Food.

no

Since 1985, we’ve been cooking and home-delivering nutritious, individually tailored meals
to people living with serious illness in the NYC metropolitan area.
Being sick and hungry is a crisis. You can help.
Donate, volunteer, or just learn more at glwd.org

godslovewedeliver @godslovenyc God’s Love We Deliver is a member of the Food is Medicine Coalition (FIMC).
To learn more about FIMC’s work around the country, visit fimcoalition.org
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
BY AMELIA HARNISH
H
ow to make the per-
fect family TikTok?
It’s a question most
parents had probably
never considered un-
til coronavirus cooped up moms,
dads and kids in their homes,
alone, with no lines to the outside
world but the screen.
The McFarland family knows
something about this. A family of
five from Louisville, Ky., they are
TikTok famous for their comedic
skits. Their account is run mostly
by the two youngest members, Dy-
lan and Colin, ages 23 and 26, but
their videos feature the high jinks
of the whole McFarland clan, in-
cluding their mother, Kathy, 59; fa-
ther, Dan, 59; and occasionally
their older brother Mitch, 29, who
lives in Nashville, Tenn.
The McFarlands have been
growing their audience steadily for
the past year and now have 1 mil-
lion followers. They recently
scored a viral hit with their take
on the popular “Blinding Lights”
challenge, in which users do a cho-
reographed dance to the Weeknd’s
hit song. “In three to four days, it
got us another 100,000 followers,”
Colin McFarland says.
It was also the first time one of
their videos went viral outside of
TikTok. “It started going viral on
Instagram and Twitter, and then it
started reaching a wider audience,”
says brother Dylan. “It’s cool to see
how once it does leave TikTok, it
brings more attention to TikTok.”
TikTok doesn’t release usage or
demographic data. But other data
shows that as states began shut-
ting down in March, the social-
video platform reached a record
10.6 million U.S. downloads, a 63%
increase over February, according
to the mobile-app analytics firm
Sensor Tower. U.S. users spent an
average of 76 minutes a day in Tik-
Tok during March, up 13% from
January. How many of them are
parents and older users is un-
clear—but the platform has long
tried to appeal to those groups.
Parents of popular TikTokers,
like Heidi and Marc D’Amelio,
whose daughters have a combined
TikTok following of 77.1 million,
are already celebrities themselves.
But new older stars have also
emerged. Tabitha Brown, a 41-
year-old mom who posts vegan
recipes on social media, has be-
come the latest breakout TikToker
after joining the platform in early
March. “I honestly feel so blessed
to be embraced by the younger
generation,” Ms. Brown says. “I
want people to feel like I am an
escape from all the craziness even
if it’s just for one minute!”
Teens are recruiting moms,
dads and grandparents to star in
their 15-second dance sequences,
teaching them moves to popular
challenges like “Hit Every Beat”
and “Roses” and using hashtags
like #quarantinelife. Other TikToks
include re-creating favorite haunts
at home, like clubs and restau-
rants. In one such post: “DJDad-
Jeans” plays bouncer and bar-
tender in what looks to be the
family’s basement, complete with
booming bass and flashing lights.
no
In Lockdown, ‘90 Day Fiancé’ Thrives
BY R.T. WATSON
COLT JOHNSON is a world-fa-
mous bachelor who lives with his
mother and six cats.
The 34-year-old software engi-
neer from Las Vegas shot to fame
last year after participating in
TLC’s reality show “90 Day Fi-
ancé.” Although his marriage to
the acerbic Brazilian Larissa Cris-
tina Dos Santos Lima ended in
tears, Mr. Johnson recently was
chosen to open the premiere epi-
sode of the spin-off series “90 Day
Fiancé: Self-Quarantined.” The
spinoff features former cast mem-
bers coping with being stuck at
home amid the pandemic. Looking
for a creative way to pass the
time, Mr. Johnson filmed a feline
fashion show, which included
swaddling a black cat in a pink flo-
ral gown.
“I feel very fortunate that I have
so many cats in this house right
now,” he told viewers. “It really
takes the burden, the edge, off
what’s going on in the world with
the lack of socializing and being
around other humans.”
TLC’s fast turnaround of “Self-
Quarantined” amid a crisis that
has shut down most television
production is indicative of the net-
work’s ability to expand its flag-
ship franchise.
“90 Day Fiancé,” which debuted
in 2014, follows the experiences of
Americans who bring their foreign
romantic interests to the U.S. on
90-day fiancé visas. During the
trial period, the couples must de-
cide whether to wed. The network
LIFE&ARTS
So Your Family Wants
To Make a TikTok
The TikTok famous McFarlands share tips on how to make a hit video
on
us ,
l
e
al a
ci on
er s
m er
Meet the McFarlands: From left, Dan, Colin, Dylan, Mitch and Kathy in April. The family of five from Louisville, Ky.
reached over a million followers after their take on the ‘Blinding Lights’ challenge went viral on TikTok.
m rp
co Fo
n-
has built the brand into a sprawl-
ing universe of seven spinoffs and
more than 150 cast members rep-
resenting 39 nations.
A recent season of “90 Day Fi-
ancé: Before the 90 Days”—where
participants traveled abroad in
search of true love—helped the
franchise rack up its highest rat-
ings ever, thanks in part to view-
ers hungry for diversion.
“Now that we’re trapped inside
and can’t travel, I get to live vicar-
iously through them and see dif-
ferent parts of the world,” said
Craig Washington, a 37-year-old
Air Force reserve staff sergeant
who works in supply-chain man-
agement for a hospital in Queens,
N.Y. Mr. Washington said “90 Day
Fiancé,” which he praised as messy
and addictive, helps him wind
down.
TLC President Howard Lee said
viewers enjoy the warts-and-all
lens on cast members. “We get to
see a different side of them that’s
incredibly revealing: messy houses,
screaming and crying children,
how to keep their house clean,
how to get groceries.”
While TLC’s Sunday lineup—re-
cently including 10 consecutive
hours of “90 Day Fiancé” program-
ming—has in past weeks attracted
new male and female viewers, the
network is scoring biggest with its
most-coveted demographic:
women. TLC said it is on pace to
be the year’s No. 1 cable channel
among adult women for the first
time since at least 1998. In April,
ly
Colt Johnson at home in Las Vegas
with his mother Debbie, left, and
above, with Larissa Cristina Dos
Santos Lima during their time on the
reality-TV series ‘90 Day Fiancé.’
“Before the 90 Days” was the No. 1
show on cable with women over
18. Ending the year at No. 1 would
mean unseating rival network
Bravo.
“90 Day Fiancé”-branded shows
now account for a third of TLC’s
original programming and include
spinoffs like “The Other Way,”
which documents Americans doing
the reverse and moving abroad to
find love. In another spinoff, “Pil-
low Talk,” former cast members
watch and comment on newer epi-
sodes, while at home in bed.
Although the pandemic has af-
fected production at TLC, Mr. Lee
said the network has enough yet-
to-be-aired content to last deep
into 2021.
As the franchise has gone main-
stream—Lady Gaga and Chrissy
Teigen have professed their love
publicly—the strategy of courting
Monday, May 11, 2020 | A11
Bella Cuomo, daughter to CNN
anchor Chris Cuomo (and niece to
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo),
who recently recovered from coro-
navirus, has been documenting her
family’s experience at the center
of the crisis. One video splits the
screen (known as a “duet”) with
Matilda Cuomo, Bella’s grand-
mother, and a video of the broth-
ers Cuomo sparring on CNN. In an-
other, she dons a full-body
protective suit and mask to go
visit her quarantining father in the
basement where he ignores her, to
comedic effect for her 324,000 fol-
lowers.
As the time in lockdown gets
longer, the TikToks get more ab-
surd even for an app that made
someone famous for her relatable
reaction to taste-testing kombucha.
But a TikTok video featuring the
whole family is its own art. No one
knows that better than the McFar-
lands. Here, they break down what
it takes to make a hit family TikTok.
Choose your roles
Even a 15-second bit requires pro-
duction assignments. After a year
of making TikTok’s together, the
McFarlands have very defined
roles: Colin, is usually behind the
camera. “Dylan is the Bradley Coo-
per and dad’s the Brad Pitt, our
lead roles a lot of the time,” Colin
says. “Mom sneaks in as an ac-
tress. Mitch, if he’s home, he plays
the piano, so he’s our musical man.
We all have our different roles.”
Shooting and editing takes time.
(“If dad’s dancing in it, you know
.
it took three hours,” the youngest
McFarland, Dylan, says.) But the
only tools you need are an iPhone
and the tools in the app.
Put a spin on a trend
Trends and challenges rule TikTok.
Dance challenges like “The Rene-
gade” have gone viral on TikTok be-
fore becoming cultural phenomena.
Memes like “Hey yo, my friends
think my brother’s hot check” and
“Not for you, but for him” are the
engine of TikTok’s popularity.
“When you get family involved, you
can bring a new aspect or have a
different viewpoint,” Colin says.
Tell a story
A surprising amount of narrative
can be squeezed into a TikTok, and
it can take your TikTok far. The ti-
niest bit of story line added to the
McFarland’s “Blinding Lights” chal-
lenge video is what set it apart. It
begins with a few seconds of Colin
and Dylan trying to convince a re-
luctant Dan. That’s followed by a
quick shot of other people perform-
ing the dance, before Dan discovers
his confidence. The result: “It be-
comes a mini hero’s journey,” Colin
says. “He doesn’t think he can do it,
but he ends up spinning around in
the driveway, glorious.”
Have fun
A familiar McFarland tactic is to
take an everyday situation and ex-
aggerate. Take their video of Dan
chewing gum loudly. The lesson:
THE MCFARLANDS (5)
“Be yourself. Have fun. Don’t think
too much about trying to perfect a
video,” Dylan says. “You’re having
fun with your family and you’re
catching it on camera.”
female viewers is bringing in an-
other demographic: married men.
“He wasn’t too thrilled about it,
but then he sat down and started
watching some of the drama,” said
Jonnay Tracy, a stay-at-home mom
in Grinnell, Iowa, who got her hus-
band, Ken, into reality shows with
an episode of “90 Day Fiancé.”
“Honestly,” Ms. Tracy said, “he’s
probably more hooked than I am.”
During lockdown, reality-TV
characters have been helping to fill
a void in the couple’s social life
while giving them something to
chat about. “It breaks up the mo-
notony,” Mr. Tracy said. “You get a
laugh seeing some of the cringe-
worthy moments that they experi-
ence on the show and you defi-
nitely feel for them.”
The show’s online popularity
has grown this year, with
#90DayFiancé trending near the
top of Twitter on Sundays, accord-
ing to the social-media platform.
TLC’s YouTube posts attract mil-
lions of views weekly. Not all on-
line commenters are fans. Some
take issue with older American
cast members pursuing much
younger domestic partners from
impoverished nations.
While the “Self-Quarantined”
series may not rack up the ratings
of other shows in the franchise, it
appears to be connecting with die-
hard fans who want to learn more
about the characters they feel they
have come to know. “I like to see
people across the country and how
they’re dealing with [the pan-
demic] as well as getting an up-
date on the couples,” said Lauren
Lopez, of Waco, Texas. Ms. Lopez,
who has been watching with her
TLC (2)
husband, added, “I think it’s unde-
niable that you can’t look away.”
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
A12 | Monday, May 11, 2020
GETTY IMAGES (2)
The Secret of ‘Nobody Does It Better’
IN THE FALL OF 1977, Carly Si-
mon’s sultry rendition of “Nobody
Does It Better” rose to No. 2 on
Billboard’s pop chart, casting
James Bond in a new light.
Written by Carole Bayer Sager
(words) and Marvin Hamlisch (mu-
sic) for “The Spy Who Loved Me,”
the Bond theme was the first to be
titled differently from the movie.
As 007 fans await “No Time to
Die”—delayed until November but
already teased with a theme by
Billie Eilish—Ms. Bayer Sager, Ms.
Simon, pianist Michael Omartian
and arranger Richard Hewson re-
visited their hit. Last year, Ms.
Bayer Sager received the Song-
writers Hall of Fame’s Johnny
Mercer Award; Ms. Simon’s most
recent book is “Touched by the
Sun: My Friendship with Jackie.”
Edited from interviews:
Carole Bayer Sager: In mid-1976,
Marvin Hamlisch and I were at his
New York apartment working on a
song. It wasn’t going too well.
At the end of our writing ses-
sion, Marvin said, “I’m going to
London to work on the next James
Bond film—‘The Spy Who Loved
Me.’ When I get back, let’s try
again to write something.”
The Bond title didn’t sound great
for a song. I said, “Oh wow, James
Bond, yeah. If I was going to write a
Bond theme, I think I’d call it, ‘No-
body Does It Better.’” The title just
popped into my head.
“I like that,” Marvin said, turn-
ing back to the keyboard. Within 10
WHAT’S YOUR WORKOUT? | JEN MURPHY
More Miles Mean
no
More Inspiration
KELLY GRIER has always used her
runs as thinking time. These days,
the Ernst & Young senior executive
has a lot to think about. “It’s an
extraordinary time to be a leader,”
she says. “I have more than 80,000
people relying on me.”
Ms. Grier creates a mental to-do
list for her runs. “It could include
a decision I want to deliberate
over, a letter I need to craft, a
speech I need to write, a topic to
discuss with my core stakehold-
ers,” she says. “It’s always a mix of
personal and professional.”
By early March, contemplating
how to navigate her company
through the coronavirus pandemic
easily consumed her typical 8-mile
weekend run. “I was nowhere near
finished thinking, so I just kept
running,” she says. “Before I knew
it, I’d run 11 miles. I got home and
furiously began turning my
thoughts into notes.”
Ms. Grier, 50, splits her time be-
tween New York City and Glen-
view, a suburb of Chicago. In Feb-
ruary, she and her husband, who is
retired, and son, 20, decided to
hunker down in Illinois. On March
17, Ernst & Young, where she
serves as U.S. chair and Americas
managing partner, closed its U.S.
offices and enacted a mandatory
work-from-home order.
Weekend runs are often used to
craft a personal letter that she
emails to her 3,600 U.S. partners
every Sunday night. “I get into
what it means to be their leader in
ANATOMY OF A SONG | MARC MYERS
minutes, he had a chorus melody
written. I sat for another 10 min-
utes and came up with the lyrics:
“Nobody does it better / Makes
you’re the best.”
on
me feel sad for the rest / Nobody
does it half as good as you / Baby,
Marvin wrote the music for two
verses, but there wasn’t time to
us ,
add lyrics. Marvin said he’d put
l
the music on a cassette tape and
e
al a
leave it with me.
“My biggest job will be to
convince [Bond producer]
ci on
Cubby Broccoli to take a
chance on you,” he said.
I knew they liked to stick
to name brands. But I was
hopeful. A few days later,
er s
Marvin called from London. I
was given the go-ahead.
m er
While Marvin was there
scoring the film, I began
working on lyrics for the
verses and remaining cho-
ruses in New York. Days later
m rp
I relocated to Los Angeles.
By then, many of the people
I wrote with had moved
West. Also, my marriage to An-
drew [Sager] wasn’t working out.
co Fo
Space was a good thing.
I used the movie title just
once—in the first verse—just to
get it out of the way:
“But like heaven above me / The
spy who loved me / Is keepin’ all
my secrets safe tonight.”
The song had a stronger feel
coming from the female perspec-
tive. Instead of just being loved by
a spy, she had an opinion about
n-
these times and how I’m process-
ing things,” she says. “It’s very in-
trospective and from my heart, in-
tended to create greater
connections between us all. They
deserve a pat on the back going
into another week of this.”
One letter referenced how being
a top executive is like being a top
athlete. “You have to have incredi-
ble physical and mental endurance
to deal with 24/7 demands,” she
says. She’s expressed to her lead-
ership team that she wants them
prioritizing meditating in the
morning, going for regular walks
and stepping away from their
screens to have proper meals. She
expects them to make it OK for
people under them to do the same.
“Now more than ever we need to
be taking care of ourselves,” she
says.
Ms. Grier emphasizes that she is
a runner, not a racer. “I’ve done a
few 5Ks, but I’ve always run to
clear my mind,” she says. “The
mental benefits far exceed the
physical for me. It’s not about how
fast I go, it’s about feeling well.
When I feel healthy, I’m more ef-
fective at my job. ”
The Workout
Ms. Grier used to log 3 to 5 miles
three times during the week and 5
to 8 miles each weekend day. Now
she runs every day. Her short runs
are between 5 to 8 miles at a
seven-to-eight-minute-mile pace
and her weekend runs are 10 to 13
LIFE & ARTS
the quality of his performance and
passion. I didn’t set out to make a
statement. It was just me, as a
woman, thinking about Bond. He
was such a cool, sexy hero.
I also wanted his sensuality and
the captivating power of his sexu-
ality to be mystifying, leaving the
woman baffled about how she
wound up in love. I did this by
having the singer pose two ques-
tions to Bond in the lyrics:
“And nobody does it better /
Though sometimes I wish someone
could / Nobody does it quite the
way you do / Why’d you have to be
so good?
“The way that you hold me /
Whenever you hold me / There’s
some kind of magic inside you /
That keeps me from runnin’ / But
just keep it comin’ / How’d you
learn to do the things you do?”
Those questions reveal that she
didn’t want to fall for him but did.
Kelly Grier, a senior executive at Ernst & Young, runs in Glenview, Ill.
at an eight-to-nine-minute-mile
pace. She runs outdoors year-
round and prefers to get out first
thing in the morning. “There’s no
temperature too cold,” she says. “I
just bundle up.” When she has pre-
dawn calls, she grudgingly uses
her basement treadmill instead of
running in the dark. “I find run-
ning outdoors cathartic,” she says.
“The treadmill is just about
pounding it out.”
Ms. Grier doesn’t wear a mask
The questions also introduce fe-
male vulnerability and sensuality,
as if spoken in bed after.
Carly Simon was my first choice
to sing the theme. Marvin agreed.
Carly was sexy in her demeanor
and bedroom voice.
I told Marvin that if Carly came
aboard, he should encourage her
to ad lib the line, “James, you’re
the best.” I wanted the duality of
James Bond and James Taylor, her
husband at the time.
Carly Simon: In late 1976,
my manager, Arlyne Roth-
berg, told me I was being
considered for the next
Bond theme. I was excited.
Ever since “Goldfinger” in
’64, I wanted to sing one.
I was pregnant with Ben
at the time, and James Tay-
lor and I were living on Cen-
tral Park West.
I didn’t personally know
Carole or Marvin then. Ar-
lyne said Marvin wanted to
stop up the next day to play
it for me. I said, “Sure.” But I
goofed. I forgot that a new tax at-
torney was coming by with papers.
I hadn’t met him yet.
When the doorbell rang, it was
the tax guy with heavy glasses in a
black suit and tie. I went into the
kitchen to make us tea. As the water
boiled, I wondered why the tax guy
was playing my piano. He turned
out to be Marvin. I didn’t realize he
looked like an accountant.
Before Marvin left, I told him
when she runs, but insists she is
vigilant about social distancing.
“Proximity is a terrifying thing for
people,” she says. “While I feel in-
credibly healthy, I have empathy
for people’s fear and anxiety and
am incredibly conscious of social-
distance rules. If I see people, es-
pecially the elderly, walking on the
sidewalk, I get off and run far out
of their way on the road.”
She says the first few times she
went on longer runs she felt the
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Carly Simon, left, sang the hit theme
for ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ in 1977.
‘I wanted the duality of James Bond
and James Taylor, her husband at the
time,’ says lyricist Carole Bayer Sager.
how great the song was and that
I’d love to record it. Then Ben was
born in January, so I needed a lit-
tle time before recording.
In April ’77, I had to be in L.A.
Producer Richard Perry recorded
my vocal for “Nobody Does It Bet-
ter” with session musicians, in-
cluding pianist Michael Omartian.
Michael Omartian: Marvin was in
the studio, too. He came up with
the piano intro.
But Marvin’s sense of time was
off slightly. After many takes,
Richard called Marvin into the
control booth. He suggested Mar-
vin let me take a shot at the piano.
Marvin agreed. He wrote out the
intro on a sheet of paper. Then I
sat down at the piano, and we
nailed it in a take or two.
During the recording of the
outro, Carly ad-libbed and layered
her vocal several times: “Bay-
bee…you’re…the best, sweet baby,
dar-ling… you’re…the best.” That’s
where she worked in “James.”
Ms. Simon: I also felt Carole’s fe-
male perspective in the lyrics.
They fit me perfectly. Adding
“James, you’re the best” was the
perfect homage.
Richard Hewson: Marvin and I dis-
agreed over the ending. I had added
horns to the strings. It was a Bond
theme and needed a brassy flourish.
Marvin favored holding a single
note until it faded. Richard backed
.
me up, and Marvin eventually
agreed. I conducted the orchestra at
ly
Abbey Road’s Studio Two.
Ms. Simon: Marvin screened the
film for us in New York on the
evening of July 13—two weeks be-
fore the movie opened on July 27.
Only a handful of us were there—
Marvin and Carole, James and me,
and our friends, drummer Russ
Kunkel and his wife Leah, Cass El-
liot’s sister, and their son, Nathaniel.
The film began with Bond, played
by Roger Moore, skiing down the
Alps chased by bad guys. To escape,
Bond skied off a cliff. His Union Jack
parachute opened and he descended.
When the silhouette of a women’s
hands came up to cradle him, my
theme began. I was breathless.
About five minutes after the end
of my theme, the film and score
began to slow and then stopped
completely. We were in the dark. A
woman with a flashlight arrived
and told us there had been a city-
wide blackout. She led us out.
Since we were on the West Side,
we all headed up to my apartment.
We lit candles, and I opened the
windows. Everyone stayed over-
night. Marvin played the piano and
we all sang. I kept getting ice from
the deli downstairs. I sang “Nobody
Does It Better” any number of ways.
James sang, too. He loved the song.
It was wonderful and the only
night like it in my life. There we
were around the piano during the
1977 blackout. It was a thrill. My
blackout just happened to include
James Taylor and James Bond.
extra miles. “I definitely woke up
sore a few mornings,” she says.
“But my body has adjusted.” Ms.
Grier has a home gym and lifts
weights every other day, alternat-
ing between legs and upper body
and incorporating core work in ev-
ery workout.
The Diet
Ms. Grier used to be on the road
four to five days a week, some-
times for weeks in a row. Being
home and able to cook with her
husband has been a major plus.
“There’s no question I’m eating
healthier,” she says. She starts the
day with coffee with almond milk.
After a run she’ll make a 16-ounce
smoothie of blueberries, raspber-
ries, protein powder, coconut and
almond milk. She drinks half for
breakfast and half for lunch. She
snacks on tangerines, carrots and
pistachios in the afternoon.
“Dinner is when the family re-
groups for a proper meal,” Ms.
Grier says. A protein is always ac-
companied by a cooked vegetable
and fresh salad. “We can’t get
enough arugula and spinach,” she
says. They try to support commu-
nity restaurants by ordering take-
out once a week.
The Gear and Cost
“The only gear I’m obsessed with
is my shoes,” says Ms. Grier, who
wears On Cloudflow ($140) run-
JOSHUA LOTT FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
ning shoes. During Chicago win-
ters she layers up in Nike thermal
running pants and Lululemon tops.
She uses the health app on her Ap-
ple Watch and the Oura Ring sleep
tracker ($300).
“The first thing I do when I
wake up is upload my sleep data,”
she says. Lately she’s been sleep-
ing better. “Getting to sleep in my
own bed every night is quite un-
usual,” she says.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
THE STAYING INSIDE GUIDE—CARS
Fenders, Tailfins and
French Curves
Even if you aren’t hitting the open road, web offerings from
automotive museums can rev your engine
BY MARK YOST
NO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPH
or video can replace the
feeling of standing two feet
away from a 1934 Voisin
Type C27 or 1957 Cadillac
Eldorado Biarritz, but amid
the coronavirus lockdown
some of the best auto muse-
ums are trying.
The Mullin Automotive
Museum in Oxnard, Calif.,
has the definitive collection
of Art Deco automobiles in
the U.S., and its online ar-
chives are superb. The mu-
seum offers a virtual tour
through Google, while vid-
eos on YouTube from car-
enthusiast sites the Vintage
Vehicle Show and the Cone-
joValleyGuide walk viewers
around.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: THE MULLIN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM; THE PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM (2); THE MULLIN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM
An interactive feature of
the museum’s digital collec-
tion allows visitors to see
both stylized versions of
original sketchwork for a
car and the finished prod-
uct. It’s a neat gimmick, but
it also goes to the core of
the Mullin’s mission, which
is to celebrate the marriage
of art and handcrafted man-
ufacturing that defined the
Art Deco period.
Gems in the Mullin col-
lection include the 1929 Bu-
gatti Type 43/44 Grand
Sport, which the Mullin ex-
plains is “a prime example
of Bugatti’s application of
grand prix designs to tour-
ing models.” Even in still
photographs the car looks
fast, a feeling that’s con-
veyed by its sweeping full-
length side fenders, open
top, and low-slung profile.
Delahaye is a mostly forgot-
ten French manufacturer,
no
and the Mullin has the most
historically significant
model ever made, the 1937
Delahaye Type 145. The
subject of a new book,
“Faster” by Neal Bascomb,
the Type 145 won the Mil-
1937 Delahaye Type 145, above; 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible, below
lion Franc Challenge, a pre-
World War II competition
to break the 200 kilometer
distance record set in 1934
by Louis Chiron in an Alfa
Romeo and to challenge
Nazi domination of Euro-
pean auto racing in the
years leading up to World
War II. The car, conceived
by Delahaye and financed
by American aristocrat Lucy
Schell, completed the chal-
us ,
lenge in one hour 21 min-
l
utes 49½ seconds, at an av-
e
al a
erage speed of 91.3 miles an
hour.
Another Type 145 in the
ci on
museum’s collection, Chassis
No. 48772, was converted to
a hardtop after World War II
by French coachbuilder
Henri Chapron. “The long,
er s
narrow, and underslung
body was ideal for sleek-
m er
looking coachwork,” the
Record-setters,
m rp
classics, oddities
and more are just a
few clicks away
co Fo
Mullin site explains. “The
car bore the signature Dela-
haye radiator with envel-
oped, teardrop-shaped fend-
ers and an elaborate beltline
that dipped with the
downslope of the fenders.”
On its YouTube channel,
the Petersen Automotive
Museum in Los Angeles has
started video tours of its fa-
n-
mous vault, an entire city
block of underground stor-
age for some 250 cars and
motorcycles not on display.
There’s also archival foot-
age, interviews and other
digital content, including a
feature on racer Ken Miles
and designer Carroll Shelby
testing the Shelby Cobra
289, which dominated road-
NY / NE Monday, May 11, 2020 | A13
LIFE & ARTS
racing circuits in the 1960s
and defeated such legendary
racing marques as Jaguar
.
and Ferrari.
The Petersen has also
ly
taken its popular Breakfast
Club Cruise-Ins, its Sunday
morning get-togethers for
on
classic-car enthusiasts, digi-
tal. The first one was
posted on April 26: a 90-
minute YouTube video that 1952 So-Cal Speed Shop Special Belly Tank Racer, above; 1929 Bugatti Type 43/44 Grand Sport, top
featured 20- to 30-second
walkarounds of classic cars vehicle for the St. Louis time in West Germany, of the car was stopped.”
submitted by their owners. company that manufactured brothers Otto and Wilhelm The museum’s Maico 500
“We didn’t want to stop automobile engine parts. Maisch were making the is one of only about 6,000
the tradition...because of The distinctive Lane also Maico 500, one of the many that were produced and,
the pandemic,” executive di- has cars built behind the postwar microcars that sold like the rest of his collec-
rector Terry L. Karge said in Iron Curtain, like the 1950 for a reasonable 3,600 tion, can be seen only on-
a press release. Tatra T-600 Tatraplan, Deutschemarks. Unfortu- line. For now, that will have
The Petersen’s listing of which, unlike the powerful, nately, the Lane explains, to do.
its collection is organized luxurious Fords and Cadil- “the chassis changes had
by decade. I’m partial to lacs of the era, featured a compromised the front axle Mr. Yost, a former writer
the 1948-78 gallery, which 50-horsepower, air-cooled leading to excessive war- for National Speed Sport
features everything from a engine. At about the same ranty claims, and production News, lives on Cape Cod.
1951 Ford Country Squire
wood-paneled station
wagon to a 1952 So-Cal
Speed Shop Special Belly
Tank Racer. Then there’s
the 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air
Convertible, perhaps my fa-
vorite of the entire collec-
tion. With oodles of
chrome, the rounded wind-
shield, and two-tone orange
and white paint job, it’s the
epitome of the classic
American car of the 1950s.
Being close to Hollywood,
the Petersen also has an
impressive collection of
movie cars.
If quirky cars are your
thing, head over to the Lane
Motor Museum in Nashville,
Tenn. Its 150-car collection
features many European
brands, including microcars.
One of my favorites is a
1957 Zündapp Janus 250,
which has identical doors
on each end and a bench
seat that folds into a bed.
On YouTube you can see
museum owner/curator Jeff
Lane drive the institution’s
1934 McQuay-Norris
Streamliner, a promotional
Jacob Sanchez
Diagnosed with autism
Lack of speech is a sign of autism.
Learn the others at autismspeaks.org/signs.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

A14 | Monday, May 11, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

SPORTS
How Do You Say Michael Jordan in Mandarin?
He’s a freshman at the University of North Carolina. He’s also one of the Chinese translators for ‘The Last Dance.’
BY BEN COHEN

A
iqi Sun is a freshman at
the University of North
Carolina who recently
found himself working
through a highly un-
usual question of translation: How
do you say “the Bulls’ traveling co-
caine circus” in Mandarin?
As one of the Chinese transla-
tors for “The Last Dance,” the doc-
umentary extravaganza about Mi-
chael Jordan’s final season with
the Chicago Bulls, Sun was as-
signed the first episode and took
on the challenge of conveying the
FROM LEFT: BETH A. KEISER/ASSOCIATED PRESS; AIQI SUN

team’s extracurricular proclivities

in another language. It turned out
to be surprisingly universal.
“ ‘Traveling drug circus’ is easy
to understand if you’re translating
word by word,” he said. “People
understand that.”
Making people understand was
Sun’s job on this documentary
about a bit of recent sports history
that was over before he was even
born. But he wasn’t just a transla- North Carolina student Aiqi Sun
tor for “The Last Dance.” He also helped translate ‘The Last Dance,’ a
happens to be the target audience. documentary on Michael Jordan’s
He’s a student at Jordan’s alma final season with the Chicago Bulls.
mater who loves basketball, but
he’s young enough at 19 that he Sun was scrolling Weibo one months, and the same was true in Now a documentary about him is at one quote from the UNC basket-
never watched those Bulls teams, day when he came across a post China for a reason that had noth- such a hit that millions of people ball coach. This is what Williams
and he desperately needs a long, from Yilun Huang, a graduate stu- ing to do with infectious diseases. have been unknowingly reading said: “Michael Jordan is the only
absorbing distraction. dent in computer science at Ari- NBA fans in China were espe- the work of Aiqi Sun. player that could ever turn it on
“It gives me something to do zona State University, who was cially desperate to watch 1990s bas- Sun translated the first episode, and off—and he never frickin’

.
during this pandemic,” Sun said. looking for NBA fans interested in ketball since they’ve had so little which focu turned it off.” This is how it read
Sun used to come home from translation work. He responded to basketball to watch this year. After sed on Jordan’s time at UNC, in Chinese after Sun was done

ly
school in Qingdao, China, and this modern equivalent of a classi- the general manager of the Houston and the eighth hour that premiered with his linguistic wrangling: “Mi-
watch NBA highlights before din- fied and raised his hand when she Rockets tweeted his support in Oc- on Sunday. He was uniquely quali- chael Jordan is the only player in
ner. His favorite player is LeBron asked for help on an upcoming tober for protesters in Hong Kong, fied for the job. Some translators history who can decide his level of
James, but he was more familiar
with Jordan’s game and the Bulls’
dynasty than most people his age.
He’s even seen the clinching games
sports documentary. Sun had a
feeling he knew what that sports
documentary would be.
“The Last Dance,” the minise-
on the Chinese government reacted
with fury, pulling NBA games from
national airwaves as relations be-
tween Washington and Beijing dete-
unfamiliar with college basketball
would struggle with the name of
Dean Smith. Sun is not one of
them. “Piece of cake,” he said.
performance solely by himself—
and he’s always on fire.”
Jordan’s freshman year ended
with him sinking the game-win-
of their six championships on the ries that was made with Jordan’s riorated. The NBA still hasn’t re- But he soon learned that not ev- ning shot in the 1982 national
us ,

Chinese equivalent of YouTube. approval, airs on ESPN in the U.S. turned to Chinese state TV, and erything would be as simple as championship. Sun’s freshman year
l

After Sun picked UNC and and Netflix in many countries Tencent’s schedule remains limited. “Dean Smith” or “traveling cocaine ended with him taking exams with
e
al a

moved to Chapel Hill, he went around the world, but the Chinese But no player was more instru- circus.” only four other people in his dorm.
searching for a job. The problem distribution is controlled by Ten- mental in making the NBA big in The first issue he encountered He stayed on campus after UNC’s
was that his student visa prohib- cent Holdings Ltd., the social me- China than Jordan. CCTV first was American slang. The second classrooms became Zoom win-
ci on

ited him from working off campus dia giant in the NBA’s most lucra- started airing Finals games during was the folksy tongue of Roy Wil- dows, and his plan is to spend a
in his freshman year. He found an tive foreign market. The timing the reign of the Bulls—or, as the liams. few more weeks in North Carolina
improbable solution—and some couldn’t have been any better in Chinese called them, the “Red When he looked at the script before he attempts to return home
pocket change—while procrasti- the U.S., where the shutdown of Oxen”—and Jordan became noth- for the documentary’s first epi- for the summer—and finally gets
nating on social media. American sports is nearing two ing less than a deity in sneakers. sode, Sun couldn’t help but stare to watch his own work.
er s
m er

Baseball Pitches Plan to Get Back on the Field in 2020

m rp

BY JARED DIAMOND with the 30 team owners Monday tions that need to be addressed To reduce travel, the schedule
to discuss the plan. pertaining to safety and econom- would be regionalized, with teams
American professional sports The move comes as state econo- ics, and negotiations between the exclusively facing opponents from
have been shut down for two mies are beginning to reopen, and two sides will almost certainly run their own geographic area. That
months because of the coronavirus baseball faces the reality that if it into speed bumps. would mean, for instance, the Los
co Fo

pandemic, but Major League Base- doesn’t act soon, the entire season The basic outline involves play- Angeles Dodgers playing games
ball is about to get serious about could slip away. But huge chal- ing roughly 80 games—about half against not only their traditional
LM OTERO/ASSOCIATED PRESS

finding a way back to the field. lenges stand in the way, including as many as usual—beginning in National League West rivals, but
MLB is expected to present a the question of how often players early July, following a second also American League West teams
formal proposal to the players’ and other personnel will be spring training in June. like the Los Angeles Angels, Oak-
union this week that will outline tested—and where the resources Games would be held without land Athletics and Seattle Mari-
the league’s idea for how to stage to do that will come from. fans in as many MLB stadiums as ners. Additionally, the playoffs
a season in 2020, several people Details remain fluid and subject allowed by local governments. would expand from 10 participants
familiar with the matter said. This to change as the public-health sit- Other teams would relocate, per- to as many as 14 as a way to help
will come after commissioner Rob uation evolves. haps to their spring training facili- offset MLB’s reduced revenues.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred Manfred holds a conference call There are still plenty of ques- ties in Arizona or Florida. Rosters could also be expanded.
n-

Weather The WSJ Daily Crossword | Edited by Mike Shenk

Shown are today’s noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
d t
Edmonton <0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Down 30 Fictitious
60s 1 Astronaut 31 “___ any
no

V
Vancouver 40s 20s 0s 14 15 16
Calgar
C
Calgaryy
10s Grissom wonder?”
Seattle
60s ip
Winnipeg 17 18 2 Go out ___ limb 33 Eyelid element
20s
50s 50s 50s 3 Yang’s 36 Spot for a TV
P tl d
Portland t
Montreal 30s 19 20
l
Helena 40s 30s 60s counterpart viewer
60s Eugene 70s ttawa
Ottawa 40s
g Bismarckk
Billings 50s A
Augusta 21 22 23 24 25 26 4 Useful skill 38 Dad
50s Boise Toronto
Toronto 50s
70s Mpls./St.. Paul
Pau Boston 5 Sharpen 39 Command to a
80s 40s 50s 27 28 29 30 31
oux FFalls
Pierre Sioux ll k
Milwaukee
ff l
Buffalo A b y
Albany tford
Hartford 60s 6 More hair-raising canine
t
Detroit
60s 40s New Yorkk
ew Y 40 Snaky fish
Reno Ch
Chic g
Chicago 70s 32 33 34 7 African nation
60s 60s es Moines
Des C d
Cleveland
Sacramento
Ch
h y
Cheyenne h
Omaha Pittsburgh
Pittsb h Ph h d phi
Philadelphia 80s north of Ethiopia 42 Isolde’s love
Salt
lt Lake
L kke City
C
City 35 36 37 38 39 40
60s 40s 40s Springfield h
Washingtonon D.C.
C 90s 8 Dict. listing 44 Gotham City
Denver di p li
n Francisco
San 80s Kansas 60s Indianapolis Topeka
k protector
Las C d
Colorado City Ch
Charleston h d
Richmond 100+
41 42 43 9 Bank lobby array
70s Ve g
Vegas p
Springs St.. Lo
LLouis Lou 60s
50s
h
Wichita LLouisville
ill
50s 10 Event for 45 Time’s 2007
60s 60s 50s Nashville
h ill gh
Raleigh 44 45 46 47 48
Los A
Ange l
Angeles 90s 70s ta FFe
Santa Charlotte
Ch swimmers Invention of the
A b q q
Albuquerque Memphis hi Year
k ahoma
homa
h C y 60s
ma City
Oklahoma Cit C b
Columbia 49 50 51 11 Popeye’s tattoo
San Diego Phoen
Phoenix 60s A
Atlanta Warm Rain 46 Organize, as a
Tuc
Tucson 70s
L
Little Rockk
52 53 54 55 56 57
12 Formally
Birmingham
h 70s
70s 80s El Paso Dallas
D ll Jack
Jackson withdraw museum show
Cold T-storms
Ft. Worth 80s bil
Mobile 80s Jacksonville 58 59 60 61 62 13 Gawks 47 Like Rollerblade
30s A ti
Austin skates
40s t
Houston Stationary Snow 15 “Don’t text and
50s l d
Orlando 63 64
80s
ew Orleans
New
Tampa drive” spot, e.g.: 51 Bit of parsley
70s an Antonio
San A t i
60s Honolulu
l l Miami Showers Flurries 65 66 67 Abbr. 53 Oklahoma city
Anchorage
A h g 90s 20 Tempts 54 Undemanding
70s 70s Ice 21 Spud of the NBA 56 Historic stretches
SHAKE IT UP | By David Distenfeld 22 Southernmost 57 Small
U.S. Forecasts City
Today
Hi Lo W
Tomorrow
Hi Lo W City
Today
Hi Lo W
Tomorrow
Hi Lo W
Across 28 Major 51 Puts into words Great Lake salamander
s...sunny; pc... partly cloudy; c...cloudy; sh...showers; 1 Spanish painter environmental 52 Birdies on par 23 Frosh teacher 59 Airport up the
Omaha 54 39 c 59 45 c Frankfurt 49 34 r 57 37 pc
t...t’storms; r...rain; sf...snow flurries; sn...snow; i...ice
Orlando 86 63 pc 85 66 s Geneva 66 43 r 54 47 pc Francisco problem in four holes 25 Oahu, for one coast from LAX
Today Tomorrow Philadelphia 60 41 sh 59 41 s Havana 79 70 t 83 70 t 5 Unwanted California 55 Undercover 28 Edie of CBS’s 60 Slick, in a way
City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W Phoenix 98 71 s 93 67 s Hong Kong 87 78 t 85 79 t 32 H.S. class with activity?
plant “Tommy” 61 It may be pierced
Anchorage 54 42 sh 54 42 pc Pittsburgh 46 33 r 53 32 pc Istanbul 78 65 s 81 61 pc microscopes 58 Disney title
Atlanta 68 47 s 71 52 pc Portland, Maine 57 41 t 55 36 s Jakarta 91 77 t 91 77 t 9 Gather 29 Rectangular 62 ___-pitch
Austin 84 69 pc 85 68 c Portland, Ore. 69 52 t 62 49 r Jerusalem 77 55 s 82 60 s 14 Symbol of the 34 Name on a rap character aided shapes (softball game)
Baltimore 60 39 c 61 41 pc Sacramento 76 53 pc 72 50 c Johannesburg 71 45 pc 71 46 pc 1964 New York sheet by the demigod
Boise 84 54 pc 69 47 c St. Louis 60 46 pc 61 48 c London 55 36 pc 57 40 pc 35 Happens to Maui Previous Puzzle’s Solution
Madrid 68 50 r 64 50 t
World’s Fair
Boston 59 42 t 56 39 c Salt Lake City 83 58 pc 74 53 pc 59 Uses a wok, or, O P T I C E A R T H T R Y
Burlington 54 34 sh 51 35 c San Francisco 69 55 pc 67 52 c Manila 97 81 t 97 81 s 16 Basic belief 37 Astronomical A R E N A G R I M E H E M
phenomenon read as a T O R N C U R T A I N E S C
Charlotte 66 40 s 66 48 pc Santa Fe 70 42 c 79 43 s Melbourne 62 50 pc 63 48 c 17 Font style like
Chicago 52 39 pc 59 42 pc Seattle 74 54 c 64 52 r Mexico City 74 54 pc 75 53 s direction, a hint S S N A P E A R I A
Helvetica 41 “Get lost!” T O A S T E R O V E N S
Cleveland 47 35 c 56 35 s Sioux Falls 52 33 c 56 45 c Milan 66 56 r 70 54 sh to the ends of D I O R S H R I N E S
Dallas 80 64 c 78 67 r Wash., D.C. 61 43 c 62 44 pc Moscow 65 51 s 73 39 r 18 Birthplace of 43 Monticello, e.g. 17-, 28- and I N P A R T E I N E T A B
Denver 58 40 t 77 48 pc Mumbai 92 83 pc 93 84 pc Muhammad 44 Winning breed 44-Across
P R E M I UM G A S
L O I N E
S E D P L E A E
A N M O R
Detroit
Honolulu
51 32 pc 59 33 s
84 72 pc 85 71 pc
International Paris
Rio de Janeiro
55 39 sh
79 64 s
58 42 pc
81 68 s
19 “Weird Al” at the 2018 63 Pros’ foes C O U S I N S S E N T
Today Tomorrow Yankovic hit of Westminster 64 Like Deadheads
S H O P P I N G C A R T
Houston 84 67 s 85 70 c Riyadh 98 77 pc 99 75 pc H I L T R I O B O W
Indianapolis 54 36 c 59 39 c City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W Rome 71 58 pc 73 57 t 1984 Kennel Club and Beliebers A P U C E R E A L A I S L E
R P M A L A R M S N I D E
Kansas City 54 39 c 55 45 c Amsterdam 54 40 pc 53 39 sh San Juan 88 76 s 89 76 s 20 Purim honoree Dog Show 65 Wanting E O N D O O R S T A X E D
Las Vegas 92 68 s 84 61 s Athens 77 64 s 84 65 s Seoul 72 50 pc 70 52 pc 21 Sobbed 48 Bud
Little Rock 64 47 c 62 53 r Baghdad 92 64 s 93 66 s Shanghai 84 63 pc 85 63 pc constant The contest answer is ADOBE. You can capitalize
Los Angeles 72 55 pc 70 56 pc Bangkok 97 83 t 98 82 t Singapore 89 80 t 89 78 t 24 Andrews of 49 “Simpsons” emotional one word in five clues to create a brand name, after
Miami 82 72 t 83 72 pc Beijing 84 56 s 84 54 s Sydney 67 47 s 70 50 c “Dancing With character with support which the clue satisfies a theme answer: Singer in
Milwaukee 49 36 pc 54 38 s Berlin 49 34 r 52 39 pc Taipei City 81 74 sh 82 73 pc the Stars” a Ph.D. in 22-A for TORN CURTAIN; Subway in 68-A for
66 Small bills TOASTER OVENS; Mustang in 1-D for PREMIUM
Minneapolis 55 34 pc 59 42 pc Brussels 55 35 pc 54 37 pc Tokyo 80 65 pc 77 64 pc 26 Keats creation computer science
Nashville 65 45 pc 62 50 c Buenos Aires 67 51 c 64 51 pc Toronto 46 29 c 47 31 pc 67 Sandwich in pita GASOLINE; Target in 55-A for SHOPPING CART;
New Orleans 80 66 s 81 68 pc Dubai 99 82 pc 95 80 s Vancouver 68 50 c 62 48 r 27 Make mistakes 50 Make progress bread and Life in 6-A for CEREAL AISLE. The first letters
New York City 60 39 t 57 42 s Dublin 48 34 pc 54 36 pc Warsaw 77 35 sh 52 38 c of the original answer to these clues (ARIA, DOORS,
Solve this puzzle online and discuss it at WSJ.com/Puzzles.
s

Oklahoma City 61 47 c 61 56 r Edinburgh 53 36 pc 56 32 pc Zurich 63 39 r 56 41 pc OATS, BOW, EARTH) spell the contest answer.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
OPINION
Graduation Is a Time for Unlearning
Dear grads,
lockdown
class of 2020:
Switch
“A n i m a l
Crossing,”
wrap up that
off
INSIDE
VIEW episode
“The Masked
of
By Andy
Singer,” pause
Kessler
practicing
your TikTok
“Renegade” dance, finish ironi-
cally chugging your Corona
beer, and listen up—Karens,
Beckys and Chads, too.
Yes, someone owes you an
apology. You’re heading into
the worst job market, compet-
ing with 33 million recently
laid-off plus furloughed em-
ployees. I told you to take that
antifungals course. To para-
phrase the philosopher Bluto,
3¾ years of college down the
drain. All this from a coronavi-
rus 22-year-olds have a statis-
tically insignificant chance of
dying from. You will forever be
Generation C. All of Gen X
through Z’s FOMO—fear of
missing out—has morphed
into FOGO, fear of going out.
You got cheated out of a
graduation ceremony, but
don’t despair: Facebook to the
rescue. This Friday it’s hosting
#Graduation2020. Woo-hoo!
And professors be damned—
“words of wisdom” will come
from Oprah, Awkwafina, Jenni-
fer Garner, Lil Nas X and Si-
mone Biles, with special musi-
cal guest Miley Cyrus. But, get
this, only two of those six
graduated from college and
they are all incredibly success-
ful. I think this is Harvard
How Cuba’s Spies Keep Winning
The failed
landing on a
r u g g e d
stretch of
Ve n e z u e l a n
coastline last
AMERICAS week by a
band of mer-
By Mary
cenaries hop-
Anastasia
ing to unseat
O’Grady
Ve n e z u e l a n
dictator Nico-
lás Maduro is another tragedy
for the beleaguered nation.
The predawn mission was
meant to capitalize on the ele-
ment of surprise. But the ir-
regular soldiers were immedi-
ately confronted by Venezue-
lan troops because their
operation had been thoroughly
penetrated by Cuban-backed
Venezuelan intelligence. Some
were killed in the fighting and
more may have been executed.
Among the captured are two
Americans.
The debacle is demoralizing
for an enslaved nation suffer-
ing dire privation and brutal
repression. It is also an oppor-
tunity to reflect on Cuba’s
asymmetric-warfare capabili-
ties and the sophistication of
its intelligence apparatus,
which over more than a half-
century has run circles around
the U.S. Beyond the killing, the
no
fiasco will deepen suspicion
and distrust among the mem-
bers of the opposition—par-
ticularly of “friends” who
claim to have broken with the
dictatorship.
The U.S. government has
said it had no “direct involve-
ment” in the seaborne opera-
tion. Jordan Goudreau, a for-
mer Green Beret who was the
I Knew Little Richard as Mr. Penniman
By Bob Greene
W
henever our paths
would cross, I would
address him as Mr.
Penniman. Respect for your
elders and all that, but what
the heck else were you sup-
posed to call him? “Hello, Lit-
tle?” “Hello, Richard?” “Hello,
Little Richard?” So Mr. Penni-
man it was, and he never ob-
jected or corrected.
He worked in a bus
station’s kitchen
in the 1950s when
inspiration struck.
For such a flamboyant man,
he wasn’t much of a
schmoozer backstage. Not a
lot of chatter in the wings be-
tween him and the other acts
on a multiband bill—he’d been
doing this forever, and like a
ballplayer who knows to save
his energy for the game, Rich-
ard Penniman was aware that
dropout Mark Zuckerberg rub-
bing it in.
They may not be sages, but
neither are the people you
trusted who got you to blow
through your parents’ savings.
Especially since you finished
classes via videoconference—
remember, you can’t Zoom a
zoomer because a zoomer can’t
be zoomed (ask your dad). The
only good news is that you
won’t have bad dreams like the
rest of us about missing class
or that last test. You likely
passed automatically.
You were told to go to col-
lege, study hard and you’ll get
a good job. But that model has
been broken for a while. In-
stead you got cancel culture,
pronoun police, plus diversity
and inclusion—of everything
but sound ideas, which need to
be free to mingle and test-
drive. You’ve been run down,
you’ve been lied to. You ended
up with someone else’s
agenda.
“You’re going to find that
many of the truths we cling to
depend greatly on our own
point of view. . . . The truth is
often what we make of it; you
heard what you wanted to
hear, believed what you
wanted to believe.” Sound fa-
miliar? For 20 points, who said
it? Socrates? Kant? Hume?
Rousseau?
These aren’t the ideas
you’re looking for. The contin-
ued lockdowns are proof that
those we trust, politicians and
omniscient public-health offi-
cers, flunked economics. You
probably took an Econ 101
course filled with tired
us ,
l
ring leader of the plot, did re-
e
al a
ceive some interest in his ser-
vices from advisers to U.S.-
backed interim Venezuelan
ci on
President Juan Guaidó. But
Mr. Guaidó’s communications
team has put out a statement
insisting that the interim
president never agreed to
er s
launching the operation.
Mr. Goudreau, who heads
m er
the U.S.-based security firm
Silvercorp, apparently planned
to provoke a military uprising,
detain Mr. Maduro, and put
him on a plane to the U.S.
m rp
There is near universal
agreement that it was a reck-
less endeavor. Yet it is only
the latest in a string of des-
perate attempts to try to bring
co Fo
down the dictatorship. And
while the methods have var-
ied, the common denominator
in all the quashed uprisings
has been how effectively Cu-
ban-led intelligence has dis-
rupted the plans. In some
cases the plots may even have
originated with state-security
agents, who recruited eager
patriots and mercenaries and
set them up to be killed. This
also reinforces a sense of futil-
n-
ity among would-be rebels.
Whether it’s inside the mil-
itary or among the ranks of
the opposition, many Venezu-
elans now conclude that Cu-
ban moles are everywhere and
it’s too risky to put confidence
in anyone. This is key to Ha-
vana’s control strategy in Ven-
ezuela. It is also standard
practice on the island.
The struggle to liberate
Venezuela is a proxy war be-
tween the U.S. and Cuba,
which is backed by its allies
Little Richard was who the
customers had come to see,
and Little Richard really only
existed when strangers’ eyes
were on him.
But, man, when that spot-
light hit him. Some people
were born for the glare of the
lights and the stares of the
crowd, and he was such a fel-
low. Over the weekend the
obituaries—Penniman died
Saturday at 87—detailed his
colorful and often tumultuous
life. He was well aware that
white singers, in his era and
later, took his hits and suc-
cessfully remade them. But he
was also aware—and proud—
that as famous and talented as
those singers were, his ver-
sions were enduringly better.
Elvis Presley’s cover of
“Tutti Frutti”? The Beatles’
version of “Long Tall Sally”?
The Everly Brothers’ rendition
of “Rip It Up”? All terrific. But
listen to each back-to-back
with the Little Richard origi-
nals, and it’s no contest. And
if you really want to give
yourself a treat—especially if
you’re feeling down during
Keynesian dogma. Or a
comparative-lit class that ig-
nored the Western canon. Or
someone else’s agenda. Movies
are infused with manipulative
messages. Many articles on
consumed a culty climate
catechism.
You might even have
trusted to expect a sustainable,
technology and Silicon Valley
shoehorn in the obligatory
“you didn’t build that” para-
graph—it was government-
intersectional, collectivist uto-
pianism paying you to sit at
funded research. That’s like
saying Mark Zuckerberg didn’t
home collecting Universal Ba- build Facebook because he
sic Yang Bucks. Well, you’re learned fractions at a public
sitting at home all right—un- school in fourth grade. Again,
employed and maybe unem- other people’s big government
ployable. If you’re floundering, agenda. Trust yourself to build
don’t expect anyone to admit, the future while others wait
“You messed up, you trusted for government help.
us.” The Showtime series “Bil-
lions,” a comic-book rendition
of Wall Street, has the tag line
You’re now free from “Trust No One”—a bit much.
My advice? Take it all in and
empty campus dogma, then make up your own mind.
so seize the chance to Read voraciously and watch
studiously, but always with a
try out better ideas. skeptical eye. And don’t fall for
windbags at cocktail parties or
protest marches. Trust your
But it’s not too late. All of a own judgment.
sudden, everything is up for There are really only a few
grabs. Education. Health care. things you can trust. Trust
Travel. Energy. Commercial data: the sum of available in-
real estate. Government. formation, the more the better.
Transportation. Missing meat! Trust markets: the sum of
Most of these are crony indus- price signals and what every-
tries being destroyed before one thinks that’s hard to dis-
our eyes. It’s time to trust tort. And finally, trust your gut:
progress, price signals and the sum of your experiences.
perpetual change. Are you Let’s face it, that’s why you
ready? went to college, to hear new
You’ll have to stay focused, things, learn new perspectives,
because the indoctrination will and share ideas with new peo-
continue even after gradua- ple. Trust me: Use all of that
tion. When you hear about and you’ll be successful. And
stakeholder capitalism, living the “truth is what you make of
wages, network neutrality, in- it” quote? Obi-Wan Kenobi said
come equality, election med- it a long time ago. He didn’t
dling or gig workers as em- graduate college either.
on
ployees, it’s often a front for Write to Kessler@wsj.com.
Russia, Iran and China. The spy in 2001 after some 16
conflict drags on because Cuba years working for the enemy.
has the edge where it matters. Cuba has myriad ways of
When it comes to tradi- spreading disinformation,
tional military capabilities, the combating critics, and widen-
U.S. soars above its adversar- ing its influence. Return ac-
ies. But Havana dominates in cess to the island for journal-
deception, human intelligence ists and academics, for
and propaganda. It’s been that example, is denied when there
way from the early days of the is unfavorable coverage, which
Cuban dictatorship. “The Cu- is presumably why yours truly
bans were underestimated for cannot get a visa.
more than a quarter of a cen- Blackmail is another
tury,” former CIA Cuba analyst method of manipulation. I
Brian Latell wrote in his 2012 have twice interviewed a Cu-
ban defector who told me it
was his job in Cuba to retrieve
They’ve infiltrated videocassettes from hidden
cameras in hotel rooms and
another attempt official residences where visit-
to unseat Venezuela’s ing dignitaries were staying.
The goal was to capture on
Nicolás Maduro. film compromising behavior
that could be used to extort
political favors or, for exam-
book, “Castro’s Secrets.” The ple, force a resignation. With
U.S. thought it was dealing heavy political and diplomatic
with “bush-league amateurs” traffic to the island from Eu-
until Florentino Aspillaga rope and Washington, it’s a
Lombard, a highly decorated safe bet that at least a few
Cuban agent, defected in 1987. have been compromised in
That’s when the U.S. began to this way.
understand that Castro’s Cuba The Guaidó team now says
had “developed a foreign in- it balked at the Goudreau plan
telligence service that quickly in part because it did not trust
rose into the ranks of the half former Venezuelan General
dozen best in the world.” Cliver Alcalá, whose brother is
Moreover, “in some covert Mr. Maduro’s ambassador to
specialties, particularly in run- Tehran but who claimed to
ning double agents and have switched sides. Mr. Alcalá
counterintelligence,” over de- was taken into custody in the
cades, Mr. Latell wrote, U.S. on drug-trafficking
“Cuba’s achievements have charges in March. But that he
been unparalleled.” got close to the Guaidó team in
It’s a mistake to think this the first place is another credit
is only about people like high- to Cuba’s intel network—most
ranking Pentagon intelligence likely in this case with a lot of
analyst Ana Belén Montes, help from Iran.
who was exposed as a Cuban Write to O’Grady@wsj.com.
“Wooooooooo”? His eyes had
a vocabulary of their own.
He was working in a
kitchen in Macon, Ga., in the
1950s, cleaning pots and pans
by hand and hating every min-
ute. This wasn’t what he
wanted for his life. One day, at
ANDY LYONS/GETTY IMAGES
work, an odd combination of
words came into his head:
“Awop-bop-a-loo-bop, awop-
bam-boom!”
It would start his path to
becoming a millionaire and a
world traveler. It would be his
Little Richard in 2004. passport to the most storied
cities on Earth.
these dismal days—take a lis- Often, onstage in those cit-
ten to Little Richard’s title ies, he would say to his ador-
track for the 1956 Jayne ing audiences: “I was washing
Mansfield movie “The Girl dishes at the Greyhound bus
Can’t Help It.” Just try to sit station when I wrote this
still. Just try not to smile. song. Thank goodness for
His piano keyboard was an ‘Tutti Frutti.’ It took me out of
extension of his body, as if his the kitchen.”
fingers and the keys were a It sure did, Mr. Penniman.
single instrument. That pencil Good golly, Miss Molly.
mustache, particularly in the
early years, could have made Mr. Greene’s books include
him resemble a shady villain “When We Get to Surf City: A
in a noir movie—except how Journey Through America in
many villains spontaneously Pursuit of Rock and Roll,
erupt with joyous cries of Friendship and Dreams.”
Monday, May 11, 2020 | A15
BOOKSHELF | By Marc Levinson
Spinning
The Flywheel
Bezonomics
By Brian Dumaine
(Scribner, 325 pages, $28)
L
ong ago, I worked at a magazine that put the chief
executives of America’s five best-managed companies
on its cover each December. Wall Street analysts eagerly
awaited our annual feature, but not for the intended reason.
Very often, a corporate boss who basked in our praise soon
found short sellers on his trail.
Based on that experience, business journalist Brian
Dumaine’s “Bezonomics” should have the people at
Amazon.com Inc. worried. As its unfortunate title suggests,
Mr. Dumaine’s book is a paean to Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO.
“Bezos is one in a billion—a leader who stands apart from
other business titans because he figured out how to use his
high IQ, combative style, and boundless energy to build a
culture at Amazon that really does care about the customer,”
Mr. Dumaine proclaims three pages in. After interviewing
many Amazon executives, the author came away convinced
that “rather than focusing on
the competition, Amazonians
spend their every working
moment trying to make their
customers’ lives better.”
You’ve got the gist.
Mr. Bezos, according to Mr.
Dumaine, has designed Amazon
to work as a flywheel. “The
trick,” Mr. Dumaine says, “is to
apply enough energy day in and
day out to get the flywheel
spinning faster and faster until it
keeps moving on its own.” This
.
metaphor, apparently coined by
“Good to Great” author Jim Collins,
ly
is understood to mean that each new
initiative should attract more customers to
Amazon’s websites. Once there, customers can be induced to
sample other offerings, pushing more transactions through
Amazon’s servers and thereby creating economies of scale that
lower the company’s costs and attract still more customers.
To illustrate this strategy, Mr. Dumaine offers Amazon
Prime, which provides users free shipping, video and other
goodies in return for an annual or monthly membership fee,
and Alexa, a voice assistant powered by artificial intelligence.
These services not only generate revenue but also bind
customers more closely to the company. Amazon, the author
says, is using Whole Foods, the grocery chain it acquired in
2017, for much the same purpose, and its rumored interest in
managing health care would offer one more way of enveloping
customers in the Amazon ecosystem.
All of these ventures make heavy use of computing and
provide a user base for Amazon Web Services, the cloud-
computing giant that is the company’s profit engine. They
also yield data that can be mined to improve Amazon’s
artificial-intelligence software. Artificial intelligence
generates algorithms that Amazon leans on heavily to
guide business decisions. “Increasingly, the algorithms are
running the company,” Mr. Dumaine says approvingly.
The flip side is that, whether they wish to or not, Amazon
shoppers are supplying data, the raw material of the digital
age, free, so that the company can process it and serve it
back to them in the form of advertising and product
placement on Amazon’s website and also sell it to other
firms. Unless you believe that targeting consumers with
marketing pitches is some great public service, this is not
exactly a customer-centric way of doing business.
How Amazon and its ‘one in a billion’ chief
executive, through various ventures, envelop
customers in the company’s ecosystem.
After 120 pages of fawning praise, Mr. Dumaine acknowl-
edges that Amazon may not be perfect. In a chapter describing
the demanding pace of work in Amazon’s distribution centers,
he raises the “chilling” prospect that automation, backed by
artificial intelligence, will eliminate many warehouse jobs.
Interestingly, he sheds no light on Amazon’s refusal to nego-
tiate collective-bargaining agreements covering its warehouse
workers in the United States and some other countries. Mr.
Bezos presumably would not be flattered to be compared to
Henry Ford, who described unions as “the worst thing that
ever struck the earth,” but paternalistic management in the
Ford tradition seems to be an essential aspect of Bezonomics.
Mr. Dumaine’s claim that Amazon is always trying to im-
prove its customers’ lives runs up against the reality that the
interests of Amazon’s customers may conflict with Amazon’s.
Among its most important customers are the more than five
million vendors who sell their goods on Amazon’s website.
When a visitor types “beach blanket” or “tool box” into the
search bar, she may be offered goods from third parties
alongside brand-name items that Amazon has procured from
manufacturers and unique items that Amazon sells under its
own brand. Amazon’s third-party business allows it to offer
shoppers an extraordinary range of merchandise without the
nuisance of locating suppliers, managing orders and storing
inventory. It is crucial to the company’s success and, as Mr.
Dumaine notes, enables small retailers to sell to the world
rather than only to the handful of people who might stumble
upon their brick-and-mortar shops or their unique websites.
But there is a darker side to this business model. Amazon
is extraordinarily well informed about the businesses of its
third-party sellers. It learns the details of their every sale,
from price-per-unit to customer location. It may handle the
transportation and distribution of sellers’ goods, so it knows
about their supplier relationships and their inventory turn-
over. It may lend them money, thereby learning about their
finances, and arrange their advertising, obtaining an advance
look at their marketing plans.
As the author himself admits, Amazon can choose to
compete with its seller-customers at any time. If it sees that
they have profitable product lines, it can advertise its lower-
priced offerings next to theirs on its website, develop its own
products to compete with theirs and suspend their financing
to complicate their business. Rather than exploring how
Amazon’s massive store of information might impinge on
competition—an emerging issue in economics—Mr. Dumaine
blithely dismisses concerns about Amazon’s power over firms
that are simultaneously its customers and its competitors as
“hipster antitrust.”
Amazon is indeed a remarkable company. In a short period
of time, it has remade the consumer economy. Mr. Bezos’s
accomplishments merit serious study. I suspect he can with-
stand tougher scrutiny than he receives in this volume.
Mr. Levinson’s books include “The Great A&P and the
Struggle for Small Business in America,” recently published
in a second edition by Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

A16 | Monday, May 11, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

OPINION
REVIEW & OUTLOOK LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Barack Obama on Michael Flynn The U.S. Post Office Remains a Vital Service

B
arack Obama is a lawyer, so it was stun- Mueller didn’t disclose that the interviewing In “Phase Out, Don’t Bail Out, the personal touch that so many of us
ning to read that he ventured into the FBI agents at the time didn’t think that Mr. Post Office” (op-ed, May 6), Gary cherish and, in some cases, rely on. I
MacDougal ignores the essential pub- don’t bank online nor do I pay my
Michael Flynn case in a way that mis- Flynn had lied about a phone call with the Rus-
lic service function of the United bills online. Without the Postal Ser-
stated the supposed crime and sian ambassador. States Postal Service. vice, others like me would be forced
ignored the history of his own The lawyer President Worst of all, as a legal mat- The Postal Service is an integral into a new life that would lay bare
Administration in targeting misstates the crime and ter, is that they never told Mr. part of the federal government, pro- far more personal information than
Mr. Flynn. Since the former Flynn that there was no inves- viding all Americans—in urban and need be.
President chose to offer his le- the real threat to justice. tigative evidentiary basis to rural areas and every community in ANNE BOWMAN
gal views when he didn’t need justify the interview. The FBI between—with universal access to Lake Balboa, Calif.
to, we wonder what he’s really had already concluded there our network and services. Americans
worried about. was no evidence that Mr. Flynn had colluded rely on the Postal Service to receive The USPS’s bulk-mail rates are set
“There is no precedent that anybody can find with Russia in the 2016 election and had moved mail-in ballots, jury summons, census too low. It subsidizes political fund-
for someone who has been charged with perjury to close the case. James Comey’s FBI cronies information and prescription drugs. raising letters and pleas for dona-
The need for the Postal Service is tions from worthy and unworthy or-
just getting off scot-free,” Mr. Obama said in the used the news of Mr. Flynn’s phone call with the
evidenced by the extraordinary de- ganizations. So let it experiment with
Friday call to about 3,000 members of the Russian ambassador as an excuse to interview mand for postal services. Every day, charging different rates. Amazon,
Obama Alumni Association. The comments the then national security adviser and perhaps more than 472 million pieces of mail FedEx and UPS aren’t geared to pro-
were leaked to Yahoo News and confirmed by trap him into a lie. are processed and delivered by this vide pickup and delivery services
Mr. Obama’s spokeswoman to the Washington All of this was moved along politically by institution. across the country, especially in low-
Post and other outlets. Mr. Obama added: leaks to the media about Mr. Flynn’s phone call At a time when Americans are be- population rural areas. Like many
“That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get with the Russian. The U.S. eavesdrops on for- ing urged to stay at home, the vital government agencies, the USPS is a
worried that basic—not just institutional eign officials as a routine, but names of inno- nature of the Postal Service has service, not a profit-making organiza-
norms—but our basic understanding of rule of cent Americans on those calls are supposed to never been more apparent. This is tion. The same is true of the military,
law is at risk. And when you start moving in be shielded from review to protect their pri- why the National Security Council the State Department, the CDC and
those directions, it can accelerate pretty quickly vacy. Yet senior Obama officials have had to ac- identified the delivery of postal ser- the Agriculture Department.
vices as being a “critical government ALLAN J. MACLAREN
as we’ve seen in other places.” knowledge that they “unmasked” Mr. Flynn’s service” necessary during times of San Jose, Calif.
Even discounting for Mr. Obama’s partisan name and others in their last months in power. crisis.
audience, this gets the case willfully wrong. Mr. Then, what a surprise, news of Mr. Flynn’s call Instead of being phased out, the Addressing a card, putting a stamp
Flynn was never charged with perjury, which and its contents pop up in the Washington Post. Postal Service needs to be reformed on it and dropping it into a mailbox
is lying under oath in a legal proceeding. Mr. Did someone say “institutional norms”? and strengthened for the future. is the only available, truly private
Flynn pleaded guilty to a single count of lying All of this raises questions about the role the ROBERT M. (MIKE) DUNCAN communication the modern citizen
to the FBI in a meeting at the White House on Obama Justice Department and White House Chair has at her disposal. Like all of them,
Jan. 24, 2017 that he was led to believe was a played in targeting Mr. Flynn. We already know U.S. Postal Board of Governors this is a freedom not to be taken
friendly chat among colleagues. the FBI had opened up a counterintelligence Washington lightly. Communication through any
As for “scot-free,” that better applies to for- probe into Mr. Flynn and other Trump cam- other medium or means of exchange
For years the USPS has been man- requires the identities of both par-
mer President Bill Clinton who lied under oath paign officials, yet it had come up with no evi-
dated by Congress to fully prefund ties, and many times the content of
in a civil case and was impeached for perjury dence of collusion. health benefits for all employees 75 the communication, to be revealed to
but was acquitted by the Senate. We understand Donald Trump’s victory increased the

.
years in advance, a burden that is a third party. If the post office is
why Mr. Obama wouldn’t bring that up. chances that this unprecedented spying on a not placed on any other business in eliminated, we’ll lose access to fun-

ly
We doubt Mr. Obama has even read Thurs- political opponent would be uncovered, which the world. If not for the ridiculous damental private communications in
day’s Justice Department motion to drop the would have been politically embarrassing at the obligation of funding health benefits this country.
Flynn prosecution. If he does ever read it, he’ll very least. Targeting Mr. Flynn—and flogging for future employees not yet born, LACEY SHRUM
on
find disconcerting facts that certainly do raise the discredited Steele dossier—kept the Russia
doubts about whether “our basic understanding collusion pot boiling and evolved into the two-
of rule of law is at risk,” though not for the rea- year Mueller investigation that turned up no ev-
the USPS would have been making
money up to the Covid-19 disruption.
He also speculates about the sale
of the 31,000 post offices and retrain-
Dallas

It would be sensible to eliminate

Saturday business and move to
sons he claims. idence of collusion.
ing its over 600,000 employees. Just three-day-a-week residential deliv-
us ,

Start with prosecutorial violation of the This among other things is what U.S. Attor-
try to imagine getting this network ery. The loudest objectors to these
l

Brady rule, which Mr. Obama knows is a legal ney John Durham is investigating at the request back if we allow it to collapse. The adjustments have been the Postal
e
obligation that the prosecution must turn over of Attorney General William Barr. Maybe that’s
al a

Postal Service binds this nation to- Service unions (600,000 potential
potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense. why Mr. Obama is so eager to distort the truth gether and its intricate network of votes and millions in political cam-
Yet prosecutors led by special counsel Robert of the Flynn prosecution. deliveries is a national treasure. paign funding). Just like the mili-
ci on

ROBERT J. MCLENNAN tary-industrial complex—a defense

More Trouble Looms for Hong Kong

Getzville, N.Y. contractor in every congressional
district—prevents true reform for
There is a world of us “seasoned the Defense Department, the Postal

H
ong Kong’s political health took a turn ing other pro-democracy lawmakers. folks” who don’t do everything on- Service-industrial complex, which in-
er s

for the worse last week, even as the line. We know how to write letters cludes Congress, stands in the way
Worse may be coming. In late April, Hong
and send cards for birthdays and of reforming the USPS.
city celebrated progress in its contain- Kong police arrested more than a dozen promi- TIM HEALEY
m er

holidays. The concept of not having

ment of coronavirus. Beijing
knows that the rest of the
world is distracted with the
pandemic, and it is exploiting
China denounces the
protest movement as
m rp
nent proponents of democ- a post office would take away the St. Louis
racy, including Martin Lee,
the father of Hong Kong’s de-
mocracy movement, and

the opportunity to exert more a ‘political virus.’ Jimmy Lai, a media tycoon PBS Defends Its Norman Borlaug Portrayal
control in Hong Kong. who sometimes writes for us.
On Wednesday China’s Their preliminary hearing is Your editorial “Battering Norman Green Revolution,” he said, “has
Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office de- May 18. They face charges for organizing and Borlaug” (April 25) mischaracterizes bought 20 to 25 years.” Fifty years
nounced the protest movement as “a political participating in last year’s protests and could our documentary on Norman Borlaug, later there is fierce debate over the
co Fo

“The Man Who Tried to Feed the continued reliance on Green Revolu-
virus in Hong Kong” and warned that Beijing be sentenced to years in prison. The arrests
World.” Far from “battering” the No- tion technology and anger about its
would not “sit idly by with these recklessly de- send a message that Hong Kongers protest at bel Peace Prize-winning agronomist, negative repercussions. We would be
mented forces.” The office’s new director, Xia their legal peril. the film credits Borlaug for largely remiss were we not to acknowledge
Baolong, is known for making good on Bei- Yet more protests seem inevitable. The na- banishing the specter of global famine that debate and the controversy sur-
jing’s threats. Before taking Hong Kong, he tional anthem legislation is one possible trigger. in the late 1960s. “It seemed almost rounding Borlaug’s legacy in a biog-
oversaw the arrest of Christians, the demoli- Another is Beijing’s intensifying calls for Hong miraculous,” the narrator says, “and raphy about him.
tion of churches and the toppling of crosses Kong to pass national-security legislation that Borlaug had been at the center of it.” Our film presents a nuanced por-
in Zhejiang Province. would criminalize dissent. Police may use coro- The first 47 minutes of the 51-min- trait of a scientist who saved millions
On Friday pro-democracy and pro-Beijing navirus as an excuse to deny Hong Kongers a ute film are spent tracing Borlaug’s of lives, but whose innovations have
lawmakers got into a physical altercation at the permit to hold their annual remembrance rally life from his childhood on an Iowa had some unintended consequences in
Legislative Council building. The tussle broke of the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4. farm to his Nobel Peace Prize, which the long term. We encourage viewers
he received for “saving millions of to wrestle with that complexity.
out over who will lead the powerful House Com- And beginning on June 10, protesters will mark
n-

lives.” Far from rewriting history as SUSAN BELLOWS

mittee, but the underlying issue is whether pro- a series of significant anniversaries for last your editorial claims, Borlaug’s old Acting executive producer
democracy lawmakers will be able to block leg- year’s protests. friends and colleagues here and in In- American Experience
islation that would suppress speech by Beijing continues to blame Hong Kongers for dia help paint a portrait of a man Boston
criminalizing disrespect of the national anthem. the political instability and economic damage.
no

who, in the narrator’s description,

The scuffle ended with pro-democracy law- But China’s unrelenting assault on Hong Kong’s was “outspoken, stubborn, selfless
maker Andrew Wan carried off on a stretcher freedom and legal autonomy guarantees that and obsessed by his war on hunger.” Biden Is Hurt by #MeToo’s
by paramedics and with security forcibly eject- the resistance will continue. In its epilogue the film takes stock
of our subject’s legacy. When Borlaug
Ideology-Driven Methods

The Chief Justice Quashes a Political Stunt

was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in William McGurn’s “Al Franken’s
1970, he issued a warning. “The Revenge” (Main Street, May 5) calls
attention to the “inconsistencies

T
[that] are dividing the #MeToo side
he Democratic campaign to delegiti- known for his integrity, to give a statement to Beef Workers Need Genuine between folks who remain true to the
mize conservative judges goes beyond NPR last week that “the sole reason” for his de- old standard and those who have
Senate threats to restructure the Su- cision is his wife’s “debilitating chronic illness,” Rules, Not Just ‘Guidance’ modified it because they don’t want
preme Court. Consider the and that he had told his family Your editorial “Trump’s Beef to bring down Mr. Biden.” But the
progressive stunt that Chief Roberts says there’s no and clerks last year. Stakes” (April 30) indicates that the problem with the #MeToo movement
Justice John Roberts put to basis for a liberal smear The Demand Justice letter “order offers liability protections to isn’t just inconsistency. It’s that the
bed Friday. ought to have been ignored. companies that protect workers by old “believe women” standard was so
Judge Tom Griffith, a 65- against a retiring judge. Instead Judge Srinivasan on following in good faith the Centers outrageous that it’s astonishing that
year-old George W. Bush ap- May 1 kicked it up to Chief Jus- for Disease Control and Prevention anyone ever endorsed it at all.
and Labor Department safety and Believe all women? Doubt all men?
pointee on the D.C. Circuit tice John Roberts. Judge Srini-
health guidance.” And call that justice? Come again?
Court of Appeals, announced in March he is re- vasan, a Barack Obama nominee, is young But this “guidance” is just that— PROF. FELICIA NIMUE ACKERMAN
tiring. A progressive group called Demand Jus- enough to be considered for the Supreme Court guidance. The Occupational Safety Brown University
tice, run by two Obama Administration alumni, in a Joe Biden administration (but insufficiently and Health Administration must not Providence, R.I.
began promoting a conspiracy theory that Judge left-wing to make Demand Justice’s Supreme just recommend these things, but or-
Griffith had taken a bribe to step down. The real Court shortlist). Perhaps fearing progressive der them. It is its job to protect the
goal was to prevent President Trump from fill- wrath, he asked that the complaint be reviewed workers from companies that don’t Pepper ...
ing the seat, to which he has since nominated by a different circuit. follow that guidance. Only by saying
Justin Walker. The request was tossed by the Chief Justice. the company “shall” follow the guid-
And Salt
The group submitted a letter to Chief Judge Judge Srinivasan’s order “does not meet the pre- ance (not “should”) will there be THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Sri Srinivasan of the D.C. Circuit asking for “an requisites” for a judicial conduct complaint, so some semblance of assurance that
they will follow it.
inquiry into the circumstances surrounding “the Chief Justice has determined that a transfer
And the liability issue? When com-
Judge Thomas Griffith’s intended retirement” of the matter is not appropriate at this junc- panies don’t follow the guidance, the
including whether he “accepted anything of ture,” said a terse note Friday to the D.C. Circuit Trump administration will blame
value in exchange for his retirement.” The letter from the Supreme Court. Put differently, there them and say, “we told them what to
cited no evidence. It pointed to a New York is no evidence of wrongdoing and judges do.” That’s avoiding responsibility
Times article that claimed Senate Majority shouldn’t entertain the wild conspiracies manu- and accountability—the hallmark of
Leader Mitch McConnell had urged some con- factured by Demand Justice. this administration. Once again, Presi-
servative judges to step down while the Republi- Good for the Chief. Obama alumni laundered dent Trump will have it both ways—
can Senate could confirm replacements. through the D.C. Circuit a corruption smear to the unending detriment of workers.
If that’s improper, then the chorus of liberals against a judge ending a distinguished career to ROBERT N. HARRIS
Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
who called for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to care for his wife. This is the latest gambit in a
retire in President Obama’s second term had comprehensive progressive campaign to intimi-
Letters intended for publication
better watch out. Federal judges are entitled to date and control the judiciary. The Chief can should be emailed to wsj.ltrs@wsj.com.
weigh the political environment in deciding continue to protect judicial independence by Please include your city, state and
when to retire, and Senators have no leverage putting the kibosh on the Judicial Conference’s telephone number. All letters are sub-
over judges with lifetime appointments. In any Code of Conduct Committee’s attempt to bar ject to editing, and unpublished letters “Sometimes it’s not an accident.
cannot be acknowledged.
case the smears prompted Mr. Griffith, who is judges from the Federalist Society. Sometimes it’s a cry for help.”
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Democrats
Protect Lives,
With a Big
Exception
By Rick Santorum
B
attle lines are being drawn
over when and how to reopen
the economy. These are hard
decisions—the kind politicians pre-
fer to avoid—because they’re both
uncertain and consequential. Yet you
can tell people’s true character in a
crisis—what is most important, what
they’re willing to fight for.
Generally the left is on the side of
continuing the shutdowns, while the
right favors opening up. The left’s
main concern is protecting life: Eco-
nomic activity must give way for the
sake of the most vulnerable. The
right, while initially compliant, is
now in revolt over infringements on
personal liberty and the dire eco-
nomic impact of shutdowns.
The ‘elective’ procedure
blue-state politicians
wouldn’t halt for the
coronavirus pandemic.
Both sides deserve credit for tak-
ing a consequential stand on the
principled debate between life and
liberty. I am especially grateful to
Democratic politicians who put the
lives of the most vulnerable ahead of
the liberty of young, healthy people.
I’m also grateful to President Trump
and Republicans for initially joining
Democrats in that position. Whatever
you think of these policies, these of-
ficials showed character by standing
up for the importance of life—not
just any life, but the lives of the old,
the sick and often the forgotten. This
was a great moment for a society
that doesn’t agree in large majorities
about much of anything.
As the weather warms, the case-
load has fallen in the epicenter of
New York, and infections haven’t ex-
ploded in less densely populated ar-
eas, I agree with my conservative
friends that we should return to
work. We believe in freedom, but
with responsibility—to care for your-
self, your family and the vulnerable.
As Americans get back to work, they
will have to behave differently to
avoid another outbreak of this
deadly virus. More will work from
home, school from home, change ca-
reer paths, eat out less, embrace
faith and be more engaged with
friends, family and neighbors.
We all now understand how little
and vulnerable we are. We recognize
that life is fragile and not to be
taken for granted. When push came
to shove we all prized life above the
economic freedom to pursue our
dreams—and even to preserve our
health. Politicians on the left and
right shut down surgery centers,
cancer-treatment centers and other
places that used personal protective
equipment, because it was needed
on the Covid frontlines and such
procedures were considered elective
or nonessential.
There was one exception to the
closure of these types of medical fa-
no
cilities in states run by Democratic
governors. These facilities for 50
years have put economic freedom
(and on rare occasions health) over
the life of the most helpless, most
vulnerable among us. How can gov-
ernors insist on closing life-saving
cancer centers as nonessential while
keeping open abortion clinics, whose
sole purpose is to end life? How can
governors insist on saving every life
possible, no matter the hardship to
working families in their states,
while keeping open facilities so peo-
ple don’t have to live with the re-
sponsibility of raising new life?
In this moment of crisis, our char-
acter is laid bare, for better and for
worse.
Mr. Santorum served as a U.S.
senator from Pennsylvania,
1995-2007.
PUBLISHED SINCE 1889 BY DOW JONES & COMPANY
Rupert Murdoch
Executive Chairman, News Corp
Matt Murray
Editor in Chief
Neal Lipschutz Karen Miller Pensiero
Deputy Editor in Chief Managing Editor
Jason Anders, Chief News Editor; Louise Story, Chief
News Strategist, Product & Technology Officer
Thorold Barker, Europe; Elena Cherney, News
Features & Special Projects; Andrew Dowell, Asia;
Anthony Galloway, Video & Audio; Alex Martin,
Print & Writing; Michael W. Miller, Features &
Weekend; Emma Moody, Standards;
Shazna Nessa, Visuals; Matthew Rose,
Enterprise; Michael Siconolfi, Investigations;
Stephen Wisnefski, Professional News
Gerard Baker, Editor at Large
Paul A. Gigot, Editor of the Editorial Page;
Daniel Henninger, Deputy Editor, Editorial Page
WALL STREET JOURNAL MANAGEMENT:
Joseph B. Vincent, Operations;
Larry L. Hoffman, Production
EDITORIAL AND CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS:
1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y., 10036
Telephone 1-800-DOWJONES
Antibody Knowledge Can Be Power
By Scott Gottlieb
C
ovid-19 may be here for a
long time. As work and ac-
tivities begin to resume,
there will continue to be
risk and many new precau-
tions. But for people who were ex-
posed to the virus and recovered, the
risk is much lower. Knowing if you
had the infection and recovered will
soon take on added importance.
There are two main types of im-
munity to an infection. Innate im-
munity comes from circulating cells
that attack any invader the body
views as foreign. Adaptive immunity
is specific to the pathogen pre-
sented. Through adaptive response,
immune cells are programmed to
secrete antibodies that are primed
to target a viral invader.
These antibodies can circulate
for a long time and make a person
immune to reinfection. Whether
people infected with Covid-19 de-
velop lasting immunity hasn’t been
established with certainty. But it’s
clear that infection triggers a
strong immune response and the
production of neutralizing antibod-
ies. There’s still a lot to learn. But if
this virus behaves like others, in-
cluding other coronaviruses, there’s
reason to believe that these anti-
bodies are protective at least for a
year or so.
Evidence suggests that even as-
ymptomatic people infected with
Covid mount a robust antibody re-
sponse. In most parts of the coun-
try, exposure may be low, perhaps
5% of the population nationally. But
in hot spots like New York, New Or-
leans and Detroit, the odds of being
exposed are much higher. Antibody
surveys conducted in New York City
on
in April showed that about 21% of
New Yorkers may already have anti-
bodies to Covid-19. By the time the
city’s epidemic runs its course
through June that number could
us ,
l
e
al a
Who Needs Oil When Even OPEC Telecommutes?
ci on
By Nabil Al-Khowaiter
T
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
he most important thing to
know about the April 12 meet-
er s
ing of the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries and
m er
allies isn’t the historic agreement to
cut global oil production by close to
10 million barrels a day. It is that
the entire meeting was conducted
online. Not a single barrel of jet fuel
m rp
was burned to fly ministers in their
private jets to the OPEC headquar-
ters in Vienna, nor was a single gal-
lon of gasoline used to ferry delega-
tions in limousines. The Austrian
co Fo
capital’s elegant hotels and restau-
rants, which normally profit hand-
somely from an OPEC ministerial
meeting, didn’t earn a cent.
The Group of 20 likewise met
virtually on March 26 to hammer
out a global response to Covid-19.
Leaders discussed and reached
agreements without emitting any
carbon dioxide from transportation.
Countless virtual events, confer-
ences and meetings have taken place
in the past two months—all con-
n-
Higher Ed’s Coronavirus Opportunity
By Eric Mazur
And Bob Kerrey
D
eciding where to enroll in col-
lege always induces anxiety in
high-school seniors and their
families. This year, the decision is
even more uncertain. The purpose of
a college education has come into
question in recent years, and the cor-
onavirus pandemic has made it un-
clear what the college experience will
be like come September.
The promise of higher education
has long been one of both prepara-
tion and access, of capabilities ac-
quired and doors opened for the
holder of a brand-name degree. The
quality of preparation—of actual
learning—at these institutions has
come into doubt, with employers be-
moaning the lack of professional
Robert Thomson
Chief Executive Officer, News Corp
William Lewis
Chief Executive Officer and Publisher
DOW JONES MANAGEMENT:
Ramin Beheshti, Chief Technology Officer;
Natalie Cerny, Chief Communications Officer;
Kamilah Mitchell-Thomas, Chief People Officer;
Edward Roussel, Chief Innovation Officer;
Christina Van Tassell, Chief Financial Officer
OPERATING EXECUTIVES:
Kenneth Breen, Commercial;
Jason P. Conti, General Counsel;
Tracy Corrigan, Chief Strategy Officer;
Frank Filippo, Print Products & Services;
Kristin Heitmann, Chief Commercial Officer;
Nancy McNeill, Corporate Sales;
Thomas San Filippo, Customer Service;
Josh Stinchcomb, Advertising Sales;
Suzi Watford, Chief Marketing Officer;
Jonathan Wright, International
Barron’s Group: Almar Latour, Publisher
Professional Information Business:
Christopher Lloyd, Head;
Ingrid Verschuren, Deputy Head
OPINION
reach as much as one-third. But
how to use evidence of immunity
has been a subject of debate.
First, on whether patients can
trust the tests: Determining
whether you’ve been exposed to
Covid-19 and developed some im-
munity involves serology tests that
Reliable tests are replacing
questionable ones from
China. The results can help
Americans judge risk.
screen for the neutralizing antibod-
ies that the body produces in re-
sponse to the infection. Initially, the
Food and Drug Administration al-
lowed these serology tests to enter
the U.S. without review because
they weren’t classified as diagnos-
tic. Dozens of tests from China
flooded the market, many of ques-
tionable quality and accuracy.
ducted with a laptop’s minimal en-
ergy use.
And why should workers return
to their offices once lockdowns are
relaxed? Tens of millions of profes-
sionals—engineers, lawyers, accoun-
tants, managers, professors and a
host of others—have worked from
home during the Covid-19 pandemic,
with little or no change to their pro-
ductivity. Once the pandemic is over,
it’s likely that millions of office
workers and their employers will
choose to avoid time-wasting traffic
jams—not to mention the cost of
driving to a city office—when they
can get their work done from home
or a coffee shop.
While petroleum producers were
fretting about the challenges posed
by environmental regulations and
electric cars, an emerging suite of
transformative technologies escaped
their attention. Now, amid a sudden
shock to the transportation sector,
companies selling teleworking prod-
ucts are taking advantage and gain-
ing market share.
As PC Magazine and TechCrunch
both noted in 2016, the widespread
readiness in recent graduates. Yet
the value of access has held fast.
Even as technological advances have
upended markets everywhere, brand-
name universities have been largely
immune to the forces that have
driven innovation and transforma-
tion elsewhere.
As long as universities could con-
tinue attracting new students, ex-
panding their endowments and pay-
ing tenured faculty members, there
was little pressure to make substan-
tive change. With similar educational
offerings and little incentive to re-
form, U.S. institutions have been con-
tent to divide the applicant pool
among themselves, using rankings to
determine primacy in any given year.
Instead of focusing on improvements
in core offerings, they have collec-
tively spent billions on amenities and
Notable & Quotable
FiveThirtyEight.com’s Nate Silver
writing on Twitter, May 7:
Not providing context on the in-
crease in [coronavirus] testing is
such a basic error, and has been so
widespread, that it’s revealing about
the media’s goals. It’s more inter-
ested in telling plausibly-true stories
(“narratives”) that sound smart to
its audience than in accuracy/truth
per se. That doesn’t mean it’s just
making stuff up or engaging in fake
news. On the contrary, the facts it
relays are generally accurate in iso-
lation. But the problems are in how
facts are strung together and empha-
sized. . . . BTW, Trump has figured
this out! By focusing on case counts,
the media creates disincentives to do
more testing because it makes the
numbers look superficially worse.
MARTIN KOZLOWSKI
Recently, reputable manufactur-
ers entered the market with good
tests that they asked FDA to evalu-
ate. The National Cancer Institute
has been reviewing these tests to
confirm accuracy, and sharing the
results. Because there are now reli-
able tests authorized by FDA, such
as the blood test from Quest or the
panels from Roche and Abbott, last
week the agency gave other tests 10
days to submit data proving their
accuracy or face removal from the
market.
While all of these tests can still
generate false positives—a finding
that you have the antibodies when
you don’t—that risk can be sharply
reduced by repeating the test if it
comes back positive. The predictive
ly
value of two consecutive positive
tests is high enough that you can be
confident antibodies are present.
There are concerns about pri-
vacy. In Chile, Germany and the
U.K., researchers and politicians
have floated the concept of giving
residents “immunity passports”
availability of high-speed internet
bandwidth combined with new vir-
tual-reality software could eliminate
the need for a downtown commute
altogether, with the caveat that it
would take a change of mind-set be-
fore most office workers would be
Changes wrought by the
pandemic could dampen
global demand for years
and kill American shale.
comfortable interacting with col-
leagues and customers exclusively
across the ether. That psychological
shift has come with the pandemic.
The ubiquity of virtual meetings
and telework will unleash unprece-
dented and permanent destruction
of demand for oil. Small-vehicle traf-
fic will plunge across the world. The
International Energy Agency expects
global oil demand in December to be
down by about 2.7 million barrels a
day year-on-year, or just shy of 3%,
athletics to compete for top students.
They’ve modernized their campuses
instead of their teaching methods
and educational approaches.
Don’t treat the shutdown
as a temporary problem.
Seize it as a chance to
pursue innovation.
While the coronavirus pandemic is
accelerating technological change in
many sectors—improving the pros-
pects for online retailers, digital me-
dia providers and even telemedi-
cine—the same isn’t yet true for
education. Almost all universities are
treating the sudden forced movement
online as a temporary problem. The
question is not how they could adapt
and innovate, but how to return to
normal as quickly as possible.
Yet the pandemic lays bare the
shortcomings of contemporary higher
education. Although there is ample
evidence that online learning can lead
to better outcomes for graduates,
many students are reconsidering their
plans for the fall, not sure if school is
worth the money without the campus
environment, social connections and
athletics.
Higher-education leaders should
seize this period of upheaval as an
opportunity to focus on learning,
shift to student-centered instruction,
and look for new opportunities the
online setup affords. The move to vir-
tual classrooms is a chance for insti-
tutions at every level to make learn-
ing more effective—off campus or on.
It is an opportunity to refocus on stu-
dent outcomes, on the development
of universal skills that will enable
Monday, May 11, 2020 | A17
that would allow people who have
recovered from Covid-19, and have
antibodies, to be exempt from re-
strictive measures or deployed to
jobs. It’s hard to imagine immunity
being used to segregate people in
America.
There may be ways to incorpo-
rate evidence of immunity into a
person’s overall health that can be
used to guide what precautions
should be taken on the job and in
personal lives. As states start to re-
lax restrictions on economic and so-
cial activity, antibody test results
can be helpful in assessing the risk
of certain activities.
Health-assessment software such
as CareEvolution’s “Safer Covid”
tool can combine multiple health
factors to evaluate a person’s total
risk of contracting Covid or suffer-
ing a bad outcome. Such a “risk
score” could at some point soon in-
clude antibody results and help in-
form decisions about behavior. How
much information fed into these
tools is up to the person using
them. Americans can decide their
own comfort level with offering per-
sonal health data. Similar tools al-
ready assess the risk of, say, stroke
or diabetes.
There’s instinctual discomfort
about using evidence of past immu-
nity as a factor for decisions about
health, work or even questions like
whether it’s safe to visit someone in
a nursing home. But there are ways
to deploy immunity information to
help us understand our own health
status and keep us safer from Covid,
.
without surrendering privacy.
Dr. Gottlieb is a resident fellow at
the American Enterprise Institute
and was commissioner of the Food
and Drug Administration, 2017-19.
He serves on the boards of Pfizer
and Illumina and is a partner at the
venture-capital firm New Enterprise
Associates.
but I estimate that demand could
fall by as much as 5% by 2021, from
100 million barrels a day in 2019.
The drop in demand will be sud-
den and rapid—not gradual, as was
expected with the introduction of
electric cars. Businesses are already
realizing that many workers can re-
port to the office for face-to-face
meetings no more than once a
week—and maybe even less often.
Remote work will become the new
norm, scaring oil companies and in-
vestors away from new investments
in high-cost oil fields. Low-cost pro-
duction will resume its dominance
of global oil-trade flows.
As for U.S. shale oil, the cata-
strophic effects of the pandemic and
Saudi-Russian price war were al-
ready likely to discourage invest-
ment for several years. Remote
work, and the consequent elimina-
tion of five million barrels a day in
global oil demand, will put the final
nail in the shale industry’s coffin.
Mr. Al-Khowaiter is a former se-
nior consultant at the Saudi Energy
Ministry.
graduates to respond to the next cri-
sis, to create resilience and adapt to
unfamiliar territory, and to help lead
society forward.
To remain relevant in the post-
Covid world, universities must be
able to demonstrate real progress to-
ward better teaching methods with
clear outcomes, driven by the sci-
ence of learning. Many educators
have implemented methods such as
flipped classes and project-based
learning. It’s time for the wholesale
adoption of such innovations across
institutions.
Eighteen-year-olds face a global
recession that may last well beyond
their time in college, one which will
likely bring about a new wave of au-
tomation. Even in a healthy economy,
many of the jobs they may be consid-
ering today are likely to be nonexis-
tent by the time they are in their 30s.
Universities need to ponder how to
prepare their graduates better and
more equitably. How can they equip
them with the mind-sets and skill
sets they’ll need to succeed in an un-
certain future?
As educational insiders debate the
finer points of “online learning” ver-
sus “remote teaching,” students and
their families are wondering whether
the educational offering is valuable
enough to warrant the cost. Those in-
stitutions that look beyond the cur-
rent crisis to improve student learn-
ing will be the ones to lead us into
the future.
Mr. Mazur is a Harvard physics
professor. Mr. Kerrey, a Democrat,
severed as Nebraska’s governor
(1983-87) and a U.S. senator
(1989-2001) and was president of
New York’s New School (2001-10).
Ben Nelson, founder and CEO of Mi-
nerva, contributed to this article.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

A18 | Monday, May 11, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

WORLD NEWS
Bid to Take Down Maduro Never Took Off
Venezuelan general’s U.S. law enforcement in late Venezuelan would-be “free-
March. Mr. Goudreau couldn’t dom fighters,” as they called
arrest, U.S. mercenary’s be reached for comment. them, in camps outside the
lockdown left seasick By the spring of 2019, forlorn town of Riohacha, Co-
Messrs. Alcalá and Goudreau lombia. Three people support-
invaders cast adrift had formed a team and were ive of their cause described
pitching a plan to oust Mr. desolate conditions, with the
BY JUAN FORERO Maduro that sounded feasible fighters living in squalor.
MIRAFLORES PRESIDENTIAL PALACE/ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES

AND KEJAL VYAS to opposition figures, coming It became apparent to

after months in which they Ephraim Mattos, a former
BOGOTÁ, Colombia—As a had failed under their leader, Navy SEAL who runs a non-
top Venezuelan army general, Juan Guaidó, to dislodge the profit that provides medical
Clíver Alcalá helped to prepare regime. In a private home in training and visited the camp,
the country for a widely feared Bogotá, Mr. Goudreau made a that the Venezuelan deserters
foreign invasion. But after bold offer to a Guaidó aide: He thought they were going to get
breaking with the Socialist re- would remove Mr. Maduro. equipment and attack Venezu-
gime, he fled here to Colombia In July, Messrs. Goudreau ela with U.S. military support.
and planned last weekend’s and Alcalá presented a plan to He knew that wasn’t coming.
botched raid on his homeland the aide at Bogotá’s J.W. Mar- “They thought they were
that was supposed to pierce the riott Hotel. The two men laid going to have full support,
very defenses he had set up. out maps on a hotel bed, de- money, weapons,” he recalled.
His original blueprint called scribing an audacious plan to The other problem that be-
for a well-funded fighting penetrate western Venezuela came clear to people familiar
force of 1,000 men, mainly de- with 300 fighters and prompt with the operation was that it
fectors from Venezuela’s army secretly disgruntled army offi- had likely been infiltrated by
and National Guard, who cers to rise up and join the in- Venezuelan intelligence—
would carry out an amphibious Venezuelan forces sail off the coast of Caracas near the site of a failed raid led by former U.S. soldiers. surgency, the people familiar trained by Cuba’s intelligence
landing and spark a broader with the matter said. apparatus.
rebellion against Venezuelan that the well-oiled plan Mr. Al- was nowhere near the action— senior Colombian intelligence Venezuelan exile figures lis- Even so, the May 3 opera-
President Nicolás Maduro’s re- calá mapped out on restaurant he had been extradited to New officials and the CIA, which tened with interest. Mr. Alcalá, tion went ahead, led partly by
pressive regime. He aimed to napkins in an upscale mall in York on drug charges five monitored their activities in along with Hernán Alemán, an two former American soldiers
move fast, before Venezuelan Barranquilla on Colombia’s weeks before. That left the La Guajira, the people with opposition lawmaker in exile Mr. Goudreau recruited—but
military officers who were northern coast never came even mission in the hands of Jordan knowledge of the plans said. in Colombia, had both met with its two masterminds,
open to a mutiny were purged. close to succeeding, people fa- Goudreau, a former U.S. Green “This was practically open with numerous former regime Messrs. Alcalá and Goudreau,
“If you don’t do this now, the miliar with the situation said. Beret who ran a Florida-based knowledge,” said a senior U.S. loyalists, including the former far from the action.
republic is lost,” he told The Instead of hundreds of men, security contractor, SilverCorp congressional Democratic aide Attorney General Luisa Ortega, Families of the fighters now
Wall Street Journal last year as there were a few dozen sea- USA, after fighting in Iraq and who works on Colombia pol- Mr. Alemán said. detained in Venezuela are fear-
he openly planned the incursion. sick invaders. Rather than sev- Afghanistan. But even Mr. icy. “No one who was tracking Mr. Guaidó’s office on Friday ful. Veronica Noya’s husband,
Instead of finding glory, the eral boats, there were two, Goudreau didn’t participate in this is surprised that Clíver said the opposition leader had former Capt. Antonio Sequea,
force was attacked by Venezue- with barely adequate fuel. The the raid, unable to leave Flor- Alcalá was doing this.” rejected the deal with Mr. Gou- a leader of the invasion force,
lan soldiers in Caribbean waters training, in baking hot La Gua- ida due to the coronavirus The CIA declined to com- dreau “due to severe differ- had high hopes. Now, she said

.
near Caracas, leaving eight jira province next to Venezu- lockdown, an associate said. ment and referred questions ences in vision, strategy, legal- her three children—living with
dead, 13 captured, including ela’s border, was meager. Food In the planning stages, Mr. to the White House, which de- ity, confidence in the company,” her in exile—have been crying

ly
two Americans, and Mr. Maduro and water were scarce. The Alcalá and his associates were nied any direct U.S. role. Co- and concerns that regime infor- uncontrollably.
basking in a propaganda victory men used broomsticks as eager to talk about the plan, lombian security officials say mants had infiltrated the for- “I just told them to be
as he blamed Washington. stand-ins for assault rifles un- which was widely known to they only learned of Mr. Al- mer Green Beret’s circle. proud of their papa, he’s a
Now, with U.S. officials try-
ing to ascertain details of what
happened, it has become clear
til receiving weapons shortly
before the mission.
What is more, Mr. Alcalá
onformer Venezuelan soldiers
who considered participating,
Venezuelan opposition figures,
calá’s plot after he announced
it on a Colombian radio inter-
view before surrendering to
But Messrs. Goudreau and
Alcalá kept putting together
their fighting force, training
hero,” she said, fighting back
tears. “He’s dedicated to liber-
ating the homeland.”

WORLD WATCH
us ,

Indian,
l
e
al a

HONG KONG
Chinese
ci on

Police Break Up
Anti-Beijing Protest
Riot police in Hong Kong
Forces
grappled with pro-democracy
Tussle
er s

protesters who gathered in shop-

ping malls on Sunday to sing,
BY RAJESH ROY
m er

chant and flash hand signs after

permission for a Mother’s Day
march was denied. NEW DELHI—Indian and
The incident indicated a desire Chinese security forces scuf-
on the part of some in the pro- fled along the disputed border
m rp

democracy camp to revive the between the two Asian giants,

protests against Hong Kong’s injuring soldiers on both sides,
Beijing-backed government that Indian officials said.
paralyzed parts of the semiau- Scores of soldiers from
tonomous Chinese territory for both sides engaged in heated
ISAAC LAWRENCE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

co Fo

months last year. exchanges of words and blows

With the coronavirus out- after encountering each other
break subsiding, more people in at Naku La pass in the north-
Hong Kong have responded to eastern Indian state of Sikkim,
online calls for action, although Indian security officials said.
in far smaller numbers than the Neither China’s Ministry of
hundreds of thousands who Foreign Affairs nor the Chi-
marched last year against pro- nese Embassy in New Delhi re-
posed legislation that could have sponded immediately to
seen dissidents or criminal sus- emailed requests for comment
pects extradited to mainland sent Sunday night. Each side
China to face trials and possible periodically claims the other
torture. has intruded into its territory.
n-

The legislation was eventually The Indian officials said the

withdrawn, but the protests con- troops disengaged, and ten-
tinued, growing increasingly vio- Police detained a group of people after a pro-democracy protest on Sunday at a Hong Kong shopping mall. sions quickly de-escalated, af-
lent as both police and demon- ter local military leaders on
no

strators adopted hard-line SYRIA northwestern Idlib province. Sun- EAST AFRICA Minister Luigi Di Maio. both sides intervened.
tactics. Thousands, mainly young day’s clashes took place in neigh- Ms. Romano, 24 years old, “Temporary and short-du-
people, were arrested in those Rebel Attack on Army boring Hama province, parts of Italian Held Hostage was working as a volunteer with ration face-offs between bor-
earlier demonstrations for Leaves Dozens Dead which are still under rebel control. For 18 Months Freed an Italian humanitarian group der-guarding troops do occur
crimes including rioting and pos- Russia is a main backer of when she was abducted in No- as boundaries aren’t resolved,”
sessing weapons. Al Qaeda-linked fighters at- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Wearing a surgical mask, dis- vember 2018 during an attack by the Indian army said. “Aggres-
Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing and tacked Syrian government posi- while Turkey backs opposition posable gloves and booties to gunmen in Kenya. Italian Premier sive behavior by the two sides
pro-democracy lawmakers have tions Sunday on the edge of the fighters trying to remove him guard against Covid-19, an Ital- Giuseppe Conte thanked the Ital- resulted in minor injuries to
been at an impasse over the de- country’s last rebel stronghold, from power. ian woman returned to her ian intelligence agents who troops.”
layed election of a chair of the triggering intense clashes that The Britain-based Syrian Ob- homeland after 18 months as a worked for her release, which Disputes along the more
Legislative Council’s House Com- killed nearly three dozen combat- servatory for Human Rights said hostage in eastern Africa. took place Friday in Somalia. than 2,000-mile border be-
mittee, which reads bills and de- ants across both sides, opposition members of the al Qaeda-linked Silvia Romano lowered her Friends and acquaintances in tween India and China have
termines when they can be put activists said. group Horas al-Din attacked gov- mask briefly to display a broad the Milan neighborhood where grown in the past decade, In-
to a final vote. The fighting was among the ernment forces in the Ghab plain smile after she stepped off an Ms. Romano’s family lives ap- dia says, as much of the bor-
Among the bills under consid- worst since early March, when an area. It said the fighting left 21 Italian government plane in plauded from windows, balconies der is contested and unde-
eration is one that would crimi- agreement between Turkey and troops and 13 Horas al-Din mem- Rome. She hugged her mother and on the streets when the fined. Some in India are
nalize disrespect of China’s na- Russia halted the Syrian govern- bers dead. Syria hasn’t com- and other family members, and plane carrying Ms. Romano worried that China is trying to
tional anthem. ment’s three-month air and mented on the fighting. touched elbows instead of shak- home landed in Rome. slowly take control of more
—Associated Press ground campaign into rebel-held —Associated Press ing hands with Italian Foreign —Associated Press and more of the region a small
slice at a time.
While the leaders of Asia’s

U.S. Places New Limits on Journalists From China two largest countries have
been signaling that they want
to become closer, the border
dispute has slowed progress
BY SHA HUA employment. The new limit ply to reporters from Hong pelled three Wall Street Jour- the U.S. from 160 to 100. and deepened suspicions on
will also apply to Chinese re- Kong or Macau, or to main- nal reporters, two Americans Beijing followed this by re- both sides.
The White House plans to porters already working in the land Chinese citizens who and one Australian, in what it voking the press credentials of The border frictions haven’t
dramatically tighten rules U.S. hold green cards. said was a response to a head- nearly every American work- triggered armed conflict in re-
governing Chinese journalists The new rules, expected to Washington and Beijing line on an opinion column in ing for The Wall Street Jour- cent years, and both sides say
working in the U.S., the latest take effect on Monday, are in have been embroiled in an es- the paper that described nal, New York Times and they are determined to keep
move in a tit-for-tat media response to China’s “suppres- calating back-and-forth in- China as “the real sick man of Washington Post. the peace. Still, some analysts
feud that comes at a time of sion of independent journal- Asia.” None of the expelled re- When it comes to treat- worry that more encounters
deteriorating relations be- ism,” the DHS said. The de- porters were involved in the ment of news media, Washing- between the two sides’ armed
tween the two nations. partment cited recent Chinese writing of the column or ton cannot level the playing forces could lead to accidental
Under new rules unveiled expulsions of American re-
Work visas for those headline. field, said Richard McGregor, escalation.
by the Department of Home- porters and Beijing’s increas- employed by foreign In March, Washington an- an expert of Chinese politics At the heart of the dispute
land Security on Friday, the ing issuance of journalist visas nounced a personnel cap on at the Lowy Institute in Syd- are competing complaints.
length of work visas for jour- lasting less than a year.
media are restricted four state-run Chinese media ney. China asserts claims over parts
nalists from mainland China The U.S. issued 425 visas to to up to 90 days. outlets that the State Depart- “Beijing only wins a race to of India’s Arunachal Pradesh
employed by non-U.S. media mainland Chinese nationals ment had earlier classified as the bottom,” Mr. McGregor state, while India claims a re-
will be reduced to a maximum working for non-U.S. media in “foreign missions,” akin to said, pointing out that the ma- gion it calls Aksai Chin that
of 90 days. Chinese reporters 2019, according to State De- embassies and consulates. jority of Chinese reporters in connects Tibet with Xinjiang in
can apply for extensions, each partment statistics. Individual volving journalists in recent Under the cap, Xinhua the U.S. work in a propaganda northwest China. The two na-
one also limited to 90 days. Chinese reporters sometimes months, part of continuing News Agency, China Global capacity for state-run media, tions fought a war over the
Previously, most mainland apply for multiple visas in the tensions over trade that have Television Network, China while foreign journalists do territory in 1962. More than a
Chinese journalists working in same year as each visa is re- been exacerbated by the coro- Daily and China Radio Inter- independent reporting. “It dozen rounds of talks since
the U.S. were granted visas stricted to a single entry. navirus pandemic. national were forced to reduce would be like exchanging 2003 haven’t made much prog-
lasting the duration of their The 90-day limit won’t ap- In February, Beijing ex- their Chinese employees in rooks for pawns.” ress toward a settlement.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY: HOW TO TAKE BETTER BREAKS FROM YOUR SCREENS B4

BUSINESS & FINANCE

© 2020 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved.

Last Week: S&P 2929.80 À 3.50% S&P FIN À 1.04% S&P IT À 6.64%
* * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

DJ TRANS À 2.30% WSJ $ IDX À 0.22% LIBOR 3M 0.435 NIKKEI 20179.09 À 2.85%
Monday, May 11, 2020 | B1

See more at WSJ.com/Markets

Small Stocks Defy Grim Economy Tesla Sues

To Reopen
Russell 2000 rallies,
outperforming S&P
500 in face of ugly
California
national statistics Factory
BY AKANE OTANI BY TIM HIGGINS

Shares of small U.S. compa- Tesla Inc. has asked a fed-

nies are racing higher, stirring a eral judge to allow the electric-
debate among investors about car maker to reopen its lone
how much longer the stock U.S. assembly factory, calling a
market can keep rallying de- local government’s insistence
spite some of the grimmest eco- that it remain closed to fight
nomic news since the Great De- the spread of Covid-19 a power
DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD/TAMPA BAY TIMES/ZUMA PRESS

pression. grab that defies the U.S. Consti-

The market’s rally over the tution.
past several weeks contrasts The lawsuit, filed Saturday,
with the economic data inves- followed a new string of mes-
tors have gotten since the coro- sages on Twitter by a frus-
navirus pandemic erupted. Fri- trated Chief Executive Officer
day’s Labor Department report Elon Musk, saying he is ready
showed the U.S. economy shed to abandon California as the
a record 20.5 million jobs in company’s home after Alameda
April. Analysts warn the pain County officials said Tesla can’t
will likely last longer, even as resume production even as the
some states have moved to re- state begins to start reopening.
open businesses and lift stay-at- The Tesla CEO, through
home orders. Twitter, on Saturday morning

.
None of that has stopped in- Shares of Outback Steakhouse’s owner, small-cap Bloomin’ Brands, are up 46% in the last several weeks. A Florida location. said: “Tesla is filing a lawsuit
vestors from putting money against Alameda County imme-

ly
back into small-capitalization Monthly WSJ/Vistage Performance in 2020 diately. The unelected & igno-
companies—a striking phenom- small-business confidence index rant ‘Interim Health Officer’ of
enon, given their fate, more Alameda is acting contrary to
than multinationals’, is inter-
twined with the health of the
domestic economy. In the com-
ing days, investors will get a
 on %
Russell
2000
the Governor, the President,
our Constitutional freedoms &
just plain common sense!”
By the evening, the company
S&P 500
look at data including a reading  5 released details of how it
us ,

of optimism among small busi- Dow planned to keep its workers

l

nesses, retail sales and con- industrials safe, saying it had begun the
e
al a

sumer confidence. “process of resuming opera-

The Russell 2000 index, 6  tions.” It didn’t specify when
whose constituents have an av- production would restart.
ci on

erage market cap of $2 billion, Lowest The company filed its suit in
has risen 12% over the past reading the U.S. District Court for the
on record
month. That has outpaced the  -5 Northern District of California,
S&P 500 and its 6.5% gain. The seeking an injunction against
Jan. ’19 July Jan. ’20 April 13 April 20 April 27 May 4 May 8
rally has benefited everything the county’s order and arguing,
er s

Please turn to page B9 Sources: Vistage Worldwide (small business confidence); FactSet (index performance) in part, that the local govern-
ment had overstepped its au-
m er

thority by overruling Gov.

Colombia’s Avianca Seeks U.S. Bankruptcy

Gavin Newsom’s approval for
businesses to reopen.
“Alameda County’s power-
grab not only defies the Gover-
m rp

BY ANDREW SCURRIA and the grounding of Avianca’s van der Werff said Sunday the “We see this as an opportu- ward to continuing its commer- nor’s Order, but offends the
AND ALISON SIDER passenger operations since company is in discussions for nity to right-size and take on cial relationship with Avianca federal and California constitu-
mid-March. public financing in key Latin whatever the future demand “once we get through this un- tions,” Tesla said in the lawsuit,
Colombian airline Avianca Latin America’s second- American markets where it might look like,” he said. precedented crisis.” filed by outside lawyer Alex
Holdings SA filed for bank- largest airline, Avianca said it runs flights, including Colom- The bankruptcy marks a set- International travel restric- Spiro.
co Fo

ruptcy protection in the U.S. as would restructure its roughly
travel restrictions curtail flights $5.3 billion in debt and lease
and the company vies for pub- obligations while positioning
lic assistance from the Colom- itself to begin resuming opera-
bian and other governments to tions as government-imposed
endure the coronavirus pan- travel restrictions related to
demic. the coronavirus are gradually
The company sought chapter eased.
11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Airlines around the world
Court in New York on Sunday, are negotiating for government
saying the filing “was necessi- rescue packages as they quickly
tated by the unforeseeable im- deplete their cash reserves.
pact of the Covid-19 pandemic” Avianca Chief Executive Anko
n-
bia, to generate liquidity and
stay afloat during the chapter
11 process.
In the interim, Avianca said
it would cover expenses with
cash on hand and revenue
generated from continuing
cargo operations. Mr. van der
Werff said he didn’t expect Avi-
anca’s flight volume to recover
“anywhere close” to its precor-
onavirus levels for 12 to 18
months.
back for United Airlines Inc.,
which has been pursuing a joint
business agreement with Avi-
anca and Panama-based Copa
Holdings SA to stake out a
claim to the previously fast-
growing South American mar-
ket.
United took a $697 million
loss allowance in the first quar-
ter on loans backed by a con-
trolling stake in Avianca.
United said it looked for-
tions, stay-home orders, and Mr. Newsom on Thursday
fear of contagion have kept began detailing how the state
passengers at home for weeks, would begin phasing in the re-
and airlines face an uncertain opening of some businesses
path to recovery as a global starting the following day, in-
economic recession takes hold. cluding manufacturing. He also
The International Air Transport said he supports local commu-
Association has estimated that nities enforcing stronger shel-
airlines around the world could ter-in-place rules, such as those
lose as much as $314 billion in the San Francisco area, in-
this year—55% of passenger cluding Fremont and Alameda
revenues—as air-travel demand County, where Tesla’s factory is
Please turn to page B2 Please turn to page B2

Life Insurers Halt Sales No Customers

Pay-TV providers have seen
no

subscriber losses accelerate in

As Hopes for Profit Dim recent quarters.

Change since 2Q 2017 in

BY LESLIE SCISM income they will earn invest- pay-TV subscriptions
ing these premiums. The less Charter
U.S. insurers are doing the they earn, the more they may
Comcast
once unthinkable, turning need to collect in premium or 0%
away business from some fees to turn a profit.
Americans who want a life-in- A wave of stopgap measures –5
surance policy. is hitting potential buyers
The driving force behind even as some companies say –10
the action: a collapse in inter- more consumers are seeking
DAN ANDRSON/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

est rates tied to the spread of out life insurance during the –15
the coronavirus and an expec- pandemic. In addition to sus- Dish
tation from insurers that rates pending sales of some popular –20
won’t rebound significantly products and raising prices, in-
soon. surers are scaling back policy AT&T
–25
Life insurers earn much of sizes and reducing benefits.
their profit by investing cus- “In 33 years, I have never 2Q 2017 ’18 ’19 ’20
tomers’ premiums in bonds seen more changes come more Note: AT&T includes DirecTV and internet TV
until claims come due. In sim- quickly to the life-insurance services; Dish includes Sling TV
plest terms, when they price products we sell,” said Law- Cable and satellite companies reported lower revenue from hotels, bars and restaurants in the first quarter. Source: the companies
policies, they make assump- rence Rybka, chairman of Val-
Please turn to page B9
tions about how much interest
Businesses Join Move to Cut TV Cords
INSIDE BY DREW FITZGERALD
AND LILLIAN RIZZO
for business-focused providers
such as DirecTV owner AT&T
ularly if U.S. live sports—one of
the biggest draws of having a
ing again in the coming quar-
ters, but he didn’t specify a
Inc. The industry’s first-quarter cable package—don’t return to timeline for such a recovery.
Americans’ urge to discon- decline was uneven, with action for a long time. AT&T reported lower reve-
nect the living-room cable is sharper drops at Comcast Hotels have stopped paying nue from hotels, bars and res-
spreading to businesses. Corp. and Dish Network Corp. for TV sets in rooms where few taurants in the first quarter
The largest cable and satel- and narrower losses at Charter guests are staying, according to without quantifying the de-
JOHN GRESS/REUTERS

lite TV companies lost more
than two million customers in
the first three months of the
year, the industry’s sharpest
quarterly decline on record, as
restaurants, bars and hotels hit
by the coronavirus pandemic
AUTOMOBILES TECHNOLOGY joined consumers canceling or
Pickup-truck sales are Netflix’s executive for pausing service.
Those commercial discon-
resilient for Detroit documentaries nections so far make up only a
even amid the delivered the smash small portion of the overall
coronavirus crisis. B3 ‘Tiger’ tale. B4 customer losses, but they are
making a bad situation worse
Communications Inc.
Before the pandemic, those
TV distributors were already
being squeezed as more house-
holds shifted to streaming ser-
vices such as Netflix Inc., Ama-
zon.com Inc.’s Prime Video and
Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+ and
Hulu.
Cable and satellite compa-
nies warned in recent weeks
that the pace of cord-cutting
could pick up as the pandemic
pinches U.S. households, partic-
pay-TV companies and ana- cline.
lysts, and some airlines are Monsoons Tap and Grill
pushing for breaks on the cost saved more than $1,600 a
of in-flight entertainment. month by cutting its subscrip-
Sports bars that are able to tion to DirecTV, which told the
open their doors say they have restaurant it could pause ser-
no games to show in any event. vice through the summer, ac-
On Thursday, Dish said it cording to co-owner Daniel Lie-
had paused or waived charges beskind.
on about 250,000 commercial The Tucson, Ariz.,-area busi-
accounts. ness plans to reopen to in-per-
Dish finance chief Paul Or- son diners in the coming days,
ban said the “vast majority” of without its typical baseball and
those clients would start pay- Please turn to page B4
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

B2 | Monday, May 11, 2020 * *** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

INDEX TO BUSINESSES BUSINESS & FINANCE

These indexes cite notable references to most parent companies and businesspeople

Buyout Tactics for Chains Unravel

in today’s edition. Articles on regional page inserts aren’t cited in these indexes.

A Automobiles........B2,B3 Insurance .................. B9

Academy Sports &
Outdoors...................B2
Activision BlizzardB9,
B10
AeroVironment ........... B9
Allianz SE ................. A10
Alphabet......................A4
Altice USA .................. B4
American Express.......B6
Apple...........................A4
Ares Management......B2
AT&T............................B1
Avianca Holdings........B1
B L-N
BlackRock............A1,A10
Bloomin' Brands ......... B9
Fire Features...............R2
Ford Motor.............B2,B3
G- J
General Motors ..... B2,B3
GIC...............................B6
Goodyear Tire & Rubber
A1
HiSilicon....................B10
Huawei TechnologiesB10
Intel.............................A6
J.Crew Group...............B2
JPMorgan Chase.........A9
Lenox...........................A6
LG Display...................A8
loanDepot.com............A9
Polaris.........................A1
Prudential Financial....B9
Quicken Loans ............ A9
Raytheon Technologies BY WILLIAM LOUCH
A3 AND LAURA COOPER
Rosetta Stone.............B9
Roubini Macro J.Crew Group Inc., owned
Associates..............A10
by two private-equity firms,
RR Donnelley & Sons.A6
filed for bankruptcy on Mon-
Samsung Life Insurance
A8 day.
SoapStandle................R3 Neiman Marcus, owned by a
S&P Global Ratings....B9 consortium including private-
T equity firm Ares Management
Taiwan Semiconductor Corp., sought chapter 11 protec-
Manufacturing..........A6 tion Thursday.
Tesla............................B1 It wasn’t supposed to end

MARCO GARCIA/AP IMAGES FOR GUITAR CENTER

Blue Bell Mattress.....A6
Bob's Discount
Furniture...................A6
C-F
Carlyle Group..............B6
Caterpillar...................A1
Certares.......................B6
Charter Comm.............B1
Comcast.......................B1
DISH Network.............B1
Electronic Arts..........B10
Elliott Management ... B4
Epic Games ............... B10
Fiat Chrysler
INDEX TO PEOPLE
A Ehrlich, Gabriel...........A6
Atkinson, Robert........A6
B Fairbairn, Carolyn.......A9
Bailey, Andrew............B6
Baker, Jim...................B2
Bloomberg, Michael ... A4
Bright, Michael...........A9
C Seikaly, Amber............B2
Chandik, Mark.............B9
Conway, Ann...............A6
D Manley, Mike .............. B3
Michigan Maple BlockA6
Microsoft...................B10
Neiman Marcus.....B2,B9
Netflix.........................B4
New York Life Insurance
B9
Nintendo....................B10
Northwestern Mutual
Life Insurance...........B9
P-S
Pacific Investment
Management ............ A1
Penn Mutual Life
F Rankin, Devina............B3
G Rosengren, Eric...........B6
Gibeau, Frank............B10
Gould, Jimmy..............R3
K
Kaul, Karan.................A9
Kornfeld, Warren........A9
M van der Werff, Anko...B1
Toyota Motor..............B3
U chains were among the dozens
United Wholesale
Mortgage..................A9
Uniti Group ................. B4
V-Z
Volkswagen.................B3
Vroom..........................B3
Waste Management...B3
Wells Fargo.................A9
Windstream Holdings B4
Xilinx...........................A6
Zynga.........................B10
R stay afloat, weakened by coro-
Rose, Carolyn..............A4
Rybka, Lawrence.........B1
Ryder, Mads................A6
S coming out as in financial dis-
V
van Raemdonck,
Geoffroy....................B2
this way. The two popular store
of retailers that private-equity
companies bought over the
past decade, spending $89.8
billion, according to data pro-
vider Dealogic.
Private-equity firms bet that
their expertise and capital
would help these companies
grow and navigate the rise of
online competition from Ama-
zon.com Inc. and others. Guitar Center is among the private-equity-owned chains with one of the worst credit profiles.
Now these businesses, from
pet shops to luxury brands that
collectively employ more than 1
“Private-equity firms’ ag-
gressive use of debt and draw-
“J.Crew’s bankruptcy is a
disappointment for everyone,”
uity deal saw the retailer ac-
quired for $6 billion including
million people, are fighting to ing of billions of dollars of fees said a spokesman for TPG. “We debt by a consortium including
and dividends from retailers had been making strong prog- Ares and the Canada Pension
navirus-driven shutdowns, rev- has made it more difficult for ress with the company to maxi- Plan Investment Board in 2013.
enues that were often falling those retailers to innovate in a mize value through the an- In the following years, the com-
even before the pandemic and changing industry,” Jim Baker, nounced strategic review.” pany’s heavy debt load con-
high debt levels. executive director of the activ- J.Crew had planned to sumed most of its profits.
“Some of the companies ist group Private Equity Stake- launch an initial public offering “Since 2014, we have in-
holder Project, said. this year of sister brand vested over $1 billion of capital
tress now were already strug- TPG Capital and Leonard Madewell to raise cash and pay into our business, including
gling before Covid-19-sparked Green & Partners acquired down some of its $1.7 billion opening new stores and rein-
closures and the downturn, but J.Crew in 2011, paying nearly debt. The plans were canceled vesting in the existing store
this sure accelerated things,” $3 billion and promising to ex- network, while also investing
said Aaron Cheris, head of the pand the company in the U.S. significantly in technology and

.
Durkin, Dennis..........B10 N-P Americas retail team at con- and internationally. enhancing our digital platform
E W sulting firm firm Bain & Co. The two firms initially in-
Retailers struggling for an omnichannel experi-

Edwards, Gary ............ A4
Nishimura, Lisa...........B4
Pride, Jason ................ B9
ly
Wilson, Andrew........B10 Twenty-seven out of the 38 vested $1.1 billion of equity in the amid the pandemic ence,” said Amber Seikaly, vice
retailers with the weakest deal, according to securities fil- president of corporate commu-
credit profiles—more than ings show. The rest was financed
had been weakened nications at Neiman.

Emirates Airline’s on 70%—were owned by private-

equity firms on April 20, ac-
cording to data from ratings
by debt that was added to
J.Crew’s balance sheet. The com-
pany struggled with its debt and
by high debt. Other buyout firms have
used similar tactics with retail-
ers they own, using high-inter-

Profit Declines 28% firm Moody’s Investors Service.

These include sports-equip-
with consumer habits that shifted
toward fast-fashion chains and in March.
est loans to finance deals and
paying themselves dividends
us ,

ment seller Academy Sports & online shopping. It underwent a Neiman Marcus declared and fees, despite the broader
l

BY RORY JONES Emirates Group deferred paying Outdoors, 99 Cents Only Stores debt restructuring in 2017. bankruptcy with around $5.1 headwinds facing the sector.
e
al a

a dividend to its Dubai govern- LLC and Guitar Center Inc., ac- Despite its troubles, the two billion in debt, the result of two Taking dividends from port-
International air travel will ment shareholder, a payment cording to Moody’s. firms paid themselves and their leveraged buyouts. Covid-19 folio companies helps private-
take at least 18 months to re- that amounted to $136 million Critics of private equity say investors nearly $800 million pushed the company into filing, equity firms return capital to
ci on

cover, Emirates Airline said in the previous year. While the
Sunday, as the pandemic con- group reported a cash pile of $7
tributed to a decline in annual billion at year-end from opera-
profit at the carrier’s parent. tions, analysts expect the Dubai
Dubai-based Emirates Group, government to support the car-
er s
a broader decline in retail has in fees and dividends during as stores had to close. their investors and can help
been compounded, at least for their nine-year ownership of “Everything was going well protect their investment if a
some of these companies, by J.Crew, securities filings show. in our transformation, but we company goes bust. But the
heavy debt loads they assumed That amounts to roughly 70% had massive interest payments. practice potentially leaves a
in buyout deals, and the divi- of the money they originally in- Covid threw everything off company more vulnerable if

which includes the region’s big- rier. Facing its own financial dends and fees that they had to vested, meaning their losses track,” Neiman Marcus Chief earnings fall, as it often in-
gest long-haul airline and air- crunch, Dubai has so far re- pay out to the private-equity were tempered when J.Crew Geoffroy van Raemdonck said. creases leverage and weakens a
m er

port handler Dnata, said annual frained from offering the type companies that bought them. filed for bankruptcy. Its most recent private-eq- company’s cash reserves.
net profit to March 31 fell 28% of airline stimulus seen in the
to $456 million as revenue fell U.S.
5% to $28.3 billion, weighed
down by global travel restric-
But the International Air
Transport Association has Tesla Sues reopening our local economy.”
The city’s police department
m rp

tions in the first three months called on Middle East govern- has been responsible for enforc-
of the year. The results demon-
strate the impact of the new
coronavirus on Persian Gulf air-
ments to support the industry
to avoid bankruptcies.
In Europe, Germany’s
To Reopen ing the order locally.
“As the local shelter-in-place
order continues without provi-
lines, and signal the wallop still Deutsche Lufthansa AG and
U.S. Plant sions for major manufacturing
co Fo

awaiting the region’s econo- Franco-Dutch carrier Air activity, such as Tesla, to re-
mies. France-KLM are securing gov- sume, I am growing concerned
Covid-19, the illness caused ernment bailouts, while the about the potential implications
by the virus, threatens a dec- U.K. government has balked at Continued from page B1 for our regional economy,” Ms.
adelong boom in passengers fly- full-scale support for its air- located. Mei said. “We know many es-
ing around the world via Gulf lines, telling British carriers to Alameda County has re- sential businesses have proven
states’ airport hubs. Global air- first seek out private-sector ported more than 2,000 cases they can successfully operate
ANDREW HARRER/BLOOMBERG NEWS

line bookings are forecast to fall
this year as countries impose
quarantines on entry, and com-
panies and individuals avoid un-
necessary travel.
To manage costs, Emirates
remedies. of people infected with the using strict safety and social-
The United Arab Emirates, Covid-19 virus through Satur- distancing practices. I strongly
home to Emirates and Abu day night, including 71 deaths believe these same practices
Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, is likely from the disease. could be possible for other
to be hardest hit in the Middle On Saturday, the county said manufacturing businesses, es-
East: IATA forecasts 23.8 mil- it has been communicating and pecially those that are so criti-
n-

has cut staff pay by between lion fewer passengers on the working closely with Tesla’s cal to our employment base.”
25% and 50% for three months country’s carriers this year, “team on the ground in Fre- Mr. Musk in March said Tesla
and has encouraged employees risking 287,863 jobs and a $17.7 mont,” noting that it was a col- was seeking a site for a new U.S.
to take paid or unpaid leave. billion contribution to the laborative and “good-faith ef- Elon Musk threatened on Twitter to move operations from automobile assembly factory in
no

The group’s annual fall in net
profit was primarily caused by
a 57% decrease in profit, to
$168 million, at Dnata, which
handles ground services and
cargo at Dubai International
and airports around the world.
Cost cutting and a fall in the
price of jet fuel meant income
at the airline was up 21% to
$288 million, the group said.
The bleak outlook meant
economy.
Though the U.A.E. has closed
its borders to air travel since
March 25, Emirates has been
repatriating passengers to a
limited number of cities. The
airline has provided cabin crew
and ground staff with gowns, a
safety visor, mask and gloves.
Dubai International Airport in-
troduced thermal scanners to
monitor temperatures.
fort to develop and implement California because of the state’s strict coronavirus measures. the middle of America, stoking
a safety plan that allows for re- speculation that Texas might be
opening while protecting the in the mix. “Incentives play a
health and well-being of thou- Brand Entwined has been adopted elsewhere. role, but so do logistics costs,
sands of employees who travel The acquisition in 2010 of access to a large workforce with
to and from work at Tesla’s fac- With California Tesla’s factory in Fremont, a a wide range of talents, and
tory.” short drive from its Palo Alto quality of life,” he told The Wall
The county added, “The headquarters, was a pivotal Street Journal at the time.
team at Tesla has been respon- Tesla Inc. founder Elon moment in the company’s his- Tesla began the year plan-
sive to our guidance and rec- Musk’s threat to leave Califor- tory ahead of going public. ning to boost deliveries more
ommendations, and we look nia underscores the pressure By making his public threat than 36%, though last month
forward to coming to an agree- he is under and would mark a to leave California for Texas or didn’t reiterate the guidance
ment on an appropriate safety sharp shift for the company Nevada, Mr. Musk is following when it announced its first-
plan very soon.” that built its image, brand and a similar pressure campaign quarter results, and said it was

Avianca tance from state and federal

governments in Australia.
The U.K. regional airline car-
It didn’t respond to a re-
quest for comment about the
lawsuit.
workforce in the Golden State.
A community of electric-car
enthusiasts throughout Califor-
against government officials
that he has employed when
fighting laws or regulations he
too early to say what the impact
of the Covid-19 heath crisis
would be on its business.

Files for rier Flybe, which had struggled

financially even before the vi-
rus outbreak, entered bank-
Tesla initially fought to stay
open in March when the local
order was first announced but
nia helped seed interest in the
then-tiny startup that revealed
plans in 2006 to sell a two-
has opposed. In Texas, which
protects franchise dealerships
that Tesla doesn’t use, he
In an interview with Joe Ro-
gan’s podcast released Thurs-
day, Mr. Musk called the shel-

Bankruptcy ruptcy administration in March

when owners balked at putting
in more money as the virus
caused bookings to plunge.
Continued from page B1 Avianca said it would pay
has plummeted. vendors and suppliers “in a
The near-collapse of global timely manner” under chapter 11
passenger air travel has forced while maintaining customer ben-
air carriers across the U.S., Eu- efits including its loyalty pro-
rope and Latin America to seek gram LifeMiles, which isn’t part
some of the largest state-led fi- of the chapter 11 proceedings.
nancial rescue packages in Already, the company has de-
years, provoking high-stakes cided to shut down operations in
standoffs between boardrooms Peru to focus on core markets.
and governments. U.S. airlines Avianca said it “has limited
are receiving $25 billion in gov- visibility as to when current
ernment aid to cover payroll travel restrictions will be lifted”
costs and prevent layoffs and, once such restrictions are
through the end of September lifted, it doesn’t expect reve-
under the $2.2 trillion stimulus nues to return to prepandemic
package passed in March, and levels in the short-term.
will also have access to another The company was struggling
$25 billion in government financially even before the pan-
loans. demic, renegotiating its debt
Last month, Virgin Austra- and lease obligations in Decem-
lia Holdings, Australia’s sec- ber and borrowing $250 million
ond-largest carrier, entered vol- from United and a company
untary administration after controlled by Avianca Chairman
failing to secure financial assis- Roberto Kriete.
relented under pressure, stop-
ping production on March 23. It
had hoped to resume manufac-
seat sports car.
The state’s tough emissions
regulations also helped Tesla.
spent years trying to fight the
law, though with no luck even
as he succeeded elsewhere. In
ter-in-place orders a violation of
the U.S. constitutional right to
assemble. “I don’t think these
turing on May 4, a day after An important part of the strug- such battles with governments, things stand up in court,” Mr.
the shelter-in-place had been gling company’s revenue in its Mr. Musk has tried to rally sup- Musk said. “We should be con-
scheduled to be lifted, but that early years came from selling port among Tesla fans. cerned about anything that is a
order was extended last week emissions tax credits. Tesla re- On Saturday, to protest the massive infringement on our
through the end of May. Mr. ceived them for its electric cars decision by Alameda County, civil liberties.”
Musk called such restrictions a and could sell them to compet- Calif., health authorities to tem- The San Francisco area has
violation of people’s rights and itors who lacked the volume of porarily close the Fremont won praise for its initial aggres-
equated them to fascism. zero-emission vehicles to avoid plant, Mr. Musk tweeted a Bay sive action to contain the coro-
After Mr. Newsom’s an- state penalties. Tesla’s first- Area Tesla ownership group to navirus, which in March looked
nouncement Thursday about quarter profit, in fact, was “please voice your disagree- increasingly threatening to the
phasing in businesses, Mr. largely helped by the sale of ment as strongly as possible community.
Musk cheered the news on such credits, a practice that with @alamedacounty.” Since then, a national debate
Twitter. The CEO sent a memo has begun about when commu-
to his employees saying the nities can open up again. Some
factory, which employs more erate, saying both counties ately. If we even retain Fremont U.S. states have eased restric-
than 10,000 workers and as- have experienced a similar in- manufacturing activity at all, it tions.
sembles the Model 3 compact fection and death rate. “This will be dependen[t] on how Tesla Michigan Gov. Gretchen
car, would resume work on Fri- disparate treatment is arbitrary is treated in the future. Tesla is Whitmer on Thursday said auto
day. But hours later, the county and without a rational basis,” the last carmaker left in CA.” makers and parts suppliers in
health department said that the lawsuit said. On Saturday, after Mr. that state could resume opera-
Tesla had been informed that it Mr. Musk, a frequent user of Musk’s Twitter messages, Fre- tions on Monday. General Mo-
couldn’t reopen yet. Twitter, on Saturday said on the mont Mayor Lily Mei issued a tors Co., Ford Motor Co. and
In the lawsuit, Tesla said social-media site: “Frankly, this statement saying it was time for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV
that its facilities in Lathrop, is the final straw. Tesla will now the “county to engage with our plan to resume production on
which is part of nearby San move its HQ and future pro- local businesses to come up May 18 at plants across North
Joaquin County, continue to op- grams to Texas/Nevada immedi- with acceptable guidelines for America.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Online
Auto Seller
Vroom
Files IPO
BY ROLFE WINKLER
AND CORRIE DRIEBUSCH
Online used-car seller Vroom
Inc. has filed confidentially for
an initial public offering it
hopes to stage in June, accord-
ing to people familiar with its
plans, a move that will test the
ice-cold tech IPO market.
Vroom hopes to follow rival
Carvana Co., a better-known
online car seller whose shares
have jumped sevenfold since its
2017 IPO. After falling 80% dur-
ing the broader market’s selloff
in March, Carvana’s shares
have recovered to trade near
record levels.
With social-distancing mea-
sures keeping consumers at
home, online car sellers could
benefit at the expense of tradi-
tional dealers if buyers opt for
digital shopping and at-home
delivery over visiting dealer
lots.
Market volatility this year
has largely quieted companies
across many industries that
were thinking about going pub-
lic in the U.S. In the first two
weeks of April, only two com-
panies did so, raising a few
hundred million dollars, ac-
cording to data provider Dea-
logic.
Only one tech company has
gone public in 2020, according
to data from IPO expert Jay
Ritter, a professor at the Uni-
versity of Florida.
Vroom’s target IPO valuation
isn’t clear. It raised $250 mil-
lion in a private financing
round in December that valued
the company at $1.5 billion.
For Vroom, the challenge is
trying to carve out a spot in a
market where internet econom-
ics often skew toward the top
player in a given market that
achieves massive scale, for in-
stance in search and social net-
working.
Carvana is much larger,
grew faster last year and has
gross-profit margins twice as
large as Vroom’s, according to
people familiar with Vroom’s
private financial data.
 
Fiat Chrysler, GM and Ford say they will prioritize high-margin trucks when manufacturing operations resume. A pickup assembly plan in Flint, Michigan, last year.
Truck Sales Bolster Car Companies
BY BEN FOLDY
The coronavirus outbreak
has cut deeply into U.S. auto
sales, but for Detroit in particu-
lar one corner of the market
has held up relatively well:
pickup trucks.
With auto makers offering
aggressive finance deals and
trucks often needed for work,
sales of pickups haven’t
dropped as precipitously as
other types of vehicles and are
expected to bounce back faster
as the market recovers, indus-
try executives and analysts say.
Another factor, they say, is that
truck-buying states, like Texas
and Florida, have had less-re-
strictive lockdowns during the
on maker since at least 1990, ac-
Covid-19 crisis.
us ,
“We’re very fortunate to be
l
in Texas,” said Sam Pack, owner
e
al a
of the Pack Auto Group of deal-
erships in the Dallas area. He
said sales promotions and cheap
ci on
financing have also helped to
spur truck sales, salvaging what
he had expected would be a cat-
astrophic period for business.
New-vehicle sales overall
er s
tumbled nearly 50% from a
year earlier in April, making
m er
the month one of the industry’s
worst in decades.
In contrast, truck sales
dropped 21%, with their share
m rp
co Fo
BUSINESS NEWS
of the U.S. auto market
registering at 26%, up from 18%
a year earlier, according to
market-research firm Motor In-
telligence.
The segment’s resiliency has
been a salve for the three Detroit
auto makers, which generate the
bulk of their profits in North
America from selling trucks.
At General Motors Co.,
Ford Motor Co. and Fiat
Chrysler Automobiles NV,
truck sales accounted for more
than 40% of their U.S. business
in April, reaching their highest
share of sales at each auto
cording to Motor Intelligence.
On earnings calls last week,
company executives took solace
in pickup sales when reviewing
quarterly results bruised by
factory shutdowns and other
effects of the pandemic.
“Those types of vehicles are
the ones that are much more
resilient to a downturn,” Fiat
Chrysler chief Mike Manley told
investors on a conference call
Tuesday. He said many truck
purchases aren’t regarded as
discretionary because buyers
use them for work.
Toyota Motor Corp., a lead-
ing seller of sedans, has focused
on selling more trucks in recent
years, and last month pickups
Pickup-truck sales have been
resilient through the health
crisis, making up a bigger
share of vehicles sold in the
U.S. in April.
Trucks as a share of U.S. sales
50%
40
30
20
10
0 Honda
2018 ’19 ’20
Source: Motor Intelligence
accounted for about a quarter of
its U.S. sales, marking a new
high for the Japanese car maker.
Well before the pandemic,
customers were shifting away
from sedans to larger, more-
versatile trucks and SUVs, es-
pecially given low gasoline
prices. However, SUV sales in
April dropped more than 45%,
in line with the overall market,
industry sales figures show.
To advertise: 800-366-3975 or WSJ.com/classifieds
   
Monday, May 11, 2020 | B3
JEFF KOWALSKY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGE
Auto makers posted deep de- With most auto factories in
clines on the East and West the U.S. still shut down, truck
coasts, regions hit hard by cor- inventories are starting to run
onavirus and traditionally not low, company executives say. At
as strong in truck sales. the end of April, about 650,000
Volkswagen AG, which like pickup trucks sat on dealership
some other foreign brands sells lots, down 30% from a year ear-
no pickups in the U.S., said it lier, according to data from
Ford benefited less than Detroit auto Wards Intelligence. Mr. Manley
GM makers from the higher level of said he can’t recall Fiat Chrys-
FCA business activity in America’s ler’s inventory levels for all
heartland. models being so low and that
.
Increased incentives were its most popular trucks may be
available to truck buyers. Many harder to find.
ly
manufacturers are now offering Fiat Chrysler, GM and Ford
Toyota zero-percent financing on lon- plan to reopen their U.S. facto-
ger-term loans, along with cash ries on May 18, and executives
Nissan
discounts and deferred payment
incentives—all of which help
make pricey trucks more afford-
able, analysts and dealers say.
say they will prioritize high-
margin trucks as they reboot
manufacturing operations. Still,
dealers say they worry about a
Cheap financing convinced shortage slowing the truck-buy-
Jacob Saylor that it was time to ing momentum.
pull the trigger on a new truck “They need to have a selec-
to replace the Saturn sedan he tion available and that’s where
had been driving since college. the problem is going to come,”
The 33-year-old software said Bill Walsh, owner of the
programmer, who has been shel- Bill Walsh Automotive Group of
tering in place and not spending dealerships around Ottawa, Ill.
as much, said a new Ford F-150 He normally stocks up on
pickup caught his eye. trucks heading into summer to
“I got a better deal now than support his agricultural cus-
I would have a couple of tomers. “When the farmers are
months ago,” he said, noting ready to go in the field, their
the discounts shaved several main goal isn’t to spend some
thousand dollars off the nearly time shopping,” Mr. Walsh said.
$50,000 sticker price of the —Mike Colias
truck he chose. contributed to this article.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Marketplace
BANKRUPTCIES

 
 %0('1 11  0
(1'1 1*   FF123010:?

 
  
  
     %'' ()(*+,-./* 0123/00/-. 0':  '21 ?'((   ('+ *
     
'1': :D @'   FF11+F@'': (0+FA
 
 

  
    
 !"#$!"! %&  %''' '2 0+'* 0: #(1'1 + ) - '(   *
  %&'() *+''* *('?) )+     + ! )  ('+ *
'1':
  
 
   
  
 :   2  ('+ .    ?+( .   )
DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

    

       ('1( .    2((@': ** 4 25 /,0+")600 6/)
  
    '': (0+  '  ( ('+ 1': 1F - B"
 
 

     31: -0' "" ?'  >!,"!A 4 25 6.7 ()/8(,5 -, 8(,./9:+

    
 
  6/) '': (0+  '  ( ('+ 1': 1F -
  
 
 

      B" 31: -0' "" ?'  >!,"!

    
 
   


 1 2 2 ('+ +0 %  @' '

 
    ! (:'( :('A %! '1(0*  1('+ +0 *+'* ' '* - *(#

  

  ) , !"!"  '* - (A %$ 1(() '*'2)   :' @'1  1('+ ' * %B 1#
n-

./0 1) 0 2  -0 ''1 2 3 % 405 *  2+ 0'(() @'  2 2 ('+ 2+ ?'** )   
* 61/
 !789 % 4.  *5 ('': 1' **# 2;1'( C+ B"A %=  ':* )  1('+  )  0'G* : 
(' 2  ;(': 2 2 2 1('+ '1(0*': <0 2 )+ 0* (:(  '? 2  1('+  (2 2  1('+ @ 01
1' ="$%%> 2  ./0 1) * %1((1'?() 42 2 ('+5 ' ':0 '  (1'1 ':0  ' '/A * %, '1(0*  1+
 1   1 2  2((@': * * * ' ' %1(# ) * (( 0 ': *10+'  @'1  1('+ ' *  
(1'?()  45   
  '': (0+  '   1 2 2 ('+ +0   1('+ :' ()   *
!"#$!"!A '': *' (*': + ) ('+'* ''(') + ) 1(() '*'1   1';1  :' @'1  1('+ ' *  
no

!"#$!"!"A '': '( *   ' !"#$!"!!A '': 01 3 +    ' ('*   2 2 ('+  2 2 ('+
 ' !"#$!"!$A '': - (*': + ) !"#$!"!B ' *  '2 ;(* () :' '': (0+  '  '2  2
    00   .  *  '' %31  :?# 2 ('+ ' @' ;(* @'0 '*'2)':   1';1   2 2
+( 0' '1(0*': '*'?'*0( '   * 0  ? ('+ +)  *+*  ;(* () :' '': (0+  '
The weight of residential trash has increased as much as 25% since shelter-at-home orders began.  1('+  '( 1('+ :'     '   '(  !"!" 3 &  2 2 ('+ ':* (1'1(() )
 + @ +  1': 01 ':  )+  <0'( +*)  1('+   0'G* :  (:(  '? 2  1('+
+)   <0 2 )+ 0* 1' ="$%%> 2  ./# +)  *+* 11 ( 2 0  2 1('+ *+'''  ' 2

Waste Management Bids to

0 1) * - C  C C    2     2 2 ('+  2 2 ('+  ) 21'+'(  (1'1 +'( @'(( 
    !   " #  $% ?+(  11 * ( @' ** )  0 ) ':'( *10+
''  ?  1('+  '( 1('+ :'     ' 1'':  ':'( ':0 2 ) )    )  ;( 
  '(  !"!"  + @ +  1': 01 ':  )+  2 2 ('+ ((  '* )  ;(': ) 2  '* 2  ( 
<0'( +*) +)  - C  C C    2 &' ;? %= ) 2  D 1 ' 1(* * 0  <0 01 ':'(
( )       !   " #*!  *10+ +0  ?'**   0   ' 2 ?'@ 00
$% (( '' (*': 1('+ '': 2+  D E1' 2 310#

Raise Fees for Home Pickup

  *+'''? 1*0 2  C'(': -':': * H'2)': 2 10#
) 11 * 03 '* (  <0'*  ;( 2 2 ('+ )  + ) (1'1  ' 3 ./0 1) 0
   "%   
      *!  & ,"(%"4% 15 
 + ) 2 2 ('+  
   ('1( * "(%     + ",% +
- + 
 ':  )+ '': 0* 1' ="$%%> 2  ./0 1) *
  !  ( . / 
 ( 0+ ' +0 ( % '1(0*  ?(0 2  :* *('?*  * 1'?* ) 
  0   " #1/   $% (( '' (*#  '  !" *) '   '' A %! 1 ) *10+#
': 1('+ 221* )  +*+   D -1*0(  <0'*  ' '*'2)':  '10( '?'1 2 @'1 01 ="$%%> 1('+ ' ':
;( 2 2 ('+ )   
"%       *! *A * %$ 1 *10+' 2 ) 1(+' *+* +*
BY NINA TRENTMANN multiyear contracts with mu- greater U.S. demand for recy-     ('1( * "(%     !        0* 1' =B,%1 2  ./0 1) * %'2  ('1(
   + ",% +
    -  (   2 6
 2 )0 ? ) <0' :*':  1('+
nicipalities for removal of trash cled paper and cardboard to 
    & " #2 &  $% 1 *F )0 @'  '  1 ) 2  . 
'1  2
Devina Rankin wants to and recyclables. The price paid produce things such as toilet   !       
   
  "
   ! 
  
   
 

2 1('+ 2+  (* *10+ )0 +) *  ) %' 1((':  #
D 010': ('  8""$$"!=$A *F %'' ?''':  D
charge cities and towns more stays the same, even if more paper and packaging, Ms. #   
   $%&%'&   
  010': @'   FF11+F@'': (0+F

      
 

    
  * '  1   1 (: @'  ( 20 *':' 2 1
to pick up their trash and recy- waste is produced. Rankin said. Waste Manage- 




 
    


  ! *D 2*( 3 '*';1' 0+  '': *' (*': +#
clables, since Americans work- Waste Management’s trucks ment is selling 80% to 85% of     
       
   "
 
 
  

) ('+'* ''(')  ' %$,,!A '': (0+  '
%8==A '': - (*': + ) %!>""A '': '( *   '
ing from home are producing now make more trips to pick up its recycled materials domesti-   

 1 2 2 ('+ +0  ;(* '1(0*': 0 # %88!>A * '': 01  ' %!8  (1' 2  *D
': *10+' ) ' %' ()(*+,-./* 0123/00/-. 0:   ?'1 ** ' 7"" '1( - -0' B7"" ? (* 8"!"$
more waste—and it costs more residential trash and bring it to cally, compared with about 70%
to get rid of it. a landfill or sorting facility. Dis- before the coronavirus pan-
“We need to have conversa- demic. ANNOUNCEMENTS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
tions about the level of service The company has been able
we are required to provide be- The company’s to charge higher fees for some
     
 
# 
cause it is different than what finance chief, municipalities since the 2018    
       

we signed up for,” the Waste Devina Rankin, China ban, and Ms. Rankin said   
   

      !
   "
Management Inc. finance chief said a drop in she is optimistic it will be able      

  
    
 
  
 

said. The weight of residential commercial to do more of that.   
    
   

    
  

 
     
waste has increased 15% to 25% waste hurt the “The fundamental shift in  
    
   
 
 
 "    
  "


since the beginning of wide- bottom line. residential waste is well under-      
    

 
  
  
  
spread lockdown orders in the stood and will make the con-
 
 
U.S., she said. versations with municipalities  


Meanwhile, Ms. Rankin said
  PRODUCTS
volumes in the company’s

higher-margin commercial and
   
industrial business were down
16% in the first quarter com-
posal costs are rising because of
the increased volumes, and Ms.
Rankin said she expects those
higher costs to continue even as
businesses and offices reopen.
increasingly effective,” Ms.   
Rankin said. 
Waste Management might BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES  
be successful in asking for
   ! "#$$%
price increases in negotiations  
 

 

 

  
pared with a year earlier. A 2018 ban by China on with municipalities, assuming  
    

The Houston-based company waste imports, which sent more Americans continue to   
  
 
 
      
has about 18.3 million residen- global prices for recyclable ma- work from home once the pan- 

 
 
tial customers across the U.S. terials lower, affected some of demic has ended, said Noah     
 
and Canada. The drop in com- the company’s margins. The de- Kaye, a research analyst at Op-
mercial and industrial trash re- cline in prices for paper, plastic, penheimer & Co., an invest-
     
  
  
   

 
  !"
  
 

duced Waste Management’s cardboard and metal hurt ment bank.  
 
   !
        
   
revenue by about $40 million waste-collection companies, “The contracts were not set  
     " #  

   "

 
 " ""       
in the first quarter, hurting its which previously recouped a up to reflect a 20% increase in         
   
!
    ! !

profit margin. large chunk of their recycling waste by households. These are   
    

Waste Management and costs by selling the materials. extra costs for waste haulers,”    

other haulers typically have However, there is now Mr. Kaye said.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
B4 | Monday, May 11, 2020
Netflix Maven Put the Roar in ‘Tiger King’
BY JOE FLINT
Lisa Nishimura’s job is to
be on the lookout for the un-
usual story that even the
Hollywood fantasy machines
can’t make up.
“So many of the richer
stories live in nonfiction,”
says Netflix Inc.’s vice presi-
dent of independent film and
documentary.
Ms. Nishimura, 48 years
old, has a knack for getting
those stories on Netflix,
which is becoming
BOSS as well known for
TALK its documentaries
as it is for original
movies and television shows.
The true-crime miniseries
“Making a Murderer,” “Tay-
lor Swift: Miss Americana,”
Ava DuVernay’s critically ac-
claimed “13th” and Errol
Morris’s genre-bending
“Wormwood” are among
the documentaries
Ms. Nishimura has approved
over a decade plus
at the streaming-video
company.
Now, in the pandemic, she
has become a tastemaker
with quarantine streaming’s
must-see: “Tiger King: Mur-
der, Mayhem and Madness,”
another project Ms.
Nishimura championed. It
has become one of Netflix’s
most-viewed original shows
ever since it premiered
in March.
Ms. Nishimura recently
spoke to The Wall Street
Journal by video from her
home in Los Angeles, where
she has been in lockdown
since mid-March. Here are
edited excerpts:
Businesses
Cut Cord
On TV
Continued from page B1
basketball games on TV and
with tables spaced farther
apart.
“We actually turned them
around so they’re not facing
the TVs, because there isn’t
anything on,” Mr. Liebeskind
said. Baseball, basketball and
hockey leagues have put their
games on hiatus.
Pay-TV companies are ex-
pected to face a harder time
maintaining revenue from more
vulnerable businesses strug-
gling to survive the summer.
“The most disconcerting, trou-
blesome area that we’re seeing
is what’s happening down in
small business,” AT&T Chief
Executive Randall Stephenson,
who plans to step down as CEO
at the end of June, said during
an April conference call.
The closure of small busi-
nesses across the board has
dented pay-TV company earn-
ings. “It will likely take time for
this part of the business to re-
no
cover,” Charter Chief Financial
Officer Chris Winfrey said of
the small-and-medium-business
segment in an April earnings
call.
Mr. Winfrey added that cer-
tain bars, restaurants and ho-
tels are among the businesses
that have reduced service or
monthly bills until they fully
reopen.
Charter, which has nearly
two million small-business cus-
tomers, said many of its busi-
ness customers are still closed.
AT&T lost more than one
million domestic pay-TV cus-
tomers in the first quarter and
warned of more defections
from cash-strapped households
and businesses later this year.
Dish ended the March quarter
with 413,000 fewer paying sub-
scribers.
Broadband Provider Windstream Nearer Exit From Bankruptcy
BY AISHA AL-MUSLIM
Rural broadband provider
Windstream Holdings Inc. is
closer to exiting from chapter
11 under a proposal that would
allow hedge-fund manager El-
liott Management Corp. and
other investors to buy the bulk
of the company’s equity out of
bankruptcy while wiping out
most junior debt.
Judge Robert Drain of the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White
Plains, N.Y., said Friday that he
would approve Windstream’s
settlement deal with Uniti
Group Inc., over a lease dis-
pute. Uniti is a Windstream
WSJ: Are you hearing pitches
now?
Ms. Nishimura: Most definitely.
Some either via Zoom or
through Google Hangouts. It’s
always wonderful to be able
to see one another. It’s helpful
to see certainly if they have
visual materials. But more
than anything, I just love see-
ing the filmmakers’ expres-
sion. You understand their en-
thusiasm. You get a better
sense of what the vision is.
WSJ: Documentaries seem to
be gaining popularity. What
in particular is bringing more
awareness to the form?
Ms. Nishimura: We’ve always
had a recognition and appre-
ciation for the craft and the
form. Historically, however,
documentaries have fallen
victim to inconsistent funding
and a very disaggregated dis-
tribution model. What we
bring to the table is a scale
and a global arena for film-
makers to engage audiences.
We make it pretty convenient
for people to sample.
WSJ: When many of us were
kids, our eyes would glaze
over at the word “documen-
tary.” Now it’s a genre often
more innovative than tradi-
tional movies and television.
How has storytelling
changed?
Ms. Nishimura: Not every
documentary has to feel like
seventh-grade science class,
right?
We worked with Errol Morris
on his very ambitious series,
“Wormwood.” He has 12 dif-
ferent camera angles trained
on one subject, all because it
on
us ,
Comcast saw 409,000 cus-
l
tomers cancel their pay-TV
e
al a
subscriptions in the first quar-
ter, more than half of its total
2019 pay-TV subscriber losses.
ci on
The company partly attributed
the first-quarter losses to a
price increase. Cable TV reve-
nue remained flat for the same
reason.
er s
Comcast, Charter and Altice
USA Inc. have so far managed
m er
to offset the pay-TV revenue
drop with more broadband in-
ternet subscribers.
Internet use has soared over
the past two months as mil-
m rp
lions of U.S. residents stayed
home during the pandemic and
picked up on-demand services
like Netflix.
Craig Moffett, an analyst for
co Fo
telecom consulting firm Mof-
fettNathanson LLC, said the vi-
rus—and the loss of live
sports—has accelerated a
“death spiral” for the pay-TV
category.
“Sports are the glue that
hold the whole thing together,”
Mr. Moffett said. “Without
sports, the system is unravel-
ing.”
Eric Goldspiel owns three
bars: Divine Bar and Grill and
n-
895 Bar, both in Brooklyn, N.Y.;
and El Coqui Bar & Billiards in
Queens, N.Y. He said he would
likely close two of them perma-
nently.
His DirecTV service has
been suspended at all three lo-
cations, and the internet ser-
vice—provided by Altice’s Opti-
mum at the two Brooklyn bars
and Charter’s Spectrum in
Queens—lapsed.
Mr. Goldspiel has applied for
Paycheck Protection Program
loans, to pay his 28 staffers
across all three locations. “I’m
not going to use a PPP loan to
pay my cable bill,” he said.
Mr. Liebeskind, the co-
owner of Monsoons, said he ex-
pects to pay for live sports af-
ter games restart. But for now,
the owners and their families
are making do with prere-
corded TV while they fulfill
pickup orders.
“If it gets boring during the
day, we have Hulu,” he said.
spinoff whose broadband net-
work is crucial to the telecom
company’s operations.
The settlement will add
about $1.25 billion in net
present value to the Wind-
stream estate.
Windstream’s unsecured
creditors had opposed the set-
tlement, saying it leaves them
out in the cold.
In a court hearing held by
phone, Judge Drain also said
he would approve a multi-
month commitment by Wind-
stream lenders to invest in the
reorganized company as well
as an updated version of the
disclosure documents describ-
TECHNOLOGY
Lisa Nishimura is vice president of independent film and documentary.
is in relation to this idea of
the collage. We’re very com-
plicated beings as humans.
We’re multifaceted, multilay-
ered and he has a visual lan-
guage that’s attached to that.
Then he goes further and has
scripted, fully narrative ele-
ments that he’s interweaving.
Bringing innovative storytell-
ing, bringing these new tech-
niques, and being really rig-
orous about the storytelling
universes people want to ex-
plore is incredibly important
to making stories that can be
PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY | By Nicole Nguyen
Take Better Breaks From Screens
Going from
a day in front
of your com-
puter to a
Zoom happy
hour to a Net-
flix binge session can leave
you feeling more exhausted.
The solution seems obvious:
Spend less time with your
devices. But that isn’t as
simple as putting down your
phone, especially now that
they are our primary venues
for work and play.
That’s why strategic
screen breaks are so impor-
tant. Here are ways to help
you reduce screen time—
without sacrificing produc-
tivity.
 Try a time-manage-
ment system. Italian entre-
preneur Francesco Cirillo
created a process in the
1980s called Pomodoro,
named after a tomato-
shaped kitchen timer. The
premise is straightforward:
Focus on a task for a 25-min-
ute stretch, then take a five-
minute break. After four of
these, you can take a longer
ZNEWTECH
Znewtech timer can be rotated
to start a preset countdown.
ing its chapter 11 plan, with
some modifications.
The judge’s rulings make
way for a proposed restructur-
ing of Windstream that would
deliver all but a sliver of equity
control to top lenders led by
Elliott, the company’s largest
creditor, while virtually wiping
out roughly $1.1 billion in
lower-ranking bonds.
Windstream, of Little Rock,
Ark., has the support of the
majority of its creditors, those
holding about $4.1 billion of its
$5.5 billion total debt, a lawyer
for the company said at the
court hearing, which started
Thursday and continued Friday.
* * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
age that was vérité and first-
person.
WSJ: If I were pitching a doc-
umentary to you, might I
look at “Tiger King” and say,
“Well, clearly the more out-
landish, the better?”
Ms. Nishimura: We’re not try-
ing to be sensationalistic in
our storytelling. The way in
which a filmmaker chooses
to handle and present a story
that’s sensitive, whether it
happens to be something in
the judicial system, whether
it’s somebody’s own quest to
recognize and realize who
they are in the world—these
are deeply personal stories.
WSJ: How comfortable are
you with re-enactments in
docu-storytelling?
RODIN ECKENROTH/GETTY IMAGES
Ms. Nishimura: There are some
cases where a re-enactment is
enhancing. Every story is dif-
ferent. We have documenta-
ries like “Crip Camp,” (about
how Camp Jened, a camp for
disabled children and teens,
helped inspire the 1970s dis-
ability rights movement.)
There are no re-enactments.
It’s not necessary because
broadly enjoyed. they cracked open this re-
markable archive for us to
WSJ: How surprised were swim inside and we had ac-
you by “Tiger King’s” suc- cess to current subjects. Same
cess? with “Wild Wild Country,” (a
Ms. Nishimura: You can never documentary about a cult and
truly know. You can have an its clashes with the Oregon
intuition and an instinct. community where it resided.)
When I heard the first pitch This is the fun part of sitting
on “Tiger King,” there were with a creator and under-
ly
elements reminiscent of standing the story you want to
“Making a Murderer.” The tell and the tools that you
filmmakers had been com- have to tell them.
mitted to their subject over a
long horizon of time and had
an incredible amount of foot-
WSJ: Do you have enough
docs to get everyone through
Speak Up to Cut Still, I find that the voice typ-
ing tool built into Google Docs
Time in Front of PC
and Google Slides is sufficient
for drafting short notes—or
even this article. The feature,
Dictating email and notes which only works in Chrome
out loud might draw some cold browsers, allows you to edit,
looks from co-workers in the too. You can say things like,
office—but at home, there’s no “Select last line” or “Go to pre-
one to judge you for muttering vious misspelling.” Set it up in
to yourself! Google Docs by going to Tools
Dictation takes a bit of > Voice typing.
practice. But after a few tries, For text input elsewhere,
you’ll start composing text you can use your operating
much more quickly. And all system’s software. If you have
while gazing out the window. a Mac, go to System Prefer-
Nuance Dragon ($300) is ences > Keyboard > Dictation.
powerful but pricey software. On Windows, go to Program >
It’s the go-to application for au- Accessories > Ease of Access >
thors and other professionals. Windows Speech Recognition.
20- or 30-minute break. The American Academy of
A common mistake is to Ophthalmology says looking
use the break to complete at a screen for long periods
other tasks or think about won’t necessarily damage
what you’re working on, Mr. your eyesight, but it can
Cirillo told me. “Breathe, cause temporary blurred vi-
grab a cup of coffee, go for a sion, headaches, eye dryness
short walk or do something or aches.
else relaxing and not work- To reduce eyestrain, ac-
related,” he said. And check- cording to the organization,
ing personal email doesn’t every 20 minutes you should
count as a break. I asked. look at something other than
All you need is a timer. your screen, at least 20 feet
My husband has an $18 away, for at least 20 sec-
Znewtech hexagon timer that onds. Pomy, a Mac and Win-
can be rotated to start a dows app, can remind you to
countdown of a preset time look away.
between five and 60 min-  Turn on your fitness
utes. I prefer apps. They tracker’s move reminder.
range from Pomofocus, a Ms. Rubin suggests enabling
simple web app, to the Apple Watch feature that
Tomighty, which puts a nudges you if you’ve been
timer in your computer’s sitting for the first 50 min-
menu bar, to Pomello, which utes of an hour. Fitbit wear-
works with the Trello proj- ables can do the same: Set
ect-management app. yours to buzz you if you ha-
 Follow the 20-20-20 ven’t moved 250 steps
rule. If your schedule is full within the first 50 minutes
of long or unpredictable of an hour.
meetings, there’s an even  Turn off your display,
simpler rule with shorter not your computer. Some-
breaks, called 20-20-20, de- times you just need a minute
signed to curb eye fatigue. or two to brainstorm an
“The proposed settlement is Windstream’s lease with
complex and I believe critical” Uniti is critical to its opera-
to Windstream’s survival, tions, and the two companies
Judge Drain said Friday. “While depend on each other, with
it is intertwined…with an even- Windstream supplying more
tual plan of reorganization in than two-thirds of Uniti’s reve-
these cases, it does not dictate nue in exchange for access to
the terms of that plan.” fiber and copper networks
Since last summer, Wind- across the U.S.
stream and Uniti had been The settlement resolving the
locked in battle over a $650 litigation between the two
million annual rent agreement companies is the result of more
that Windstream pays for use than seven months of negotia-
of Uniti’s fiber-optic network tions and mediation.
assets—a fight that threatened Windstream Chief Executive
to also push Uniti into bank- Tony Thomas said in court
ruptcy. Windstream had filed a documents that continued liti-
lawsuit to alter the lease ar- gation “could have kept Wind-
rangement, calling it too costly. stream mired in chapter 11 for
WSJ.com/Tech
the rest of this year and into
next?
Ms. Nishimura: We have a
pretty rich pipeline. We have
a whole release schedule of
films and series that are ei-
ther complete or near com-
plete. We’re also active in the
acquisition market. So we still
have folks who have finished
films coming to us and we are
evaluating those as well.
WSJ: How are documentary
filmmakers—who already op-
erate on shoestring bud-
gets—affected by the eco-
nomic fallout of the
coronavirus?
Ms. Nishimura: The whole
filmmaking community is go-
ing to feel the effects of this
for a long time. And it’s not
just documentary filmmakers.
It’s people who work day-to-
day, job-to-job. We’ve created
a $150 million hardship fund,
primarily focused on our pro-
ductions and that includes our
documentary productions.
WSJ: Have you been pitched
any coronavirus documenta-
ries?
Ms. Nishimura: What do you
think, Joe? Think I’ve gotten
a pitch or two? Yeah, we’ve
certainly heard some
pitches. For us, it’s about:
Can this be done safely? And
how do we think about it?
We’re not in active news, so
.
a lot of the consideration is
around what is the perspec-
tive and what is the take?
The benefit of time is going
to give more of a rich story
of exactly how all of this has
come about and the global
response to it.
idea. Instead of idly staring
at your computer, where no-
tifications and open tabs
could easily distract you, try
shutting off your screen.
A “hot corner” is a com-
puter shortcut that involves
dragging your mouse to the
corner of your screen to trig-
ger an action, like quickly
shutting off your display. It’s
a built-in feature for Macs.
Windows users can down-
load WinXCorners to bring
the same functionality to
PCs. Many Windows ma-
chines let you set the power
button to turn off the dis-
play—see Power Options in
the Control Panel.
 Dial into video calls.
For meetings where you’re
not required to speak or
view a presentation, con-
sider joining by phone—a
feature available on Zoom,
Skype, Webex, Microsoft
Teams, and Google Meet.
You can use the time to walk
around the block.
 Print files or send
them to your Kindle. Bask-
ing in sunlight (in modera-
tion and with a healthy
amount of sunscreen) is a
known mood-booster—and
when you’re outdoors, it’s
undoubtedly easier to read
text on a printed page or e-
ink tablet than on a screen.
Plus, print may make you
a more effective reader. A
2011 study offered partici-
pants a choice: Read a pas-
sage as digital or printed
text. Researchers found that
participants who opted for
screens spent less time read-
ing and had lower compre-
hension scores.
You can send a variety of
files, including Microsoft
Word docs and PDFs, to your
Kindle by emailing the Kin-
dle-specific address listed in
your device settings.
another 6 to 12 months—if not
well over a year.”
Under the settlement, Uniti
will pay Windstream $490 mil-
lion in cash over the next five
years and will purchase certain
fiber assets from Windstream
for an additional $285 million
in cash. Uniti also agreed to in-
vest up to $1.75 billion in net-
work improvements for
Windstream through December
2029.
Windstream will continue
paying rent to lease fiber as-
sets from Uniti at current lev-
els for a year, with rents then
increasing depending on an-
nual capital spending by Uniti.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 11, 2020 | B5

.
ly
on
us ,
l
e
al a
ci on
er s
m er
m rp
co Fo
n-
no
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
B6 | Monday, May 11, 2020
Investors Wager Against the
Likelihood of Negative Rates
BY NICK TIMIRAOS
Federal Reserve officials are
unlikely to consider using neg-
ative interest rates to stimulate
economic growth in the current
coronavirus-induced downturn
after concluding the tool’s clear
costs outweigh its uncertain
benefits.
The topic resurfaced Thurs-
day after investors in futures
markets began betting the
Fed’s benchmark federal-funds
rate would go below zero by
year-end, which sent yields on
two-year Treasury securities to
an all-time low. Rates rose
slightly on Friday, and futures
contracts implied investors ex-
pected the fed-funds rate
would be negative in June
2021.
Fed leaders see negative
rates as a very last resort—and
a remote one—worrying they
would have harmful effects on
financial markets and the bank-
ing industry. More broadly,
there is little political support
for the policy in the U.S.
Central-bank officials have
said they prefer to stimulate
growth with tools used after
the 2008 financial crisis, in-
cluding purchases of long-term
securities and explicit guidance
about how long they plan to
buy assets and keep rates low.
During a policy review last
year, officials also dis-
cussed combining these poli-
cies with a new one that would
peg yields on Treasury securi-
ties.
“Going forward, our inclina-
tion would be to rely on the
tools that we did use as op-
posed to negative rates,” said
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in
congressional testimony on
Feb. 11. “When you have nega-
tive rates, you wind up creating
downward pressure on bank
profitability, which limits credit
expansion.”
Since mid-March, the Fed
has bought hundreds of billions
of dollars of Treasury and mort-
gage securities to hold down
We’ve done the
10,000 hours for your
10 minute meeting.
no
Analysts who know
the markets you need
to understand
Be better prepared for tomorrow.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said the tool could hurt banks.
long-term interest rates after
cutting the fed-funds rate to
nearly zero. It is preparing to
buy hundreds of billions more
in corporate debt, municipal
bonds and business loans to
support lending in the months
ahead.
Mr. Powell has strongly en-
couraged Congress and the
White House to spend more
money to limit long-term dam-
age to the economy from busi-
ness failures and high jobless-
ness, and he has said the Fed is
in no hurry to raise rates.
Mr. Powell is set to speak
Wednesday in a moderated on-
line discussion, and he could
face questions about policy
tools to combat the worst eco-
nomic crisis in generations.
With negative rates, com-
mercial banks would pay to
hold deposits at the Fed, called
on
reserves, rather than collect in-
us ,
terest. In theory, banks should
l
prefer to lend the money at low
e
al a
cost to other banks, businesses
and consumers, stimulating the
economy.
ci on
Negative rates would be de-
signed to shift their money into
other short-term assets, driv-
ing down those yields below
zero. In turn, investors and
er s
banks would buy riskier assets
to avoid negative returns and
m er
lower longer-term rates, such
m rp
co Fo
n-
BUSINESS & FINANCE
system,” the minutes said.
But neither did officials en-
tirely rule out the option, say-
ing there might be circum-
stances in which they would
want to reassess the possibility.
Officials haven’t shown any
openness to negative rates in
more recent comments. Nega-
tive rates would “pose a signifi-
cant challenge for banks,” said
Boston Fed President Eric
KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS
Rosengren in a March 6 speech.
“We need banks to be healthy
enough to provide credit and li-
quidity in challenging economic
times.”
At an emergency meeting on
March 15, when Fed officials
cut the fed-funds rate to nearly
zero, a few officials expressed
as those on corporate bonds concern that the reduction
and mortgages. would lead some short-term
Central banks in Europe and market interest rates to turn
Japan pushed short-term inter- negative, according to minutes
est rates into negative territory of the gathering.
during the middle of the past They worried this would fuel
decade, with mixed results. expectations of negative policy
Last December, Sweden’s cen- rates that would “run counter
tral bank became the first of to participants’ previously ex-
them to abandon negative rates. pressed views that they would
Fed economists briefed pol- prefer to use other monetary
icy makers on the costs and policy tools” if more stimulus
is needed after rates are near
zero.
One memo from staff brief-
Investors have bet on ings in 2010 reveals concerns
rates falling below that operational and legal bar-
riers could diminish the effec-
zero, but officials tiveness of negative rates. For
don’t back the idea. example, the Fed would need to
ensure it has legal authority to
benefits of negative rates at a
meeting last October. Minutes
implement the policy, and
Treasury systems could need to
be configured to offer securi-
ties with negative yields.
of the meeting showed “all” Markets should dismiss re-
Fed officials judged that nega- cent bets on negative rates
tive rates “currently did not ap- “based on everything the Fed
pear to be an attractive mone- has told us and based on the
tary policy tool in the United logistical hurdles to get there,”
States.” said Mark Cabana, an interest-
Officials worried that intro- rate strategist at Bank of
ducing negative rates in the America Corp. Fed-funds fu-
U.S., where short-term funding tures markets reflected expec-
markets rely more heavily than tations of negative rates be-
in other countries on money- cause of technical issues
market mutual funds, would concerning different trades be-
create “significant complexity ing placed in options markets,
or distortions to the financial he said.
Learn More: si.wsj.com
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Carlyle, Singapore Firm
Scrap AmEx Travel Deal
BY ANNAMARIA ANDRIOTIS
AND MIRIAM GOTTFRIED
Private-equity firm Carlyle
Group Inc. and Singapore sov-
ereign-wealth fund GIC Pte.
Ltd. are backing away from a
deal to take a 20% stake in
American Express Global Busi-
ness Travel, whose revenue has
plummeted as a result of the
coronavirus pandemic.
The deal, announced in De-
cember, values the company at
$5 billion including debt. It was
scheduled to close Thursday,
but representatives for Carlyle
and GIC informed AmEx Global
Business Travel on Wednesday
they wouldn’t participate in the
closing, according to people fa-
miliar with the matter.
“The sellers violated several
terms of the purchase agree-
ment and as a result we are
seeking a judicial confirmation
that we have no obligation to
close the transaction,” a Carlyle
spokeswoman said.
AmEx Global Business
Travel, which is 50%-owned by
American Express Co., offers
airfare and hotel-booking ser-
vices mostly to large and mid-
size businesses. In 2014, the
credit-card company sold the
other half to a group led by in-
vestment firm Certares LP.
Carlyle and GIC, along with a
group of others, agreed to pur-
chase a portion of that stake
last year.
An entity acting on behalf of
ly
the sellers filed a motion this
past week in Delaware Chan-
cery Court against Carlyle and
GIC, calling for it to compel
them to proceed with the pur-
chase.
If the deal is scuttled, it
would be one of several high-
profile transactions to fall apart
as a result of the pandemic. On
May 4, L Brands Inc. and pri-
vate-equity firm Sycamore Part-
ners said they were scrapping
plans to take Victoria’s Secret
private, a decision that came af-
ter Sycamore filed a lawsuit to
try to cancel the deal.
AmEx Global Business Travel
isn’t party to the dispute. It
“continues to operate with a
strong group of existing share-
© 2020 Dow Jones & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. 3DJxxxx
holders committed to the suc-
cess of GBT’s business,” a
spokesman said. “This action
neither impacts GBT’s ability to
manage through the current
environment nor constrains any
future opportunity.”
Revenue at AmEx Global
Business Travel has plunged
since the pandemic closed of-
fices and caused travel to halt.
The company’s sales fell
roughly 70% year over year in
March, according to people fa-
miliar with its financials.
The potential dissolution of
the deal throws into question a
roughly $1.2 billion loan to
AmEx Global Business Travel
for which the company has re-
ceived commitments from in-
vestors. If the deal doesn’t
close by June 30, the lenders
could also walk away.
Much of the loan was origi-
nally intended to pay a divi-
dend to stakeholders and to
fund a possible acquisition.
AmEx Global Business Travel
told lenders in mid-April it
would scale back the dividend
payment. Some $112 million of
the financing would be used to
pay current and former senior
employees in connection with
the deal.
The company has told lend-
ers it is slashing roughly $600
million in costs, with about half
of that coming from pay cuts,
layoffs and furloughs, people
.
familiar with the matter said. It
could also tap the debt market
to raise additional cash as Ex-
pedia Group Inc. and other
travel-related businesses have
done, the people said.
The deal began to unravel in
early April when Carlyle raised
concerns that the coronavirus
shutdown constitutes a “mate-
rial adverse effect” and that the
travel-booking business would
soon be insolvent, which the
sellers disagree with.
In a Delaware court filing
Friday, the private-equity firm
outlined what it alleged were
four violations of the purchase
agreement, including that the
company was planning to use a
significant portion of its invest-
ment to fund operating losses.
The sellers also deny that.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 11, 2020 | B7

MARKETS DIGEST
Dow Jones Industrial Average S&P 500 Index New to the Market IPO Scorecard B8
Last Year ago Last Year ago
24331.32 s 607.63, or 2.56% last week Trailing P/E ratio 20.34 17.89 2929.80 s 99.09, or 3.50% last week Trailing P/E ratio * 24.68 22.05 Public Offerings of Stock
High, low, open and close for each of P/E estimate * 22.28 15.64 High, low, open and close for each of P/E estimate * 22.75 17.08
the past 52 weeks Dividend yield 2.72 2.29 the past 52 weeks Dividend yield * 2.08 1.93 IPOs in the U.S. Market
All-time high 29551.42, 02/12/20 All-time high 3386.15, 02/19/20
None expected this week

Current divisor 0.14579812049809 Lockup Expirations

30000 3400
Below, companies whose officers and other insiders will become eligible
28000 3200 to sell shares in their newly public companies for the first time. Such
65-day moving average sales can move the stock’s price.
65-day moving average Lockup Offer Offer amt Through Lockup
26000 3000 expiration Issue date Issuer Symbol price($) ($ mil.) Friday (%) provision

200-day moving average May 10 Nov. 12, ’19 YayYo YAYO 4.00 10.0 –97.8 180 days
24000 2800 Sources: Dealogic; Dow Jones Market Data
200-day moving average
Week's high Other Stock Offerings
22000 2600 Secondaries and follow-ons expected this week in the U.S. market
DOWN UP
t

Monday's open Friday's close None expected this week

20000 2400
Friday's close Monday's open
t

Off the Shelf

Week's low 18000 2200 “Shelf registrations” allow a company to prepare a stock or bond for
sale, without selling the whole issue at once. Corporations sell as
Bars measure the point change from Monday's open conditions become favorable. Here are the shelf sales, or takedowns,
16000 2000 over the last week:
M J J A S O N D J F M A M M J J A S O N D J F M A M Takedown date/ Deal value
Primary Issuer/Industry Registration date ($ mil.) Bookrunner(s)
NYSE weekly volume, in billions of shares market Composite
t
t

Financial Flashback Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc May 4 $103.0 Jefferies
36 Dining & Lodging April 14,320
24 The Wall Street Journal, May 11, 1989 Compass Diversified Holdings May 4 $88.0 MS, BofA Securities, UBS,
12 America West offered $415 million for Eastern Air’s shuttle, Holding Companies Nov. 13,319 RBC Cptl Mkts
0 topping Trump’s $365 million bid. The Arizona-based carrier Insmed Inc May 5 $259.4 SVB Leerink
M J J A S O N D J F M A M also proposed to pay $336 million for 10 Eastern jets. Healthcare May 19,317

*Weekly P/E data based on as-reported earnings from Birinyi Associates Inc.; † Based on Nasdaq-100 Index
CoreSite Realty Corp May 4 $313.1 MS
Real Estate/Property Sept. 28,311

Major U.S. Stock-Market Indexes Nasdaq Composite Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd May 5
Leisure & Recreation May 5,320
$460.0 GS, Barclays, Citi, JPM, Mizuho,
Credit Agricole CIB, UBS
Latest Week 52-Week % chg s 516.37, or 6.00% Kura Oncology Inc May 6 $143.9 SVB Leerink, Cowen & Company LLC,
High Low Close Net chg % chg Low Close (l) High % chg YTD 3-yr. ann.
Dow Jones
last week Healthcare Aug. 1,319 Credit Suisse
Silk Road Medical Inc May 6 $265.5 JPM, BofA Securities, Citi
Industrial Average 24349.90 23361.16 24331.32 607.63 2.56 18591.93 l 29551.42 -6.2 -14.7 5.0 Healthcare May 5,320
Transportation Avg 8347.86 7863.56 8332.50 187.64 2.30 6703.63 l 11304.97 -21.4 -23.6 -2.9
9125 Chembio Diagnostics Inc May 7 $27.5 R W Baird & Co
Utility Average 783.13 745.30 764.11 5.03 0.66 610.89 l 960.89 -1.7 -13.1 2.9 Healthcare Sept. 18,318
Total Stock Market 29686.39 28191.24 29670.79 1131.69 3.97 22462.76 l 34631.28 -0.1 -10.2 6.1 GenMark Diagnostics Inc May 6 $70.0 Cowen & Company LLC, W. Blair LLC
Barron's 400 621.32 592.98 621.08 28.95 4.89 455.11 l 746.64 -11.1 -15.2 -1.0 8900 Healthcare Nov. 20,318
Vapotherm Inc May 6 $87.1 BofA Securities, W. Blair LLC
Nasdaq Stock Market Healthcare Dec. 20,319
8675
Nasdaq Composite 9125.98 8537.83 9121.32 516.37 6.00 6860.67 l 9817.18 15.2 1.7 14.3

.
Nasdaq 100 9224.49 8665.40 9220.35 502.17 5.76 6978.02 l 9718.73 21.5 5.6 17.7

ly
8450
S&P 1 4 5 6 7 8
Public and Private Borrowing
500 Index 2932.16 2797.85 2929.80 99.09 3.50 2237.40 l 3386.15 1.7 -9.3 6.9 May
Treasurys
MidCap 400 1677.52 1558.16 1676.18 85.70 5.39 1218.55 l 2106.12 -13.3 -18.8 -1.1 DJ US TSM
SmallCap 600
Other Indexes
Russell 2000 1330.11
770.87 721.72

1234.01 1329.64
770.87 30.85

69.16
4.17

5.49
on
595.67

991.16
l

l 1705.22
1041.03 -20.1

-15.5
-24.5

-20.3 -1.5
-3.1 s 1131.69, or 3.97%
last week
Monday, May 11
Auction of 13 and 26 week bills;
announced on May 7; settles on May 14
Auction of 3 year note;
Wednesday, May 13
Auction of 30 year bond;
announced on May 6; settles on May 15

NYSE Composite 11360.11 10900.39 11354.34 295.77 2.67 8777.38 l 14183.2 -11.2 -18.4 -0.7
us ,

announced on May 6; settles on May 15

Value Line 413.46 387.32 413.39 16.73 4.22 305.71 l 562.05 -23.2 -25.1 -7.5 29800
l

NYSE Arca Biotech 5401.10 5002.46 5368.68 347.18 6.91 3855.67 l 5399.75 17.8 5.9 14.7 Tuesday, May 12 Thursday, May 14
e
al a

NYSE Arca Pharma 649.62 630.55 639.00 5.54 0.87 494.36 l 670.32 10.9 -2.2 7.5 29200 Auction of 10 year note; Auction of 4 and 8 week bills;
KBW Bank 72.09 67.52 71.14 0.17 0.24 56.19 l 114.12 -28.6 -37.2 -8.5 announced on May 6; settles on May 15 announced on May 12; settles on May 19
ci on

PHLX§ Gold/Silver 124.31 117.29 122.09 4.73 4.03 66.14 l 122.3 81.4 14.2 14.9
28600
PHLX§ Oil Service 30.46 26.85 30.38 2.543 9.13 21.47 l 88.6 -65.4 -61.2 -41.4
PHLX§ Semiconductor 1777.02 1625.77 1775.61 131.21 7.98 1286.84 l 1979.5 20.1 -4.0 20.8 A Week in the Life of the DJIA
CBOE Volatility 40.32 27.89 27.98 -9.21 -24.76 11.54 l 82.69 74.4 103.0 42.0 28000
1 4 5 6 7 8
A look at how the Dow Jones Industrial Average component stocks

Nasdaq PHLX Sources: FactSet; Dow Jones Market Data May did in the past week and how much each moved the index. The DJIA
gained 607.63 points, or 2.56%, on the week. A $1 change in the price
er s

of any DJIA stock = 6.86-point change in the average. To date, a

International Stock Indexes Commodities and $1,000 investment on Dec. 31 in each current DJIA stock component
m er

Currencies would have returned $25,783, or a loss of 14.06%, on the $30,000

Latest Week 52-Week Range YTD investment, including reinvested dividends.
Last Week YTD
Region/Country Index Close % chg Low Close High % chg
Close Net chg %Chg % chg
World The Global Dow 2640.48 1.29 2138.97 • 3300.22 –18.8
DJ Commodity 495.53 28.64 6.13 -22.85
The Week’s Action
Pct Stock price Point chg $1,000 Invested(year-end '19)
DJ Global Index 373.74 2.47 292.30 • 444.78 –13.9
m rp

TR/CC CRB Index 124.74 7.11 6.05 -32.86 chg (%) change in average* Company Symbol Close $1,000
DJ Global ex U.S. 214.44 0.74 174.38 • 267.54 –18.6
Crude oil, $ per barrel 24.74 4.96 25.08 -59.48 7.29 21.06 144.45 Apple AAPL $310.13 $1,061
Americas DJ Americas 677.12 3.78 512.68 • 796.10 –11.0
Natural gas, $/MMBtu 1.823 -0.067 -3.54 -16.72 7.26 15.86 108.78 Home Depot HD 234.43 1,081
Brazil Sao Paulo Bovespa 80263.35 –0.30 63569.62 • 119527.63 –30.6
Gold, $ per troy oz. 1709.90 15.40 0.91 12.53 7.05 3.04 20.85 Exxon Mobil XOM 46.18 671
Canada S&P/TSX Comp 14966.56 2.37 11228.49 • 17944.06 –12.3
Mexico S&P/BMV IPC 37623.68 3.16 32964.22 • 45902.68 –13.59 U.S. Dollar Index 99.12 0.04 0.04 2.84 6.74 6.03 41.36 Chevron CVX 95.47 802
co Fo

Chile Santiago IPSA 2673.38 –4.38 2045.49 • 3722.44 –19.9 WSJ Dollar Index 93.55 0.20 0.22 4.45 5.79 10.11 69.34 Microsoft MSFT 184.68 1,174
EMEA Stoxx Europe 600 341.05 1.08 279.66 • 433.90 –18.0 Euro, per dollar 0.9227 0.0120 1.32 3.48 5.75 4.92 33.75 Nike NKE 90.46 895
Stoxx Europe 50 2855.73 0.87 2383.14 • 3539.12 –16.1 Yen, per dollar 106.63 -0.27 -0.25 -1.85 5.42 9.52 65.30 Visa V 185.09 986
Eurozone Euro Stoxx 322.38 0.06 261.53 • 421.34 –20.2 U.K. pound, in dollars 1.24 -0.0089 -0.71 -6.46 5.06 2.07 14.20 Cisco Systems CSCO 42.99 911
Euro Stoxx 50 2908.11 –0.68 2385.82 • 3865.18 –22.3
52-Week 4.68 811
Austria ATX 2246.50 0.87 1630.84 • 3250.61 –29.5 Low Close(l) High % Chg
8.29 56.86 Goldman Sachs GS 185.39
Belgium Bel-20 3058.66 –1.31 2528.77 • 4198.31 –22.7
DJ Commodity 433.70 647.86 -18.21
3.83 2.20 15.09 Intel INTC 59.67 1,007
France CAC 40 4549.64 –0.49 3754.84 • 6111.24 –23.9 l
3.47 3.66 25.10 Walt Disney DIS 109.16 755
Germany DAX 10904.48 0.39 8441.71 • 13789.00 –17.7 TR/CC CRB Index 106.29 l 187.39 -30.30
1.34 1.18 8.09 American Express AXP 89.50 725
Greece Athex Composite 604.05 –3.85 484.40 • 948.64 –34.1 Crude oil, $ per barrel -37.63 l 63.27 -59.88
1.34 1.29 8.85 TRV 97.34 716
Israel Tel Aviv 1434.95 0.64 1171.21 • 1751.79 –14.8 Natural gas, $/MMBtu 1.552 l 2.862 -30.39
Travelers
Italy FTSE MIB 17439.30 –1.42 14894 • 25478 –25.8 Gold, $ per troy oz. 1272.00 l 1756.70 32.99
1.18 0.40 2.74 Dow DOW 34.33 638
Netherlands AEX 520.57 1.49 404.10 • 629.23 –13.9 1.12 0.51 3.50 Coca-Cola KO 46.11 840
n-

Portugal PSI 20 4238.40 –1.07 3596.08 • 5435.85 –18.7 U.S. Dollar Index 94.90 l 102.82 1.84
1.11 1.23 8.44 Caterpillar CAT 112.11 771
Russia RTS Index 1136.34 1.01 832.26 • 1646.60 –26.6 WSJ Dollar Index 89.47 l 97.02 3.35
0.92 1.12 7.68 IBM IBM 122.99 940
South Africa FTSE/JSE All-Share 51003.58 1.32 37963.01 • 59001.87 –10.7
Euro, per dollar 0.8742 l 0.9352 3.66
Spain IBEX 35 6783.10 –2.01 6107.2 • 10083.6 –29.0
Yen, per dollar 102.37 l 112.11 -3.01
0.88 2.49 17.08 UnitedHealth Group UNH 287.00 980
•
no

Sweden OMX Stockholm 602.89 0.17 478.95 732.67 –11.4 0.30 0.17 1.17 Verizon VZ 57.00 948
Switzerland Swiss Market 9665.35 0.37 8160.79 • 11263.01 –9.0 U.K. pound, in dollars 1.15 l 1.33 -4.58
0.28 0.41 2.81 Johnson & Johnson JNJ 148.70 1,026
U.K. FTSE 100 5935.98 3.00 4993.89 • 7686.61 –21.3
0.05 0.07 0.48 Boeing BA 133.44 412
Asia-Pacific Real-time U.S. stock

WSJ quotes are available on 0.02 0.02 0.14 Walmart WMT 122.94 1,044
Australia S&P/ASX 200 5391.10 2.77 4546.0 • 7162.5 –19.3
WSJ.com. Track most- 0.02
China Shanghai Composite 2895.34 1.23 2660.17 • 3115.57 –5.1 0.01 0.07 Walgreens WBA 41.67 713
Hong Kong Hang Seng 24230.17 –1.68 21696.13 • 29056.42 –14.0 .COM active stocks, new –0.06 –0.09 –0.62 3M MMM 148.51 850
India S&P BSE Sensex 31642.70 –6.15 25981.24 • 41952.63 –23.3 highs/lows, mutual –0.59 –0.55 –3.77 JPMorgan Chase JPM 92.70 676
Japan Nikkei Stock Avg 20179.09 2.85 16552.83 • 24083.51 –14.7 funds and ETFs.
–0.74 –0.87 –5.97 Procter & Gamble PG 115.95 940
Malaysia FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI 1382.31 –1.81 1219.72 • 1691.00 –13.0 Plus, get deeper money-flows data and
–0.78 923
Singapore Straits Times 2591.88 –1.23 2233.48 • 3381.26 –19.6 email delivery of key stock-market –1.43 –9.81 McDonald’s MCD 181.23
South Korea Kospi 1945.82 –0.09 1457.64 • 2267.25 –11.5 data. –1.12 –0.42 –2.88 Pfizer PFE 37.22 970
Taiwan TAIEX 10901.42 –0.83 8681.34 • 12179.81 –9.1
All are available free at –1.64 –1.27 –8.71 Merck MRK 76.40 847
Source: FactSet; Dow Jones Market Data WSJMarkets.com –3.99 –2.44 –16.74 Raytheon Technologies RTX 58.67 667

*Based on Composite price. DJIA is calculated on primary-market price.

Source: Dow Jones Market Data; FactSet.
Consumer Rates and Returns to Investor Benchmark Yields and Rates
U.S. consumer rates Selected rates Treasury yield curve Forex Race
A consumer rate against its New car loan Yield to maturity of current bills, Yen, euro vs. dollar; dollar vs. Currencies
benchmark over the past year notes and bonds major U.S. trading partners
Bankrate.com avg†: 4.30% U.S.-dollar foreign-exchange rates in late New York trading
US$vs, US$vs,
First Command Bank 2.75%
4.00% 8% Fri YTDchg Fri YTDchg
5.40% Fort Worth, TX 888-763-7600 Country/currency in US$ per US$ (%) Country/currency in US$ per US$ (%)
Prime rate Think Mutual Bank 2.99% One year ago Vietnam dong .00004277 23379 0.9
t 4.80 3.00 4 Yen Americas
Rochester, MN 800-288-3425 t s
Argentina peso .0149 67.2813 12.4 Europe
t
4.20 Cambridge Savings Bank 3.24% 2.00 0 Brazil real .1746 5.7270 42.5 Czech Rep. koruna .03979 25.129 10.8
Canada dollar .7181 1.3926 7.2 Denmark krone .1453 6.8809 3.3
New car loan Cambridge, MA 888-418-5626
Tradeweb ICE Friday Close 1.00 s
Chile peso .001211 825.80 11.7 Euro area euro 1.0838 .9227 3.5
3.60 PNC Bank 3.34% –4 s .000255 3921.06 .003102 322.38
t Colombiapeso 19.5 Hungary forint 9.2
Washington, DC WSJ Dollar index Euro Ecuador US dollar 1 1 unch Iceland krona .006839 146.22 20.7
888-PNC-BANK
3.00 0.00 –8 Mexico peso .0422 23.6777 25.1 Norway krone .0979 10.2182 16.4
MJ J A S O N D J FMA M First National Bank of Omaha 3.49% 1 3 6 1 2 3 5 710 30 Uruguay peso .02318 43.1400 16.2 Poland zloty .2381 4.1991 10.7
Omaha, NE 2019 2020
2019 2020 800-642-0014 month(s) years Asia-Pacific Russia ruble .01362 73.400 18.3
Sweden krona .1024 9.7679 4.3
Yield/Rate (%) 52-Week Range (%) 3-yr chg maturity Australian dollar .6528 1.5319 7.5
Switzerland franc 1.0302 .9707 0.3
Interest rate Last (l)Week ago Low 0 2 4 6 8 High (pct pts) Sources: Tradeweb ICE U.S. Treasury Close; Tullett Prebon; Dow Jones Market Data China yuan .1414 7.0741 1.6
Turkey lira .1411 7.0871 19.1
Hong Kong dollar .1290 7.7521 –0.5
Ukraine hryvnia .0373 26.8383 13.4
Federal-funds rate target 0.00-0.25 0.00-0.25 0.00 l 2.25 -0.75
Corporate Borrowing Rates and Yields India rupee .01324 75.535
Indonesia rupiah .0000670 14920
5.9
7.5
UK pound 1.2404 .8062 6.9
Prime rate* 3.25 3.25 3.25 l 5.50 -0.75 Middle East/Africa
Spread +/- Treasurys, Japan yen .009378 106.63 –1.8
Libor, 3-month 0.43 0.54 0.43 l 2.53 -0.75 Yield (%) in basis pts, 52-wk Range Total Return Kazakhstan tenge .002370 421.99 10.5 Bahrain dinar 2.6444 .3782 0.3
Money market, annual yield 0.31 0.31 0.31 l 0.78 -0.02 Bond total return index Last Wk ago Last Low High 52-wk 3-yr Macau pataca .1252 7.9849 –0.4 Egypt pound .0635 15.7482 –1.9
Malaysia ringgit .2307 4.3340 6.0 Israel shekel .2852 3.5067 1.5
Five-year CD, annual yield 0.84 0.85 0.84 l 1.97 -0.45 U.S. Treasury, Barclays 0.530 0.540 13.62 5.81
New Zealand dollar .6136 1.6297 9.7 Kuwait dinar 3.2303 .3096 2.1
30-year mortgage, fixed† 3.54 3.57 3.52 l 4.22 -0.51 U.S. Treasury Long, Barclays 1.300 1.210 34.00 13.27 Pakistan rupee .00626 159.650 3.0 Oman sul rial 2.5968 .3851 0.02
15-year mortgage, fixed† 3.07 3.07 2.95 l 3.63 -0.19 Aggregate, Barclays 1.360 1.340 n.a. 39 127 10.20 5.13 Philippines peso .0198 50.495 –0.4 Qatar rial .2744 3.645 0.03
Fixed-Rate MBS, Barclays 1.060 1.030 n.a. 28 132 7.67 4.15 Singapore dollar .7080 1.4124 4.9 Saudi Arabia riyal .2661 3.7574 0.2
Jumbo mortgages, $510,400-plus† 3.62 3.63 3.54 l 4.71 -0.98 South Korea won .0008198 1219.80 .0545 18.3509
5.6 South Africa rand 31.1
Five-year adj mortgage (ARM)† 3.24 3.22 3.21 l 4.78 -0.15 High Yield 100, ICE BofA 6.560 6.904 612 271 1018 -4.37 1.35 Sri Lanka rupee .0053614 186.52 2.9
Muni Master, ICE BofA 1.672 1.868 35 -12 35 3.53 3.62 Taiwan dollar .03350 29.855 –0.2 Close Net Chg % Chg YTD%Chg
New-car loan, 48-month 4.30 4.32 4.26 l 4.81 1.19
Bankrate.com rates based on survey of over 4,800 online banks. *Base rate posted by 70% of the nation's largest
EMBI Global, J.P. Morgan 6.132 6.294 535 277 662 -1.92 1.18 Thailand baht .03106 32.200 8.2 WSJ Dollar Index 93.55 –0.17–0.18 4.45
banks.† Excludes closing costs. Sources: Tullett Prebon, Dow Jones Market Data
Sources: FactSet; Dow Jones Market Data; Bankrate.com Sources: J.P. Morgan; S&P Dow Jones Indices; Bloomberg Barclays; ICE Data Services
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

B8 | Monday, May 11, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

CLOSED-END FUNDS
Listed are the 300 largest closed-end funds as 52 wk 52 wk Prem12 Mo Prem12 Mo 52 wk
measured by assets. Closed-end funds sell a limited Prem Ttl Prem Ttl Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld Prem Ttl
number of shares and invest the proceeds in securities. Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret
Unlike open-end funds, closed-ends generally do not EVLmtDurIncm EVV NA 10.76 NA 9.6 BR MH NJ Qly MUJ 14.61 12.56 -14.0 5.1
buy their shares back from investors who wish to cash EtnVncEqtyInc EOI NA 13.43 NA -1.7 GDL Fund GDL 10.43 8.20 -21.4 -8.5 Franklin Ltd Dur Income FTF 8.78 8.24 -6.2 12.5 BR MH NY Qly MHN 14.18 12.65 -10.8 4.3 World Equity Funds
in their holdings. Instead, fund shares trade on a stock
exchange. NA signifies that the information is not EtnVncEqtyIncoII EOS NA 16.54 NA 4.2 Highland Global Alloc HGLB 9.47 5.25 -44.6 -50.8 J Han Investors JHI 15.33 13.85 -9.7 9.0 BR MuniYld CA MYC 14.88 13.20 -11.3 4.0 ACAP Strategic:A 21.83 NA NA 28.4
available or not applicable. NS signifies funds not in EVRskMnDvsEqInc ETJ NA 9.27 NA 8.4 India Fund IFN 16.45 14.16 -13.9 -22.1 KKR Income Opportunities KIO NA 10.83 NA 13.6 BR MuniYld CA Qly MCA 14.86 13.17 -11.4 4.3 ACAP Strategic:W 16.24 NA NA 29.4
existence for the entire period. 12 month yield is BMO LGM Front ME;I 6.22 NA NA -29.0
computed by dividing income dividends paid (during ETnVncTxMgdBuyWrtInc ETB NA 13.25 NA -9.3 Japan Smaller Cap JOF NA 7.40 NA -6.0 MFS Charter MCR 8.33 7.98 -4.2 9.0 BR MuniYld MI Qly MIY 14.93 13.08 -12.4 4.6
the previous 12 months for periods ending at month- EtnVncTxMgdBuyWrtOpp ETV NA 13.72 NA 0.2 MS ChinaShrFd CAF 22.85 19.19 -16.0 -8.5 BR MuniYld NJ MYJ 14.66 13.12 -10.5 5.6 CalamosGlbTotRet CGO 9.99 10.34 +3.5 -7.0
Nuveen Taxable Muni Inc NBB 19.94 20.48 +2.7 5.7
end or during the previous 52 weeks for periods
ending at any time other than month-end) by the
EvTxMnDvsEqInc ETY NA 10.48 NA -2.3 MS India IIF 16.79 13.86 -17.5 -30.1 PIMCO Corp & Inc Oppty PTY 11.25 14.48 +28.7 11.2 BR MuniYld NY Qly MYN 13.62 12.00 -11.9 4.3 Prem12 Mo
EtnVncTxMgdGlbB ETW NA 8.21 NA -7.8 Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld
latest month-end market price adjusted for capital New Germany GF 16.05 13.53 -15.7 -3.1 PIMCO Corp & Inc Strat PCN NA 15.23 NA 9.4 EVCAMuniBd EVM 12.27 10.69 -12.9 4.3
gains distributions. Depending on the fund category, EVTxMnGblDvEqInc EXG NA 6.96 NA
either 12-month yield or total return is listed.
-6.7 Templeton Dragon TDF 21.66 18.30 -15.5 4.0 PIMCOHilnco PHK 4.60 5.21 +13.3 14.6 Eaton Vance NY Muni Bd ENX 12.79 11.26 -12.0 4.4 Loan Participation Funds
Source: Lipper First Trust Energy Inc G FEN 12.94 11.17 -13.7 -40.8 Templeton Em Mkt EMF 14.16 12.15 -14.2 -11.9 PIMCO IncmStrFd PFL 8.62 9.14 +6.0 11.9 InvCaValMuIncTr VCV 12.81 11.41 -10.9 4.8 1WS Credit Income 16.94 NA NA 7.0
Friday, May 8, 2020 First Tr Enhanced Eq FFA 14.68 13.70 -6.7 -2.1 VirtusTotalRetFd ZF NA 8.37 NA -1.1 PIMCO IncmStrFd II PFN 7.78 8.23 +5.8 11.8 InvPAValMuIncTr VPV 13.14 11.56 -12.0 5.2 AlphCntrc Prime Merid In 9.91 NA NA NS
52 wk FirstTrEnergyInfra FIF 11.87 10.68 -10.0 -25.9 Putnam Mas Int PIM 4.20 4.45 +6.0 InvTrInvGrNYMu VTN 13.40 11.89 -11.3 5.1 Angel Oak Str Crdt:Inst NA NA NA 8.2
Wells Fargo Gl Div Oppty EOD NA 4.12 NA -13.0 8.5
Prem Ttl FirstTrMLPEner&Inc FEI 6.99 5.86 -16.2 -43.2 Nuveen CA AMT-F Qual MI NKX 15.80 14.34 -9.2 4.4 Axonic Alternative Inc 19.96 NA NA 5.4
Prem12 Mo Putnam Prem Inc PPT 4.64 4.83 +4.1 9.0
Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret Gabelli Healthcare GRX 11.77 9.89 -16.0 -1.2 Blackstone/GSO FR EI D 20.43 NA NA 7.4
Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld Wells Fargo Multi-Sector ERC 11.28 10.09 -10.5 11.9 Nuveen CA Val NCA 10.42 9.88 -5.2 3.5
General Equity Funds Gab Utility GUT 3.89 6.82 +75.3 12.3 NuveenCAQtyMuInc NAC 15.30 13.86 -9.4 4.7 Blackstone/GSO FR EI I 20.41 NA NA 7.7
U.S. Mortgage Bond Funds World Income Funds
Adams Diversified Equity ADX 16.54 14.24 -13.9 3.5 GAMCOGlGold&NatRes GGN 3.84 3.49 -9.1 -6.1 Nuveen MD Qual Muni Inc NMY 14.04 12.26 -12.7 4.4 Blackstone/GSO FR EI T 20.36 NA NA 7.1
BlckRk Income BKT 6.38 6.09 -4.5 6.8 Abrdn AP IncFd FAX 4.29 3.56 -17.0 6.8
Boulder Growth & Income BIF 11.13 9.35 -16.0 -11.7 J Han Finl Opptys BTO 20.27 21.25 +4.8 -31.6 Blackstone/GSO FR EI T-I 20.80 NA NA 7.1
Invesco HI 2023 Tgt Term IHIT 7.73 7.58 -1.9 8.0 BrndywnGLB Glb Inc Oppts BWG 12.74 11.27 -11.5 7.0 Nuveen MI Qual Muni Inc NUM 15.45 13.15 -14.9 4.1
Central Secs CET 34.51 29.02 -15.9 1.1 Neuberger Brmn MLP & EI NML 3.46 2.74 -20.8 -60.7 Blackstone/GSO FR EI U 21.26 NA NA NS
Investment Grade Bond Funds EtnVncStDivInc EVG NA 11.09 NA 7.9 NuvNJ Qual Muni Inc NXJ 15.42 13.07 -15.2 4.9
CohenStrsCEOppFd FOF 10.64 10.25 -3.7 -11.8 NubrgrRlEstSec NRO 3.73 3.31 -11.3 -27.6 Blstn Commnty Dev 9.80 NA NA 3.6
BlRck Core Bond BHK 15.28 14.58 -4.6 5.3 MS EmMktDomDebt EDD 6.50 5.36 -17.5 10.1 Nuveen NY AMT/Fr Qual MI NRK 14.04 12.29 -12.5 4.5
EVTxAdvDivIncm EVT NA 18.96 NA -12.4 NuvDow30DynOverwrite DIAX 14.48 13.20 -8.8 -19.6 BNYM Alcntr Glb MS Cr Fd 77.50 NA NA NS
BR Credit Alloc Inc BTZ 13.93 13.21 -5.2 7.0 PIMCO Dyn Crd & Mrt Inc PCI NA 17.54 NA 14.4 Nuveen NY Qual Muni Inc NAN 14.50 13.17 -9.2 4.5
GabelliDiv&IncTr GDV 19.18 17.06 -11.1 -15.4 NuveenNasdaq100DynOv QQQX 22.32 22.35 +0.1 6.2 CLIFFWATER CL FD;I 10.10 NA NA 1.5
InvescoBond VBF 19.80 18.81 -5.0 4.2 PIMCO Dynamic Income PDI 20.85 23.56 +13.0 13.1 Nuveen OH Qual Muni Inc NUO 16.93 14.49 -14.4 3.6
Gabelli Equity Tr GAB 4.45 4.43 -0.4 -19.6 Nuv Real Est JRS 8.47 7.25 -14.4 -22.6 CNR Strategic Credit 7.57 NA NA 10.6
J Han Income JHS 14.93 13.84 -7.3 4.7 PIMCO Income Opportunity PKO 19.66 20.61 +4.8 10.8 Nuveen PA Qual Muni Inc NQP 15.10 13.06 -13.5 4.7
GeneralAmer GAM 36.25 30.11 -16.9 -7.6 Nuveen Rl Asst Inc & Gro JRI 13.02 10.75 -17.4 FedProj&TrFinanceTendr 9.75 NA NA 3.9
-28.1 PIMCO Stratg Inc RCS NA 6.64 NA 11.2 Nuveen VA Qlty Mun Inc NPV 14.16 13.06 -7.8 4.1
MFS Intmdt MIN 3.99 3.80 -4.8 9.1 FS Global Crdt Opptys D NA NA NA 8.3
JHancockTaxAdvDiv HTD 20.23 18.36 -9.2 -21.0 NuvS&P500DynOvFd SPXX NA 12.57 NA -13.1 PIMCO CA PCQ 13.07 15.72 +20.3 5.6
Western Asset Inf-Lk Inc WIA NA 11.13 NA 3.7 Templeton Em Inc TEI 8.75 7.61 -13.0 9.7 Garrison Capital Inc GARS NA 1.65 NA NA
Librty AllStr Eq USA 5.75 5.38 -6.4 -6.7 NuvSP500BuyIncFd BXMX 12.11 10.85 -10.4 -10.9 PIMCOCAMuniII PCK 8.22 8.27 +0.6 4.8
Western Asset Inf-Lk O&I WIW NA 10.38 NA 4.2 Templtn Glbl Inc GIM 6.33 5.43 -14.2 6.6 Schrdrs Opp Inc;A 23.37 NA NA NS
Royce Micro-Cap Tr RMT 7.93 6.73 -15.1 -10.6 ReavesUtilityIncome UTG 28.99 30.24 +4.3 -6.5 Pimco CA Muni III PZC 9.41 9.64 +2.4 5.1
Loan Participation Funds WstAstEmergDebt EMD NA 11.26 NA 11.0 Schrdrs Opp Inc;A2 NA NA NA NS
Royce Value Trust RVT 13.41 11.59 -13.6 -10.7 Tortoise Enrgy Infra Crp TYG 22.04 17.07 -22.5 -18.2
Apollo Senior Floating AFT NA 12.06 NA 9.98 Western Asset Gl Cr D Op GDO 16.57 15.75 -4.9 7.9 52 wk Schrdrs Opp Inc;I 23.40 NA NA NS
Source Capital SOR 38.19 32.06 -16.1 -10.2 Tortoise Midstream Enrgy NTG 22.59 17.96 -20.5 -85.7 Prem Ttl
BR Debt Strategy DSU 10.38 9.14 -11.9 9.1 National Muni Bond Funds Schrdrs Opp Inc;SDR 23.41 NA NA NS
Tri-Continental TY 27.11 23.39 -13.7 -6.5 Income & Preferred Stock Funds Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret
BR F/R Inc Str FRA 12.49 10.89 -12.8 8.3 AllBerNatlMunInc AFB 14.02 12.81 -8.6 4.3 Invesco Sr Loan A 5.56 NA NA 5.6
Specialized Equity Funds CalamosStratTot CSQ 11.73 11.40 -2.8 -1.9 Specialized Equity Funds
BlackRock Floatng Rt Inc BGT 12.12 10.56 -12.9 8.1 BlckRk Inv Q Mun BKN 15.21 15.00 -1.4 4.6 Invesco Sr Loan C 5.57 NA NA 4.7
Aberdeen Glb Prem Prop AWP 5.24 4.38 -16.4 -19.0 CohenStrsLtdDurPref&Inc LDP 22.46 22.39 -0.3 0.3 Bluerock Total Inc+ RE:A 30.13 NA NA 5.2
Blackstone / GSO Strat BGB 12.21 10.58 -13.3 12.3 BlackRock Muni 2030 Tgt BTT 24.36 22.50 -7.6 3.3 Invesco Sr Loan IB 5.56 NA NA 5.9
Adams Natural Resources PEO 12.97 10.73 -17.3 -29.8 CohenStrsSelPref&Income PSF 23.25 25.65 +10.3 0.1 Bluerock Total Inc+ RE:C 28.80 NA NA 4.4
Blackstone/GSO Sr Flt Rt BSL 13.52 12.16 -10.1 10.8 BlackRock Muni BFK 13.14 12.38 -5.8 5.3 Invesco Sr Loan IC 5.56 NA NA 5.7
AllianzGI AI & Tech Opps AIO 20.58 18.15 -11.8 NS FirstTrIntDurPref&Inc FPF 20.63 20.18 -2.2 -1.4 Bluerock Total Inc+ RE:I 30.66 NA NA 5.5 Invesco Sr Loan Y 5.56 NA NA 5.9
Eagle Point Credit ECC NA 6.30 NA 35.6 BlackRock Muni II BLE 13.69 13.46 -1.7 5.3
GI DivInt&PremStr NFJ 12.46 10.75 -13.7 -5.3 JHanPrefInc HPI 17.26 18.06 +4.6 -14.3 Bluerock Total Inc+ RE:L 29.91 NA NA 4.9 Pioneer Sec Inc 6.68 NA NA NS
EtnVncFltRteInc EFT 12.42 10.84 -12.7 9.6 BlckRk Muni Inc Qly BYM 14.50 13.43 -7.4 4.4
ASA Gold & Prec Met Ltd ASA 18.05 14.50 -19.7 55.3 JHPrefIncII HPF 16.97 17.16 +1.1 -16.1 Broadstone Rl Est Acc:I 9.56 NA NA -2.3 High Yield Bond Funds
EV SenFlRtTr EFR 12.20 10.60 -13.1 9.6 BR MuniAssets Fd MUA 13.00 13.15 +1.2 5.0
BR Enh C&I CII 15.34 14.12 -8.0 -5.4 HnckJPfdInco III HPS 15.18 15.05 -0.9 -13.7 Broadstone Rl Est Acc:W 9.56 NA NA -2.6 Griffin Inst Access Cd:A NA NA NA 7.7
EVSnrIncm EVF 5.78 5.05 -12.6 8.5 BR MuniEnhanced MEN 11.26 10.36 -8.0 4.7
BlackRock Energy & Res BGR 7.81 7.25 -7.2 -32.9 J Han Prm PDT 12.11 12.49 +3.1 -19.4 CC Real Estate Income;A 7.25 NA NA -19.1 Griffin Inst Access Cd:C NA NA NA 7.7
FT/Sr Fltg Rte Inc 2 FCT 12.00 10.42 -13.2 8.7 BR MuniHoldings Qly MFL 13.68 12.67 -7.4 4.5
BlackRock Eq Enh Div BDJ 7.78 7.15 -8.1 -10.4 LMP CapInco SCD NA 9.92 NA -15.8 CC Real Estate Income;Ad 6.90 NA NA -23.6 Griffin Inst Access Cd:F NA NA NA 7.6
FT/Sr Fltg Rte 2022 TgTr FIV 8.59 7.88 -8.3 4.3 BR MH Qly 2 MUE 13.05 11.96 -8.4 4.6
BlackRock Enh Glbl Div BOE 10.18 9.11 -10.5 -7.3 Nuveen Pref & Inc Opp JPC 8.22 7.98 -2.9 -11.0 CC Real Estate Income;C 7.00 NA NA -22.8 Griffin Inst Access Cd:I NA NA NA 7.7
Highland Income HFRO 11.82 7.19 -39.2 12.4 BR MuniHoldngs MHD 15.34 14.34 -6.5 5.4
BlackRock Enh Intl Div BGY 5.53 4.91 -11.2 -4.4 Nuveen Fd JPS 8.41 8.09 -3.8 -7.0 CC Real Estate Income;I 7.25 NA NA -19.1 Griffin Inst Access Cd:L NA NA NA 7.7
InvDYCrOpp VTA 9.79 8.31 -15.1 10.1 BR MuniVest Fd MVF 8.80 8.06 -8.4 5.3
BlackRock Hlth Sci Tr II BMEZ 21.20 19.94 -5.9 NS Nuveen Pref & Inc Term JPI 20.79 20.42 -1.8 -6.5 CC Real Estate Income;T 7.03 NA NA -20.2 PIMCO Flexible Cr I;A-2 7.76 NA NA NS
InvSnrIncTr VVR 3.90 3.33 -14.6 8.4 BR MuniVest 2 MVT 13.82 12.84 -7.1 5.3
BlackRock Hlth Sciences BME 39.78 40.56 +2.0 14.4 TCW Strat Income TSI NA 5.61 NA 8.2 CIM RA&C A 25.00 NA NA NS PIMCO Flexible Cr I;A-4 7.76 NA NA 11.7
Nuveen Credit Strat Inc JQC 6.65 5.84 -12.2 20.2 BR MuniYield Fd MYD 13.53 12.70 -6.1 5.5
BlackRock Res & Comm BCX 6.83 5.78 -15.4 -19.4 Convertible Sec's. Funds CIM RA&C C 25.00 NA NA NS PIMCO Flexible Cr I;Inst 7.76 NA NA 12.6
NuvFloatRateIncFd JFR 8.76 7.60 -13.2 9.6 BR MuniYield Qlty MQY 15.05 14.31 -4.9 4.6
BlackRock Sci&Tech Tr II BSTZ 21.73 20.42 -6.0 NS AdvntCnvrtbl&IncFd AVK 13.69 12.28 -10.3 -9.2 CIM RA&C I 25.00 NA NA NS PionrILSBridge NA NA NA 0.0
NuvFloatRteIncOppty JRO 8.68 7.58 -12.7 9.7 BR MuniYld Qlty2 MQT 13.25 12.25 -7.5 4.4
BlackRock Sci&Tech Trust BST 33.72 34.23 +1.5 15.4 GI Conv & Inc NCV 4.41 4.01 -9.1 -22.8 CIM RA&C L 25.00 NA NA NS WA Middle Mkt Dbt 546.78 NA NA 9.9
Nuveen Senior Income NSL 5.17 4.50 -13.0 9.8 BR MuniYld Qly 3 MYI 13.63 12.40 -9.0 4.5 Clarion Partners REI D NA NA NA NS
BlackRock Utl Inf & Pwr BUI 18.39 18.92 +2.9 -4.5 AGI Conv & Inc II NCZ 3.95 3.56 -9.9 -22.9 WA Middle Mkt Inc 526.97 NA NA 11.3
PionrFltRate Tr PHD 9.80 8.45 -13.8 8.1 BNY Mellon Muni Bd Infra DMB 13.04 12.55 -3.8 5.2 Clarion Partners REI I NA NA NA NS
CBRE ClrnGlbRlEst IGR 6.84 5.67 -17.1 -15.8 AGI Dvs Inc & Conv ACV NA 21.39 NA -3.4 Other Domestic Taxable Bond Funds
High Yield Bond Funds BNY Mellon Str Muni Bond DSM 7.52 7.03 -6.5 5.7 Clarion Partners REI S NA NA NA NS
CLEARBRIDGEENGYMDSOPP EMO NA 2.34 NA -72.5 AGI Eqty & Conv Inc NIE 23.81 21.10 -11.4 5.0 Am Beacon Apollo TR:T 9.61 NA NA NS
AllianceBernGlHiIncm AWF 10.88 9.65 -11.3 8.1 BNY Mellon Strat Muni LEO 7.72 7.44 -3.6 5.8 Clarion Partners REI T NA NA NA NS
CLEARBRIDGEMLP&MDSTMTR CTR NA 2.56 NA -70.5 CalamosConvHi CHY 10.77 10.08 -6.4 -0.1 Am Beacon Apollo TR:Y 9.62 NA NA 3.4
Angel Oak FS Inc Trm FINS NA 16.68 NA NS DWS Muni Inc KTF 11.78 10.47 -11.1 4.7 Griffin Inst Access RE:A 25.41 NA NA -3.2
ClearBridge MLP & Midstm CEM NA 3.19 NA -71.4 CalmosConvOp CHI 10.21 9.48 -7.1 -1.7 Am Beacon SP Enh Inc:T 8.69 NA NA NS
Barings Glb SD HY Bd BGH 12.41 11.06 -10.9 15.5 EVMuniBd EIM 13.47 12.35 -8.3 4.4 Griffin Inst Access RE:C 24.53 NA NA -4.0
Cntr Cst Brkfld MLP&EI CEN 1.25 1.35 +8.0 -78.9 World Equity Funds Am Beacon SP Enh Inc:Y 8.69 NA NA 5.7
BR Corporate HY HYT 10.24 9.70 -5.3 9.6 EVMuniIncm EVN 13.04 11.71 -10.2 4.9 Griffin Inst Access RE:I 25.71 NA NA -3.0
ChnStrInfr UTF 21.90 21.15 -3.4 -7.9 Aberdeen Emg Mkts Eq Inc AEF 6.52 5.55 -14.9 -21.1 BR Credit Strat;A 9.15 NA NA NS
BlackRock Ltd Dur Inc BLW 14.88 13.30 -10.6 8.1 EVNatMuniOpp EOT 19.93 18.62 -6.6 4.8 NexPointRlEstStrat;A 14.13 NA NA -25.6 BR Credit Strat;Inst 9.14 NA NA 5.4
COHEN&STEERSMLPINC&E MIE 2.60 2.11 -18.8 -74.5 Aberdeen Tot Dyn Div AOD 8.38 7.24 -13.6 -4.4
Brookfield Real Asst Inc RA 18.21 16.15 -11.3 14.3 InvAdvMuIncTrII VKI 11.20 10.34 -7.7 5.3 NexPointRlEstStrat;C 14.28 NA NA -25.8 BlackRock Mlt-Sctr Oppty 74.29 NA NA 10.1
Cohen&SteersQualInc RQI 11.21 9.87 -12.0 -18.5 Calamos GloDynInc CHW 6.85 6.69 -2.3 -9.7
CrSuisHighYld DHY NA 1.87 NA 11.6 Invesco MuniOp OIA 6.92 6.69 -3.3 5.8 NexPointRlEstStrat;Z 14.27 NA NA -25.2 BlackRock Mlt-Sec Opp II 74.99 NA NA 8.4
CohenStrsREITPref RNP 20.29 17.64 -13.1 -9.98 Cdn Genl Inv CGI 34.18 23.48 -31.3 -6.0
DoubleLine Inc Sol DSL NA 13.53 NA 14.0 InvescoMuOppTr VMO 12.54 11.47 -8.5 5.2 PREDEX;I 26.04 NA NA 3.2 Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:A NA NA NA 9.3
Cohen&Steers TotRet RFI 11.68 12.14 +3.9 -2.4 China CHN 23.86 20.10 -15.8 7.2

.
DoubleLine Yld Opps DLY NA NA NA NS InvescoMuTr VKQ 12.52 11.48 -8.3 5.3 PREDEX;T 26.12 NA NA 3.3 Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:I NA NA NA 10.1
Columbia Sel Prm Tech Gr STK 19.54 21.48 +9.9 7.9 EV TxAdvGlbDivInc ETG NA 13.11 NA -9.7
First Tr Hi Inc Lng/Shrt FSD 14.52 12.87 -11.4 10.1 InvescoQual Inc IQI 12.77 11.78 -7.8 5.2 PREDEX;W 26.11 NA NA 3.2 Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:L NA NA NA 9.7

DNP Select Income DNP 8.53 10.46 +22.6
Duff&Ph Uti&Infra Inc Fd DPG 11.42 10.11 -11.5
IPO Scorecard
ly
-2.9 EtnVncTxAdvOpp ETO NA 19.91 NA -7.7
IVY HIGH INCOME OPP IVH 12.02 10.61 -11.7 11.9 InvTrInvGrMu VGM 12.95 11.92 -8.0 5.3 Principal Dvs Sel RA A 20.18 NA NA NS Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:N NA NA NA 10.1
-24.5 Gabelli Multimedia GGT 5.86 6.23 +6.3 -14.2
NeubHgYldStrt NHS 10.49 9.98 -4.9 11.1 InvescoValMunInc IIM 15.48 14.06 -9.2 5.1 Principal Dvs Sel RA Ins 20.20 NA NA NS Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:Y NA NA NA 9.8
NexPointStratOppty NHF 16.64 9.49 -43.0 22.5 MAINSTAY:MKDEFTRMUNOP MMD NA 19.78 NA 5.3 Principal Dvs Sel RA Y 20.23 NA NA NS CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;A NA NA NA 6.3
Nuveen Crdt Opps 2022 TT JCO 7.38 7.58 +2.6 7.1 Resource RE Div Inc:A 9.66 NA NA -3.9
NeubrgrBrm NBH 13.95 13.58 -2.7 5.5 CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;C NA NA NA 6.3

Performance of IPOs, most-recent listed first

Company SYMBOL
IPO date/Offer price
% Chg From
Friday3s Offer 1st-day
close ($) price close
Company SYMBOL
IPO date/Offer price
on
% Chg From
Friday3s Offer 1st-day
close ($) price close
Nuveen Global High Inc JGH 14.14 12.46 -11.9
Nuveen HI Nov 2021 Tgt JHB 9.00 8.74 -2.9
PGIM Global High Yield GHY NA 11.92 NA
PGIM High Yield Bond ISD NA 12.62 NA
PioneerHilncmTr PHT 7.71 6.96 -9.7
10.1
5.6
10.5
10.0
10.8
Nuveen AMT-Fr Mu Val NUW 16.00 14.90 -6.9
Nuveen AMT-Fr Qlty Mun I NEA 14.68 13.46 -8.3
Nuveen AMT-Fr Mu CI NVG 15.63 14.43 -7.7
Nuveen Enh Muni Val NEV 14.16 13.38 -5.5
Nuveen Int Dur Mun Term NID 13.29 12.72 -4.3
3.8
4.9
5.6
5.2
4.1
Resource RE Div Inc:C 9.65 NA NA -4.5
Resource RE Div Inc:I 10.07 NA NA -3.8
Resource RE Div Inc:L 9.66 NA NA -4.1
Resource RE Div Inc:W 9.81 NA NA -3.9
SharesPost 100;A 30.04 NA NA 2.9
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;I NA NA NA 6.3
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;L NA NA NA 6.3
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;U NA NA NA NS
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt:U2 NA NA NA NS
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;W NA NA NA 6.3
Ayala Pharmaceuticals 15.03 0.2 ... Gan 14.41 69.5 8.8 Wells Fargo Income Oppty EAD 7.71 6.84 -11.3 10.4 SharesPost 100:I 30.22 NA NA 3.2 CNR Select Strategies 10.86 NA NA 0.0
Nuveen Mu Crdt Opps NMCO 11.47 10.85 -5.4 NS
us ,

AYLA May 8/$15.00 GAN May 5/$8.50 WstAstHIF II HIX 6.27 5.56 -11.3 10.3 SharesPost 100:L 29.88 NA NA 2.7 GL Beyond Income 1.11 NA NA NE
Nuv Muni Credit Income NZF 14.88 13.65 -8.3 5.8
l

Kingsoft Cloud Hldgs 23.84 40.2 ... Collective Growth 9.95 –0.5 –0.1 Western Asset Hi Inc Opp HIO 4.97 4.42 -11.1 8.3 USQ Core Real Estate:I 25.47 NA NA 2.7 KKR CREDIT OPPTY;I 23.71 NA NA NS
NuvMuniHiIncOpp NMZ 12.21 12.39 +1.5 5.9
KC May 8/$17.00 CGROU May 1/$10.00 USQ Core Real Estate:IS 25.48 NA NA 2.7 Lord Abbett Cred Opps Fd 8.31 NA NA NS
e
Western Asset Hi Yld D O HYI NA 13.16 NA 8.5
al a

Nuveen Muni Val NUV 10.12 9.75 -3.7 3.8

Live Oak Acquisition 9.89 –1.1 0.1 Lyra Thera 15.21 –4.9 –18.0 Other Domestic Taxable Bond Funds Versus Cap MMgr RE Inc:I 26.59 NA NA NE Lord Abbett Cred Opps Fd 8.31 NA NA 9.2
Nuveen Quality Muni Inc NAD 14.88 13.50 -9.3 4.9
LOAK.UT May 6/$10.00 LYRA May 1/$16.00 Apollo Tactical Income AIF NA 11.72 NA 10.2 Versus Capital Real Asst 24.13 NA NA -0.2 Palmer Square Opp Inc 14.86 NA NA 7.5
Nuveen Sel TF NXP 15.67 15.12 -3.5 3.7
SustainableOpportunitiesAcquisition 9.95 –0.5 0.2 Fortress Value Acquisition 10.00 0.0 –0.6 Ares Dynamic Crdt Alloc ARDC NA 10.80 NA 11.9 Wildermuth Endwmnt:A 13.17 NA NA 0.0 Resource Credit Inc:A 8.94 NA NA 4.6
ci on

Nuveen Sel TF 2 NXQ 14.81 14.47 -2.3 3.6

SOAC.UT May 6/$10.00 FVAC.UT April 30/$10.00 Barings Corporate Inv MCI NA 11.98 NA 8.7 Wildermuth Endwmnt:C 12.76 NA NA -0.7 Resource Credit Inc:C 9.04 NA NA 4.1
PIMCO MuniInc PMF 11.94 12.47 +4.4 5.6 Wildermuth Endowment:I 13.30 NA NA 0.3
BlackRock Mlt-Sctr Inc BIT 15.03 13.54 -9.9 10.7 Resource Credit Inc:I 8.96 NA NA 4.8
Roth CH Acquisition 9.95 –0.5 0.1 Social Capital Hedosophia II Units 10.34 3.4 2.2 PIMCOMuniIncII PML 11.27 12.52 +11.1 6.2
BlackRock Tax Muni Bd BBN 23.28 23.13 -0.6 5.9 Income & Preferred Stock Funds Resource Credit Inc:L 8.94 NA NA 4.5
ROCH.UT May 5/$10.00 IPOB.UT April 28/$10.00 Pimco Muni III PMX 10.26 10.82 +5.5 5.5
DoubleLine:Oppor Crdt Fd DBL NA 18.47 NA 7.6 A3 Alternative Cr 10.42 NA NA NS Resource Credit Inc:W 8.94 NA NA 4.6
PioneerHilncAdv MAV 11.66 10.38 -11.0 4.5 Calamos L/S Eqty and DI CPZ 17.48 14.98 -14.3 NS Thrivent Church Ln&Inc:S 10.75 NA NA 3.1
Sources: Dow Jones Market Data; FactSet Duff&Ph Util Cor DUC 9.44 9.12 -3.4 5.2 PioneerMunHiIcmT MHI 12.51 11.16 -10.8 5.2 Destra Multi-Altrntv;A 11.91 NA NA -7.4 World Income Funds
Putnam Mgd Inc PMM 7.31 6.90 -5.6 5.7 Destra Multi-Altrntv;C 11.44 NA NA -8.1 Destra Int&Evt-Dvn Crd:A 21.86 NA NA 6.2
er s

Putnam Muni Opp PMO 12.66 12.24 -3.3
Insider-Trading Spotlight RiverNorth Mgd Dur Mun I RMM 17.12 16.35 -4.5
Western Asset Mgd Muni MMU 12.66 11.55 -8.8
m er
5.4 Destra Multi-Altrntv;I 12.14 NA NA -7.1 Destra Int&Evt-Dvn Crd:I 21.86 NA NA 6.5
NS
5.3
Destra Multi-Altrntv;L 11.60 NA NA -7.7
Flat Rock Opportunity 15.19 NA NA -15.4
Destra Int&Evt-Dvn Crd:L 21.85 NA NA 5.9
Destra Int&Evt-Dvn Crd:T 21.85 NA NA 5.6

Trading by ‘insiders’ of a corporation, such as a company’s CEO, vice president or director, potentially conveys Westn Asst Mu Def Opp Tr MTT NA 19.10 NA 4.3
new information about the prospects of a company. Insiders are required to report large trades to the SEC Single State Muni Bond
within two business days. Here’s a look at the biggest individual trades by insiders, based on data received by BlackRock CA Mun BFZ 14.53 12.45 -14.3 3.9
Thomson Financial on May 8, and year-to-date stock performance of the company BR MH CA Qly Fd Inc MUC 14.85 13.02 -12.3 4.2
KEY: B: beneficial owner of more than 10% of a security class CB: chairman CEO: chief executive officer CFO: chief financial officer
m rp
Variant Altrntv Inc:Inst 26.38 NA NA 8.7 National Muni Bond Funds
Variant Altrntv Inc:Inv 26.38 NA NA 8.4 PIMCO Flex Mun Inc;A-3 NA NA NA NS
Convertible Sec's. Funds PIMCO Flex Mun Inc;Inst NA NA NA 3.2
Calmos Dyn Conv and Inc CCD 19.86 18.91 -4.8 9.1 Tortoise Tax-Adv Soc Inf 9.35 NA NA 5.2

CO: chief operating officer D: director DO: director and beneficial owner GC: general counsel H: officer, director and beneficial owner
I: indirect transaction filed through a trust, insider spouse, minor child or other O: officer OD: officer and director P: president UT:
unknown VP: vice president Excludes pure options transactions
Borrowing Benchmarks | WSJ.com/bonds
Biggest weekly individual trades
Money Rates May 8, 2020

Based on reports filed with regulators this past week Key annual interest rates paid to borrow or lend money in U.S. and international markets. Rates below are a
co Fo

No. of shrs in Price range ($) $ Value

guide to general levels but don’t always represent actual transactions.
Date(s) Company Symbol Insider Title trans (000s) in transaction (000s) Close ($) Ytd (%)
Week —52-WEEK— Week —52-WEEK—
Inflation Latest ago High Low Latest ago High Low
Buyers March index Chg From (%)
High 0.1500 0.1500 3.0000 0.1400
level Feb. '20March '19 Commercial paper (AA financial)
May. 4 Univar Solutions UNVR N. Alexos CFOI 250 13.33 3,334 15.05 -37.9 Low 0.0300 0.0300 2.3800 0.0200
Bid 0.0300 0.0400 2.4000 0.0100
90 days 0.21 n.a. 2.58 0.21
U.S. consumer price index
May. 6 AGNC Investment AGNC G. Kain CEOI 189 12.60 2,383 12.71 -28.1 Offer 0.0600 0.0500 2.5000 0.0500
All items 258.115 –0.22 1.5 Libor
May. 1 Cullen/Frost Bankers CFR G. Weston DI 29 67.55-69.13 1,999 68.60 -29.8 Core 267.312 0.02 2.1 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Treasury bill auction One month
May. 1 Boyd Gaming BYD W. Boyd HI 100 16.07 1,607 17.98 -39.9 International rates 4 weeks 0.095 0.095 2.385 0.000 Three month n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
May. 1-4 FB Financial FBK J. Ayers H 59 21.42-22.32 1,309 22.22 -43.9 13 weeks 0.110 0.120 2.380 0.000 Six month n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Week 52-Week 26 weeks 0.130 0.150 2.380 0.080 One year n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
May. 4-5 Lions Gate Entertainment LGF.A M. Rachesky DOI 182 7.00-7.22 1,292 7.99 -25.0 Latest ago High Low
Secondary market
Apr. 30 Ford Motor F J. Farley CO 195 5.13 1,000 5.24 -43.7 Euro Libor
Prime rates
n-

May. 1 Chubb CB R. Scully D 10 102.40 998 101.95 -34.5

Fannie Mae One month n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
U.S. 3.25 3.25 5.50 3.25
30-year mortgage yields Three month n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
May. 4 Boston Properties BXP B. Duncan DI 11 89.14 981 86.91 -37.0 Canada 2.45 2.45 3.95 2.45
Japan 1.475 1.475 1.475 1.475 30 days 2.293 2.256 3.706 2.256 Six month n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
May. 1 Markel MKL D. Wilson D 1 828.68-833.44 832 869.71 -23.9 60 days 2.345 2.293 3.722 2.293 One year n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Policy Rates
10 65.21 652 66.28 -21.8
no

May. 1 Affiliated Managers Group AMG R. Jeffery D Other short-term rates Value 52-Week
Euro zone 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
May. 4 Annaly Capital Management D. Finkelstein CEO 100 6.03 603 6.21 -34.1 Latest Traded High Low
NLY Switzerland 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50
Week 52-Week
May. 1-4 Employers Holdings EIG D. Dirks CEO 19 29.17-29.53 559 29.41 -29.6 Britain 0.10 0.10 0.75 0.10 Latest ago high low
Australia 0.25 0.25 1.50 0.25 DTCC GCF Repo Index
May. 4 Cadence Bancorp CADE K. Waller D 88 5.96 525 6.55 -63.9 Call money Treasury 0.120 49.170 6.007 0.002
Overnight repurchase 2.00 2.00 4.25 2.00 MBS 0.130 53.250 6.699 0.011
May. 6 Discover Financial Services DFS R. Eichfeld O 13 39.50 500 42.72 -49.6
U.S. 0.08 0.10 3.40 -0.07
May. 4 VOXX International VOXX B. Kahli BI 97 4.69-4.88 468 5.25 19.9 Notes on data:
U.S. government rates
May. 5 Boston Private Financial Holdings BPFH A. Dechellis CEO 62 7.22-7.50 457 7.19 -40.2 U.S. prime rate is the base rate on corporate loans posted by at least 70% of the 10 largest U.S. banks,
Discount and is effective March 16, 2020. Other prime rates aren’t directly comparable; lending practices vary
May. 5-6 Unifi UFI K. Langone D 40 10.70-11.17 440 11.86 -53.0 widely by location; Discount rate is effective March 16, 2020. DTCC GCF Repo Index is Depository
0.25 0.25 3.00 0.25 Trust & Clearing Corp.'s weighted average for overnight trades in applicable CUSIPs. Value traded is in
billions of U.S. dollars. Federal-funds rates are Tullett Prebon rates as of 5:30 p.m. ET.
Sellers Federal funds Sources: Federal Reserve; Bureau of Labor Statistics; DTCC; FactSet;
Effective rate 0.0700 0.0600 2.4300 0.0600 Tullett Prebon Information, Ltd.
May. 4 Fortive FTV M. Rales D 5256* 58.06-60.38 305,218 59.27 -22.4
May. 5 Antero Midstream AM P. Rady CEOI 18,000 4.10 73,800 4.18 -44.9
10,000 4.10 41,000
May. 5 G. Warren P
Cash Prices WSJ.com/commodities Friday, May 8, 2020
May. 1 ServiceNow NOW J. Donahoe D 213 336.38-348.56 72,493 377.26 33.6
These prices reflect buying and selling of a variety of actual or “physical” commodities in the marketplace—
May. 1 Snap SNAP E. Spiegel CEO 3,877 16.80 65,119 18.23 11.6
separate from the futures price on an exchange, which reflects what the commodity might be worth in future
May. 5 USANA Health Sciences USNA M. Wentz DI 641 80.75 51,783 87.99 12.0 months.
Apr. 29 CSX CSX P. Hilal DI 700 68.31 47,817 66.11 -8.6 Friday Friday Friday
May. 6 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals REGN A. Ryan D 50 541.66-556.62 27,613 563.40 50.0 Energy Aluminum, LME, $ per metric ton *1450.0 Wheat - Hard - KC (USDA) $ per bu-u 4.9250
Copper,Comex spot 2.4085 Wheat,No.1soft white,Portld,OR-u 6.0400
May. 5 Vertex Pharmaceuticals VRTX J. Leiden OD 94 265.57-273.70 25,475 271.63 24.1
Coal,C.Aplc.,12500Btu,1.2SO2-r,w 54.650 Iron Ore, 62% Fe CFR China-s 88.5 Food
May. 4-5 A. Sachdev O 57 258.59-273.59 15,081
Coal,PwdrRvrBsn,8800Btu,0.8SO2-r,w 11.500 Shredded Scrap, US Midwest-s,m 236
May. 4-6 Coca-Cola KO D. Weinberg DI 500 45.05-46.04 22,707 46.11 -16.7 Steel, HRC USA, FOB Midwest Mill-s 484 Beef,carcass equiv. index
Metals choice 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 301.33
May. 5-7 Apollo Global Management APO M. Rowan HI 532 40.86-42.98 22,163 43.93 -7.9
Fibers and Textiles select 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 287.92
May. 5 Tractor Supply TSCO G. Sandfort D 200 105.00 21,010 107.21 14.7 Gold, per troy oz Broilers, National comp wtd. avg.-u,w 0.6842
Engelhard industrial 1712.00 Burlap,10-oz,40-inch NY yd-n,w 0.5700
May. 1 NextEra Energy NEE J. Robo P 71 225.80-228.47 16,113 229.73 -5.1 Butter,AA Chicago 1.2900
Handy & Harman base n.a. Cotton,1 1/16 std lw-mdMphs-u 0.5327
Cheddar cheese,bbl,Chicago 127.00
May. 4 Amazon.com AMZN A. Jassy O 7 2256.50 15,671 2379.61 28.8 Handy & Harman fabricated n.a. Cotlook 'A' Index-t *63.90
Cheddar cheese,blk,Chicago 130.50
LBMA Gold Price AM *1688.65 Hides,hvy native steers piece fob-u 26.500
May. 4-6 Guardant Health GH A. Talasaz P 195 72.55-82.26 15,266 88.15 12.8 Milk,Nonfat dry,Chicago lb. 82.50
LBMA Gold Price PM *1704.05 Wool,64s,staple,Terr del-u,w 3.15
May. 5 Coupa Software COUP T. Ford CFO 79 191.55-192.35 15,060 193.89 32.6 Coffee,Brazilian,Comp 1.0536
Krugerrand,wholesale-e 1779.86
Maple Leaf-e 1796.97
Grains and Feeds Coffee,Colombian, NY 1.5861
May. 5-6 Charter Communications CHTR C. Winfrey CFO 29 508.51-516.44 14,796 515.28 6.2
Eggs,large white,Chicago-u 0.9050
American Eagle-e 1796.97 Barley,top-quality Mnpls-u n.a.
* Half the transactions were indirect **Two day transaction Flour,hard winter KC 14.50
Mexican peso-e 2071.43 Bran,wheat middlings, KC-u 92
p - Pink Sheets Hams,17-20 lbs,Mid-US fob-u n.a.
Austria crown-e 1680.51 Corn,No. 2 yellow,Cent IL-bp,u 2.9800 Hogs,Iowa-So. Minnesota-u 71.74
Austria phil-e 1796.97 Corn gluten feed,Midwest-u,w 115.2 Pork bellies,12-14 lb MidUS-u n.a.
Buying and selling by sector Silver, troy oz. Corn gluten meal,Midwest-u,w 498.3 Pork loins,13-19 lb MidUS-u 1.8071
Based on actual transaction dates in reports received this past week Engelhard industrial 15.4500 Cottonseed meal-u,w 250 Steers,Tex.-Okla. Choice-u 95.00
Handy & Harman base n.a. Hominy feed,Cent IL-u,w 110 Steers,feeder,Okla. City-u,w 144.31
Sector Buying Selling Sector Buying Selling Handy & Harman fabricated n.a. Meat-bonemeal,50% pro Mnpls-u,w 353
LBMA spot price *£12.1100 Fats and Oils
Oats,No.2 milling,Mnpls-u 3.3400
Basic Industries 773,602 4,052,789 Finance 15,549,057 44,338,888 (U.S.$ equivalent) *14.9800 Rice, Long Grain Milled, No. 2 AR-u,w 28.75 Corn oil,crude wet/dry mill wtd. avg.-u,w 45.7000
Business services 369,899 10,948,380 Health care 150,467 133,229,427 Coins,wholesale $1,000 face-a 14543 Sorghum,(Milo) No.2 Gulf-u 7.9325 Grease,choice white,Chicago-h 0.2900
Capital goods 0 0 Industrial 330,858 15,640,854 Other metals SoybeanMeal,Cent IL,rail,ton48%-u 292.30 Lard,Chicago-u n.a.
LBMA Platinum Price PM *758.0 Soybeans,No.1 yllw IL-bp,u 8.3850 Soybean oil,crude;Centl IL-u 0.2514
Consumer durables 1,351,385 854,612 Media 1,292,050 3,518,469 Platinum,Engelhard industrial 775.0 Wheat,Spring14%-pro Mnpls-u 6.0100 Tallow,bleach;Chicago-h 0.3475
Consumer nondurables 646,345 53,857,835 Technology 801,140 89,813,170 Palladium,Engelhard industrial 1880.0 Wheat,No.2 soft red,St.Louis-bp,u 5.4400 Tallow,edible,Chicago-u 0.4200
Consumer services 1,706,286 28,603,706 Transportation 348,725 49,872,500
KEY TO CODES: A=ask; B=bid; BP=country elevator bids to producers; C=corrected; E=Manfra,Tordella & Brooks; G=ICE; H=American Commodities Brokerage Co;
Energy 22,242 1,209,049 Utilities 198,464 18,082,764 M=monthly; N=nominal; n.a.=not quoted or not available; R=SNL Energy; S=Platts-TSI; T=Cotlook Limited; U=USDA; W=weekly, Z=not quoted. *Data as of 5/7
Sources: Thomson Financial; Dow Jones Market Data Source: Dow Jones Market Data
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
STREETWISE | By James Mackintosh
Giving Firms Credit Is the Right Thing to Do
Can you
cure a debt
problem with
more debt?
Govern-
ments and
central banks are in the pro-
cess of trying to do exactly
that: extend more credit to
companies that are already
loaded up with plenty of it.
With some caveats, they are
right to do so—and truly rad-
ical action being tested in Eu-
rope could overcome even
these drawbacks.
This sounds like it makes
no sense. Put simply, a com-
pany that generates less cash
than it has to pay in interest
is bust, and adding more debt
means adding on still more
interest. If a company can’t
repay a loan when it matures,
it is also bust, and more debt
means a bigger amount to re-
pay at the end.
There are three ways new
lending can fix this, and all
are being used: refinancing at
a lower rate, deferring inter-
est to repay in the future and
extending debt or making it
easier to get a replacement
loan at maturity. The caveats
are that more debt makes the
entire economy more at risk
from any rise in interest
rates, and that companies
might be saved only to turn
Life Insurers
Halt Sales
Of Policies
Continued from page B1
Mark Financial Group, an in-
surance brokerage in Akron,
Ohio. “It is unprecedented how
fast and widespread—it is
across lots of carriers.”
Some insurers are reacting
directly to the coronavirus.
Penn Mutual Life Insur-
ance Co., among others, has
temporarily halted life-insur-
ance sales to people 70 and
older and who are in poor
health. Industry executives say
that analysis shows older peo-
ple with underlying medical
problems are dying at much
higher rates from Covid-19
than younger people.
In a memo to brokers, Penn
Small
Stocks
Rally
Continued from page B1
from language-software pro-
vider Rosetta Stone Inc. (which
has risen 21%) to defense con-
tractor AeroVironment Inc. (up
11%) to Outback Steakhouse
owner Bloomin’ Brands Inc.
(up 46%). The gains look even
more notable considering how
small-caps, which hit a peak in
2018, have lagged behind large-
caps for much of the past de-
cade.
Part of the resurgence ap-
THE TICKER | Market events coming this week
Monday
Short-selling reports
Ratio, days of trading volume of
current position, at April 15
NYSE 2.6
Nasdaq 2.4
Earnings expected*
Estimate/Year Ago($)
Ameren 0.70/0.78
Cardinal Health 1.43/1.59
Entergy 0.92/0.82
Marriott 0.87/1.41
Simon Property1.56/1.78
Zimmer Biomet1.43/1.87
Tuesday
Consumer price index
Allitems,Marchdown0.4%
April, exp. down 0.8%
Core, March down 0.1%
April, exp. down 0.2%
Treasury budget
April, ’19
$160 billion surplus
April,’20, exp. n.a.
Earnings expected*
* FACTSET ESTIMATES EARNINGS-PER-SHARE ESTIMATES DON’T INCLUDE EXTRAORDINARY ITEMS (LOSSES IN PARENTHESES)  ADJUSTED FOR
STOCK SPLIT
into the living dead—zombies
forced to use all their cash to
service debt.
Lower rates help immedi-
ately by reducing interest
costs and come from a mix of
direct Federal Reserve rate
cuts, discounted lending di-
rectly to companies by gov-
ernment agencies and the
Fed, and the Fed’s planned
purchase of corporate bonds,
bringing yields back down.
M
any banks are offer-
ing deferral of inter-
est on credit cards,
car loans and some small-
business loans (along with
some government-backed
business loans). The interest
still has to be paid, but not
for several months, when,
one hopes, the economy will
be improving again. It’s
harder in the corporate bond
market, where only a few is-
suers gave themselves an op-
tion to roll up the interest
and pay it at maturity. Such a
“payment-in-kind toggle” was
included in only $4.2 billion
of new bonds last year, ac-
cording to Dealogic. The rest
need to renegotiate terms or
turn to the government for
support.
Finally, extending a loan is
a classic tactic for a troubled
business, while even healthy
Mutual said it expects “to re-
visit these and other changes
as we gain better insight into
the impact of the Covid-19
pandemic.”
Among those prompted to
move quickly amid the
us ,
changes was David Hunger-
ford, 72 years old, who bought
al a
a $1 million policy from Pru-
dential Financial Inc. last
month. Mr. Hungerford, an
ci on
owner of a package-design
company in Southern Califor-
nia, said his broker advised
him to act fast because of
looming premium increases.
er s
Calling life-insurance buyers
“collateral damage” of ul-
m er
tralow interest rates, he said
he hustled to wrap up a medi-
cal exam. “I was concerned
about my overall bucket of as-
sets in the stock market, and I
m rp
wanted another bucket to de-
pend on” for his wife’s finan-
cial protection, he said.
Prudential, the nation’s big-
gest life insurer by assets, told
co Fo
brokers in a March missive
pears to be driven by investors’
confidence that the Federal Re-
serve and the government are
willing to act aggressively to
stabilize the U.S. economy. In-
terest rates are at rock bottom
after a series of emergency rate
cuts, and Congress has passed
more than $3 trillion in aid to
support businesses.
n-
The rally also appears to be
driven by something simpler:
bargain hunting.
As stocks plunged in March,
no
Jason Pride, chief investment
officer of private wealth at
Glenmede, told his clients to
consider picking up more
stocks—especially shares of
small companies.
His thinking: Small-caps
were among the hardest-hit
groups at the peak of the selloff,
with the rout taking their valua-
Estimate/Year Ago($) CyberArk Software
Adaptive
Biotechnologies
(0.21)/(0.18) Thursday
Duke Energy 1.19/1.24
Ingersoll Rand 0.27/0.38 EIA report: natural-gas
Previous change in stocks in
Macerich 0.01/0.05 billions of cubic feet
XP 0.11/n.a.
Import price index
Wednesday March, prev.
April, exp.
EIA status report
Previous change in stocks in
millions of barrels Initial jobless claims
Crude-oil stocks up 4.6 Previous
Gasoline stocks down 3.2 Expected
Distillates up 9.5
Earnings expected*
Estimate/Year Ago($)
Mort. bankers indexes
Purch., prev. up 6% Applied Materials
Refinan., prev. down 2%
New Relic
NortonLifeLock
Producer price index
Allitems,Marchdown0.2%
Wix.com
April, exp. down 0.6%
Core, March up 0.2%
April, exp. down 0.2% Friday
Earnings expect.*
Estimate/Year Ago($) Empire Manufacturing
Cisco Systems 0.71/0.78 April, prev.
NOTE: FORECASTS ARE FROM DOW JONES WEEKLY SURVEY OF ECONOMISTS
* *
MARKETS
U.S. nonfinancial corporate debt to GDP
5%
4
3

1960 ’70 ’80
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
companies can rarely afford
to pay off all their debt when
it matures. This is one reason
the Fed is intervening so ag-
gressively to keep the corpo-
rate bond market open, as an
inability to repay old debt
with new debt would force
many solid companies into
the bankruptcy courts.
All of this helps keep com-
panies alive. And lower rates
do even more, turning Fed li-
quidity into corporate sol-
vency: The interest savings
translate into higher profits
and so a stronger balance
sheet for the troubled com-
on 10% U.S. life
insurers'
investment-
8
portfolio
net yield
l
6 years in which they rear their
e
4
2
0 them corporate securities, fol-
1990 2000 ’10
Source: A.M. Best
that its late-April rate in-
creases of 8% to 12% on the
type of policy bought by Mr.
Hungerford, and other actions,
“put us in a much better posi-
tion to withstand the low in-
tion down to around the 14th
percentile of their long-term
history.
Small businesses are strug-
gling with layoffs and making
rent. But they might also have
the most to gain when the econ-
omy recovers, Mr. Pride said.
Even with recent gains, the
Russell 2000 index is down 20%
for the year, compared with the
S&P 500, which is off 9.3%.
“Every investor knows the
second quarter will be horri-
ble—that’s baked in already,”
Mr. Pride said. “Markets today
are reflecting a base case that
encompasses us going back to a
generally normal state at the
start of next year.”
Brokerage BTIG has made a
similar argument.
The firm said it would be
looking to buy small-caps on
May, exp.
0.37/0.56
Retail sales
March, prev. down 8.7%
April, exp. down 13.5%
Retail sales, ex. autos
March, prev. down 4.5%
April, exp. down 9.2%
up 109
Capacity utilization
down 2.3% March, prev. 72.7%
down 3.5% April, exp. 62.5%
Industrial production
3,169,000
March, prev. down 5.4%
2,600,000
April, exp. down 11.5%
Business inventories
Feb., prev. down 0.4%
0.94/0.70 March, exp. down 0.3%
0.03/0.13
U.Mich. consumer index
0.19/0.39 April, final 71.8
(0.03)/0.03 May, prelim 66.5
Earnings expected*
Estimate/Year Ago($)
DraftKings (0.15)/n.a.
PBF Energy (1.09)/(1.18)
-78.2 V.F. 0.24/0.56
’90 2000 ’10 ’20
pany.
The danger is zombies.
Lower rates enough and you
might animate a dead com-
pany—but not so much that
it’s actually alive. The result
is a company using all its
cash to pay interest. It will
merely limp along, unable to
invest for the future or ever
repay its debts.
Zombification is a real
risk, not just now but in any
effort to save a company by
cutting rates. Advocates of
creative destruction argue it
would be better to let the
zombies die and reallocate
terest-rate environment.”
The insurer also temporar-
ily suspended sales of 30-year
“term-life” policies, an offer-
ing popular with young fami-
lies, a spokeswoman con-
firmed. Such policies provide a
basic death benefit during the
children. Prudential reduced
the amount of interest it is
crediting to certain combina-
tion savings-and-death-benefit
“universal life” policies.
Typically, life insurers hold
about 70% of their general in-
vestment account in long-term
bonds. In general, the yields
on these holdings, many of
low the 10-year U.S. Treasury.
Its annual yield has been
mostly declining since the
1980s, when it peaked at
nearly 16%. The yield dove af-
ter the 2008-09 financial cri-
sis and was as low as 1.366%
in 2016 before rebounding to
about 3% in 2018. In March, it
plummeted as coronavirus
days when there is a broader
market downturn.
Still, others are largely wait-
ing out the market’s upswing.
For every investor like Mr.
Pride, it is easy to find counter-
parts who are worried that
widespread expectations for
economic activity to broadly re-
cover in 2021 could be mis-
guided.
For instance, businesses
could reopen, and a second
wave of infections could follow.
Or what some investors have
hoped are temporary job losses
could wind up being more per-
manent.
“The market, when faced
with enormous uncertainties,
goes with the status quo—that
we’ll eventually get back to
where we were. But the ques-
tion is if we’ll be in an environ-
-69.0
Cisco Systems is expected to report a decline in earnings per share on Wednesday.
Monday, May 11, 2020 | B9
their workers and capital to
more productive uses.
I
t is true that creative de-
struction is capitalism at
its best—in normal times.
Allowing companies to limp
along holds out the hope that
when the pandemic recedes,
their revenues will improve
and they will be revivified, al-
beit with weaker growth
prospects than before they
were loaded down with debt.
Frankly, we have to get used
to that after months of eco-
nomic collapse.
Not every zombie can be
saved. The retailer Neiman
Marcus was close to being
one of the walking dead be-
fore its bankruptcy filing,
loaded down with debt that
consumed most of its income.
It has only been a year since
it restructured its debt to
gain breathing space for a
planned three-year recovery,
strangled by the lockdown.
Undoubtedly all the new
debt will create new zombies,
which will have to be dealt
with. But spreading out cor-
porate failures over time is
better than having them all at
once. The sudden shock of a
mass of bankruptcies all at
once would hammer demand
and risk a downward spiral
into depression. Banks are
ly
sparked a rush to safer assets
and investors feared rate cuts
from the Federal Reserve. The
yield on Friday: 0.679%.
Some insurers now are
turning away business they
consider the riskiest. Ameri-
can International Group Inc.,
Nationwide Mutual Insur-
ance Co., Pacific Life Insur-
ance Co. and Principal Finan-
cial Group Inc. are among the
big insurers that have limited
the size of so-called guaran-
teed universal-life policies,
which are highly sensitive to
low interest rates.
The guarantee is a promise
that the annual premium bill
won’t ever increase during the
owner’s lifetime. That means
the insurer is on the hook for
any shortage of interest in-
come over the years. Consum-
ers bear the risk of premium
increases in other types of
universal life to make up for
such shortfalls.
A Nationwide spokesman
said the insurer’s pricing and
ment where different types of
companies are strong compared
to the past,” said Lauren Good-
win, a multiasset portfolio
strategist and economist at New
York Life Investments who de-
scribed the market’s rally as a
bit of a head fake.
The firm has kept the level
of risk it has taken with its in-
vestments at relatively low lev-
els, Ms. Goodwin said.
For now, the fact that small-
caps look relatively cheap isn’t
necessarily enough to justify big
bets on them, she added. That
is especially true given they
generally had weaker earnings
and higher debt levels than
large-caps even before the coro-
navirus pandemic, Ms. Goodwin
said.
Even those who have taken
advantage of lower stock prices
being encouraged to “extend
and pretend”—giving borrow-
ers more time to pay and pre-
tending they are still credit-
worthy—precisely to avoid
adding another shock to a
struggling economy.
Central banks can go fur-
ther. Lower rates improve the
profits (or reduce the losses)
of borrowers, but negative
rates transfer money from
savers to borrowers. So far
only a few of the best-rated
companies in Europe, the re-
gion with the lowest rates,
can borrow at below zero, but
the European Central Bank is
experimenting with the next
step: borrowing rates lower
than deposit rates.
For now the gap is small,
with the ECB’s best borrow-
ing rate under new term
loans to banks being minus
1%, for those that meet cer-
tain conditions, compared
with a deposit rate of minus
0.5%. A widened gap would
help banks more, and if the
ECB insisted on the lower
borrowing rates being passed
on it could help nonbank bor-
rowers too. Liquidity would
be transformed directly into
solvency.
The danger is that central
banks handing out money
doesn’t just cure the zombies,
.
but creates inflation.
product adjustments were mo-
tivated by “the extremely low
interest rates and market vola-
tility that drives up the cost of
our hedging instruments, and
[the] evolving landscape re-
lated to Covid-19.”
Mark Chandik, president of
FDP Wealth Management in Ir-
vine, Calif., said many carriers
held off raising prices and re-
tooling offerings immediately
after 2008-09 on a belief rates
would soon edge up. They
gradually made changes when
low rates persisted for years.
In this crisis, “they see no end
in sight and they are all rush-
ing to react to that,” he said.
Over the past decade, life
insurers offset some earnings
pressure by deploying money
into higher-yielding, triple-B
debt, but potential down-
grades in the worsened econ-
omy may make some insurers
pause, said Tracy Dolin-Ben-
guigui, a senior director for
North American Insurance
Ratings at S&P Global Ratings.
to snap up bargains say they
are wary of the risks of the un-
known.
Mr. Pride acknowledges the
trajectory of the economy will
depend heavily on an assump-
tion: that as the U.S. economy
reopens, there isn’t a second
wave of coronavirus infections
that forces another shutdown.
Such a move would likely hit
small-caps especially hard,
given he estimates the indus-
tries that have been most af-
fected by the coronavirus out-
break—among them,
restaurants and entertain-
ment—account for millions of
small businesses’ jobs.
“If there were to be a re-
lapse—a second major wave—
I’d guess markets may not con-
tinue to hang onto these levels,”
he said.
CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
B10 | Monday, May 11, 2020
Videogame
Makers’
Boost Can’t
Last Forever
Lockdown provides
a lift, but future is hazy
As any videogame player knows,
the problem with running up a high
score is how to top it.
A round of earnings reports in
the past week from game makers
confirms that the industry has in-
deed been on a hot streak. Thanks
to stay-at-home orders, gamers
have more time on their hands and
fewer ways to spend it. That has
even brought older, more casual
players back into the fold. Frank Gi-
beau, chief executive of mobile-
game maker Zynga, said in an in-
terview that the company saw a
“high number of reactivations”
among players for such games as
Zynga Poker, which launched just
before the financial crisis in 2007.
The uptick has also been univer-
sal across game categories. Market
research firm Edison Trends notes
that online game spending in the
first week of April was 11% higher
than the previous peak during the
past Christmas week. Console game
makers Electronic Arts and Activi-
sion Blizzard reported strong re-
sults for the March quarter, citing
high engagement across titles that
include everything from “Call of
Duty” to “World of Warcraft” to
EA’s line of sports games such as
“Madden NFL” and FIFA. The latter
couple had the extra benefit of ca-
tering to a world devoid of live
sporting events. As EA Chief Execu-
tive Andrew Wilson put it on his
company’s call: “In a world where
there was no sports, we became
sports for people.”
It was also a world with no
school—at least, not the type of
schooling that prevents kids from
firing up their consoles, or logging
in to their “Fortnite” accounts, on
Firms Try to Borrow Way Through Downturn
By Sam Goldfarb
And Yolanda Martinez
The coronavirus has
upended the $8 trillion
corporate bond market.
Shutdowns sparked an
explosion of new bond sales,
fueled by companies trying to
borrow their way through a
sharp economic downturn.
They’ve also driven a surge in
the number of bonds trading
at distressed levels, signaling
concerns about a coming wave
of bankruptcies.
One way to understand the
market is to look at recent
bond sales from investment-
grade companies, which reveal
both the financial needs of
businesses and the shifting
sentiments of investors.
In the chart to the right,
each circle corresponds to a
different bond, with bigger
bonds represented by bigger
circles. The so-called
new-issue concession is the
difference between the extra
yield, or spread, investors
demand to buy new bonds over
U.S. Treasurys and the spread
on the company’s existing
bonds of a similar maturity
just before the new bond sale
was announced. Larger
concessions are a sign of
weaker demand from investors.
Investment-grade
corporate-bond issuance
$ billion


2

28 29
*Excludes bonds for which a new-issue concession couldn’t be calculated, as well as those issued by banks. Including bonds not shown here, Sysco issued $4 billion total and Boeing issued $25 billion. †Data are for bonds in the ICE BofA US High Yield Index maturing in 2023 or later.
Sources: Dealogic (weekly issuance); BofA Global Research (new-issue concessions); ICE Data Services (spread over Treasurys)
HEARD STREET FINANCIAL ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY
ELECTRONIC ARTS
EA, among others, posted strong results from titles such as ‘Madden NFL.’
occasion. Epic Games, creator of
“Fortnite,” said that the game now
has more than 350 million regis-
tered players who logged more
than 3.2 billion hours in the game
during the month of April. It last
reported about 250 million players
a little over a year ago. Microsoft
recently reported strong gameplay
of its “Minecraft” game, also popu-
lar with the younger set.
Kids even prevailed on their par-
ents to spring for new hardware.
Nintendo reported selling nearly
3.3 million Switch consoles in its
fiscal fourth quarter—a March
quarter record that was up 32%
year over year. It helped that the
company also launched a hot new
version of its classic “Animal Cross-
ing” game in late March—just in
time for school closures across the
on
U.S. The Switch console remains ex-
tremely hard to find, with prices on
Amazon’s third-party marketplace
starting at more than twice the
company’s formal ask.
us ,
As with all businesses lucky
l
enough to enjoy an actual bump
e
al a
from the pandemic, the natural
question is where does the action
settle once stay-at-home orders
ci on
start to ease. Activision, EA and
Zynga all had conservative tones to
their outlooks in their recent re-
ports; EA’s forecast was cautious
enough to send the stock down
er s
nearly 4% the next day. The unprec-
edented nature of the pandemic
m er
creates questions few companies
can answer right now about the re-
covery. Activision Chief Financial
m rp
co Fo
A closer look at a turbulent two months in the corporate bond market
Extra yield above Treasurys investors demand to buy new
investment-grade bonds over older bonds from same company*
Circle size represents issuance amount
Fed announces plan to buy
investment-grade bonds
n-
2 percentage points
no
Issuance froze
in the second The next week,
week of companies tried to
March as reopen the market
coronavirus but new-issue
concerns rose concessions blew
and the
 out, with sellers
economy offering bonds with
began to higher yields than
shut down. their older bonds.



Negative concessions are a sign of
stronger demand from investors.
–
22 March 3
ON
THE
Officer Dennis Durkin acknowl-
edged on his company’s call that
“we really don’t know what that
new normal will look like once that
comes to pass.”
Among the challenges: All game
makers are now developing their
new titles remotely. That could
prove particularly challenging for
the type of high-end console games
EA and Activision make, which
along with high technical demands
involve actors, soundstages and or-
chestras. Big games are still slated
for fall release, including a new “Call
of Duty” from Activision. And the
console market has a big fall season
coming up with the planned launch
of new Xbox and PlayStation ma-
chines. Those launches normally get
a big promotional push at the an-
nual E3 conference in the summer,
which has been canceled this year.
Also, the game industry isn’t im-
mune to broader weakness in the
economy. Mr. Gibeau noted that
Zynga makes about 20% of its reve-
nue from advertising—a market
hard hit in the current downturn.
Joost Van Dreunen, a former ana-
lyst who now advises game-com-
pany startups, pointed out in a
newsletter that as the videogame
business has become more main-
stream, “it is also more vulnerable
to shifts in broader consumer be-
havior.” The industry has fared well
with people having little else to do.
Soon, having little extra money to
spend could become the real
problem.
—Dan Gallagher
MARKETS
Sysco
$2.5B
total
Issuance rose
to a record after
the Fed’s
announcement.
Concessions
shrank sharply,
in many cases
turning
negative.
April 1
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
China Chases
Self-Reliance in Chips
China’s efforts to reduce its reli- Top semiconductor companies
ance on American chips continue
apace as the world’s two largest
economies head for a collision
by sales, in billions
1Q 2020 1Q 2019
once again. Intel
Sales at HiSilicon, Huawei’s in-
house chip design company,
Samsung
jumped 54% last quarter from a TSMC
year earlier, making it the first SK Hynix
Chinese company to enter the top
Micron
10 in global semiconductor sales,
according to market research firm Broadcom
IC Insights. More than 90% of Hi- Qualcomm
Silicon’s sales go to Huawei, ac-
Texas
cording to the report. Instruments
The Trump administration’s re- Nvidia
strictions on U.S. companies sell-
ing to Huawei have forced the Chi- HiSilicon
nese company to find alternatives $ 5  5 
to its American suppliers. While Sources: IC Insights
smartphone shipments in China
collapsed 20% in the first quarter like TSMC and Samsung. SMIC’s
due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong-listed shares nonethe-
Huawei’s market share has gone less have gained 43% this year as
up to 43% from 36% a year earlier, investors expect more orders com-
according to IDC. As a result, Hi- ing from other Chinese companies.
Silicon has also overtaken Qual- Its stock got a boost last week
comm in China as the top vendor as it unveiled a plan to raise po-
for system-on-chip, an integrated tentially billions of dollars on
circuit containing the central pro- Shanghai’s Science and Technology
cessor in smartphones. HiSilicon’s Innovation Board, which could
.
Kirin chipsets go into Huawei’s give the company a much higher
smartphones, including its flagship valuation.
ly
model P40 Pro. China’s buildout of But ultimately, SMIC’s capabili-
5G networks will also boost HiSili- ties could be hampered if the
con, whose chips will power Hua- Trump administration decides to
wei’s base stations.
But Huawei still isn’t totally
self-reliant. HiSilicon is a so-called
fabless semiconductor company
dial up the pressure in its cam-
paign against China. The Com-
merce Department said recently
that it would expand the list of
which doesn’t have its own manu- U.S.-made products and technology
facturing plant. It relies on shipped to China that need to be
foundry companies like Taiwan reviewed by national security ex-
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. perts before shipping. SMIC de-
to make its chips. pends on foreign semiconductor
The Trump administration is manufacturing equipment, includ-
preparing rules that could restrict ing some from the U.S.
TSMC’s sales to HiSilicon. Huawei In the race for 5G supremacy
may be storing up chip inventories and technological self-sufficiency,
in anticipation of such tighter re- Huawei has steadily gained ground
strictions. over the past two years despite
Huawei may shift some of its American pressure. But the U.S.
orders to Chinese foundry Semi- still holds a powerful trump card
conductor Manufacturing Interna- at the top of the value chain,
tional Corp., but technology there should it choose to use it.
still lags behind industry leaders —Jacky Wong
High-yield risk
There has also been a sharp 100 pct. pts.
Concessions increase in the number of
rose again existing bonds from below
as riskier investment-grade
companies tried companies trading with
to raise cash yields at least 10 percentage
to weather the points higher than U.S.
crisis. Sysco, a
government bonds—a level
food distributor
that signals a meaningful
closely linked
with the chance that they will not be
restaurant fully repaid by the company
industry, paid that issued them. 50
up to bolster
its liquidity. Extra yield demanded by
investors to hold high-yield
Oracle issued
bonds over Treasurys†
$20 billion to
help fund share
buybacks and
dividends, a
throwback to
the type of large
bond sales seen HIGHER
10 RISK
before the crisis. Darker shades indicate overlapping
dots—or more bonds with the same
yield spread over Treasurys.
0
Dec. 31 May 7
After a brief slowdown in mid-April, due
in part to extreme volatility in oil prices,
issuance surged again. Embattled Boeing
offered investors significant concessions in
Oracle issuing billions in debt.
$20B
total
Boeing
$15.5B
total
May 1 May 7
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

JOURNAL REPORT

SMALL BUSINESS
© 2020 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 11, 2020 | R1

.
ly
on
us ,
l
e
al a
ci on
er s
m er
m rp
co Fo
n-
no

What I Love
A
BY KELLY K. SPORS
sk entrepreneurs what it’s like to start and
run their own business, and many will say it’s

—And Hate—
the best thing they ever did. And the worst. u
That’s because there’s a lot to love about being
an entrepreneur. There can be many

Most About Being

rewards, both financial and emotional, to building a
company from scratch. u But there are also many things
to dislike, both financial and emotional. It can be a roller-

An Entrepreneur
coaster journey—one that many entrepreneurs know all
too well these days as the current health and economic
crisis lays bare some of the biggest risks of going it
alone. u To understand this dynamic better, we asked
entrepreneurs who have built successful companies—
We asked people who run their own businesses what they admittedly a skewed sample, but, as you will see, an
most relished and disliked about the path they have chosen. honest one—about the best and worst parts of being an
Read what they say before you launch your own startup. entrepreneur. Here are edited excerpts of what they said.
Please turn to page R2

Inside
WORLDLY WISE FAMILY DYNAMICS BUSINESS OF GRIEF
Time to
During this crisis, Think The art of getting
Growth, Sadly
entrepreneurs should children interest- The pandemic
look to the natural It’s easy to get ed in the family has been a
world for lessons on distracted by apps,
email and social business—with- boon for many
adapting to harsh media. Here’s how out turning them online funeral
conditions. R4 to stay focused. R5 off. R7 platforms. R8
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY NEIL JAMIESON, PHOTOS BY: BLOOMBERG NEWS (2), NEW BELGIUM BREWING, AP, CALENDLY, ZUMA PRESS
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
R2 | Monday, May 11, 2020
JOURNAL REPORT | SMALL BUSINESS
Entrepreneurs’ Joys on
and Miseries
us ,
l
e
al a
Continued from page R1
ci on
‘Probably the Kim Jordan
hardest part Co-founder/Former CEO,
of being an New Belgium Brewing
Headquarters: Fort Collins, Colo.
er s
entrepreneur is Founded: 1991
feeling so much Age: 61
m er
weight on your BEST: I’ve loved having the freedom to
shoulders.’ make decisions about the thrust of the
K IM JO RDAN company—its ethical parameters, its
m rp
business practices. I’ve loved making it
up as we go along, with nobody saying,
“No, you can’t do that.” A lot of the
‘Building a practices we installed at New Belgium
we did sort of intuitively. For example,
business will
co Fo
one unique thing we did early on was
take everything work to make decisions by consensus—
you give it.’ giving every employee a voice. It didn’t
mean we watered things down so ev-
TIM BROW N erybody loved them, but it meant we
talked about it enough that everybody
understood the idea enough that they
were willing to support it.
WORST: Probably the hardest part of
being an entrepreneur is feeling so much
weight on your shoulders. I have co-
n-
workers who care deeply about the com-
pany, but there’s something very singu-
lar about being the founder. It can be
very lonely. We started the company
no
when I was 32, and with some of the
people that we started with, I kind of
grew up with them. At some point,
though, you’re the boss, and the boss
has to say “no” and correct bad behav-
HOW I THOUGHT OF IT
The Art of
Decorating
With Fire
After 9/11, Elena Colombo’s work as a
director of television commercials was
drying up. She needed to contemplate her
future and always thought better in front
of a fire.
“Since I was a little girl, my dad and I
would sit inside or outside in front of a
fire. It would calm me down, and we
would figure things out together,” says
Ms. Colombo, now 57 years old.
So, she wanted to build a fire on the
beach in front of her cottage in Green-
port, N.Y., but fires were frowned upon by Venues for Elena Colombo’s fire designs include hotels, wineries and private homes.
the town.
As a TV director, she was used to mak-
ing things from miniature props to huge garbage can, was immediate,” Ms. Colombo
foam raspberries. So, she improvised. She says.
took a garbage can and a mechanism She decided to see if other people
from an old swimming-pool heater, would latch onto the idea. In December
hooked it up to a gas-grill propane tank, 2001, she founded Fire Features to sell
and made a gas-fueled “comfort fire.” “fire bowls”—more elegant versions of the
“My joy over the on/off bonfire, even in a item she had built on the beach. She got
iors. That feels particularly nega-
tive when it’s people who are your
friends. So, there’s that emotional
murkiness of, “I really like you as
a person, and I like when we go
out, and I’m watching you build a
family and have kids.” But then I
also have to say, “That behavior
there is totally unacceptable.”
Tope Awotona
Founder/CEO, Calendly
Headquarters: Atlanta
Founded: 2013
Age: 39
BEST: I’ve always been comfort-
able being a contrarian—a nontra-
ditional thinker. So, the best part
for me is that you can have these
crazy ideas, and you can actually
bet on your crazy idea and be
largely responsible for its initial
success or its failure. No one has
to approve it. When I started this
company, I encountered a lot of
skepticism. Some people thought
online scheduling was something
only service providers needed.
They thought that the current
scheduling platforms were good
enough. But I thought it was a
great opportunity because I had
experienced scheduling problems
firsthand, and I saw an opportu-
nity to execute them better. I also
felt like it was a perfect problem
for me to solve because I had ex-
pertise on what great software
looks like.
WORST: If you do a really good
job of growing your business, it
can become all you’re known for.
raves after installing a concrete version of
the bowl outside her home.
While building a prototype for a com-
mercial model, she tapped a friend who
was the general manager for the Mercer
hotel in SoHo New York City, asking if he
would present drawings and renderings of
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Tim Brown
Co-founder, Allbirds
Headquarters: San Francisco
Founded: 2016
Age: 39
BEST: One thing I’ve loved is the
ability to create a culture and
choose the people we work with.
Joey [Zwillinger, my co-founder]
and I have imagined from the be-
ginning a high-performance envi-
ronment built with compassion
that attracted people that were
able to go after something very se-
rious without taking themselves
too seriously. So, early on we did a
few things. First, we wrote a
story—a tiny vision of what suc-
cess might look like—that we gave
to everyone who interviewed with
the company. We also came up
with our three key values—sim-
plicity, intentionality and curios-
ity—that were the underpinnings
of the central tenets of the types
of people that we wanted to at-
.
ly
In the grand scheme of things, I’m
very grateful for the success the
business has had, but it’s had the tract. Then we created a mission
effect of defining me as a person statement of, “We make better
and taking over every area of my things in a better way.” So those
life. For example, when I meet three things have provided a lens
people, I’m very reluctant to let for choosing people beyond their
them know what I do because too résumé or where they went to col-
often the conversation turns into lege and to find people who are
an impromptu interview, pitch or the right fit for our company. This
plea for something. People will ask focus on bringing in passionate,
things like, “Can you hire me, or hardworking employees who are
can you hire my friend?” “Can you driven by a larger purpose is really
give me advice on a business idea proving itself during this difficult
I have?” “When will you build this time where we’ve seen our team
feature?” “Can I sell you this?” stand up in a tremendous way.
“Can I introduce you to this VC?”
You just want to eat your meal or WORST: Your business embeds
carry on with whatever you were itself 6 inches into your brain,
in the middle of doing. Please turn to page R3
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY NEIL JAMIESON, PHOTOS BY NEW BELGIUM, BLOOMBERG NEWS, CALENDLY, BLOOMBERG NEWS, REUTERS, ZUMA PRESS; PHOTOS LEFT TO RIGHT: FIRE FEATURES; STEVE JONES
the fire bowl to the owner, hotelier André
Balazs.
Mr. Balazs responded a few weeks
later and commissioned a fire bowl for
Sunset Beach, his new resort on Shelter
Island, N.Y.
Since then, Ms. Colombo has moved
beyond bowls and created many different
designs for her fire product—such as ones
that resemble stylized fireplaces, bundles
of branches and torches—and has created
items that incorporate water and other el-
ements.
Her work can be found at the Barnes
museum in Philadelphia, as well as at ho-
tels, wineries and private homes. Archi-
tects and interior designers from Europe,
Saudi Arabia and India have used her
work.
Fire Features’ gross revenue went from
$20,000 in 2002 to $1.5 million in 2019,
with fire appliances ranging in cost from
$5,000 to a public-art project that
reached $400,000.
She thinks her father would approve.
“He was the original pyromaniac. He
would say, ‘It’s not a bonfire unless you
can see it from space,’ ” she says. “I imag-
ine him now, looking down from space,
pretty proud of me.”
—Barbara Haislip
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 11, 2020 | R3

JOURNAL REPORT | SMALL BUSINESS

Continued from page R2 tinue to provide that support in

and you can’t shake it. You’re in
the shower, you’re out to dinner,
you’re on vacation—you’re al-
ways thinking about it, even
when you don’t want to be. Ta-
ing an idea out into the skepti-
cal world and forcing them to
believe that it might make sense
and then delivering on it is just
extraordinarily difficult and
takes a tremendous amount of
mental engagement. I wouldn’t
say you need to be obsessive,
but you need to think about it a
lot. Building a business will take
everything you give it. So I’ve
learned over time that I have to
set clear guardrails for myself.
Reid Hoffman
Co-founder/Former CEO, LinkedIn
Headquarters: Sunnyvale, Calif.
Founded: 2002
Age: 52
BEST: Entrepreneurship allows
you to be an infinite learner,
constantly breaking new
ground, innovating and building
upon your ideas. That said, you
always have to be willing to
adapt to new information. With
LinkedIn, I started with the be-
lief that individuals would be
the first adopters of the service.
However, soon after launch, we
Neil Blumenthal
Co-founder/Co-CEO, Warby
Parker
Headquarters: New York
Founded: 2010
Age: 39
BEST: I love that my work and
life can be fully integrated.
When you’re passionate, as all
entrepreneurs are about their
business, it impacts every as-
Payal Kadakia
Founder/Chairman, ClassPass
Headquarters: New York
Founded: 2013
Age: 37
BEST: One of the things you
don’t realize when you start a
company is the impact you can
have on employees’ lives as the
company grows. Some of the ju-
nior folks who joined the com-
the midst of a crisis. We are en-
couraging our team to exercise ‘Entrepreneurship
their entrepreneurial skills now
more than ever. allows you to be an
One of my favorite stories: We infinite learner,
were in Singapore for ClassPass’s
launch there, and an employee at
constantly breaking
the table said he went to pick up new ground.’
his passport that past weekend. R EID H O F FM A N
He lives in Montana, and this was
his first trip outside of the U.S. I
love hearing about employees
having new experiences like that. ‘One of the things you
WORST: Building a company
don’t realize when you
takes time, and there’s no blue- start a company is the
print to guide you. It requires a impact you can have on
lot of iterating and pivoting. Our
initial product didn’t take off, and employees’ lives.’
it took three years for us to get it PAYA L KA DA KIA
right. We were originally a search
engine for classes with no mem-
bership offering; you would book
a class and pay full price for it. In
that original iteration, there were
‘You can actually bet on
weeks when nobody made a res- your crazy idea and be
ervation on the site. It wasn’t un- largely responsible for
til we found our current model—a
subscription and a community— its initial success or its
when the magic happened. As an failure.’
entrepreneur, that experience TO PE AWOTO N A
taught me never to get too com-
fortable, and with Covid-19 we’ve
been forced to embrace discom-
fort in an entirely new way. We
recognize that so many busi- ‘There’s nothing worse
nesses around the world are
struggling during this unprece- than having

.
received many inquiries from pect of your life. Because my pany in the early days have gone dented time, and we are learning to let someone go.

businesses wanting a business
account. So, we created a mock-
up of the enterprise product,
circulated it with prospective
customers and learned what to
build—and what not to build.
We ended up building our first
wife [Rachel Blumenthal,
founder and CEO of Rockets of
Awesome] is also an entrepre-
on
neur, it’s great to have that
shared commonality. Early this
year , I was down in Miami to
visit some of our stores and at-
us ,
ly
on to take top leadership roles as to adapt right alongside them.
our company grew. I love giving
Work is important
people in their 20s an opportu- Ms. Spors is a writer in St. Louis to all of us.’
nity to lead and have new profes-
sional experiences. While it’s eas-
ier to empower your employees
when business is booming, what
Park, Minn. Email
reports@wsj.com.
N EIL B LU M EN TH A L

enterprise product years earlier
than we planned.
tend a conference. Rachel and truly matters is how you con-
my kids came down to meet me.
l
e
One of the things the kids have
al a

accepted is that wherever we

travel, there is probably a store,
ci on

and we’ll probably visit with the

team there. It’s interesting to
see our 4-year-old and 8-year-
old start to learn a little about
retail and ask questions. “Why
er s

is the Warby sign this way?”

“Why is every Warby Parker
m er

store different?” It’s really ex-

citing to talk with them about
the things that I’m focused on
as a business leader.
m rp

WORST: There’s nothing worse

WORST: There’s a constant anx- than having to let someone go.
iety that comes with starting Work is important to all of us
and growing a business, which and often core to our identity. As
co Fo

is more apparent than ever for
entrepreneurs building compa-
nies during this unprecedented
time. You have to have a high
tolerance for uncertainty, error
and correction. When we
launched LinkedIn, we worried
about how long it would take us
to get to critical mass—if ever.
A social network is not very
useful to the early adopters. It’s
like having a telephone when
the business leader, you are the
final decision maker, and even
though it’s usually better for ei-
ther the organization or the indi-
vidual, it’s no fun. You worry:
Was the hiring process as robust
as it should have been? Was the
role properly defined? Even
when all of those things seem to
have been done right, and you
feel you’ve given someone every
opportunity to succeed, it’s really
n-

none of your friends has one— hard. I played sports in high

who are you going to call? We school and have always been part
knew we had to get LinkedIn to of leadership programs, so I
a critical mass of somewhere think I have the right level of ex-
no

around one million users before pectation of how much being an

it would be useful. We had to entrepreneur is about people
run numerous experiments in management. It’s both the best
parallel. It was a very busy, anx- and most challenging aspect of
ious time. the job.

HOW I THOUGHT OF IT

Finding an tions into products, he was turned down.

Idea on the
Shower Floor
When Jimmy Gould came up with the
idea for his business, he didn’t have an
“Aha!” moment, he says. “It was probably
more of an ‘Oh, damn’ one.”
Back in 2014, Mr. Gould, who had been
an institutional bond salesman in Memphis,
Tenn., for 30 years, was suffering through a
bad hip, probably the result of too many
dives onto gym floors playing basketball, he
says. That made one daily chore particu-
larly painful.
“It was no fun to retrieve a bar [of soap]
from the shower floor,” says the 60-year-
old Mr. Gould.
So, he decided to do something about
it—create a device that would keep soap
from slipping out of his hands.
He shaped modeling clay into an oval,
added points that could enter a bar of soap
and hold it in place, and baked the proto-
type in a cast-iron cooker, he says. Not only
did this rigid grip prevent the soap slip-ups,
Inventor Jimmy Gould and his SoapStandle.
it also prevented the goo that normally de-
velops on a wet bar, he says.
At first, though, he wasn’t sure the idea
would fly. “Soap has been around for 4,000
years, so I really did assume it was out
there already,” he says. But he couldn’t find
a similar product, he says, and that’s when
“I said ‘aha!’ and was willing to spend the
money to patent it.”
He adds, “As I think back, that was the
arrogant part—there was no consumer
testing, I hadn’t even given it to friends
yet.” What’s more, when he took the idea
to a company that helps develops inven-
After getting some acquaintances to use
their 3-D printers for prototypes, he bought
his own printer. The early version of the
tool was a hit with friends. “Most re-
sponded with, ‘Why didn’t I think of that’?
and a couple with, ‘Brilliant, I hate gooey
soap,’ ” he says.
SoapStandle was launched in July 2016.
Mr. Gould made his first sales the following
year, bringing in about $500 in revenue—a
figure that soared quickly, hitting $112,000
last year. The product—which runs $4.99
for a single unit direct from SoapStandle—
is available at more than 50 retailers, as
well as on Amazon. The company has plans
for new colors and materials, as well as a
travel case and more distribution channels.
Mr. Gould, who has put about $250,000
of his own money into startup costs, ex-
pects to recover his expenses this year.
He’s currently looking for a partner to help
him so he can focus on creative work.
Still, flying solo has some appeal. “As a
bond salesman I had one job—to know my
customers and the market. Our firm had
the rest covered,” he says. “Now I’m wear-
ing all those hats. I learn a lot every day.
That’s what makes it exciting.”
—Barbara Haislip
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
R4 | Monday, May 11, 2020
JOURNAL REPORT | SMALL BUSINESS
on
us ,
l
e
al a
ci on
er s
m er
To Thrive in Hard
m rp
Times, Entrepreneurs
Can Look to Nature
co Fo
Biomimicry offers strategies But the natural world offers so
much more than simply ideas for
for finding growth after product design. In our research, we
everything has been disrupted explore how nature can offer insight
into topics such as keeping up with
BY STEPHANIE A. FERNHABER AND ALYSSA Y. STARK
W
quickly changing markets, cooperat-
ing with peers and fostering resil-
here can small businesses turn ience—all of which are relevant to or-
for strategic help during a global ganizations, especially to
n-
pandemic and an economic crisis? entrepreneurial organizations.
Wildfires, pine cones and ar- These lessons may be particularly
madillos might hold some an- useful during our current crisis. Many
swers. of the roughly eight million species
no
Those suggestions come from an interdisciplinary on Earth have weathered times of in-
field of study called biomimicry—the idea that we tense disruption, and the strategies
can learn practical lessons by observing and copying they’ve developed to adapt to harsh
processes and strategies found in nature. conditions—and thrive—have been
The concept—popularized by author Janine Be- proven effective over countless years.
nyus—is well known as it applies to new products, Here’s a look at five ways organ-
such as adhesives inspired by the sticky feet of the isms respond to periods of extreme
gecko and underwater cameras suggested by the adversity and what insights they hold
eyes of mantis shrimp. for small businesses.
The Power of ‘Seinfeld’ to Teach College
Students How to Be Entrepreneurs
far-fetched ideas can work with
Kramer’s many failed ideas are some adjusting—such as being
fodder for learning about what mindful of safety and not letting
makes for a successful startup customers operate the oven them-
selves.
In another instance, students
BY ALINA DIZIK watched clips about the develop-
ment and pitch of the Manssiere, a
Can comedy help students better understand en- bra designed to support a man’s up-
trepreneurship? More specifically, can “Seinfeld”? per body. Younger students pointed
A professor at Penn State decided to find out. out ways the product could be via-
Jamey Darnell, interim director at the Center for ble because there is an interest in
Penn State Student Entrepreneurship and a self- shapewear for men, Prof. Darnell
described “Seinfeld” geek, had his class watch clips says. “What might have been hu-
of Cosmo Kramer, the character with an endless morous back in the ’90s now feels
supply of get-rich-quick ideas. legitimate to them,” he says.
Students viewed the clips at the beginning of The verdict on the experiment?
lessons, paired off to discuss them, then talked as Prof. Darnell—who co-wrote a pa-  value made it easier for students to
a class. In one session, students compared per about the class—found the clips Cosmo Kramer,
Kramer’s failed make-your-own-pizza restaurant to were effective in teaching students academic aid,
real-world restaurants that succeeded with the about forming ideas, understanding lays out an
same idea. Looking at why Kramer flopped, and the need for prototypes and pitch- idea for his
the others didn’t, helped students see that even ing concepts. The entertainment dubious buddy.
Species can flourish after disasters.
Strategy 1
Find New Opportunities
to Grow
Organisms often respond to upheaval
by leveraging opportunities for
growth. Take wildfires: As they burn
forests to the ground, they can create
new habitats like grasslands, where
different species flourish.
The business ecosystem is also
changing significantly. That means
big adjustments for companies, but
also opportunities for growth. In the
Great Recession of 2008, restaurants
adapted by offering smaller, lower-
cost meals, while higher-end retailers
emphasized discount options. In the
current crisis, some restaurants are
emphasizing delivery and therapists
are offering online sessions.
Alternatively, small businesses
might grow by using existing infra-
structure in new ways. For example, a
growing list of distilleries are produc-
ing hand sanitizer instead of spirits.
Strategy 2
Shut Down and Strengthen
Even when some organisms appear to
be devastated by a natural disruption,
they have systems that let them
thrive again. Trees such as the short-
leaf pine do not have thick bark that
can withstand a wildfire and are com-
monly burned to the ground. Yet their
strong roots below the ground quickly
rebuild after the fire has passed.
Similarly, entrepreneurs need to
remember that they have a strong
root system that they have built over
the years. As individuals, they have
knowledge and skills, and their com-
panies have a solid base of trained
employees and regular customers.
Businesses with money to spare
should consider investments to pre-
serve those core strengths and make
it easier to spring back to life once
the crisis has passed. That might
mean investing in employee training
to boost morale and efficiency, or do-
ing volunteer work in their communi-
ties to build loyalty. Many larger com-
panies make these kinds of efforts,
such as offering paid sabbaticals for
employees to let them recharge and
eventually boost productivity.
It is also important for entrepre-
neurs to keep their roots in mind if
they’re forced to close permanently.
They aren’t going to forget what they
know because their business closed—
they may even end up wiser and more
prepared to launch another company.
And they won’t lose valuable contacts
with skilled workers and the public.
Strategy 3
Take Advantage of Predators
For some organisms, catastrophe is
an opportunity to hunt. Tropical birds
search for insects fleeing from army-
ant swarms, and animals such as
bears and raccoons often prey on
smaller animals escaping a wildfire.
In the business world, hunting
means looking for acquisitions, and
small businesses fit the definition of
“prey”—not as old, not as experi-
enced and, of course, not as big as a
potential acquirer.
Why not take advantage of that?
During the last downturn, big com-
panies took the opportunity to snap
handle the repetition required to
drive home ideas, he found. The les-
sons felt less academic and easier
to absorb than typical business
classes.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
up small firms, and they may start
doing so again. Struggling small busi-
nesses might position themselves as
attractive takeover targets. This in-
volves getting your records in order
and figuring out what high-value at-
tributes you can use as selling points,
such as a prime location or market
position in a growing industry.
Cashing out and handing your
company to somebody else can be a
bitter experience. But the reality is
that not every business will survive
the crisis, and allowing your business
to be snagged by a “predator” might
be a best-case scenario.
Strategy 4
Look for Leftovers
Crises offer the opportunity a chance
to do a form of bargain hunting—
scavenging. Various species of beetles
fly in large numbers to recently
burned trees to take advantage of
food, shelter and reproductive sites in
the dead tissue. Later on, larger ani-
mals such as armadillos will return in
search of these very insects for food.
Small-business owners may have
similar opportunities right now, such
as tapping into skilled workers who
have suddenly become unemployed,
negotiating more generous terms to
.
get into an ideal space or looking for
ly
better prices with suppliers.
Throughout the decades, many
small companies have leapt on these
kinds of opportunities. When major
airlines experienced an economic
downturn in 2001, smaller airlines
leveraged the opportunity to purchase
aircraft at a discount. Likewise, after
the dot-com bubble burst, surviving
startups grabbed tech employees who
had been laid off.
Strategy 5
Launch Something New
Disruption can sometimes be the
ideal time for organisms not just to
regenerate or seek sustenance—but to
reproduce. Lodgepole pine trees have
developed hard cones that are glued
shut, and to release their seeds, the
cones must be exposed to high tem-
perature from a fire. Thus, the timing
of tree reproduction is actually de-
pendent on a catastrophic event.
For individuals or companies nur-
turing an entrepreneurial idea, a cri-
sis could be the spark they need to
take a chance they wouldn’t have
taken when jobs or customers were
plentiful.
In the Great Depression, many
small groceries opened in homes or
abandoned storefronts, as there were
very few jobs available. Individuals
were able to start their business by
buying a small stock of perishable
goods, and lived off the unsold inven-
tory if needed. More recently, Kick-
starter and other crowdfunding plat-
forms emerged during the 2008
recession, in response to the difficulty
small businesses had in accessing tra-
ditional financing.
Dr. Fernhaber is an associate
professor of entrepreneurship at
Butler University’s Lacy School of
Business. Dr. Stark is an assistant
professor in the biology department
at Villanova University. They can be
reached at reports@wsj.com.
FROM TOP: RAKU INOUE; CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT/EVERETT COLLECTION
The feeling is mutual. “It’s not
only fun for them, but if I enjoy it, I
do a better job,” he says.
Ms. Dizik is a writer in Chicago.
Email reports@wsj.com.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
ROB DOBI
Tips for Unplugging
(at Least for a While)
Getting offline is crucial if you want to think big
BY ALEXANDRA SAMUEL
W
hat can an
entrepreneur
do when the
digital de-
mands never
stop coming?
On the one hand, entre-
preneurs are supposed to
be plugged in constantly,
able to respond to custom-
ers and prospects in real
time. At the same time,
however, they are supposed
to find the time and mental
space to think big—to plan
strategies, develop new
products, grow. It’s hard to
think about tomorrow
when today is constantly
beeping and pinging.
Balancing the two is
tricky in the best of times.
Now, thanks to the corona-
virus, entrepreneurs need
even more time and space
to think, so they can strate-
gize about how to steer
their business through the
crisis. Yet since so many of
them are now working re-
motely, the barrage of in-
coming email, Slack and
Teams messages, and ac-
tual ringing phones, is
more incessant than ever.
The key to managing all
this noise? Speed bumps,
my nickname for the small
obstacles you can create to
make you think twice be-
fore hopping online.
Here are some of my fa-
vorite speed bumps, from
smallest and easiest to big-
gest and most dramatic:
Who is primarily responsible for your tech support?
48%
I do it A member of
myself
handles it
How important is tech, and keeping up with new tech, to your company’s success?
74%
Very Somewhat
JOURNAL REPORT | SMALL BUSINESS
on
us ,
l
e
al a
ci on
er s
Turn off
m er
biometric unlocking:
I love the fact that my
thumbprint can unlock my
computer, and that my
m rp
face now unlocks my
phone. Passwords are such
a hassle, and biometrics
make it so much faster
and easier to get into my
co Fo
devices. For that very rea-
son, one of the easiest
ways to make your tech
usage less automatic is to
turn off biometrics and re-
turn to the Stone Age re-
quirement of actually en-
tering a password to
unlock your device. That
two-second hassle is just
enough to reduce absent-
minded unlocks.
n-
Get a smartwatch:
no
I know it seems counter-
intuitive, but adding yet
another device to your
tech tool kit may actually
reduce the time you spend
online. Before I got my
Apple Watch, any incom-
ing text message got me
sucked back into online
work: I’d pick up my
phone to check the source
of that notification ping,
and the next thing I knew,
I’d spent half an hour
looking at Twitter, email
and Slack. Now those in-
coming texts pop up on
my watch, and most of
the time, they either need
no immediate response or
a very quick one I can is-
sue from my watch itself.
25% 25%
I pay an
my staff outside company
to handle it
22% 3%
Not very
NSBA 2019 TECHNOLOGY & SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY
And I’m rarely tempted to
scan social-media updates,
look at my email or catch
up on the news, all of
which is just too annoying
to do on a teensy screen.
Create after-hours
accounts:
If you use the same email
address 24 hours a day, it
is hard to look at email
without getting pulled
into work mode. So con-
sider setting up a sepa-
rate after-hours account
that staff members know
to use for emergencies
only or a separate per-
sonal email address that
doesn’t include any work-
related messages.
Delete ‘gateway’ apps:
Some apps are so compel-
ling that they encourage us
to open our devices
throughout the day. These
apps act as gateways to
tech overuse, because once
we open our phones to
check that social-media
site or play a Words With
Friends move, we end up
spending still more time
with our gadgets. Even
folks who are usually resis-
tant to tech overuse may
find themselves compul-
sively checking news apps
for Covid updates. If you
find certain apps lure you
back to your phone, con-
sider deleting them. You
can still access social-me-
dia or news sites with your
phone or computer
browser, but at least you
3%
Friends and
family help
0%
Not at all
Monday, May 11, 2020 | R5
time with your gadgets as cific periods of the day;
possible, so they have devel- you can do the same thing
oped mechanisms that are with parental-control
designed to pull you in and apps, potentially turning
keep you online. At the top off your family’s entire
of the list: notification network. (That can be a
beeps that let you know blessing or a curse, de-
when you have a new mes- pending on whether
sage and visual indicators you’re using screen time
that show you there are to keep the children en-
new messages waiting (and, gaged so you can work…or
often, how many messages interrupting your own
are waiting). workday to get the chil-
Turn off these notifica- dren off screens.)
tions, and you won’t be If you’re the boss, you
fighting the prompts that can consider taking the
Don’t get distracted by beeps.
Turn off your notifications.
are intended to make you same approach for the
use your technology more. whole office: Some com-
panies turn off their email
servers or messaging sys-
Schedule interruptions: tems after hours, to en-
The hours between 3 p.m. force downtime.
and 5 p.m. are my own per- I know there will be
sonal danger zone—the time those who say that these
of day when I most fre- strategies speak to some
quently find myself lost in a more fundamental failing,
tech vortex, realizing that that we should be culti-
I’ve just spent 45 minutes vating restraint rather
perusing social media or than relying on technol-
tweaking my computer set- ogy to make up for our
.
tings instead of doing actual own lack of self-control.
ly
work. So I try to schedule But entrepreneurs al-
incoming calls for this part ready have lots of pres-
of the day, knowing it will sure—now, more than
prevent me from sinking
into a screen fog, or at least
wake me from the reverie if
I accidentally slip.
ever. In a tech environ-
ment that imposes ever
more demands on our at-
tention and willpower, we
won’t have that icon sit- shouldn’t hesitate to use
ting on your home screen, every tool at our disposal
tempting you to take a Break your internet: in making more intentional
peek. If all these more moderate use of our time—including
speed bumps don’t work, the lowly speed bump.
consider more-extreme
Turn off notifications measures. You can use a Dr. Samuel is a technology
and unread-message distraction-blocker app to researcher and the author
counts: turn off specific apps or of “Work Smarter With
App and device creators websites, or to cut you off Social Media.” Email
want you to spend as much from the internet for spe- reports@wsj.com.
Everything
The future of
small business
changed overnight.
is everyone’s
Except how
business
hard it is
to run a business.
We’re inspired by the ways small businesses
have adapted to address incredible
challenges. It’s not easy, but we can help.
Visit our Resource Center at mutualofamerica.com
for insights into the current environment, or
call 866.954.4321 for one-on-one support.
Securities offered by Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, a registered Broker-Dealer. Mutual of America®
is a registered service mark of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company. 320 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022-6839.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
R6 | Monday, May 11, 2020
JOURNAL REPORT | SMALL BUSINESS
A Fast Slowdown often attributed to entrepreneurship—
freedom, being one’s own boss, flexi-
ble hours and a hip working environ-
ment. What’s more, it is much more
The number of fast-growth shift in our priorities in training en- socially acceptable to be deemed an
startups has been declining trepreneurs. Others think it goes entrepreneur than it is to be unem-
much deeper—and argue the culture ployed or a “barista with an English
for two decades. But why?
of entrepreneurship itself, or the major,” he says.
modern economy, is to blame. In a working paper, he and his col-
BY CHERYL WINOKUR MUNK
W
Here are some of those theories. leagues describe the rise of “tech en-
trepreneurship as a lifestyle” and how
hat happened to all the
fast-growing startups?
Small companies that
boom into big ones drive
on Theory 1
Entrepreneurs are
more entrepreneurship seems primar-
ily motivated by people wanting to “be
entrepreneurs” rather than by those
with potentially valuable ideas likely to
motivated more by the
us ,
innovation, create jobs lead to economically gainful, produc-
and shake up staid in- lifestyle than by viable
l
tive activity. The result: fewer high-
business ideas.
e
dustries, experts say. growth firms because the types of
al a
But research suggests that over the past Society’s attitude toward entrepre- firms entering the market aren’t capa-
two decades, the number of these high- neurship is a key driver in the decline, ble of attaining success as these types
ci on
value startups has declined, sparking signif- says Rasmus Koss Hartmann, associ- of firms could in the past, the re-
icant debate over what’s causing the drop, ate professor of management at Co- searchers say.
how to fix it, and whether or not it’s a prob- penhagen Business School.
lem that needs fixing. There is prestige associated with
Some see it as a matter of restrictive gov- being an entrepreneur, he says. There
er s
ernment policy that needs an overhaul, or a is also an allure to the type of lifestyle Theory 2
Tougher regulation is
m er
hurting high-growth
companies.
The government has been tightening
m rp
rules on business in recent years, and
those new regulations are dispropor-
tionately impacting small, high-growth
firms, according to Rajshree Agarwal,
an endowed professor and director of
co Fo
the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise
and Markets at the University of
Maryland. Not only is it easier for
larger firms to meet the new stan-
Emerging and growth markets are more dards, they can also shape regulations
through lobbying, to favor themselves,
volatile and uncertain than ever before. she says.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Re-
form and Consumer Protection Act,
Monitoring them and deciding which to focus on can be challenging. for example, has significantly cur-
tailed small-business lending, she
Save time and simplify your decision-making challenges with
says. And strict immigration require-
n-
Strategic Intelligence. ments have also unduly affected
young, high-growth startups.
With respect to immigration, she
says, the number of H-1B visas hasn’t
no
kept pace with the number of foreign
university students, meaning there is
Customizable dashboard with less chance for them to work in the
access to 15 million data points U.S. and gain the experience to be-
with 10-year forecasts. come successful entrepreneurs.
Theory 3
News on specific markets from Big businesses have
changed the way they
The Wall Street Journal followed operate.
by actionable analysis from
Starting in the 1990s, a shift took
DuckerFrontier experts.
place in how big firms view smaller
competitors that have the ability to
disrupt their business, says Mahdi
Majbouri, associate professor of eco-
nomics at Babson College. Big firms
have become more vigilant against
A library of hundreds of analyst- these upstarts, and their response
produced market intelligence has been to acquire these small, in-
novative firms, as well as to con-
research reports.
stantly innovate in-house to prevent
the formation of such small firms.
As big firms dominate markets
and protect themselves from poten-
tial disrupters, fewer startups estab-
lish themselves or have the opportu-
Strategic Intelligence harnesses the power of customized research
nity to grow. “Less competition
and data along with news and analysis to help you stay on top of increases prices and reduces quality,”
Prof. Majbouri says. “It can also in-
the markets that matter most to you.
crease barriers to entry and dissuade
entrepreneurs from establishing
firms and challenging incumbents.”
Learn More:
Theory 4
wsj.com/pro/si
Entrepreneurs lack the
right training.
Another issue is that many entrepre-
neurs hit the market unprepared to
run a business, says Alfonso Gam-
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
bardella, head of the management and
technology department at Bocconi Uni-
versity in Milan.
Prof. Gambardella says most busi-
ness owners don’t receive any type of
formal training in how to make deci-
sions amid uncertainty, a problem that
could be solved on a business-school
level or through other practical training
for would-be entrepreneurs. It is more
of a problem today than in the past be-
cause business owners are facing more
complexity and uncertainty, he says.
“A lot of people come into entrepre-
neurship thinking that it’s much easier
than it actually is,” Prof. Gambardella
says. “If people were trained better at
the outset, you would observe a
higher percentage of people who de-
cide to enter and could be more suc-
cessful,” he says.
Theory 5
The gig economy is affecting
would-be entrepreneurs’
experience. 
If you want to start a business, espe- Steve Jobs
cially one likely to be high-growth, you and Steve
need human, social and financial capi- Wozniak
tal—something prospective entrepre- of Apple
neurs often build through regular ca- Inc.
reers. But as more people move into gig
work, they generally aren’t accumulat-
ing the resources they need if they
want to start their own business, says
Howard E. Aldrich, Kenan Professor of
Sociology at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
.
“Gig work is a very isolating type of
ly
work. That’s a change in the way the
workforce is organized compared with
several decades ago,” he says. “Driving
in a car by yourself is not a great way
to build a résumé or meet potential
investors.”
Theory 6
The problem is a
measurement issue.
Dr. Majbouri of Babson offers another
possible take on the idea of losing high-
growth firms: Some of the drop may be
attributed to an outdated way of mea-
suring growth.
According to this theory, the drop in
5.2
Jobs created by startups in their
first year, per 1,000 people, in 2018
high-growth firms is “because we are
measuring growth in terms of employ-
ment, and these new industries do not
need much employment,” he says.
Startups no longer need to add as
many employees to increase their reve-
nue in some industries, a major shift
from decades ago. A startup built
around a smartphone app, for instance,
generally only needs one person—the
programmer, he says.
Even if some firms are hiring more
employees to keep up with increased
demand, the size of these firms isn’t
going to be as large as it was for big
companies in the 1970s and 1980s.
GETTY IMAGES
Ms. Winokur Munk is a writer in
West Orange, N.J. She can be
reached at reports@wsj.com.
Losing the Creators
The share of employment in selected U.S. industries
(and the overall economy) taken up by young
companies.
25%
Retail
Services
20
Overall economy
15
Wholesale
10
FIRE*
Information
5
Manufacturing
0
1985 ’90 ’95 2000 ’05 ’10
*Finance, insurance and real estate
Source: “Where Has All The Skewness Gone? The Decline In High-growth (Young)
Firms In The U.S.” by Ryan A. Decker, Federal Reserve Board; John Haltiwanger,
Department of Economics, University of Maryland; Ron S. Jarmin, U.S. Census
Bureau; Javier Miranda, U.S. Bureau of the Census Center for Economic Studies
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, May 11, 2020 | R7

JOURNAL REPORT | SMALL BUSINESS

.
ly
on
Keep It in the Family Percentage of CEOs of family firms in child in a job and hope he or she
us ,

the U.S., by age cohort, who say the will grow into it, this can hurt fam-
likelihood the firm will stay in the ily relationships, the business and
l

family is...
e
the child’s desire to be involved.
al a

Low Medium High Karen Reynolds Sharkey, who di-

How to get children interested in initial excitement over coming to rects strategy, outreach and offer-
ci on

‘Dad’s and Mom’s business’ is to fol- 45.5% 15.2 39.4 ings to entrepreneurs and their
the family business low their lead and involve them in BORN IN 1925-45 family members for Bank of Amer-
activities most suited to their tal- ica Private Bank in New York, offers
ents and passions,” Ms. Crain says. 41.2 25.8 33.0 the example of a son in his 30s with
BY CHERYL WINOKUR MUNK Adam Pitel, chief executive of 1946-64 great skills in sales and innovation
er s

W
Magna-Power Electronics Inc. in who was put in charge of a business
Flemington, N.J., recalls being in- 30.3 48.5 21.2 unit leading a large group of em-
m er

hen it comes to volved, from a young age, in nightly 1965-80 ployees—a role for which he lacked
family businesses, dinner conversations about that the leadership skills or demeanor.
the apple often falls day’s achievements and struggles— 18.2 54.6 27.3 Over time, the father began receiv-
Parents very far from the whether it was a new contract, a
1981-2000
ing negative feedback from other
m rp

tree. Children, for nonpaying customer, difficulties managers and employees.

should find any number of rea- with a vendor or new opportunities Note: The family member with the most senior position In the end, the father made the
their children sons, don’t want to take over the reins. for the business. in the firm was surveyed if the CEO wasn’t family.
Source: STEP 2019 Global Family Business Survey, by
difficult decision to remove the son
activities at But there are ways for parents to In addition, Mr. Pitel says he was Andrea Calabrò and Alfredo Valentino, of 185 firms in the from the role, but feelings were
make that scenario less likely (if they exposed—not pressured—throughout U.S., conducted online from October 2018 to March 2019 hurt, relationships strained, and the
the company
co Fo

want to). Here are some tips for getting his youth to activities that dovetailed son decided to leave the business.
that suit their children interested—and keeping them with various aspects of the business, Things might have gone differ-
interested—in the family business. a designer and manufacturer of ro- ments of time if they want—stock- ently had the son received the
‘talents and bust programmable power products. ing shelves, sorting office supplies, proper training and direction to
passions,’ one Education in science and technology greeting customers or something help prepare him for the role, Ms.
expert says.
Do
Involve children in the business
was heavily emphasized by his par-
ents, for example, and hobbies
around technology were encouraged.
similar—children should not be
made to feel beholden to the family
business, says Rachelle Theise, a li-
Sharkey says.

as they grow up.

Parents can do different things to in-
clude their children in the family busi-
ness, depending on their children’s
n-
When working summers in the fam-
ily business, Mr. Pitel says, the family
supported his passion for web design
alongside his other work responsibil-
censed clinical psychologist in West-
port, Conn., and a clinical assistant
professor at the NYU Langone Child
Do
Let your children help
Study Center. Rather, she says, they determine what roles might

age, maturity, desire and other factors. ities; at the age of 13, he became the need time to enjoy being children— be right for them.

67%
Children’s exposure and involve-
ment in the business can develop as
they mature, says Joan Crain, senior
no
company’s website developer. playing team sports, art classes or Allowing children to help define
Mr. Pitel says he eventually con- whatever their interests might be. their roles is much more effective
cluded that joining the family busi- It is best for parents to try to than forcing them into positions

director and global family wealth
of family- strategist in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
office of BNY Mellon Wealth Manage-
business ment. Teens may be able to work
leaders in weekends as junior assistants, for ex-
North America ample, and as the children enter
have no adulthood, they can assume more for-
succession mal responsibilities depending on
plan. their schedules and—most impor-
tant—their interests, Ms. Crain says.
“The key to retaining children’s
ness would lead to the “greatest
professional development and per-
sonal satisfaction.”
X Don’t
Let the family business dictate
your young child’s life.
While it is good to allow children to
help in small ways for small incre-
maintain a child’s normal activities
and add in business participation in
moderation, as the schedule allows
and as the child displays interest,
she says. “You want to leave your
child with a taste of the magic of
the operation and feel proud of it,
without feeling like it’s a chore or
burden. If a parent pushes too hard,
the long-term benefit for both will
be lost,” Dr. Theise says.
they don’t want or enjoy.
Chris Holder, a serial entrepre-
neur, recalls that much of his child-
hood was spent performing ac-
counting roles for his parents’
various business ventures, a pro-
fession he had a talent for, but
hated. At age 20, he finally decided
he’d had enough and abruptly quit,
straining his relationship with his
parents, who are now deceased. A
little while after that, he took a
sales job at Macy’s, just so he could

Do
Make joining the business
optional.
It is fine to encourage children to be
involved and to tell them it would be
great if they wanted to take over one
day, but parents should not make
children feel it is a requirement or
that the children would be disap-
pointments if they chose a different
route, says Dr. Theise.
“The feeling of not having choices
can be limiting,” she says. “It can be
debilitating and unhealthy.”
Indeed, when children feel pres-
sured they often rebel, or they don’t
put their all into the business. This
can impact family relationships and
lead to business failures, says Jason
Cain, managing director and senior
wealth strategist at Boston Private,
a Boston-based wealth, trust and
private-banking company.
X Don’t
ROSE WONG (2)
do something other than account-
ing. Ultimately, he reconciled with
his family; he even went into busi-
ness again with them years later,
but this time on his own terms,
and in sales-related roles he en-
joyed.
To help ensure children are find-
ing their niche, he recommends
families have a check-in every 90
days or so as soon as the children
become meaningfully involved in
the business. He says parents
should ask questions like: Is this
something you want to do and is
this role working out for you?
At first, children, especially
young ones, may not tell their par-
ents how they really feel, but if
they feel the doors of communica-
tion are open, eventually they will
be comfortable sharing their feel-
ings, says Mr. Holder, owner of
S.M.M. Holdings Inc. in Long Island
City, N.Y., a financial-education and
consulting company for businesses
and entrepreneurs.

Put your children in roles they Ms. Winokur Munk is a writer in

aren’t well-suited for. West Orange, N.J. She can be
As tempting as it can be to put your reached at reports@wsj.com.
 For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at (800) 843-0008 or www.djreprints.com.
R8 | Monday, May 11, 2020
JOURNAL REPORT | SMALL BUSINESS
MATT ROURKE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Online Funeral
technical issues and logistics, like
auto-muting participants during the
Services Take Off
livestream of the burial on Long Is-
land. Following the burial, the nearly
30 attendees stayed on the video chat
for hours, sharing memories of
Blanche—from her tendency to make
The question is whether the pandemic will friends of strangers to her phone calls
permanently change memorials with Ms. Frechtman following the
nightly news.
“I thought we were going to have
to bury her alone,” Ms. Frechtman re-
calls her mother saying, “but I felt
BY MARGOT BOYER-DRY on
L
like you were all there.”
 the midst of quintupling its team to
A funeral ast month, when Jill Frechtman lost her
service grandmother, she wanted to mark her pass- Lives on pause
shown
us ,
ing with a memorial service—an effort com- As the coronavirus puts in-person
over Zoom. plicated by a lockdown that prohibited gath- functions on pause, more people are
l
e
erings of family and friends. turning to online businesses like
al a
With some cajoling, she convinced her GatheringUs, delivering strong
parents to try GatheringUs, an online service that growth to this niche of the end-of-life
ci on
hosts memorials on Zoom, starting at $1,400. Without industry. Companies that help people
leaving her Manhattan apartment, Ms. Frechtman put handle tasks surrounding death and
together an online service for 89-year-old Blanche dying online—from hosting videocon-
Frechtman, the head of their family and a beloved ference memorials to preparing docu-
community figure, in just two hours. ments—have been growing in recent
er s
During the proceedings, GatheringUs handled the years, thanks in part to changing atti-
m er
m rp
co Fo
n-
no
How is futures margin different from
equities margin?
When you trade futures, you often wind up with a lot of questions. That’s why, at TD Ameritrade, we have on-demand
education, futures specialists ready to talk day and night, and an intuitive trading platform. So whatever the question,
you’ll have all the answers you need.
Learn more at tdameritrade.com/tradefutures
Futures trading is speculative, and is not suitable for all investors. Futures trading services provided by TD Ameritrade Futures and Forex LLC. Trading privileges
subject to review and approval. Not all clients will qualify. Futures accounts are not protected by SIPC. All investments involve risk, including risk of loss.
TD Ameritrade, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. © 2019 TD Ameritrade.
tudes toward mortality among millen-
nials. But the coronavirus pushed that
growth into overdrive.
Online arrangements “are being
normalized quickly,” says David
Sloane, professor of urban and com-
munity-health planning, policy and
history at the University of Southern
California and author of “Is the Ceme-
tery Dead?”
“The pandemic creates this extraor-
dinary circumstance,” he says. “Most
of us can’t go to a funeral. We can’t go
to a cemetery. We can’t go to viewing
hours. [That’s] one of the reasons
these startups are growing so rapidly.”
Online end-of-life businesses, by
most accounts, represent a small frac-
tion of the $21 billion industry. But
experts and industry leaders report
surges in user numbers since the pan-
demic hit. “As an industry, we are
seeing our predictions come to life at
hyperspeed,” says Liz Eddy, co-
founder of Lantern, a service based in
New York that provides free question-
naires to gather users’ end-of-life
wishes, as well as checklists detailing
steps to take after a family member’s
death. The service also recommends
companies that handle the actual ar-
rangements, in some instances col-
lecting a referral fee.
By mid-April, Lantern’s user num-
bers had ballooned by 61% from the
month prior, and a similar company
called Cake, based in Boston, saw its
own pre-planning user numbers more
than quintuple in March.
Companies that handle other tasks
related to the end of life are also see-
ing increases in growth. Brooklyn-
based GatheringUs, which focuses on
ly
arranging memorials, saw traffic on
its site rise 400% in the second week
of April compared with the second
week in March, and the company is in
20 to accommodate demand.
A changing culture
For all these companies’ recent suc-
cess, though, there’s a question hang-
ing over them: Will they be able to
sustain their growth after the pan-
demic has passed?
While Prof. Sloane of USC doesn’t
think the online companies will re-
place big players in the traditional
death industry, he predicts that they
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
“are going to edge out more space for
themselves” as consumers become fa-
miliar with their offerings.
Some traditional funeral providers,
meanwhile, think offering more online
services could benefit the industry.
Walker Posey, a spokesperson for
the National Funeral Directors Associa-
tion, says people don’t want to spend a
lot of time in funeral homes, and a
newfound familiarity with digital tools
will lead more people to seek out on-
line services in the future.
“The culture is changing rapidly, so
the tools that we provide need to be
relevant for that new culture,” says Mr.
Posey, who also runs the South Caro-
lina funeral home that has been in his
family since 1879. He adds, “No one’s
saying, ‘Let’s replace human interac-
tion.’ ” Rather, he says, the technology
should make the experience better for
the family.
For some mourners, online services
have offered advantages over tradi-
tional services.
At the suggestion of a friend, Dan-
ielle Anders from Reno, Nev., recently
held a virtual memorial for her 24-
year-old son, Dominic. GatheringUs
helped moderate the event, setting up
The lockdown forces
mourners to adapt.
a welcome screen, playing a slideshow
and contextualizing the family’s choice
.
in music, explaining its significance
through the chat window as it played.
Ms. Anders, who wasn’t sure what
to expect from an online memorial,
found the service to be a surprisingly
powerful experience, and she was
moved that 300 people were able to
join in sharing memories of her son.
Going online made it possible to as-
semble Dominic’s friends and family
across the country, she says. “It al-
lowed so many more people to be a
part of it than might have been if we
had done it in person, even in regular
times.”
Ms. Boyer-Dry is a writer in
Brooklyn, N.Y. Email
reports@wsj.com.