.
* * * * * * MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2023 ~ VOL. CCLXXXII NO. 31
Last week: DJIA 35065.62 g 393.67 1.1%
What’s
News
Business & Finance
 The yield on the benchmark
10-year U.S. Treasury note has
surged close to its highest level
in more than a decade, lifted
by new bets that a strong
economy could support years
of higher interest rates. A1
 Yellow filed for bankruptcy
and is closing the business, fall-
ing victim to mounting debt in-
cluding a government loan and a
standoff with the Teamsters. B1
 Pfizer is hitting a rough spot
after its postcrisis Covid-19
sales nosedived and while it
waits for new drugs and re-
cent deal-making to pay off. A1
 The oil patch faces a
worsening talent shortage
even as oil-and-gas compa-
nies post record profits, in a
departure from previous cy-
cles in the industry. A1
 Senior members of the
Biden administration are at-
tempting to persuade Can-
ada to drop its plan to im-
pose a digital-services tax at
the start of 2024. A2
 Airlines in the U.S., Eu-
rope and Asia are preparing
to reduce some flights and
routes temporarily to inspect
aircraft affected by the recall
of hundreds of Pratt & Whit-
ney jet engines. B1
 Earnings for the nation’s
biggest companies are poised
to fall for the third straight
quarter, hurt in part by the
decline in energy prices. B1
 Berkshire Hathaway swung
to a profit in the second quar-
ter, boosted by its insurance
division and strong gains in its
massive investment portfolio,
while its cash pile swelled. B3
World-Wide
 A combined Russian and
Chinese naval force patrolled
near the coast of Alaska last
week in what U.S. experts
said appeared to be the larg-
est such flotilla to approach
American shores. A1
 Efforts to forge an inter-
national consensus around
a durable and fair peace
settlement to the war in
Ukraine inched forward af-
ter multilateral discussions
in Saudi Arabia. A8
 Even if Trump violated the
Constitution in pressuring
Pence not to certify the re-
sults of the 2020 election,
that doesn’t make it a crime,
Trump’s lawyer said. A4
 A Pakistan court sen-
tenced former Prime Minis-
ter Imran Khan to prison and
the government indicated
that elections due this year
would be postponed. A18
 A deadline set by other
West African countries for
leaders of the July 26 coup
in Niger to back down and
liberate the nation’s elected
president passed without
armed intervention. A18
 Low water levels on the Mis-
sissippi River threaten to disrupt
commerce for a second straight
year, months after floodwa-
ters tested containment de-
fenses along the waterway. A3
 At least 30 people were
killed and more than 100
were injured when a train
derailed in southern Paki-
stan, officials said. A18
 Died: Charles J. Ogletree Jr.,
70, Harvard Law professor
and civil-rights lawyer. A5
JOURNAL REPORT
Investing Monthly:
Retirement plans could
do better. R1-6
CONTENTS
Arts in Review......A13
Business & Finance.. B2,6
Business News....... B3
Crossword................ A14
Heard on Street.... B10
Markets..........................B9
s 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
WSJ.com HHHH $5.00
NASDAQ 13909.24 g 2.8% STOXX 600 459.28 g 2.4% 10-YR. TREASURY g 23/32 , yield 4.060% OIL $82.82 À $2.24 EURO $1.1012 YEN 141.73
Shootout Gaffes Knock U.S. Out of World Cup Investors
Bet Rates
Will Stay
Elevated
For Years
Economic growth
drives 10-year note
yield close to
decade-plus high
BY SAM GOLDFARB
AND MATT GROSSMAN
The yield on the benchmark
10-year U.S. Treasury note has
surged close to its highest level
in more than a decade, lifted by
new bets that a strong econ-
ROBERT CIANFLONE/GETTY IMAGES
omy could support years of
higher interest rates.
The 10-year yield settled
Friday at 4.060%, according to
Tradeweb, slipping after a
mixed monthly jobs report. But
that was still up from 3.968% a
week earlier and within touch-
THAT HURTS: Megan Rapinoe reacts after missing the first of three flubbed U.S. shots in the penalty shootout against Sweden on ing distance of its 14-year high
Sunday at soccer’s Women’s World Cup in Melbourne, Australia. The 5-4 shootout loss ends the championship run by the U.S. A14 of 4.231% from October.
The recent climb in longer-
term Treasury yields—which
Russia, China Teamed to Send
play a role in determining the
cost of everything from mort-
gages to stocks—comes even as
yields on shorter-term bonds
have stalled. That is a sign in-
Large Navy Patrol Near Alaska
vestors think cooling inflation
and resilient economic growth
will allow the Federal Reserve
to stop raising rates, then leave
them unchanged at least until
BY MICHAEL R. GORDON “It is a historical first,” said the defense of the United Russian and Chinese vessels the end of the year. The yield
AND NANCY A. YOUSSEF Brent Sadler, a senior re- States and Canada. The patrol had carried out drills that in- on the two-year Treasury note
search fellow at the Heritage remained in international wa- volved communications train- closed Friday at 4.791%, down
A combined Russian and Foundation and a retired Navy ters and was not considered a ing, helicopter landings and from 4.895% a week earlier.
Chinese naval force patrolled captain. “Given the context of threat,” the command said. takeoffs from the decks of Analysts call the pattern a
near the coast of Alaska last the war in Ukraine and ten- Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, each other’s ships and a joint “bear steepening,” because
week in what U.S. experts sions around Taiwan, this a Republican member of the anti-submarine exercise in the bond prices are falling and lon-
said appeared to be the larg- move is highly provocative.” Senate Armed Services Com- Bering Sea in which a mock ger-term yields are climbing rel-
est such flotilla to approach A spokesman for the U.S. mittee, said the patrol was a target was destroyed. ative to short-term ones, which
U.S. shores. Northern Command confirmed reminder that the U.S. has en- Since the start of the joint would normally increase the
Eleven Russian and Chinese that Russia and China had tered “a new era of authoritar- patrol, the Russian defense gap between them. Bond yields
ships steamed close to the carried out a combined naval ian aggression” and applauded ministry added, the ships had rise when their prices fall.
Aleutian Islands, according to patrol near Alaska, but didn’t the robust U.S. response. Please turn to page A9 In this case, yields on
U.S. officials. The ships, which specify the number of ships or The Russian Embassy in shorter-term Treasurys months
never entered U.S. territorial their precise location. Washington, D.C., didn’t re-  Ukraine drones attack ago climbed well above those
waters and have since left, were “Air and maritime assets spond to a request for com- Russian oil tanker............. A7 on longer-term bonds—invert-
shadowed by four U.S. destroy- under our commands con- ment, but Russia’s Defense  Oligarchs fight sanctions ing the normal yield curve—be-
ers and P-8 Poseidon aircraft. ducted operations to assure Ministry said Friday said that over war................................. A8 Please turn to page A6
Investors Can’t Quit
‘Barbie’ Tops
$1 Billion Pfizer’s Fortunes
Self Storage
Fall Postpandemic,
‘Barbie’ became the first U.S.
film directed by one woman to
reach the billion-dollar mark. B2
Businesses expect Americans
to keep accumulating more stuff
Barbie box-office
total revenue* CEO Eyes New Deals
Domestic† International
$459.4M $572.1M
BY RYAN DEZEMBER spired droves of would-be BY JARED S. HOPKINS moved on from the pandemic.
small investors to try their Sales from the two products
America’s storage addic- luck, and now the 41-year-old The pandemic showered dropped so much, so rapidly
tion made Mike Wagner a is milking the storage craze Pfizer with record sales. Now they contributed to Pfizer’s
wealthy man. in a new way. His invest- the end of the crisis is drag- overall sales falling sizably in
Wagner quit his physical- ment-coaching business, The ging the drugmaker down. its most recent quarter com-
therapist job the day before Storage Rebellion, costs $297 Its Covid-19 vaccine and pared with the period a year
Worldwide
he bought his first self-stor- a month to join. He charges drug powered Pfizer to more earlier. The company dialed
age facility in 2011. It cost $779 for a video-training $1.03B than $100 billion in sales last back the top end of its expec-
$330,000 and was losing course, with lessons on lien year, the first drugmaker to tations for the full-year per-
$2,000 a month, but he got it laws, valuation spreadsheets break the barrier. Shares formance.
cranking out cash, added and partnership agreements. soared, as Wall Street hailed Shares are down 31% this
units and sold for $1.8 mil- For $995, Wagner will hop on the company for its savvy, fast year to date, a loss of more
lion, the first of several lucra- a one-on-one call for 90 min- and ultimately lucrative pivot than $88 billion in market cap-
tive turnarounds. utes, and $2,995 buys a day- *As of Aug. 6 †U.S. and Canada to taking on the virus. italization. The company’s val-
Stories like this have in- Please turn to page A10 Source: Box Office Mojo But many people have Please turn to page A2
INSIDE
Treasure Hunters Dig Into the Big Oil’s Talent Crisis:
Mystery of Buried Civil War Gold
i i i High Pay Isn’t Enough
A case involving a psychic vision, the FBI
BY MARI NOVIK about the industry’s role in
and nine tons of alleged loot goes to court AND COLLIN EATON climate change, as well as
long-term job security given
Good news from the oil that global economies are
BY KRIS MAHER than 40 years. “It’s definitely a patch: Jobs are plentiful and transitioning away from fossil
major coverup,” said Parada, salaries are soaring. fuels to other energy sources, U.S. NEWS
DENTS RUN, Pa.—Dennis who has the mustache of a The bad news is that young according to executives, ana- Trump indictment
Parada points to a weedy spot 19th-century gambler and people still aren’t interested. lysts and professors.
where he believes the Federal smokes his cigarettes Even as oil-and-gas compa- The trend is a stark depar-
leaves a mystery over
role of Mark Meadows,
Bureau of Investigation dug up down to a stub. nies post record profits, the ture from previous cycles,
nine tons of Civil War-era Tales of lost Civil industry is facing a worsening when the industry’s workforce former chief of staff. A4
gold, worth more than War-era gold have talent drought. ebbed and flowed with the
$500 million, and made stirred imagina- At U.S. colleges, the pool of rise and fall of oil prices.
off with it in the mid- tions for genera- new entrants for petroleum- Between 2016 and 2021—a
Opinion................ A15-17 dle of the night. tions. One caught engineering programs has period when the Brent crude
Outlook.......................... A2
Personal Journal.... A11-12
The patch of ground Parada’s attention shrunk to its smallest size price nearly doubled—the
Sports.......................... A14 halfway up a mountain in 1974 when he since before the fracking number of petroleum-engi-
Technology........................ B4 in western Pennsylvania was working in a boom began more than a de- neering graduates more than
U.S. News.............. A2-6 lies at the heart of the furniture store cade ago. European universi- halved, according to the U.S.
World News..... A7-9,18
treasure hunter’s quest Lost or found in Philipsburg, ties, which have historically Education Department.
to recover the trove Pa., and metal provided many of the engi- The number of undergradu- BUSINESS & FINANCE
> and prove it was snatched from detecting on weekends. The neers for companies with op- ates pursuing petroleum engi- Labor standoffs in the
under his nose. The matter is story in Treasure magazine erations across the Middle neering has dropped 75%
now playing out in federal said a Union caravan with gold East and Asia, are seeing simi- since 2014, according to Lloyd
transportation
court. bars in the false bottoms of lar trends. Heinze, a Texas Tech Univer- industry pose threat to
At 70, he has been chasing wagons headed from Wheeling, Students and high-skilled sity professor. U.S. supply chains. B1
the Dents Run gold for more Please turn to page A10 young workers are concerned Please turn to page A6
 .

A2 | Monday, August 7, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. NEWS
THE OUTLOOK | By Harriet Torry

Services Go Global in Modern Economy

W
hen Chris Ko- The location of digital-services gig workers, Largest producers of digitally delivered Global exports by type, road, essentially globalizing
erner’s 12-year- as a share of the global workforce in the field* services, share in world exports by year change since 2005 services” and shifting pro-
old son strug- 300%
duction to lower-cost loca-
2019 2022
gled with India 27.0% tions, said Richard Baldwin, a
algebra this 0% 5 10 15 Digitally delivered senior fellow at the Peterson
spring, the Dallas business 14.6 services exports 250 Institute for International
Bangladesh
owner posted an ad for a Goods exports Economics. He noted services
U.S.
math tutor on the jobs web- Pakistan 12.0 Other services being outsourced range
site Upwork. exports 200 widely in pay, including writ-
Minutes later, he and his U.S. 5.6 U.K. ing financial reports, legal
son were on a video call with 150 work, virtual assistants and
a Ph.D. mathematician in U.K. 3.8
data entry.
Pakistan, who asked for $4 Ireland Travel-clothing company
an hour for her services. 100 Scottevest primarily relies on
Philippines 3.3
Koerner’s experience re- overseas labor, for a fraction
India
flects a trend that has accel- of the cost of its former U.S.
Ukraine 2.6 50
erated since the Covid-19 staff.
pandemic: increasing interna- China The company previously
tional trade in digital ser- Russia 2.5 had 20 employees at its
0
vices. Global exports of music Ketchum, Idaho, headquar-
2005 ’10 ’15 ’20
and video streaming, remote *iLabour Project tracks postings on the five largest English-language online labor platforms, and six non-English language platforms. ters doing marketing, ac-
learning and financial and Sources: Online Labour Index (location); World Trade Organization (producers); Global Trade Outlook and Statistics, 2023 (exports) counting and customer ser-
similar digital services rose vice starting at $40,000 a
37% from 2019 to 2022, the For Koerner, hiring a math candidate in a tight labor that’s really good as long as suffered from such shifts, the year plus benefits, said Chief
World Trade Organization es- tutor from Pakistan paid off. market. we keep our own house in or- national unemployment rate Executive Scott Jordan. Pan-
timates. Other services ex- “Within an hour, I had The option of outsourcing der and keep competitive has returned to levels re- demic attrition and the high
ports declined 5%. found, interviewed and hired could help the U.S. economy here,” said Claude Barfield, corded in the 1950s and ’60s. cost of living locally whittled
The U.S. has long been the someone, and they were al- by alleviating domestic- senior fellow at the American Americans found jobs in employees in the Sun Valley
world leader in exports of ready in their first lesson,” worker shortages, said Scott Enterprise Institute, a con- other growing fields, such as area down to two: Jordan
services, including Hollywood he said. Lincicome, a trade expert at servative think tank. healthcare and e-commerce. and his wife, the company
movies, computer software While the pay was a bar- the Cato Institute, a libertar- The economic pie is grow- president.

N
and spending by foreigners at gain compared with the $24 ian think tank. The U.S. un- ing, creating space for expan- ow, online market- “I live in a ski resort, so
American resorts and restau- average U.S. rate estimated employment rate was 3.5% in sion in the U.S. and abroad. places for freelancers, it’s hard to employ people
rants. Still, its share of global by jobs site ZipRecruiter, it July, near a half-century low, The global market for busi- higher educational at- here,” Jordan said.
exports of digitally delivered exceeded Pakistan’s minimum the Labor Department re- ness services is expected to tainment overseas, current Scottevest uses coders and
services fell to 16.5% in 2022 wage of under $1 an hour. ported Friday. In June, there grow 9% this year to $681 bil- technology and employers’ graphic designers in Ukraine,
from 17.4% in 2019, the WTO And his son “ended up get- were 3.6 million more open lion, according to consulting increasing comfort with re- customer-service agents in
said. Ireland, India, China ting a great grade” on the jobs in the U.S. than unem- firm Kearney. mote work mean individuals Albania and Macedonia, and
and Singapore grabbed a test, he said. ployed Americans seeking American companies have and smaller companies can an order-processing worker
larger slice. work. hired workers in countries import labor from abroad, in India. It has one marketing

H
The trend means a differ- iring remote services At the same time, the with lower labor costs for de- too. A national shortage of contractor in the U.S., em-
ent type of American worker workers overseas availability of services deliv- cades. Textile and manufac- accountants prompted small ployed remotely.
faces overseas competition. comes with challenges ered from overseas puts pres- turing jobs moved from the and midsize firms to hire Before the pandemic, “I
While factory workers have including language differ- sure on Americans to gener- U.S. to Asia and Latin Amer- overseas for the first time as never would have trusted a
seen U.S. jobs move overseas ences, data protection, tax ate new domestic jobs to ica in the 1970s and 1980s, they seek workers to audit remote worker in my life,”
for decades, many types of compliance and regulatory provide services that are followed by call-center, finan- U.S. companies’ books and Jordan said. “We had a men-
service workers were more and labor standards. more advanced and of higher cial and tech jobs that went prepare Americans’ tax re- tality that if you weren’t will-
protected because, until re- For some parents, how- value. abroad in the 1990s and turns. ing to make a commitment to
cently, the jobs were done in ever, another benefit is the “The key is, the world is 2000s. While individual U.S. “Covid forced a march that move to Sun Valley, I’m not
person. availability of a qualified job getting more competitive and workers and communities put us 5 to 10 years down the willing to hire you.”

U.S. Warns Canada

Over Digital Tax Plan
BY PAUL VIEIRA
OTTAWA—Canada plans to
impose a digital-services tax at
the start of 2024, a move that
bucks a global consensus on
restructuring international
taxation and has drawn criti-
cism from U.S. officials.
Senior members of the Bi-
den administration are at-
tempting to persuade Canada
SOPHIE PARK/BLOOMBERG NEWS
place, “was a significant con-
cession by Canada” and that
Canada can’t support an ex-
tended pause on digital taxes.
The measures related to
digital taxes are separate from
another global deal, also led by
the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development,
to impose a 15% minimum tax
on large companies in each
country where they operate,

to drop its digital tax plan. although the accords are polit-
Leaders in the U.S. and Cana- ically linked.
dian business communities say U.S. Trade Representative
Ottawa’s move would harm Katherine Tai has urged Ot-
commerce and throw the fu- tawa to abandon the levy, and
ture of the North American the U.S. ambassador to Can-
trade deal into doubt. ada, David Cohen, said in an
Pfizer would cut R&D if sales of new drugs don’t make up for falling Covid-19 sales; a research site in Andover, Mass. Canada’s 3% tax on technol- interview published last month
ogy companies’ revenue from in Canada’s National Post that
been using its Covid-19 cash to but they’re asking a lot of contracts and the U.S. is transi- providing digital services to “if Canada decides to proceed
Pfizer’s secure other products for its
lineup. It predicts more than
those products to contribute in
a relatively narrow time frame
tioning to a commercial market.
Doctors are also writing fewer
Canadian users or sales of Ca-
nadian user data would start
alone, you leave the United
States with no choice but to
$10 billion in 2030 sales from before year end,” Barclays an- Paxlovid prescriptions. Jan. 1 and would be retroac- take retaliatory measures in
Covid Rise its $43 billion proposed deal
to buy cancer-drug biotech Se-
alyst Carter Gould said.
Sales of drugs from recent
“A key driver will be the
magnitude of the next Covid
tive to revenue dating to 2022.
Canada’s finance minister,
the trade context, potentially
in the digital trade context, in

Is Over agen, as it leans more into

cancer drugs.
Executives also have other
acquisitions, including mi-
graine drug Nurtec and sickle-
cell disease treatment Ox-
wave and whether it drives peo-
ple to be vaccinated at a higher
rate or not,” Risinger said.
Chrystia Freeland, said last
month that the tax is impor-
tant for Canada’s national in-
order to respond to that.”
A spokeswoman for the U.S.
Embassy in Ottawa didn’t re-
dials they can turn to tune up bryta, have been slow to Pfizer said last week, when terest. spond to requests for further
Continued from Page One the company’s performance, accumulate, said Leerink Part- reporting quarterly earnings, Companies in the informa- comment.
uation has dropped by $144 such as cutting costs and some ners analyst David Risinger. that it should have more clar- tion-technology field can cur- Freeland said Canadian offi-
billion since its 2021 peak. drug research programs. The predicament is custom- ity on future demand for its rently operate worldwide cials remain in talks with their
Pfizer is hitting a rough Yet executing means Pfizer ary for big pharmaceutical pandemic products by the end while concentrating their prof- Group of Seven counterparts
spot after its Covid-19 sales must overcome factors outside companies, which regularly of the year. By then, it will its in their home countries or about a compromise.
nosedived and while it waits its control. The Federal Trade confront the ups and downs of have rolled out its latest in small, low-tax jurisdictions; A number of European
for new drugs and recent Commission is reviewing the patent-dependent franchises. Covid-19 shot through the tra- they then pay relatively little countries, including France,
deal-making to pay off. Add- agreement to buy Seagen, Pfizer has plenty of experience ditional commercial market. tax in the nations where many the U.K. and Italy, had intro-
ing to the straits: the loss of while drugs in late-stage de- navigating through sales drops Should sales fail to materi- of their users are. duced digital-services taxes
an estimated $17 billion in an- velopment must pass testing for impotence pill Viagra, cho- alize, Pfizer is prepared to A global tax accord, agreed before the OECD-led talks se-
nual sales by the end of the and get green lights from the lesterol fighter Lipitor and trim R&D spending for to in the fall of 2021, repre- cured a global tax deal. The
decade, when some of the Food and Drug Administration. other erstwhile juggernauts. Covid-19 and other disease ar- sents changes to how, where agreement included a stand-
company’s biggest sellers, like And Pfizer’s ambitious ex- Playing a role this time is eas, Chief Executive Albert and how much multinational still on new digital-services
arthritis treatment Xeljanz, pectations for launches of new Pfizer’s decision to slim down Bourla said in an interview. companies are taxed around taxes until the agreement
lose patent protection. products might be difficult to and become a growth stock. “We are moving post- the world, but it has yet to be came into force. Pre-existing
The New York-based com- pull off in today’s tightfisted Before the pandemic hit, the Covid,” Bourla said. implemented. The accord aims digital taxes, such as those in
pany has talked up plans to healthcare environment. drugmaker had shed slower- Pfizer lowered its growth- to reallocate the taxation of Europe, are still being applied
increase revenue through a Pfizer has “gotten a lot of growing businesses, losing the rate target for this year, cit- some $200 billion in corporate but would be revoked once the
bevy of new drug approvals things over the finish line, and cushion of their steady cash ing the FDA’s decision to ap- profits across the globe, a accord entered into force. Ca-
and their launches. It also has there’s still some more to go, flows, to focus on higher- prove a cancer drug for a move taken to adapt the tax nadian officials say it is unfair
growth but more volatile pre- smaller patient population system to new ways of doing some European jurisdictions
scription drugs. than the company expected business internationally made can collect taxes from Meta
CORRECTIONS  AMPLIFICATIONS The strategy paid off hand-
somely during the pandemic.
and the federal government’s
recommendation for a new
possible by advances in infor-
mation technology.
Platforms and Google parent
Alphabet but Canada can’t.
Readers can alert The Wall Street Journal to any errors in news articles by Shares reached a record high RSV vaccine falling short of Canada signed on to the The U.S. trade representa-
emailing wsjcontact@wsj.com or by calling 888-410-2667.
of roughly $61 in December company expectations. global deal with a caveat: If tive considers digital-services
2021 as the Omicron variant Recent damage from a tor- not implemented by the start taxes to be a burden on U.S.
spread throughout the world nado to a North Carolina man- of 2024, Canada would impose commerce.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL and Pfizer shipped billions of ufacturing plant might also its own digital-service tax. The global tax deal might
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Covid-19 shots. Pfizer devel- jeopardize sales, Chief Finan- In Paris last month, 138 not ultimately come together.
Editorial and publication headquarters: 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10036 oped the shot with Germany’s cial Officer David Denton said. countries agreed to a one-year In the U.S., senior House Re-
Published daily except Sundays and general legal holidays. BioNTech. To date this year, the FDA delay in implementation of the publicans warned the Biden
Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and other mailing offices. The return to Earth has has approved four Pfizer medi- tax accord’s first phase, to administration that the OECD
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$13.5 billion in sales in 2023, expanded uses over 18 months digital-services tax. On Friday, Michael Plowgian, a senior
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down about two-thirds from through the first half of 2024. Canada issued guidance on tax official at the U.S. Trea-
By web: customercenter.wsj.com; By email: wsjsupport@wsj.com | By phone: 1-800-JOURNAL (1-800-568-7625) last year. The company said its An experimental multiple how the proposed digital tax sury, told Congress that ad-
Reprints & licensing: Paxlovid antiviral would bring myeloma drug called elrana- would be applied. ministration officials are
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in about $8 billion in sales this tamab that is up for FDA ap- Freeland said Ottawa’s ear- speaking to their Canadian
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Sales for the products are billion in sales in 2030, ac- tax for two years, even though them from implementing a
GOT A TIP FOR US? SUBMIT IT AT WSJ.COM/TIPS lower this year because govern- cording to Jefferies analyst other European countries kept discriminatory” digital-ser-
ments have purchased fewer Akash Tewari. pre-existing digital taxes in vices tax.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
How river levels on Aug. 3, 2023, compare with the average on
that date from 2018 through 2022
IOWA
Mi
St. Louis
-11 feet
MISSOURI
OKLAHOMA
ARKANSAS
LOUISIANA
TEXAS
Sources: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
U.S. Geological Survey
Low Mississippi
Water Threatens
Barge Commerce
Years of drought
have depleted the
river that months
ago saw flooding
BY SHANNON NAJMABADI
Low water levels on the
Mississippi River are threaten-
ing to disrupt commerce for a
second consecutive year,
months after cities along the
vital economic artery saw
floodwaters test their sandbag
barriers and containment
walls.
Water levels in St. Louis
and Memphis, Tenn., are 10 to
20 feet lower at this point in
the year than in 2020 and
2019 due to lack of rain.
Parched soils have absorbed
moisture instead of letting it
run off into the river, though
recent downpours have
helped, said Lisa Parker,
Surf’s Pup! Champ Dogs Ride Waves
CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS
SWELL: Rosie the Labrador competed at the World Dog Surfing Championships in Pacifica, Calif.
Oklahoma’s Governor Sows Dispute
With Tribes and Fellow Republicans
BY ADOLFO FLORES
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is
locked in a long-running battle
with tribal nations in the wake
of a 2020 Supreme Court deci-
sion that held that much of the
eastern part of the state is tribal
territory.
Stitt has maintained that the
ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma—
in which the Supreme Court af-
firmed tribal jurisdiction in a
large portion of the state—has
led to different rules for tribal
and nontribal residents and
threatens to force the state to
cede state jurisdiction to tribal
governments.
“The tribes are literally try-
ing to take over the state of
Oklahoma,” said Stitt, who since
he took office in 2019 has taken
a more aggressive posture with
the state’s major tribes than his
recent predecessors. He has
challenged existing agreements
with tribes and attempted to ne-
gotiate new agreements, includ-
ing with the United Keetoowah
Band and Comanche Nation, on
gaming fees as well as vehicle
and tobacco taxes.
The governor has run into a
wall of opposition not only from
* * * *
Rock Island, Ill. INDIANA OHIO
-3 feet
ss
sip
is
pi ILLINOIS
River
KENTUCKY
TENNESSEE
Memphis, Tenn.
-14 feet
ALABAMA
GEORGIA
MISSISSIPPI
Vicksburg, Miss.
-14 feet
New Orleans
-4 feet
Emma Brown and Josh Ulick /THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
spokeswoman for the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers’ Mis-
sissippi Valley Division.
While record snowfall in
Minnesota this past winter en-
gorged the Mississippi when it
melted quickly in April, years
of drought have depleted the
river that courses through 10
states and impeded barges
that traverse it carrying goods
such as soybeans, corn, chemi-
cals and gas.
“We’ve really seen this ebb
and flow—this dramatic ebb
and flow—this last year more
than we’ve seen in years
past,” said Mike Steenhoek,
executive director of the Soy
Transportation Coalition,
which includes 13 state soy-
bean boards.
More than half of soybeans
grown in the U.S. are ex-
ported, the majority traveling
down the lower Mississippi to
the Gulf of Mexico, he said.
The Army Corps is monitor-
tribes but also from fellow Re-
publicans.
Last week, he sued GOP law-
makers, the latest escalation in
disputes over compacts between
the state and tribes that bring
millions of dollars in revenue to
the state each year, most of it
from gambling. Oklahoma col-
lected more than $191.5 million
in tribal gaming exclusivity fees
in 2022 under state-tribal gam-
ing compacts; the state’s budget
was $8.83 billion that year.
After the GOP-majority Okla-
homa House voted to renew cig-
arette tax compacts with tribes
last week, overriding a veto from
Stitt, the governor asked the
state Supreme Court to invali-
date the extension, as well as
others that elected officials re-
cently passed via veto overrides.
“Tribes aren’t trying to ‘take
over the state,’ ” said Jason
Salsman, a spokesman for the
Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the
tribe involved in the McGirt U.S.
Supreme Court case.
Salsman said the 2020 deci-
sion, which deemed tribal terri-
tory in the state extended well
beyond previously understood
borders, offered an unprece-
dented opportunity for Okla-
U.S. NEWS
Barges in Lake Providence, La., last fall, when low Mississippi water levels contributed to an estimated $20 billion in losses.
ing water levels and has 16
dredges operating on the Mis-
sissippi to keep the water
channel and harbors deep
enough for transit.
It has built an underwater
structure called a sill in Loui-
siana, where some communi-
ties including New Orleans
draw drinking water from the
Mississippi, to prevent saltwa-
ter from the Gulf of Mexico
from moving upstream while
water levels are low. The
Corps previously built sills in
2022, 2012, 1999 and 1988.
Low water levels on the
Mississippi last fall contrib-
uted to $20 billion in eco-
nomic losses, according to an
AccuWeather estimate. Some
barges were grounded on
sandbars. Other vessels light-
ened their loads to keep them
from sitting too low in the wa-
ter, which increased transpor-
tation costs.
Tracy Zea, president and
homa and tribal nations to work
together on public safety and
prosperity. But much to the
tribe’s frustration, he said, Stitt
chose divisive political rhetoric.
About 9.5% of the state’s pop-
ulation is Native American, and
there are 38 federally recognized
Indian nations in the state.
Stitt, a member of the Chero-
kee Nation, said he is proud of
his heritage but believes the Mc-
Girt decision thrust the state
into a jurisdictional tail-
spin. “The only way to fix this is
for the Supreme Court or Con-
gress to go back to the way we
operated our state for the last
115 years,” Stitt said.
Senate President Pro Tem
Greg Treat said he was confident
the court would rule in the Leg-
islature’s favor in Stitt’s lawsuit.
Cherokee Nation Principal
Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the
governor’s remarks about the
state being in danger of becom-
ing a reservation are offensive
and defy reality.
“Eastern Oklahoma is thriv-
ing today in part because of the
economic success and invest-
ment by Indian tribes in their
own communities,” Hoskin said
in a recent statement.
chief executive of the Water-
ways Council, which repre-
sents river shipping interests,
is hopeful water levels won’t
be as low as last fall.
The extreme variations in
water levels are affected by a
number of factors, including a
changing climate, nearby land
development, and the recur-
ring cycles of drier and
warmer or wetter and colder
conditions known as El Niño
and La Niña, experts in the
river system said.
The way the river has been
engineered—the addition of
levees, for example—has also
increased flood risks, accord-
ing to multiple studies.
“Climate change is in
there,” said Nicholas Pinter, a
University of California, Davis,
professor who has researched
rivers and watersheds. But
“it’s smaller than the impacts
of levees and navigational in-
frastructure on portions of the
Flexible Work Options Give
Some Employers an Advantage
BY GWYNN GUILFORD
With employers fighting for
a limited pool of office work-
ers, those offering remote-
friendly jobs appear to have
the upper hand.
Companies that allow at
least one day of remote work
each week increased staffing
at nearly twice the rate in the
year ended in May than those
with full-time office require-
ments, according to an analy-
sis of more than 3,600 compa-
nies by Scoop Technologies, a
software firm that tracks
workplace policies, and People
Data Labs, a data technology
company.
The trend highlights Ameri-
cans’ ability to command flex-
ibility, along with better pay
and benefits. It also points to
the staying power of remote
work after daily life otherwise
largely returned to normal as
the pandemic faded.
Workers gain clout
Many workers have the
leeway to demand at least
partially remote jobs because
the labor market is tilted in
their favor. The unemploy-
ment rate fell to 3.5% in July,
the Labor Department said
Friday. That is just a tick
above a half-century low,
showing a limited pool from
which to hire.
Wages grew a historically
high 4.4% in July from a year
earlier, well above prepandemic
rates and another sign of work-
ers’ strong bargaining power.
Many bosses soured on re-
Staffing growth, change in May from a year earlier
By days required in office
6%
5
4 for team meetings and train-
3 4.1
2 Full-time in office
1 and our ability to accommo-
0 Note: Combined, staffing at firms
0 1 2 3 4 5
DAYS
Monday, August 7, 2023 | A3
Mississippi River.”
Companies that use Ger-
many’s Rhine River for transit
have explored low-water
barges and trains to navigate
frequent low-water levels.
Bob Criss, a professor
emeritus at Washington Uni-
versity in St. Louis and critic
of the Corps’ management of
the river, said U.S. goods
should also be moved by rail
because locks and dams used
to make the Mississippi navi-
gable create a slow-moving,
deep channel that has changed
the environment.
“The Mississippi River from
St. Louis all the way to New
Orleans was twice as wide as
it is now,” he said. “It was full
of islands and sandbars, which
are habitat for birds and ev-
erything else.”
Parker, with the Corps, said
it has habitat restoration ef-
forts and is environmentally
concerned. Zea said locks and
mote work last year, saying
flexible arrangements harm
productivity, and required
workers to spend all or most
of their time in the office.
The Scoop analysis showed
that head counts at firms al-
lowing at least one day of re-
mote work increased 5% in May
2023 from June 2022, while
those at fully in-person compa-
nies gained 2.6%, on average.
Separate research also
shows that workers view hy-
brid work arrangements as
equal to an 8% pay increase,
said Nicholas Bloom, a Stan-
ford economics professor.
When Cassandra Wilander
began a job search last year in
Chicago, she rejected listings
that required her to be in the
office five days a week.
“To me that just screams
that they don’t respect work-
life balance and won’t be flexi-
ble with my time,” the 37-
year-old said. She ultimately
accepted a hybrid job last Sep-
tember as a marketing com-
munications strategist at a
commercial real-estate firm.
After working remotely
during the pandemic,
Wilander didn’t want to re-
turn to a daily commute to
downtown Chicago on the “L”
train, which she said can be
unreliable and at times felt
unsafe.
Instead, she wanted a job
that would allow her to work
from home part of the time to
focus on solo tasks and spend
time in the office to collaborate
and bond with colleagues.
“It’s easier to get people to
help you out, versus just being
l remote and in-office work de-
By company requirements
Remote or in-person optional
5.6%
Hybrid (some in-person
attendance required)
2.6
that were remote or hybrid grew 5%.
Source: Scoop Technologies, People Data Labs
.
RORY DOYLE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
dams benefit other users of
inland waterways.
U.S. barge and transporta-
tion industry representatives
say it is unlikely there will be
a shift to favor land transit
over water. “It’s just such an
efficient way of moving heavy
products long distances,” said
Steenhoek, with the Soy
Transportation Coalition.
About 500 million tons of
goods, worth more than
$158 billion, are transported
on inland U.S. waterways each
year, Zea said. The vessels are
more fuel-efficient than trucks
or trains. One barge can carry
the load of 70 fully loaded
semitrucks.
Farmers whose fields are
within 100 miles of the Missis-
sippi River typically drive
their crops to a grain terminal
where they get loaded onto
barges, shipped to the Gulf,
moved to an ocean vessel and
then sent overseas, Zea said.
someone on a screen saying,
‘Hey, I need your bio up-
dates,’ ” she said.
The share of U.S. job post-
ings advertising hybrid work
arrangements has increased
as fully remote postings have
fallen, according to separate
data from LinkedIn.
The gain in hybrid work
postings is spread across most
industries, said Guy Berger,
principal economist at
LinkedIn. “Some of that is re-
mote switching to hybrid and
some is from companies that
were on-site only increasing
their willingness to do hybrid,
potentially to lure more tal-
ent,” he said.
Lower turnover
Flexible work policies at
Gas South, a retail and whole-
sale natural-gas marketer with
operations in Atlanta and
Gainesville, Fla., have helped
the company expand and im-
prove performance, said Kevin
Greiner, the company’s CEO.
The company employs 425
workers, up from 400 in the
first quarter of 2022, and is
hiring for numerous roles. Re-
tention has improved, with at-
trition at 19% last year, down
from 25.5% in 2019. Greiner
said reduced worker turnover
has lowered training costs,
improved customer satisfac-
tion and increased worker
performance.
Gas South moved to flexible
work for all workers after re-
viewing productivity and em-
ployee feedback. Many employ-
ees at Gas South set their own
schedule, with the balance of
pending on work roles. Execu-
tives are expected in the office
on Tuesdays and Wednesdays,
at a minimum. Call-center
workers are required to come
to the office one day a month
ing.
“The ability to be able to
manage your own schedule
more has become of primary
importance to a lot of people,
date those desires more effec-
tively has definitely helped us
to bring folks into the organi-
zation,” said Greiner.

A4 | Monday, August 7, 2023
ARTIE WALKER JR./ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former President Donald Trump spoke Saturday in Columbia, S.C., days after his latest indictment.
Trump Lawyer Says Violations
Of Constitution Aren’t Crimes
BY BYRON TAU
AND AMARA OMEOKWE
WASHINGTON—Even if
Donald Trump violated the
Constitution when he pres-
sured former Vice President
Mike Pence not to certify the
results of the 2020 election,
that doesn’t make it a crime,
Trump’s lawyer said Sunday.
“A technical violation of the
Constitution is not a violation
of criminal law,” John Lauro,
an attorney for Trump, told
NBC News. He also argued
that Trump’s expression of
concerns about election irreg-
ularities was protected speech
under the Constitution’s First
Amendment.
Lauro’s comments came in
response to a question from
“Meet the Press” host Chuck
Todd about Pence’s claim that
Trump had asked him to vio-
late the Constitution after the
2020 election. Lauro later told
The Wall Street Journal in a
text message: “I did not ac-
knowledge or concede that
President Trump pressured
VP Pence.”
A flurry of interviews and
statements on Sunday from
Trump and his legal team pre-
viewed how they might seek
to defend the former presi-
dent against federal conspir-
acy charges over his attempts
to remain in power after he
lost the 2020 election, a battle
that is also expected to loom
over next year’s contest.
“The government will never
be able to prove beyond a rea-
sonable doubt that President
Trump had corrupt or crimi-
P W L C 10 11 12
nal intent, and that’s what week to propose trial dates.
this case is about,” Lauro said Trump’s lawyers warned
Sunday on ABC. He said that there were significant
Trump firmly believed that volumes of documents in the
election irregularities had led case and indicated they
to inappropriate results. wanted to take their time to
Lauro added that he would review the material and pre-
seek to emphasize that point pare a defense. In response to
during questioning of Pence questioning about timing,
should he testify during the Lauro told CBS News on Sun-
trial. Pence has said Trump day that “in 40 years of prac-
asked him to violate the U.S. ticing law, on a case of this
Constitution by pushing him magnitude, I’ve not known a
not to certify the results of single case to go to trial be-
the 2020 election. fore two or three years.”
Trump and his lawyer both “This case will benefit from
said on Sunday that they normal order, including a
would pursue a speedy trial,”
change of prosecutor
venue for the Thomas Win-
case. “NO WAY Trump could dom urged the
CAN I GET A benefit by judge, referenc-
FAIR TRIAL, OR ing a right in
EVEN CLOSE delaying the trial the U.S. Consti-
TO A FAIR tution that
TRIAL, IN
beyond the 2024 gives defen-
WASHINGTON, elections. dants the op-
D.C.,” Trump portunity to re-
wrote on his solve charges
social media against them in
platform Truth Social. a “speedy” manner. Windom
“THERE ARE MANY REASONS indicated that the government
FOR THIS, BUT JUST ONE IS was prepared to hand over
THAT I AM CALLING FOR A substantial volumes of docu-
FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF THIS ments to Trump’s legal team
FILTHY AND CRIME RIDDEN as soon as practicable.
EMBARRASSMENT TO OUR On Friday, the former presi-
NATION,” he added. dent said in another post on
The statements Sunday Truth Social: “IF YOU GO AF-
came as the Justice Depart- TER ME, I’M COMING AFTER
ment and Trump’s lawyers are YOU!” Prosecutors, saying
expected to offer competing Trump’s social media posts
visions for how the legal pro- raised the possibility he might
cess should play out in the improperly share evidence
federal trial over the charges. publicly, asked presiding
At a hearing last week, the Judge Tanya Chutkan for a
U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila protective order. The order
Upadhyaya gave both sides a would bar parties involved in
H T G K R F A M 1 2 3 4 5 6
U.S. NEWS
the case from disclosing or
disseminating details of dis-
covery materials, such as in-
formation on witness testi-
mony and subpoenas.
Trump could benefit by de-
laying the trial beyond the
2024 elections. If he wins the
general election, he would re-
gain control of the govern-
ment and could put pressure
on the Justice Department to
drop the charges or stay the
case until the end of his presi-
dency. Or he could attempt a
self-pardon, a move with no
precedent that would plunge
the country into uncharted le-
gal territory.
Both sides are due back in
court on Aug. 28 for a hearing
in front of Chutkan. She is ex-
pected to set a trial date—a
complicated endeavor given
that Trump is already facing
separate criminal trials in
Florida and New York.
Attorneys are also hashing
out the timing of the case
against Trump in New York
over hush money paid to a
porn star and how it will work
around the two existing fed-
eral cases.
As the two sides spar over
that trial date, all eyes will
turn to Georgia where another
indictment of Trump could be
issued in the next two weeks.
Fulton County District Attor-
ney Fani Willis, a Democrat, is
expected to bring charges re-
garding a yearslong probe into
alleged 2020 election interfer-
ence.
—Cameron McWhirter
and Corinne Ramey
contributed to this article.
.
7 8 9 O I X X ***** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Indictment Mystery:
Where Is Meadows,
Ally of Ex-President?
BY SIOBHAN HUGHES didn’t do anything wrong and
that prosecutors came to a con-
WASHINGTON—Mark Mead- clusion different from that of a
ows was the White House chief committee many Republicans
of staff when Donald Trump saw as politically motivated.
tried to overturn the 2020 elec- Trump pleaded not guilty
tion result, but he plays only a Thursday to charges that he
bit role in the document laying conspired to overturn the re-
out the charges against the for- sults of the 2020 election to re-
mer president. main in power. He called the
Meadows talked to Trump charges a “persecution of a po-
several times a day, worked at tential political opponent” by
times to reverse the 2020 re- the Biden administration.
sults as well as to rein in some While Meadows moved to
efforts and, according to con- South Carolina after Trump
gressional testimony, was slow lost, he returns regularly to
to engage on Jan. 6, 2021, when Washington, serving as a senior
Trump supporters stormed the partner at the nonprofit Con-
Capitol to stop the election’s servative Partnership Institute,
certification. The House Jan. 6 which hosts regular, weekly
committee’s report said Mead- meetings of the Freedom Cau-
ows was likely part of a con- cus. The Conservative Partner-
spiracy with other Trump con- ship Institute paid Meadows
fidants to block President nearly $560,000 in 2021, ac-
Biden’s win. cording to the most recently
Last week’s indictment by a available tax filing. Trump’s
federal grand jury only men- Save America political-action
tions Meadows a handful of committee donated $1 million
times, and his level of coopera- to the group that year.
tion with prosecutors remains “I don’t talk about anything
a mystery.
The indictment points to six
people as co-conspirators, and
Meadows isn’t one of them.
Five of the people, though un-
J6 related,” Meadows told NBC
News at the end of July, refer-
ring to Jan. 6, as he entered the
Conservative Partnership Insti-
tute building, which is near the
named in the document, are U.S. Capitol.
clearly identifiable as a circle of In 2021, the Democratic-con-
attorneys and advisers, includ- trolled House voted largely
ing Trump’s personal lawyer, along party lines to hold Mead-
Rudy Giuliani. The sixth is an ows in contempt of Congress
unidentified political consul- for refusing to cooperate fully
tant. with the Jan. 6 committee. The
Meadows didn’t return a re- Justice Department declined to
quest for comment. A lawyer prosecute the case. Meadows
representing him, George Ter- shared thousands of pages of
williger, said earlier this year material, including text mes-
that Meadows has been com- sages, before he declined to ap-
mitted to telling the truth. pear for a deposition or to
Meadows declined to cooperate share additional material, cit-
fully with the Jan. 6 committee ing executive privilege.
but testified earlier this year The indictment cites an inci-
before the grand jury investi- dent in December 2020, when
gating Trump’s actions related Meadows reported that Georgia
to the attack. election officials were “con-
“We don’t know for sure ducting themselves in an exem-
whether he’s cooperating with plary fashion,” only for Trump
the Department of Justice,” to then tweet that officials were
said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D., Ca- trying to hide evidence of fraud.
lif.), who sat on the House Jan. According to electronic com-
6 committee. A Justice Depart- munications that Meadows
ment spokesman declined to turned over to the Jan. 6 com-
comment. mittee, Meadows encouraged
Meadows’s allies say he isn’t pushing Republican legislators
a co-conspirator because he in some states to send alterna-
tive slates of electors to Con-
gress—responding “I love it”
when one lawmaker acknowl-
edged the plan was “highly
controversial.”
He was at a Dec. 21, 2020,
Oval Office meeting with
Trump and Republican law-
TOM WILLIAMS/CQ ROLL CALL/ZUMA PRESS
makers and tweeted that they
were “preparing to fight back”
against what he called “mount-
ing evidence of voter fraud.” He
told Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio)
that he had pushed for Vice
President Mike Pence to simply
decline to count Electoral Col-
lege votes from some states, ac-
cording to texts that Meadows
Mark Meadows turned over to the committee.
You’re a local.
You’re one of us.
So we want to give you a richer,
more exciting experience. We’ll
share the food that wowed
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 .

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, August 7, 2023 | A5

U.S. NEWS

Renowned Civil-Rights Scholar Mentored Obama

BY GINGER ADAMS OTIS
Harvard Law professor and
civil-rights lawyer Charles J.
Ogletree Jr., who counted for-
mer President Barack Obama
among his many mentees, died
Friday. He was 70 years old.
Ogletree was a legal theorist
Clarence Thomas, to performer
Tupac Shakur, whom he repre-
sented as both a criminal and
civil defense lawyer.
Ogletree disclosed his Alz-
heimer’s diagnosis in 2016, and
he soon became a spokesper-
son for the disease to help
spread awareness about the
as a professor and mentor to
generations of law students,
including Obama, who some-
times stayed with his family at
Ogletree’s home on Martha’s
Vineyard during his presi-
dency.
“Michelle and I are heart-
broken to hear about the pass-
turer at Harvard Law in 1984
after previously serving as
deputy director of the District
of Columbia Public Defender
Service, according to an obitu-
ary published by Harvard on
Saturday. He was named a pro-
fessor of law in 1993.
In 2005, Ogletree launched
in Boston, according to Har-
vard. He retired from the law
school in 2020.
In 2022, Ogletree’s family
donated his legal papers to
Harvard Law School.
Ogletree also dedicated
himself to seeking justice for
the survivors and descendants

MATT SAYLES/INVISION/ASSOCIATED PRESS

who rose to in- importance of early diagnosis ing of our friend Charles Ogle- the Charles Hamilton Houston of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massa-
OBITUARY ternational and treatment. tree. He was an advocate for Institute for Race and Justice cre, during which as many as
CHARLES J. prominence for “The most important thing social justice, an incredible at Harvard Law, named in trib- 300 people were killed and
OGLETREE JR. his work is to not be afraid to talk about professor, and a mentor to ute to the civil-rights lawyer hundreds of homes and busi-
1952-2023 championing it, because talking about it will many—including us,” the for- who created the litigation cam- nesses were destroyed. In
racial equality encourage other people to mer president said on social paign that eventually resulted 2003, Ogletree assembled a
and social jus- open up,” he said in a 2017 in- media Saturday. in the landmark decision of team to represent the riot sur-
tice. His clients ranged from terview with Alzheimer’s Asso- Ogletree, born in California, Brown v. Board of Education. vivors and argued for repara-
Anita Hill, as she testified be- ciation, a Chicago-based non- attended Stanford University Ogletree also founded tions for those whose liveli-
fore the Senate as a witness in profit dedicated to helping before moving to Harvard Law the Criminal Justice Institute, hoods had been destroyed.
confirmation hearings for those with the disease. School, where he graduated in where law students are trained Ogletree wrote several Charles J. Ogletree Jr. died
then- Supreme Court nominee At Harvard, Ogletree served 1978. Ogletree became a lec- to represent needy defendants books on race and justice. Friday at age 70.

New Jersey
Is the Last
Holdout on
Self-Serve
At Pump RECYCLING
BY GINGER ADAMS OTIS

New Jersey resident Nyoami

is an important weapon
against climate change
Winterburn knows this: If her
state ever abolishes full-service
gas stations, then baby, she
was born to run.
“I will move out of New Jer-
sey. I’m not kidding. It is one of
the big perks of living here,”
Winterburn said Saturday out-
side a gas station along Route
4 near Englewood.
Fellow New Jerseyan Suni
Brown, who counts having to
pump his own gas as reason to
avoid leaving the state, feels
the same. “I like being able to
sit in the car,” the Englewood
resident said.
On Saturday, a day after Or-
egon revoked its 72-year-old
ban on self-service gas stations,
many New Jersey drivers along
the busy commuter corridor
that feeds into the George
Washington Bridge said they
are proud to be the last state to
prohibit the self-pump.
There’s even a popular bum-
per sticker that says “Jersey
Girls Don’t Pump Gas,” an hom-
age to the Garden State’s 1949
law banning self-service sta-
tions for fire safety and other
concerns.
“I can pump my own gas but
I like to talk to the workers and
give them a tip,” said Eddie
Valle, who fuels up at the same
Exxon station in Englewood on
Route 4 to greet his favorite at-
tendant, Juan Hernandez.
Hernandez, 61, spent his
workday on Saturday bouncing
between two rows of four dou-
ble-sided gas pumps, which
were rarely empty. “Many peo-
ple here know me, they always
come in and say hello. I’ve
been doing this for 18 years,”
said Hernandez. He works six
days a week pumping gas,
earning enough for himself
and his family to send money
back home to Guatemala.
Several out-of-state drivers
who zipped up to the pumps
didn’t wait for Hernandez and
jumped out to pump gas for
themselves. Sean Hodel, from
Virginia, said he didn’t know
full-service gas stations ex-
isted. “I have never heard of
such a thing,” he said.
Hernandez said some cus-
tomers do wave him off, even
though they aren’t supposed to
touch the pumps. “If they say,
‘I got it,’ I don’t mess with
them,” he said.
New Jersey gas-station
owners would consider a 10-
to-15-cent price difference per
gallon if self-service pumps
ever became a reality in the
state, said Ed Kashouty, who
has owned a gas station and
convenience store in Lake-
wood since 1988. On average, S E E H O W R E C YC L E D PA C K A G I N G
C A N H E L P YO U R B U S I N E S S
it costs owners 12 cents a gal-
lon to have an attendant at
the pump, he said.
New Jersey has roughly
2,300 gas stations and conve-
nience stores with pumps, ac-
cording to Eric Blomgren, of
the New Jersey Gasoline, C-
Store, Automotive Associa-
tion. His organization supports
a bill introduced in the New
Jersey Legislature about 18
months ago similar to the law
passed in Oregon that would
require station owners to offer
full-service alongside self-ser-
vice pumps.
Such a change would help
station owners who sometimes
struggle to find enough work-
ers, Blomgren said.

A6 | Monday, August 7, 2023
ALBUQUERQUE FIRE DEPARTMENT/REUTERS
MONSTER FIRE: A column of smoke rose Sunday from a recycling-plant fire in Albuquerque, N.M.
Investors
See Years of
High Rates
Continued from Page One
cause investors anticipated that
the Fed would keep raising rates
to fight inflation and then cut
rates once a recession arrives.
Now, though, almost the op-
posite is happening. Signals
from the Fed that it is at or near
the end of its rate-raising cam-
paign have bolstered shorter-
term Treasurys. But they have
fed the selloff in longer-term
bonds by reducing concerns
that an aggressive central bank
would precipitate a downturn.
“This massive inversion that
we’ve had for a long period of
time was all predicated on the
fact that you were going to get
a hard landing and that owning
long-duration bonds was the
way to protect you,” said Jim
Caron, chief investment officer
of the portfolio solutions group
at Morgan Stanley Investment
Talent Pool
Is New Test
For Big Oil
Continued from Page One
The trend has continued
even as other recent studies
have shown that the average
graduate earns 40% more than
a peer with a computer sci-
ence degree.
That puts students, includ-
ing Hayden Gregg, in high
demand.
The 21-year-old Kansas
City, Mo., native is studying
petroleum engineering at Col-
orado School of Mines. His
graduating class of 36 stu-
dents is down from around
200 in the years before oil
prices collapsed in the
mid-2010s, according to a col-
lege official.
“People are concerned they
won’t have a job in 10 to 20
years,” Gregg said.
Encouraged by his room-
mates and a visit to Texas, he
became convinced that the in-
dustry offers a range of engi-
neering possibilities as it tran-
sitions to a broader mix of
energy sources.
“Even if oil and gas is go-
ing away, I can deploy my
skills in other engineering
fields,” he said.
Jennifer Miskimins, head of
the petroleum engineering de-
partment at Colorado School
of Mines, said Gregg’s gradu-
ating class is benefiting from
a pickup in oil-industry hiring
and many have gotten good
internships. “They’re a hot
commodity,” she said. “I think
this class is going to be sit-
ting pretty.”
Oil-and-gas companies are
pouring money into fellow-
ships and other programs de-
signed to cultivate new talent.
Much of the focus is on white-
collar careers that tend to at-
tract college graduates, but
the trend is broadly true
among the industry’s blue-col-
lar workers as well.
A big part of the pitch is
that the industry is increas-
ingly dynamic and creative,
requiring employees who can
run carbon capture, hydrogen
and geothermal projects, said
Barbara Burger, who served in
several leadership roles at
U.S.WATCH
Management. “Now what the
market’s saying is, well, if
you’re not going to get a hard
landing, then why would I want
to own 10-year notes?”
Strong economic data aren't
the only reason that Treasury
yields have climbed in recent
days. Some added pressure
came late last month, when the
Bank of Japan said it was lift-
ing its hard cap on 10-year gov-
ernment bond yields to 1%
from 0.5%.
That fueled
concerns that
Japanese inves-
tors might shift aren't the only
some cash away
from their sub-
stantial holdings
of U.S. Treasurys
Treasury yields
toward domestic have climbed.
bonds. Then the
U.S. Treasury
Department an-
nounced that it faced greater
borrowing needs in the coming
months than investors had an-
ticipated. That meant the mar-
ket would need to absorb more
bonds just as traders were find-
ing them less appealing.
Still, the underlying condi-
tions for the higher yields have
Chevron and is a senior ad-
viser at investment bank La-
zard.
Part of the challenge, she
said, is that there are more
startups and fast-growing
companies in those fields that
don’t carry the same baggage
as the giants that earn most
of their profits from fossil fu-
els.
“There’s competition in a
way that probably wasn’t
there 15 years ago,” she said.
Burger recently attended an
Numbers of U.S. undergraduate students studying petroleum
engineering have traditionally fluctuated with the price of oil,
but that hasn’t been the case recently.
Change since 1990
U.S. undergraduate enrollments
for petroleum-engineering degrees
Brent crude oil price*
1990
Petroleum-engineering enrollments by degree level, in the U.S.
Doctorate
Master’s
Undergraduate
4,902
2010
*Brent crude spot price a barrel, annual average
Note: 2023 data for Brent crude spot price is an average of daily prices through July 31.
been building for months, with
report after report suggesting
that the economy is on solid
footing even as inflation shows
signs of easing. That remained
true after Friday’s jobs report,
which showed slightly lower-
than-expected job growth in
July but a larger-than-antici-
pated increase in average
hourly earnings.
Investors are ramping up bets
on a soft landing, in which infla-
tion returns to
the Fed’s 2% an-
nual target while
Strong data the economy
keeps expanding.
The implica-
reason that tions of that
scenario could
be profound,
suggesting that
the economy
can withstand
much higher
rates than investors have long
believed was possible.
A prolonged period of higher
bond yields would be a setback
for recent home buyers who
have been hoping for rates to
fall so that they can refinance
their mortgages, along with
others who are waiting to buy
event hosted by Fervo Energy,
a startup that uses the shale
boom’s horizontal drilling and
fracking techniques to develop
geothermal wells for electric-
ity generation. Around 60% of
Fervo’s employees previously
worked at oil-and-gas outfits,
the company said.
To attract workers, she
said, oil-and-gas companies
need to better articulate their
energy transition strategies,
including efforts to carve out
new businesses or curb emis-
Oil price $96.94
2000
14,376
Junior
Sophomore
Freshman
* ****
U.S. NEWS
NEW YORK ARIZONA
Influencer Faces Missing Hiker
Charges After Riot Is Found Dead
Social media influencer Kai An Oregon woman who
Cenat is facing charges of in- went missing on a hike in
citing a riot and promoting north Phoenix has been
an unlawful gathering in found dead and it appears to
New York City, after the on- be heat-related, according to
line streamer drew thou- authorities.
sands of his followers, many Phoenix Fire Department
of them teenagers, with officials said Jessica Christine
promises of giving away elec- Lindstrom, 34, went hiking
tronics, including a new Play- around 8:30 a.m. Friday and
Station. was declared missing about
The Friday event produced nine hours later.
chaos, with dozens of people Fire Department Capt.
arrested—some jumping atop Scott Douglas said drones
vehicles, hurling bottles and and technical rescue teams
throwing punches. were used before Lindstrom’s
Cenat was released early body was found on a remote
Saturday from police custody trail on the north side of the
after being issued a desk ap- Deem Hills Recreation Area.
pearance ticket, which police Authorities said Lindstrom,
issue to require a suspect to who formerly lived in the
appear in court to answer Phoenix suburb of Peoria,
charges. A police representa- was a registered nurse in Or-
tive said he is to appear in egon and was visiting family.
court on Aug. 18. Maricopa County reported
Police said they arrested Wednesday that 39 heat-as-
65 people, including 30 juve- sociated deaths have been
niles. confirmed this year.
—Associated Press —Associated Press
a home. The average rate on
the standard 30-year fixed
mortgage was recently 6.9%, up
U.S. Treasury yields
5.25%
from about 5% a year ago.
At the same time, higher
rates and bond yields would be
5.00
Bear steepening begins
a boon to risk-averse savers and
to pension funds that have been
forced for years to take greater
4.75
4.50 Two-year
risks to meet return targets.
4.25
They would also make it easier
for the Fed to fight recessions 4.00
by giving the central bank more
10-year
room to cut rates when the 3.75
economy turns south.
Optimism recently has ex- 3.50
tended across different mar-
kets. Investors in recent months 3.25
have been willing to pay in- May 5 June July
creasingly high prices for stocks Sources: Tradeweb ICE Close (yields); Freddie Mac (average rate)
relative to what companies are
expected to earn over the next term rates set by the Fed have
year. Valuations have become to fall from their current level
even more stretched when mea- of around 5.5% to 2.5%—
sured against bond yields. roughly their highest point of
One argument made in favor the 2010s—or whether “we are
of stocks, however, is that the moving back toward some-
longer-run outlook for corpo- thing that looks a little bit like
rate profits and economic what we had in the ’90s” when
growth might be improving, rates were consistently higher,
with some citing advances in said Zach Griffiths, a senior
areas such as artificial intelli- strategist at the research firm
gence technologies. CreditSights.
For investors, an important Some, though, note that
question is whether short- market expectations can shift
sions. invasion of Ukraine, Europe is
“That’s a hook for employ-
ees—current and future,”
desperate for new supplies of
oil and gas, though countries
Burger said. “They want to around the world are trying to
know there’s a future in the
actual companies, the indus-
keep fuel affordable.
Darian Kane-Stolz said that
tries and the skill sets they
have.”
The talent shortage repre-
growing up in New York, she
was always concerned with
climate change. She taught
sents a long-term problem at neighbors how to recycle.
a moment when energy secu- When Kane-Stolz, 25, en-
rity—largely dependent on rolled at the University of
fossil fuels for the foreseeable Texas at Austin seven years
future—is increasingly a ago, she felt that joining the
global priority. Since Russia’s petroleum-engineering pro-
800% Undergraduate petroleum-
engineering enrollments
in select U.S. universities
University of Texas at Austin
600
1,200
$111.63 Change since peak –42%
800
400 400
$79.65
0
2010
200 Texas A&M University
1,200
800
0
400
0 want to work in energy-re-
’10 ’20 2010
Texas Tech University
1,200
800
Decline in U.S. enrollments
since 2015 peak 75.2%
400
0 don—formerly housing the
2010
Colorado School of Mines
1,200
800
400
3,563
0 ent is critical to company ef-
Senior
2010
Louisiana State University
1,200
800
400
0
2010
Oklahoma State University
1,200
800
400
0 ford to try and fail,” he said.
2020 2010
Sources: Lloyd Heinze, Texas Tech University (enrollments); Energy Information Administration (oil prices)
.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
PENNSYLVANIA
Gas Utility Settles
In 2019 Blast
The Public Utility Commis-
sion approved a revised settle-
ment totaling nearly $1 million
with a gas utility over a 2019
explosion in western Pennsyl-
vania that reduced a home to
rubble and injured five people.
Canonsburg-based Colum-
bia Gas took responsibility
for the July 2019 blast in
North Franklin Township, say-
ing it had failed to install a
key piece of equipment in the
home while workers nearby
upgraded a gas main. Offi-
cials said the home lacked a
pressure regulator, and when
the new system was engaged
there was a leak that led to
the explosion.
The homeowner, a neigh-
bor and three firefighters
were hurt in the blast, which
also damaged cars and
nearby homes. Columbia’s in-
surance company earlier paid
out more than $3 million to
cover the damage.
—Associated Press
Average rate on a
30-year fixed mortgage
7.0%
6.5
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
Aug. Jan. 2022 ’23
quickly, along with the econ-
omy. “All recessions and down-
turns are a kind of slowly-then-
suddenly phenomenon,” said
Matt Smith, investment direc-
tor at Ruffer, whose team has
bought Treasury debt in a bet
that its price will increase amid
a downturn. “We don’t have a
view on when, but we have
that position in reflection of
the fact that we think the Fed’s
tightening will cause a reces-
sion,” Smith said.
gram was consistent with her
desire to have a positive im-
pact on the planet.
Now a BP engineer bringing
wells online in the Gulf of
Mexico, she said the attitude
toward the industry has dras-
tically shifted within her co-
hort. Before she goes out with
friends, she sometimes pre-
pares talking points in case
someone attacks the industry.
“There’s definitely a nega-
tive perception out there,”
Kane-Stolz said.
BP this year launched a
new $4 million fellowship pro-
gram with U.S. universities to
provide students with expo-
sure to the energy industry. It
also said last year that it
planned to double the size of
its apprenticeship program to
2,000 people this decade.
“To achieve our goal of rei-
magining energy, we need the
brightest talent,” a BP repre-
’20 sentative said.
Meanwhile, Kane-Stolz’s
alma mater, UT, is working on
–63.3% adding a new master’s degree
without the word “petro-
leum” to capture a broader
group of students who still
’20 lated engineering, said Jon E.
Olson, the department chair
of petroleum and geoscience
at UT.
–88.1% Other universities are end-
ing their petroleum engineer-
ing degrees or rebranding
them. Imperial College Lon-
’20 Royal School of Mines—shut
its program last year and re-
placed it with one in geo-en-
ergy with machine learning
–87.7%
and data science.
Analysts and company offi-
cials said a steady flow of tal-
forts to build out
’20
infrastructure needed to curb
emissions and develop clean-
energy and low-carbon busi-
nesses.
–89%
“One of the scarcest re-
sources at the moment seems
to be people,” said Aslak Hell-
estø, a business adviser for
’20 Northern Lights, a carbon
capture and storage project
off the coast of Norway oper-
ated by European energy
–90% companies Equinor, Shell and
TotalEnergies.
“This is groundbreaking
technology and we cannot af-
’20 “We need young people with
new ideas and bright minds to
make it right the first time.”
 .

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. * * * * Monday, August 7, 2023 | A7

Ukraine’s Bid to Retake Bakhmut Falters
Front-line soldiers
describe a stalling
counteroffensive
against Russia forces
BY ALISTAIR MACDONALD
AND OKSANA PYROZHOK
CHASIV YAR, Ukraine—
Some of Ukraine’s biggest gains
in its counteroffensive have
come around the city of
Bakhmut, which Russia seized
in May after months of bloody
fighting. But soldiers near there
say advances have slowed in re-
cent days amid stiff Russian de-
fense and counterattacks, dent-
ing hopes that Kyiv could soon
retake the city.
Ukrainian President Volod-
ymyr Zelensky visited the
Bakhmut front in late July to
hail gains to the north and
south of the city.
Fighting is now focusing
around the town of Klishchi-
ivka, some 5 miles to the south,
and in the direction of the M03
highway to the north. Ukrainian
soldiers say recent gains have
been small, in the face of heavy
artillery bombardments, im-
proved Russian performance on
the battlefield and limited man-
power and equipment.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive,
now in its third month, has
WORLD NEWS
been slow going, bogged down
by strong Russian defensive
positions, mines and helicop-
ter assaults, particularly in
the south. That raises difficult
questions about the scale of
the task facing the Ukrainian
forces.
Progress around Bakhmut in
the east had been faster as
Russia had less time to prepare
defensive positions after the
Wagner paramilitary group fi-
nally took the city. Bakhmut
had become a symbol of Ukrai-
nian resistance during months
of brutal fighting, and Russia is
expected to pour resources into
its dogged defense, given the
city was one of the few gains it
made in recent months—and at
the cost of tens of thousands of
lives.
“It’s a tough fight, and we
need more people and more
equipment,” said a combat
medic, who came for coffee to
a gas station where front-line
soldiers stock up on fuel and
food. “We are exhausted.”
A Ukrainian official last
Monday said Ukraine had in
the previous week liberated 0.7
square mile in the Bakhmut
area. Russia still controls
around 20% of Ukraine.
Officials from Russia and its
proxies have said on social me-
dia that their forces have re-
pelled several Ukrainian at-
tacks. Yan Gagin, an official at
the so-called Donetsk People’s
Republic, a Russian proxy state
that claims Ukraine’s Donetsk
region as its territory, said that
the fighting around Bakhmut
remains the hottest part of the
front line.
“It’s slow, it’s just really
slow,” said Dougie Young, a
Scottish medical volunteer who
has been working around
Bakhmut.
Ukraine has been targeting
Russian positions with its own
munitions, employing West-
ern and old Soviet systems.
At an artillery position
around 4½ miles from the front
line, members of a unit that op-
erates a German howitzer—a
PzH 2000, or Panzerhaubitze—
said they spend much of the day
driving to different positions,
hitting Russian artillery and in-
fantry units. “We pushed the
Russians back around 1 kilome-
ter, but now they are coming
back,” said Andriy, the com-
mander of the howitzer.
Local soldiers say the Rus-
sians are using many more
drones now and appear to have
more than the Ukrainian forces
in the area. Russians appear
to be developing in other ways,
including through encrypting
more of their communications
to stop Ukraine eavesdropping,
an intelligence official said.

Kviv Official Oversees
Efforts to Produce
More Ammunition
BY ISABEL COLES
KYIV, Ukraine—Like any
good boss, Oleksandr Kamy-
shin keeps on top of produc-
tion numbers for the factories
he oversees. But for Kamyshin,
Ukraine’s minister of strategic
industries, it is a matter of life
and death: The figures that
land on his desk every morning
show ammunition output at
dozens of Ukrainian factories.
The availability of artillery
shells could prove decisive in
the next phase of the war with
Russia, and the 39-year-old is
in charge of boosting Ukraine’s
production. Western stocks
have been run down by nearly
18 months of fighting, and the
U.S. and its allies are strug-
gling to increase production.
Any dip in output and
Kamyshin immediately gets on
the phone with the factory
FROM TOP: SERGEY BOBOK/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES; JOSEPH SYWENKYJ FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
the invasion. Ukrzaliznytsia’s
trains ferried civilians and
foreign dignitaries including
President Biden, who traveled
to Kyiv last year on a train
dubbed Rail Force One.
But bringing Ukraine’s de-
fense industry up to speed in
the middle of a war is an even
bigger challenge.
Four months into the job,
Kamyshin’s efforts have
yielded results. In July,
Ukraine produced more than
twice as much mortar and ar- Oleksandr Kamyshin, top left, says Ukraine will need years to meet demand. Above, members of a tank brigade repair an engine.
tillery ammunition as it did
during 2022, he said. “Being in charge of a large,
That, however, is less an in- crucial, critical structure for
dication of how much Ukraine your country for the war when
is producing now than how nothing works,” he said.
little it was before, Kamyshin Ukraine’s President Volod-
acknowledged. ymyr Zelensky tapped him as
For now Kyiv is dependent minister in March as the
on Western countries that are country geared up for a coun-
also struggling to increase teroffensive to retake territory
production after running occupied by Russia.

manager to find out what
went wrong. “All of them are
on a direct line with me,” he
said in an interview.
Ukraine’s sprawling arms
industry fell into decline after
the country gained indepen-
dence from the Soviet Union
in 1991. Kamyshin says it is
still hamstrung by unproduc-
tive practices rooted in the
Soviet era.
Kamyshin has delivered be-
fore. As head of Ukraine’s
state railway company, he
kept goods and people flowing
after the country’s airspace
was closed in the early days of
down their own ammunition
stockpiles.
The U.S. recently provided
Kyiv with cluster munitions to
help alleviate a looming short-
age as Ukrainian forces strug-
gle to break through Russian
defenses in the south of the
country. European states, too,
struck a deal in July mobiliz-
ing half a billion euros to boost
ammunition production for
Ukraine—and for themselves.
The war was a year old by
the time Kamyshin was ap-
pointed as chief of the defense
industry, but to him it felt like
the first days of the invasion.
Handcrafted Beauty
Kamyshin’s immediate pri-
ority was ammunition, which
Ukrainian forces are consuming
at a rate of about 90,000 shells
a month, U.S. officials said.
His new team of deputies AN ESSENTIAL STYLE FOR EVERY
includes a new head of state-
owned weapons manufacturer WARDROBE, GLOWING IN 18KT GOLD
Ukroboronprom.
Kamyshin has extended de-
fense companies’ contracts to
year-end—rather than
monthly—and brought in more
firms to gear production to-
ward the defense industry. “It’s
not rocket science,” he said.
—Daniel Michaels
contributed to this article.

Ukrainian Drones Attack Oil Tanker

Tied to Russian Military in Black Sea
BY JARED MALSIN
ISTANBUL—An attack by
Ukrainian sea drones on an oil
tanker on which the U.S. im-
posed sanctions for working
for the Russian military po-
tentially brings the war into a
new phase that threatens Rus-
sia’s vital shipping lanes in
the Black Sea.
The weekend attack struck
the Russian oil tanker Sig near
the Kerch Bridge that links
Russia to the occupied Cri-
mean Peninsula, causing dam-
age to the engine room, Rus-
sian state news agency TASS
reported, citing the Marine
Rescue Coordination Center of
Novorossiysk.
The attack intensifies hostili-
ties in the Black Sea after weeks
in which Russia has heightened
tensions in the region by impos-
ing a de facto blockade on much
of Ukraine’s grain exports, strik-
ing Ukrainian ports and threat-
ening to attack civilian ships on
their way there.
Ukraine in late July issued
its own warning, saying it
would treat ships headed to
Russian ports as potential mil-
itary targets. This was an ap-
parent attempt to turn the ta-
bles on Russia by imposing an
“insurance blockade,” a freez-
ing of commercial maritime
activity that would happen if
insurers refused to cover civil-
ian ships heading to and from
Russian ports on the Black Sea.
Ukrainian authorities didn’t
comment directly on the attack,
in keeping with a policy of offi-
cial silence on their drone at-
tacks in the region. Some re-
ports said only one drone was
involved in the attack.
Vasyl Maliuk, head of the
Security Service of Ukraine,
the country’s main intelligence
agency, nodded indirectly to
the attack in a post on Tele-
gram, noting that it took place
in Ukraine’s territorial waters
and calling such strikes “an
absolutely logical and effective
step in regard to the enemy.
“They should take advan-
tage of their only opportu-
nity—to leave the territorial
waters of Ukraine and our land.
And the sooner they do it, the
better for them,” Maliuk said.
The tanker was under U.S.
sanctions for carrying fuel to
Russian forces operating in
Syria. The Treasury Depart-
ment’s sanctions designation
for the ship said it was linked
to Transpetrochart, a Russian
company that was targeted for
$
599
its role in “facilitating the il- Compare at $795
licit transfer of jet fuel to the
Russian military in Syria.” The
ship had loaded fuel from a
refinery in Feodosia, in occu-
pied Crimea, experts said.
The attack, which came a Our glorious 7" 18kt gold wheat-link bracelet is a
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Following explosions in the Available in 8" $679
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A video of the attack pub-
lished by Ukrainian media and
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The Wall Street Journal’s par-
ent company News Corp,
shows a surface drone gliding
along the water before crash-
ing into the side of a tanker.
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 .

A8 | Monday, August 7, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

WORLD NEWS

Oligarchs Fight Sanctions China, U.S. Take Part

Russia’s business dler has become the first per-
son to challenge the U.K.’s
elite was penalized Russian sanctions regime in
to pressure Putin, court. The former business
colleague of Abramovich
but war still rages claimed that the sanctions
caused his family “serious
BY MAX COLCHESTER hardship” and were dispropor-
tionate, according to court fil-
LONDON—Over a year ago, ings.
the West launched a new for- The billionaire, who holds
eign-policy weapon to pres- British and U.S. citizenship,
sure the Kremlin to halt its also claimed to have never
war in Ukraine: It imposed held a Russian passport and
sanctions on more than 100 not to have seen Putin in per-
leading Russian businessmen son since 2007, according to
and their families, hoping they the filings.
would prod Russian President In its defense, the U.K. gov-
Vladimir Putin to give up his ernment said Shvidler should
expansionist plans. remain sanctioned in part so
So far, the strategy hasn’t that he can apply pressure on
worked. The war still rages Abramovich, who, in turn,
and very few Russian billion- could pressure Putin.
aires have publicly denounced Now that they can’t access
Putin or sold off their Russian their wealth in the West, some
ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
In Peace Discussions
BY LAURENCE NORMAN
AND STEPHEN KALIN
Efforts to forge an interna-
tional consensus around a du-
rable and fair peace settle-
ment to the war in Ukraine
inched forward after discus-
sions in Saudi Arabia among
senior officials from 42 coun-
tries, including the U.S., China,
India and Ukraine.
Ukraine and its Western
backers have pitched the talks
as an effort to rally global
support behind conditions for
ending the war that would fa-
vor Ukraine. Many big devel-
oping countries have been
largely neutral on the conflict.
After the talks in Jeddah
concluded on Saturday, diplo-
mats said there was broad ac-
The meeting’s location on
Saturday carried important
symbolism, as Ukraine, the
U.S. and Europe have pushed
to bolster support for Kyiv in
the global south. Western dip-
lomats have said the kingdom
was picked to host partly in
hopes of persuading China to
participate, as Riyadh and Bei-
jing maintain close ties.
Saudi Arabia is trying to
play a larger role in diplomacy
on Ukraine, after the U.S. ac-
cused it last year of siding
with Russia to keep oil prices
high—thus bolstering Mos-
cow’s finances.
“A lot of credit to the Saudi
hosts for the diplomatic en-
gagement,” a U.S. official said.
Many Western capitals are
deeply skeptical that Russian

assets. sanctioned oligarchs may be- ceptance that President Vladi-

Meanwhile, a handful of come more dependent on their central princi- mir Putin is in-
deep-pocketed oligarchs are assets in Russia and Putin’s ples of interna- terested in pur-
pushing back, intensifying patronage. Many are legally tional law, like The kingdom is suing peace
their legal challenges in U.K. barred from traveling to the respect for trying to play a talks this year.
and European Union courts in West. Ukraine’s sover- Russia has
a long-shot attempt to remove Abramovich, who based his eignty and terri- larger role in shown no signs
restrictions that include travel operations in London for years torial integrity, of backing away
bans and asset freezes. until the U.K. government should be at the
diplomacy on from demands
The legal battles will prove Lawyers for Roman Abramovich claim Western sanctions are didn’t renew his visa in 2018, heart of future Ukraine. such as the rec-
a test of whether Russian keeping him from taking a role in Ukraine peace efforts. is now shuttling between Rus- peace talks be- ognition of its
businessmen can use the sia, Turkey and Israel. Andrei tween Ukraine annexations of
West’s attachment to the rule not really effective from the son Foerster. “We are not at Guryev, who is sanctioned by and Russia. Ukrainian terri-
of law to undermine its own point of view of policy.” that tipping point yet. But it the U.S., redomiciled his hold- Saudi Arabia on Sunday tory, including areas of Ukraine
foreign-policy aims. Western government officials doesn’t mean that we won’t ing company that owns shares said participants had “agreed its military doesn’t control.
It will also lay bare their say the mass sanctioning should get to that tipping point.” in Russian fertilizer giant on the importance of continu- Moscow has sent mixed sig-
key criticism of the sanctions; be viewed as part of a wider Roman Abramovich’s law- PhosAgro to a low-tax zone in ing international consultations nals about the talks. The Krem-
that many of those targeted crackdown on Russia, which in- yers recently appeared in a Russia from Switzerland. and exchanging opinions in lin has suggested it would be
have no sway over Putin and cludes bans of key exports to Luxembourg courtroom to ap- Putin has called on the order to build a common watching closely, but Russia’s
the sanctions, far from apply- the country aimed at crippling peal European Union sanc- businessmen to come back ground that will pave the way Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
ing pressure on the Russian its economy, moves that have tions against their Russian cli- home to Russia. for peace.” called the discussions a hoax.
president, may be pushing dis- also had a limited effect. ent, arguing the designation “Running around with cap There was agreement on Ukraine’s President Volod-
affected Westernized oligarchs They also argue that Rus- prevented him from “interven- in hand, begging for your own pursuing more detailed work ymyr Zelensky pushed his am-
back into his arms. sian businesspeople and poli- ing effectively” as a conduit money, makes no sense and on the global impact of the war, bassadors last week to inten-
“Never before have we seen ticians shouldn’t be allowed to for peace talks between Russia most importantly, it accom- and most countries attending, sify efforts to win global
so many billionaires with such continue with their normal and Ukraine, according to plishes nothing,” he said dur- including China, appeared will- support for Kyiv’s position.
large international footprints lives while the Kremlin, whose court documents. ing his state-of-the-nation ing to meet again in the coming While diplomats talked in
so massively sanctioned all at patronage allowed them to The billionaire former speech in February. “Stop weeks in the current format, Jeddah, Russia launched fresh
the same time,” said George grow rich, presses on with an owner of English soccer team clinging to the past, resorting with Russia excluded, people missile attacks on Ukraine.
Voloshin, a sanctions expert at illegal invasion. Chelsea F.C. also made an ar- to the courts to get at least involved in or briefed on the The biggest difference be-
the Association of Certified The aim is “to start to peel gument that several other oli- something back.” closed-door talks said. tween the Copenhagen and
Anti-Money Laundering Spe- away the support [for Putin] garchs have put before the While high-profile oligarchs The Jeddah talks came after Jeddah meetings was atten-
cialists, an association that because oligarchs have an out- court: that he is being unfairly are pushing back on their initial discussions in Copenha- dance—more than twice as
shares best practices on fight- size political and economic in- targeted for simply being a sanctions in European courts, gen in June. U.S. and European many countries attended or
ing money laundering. Given fluence,” said John Smith, for- Russian businessman and that so far they haven’t challenged officials have stressed that the dialed into Saturday’s talks.
that most of these oligarchs mer director of the U.S. his ties to Putin are over- their U.S. sanctions “for the discussions aren’t negotiations Most significantly China,
aren’t in Putin’s inner circle, Treasury Department’s Office stated. The court will rule in simple reason that they don’t to end the conflict and won’t which was invited to Copenha-
“sanctions are painful for them of Foreign Assets Control and the coming months. think they are going to win,” seek to prescribe specific gen but stayed away, sent a
and their families, but they’re a partner at law firm Morri- Meanwhile, Eugene Shvi- Voloshin said. terms for a settlement. delegation to Jeddah.

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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Record Global Remittances Prop Up Autocrats
BY RYAN DUBÉ
LIMA, Peru—More people
than ever are migrating
worldwide, with millions of
people sending home record
amounts of cash.
But the remittances also
provide critical support to
fragile states and autocratic
regimes that rely on money
earned by their citizens
abroad to keep their econo-
mies afloat.
In Venezuela, a third of
households depend on money
transferred home from the
more than 7.3 million migrants
who fled the country’s eco-
nomic collapse, according to
the Inter-American Dialogue
policy group in Washington. In
Central Asia, where many for-
mer Soviet officials rule, mi-
grants send so much money
that the funds cover their na-
tions’ trade deficits, econo-
mists say. In Nicaragua, re-
mittances have become so
vital to the tax revenue of
President Daniel Ortega’s re-
gime that some economists
say reducing the flow of the
funds would be a form of po-
litical resistance.
“If you didn’t have remit-
tances, the national economy
would collapse,” said Enrique
Sáenz, an exiled Nicaraguan
economist. “And in macroeco-
nomic terms, Ortega would be
in deep trouble.”
The growing flow of money
creates a challenge for those
who to seek to exert economic
pressure on autocratic leaders.
But limiting remit-
tances would hurt the vulner-
able families of migrants who
remain back home and reliant
on money transfers.
“Remittances are one of the
most difficult issues we can
deal with,” said Ryan Berg, a
political scientist at the Cen-
ter for Strategic and Interna-
tional Studies in Washington.
“Nobody really wants to touch
that issue because who would
ever, from a policy standpoint,
try to interfere with remit-
tances as a point of pressuring
dictatorships when we all
know people are suffering.”
MATT LOEWEN/ALASKA VOLCANO OBSERVATORY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eleven Russian and Chinese ships came close to the Aleutians, where U.S. craft shadowed them.
U.S. Rivals
Sent Navies
Near Alaska
Continued from Page One
traveled more than 2,300 nau-
tical miles, including opera-
tions in the Sea of Japan and
the Sea of Okhotsk.
A spokesman for the Chinese
Embassy in Washington said
the patrol wasn’t aimed at the
U.S. “According to the annual
cooperation plan between the
Chinese and Russian militaries,
naval vessels of the two coun-
tries have recently conducted
joint maritime patrols in rele-
vant waters in the western and
northern Pacific Ocean. This ac-
tion is not targeted at any third
party and has nothing to do
with the current international
and regional situation,” the
spokesman, Liu Pengyu, said.
The USS John S. McCain,
the USS Benfold, the USS John
Finn and the USS Chung-Hoon
responded to the flotilla,
tracking its movement, a U.S.
defense official said. The four
destroyers were in addition to
the American maritime patrol
and reconnaissance aircraft.
In contrast, a lone U.S.
Migrants from Eritrea, Libya and Sudan in a boat in the Mediterranean in June before being assisted by Spanish aid workers.
Since 2010, remittances to
the developing world have
nearly doubled, rising to a re-
cord $647 billion last year,
more than foreign direct in-
vestments to those countries
and more than international
development aid, according to
the World Bank.
In Nepal, a young and fragile
democracy where remittances
account for close to a quarter
of GDP, inflows from migrant
workers have helped keep a lid
on bubbling anger at the gov-
ernment over its handling of
the pandemic and a recent re-
cession, said Jeevan Baniya, an
expert on migration at the
Kathmandu-based research in-
stitute Social Science Baha.
In Egypt, money sent by mi-
grants provides three times
the revenue the government
takes in from the state-owned
Suez Canal, while remit-
tances to Mexico surpassed the
dollars generated by interna-
tional tourism and oil exports.
The millions of money
Coast Guard cutter was on the
scene when a flotilla of seven
Russian and Chinese ships op-
erated in September near the
Aleutians off Alaska.
Sullivan said that the U.S.
response in September had
been “tepid” and that he had
encouraged a stronger mes-
sage be sent in the future.
The joint Russian and Chi-
nese naval patrols are part of
a broader great power compe-
tition in the Arctic and north-
ern climes, which is increas-
ingly becoming contested
territory.
U.S. officials
also see the in-
creased cooper-
ation between The military
the Russian says the flotilla
and Chinese
navies as a bid stayed in
to counter U.S.
alliances with
international
Japan, South waters.
Korea
other regional
and
partners.
Russian warships and Chi-
nese research vessels have been
observed in the region before.
“But to see these combat-
ants form up in a surface ac-
tion group together and steam
together, that’s what’s rare,”
Rear Adm. Nathan Moore,
who was Coast Guard com-
mander for the Alaska region
until last month, told The
WORLD NEWS
Remittances to developing
countries
$600 billion
500
400
300
200
100
0 otherwise have, and they have
2010 ’15 ’20
Source: World Bank
transfers a year are being
spurred by soaring migration
to the U.S. and Europe since
the Covid-19 pandemic. Mi-
grants are arriving in affluent
countries that have labor
shortages, allowing them to
find higher-paying jobs and
send more money home.
Wall Street Journal about the
September episode.
Adm. John Aquilino, who
leads U.S. Indo-Pacific Com-
mand, which is responsible for
U.S. military operations in the
Asia Pacific, said last month
that the U.S. had already be-
gun watching the current Rus-
sian and Chinese patrol and
was trying to determine
whether they were headed to
the Aleutian Islands, Philip-
pine Sea, Guam or Hawaii.
Joint Russian and Chinese
“exercises have increased, their
operations have increased. I
only see the co-
operation get-
ting stronger,
and boy that’s
concerning.
That’s a danger-
ous world,” Aq-
uilino said last
month at the
Aspen Security
Forum in Colo-
rado.
U.S. officials
have been monitoring signs of
increased cooperation between
Beijing and Moscow. China has
become Russia’s most impor-
tant trading partner since Mos-
cow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine,
and a report by the U.S. director
for national intelligence says
China has provided Russia with
critical technology that can be
used for military purposes.
.
Monday, August 7, 2023 | A9
Emomali Rahmon maintain his
three-decade-old grip on
power, scholars on the country
said. Navruz Nekbakhtshoev, a
political scientist from Tajiki-
stan who lives in Nebraska,
said the remittances calm
grievances and demands on of-
ficials. The mass outflow of
young people to fund the cash
flow also removes people who
might otherwise challenge the
political status quo.
With Russia’s economy
struggling because of the war in
Ukraine and Western sanctions,
migrants could have fewer job
opportunities, affecting remit-
tances, economists say.
That is prompting Tajiki-
stan and other Central Asian
governments to try to reduce
their dependence on Russia by
JOAN MATEU PARRA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
promoting migrant paths to
other places such as Turkey
and England, said Zachary
Witlin, an expert on the re-
gion at the Eurasia Group.
In fragile, democratic coun-
tries, a large drop in remit-
tances can contribute to un-
rest. In Sri Lanka, where more
money arrives from the
diaspora than what is earned
Remittance inflows, in billions a nation’s gross domestic prod- from tea exports, remit-
uct. The money can reduce in- tances fell by nearly half from
India $111.2 centives to work for those who 2020 to 2022. That contributed
receive the funds, he said. They to a balance-of-payments crisis
Mexico 61.1
can also curb demands on the that drained the country’s for-
China 51.0 government to fix domestic eign-exchange reserves and left
problems that cause migration it unable to pay for imports or
Philippines 38.0 in the first place. service its external debt. Amid
Some of the world’s mass unrest, the president fled
France 30.0
most remittance-dependent the country last year.
Pakistan 29.9 nations are ruled by auto- Elsewhere, a decline in re-
cratic regimes where people mittances could just push
Egypt 28.3 have few economic opportuni- more people to leave as rulers
ties—save for leaving. repress dissent.
Bangladesh 21.5 “These countries have stron- “Remittances can in some
Nigeria ger currencies than they would ways grease the wheel of a sys-
20.1
tem that doesn’t work,” said
Germany 19.3 less inflation than what they Ted Henken, author of books on
would otherwise have,” said Cuba and a professor at New
Roman Mogilevskii, an econo- York’s Baruch College. “A Cuban
mist at the Philippines-based in Miami or Madrid might be
Some economists say Asian Development Bank. worth more to the Cuban gov-
if remittances become too big, In the Central Asian nation ernment just in terms of GDP.”
they can hurt longer-term de- of Tajikistan, money from mi- —Nicholas Bariyo
velopment and create gover- grants mainly working in Rus- in Kampala, Uganda,
nance problems. Connel Fullen- sia makes up close to half the Samantha Pearson
kamp, a Duke University country’s GDP, according to in São Paulo, and
economist, said remittances can the World Bank. Jenny Carolina González
start to become problematic Remittances there have in Bogotá, Colombia,
once they go above 5% to 10% of helped authoritarian President contributed to this article.
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A10 | Monday, August 7, 2023 * * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

FROM PAGE ONE

plar landed, and helped people
Mystery of find lost coins in their backyard.
They have appeared on trea-
sure-hunting TV shows. “We’re
The Civil well-known with people that
have like-minded interests,”
gold. The Paradas and Getler
say ground-penetrating radar
had identified buried metal and
an additional piece of equip-
ment suggested it had the low
electrical resistivity of gold.
page affidavit in federal court
in Philadelphia detailing his
meeting with the three men
and those findings. He got a
warrant to seize gold belonging
to the U.S. Treasury—saying he
ported seeing armored vehicles dig.” The agency said it un-
in town. “I’ve come to the un-
avoidable conclusion that the
equivocally rejects any claims
or speculation to the contrary.
FBI did take the treasure under Today the Paradas are wait-
cover of darkness,” said Getler.
The Paradas sued the FBI
ing for a judge to decide
whether the FBI has to provide

War Gold says Kem. “But we’re not Brad

Pitt or George Clooney famous.”
Dennis, the father, said he
has visited the site at Dents Run
Continued from Page One more than 400 times, crawling
W.Va., to the U.S. Mint, then in into the cave, walking over it
Philadelphia, was ambushed with dowsing rods and drilling
somewhere in Elk County. down with a ¾-inch bit that he
Parada said a psychic guided said had traces of gold on it.
him to a location at Dents Run In the cave he found walls
and told him to look for a cave, that seemed man-made and
and he spent months search- burn marks on the ceiling. Arti-
ing. In 2004, he said, he re- facts nearby—a bullet shell, a
turned and found that a wash- whiskey bottle and bones—date
out had exposed an opening in to the 19th century, he said.
the side of the mountain. In 2017, the Paradas started
Within weeks, he started a working with Warren Getler,
treasure-hunting business co-author of “Rebel Gold” and
called Finders Keepers with his a former Wall Street Journal
son, Kem, a police officer. reporter. Getler told them he
The pair has hunted for the believed Confederate sympa-
Holy Grail in Nova Scotia, where thizers allied with a secretive
some believe the Knights Tem- society likely stole and hid the
Dennis Parada approached
the Pennsylvania Department
of Conservation and Natural
Resources. After his trail cams
caught state officials at the
site, he worried they would try
to dig it up themselves.
In January 2018, Getler set a
meeting with the FBI in Phila-
delphia. He and the Paradas
brought the test results, de-
scriptions of the cave and a
story from a military archive
describing a government gold
shipment “that came to grief”
in the Allegheny Mountains in
1863. The FBI hired its own sur-
veyor, who brought a machine
called a microgravity meter and
found a large mass with a den-
sity suggestive of gold.
Soon after, in March, Special
Agent Jacob Archer filed a 33-
was concerned the state could
unlawfully claim it.
The FBI brought more than
50 agents and dug down 12
feet, but said it came up empty.
That didn’t satisfy the Para-
das or Getler, who say they
were ordered to remain in Kem
Parada’s Mazda 3 hatchback
during most of the dig.
After being shown an empty
hole, a furious Dennis Parada
asked Agent Archer if he had
taken the gold, according to the
three men, who say they were
escorted off the mountain.
Also gone was any hope of
seeking a hefty finder’s fee.
The Paradas say they have
since spoken to a local resident
who said she saw lights and
heard the FBI working late at
night, while other residents re-
last year in U.S. District Court
in Washington, D.C. seeking en-
forcement of a Freedom of In-
more information. “The FBI in-
sists they found nothing, but
they have gone out of their way
formation Act request. They not to produce any documents
now allege the FBI has failed to that show that they found
turn over certain records and nothing,” said Anne Weismann,
doctored some photos to con- a lawyer for the Paradas. “The
ceal a night dig. thing about this case is stuff
The FBI declined to com- just doesn’t add up.”
ment on the lawsuit, but de- All three men say equipment
nied it kept digging at night. they used previously no longer
The agency told the Jour- shows gold at the FBI dig site.
nal that while geophysical test- But they say new scans show
ing “had suggested a potential more highly conductive metal
cultural heritage site at Dents buried nearby.
Run, that possibility was not At Dents Run, Dennis Parada
borne out by the excavation.” points to an old “hoot owl” tree
The FBI added, “No gold or with a branch bent at a right
other items of evidence were angle, which he said is a trea-
located or collected. The only sure marker. Some 30 feet
items the FBI removed from away, a cast-iron stove lid stuck
the site were the equipment in the ground reads “Red Hot”
and supplies brought in for the and seems to point the way.

Investors Total return*

4,000 % RECESSION

Can’t Quit 3,500

Self Storage 3,000

2,500
Self
storage

Continued from Page One

long training session at his 2,000
home office in New York’s Fin-
ger Lakes region. 1,500
“There is more than enough
All other
wealth to go around in stor- 1,000 property
age,” he said. sectors
For the past quarter-cen-
tury, you could take that to the 500
S&P 500
bank. There are self-storage fa-
cilities around the world, but 0
nowhere have they been more 2000 ’05 ’10 ’15 ’20
popular to rent and profitable
to own than in the U.S., thanks Average rent at move in† Average price paid in
to Americans’ propensity to ac- self-storage deals
cumulate more stuff than they
can squeeze into their homes. $150 a month $100 a square foot
Storage is the rare invest-
ment that has done well in good 140
times and spectacularly in peri- Climate 80
DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

controlled
ods of economic upheaval. Prof- 130 Non-
its exploded during the pan- climate
demic, when bedrooms became 60
120 controlled
offices and basements became
gyms and the displaced items
had to go somewhere. Shares of 110 40
publicly traded storage compa- 2017 ’20 2013 ’15 ’17 ’19 ’21
nies trounced the broader stock
market—and every other real *FTSE NAREIT sectors; share price plus dividends †10-foot-by-10-foot units
estate class—from the late A Dixon, Calif., facility owned by Life Storage, which was bought last month. Sources: FactSet (total return); Yardi Matrix (rent); StorageCafe (price)
1990s through the end of last
year. During the pandemic, they pinch when they search for properties with the fund. dential real estate surged dur- Houston and in 1972 he and Extra Space CEO Joe Margo-
even beat the celebrated “storage near me.” Death, di- The career arc of Prime’s ing the pandemic and deter- partner B. Wayne Hughes put lis told portfolio managers at a
FAANG tech companies. vorce and disaster create de- founder and chief executive, mined storage rents could rise up $25,000 apiece and opened June real-estate investing con-
The question now is mand. So do marriages, babies Robert Moser, shows that stor- significantly and still be a lot the first Public Storage location ference in New York that the
whether the industry is run- and new jobs. age bros can dream big. cheaper for growing families in El Cajon, Calif. firm erred in 2009 when it cut
ning out of room for growth. Storage owners compete Moser, 46, started out in his than leasing an apartment with The idea was to generate in- rates for existing customers.
Workers are trickling back to fiercely to get customers in the fraternity-house bedroom at an extra bedroom or moving to come from inexpensive build- “They didn’t care if it was $75
the office and the highest inter- door. They duke it out online Union College in Schenectady, a bigger house. KKR has since ings to cover the expense of or $100,” he said.
est rates in years are slowing with algorithmic one-upman- N.Y. He showed up the first se- spent more than $400 million holding land while they waited Nowadays Extra Space is-
home sales, a big driver of stor- ship and move-in specials. But mester a licensed real-estate on storage buildings. for it to gain value. The first sues about 130,000 rent-in-
age demand. Self-storage facili- once someone signs up, the agent, wrote his thesis on in- Blackstone, the world’s larg- unit rented to a motor oil dis- crease notices each month,
ties have seen occupancy rates battle for their business is over. come-producing properties and est real-estate investor, will tributor whose wife wanted withholding some for a control
decline from records, forcing “The only thing that com- filed state records requests for own about 80 storage facilities cans out of the driveway. group of a couple thousand to
them to dangle big discounts to petes with an existing cus- New York water and sewer per- once it completes the sale of Volk died in 1996, the year make sure rent increases aren’t
attract new customers. tomer is the trash can,” said mits. An entire 127 it bought after Public Storage made its prompting move outs, he said.
Sharply higher borrowing Spenser Allaway, storage ana- UPS truck of mostly in late stock-market debut. Hughes, Ryan Auger, who got into
costs have torpedoed plans for lyst at real-estate research firm printouts ar- 2020. The buyer son of an Oklahoma sharecrop- the business after the Covid
new storage construction. Green Street. “No one says, rived at his par- ‘The only thing is Public Stor- per, went on to also launch lockdown sank his restaurant-
Shares of the big firms that ‘This sounds like a fun way to ents’ house. that competes age, which rental-home giant AMH Homes technology startup, was im-
store America’s hoard on spend a weekend, I’ll beg my He sorted agreed last following the 2008 housing pressed when a bidding war
month-to-month leases, such as friend to borrow their truck through the with an existing month to pay crash and was one of the rich- broke out around then for two
CubeSmart, Public Storage and and move my stuff into another documents $2.2 billion for est people in America when he storage properties his uncle
Extra Space Storage, are mostly unit to save $10 a month.’ ” looking for ac-
customer is the the Blackstone died in 2021. By then, Public owned near Harrisburg, Pa.
down this year, even as the S&P Even savvy storage investors quisition targets trash can.’ assets after be- Storage had a stock market The eventual buyer paid more
500 has risen by double digits. become ensnared. “I’ve had and spent week- ing outbid in its value of more than $56 billion than twice what they cost to
one six years,” said Christopher ends visiting own attempt to and an indelible, bright-orange build and his uncle came away
Merrill, CEO of $56 billion and photo- buy Life Stor- presence on the American with millions of dollars in
Pandemic boom property investor Harrison graphing properties. Moser age. landscape. profit. “That blew me away,”
Storage executives say busi- Street, which owns 119 storage never looked for a job when he The sale will mean more Auger, 27, said.
ness may never be as good as facilities and is looking for graduated in 1999. His mom than $600 million profit for Auger sketched plans to find
it was between the lockdown more. “I’ve probably paid for borrowed against the family Blackstone’s Real Estate In- Big profits neglected properties, tidy them
summer of 2020 and last sum- the stuff six times over.” home to stake him. come Trust, a fund for individ- Storage is so profitable up, oust freeloaders, raise rents
mer. “In hindsight, we may Appetite for deals remains Moser’s storage buildings ual investors that was stung by thanks to two key factors: to market rates and build an
look at those and say they strong from yield-chasing asset performed so well during the withdrawals earlier this year month-to-month leases, in online presence to draw new
were the best 24 months in managers and YOLO dreamers. 2008 housing bust that he de- when rising interest rates which the rents can be raised customers. The North Carolin-
the history of this business,” Last month, Extra Space paid cided to specialize and sold his dimmed the outlook for com- on short notice, and human na- ian raised money from lawyers
CubeSmart Chief Executive $11.6 billion for rival Life Stor- apartments and trailer parks. mercial property. ture. Most stays outlast intro- and other wealthy people he
Christopher Marr told inves- age, creating the country’s Prime raised $154 million for “When you see a portfolio ductory rates. knew, quit his job as a software
tors at a recent conference. largest storage operator, with its first investment pool and opportunity, that’s where peo- “Statistically, once a cus- engineer and started cold-call-
Self-styled storage bros, who roughly 270 million square feet sold the assets in 2021 for ple get the drool cups out,” tomer stays with us for a year, ing storage owners to talk
post deal details on social me- at more than 3,500 locations. about $750 million to a group said Merrill, the Harrison they end up staying for five them into selling.
dia, record YouTube tutorials University endowments, in- led by a Singapore sovereign- Street CEO. years,” Public Storage CEO Jo- Auger said that with a few
and swap origin stories on the surers, sovereign-wealth man- wealth fund. Last year, Prime Whether the little guys can seph Russell Jr. said. clicks he can send rent-in-
more than 15 podcasts dedi- agers and pensions last year had to turn away investors still compete with Wall Street The 2008 foreclosure crisis crease notices to tenants. He
cated to storage investing, are plowed $2.5 billion into a pri- even after enlarging its third money is an open question. In proved to executives that price recently boosted monthly reve-
now facing a harder slog. vate-equity fund raised by stor- fund by $1 billion, from an the 1960s, American mom-and- didn’t matter much even in a nue at one of the four facilities
Even Wagner acknowledges age specialist Prime Group original target of $1.5 billion. pop investors invented the deep recession. A lot of people owned by his firm Redwood
there isn’t much low-hanging Holdings, the largest ever dedi- Deal makers at KKR, known business. needed a place for stuff from Storage to $35,000 from about
fruit left, like the mismanaged cated to the asset class. Prime for corporate takeovers, Ken Volk, a California prop- the house that wouldn’t fit in $32,000 with little effect on oc-
properties that he used to has already acquired nearly 100 crunched numbers when resi- erty investor, saw one outside the apartment. cupancy.
find. “I’d buy them for a couple He last acquired a storage
hundred grand and then sell property this spring. A cold
them for more than a million a caller Auger hired made 100
few years later,” he said. “That calls a day for three months be-
shouldn’t be possible.” fore finding the interested seller
The bullish case for storage near Huntsville, Ala.
is made by America’s pack-rat Almost all the 22,000-
ways. Market researchers esti- square-feet was leased but only
mate that more than one in 10 about half the tenants were
Americans lease storage space. paying. The facility’s phone
In June they paid an average of rang unanswered. There was
CINDY SCHULTZ FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

about $165.55 a month, down no website. He said it took 48

1% from records in January, but hours to round up the
about 20% more than in June $760,000 cash he needed to put
2019, according to a KeyBanc toward the $1.2 million pur-
analysis of debit and credit chase price. Monthly revenue is
card data. now twice what the old owner
The storage customer is typ- was collecting and Auger esti-
ically described as irrational, mates the property is worth
because they are willing over $800,000 more than he paid.
time to pay far more than the “There’s no way I could
value of whatever they are make that kind of money work-
storing. People are often in a Mabey’s Self Storage in Clifton Park, N.Y. Market researchers estimate that more than one in 10 Americans lease storage space. ing for someone else,” he said.

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WORK
& LIFE
RACHEL
FEINTZEIG
K
eith GunderKline knew
he should get started on
that five-year capital-
improvement plan for
the Ohio housing agency
he directs. Then again,
his inbox was filling up. A staffer
needed help redesigning a form.
Oh, and the air conditioning in
one of the agency’s buildings had
conked out and needed to be fixed.
“I didn’t have to get to that to-
day,” the 69-year-old would reason
as he put off the intimidating re-
port for months, grateful to focus
on the daily diversions.
Administrative busywork, last-
minute emergencies and the per-
formative theater of another use-
less Zoom call so often clog our
calendars. We spend nearly a third
more time communicating with
others than creating things at
work, according to a recent analy-
sis of meetings, email and docu-
ment use from Microsoft.
We complain we’re so tired, or
too busy, with no time to do the
job. Yet part of us is surely re-
lieved there’s no time to tackle
that presentation that would level-
up our career, or the book we’ve
always wanted to write. Examined
up close, the goal is terrifying,
overwhelming, amorphous. Where
do you even start?
Looking important at work of-
ten comes down to moving
through the office in a frenzy, says
Juliet Funt, author of a book
about carving out space for cre-
ativity and reflection in the work-
day. Meetings are social, and our
attendance is proof that we’re
needed. Hybrid schedules mean
many of us desperately want to be
cc’ed on that email, so we’re top
of mind even when we’re out of
sight. And there’s a high that
comes with checking infinite teeny
items off our to-do lists.
“If we fail in little busy activi-
ties, we fail small,” says Funt.
We’ve lost our tolerance for diving
into the big stuff, she adds. “Open
time freaks us out.”
To get back to the important
things languishing at the bottom
of your to-do list, create your own
accountability. Funt recommends
setting a timer for five minutes to
get started on the thing you’re
dreading. Each morning, write
ILLUSTRATION BY SHIRA INBAR FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
your three to five most important
tasks on a piece of paper and keep
it on your desk, returning to it
whenever you have free time.
Imaginary perfection
We often procrastinate when
we’re not confident we can de-
liver. A project that stays in our
mind can stay picture-perfect.
“It’s easier to keep it imagi-
nary,” says Fuschia Sirois, a psy-
chology professor at England’s
Durham University who studies
procrastination.
Doing Pull-Ups
Gives Women
A Fitness Lift
BY JEN MURPHY
T
he pull-up has become the ul-
timate fitness flex for women
in midlife.
This winter, London-based con-
sultant Claire Warner embarked on
a pull-up quest, hiring a trainer with
the goal of being able to do one un-
assisted pull-up by summer.
Pull-ups, says Warner, 45 years
old, are “the unicorn exercise,” add-
ing: “Everyone wants to be able to
do one.” She can now do three and
has set her sights on five.
As women embrace strength
training, executing a pull-up has be-
come a way for many to show just
how strong they are. Social-media
mentions of “female pull-ups” have
amassed millions of views; stars like
comedian Chelsea Handler share
videos of upper-body gym feats,
and executives like Meta’s head of
product, Naomi Gleit, post about
their push-up and pull-up feats.
ADRIENNE GRUNWALD FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
(Her boss, Mark Zuckerberg, posts
fitness photos, too.)
This body-weight exercise, which
taps the back and shoulder muscles,
is challenging for anyone, but can
be particularly daunting for women,
who anatomically tend to have
more lower-body strength.
Kirsten Joyce gave her fitness in-
structor the stink eye when a pull-
up was thrown into her group
strength class at Life Time gym.
She hopped up to the bar, kicked
PERSONAL JOURNAL.
Tips for Tackling Those
Projects You Keep Putting Off
Create your own accountability, or reflect on how a task is meaningful to your personal growth
Make it more tangible by put-
ting up Post-it Notes or pictures in
your office that represent your
dream, she suggests. Picture your-
self at the finish line, and the
steps it would take to get there.
Then remind your-
self why the goal
matters.
In a study from Procrastination
Sirois and a col- can be a signal
league, a group of
participants re- you need to
flected on how a
task was meaningful
do something
to their personal differently.
growth or someone
they cared about.
They ended up pro-
crastinating less than people who
simply focused on a positive part
of the task.
The cost of
procrastination
After being laid off in 2020, Jeff
Krimmel landed a new job quickly.
But his big goal of expanding his
professional network stayed on
and squirmed, then
dropped down, joking
to her instructor: “If I
can just do one pull-up
in my life, then I’ve
made it.”
Joyce, 33, decided to
use the pull-up as her
benchmark for overall
fitness. She started in-
corporating exercises
that work pull-up muscles, like sin-
gle arm lat pull downs and pull-up
shrugs, into her routine.
Her motivation? Mothering three
children under age 5. “I wanted to
be able to keep up with them but
also set an example,” says the part-
time nurse in Eden Prairie, Minn.
In July, after five months of
training, she got her chin above the
pull-up bar and can now do three
with good form.
The pull-up journey
Compared with weighted exercises
like back squats or dead lifts, pull-
ups can be intimidating, says Lex
Dreiss, a trainer at Absolute Power
Fitness in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“As a girl, you’re told that you
have a weak upper body compared
with boys,” she says. “But that
doesn’t mean women can’t do pull-
ups.”
Many people assume the move is
all arm strength, but it’s actually a
back-dominant exercise, says Dreiss.
Traditional pull-ups are per-
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
the back burner for years.
“It was just the enormity of,
what does that even mean?” says
Krimmel, a chief strategy officer
in Houston. He pictured attending
weekly networking mixers after
work or asking
strangers to lunch—
and felt over-
whelmed, convinced
it would never work
with two young kids
and a long commute.
To motivate him-
self, he thought
about what would
happen if he never
built a network. He
remembered how
vulnerable he felt when he was
laid off. He pictured how another
career disruption would affect his
family if he didn’t have robust
connections on which to fall back.
“That cost just wasn’t bearable
any more to me,” he says.
Last summer, he committed to
posting on LinkedIn every day.
Maintaining a streak keeps guilt
from bubbling up, he says, and
 Rachel Harrison, 47, recently
achieved her first pull-up after a
bit over one year of training.
formed with an overhand grip,
shoulder-width or wider, and en-
gage the upper back muscles, in-
cluding the latissimus dorsi and
rhomboids, the deltoid muscles in
the shoulders, and the biceps. The
movement also works the core and
grip strength.
Some people try first to do a
chin-up, which is slightly easier be-
cause it uses an underhand grip
versus the pull-up’s overhand grip.
Getting to a pull-up can take
about 12 weeks for someone at a
healthy weight and baseline fitness
level, says Andrew Jagim, director of
sports-medicine research at Mayo
Clinic Health System in La Crosse,
Wis. For someone new to strength
training, 16 weeks is more typical.
Both pull-ups and chin-ups are
body-weight exercises, so someone
who is overweight might need more
time to develop strength before do-
forces him to do something, even if
it’s not perfect. Metrics, like seeing
how many people view his posts,
act as markers to his progress.
A task that
fits their mood
Nearly everything can be broken
down into smaller pieces. At work
on a book, Stephanie Kramer
wrangled all her to-do's—comb
through research papers, schedule
calls—onto various lists each Sun-
day. Then Kramer, the chief hu-
man-resources officer for L’Oréal’s
U.S. business, would tackle the
items based on her mood.
After a long day in meetings
for her day job, quietly writing
down the themes of a coming
chapter helped her reset. If she
felt sluggish, sorting and deleting
book-related emails jump-started
her.
On Friday nights, after her two
young sons were in bed, she’d
work late on deep, creative work.
“I felt very free,” she says, “like
I was in this magic zone.”
ing a pull-up, he says.
Chelsey Wilkins, a trainer at
SoHo Strength Lab in New York,
recommends clients focus on learn-
ing to lower their body weight be-
fore they try to pull it up. She pre-
scribes exercises that work grip
strength and eccentric strength—
where the lowering phase of a
movement is slowed down—like
carefully lowering your chin down
from a pull-up bar.
Dreiss has her clients practice
hollow body holds, where you lie on
the ground, then lift your arms, legs
and head up off the ground until
your body looks kind of like a ba-
nana. “If you’re doing a pull-up prop-
erly your body is vertical in this po-
sition,” she says.
With these key muscles
strengthened, trainers then focus
on technique, using assisted weight
pull-up machines or looping a resis-
tance band around the bar and be-
neath the client’s feet to lighten the
load of the pull movement.
One of Dreiss’s clients, Rachel
.
Monday, August 7, 2023 | A11
Something’s off
Sometimes, procrastination is a
signal you need to do something
differently. Ask yourself why
you’re really putting a goal off. Is
it too aggressive? Is the timeline
too fast or too slow? Do you need
help from a peer to get started?
Drew Bear, a tech worker in
San Diego, was excited to start a
podcast about the intersection of
faith and business. But the first
episode took him 30 hours to pro-
duce. He obsessively searched for
software to speed up the process.
Then he stalled completely.
After months of procrastinat-
ing, he realized the payoff didn’t
feel worth the effort. He had only
about 40 subscribers. He decided
to pivot to YouTube videos,
where he thinks he will reach
more people.
There’s some shame in the fact
that his initial plan failed, the 35-
year-old says. But he’s focused on
his new path forward.
“When you do something
you’ve never done,” he says, “it’s
always harder than you expect.”
Harrison, could effort-
lessly pump out doz-
ens of pull-ups during
her time as a young
gymnast. When her
boyfriend left her for a
personal trainer, she
set herself a goal of
doing an unassisted
pull-up before she
turns 48 this month
and 10 by October.
She’s shared her
progress on Facebook
and Instagram, with
videos showing her
performing aided pull-
ups with resistance
bands looped around
the bottom of her feet,
and doing two unas-
sisted chin ups.
The rewards
Warner, the London consultant,
says her pull-up aspirations were
sparked by a desire to gain muscle
mass and remain independent as
she aged. Muscle mass decreases
around 3% to 8% per decade after
the age of 30. The rate of decline is
even greater after the age of 60.
Harrison, who owns a luxury hos-
pitality firm in New York, has re-
ceived dozens of supportive mes-
sages since she began posting
about pull-ups in May 2022 and has
lost around 35 pounds. With stron-
ger muscles around her spine, her
back no longer goes out and she
can see the striations of muscles in
her shoulders when she wears a
backless dress.
“I’m healthier now than I was in
my 20s or 30s,” she says.
Recently, she finally nabbed her
first unassisted pull-up. “Working
out is like life,” she says. “There are
times you feel like you’ll never suc-
ceed but you need to be mentally
strong and keep trying.”

A12 | Monday, August 7, 2023
BY VERONICA DAGHER
F
or those frustrated with
the lack of existing
houses on the market,
buying from a builder
seems like a simple so-
lution—until it isn’t.
Brand-new homes have be-
come more popular in neighbor-
hoods where homeowners are re-
luctant to put their homes on the
market and forgo their low-inter-
est-rate mortgages.
New-home sales account for
around 15% to 20% of all recent
home sales and could reach 30% in
some markets, compared with a
historical average of 10%, said Law-
rence Yun, chief economist at the
National Association of Realtors.
The price gap between new
homes and old ones has been
shrinking and is the smallest in
nearly 20 years, said Sheharyar
Bokhari, Redfin senior economist.
The median sales price of new
houses sold in June was $415,400,
according to the Commerce De-
partment. That compares with
$410,200 for existing homes, ac-
cording to the NAR.
Builders, fueled by pandemic
profit, are also offering incentives
to help buyers reduce their mort-
gage rate or closing costs.
Hayley and Tyler Dupee recently
bought a brand-new four-bedroom,
two-bath home in Ladson, S.C., for
about $312,000, motivated by the
builder-included incentives such as
a smart-home security system and
window blinds.
“It became a no-brainer to us
that a new home was going to be
the best option for us within our
budget,” she said. The couple gave
up on buying an existing home af-
ter seeing bidding wars and the
pricey renovations needed.
Buyers might be able to move
into an existing home more
quickly but could face expensive
repairs and upgrades. New homes
tend to be more expensive, and
buyers usually need to be flexible
with their move-in date because
of potential completion delays. A
home from a builder usually
comes with some options for cus-
tomization. On average, it takes
more than eight months to build
a house, according to the Com-
merce Department.
With a brand-new home, buy-
ers might misunderstand their
purchase contracts, cut corners in
the wrong places and balk
at delays, financial advisers
and builders say.
Here are five things to
consider when purchasing
from a builder:
1. Which upgrades
are worth it?
Consider what upgrades
are difficult and pricey to
complete once the house is
finished, be it a gas line for
an outdoor grill or wiring
for outlets. These improve-
ments cost less when you
are building the home, said
Angie Hicks, chief cus-
tomer officer at home-ser-
vices company Angi.
A steeper roof can add to
the overall cost of a brand-
new home.
A Cultish Fashion Designer
Is Back, and Fans Are Ready
OFF BRAND
RORY
SATRAN
“IT’S LIKE THE SECOND COMING
of Christ.”
“It’s like the Beatles breaking up
and then reuniting five years later.”
“It’s like a royal wedding, but you
don’t know when it will take place
and it won’t be televised.”
Those are just a few of the play-
ful analogies used by Los Angeles
retail consultant Ramya Giangola to
describe the imminent return of
fashion designer Phoebe Philo.
Philo, a cultish figure who rede-
fined relaxed, individualistic power
dressing for women, is launching
her own eponymous brand this fall.
It’s the first work of hers we’ll see
since she left her post as creative
director of LVMH brand Celine five
years ago to focus more on her
family. One of the few female de-
signers of a major brand, she left
Celine at a creative and commercial
apex. Since then, the famously pri-
vate designer, 50, has been hun-
kered down with her husband and
three children in London.
We have the basic outline: Philo’s
direct-to-consumer brand, which
she owns along with LVMH, is set
to release in September. WWD re-
ported that it would comprise 150
styles of ready-to-wear and acces-
sories, and that Philo muse Daria
PERSONAL JOURNAL.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Buying
Your New Home From a Builder
It is also important to think
about your home’s resale value
when deciding where to spend or
skimp, she said.
Invest in systems that keep
your home running, such as
plumbing and electrical, and in
areas with a high return on in-
vestment, such as the kitchen,
she said.
A simple way to save: Choos-
ing a 36-inch upper kitchen cabi-
net instead of a 42-inch upper
one might cost a buyer about
$600 less, depending on size of
kitchen, said Donnie Evans, presi-
dent of Altura Homes, a home
builder in Dallas.
Werbowy would feature in the cam-
paign. But the new brand hasn’t
done any press or released a single
image. Will it include the big-
enough-for-a-laptop leather bags,
ultra-thick cashmere sweaters, tai-
lored coats and off-kilter jewelry for
which she became known? Maybe.
LVMH and Philo didn’t respond to
requests for comment.
While little is known about the
new brand, one thing is
certain: Philo’s fans are on
tenterhooks for what is
fashion’s most antici-
pated launch in recent
memory. Phoebe Philo’s
Instagram page, with zero
posts, already has
240,000 followers.
When the brand of-
fered an online registra-
tion in July, fashion insid-
ers and A-listers shared
screenshots of their con-
firmation pages to Insta-
gram Stories. Apparently
the first status symbol of
the New Philo Era was a
somber, black graphic
reading: “Thank you for registering.
We look forward to being in touch.”
One of the women who shared
that screenshot was Eva Chen,
Meta’s vice president of fashion. “It’s
very rare to see this level of hype”
on Instagram, she said, comparing it
to big drops in the sneaker world.
Chen predicted that the discourse
would continue once the brand
launches this fall: “I think it’s going
2. Choose which
corners to cut
There are some areas where buy-
ers can reduce costs without com-
promising quality, Evans said.
Evans has shaved about $1,500
off the price of a roughly 2,000
square-foot home he built for cus-
tomers by lowering the steepness
of the roof from 8/12 pitch to
6/12. Roof pitch expresses roof
steepness as a ratio of the verti-
cal rise to the horizontal span,
said Hicks at Angi. A roof that
rises 6 inches in the span of 12
inches would have a 6/12 pitch.
Selecting square corners for
to be one of those Willy Wonka
‘golden ticket’ situations, where ev-
eryone’s going to be seeing the
brand unfold in real time, sharing
acquisitions on [Instagram] Stories,
sharing perhaps when they’re foiled
on purchasing something.”
“I, along with everyone, am wait-
ing for financial devastation, if I can
even land anything,” said Chen.
Budgeting is a central concern
the home’s drywall instead of
rounded ones could save about
$200 in total for an average 2,000
square-foot house, Evans said.
3. Read the fine print
Home builders typically have
some ability to substitute materi-
als based on availability to meet
deadlines.
Read the developer’s contract
carefully and note what choices
can be overridden by the builder
and in what circumstances, said
Emily Irwin, senior director of ad-
vice at Wells Fargo. Irwin has cli-
ents who selected an interior
paint color only to find out that
the builder is exercising its right
to use a different one.
Top-of-the line stoves and re-
frigerators, often displayed in
model homes, aren’t necessarily
included in a standard builder
home, said Jason Katz, a financial
adviser with UBS Financial Ser-
vices in New York City. Ask your
builder what, if any, appliances
are included with your house.
4. Have extra
money ready
Builders often have the right to
increase prices based on material
costs, said Charlene Wehring, a
financial adviser in Bellville,
Texas. If costs go up and buyers
can no longer afford the home,
they will probably lose their de-
posit after backing out of the
deal, she said.
Read the contract carefully
Phoebe Philo, above in 2015,
is set to launch her own
eponymous brand this fall.
for many of those awaiting
the launch, with the dollar-
sign-with-wings emoji as-
suming a starring role in
many of the posts. Philo’s
clothes, whether during her
2001-2006 tenure at Chloé
or 2008-2018 period at Ce-
line, have never come cheap.
By the time she left, $900
was around the entry point
for shoes and simple tops,
and most pieces were well
into the four figures. I can recall the
anxiety of plopping down my Amex
to buy my first Celine piece as a ju-
nior fashion editor: a royal-blue
cashmere sweater at 70% off at
Kirna Zabête’s end-of-season sale. (I
still wear it to this day.)
Ashley Wu, a New York City
writer and longtime Philo acolyte,
said, “I’m definitely not buying any
fall clothes yet, which is unusual for
.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
FROM TOP: PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL MENDELSON/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, GETTY IMAGES; KELLY HOODWIN
and factor this possibility into
your budget.
Bokhari at Redfin advises set-
ting aside roughly 10% to 15% for
contingency budgeting, depending
on the home’s location, type and
size.
5. Don’t expect
perfection
Buyers sometimes think they
don’t need a home inspection be-
fore closing because their new
home usually comes with a war-
ranty, said Mark Barnes, a Realtor
in Charleston, S.C.
A warranty often covers items
such as materials, workmanship,
system and structural defects.
Barnes recommends buyers get
a pre-drywall inspection since a
home’s problems might not be
discovered until after the war-
ranty period ends.
Hicks at Angi said to get an in-
spection at three points during
the home-building process: before
the foundation is poured; before
drywall is installed, when it is
easier to fix electrical problems;
and at the end, to ensure every-
thing is built to code.
Hicks recommends paying an
independent inspector to check
out the house. Most buyers spend
between $280 and $400 for an in-
spection. It is worth it, she said.
Some of the most common is-
sues that inspectors find are hu-
midity in the home, cracks in dry-
wall or incorrectly installed
siding.
me this time of year.” She said she
was setting aside money to invest
in—she hopes—shoes, sweaters, a
handbag, a coat and “some sort of
beautiful shoe that I’ll be stomping
around in.” She said that as she ap-
proaches 40, a new effortless Philo
wardrobe is perfect timing, as she
loves fashion but doesn’t necessar-
ily want to think too much about
what she wears.
Wu and Giangola, along with
other Philo followers, have plugged
their wardrobes with pieces from
other, similarly refined brands in the
past five years. Both mentioned
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s
quiet-luxe brand the Row, and Wu
likes rising star Khaite as well.
Tommy Ton, a New York photog-
rapher who has extensively chroni-
cled Philo’s fans, said Philo’s place in
fashion is unique. He said her return
is “like calling up an old friend, some-
one that brings you a lot of comfort.”
Granted, this frenzy is somewhat
limited to a privileged fashion few
who are in the know, and attuned
to subtle differences in high-end
cashmere ply. Ton said, “I think this
definitely affects a very small niche
group of women.” Then, he said,
that core group of trendsetters
would influence fast fashion: “You
will see it trickle down to the Zaras
and Sheins.”
Philo’s legacy has been kept alive
FROM TOP: GETTY IMAGES; VICTORIA WILL
through a rabid resale market of her
past pieces. On secondhand sites like
The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective,
Philo’s work for Celine and Chloé is
still a hot commodity. High-end per-
sonal shoppers such as Gab Waller
specialize in hunting down her
pieces. In 2022, French secondhand
platform Resee organized a buzzy
sale of Philo’s Celine work.
 .

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. NY Monday, August 7, 2023 | A12A

 .

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EXHIBITION REVIEW
Icons Worth a Thousand Words
A show examines the legacy of designer Henry Dreyfuss and the symbols that connect us
BY EDWARD ROTHSTEIN
A
New York
t the very beginning of
the “Symbol Source-
book: An Authoritative
Guide to International
Graphic Symbols”
(1972), the book’s au-
thor and one of the era’s most ac-
complished industrial designers,
Henry Dreyfuss (1904-1972), pres-
ents the same word in Greek, in
Japanese, in Russian and in He-
brew. None can be read or under-
stood if you are only at home with
the Roman alphabet. Even if you
could get a translation, the words
themselves hardly seem to suggest
matters of life and death. But a sin-
COOPER HEWITT, SMITHSONIAN DESIGN MUSEUM
gle symbol instantly crosses cul-
tural and linguistic boundaries,
commanding attention: a skull and
crossbones. In a word, “poison.”
Such is the power of symbols.
And if you open the Dreyfuss book,
which is still in active use a half-
century after compilation, or if you
turn the digital pages on a touch
screen at Cooper Hewitt, Smithso-
nian Design Museum in “Give Me a
MUSIC REVIEW
Renewing
Southern
Stories
BY LARRY BLUMENFELD
I n the American South, music recov-
ers histories, especially of African-
American traditions, and sometimes
reinvents them. Two new releases
(both on Ropeadope)—“Bark Out
Thunder Roar Out Lightning,” from
Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian
Scott); and “Lowcountry,” by a col-
lective with that name—reflect this
truth with force and beauty.
Christian Scott grew up in the Up-
per Ninth Ward of New Orleans. His
grandfather, Donald Harrison Sr., was
a Big Chief of Black Indian culture, in
which ancestral history, personal in-
dependence and community cohesion
are expressed through chants and
declarations, along with hand-
drummed rhythms and elaborate
feathered-and-beaded suits. His uncle,
Donald Harrison Jr., best known as an
alto saxophonist and a standard-bearer
of modern jazz, is also a Big Chief.
Before Mr. Adjuah picked up the
trumpet with which, as Christian
Scott, he has earned widespread ac-
claim, he was immersed in this famil-
ial tradition. (He became a chief him-
self in 2017.) On his new release, as
Chief Adjuah (drawn from his full ad-
opted legal name, Xian aTunde Ad-
juah), he plays no trumpet at all. On
“Blood Calls Blood,” he opens the al-
bum strumming “Chief Adjuah’s
Bow,” a 20-string electric instrument
ROPEADOPE RECORDS (2)
that blends elements of two West
African instruments, the n’goni and
kora, with those of a European harp.
Ninety seconds in, he sings, for the
first time on record: “Listen in the
wind have you learned to hear / The
ARTS IN REVIEW
Sign: The Language of Symbols”—
an exhibition devoted to the Sour-
cebook, its creator, and its legacy—
you will see dozens of icons with
meanings as compelling as that
death’s head.
Dreyfuss’s ambition was to cre-
ate an international language of
signs that could accomplish what
artificial world languages like Espe-
ranto could not. The Table of Con-
tents appears in 18 languages. The
symbols are distilled from a data-
base of 20,000 icons. They are or-
ganized into 26 disciplines and cat-
egories. And even after a half-
century, most retain their power. I
doubt if there is much use today for
an icon associated with whirring
computer tape drives meaning
“Magnetic Tape Unit Occupied”
(looking a bit like an empty film
reel), but is there a driver who does
not understand the sign/label for
“windshield wiper” (a curved two-
dimensional arc with a tilted, off-
center line extending through it)?
To a great extent we are still living
in Dreyfuss’s world.
The exhibition, organized by
Emily M. Orr, associate curator at
voices callin’ to you from yesteryear.”
Mr. Adjuah mines a tradition built
on rhythms and vocals. Here, eight
drummers and percussionists—
whose instruments include a stan-
dard trap set, a “pan-African kit” and
more than a dozen kinds of hand
drums—represent various connected
musical cultures: Joe Dyson Jr., a
New Orleans native, is a rising jazz
star; Weedie Braimah, born in Ghana,
is a master of the West African
djembe. Mr. Adjuah sings on all but
one track.
Honoring one’s lineage is also a
central aspect of this culture. “Shallow
Water,” an anthem of Black Indian
culture, was popularized by Mr. Ad-
juah’s grandfather; his own lyrics to
“Ashé Chief Donald” celebrate his un-
cle’s achievements. His version of the
oft-recorded R&B song “Iko Iko” (here,
titled “Xodokan Iko—Hu Na Ney”)
hews close to how it is sung in street
Cooper Hewitt, draws on the Henry
Dreyfuss Archive, housed at the
museum; it is being publicly ex-
plored for the first time. We begin
by surveying Dreyfuss’s ideas about
symbols, including their ability to
be combined to create new mean-
ings, the way, say, a
red circle with a di-
agonal slash (signi-
fying prohibition) A single symbol
can be placed over a can instantly
car silhouette: auto-
mobiles forbidden! cross cultural
We also see three
icons Dreyfuss suc-
and linguistic
cessfully used on boundaries.
the outside of a
package shipped
from Moscow that
have become standard: An open
umbrella? Keep dry. A broken gob-
let? Fragile. Two up arrows? Keep
upright.
But many of these were not in-
vented by Dreyfuss. He used what
the exhibition describes as an early
form of crowdsourcing, sending out
questionnaires, internationally solic-
iting thousands of designs. Submis-
sions were modified and codified.
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, left; members of the Gullah-
influenced jazz ensemble Lowcountry, below
processions,
rich with over-
lapping calls-
and-responses
and organic
shifts of meter.
Mr. Adjuah’s original compositions
are hypnotic—dreamy on “End Simu-
lation,” and with an air of menace on
“Trouble That Mornin’.” The 15-min-
ute-plus title track forms the album’s
emotional core. Here, his custom-
made bow sounds as percussive as
Mr. Braimah’s drums, his singing
proud yet pained, and his lyrics
pointed: “I think you can’t outrun
those fires born of the violence.”
Black Indian tradition has had no-
table crossover moments: In the
1970s, albums by Bo Dollis’s Wild
Magnolias and the Wild Tchoupitou-
las made it visionary funk; Donald
Harrison Jr.’s 1992 release, “Indian
Blues,” distilled it into jazz. Mr. Ad-
juah broadens this reach, and makes
a mesmerizing personal statement
about entwined histories of African
empires, Native American nations,
New Orleans forebears, and his own
life and times.
Dreyfuss also created a symbol
for the entire project, which the
exhibition describes as a “human
figure framed by a triangle, circle,
and square.” It deliberately looks
like a rough sketch—a work in
progress. And unlike Leonardo da
Vinci’s idealized Vitru-
vian Man, in which the
male figure is perfectly
inscribed in a circle
and square, here the
abstract geometric
forms are freeform.
The human simply
stands in the center—
which is one of Drey-
fuss’s principles. As we
see here, when he un-
dertook a redesign of
John Deere tractors in 1969, he
paid particular attention to the hu-
man “interface” and how the ma-
chine would be used; controls were
given distinctive shapes and tex-
tures so they could be distin-
guished by touch alone.
Dreyfuss’s design career could
have played an even bigger role
here. He created products that of-
ten deserved the overused descrip-
Trumpeter Matt White, who is
chair of jazz studies at the Univer-
sity of South Carolina, knew little
about Gullah culture when, a decade
ago, he made field recordings of el-
ders on St. Helena Island. Entranced
by the traditional songs of the Gul-
lah people—descendants of enslaved
West Africans in the Lowcountry re-
gions and Sea Islands of the Deep
South. He kept returning.
Gullah songs have long influenced
American music—from George
Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess”
to the Grammy-winning band Ranky
Tanky. Mr. White aims both to pre-
serve Gullah songs and to reimagine
them. The Lowcountry collective he
assembled is anchored by Quentin
Baxter, Ranky Tanky’s drummer, who
deftly blends the Gullah beats of his
upbringing in Charleston, S.C., with
modern-jazz mastery.
These tracks are set in motion by
Gracie Gadsen and Joseph and Rosa
Murray, who are husband and wife.
They are all “song leaders” in Gullah
tradition, who “line and raise” melo-
dies learned from elders, mostly at
Praise House services. Mr. White re-
.
Monday, August 7, 2023 | A13
 A poster for Henry
Dreyfuss’s ‘Symbol
Sourcebook’
tion “iconic.” He and his firm are
credited with many of the major
telephone designs offered by Bell
Telephone Laboratories, shaping
the look of the instrument for a
generation. His circular Honeywell
thermostats established a standard
that still resonates. He designed
airplane interiors, alarm clocks
and vacuum cleaners. And devised
symbols that would make their use
easier.
But as Dreyfuss knew, symbols
are not timeless representations.
The Sourcebook shows transforma-
tions in images of Olympic sports
between the London Games of 1948
and the Munich Games of 1972, in-
spiring one gallery here. In 1948,
we see, line drawings of sports
equipment took representational
pride of place—boxing gloves, a
sailboat, crossed fencing swords;
but in 1972, schematic human fig-
ures proliferated, always repre-
sented in motion, prepared to lunge
or dive or row.
Even more revealing is the ex-
hibition’s discussion of the familiar
“Accessible Icon” that evolved
from a design by a Danish student
in 1968; it shows a stick figure
erect in a static wheelchair, “as
though waiting to be pushed to a
destination.” It was adopted by at
least 25 countries by 1972 and ap-
pears in the Sourcebook. But just
over decade ago, there was a
“community-based effort” to rede-
sign it as “an empowering image”:
The figure is thickened and leans
forward as if in motion, arms
poised above the wheels.
The exhibition does not suffi-
ciently discuss the proliferation of
symbols in recent decades on com-
puter and phone screens—thus miss-
ing an opportunity to show how new
technologies might deliberately in-
voke antiquated symbols, the way
Apple’s operating systems use a me-
chanical gear for their settings app.
And the show’s extended attention
to the creation of hijab-wearing
emojis and to the activist symbol of
the raised fist are not particularly
compelling.
But in one display, the show
challenges visitors to design effec-
tive symbols from elements pro-
vided, and such challenges lead vis-
itors to explore and inquire further.
What makes for a truly awful sym-
bol, like those on our clothes’
washing labels? And why, as Drey-
fuss himself asked, are there no
satisfactory symbols for “push”
and “pull”? Symbolically speaking,
the show thus leaves us with a
healthy number of question marks,
accompanying a considerable num-
ber of exclamation points.
Give Me A Sign: The Language
of Symbols
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design
Museum, through Sept. 2, 2024
Mr. Rothstein is the Journal’s
Critic-at-Large.
corded them narrating cul-
tural histories and singing
Gullah songs in their
homes. He then crafted ar-
rangements, for which he
gathered jazz musicians
and, on six tracks, the
Charleston Symphony
String Quartet, in a record-
ing studio. He wove these
elements together, often to
seamless effect. On four
tracks, the celebrated tenor
saxophonist Chris Potter,
who grew up in Columbia,
S.C., becomes another sort
of song leader, his improvi-
sations forming the calls for
other musicians’ responses.
On “Aye Neva,” an old
“shouting song,” Mr. Murray
sings the Gullah phrase “day
come clean” (signaling the start of the
day), repeating it like a chant. Mr. Pot-
ter turns the notes and cadence into a
melodic cell. As embellished by the
jazz ensemble and string players—13
musicians in all—the harmonies
change hues, not unlike a sunrise.
Soon, Mr. Baxter syncopates bass-
drum kicks with beats of his tambou-
rine, an instrument he first played as a
boy in church.
Before any of this music, Gullah
musician and cultural preservationist
Ron Daise recites an original poem,
“Forgotten Moments”: “A history of a
people has been hushed,” he says.
“Progress and short-sightedness are
silencing a heritage.” To end the al-
bum, “Come By Here,” the Gullah tra-
ditional best known as “Kumbaya,”
becomes a ballad, highlighted by Mr.
White’s sweet-toned fluegelhorn set
against pizzicato strings.
With reverence and unhushed
abandon, Chief Adjuah and Lowcoun-
try extend legacies that, however
threatened or overlooked, are still
very much alive.
Mr. Blumenfeld writes about jazz and
Afro-Latin music for the Journal.
 .

A14 | Monday, August 7, 2023 * * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

SPORTS
BY RACHEL BACHMAN

Melbourne, Australia
Before July 21, 2021, the U.S.
women’s soccer team stood on a
seemingly unbreakable foundation.
It boasted two consecutive World
Cup titles and carried a 44-game
unbeaten streak into the 2021 To-
kyo Olympics.
On that day at Tokyo Stadium,
however, the U.S. fell apart against
Sweden, 3-0, in its Olympic opener.
It seemed like a fluke at the time, a
moment to brush off. “We got our
asses kicked, didn’t we?” Megan
Rapinoe quipped.
In retrospect, it was the first
sign of a steep descent for the U.S.
It bottomed out Sunday when Swe-
den delivered the death blow, beat-
ing the Americans on penalty kicks
after playing to a scoreless draw,
ending the U.S. dynasty in the
World Cup’s Round of 16.
It was the earliest exit from a
major tournament in the U.S.
team’s 38-year history. Rather than
winning an unprecedented third
consecutive World Cup title and

QUINN ROONEY/GETTY IMAGES

fifth overall, the U.S. women’s soc-
cer team is facing a reclamation
project that could bring a new
coach, an overhauled roster and a
daunting climb back to the top.
The Americans were eliminated
in dramatic and disheartening
fashion. They played a more con- Sophia Smith, center, is consoled by Lindsey Horan, left, after the U.S. team’s penalty shootout loss to Sweden at the Women’s World Cup.
trolled match on Sunday than in

World Cup Run Ends for U.S.

their shaky group-stage games, and
yet Sweden goalkeeper Zecira Mus-
ovic shut down a hail of U.S. shots.
By the time the match went to pen-
alties, the U.S. had failed to score
over their past four hours of game
time or so—a manifestation of their
struggles to put the ball in the net.
The penalty shootout itself high-
lighted the team’s problems. After
misses by Sweden gave the Ameri-
cans a chance to pounce and claim
victory, they faltered. Rapinoe, his-
torically the team’s penalty sniper,
skied her shot over the crossbar. So-
phia Smith missed next. Then Kelley
O’Hara, who entered the game late,
specifically for the shootout, tapped
hers weakly off the right post.
That set up a final blow to the
U.S.’s hopes. The penalty kick from
Sweden’s Lina Hurtig was batted
away by U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa
Naeher. But while it appeared that
Naeher had pushed the ball out of
the goal on a second touch, a re-
view showed that the ball crossed
the line—allowing the Swedes to
prevail 5-4 in the shootout.
The Americans were eliminated after a penalty shootout loss to Sweden in the Round of 16
For 120 minutes, including extra
time, it had been the U.S.’s best
performance in this World Cup.
Players came out energized yet in
control. The U.S. completed 81% of
its passes and fired off 21 shots, 11
of them on target.
The match ended the World Cup
career of Rapinoe, who said before
the tournament that she would retire
at year’s end, and might have ended
that of Alex Morgan, who would be
38 at the next World Cup. The match
also sent its roster of younger play-
ers, like Smith and Trinity Rodman,
into the future with a rough intro-
duction to World Cup play.
The team’s collapse didn’t come
out of nowhere. Back in 2021, the
Americans went on to lose to Can-
ada in the Olympic semifinal and
settled for the bronze medal. Per-
haps more troubling, in the latter
part of 2022, they lost three
straight friendlies. The team’s
shortcomings were already squarely
in focus by the time the World Cup
arrived.
For Sunday’s match, nearly ev-
ery key player from the U.S.’s domi-
nant 2019 World Cup title run—ex-
cept Morgan, midfielder Lindsey
Horan and Naeher—was retired, in-
jured, diminished, suspended (Rose
Lavelle due to yellow cards) or re-
positioned to fill a hole.
U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski,
hired months after that 2019 run to
steer the world’s No. 1 team, failed
to find adequate replacements, or
to prepare players tactically for a
rapidly improving women’s soccer
world, or both. After the loss to
Sweden, Andonovski deflected
questions about his future. In a
statement, U.S. Soccer said the fed-
eration would conduct a review to
identify areas of improvement and
determine next steps.
When Andonovski announced
the 23-player roster for this World
Cup, it had 14 newcomers to the
tournament, including young for-
wards who started the first two
games alongside Morgan: the 22-
year-old Smith and the 21-year-old
Rodman. Smith, another Stanford
standout, scored two goals and had
an assist in the opener against
overmatched Vietnam.
That turned out to be the en-
tirety of the front line’s contribu-
tions. In the group stage, the three
forwards often looked like talented
sprinters running in their own
lanes rather than a well-rehearsed
trio working together. Rodman
struggled in the U.S.’s 1-1 draw with
the Netherlands and despite play-
ing better against Sweden, failed to
score in the tournament.
A tense 0-0 draw with Portugal
ended with no goals and the U.S.
scraping into the knockout round in
second place in the group. If a late
shot from Portugal’s Ana Capeta
had landed a few inches to the left,
rather than hitting the post, the
U.S. would have failed to even es-
cape the group stage.

The WSJ Daily Crossword | Edited by Mike Shenk

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
25 Archaeology
find
Biles Makes a Confident Return
14

17 18
15 16

19
26 Group of
troops,
collectively
To Gymnastics Competition
27 Weak spot for
20 21 22 23 Achilles BY LOUISE RADNOFSKY

24 25 26 27 29 Digs by the In a world in which the

shore? most dominant gymnast in
28 29 30 31 Fitting the sport’s history withdrew
32 Fed. herself from the Olympic
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 biomedical team final after a single ter-
research org. rifying vault two years ago,
39 40 41 42 34 Cash- anything was possible when
dispensing Simone Biles made her re-
43 44 45 convenience turn to competition on Sat-
36 Site for urday.
46 47 48 49 50 Then she smiled, pumped
singles?
her first and danced after
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 37 Environment- confidently landing the most
ALEX WROBLEWSKI/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

friendly prefix difficult vault in women’s

58 59 60 38 Carmine or gymnastics history.
crimson “The amount of outpour-
61 62 63 64 65 40 ___suit (retro ing, love and support that I
outfit) had on Twitter, on Insta-
66 67 68 gram and in the arena was
41 Saint’s head
adornment just really shocking and sur-
69 70 71 prising to me, that they still
42 Composer
Satie have so much belief in me,
that they still love me,” Biles Simone Biles returned to competition after a two-year break.
SCRATCH THAT | By Sam Koperwas & Jeff Chen 47 Velvet-voiced said after.
singer Tormé That she was there at all favor of carefully constructed that she looked like she was
Across 31 Young 61 Food- 5 Campfire
Skywalker’s sounding leftovers 48 Tribal healer was always going to be ex- and solidly delivered rou- enjoying herself.
1 “That’s
correct” nickname “Mulan” 6 Goat’s bleat 50 Ruffian traordinary—including to tines, which easily qualified “I was very nervous, so at
33 Stone of dragon 7 Capital of 51 Hearts and her, she said. Biles had also her to compete at the U.S. least if it looked like I was
4 Type of
“La La Land” voiced by darts, for two pulled out of defending her championships at the end of having fun, that’s good. But I
radiation Belarus
Eddie Murphy 52 Shout Olympic all-around, floor this month. Her performance think after every routine it
that gave 35 Send 8 Jewelry item and vault titles in Tokyo, gave her a first-place finish got a little bit easier.”
She-Hulk her elsewhere, as 63 These might just over a “Woo-hoo!”
saying she was disoriented in a field in which none of Biles said that she still
powers to a specialist be given on foot? 53 Battery-
and unable to continue the other returning Olympic felt some trepidation when
9 Forehead 39 Popular a golf course, 9 Pork sausages powered auto safely or effectively. When competitors did all four twisting but that she had
hair cheesy after the ends 10 ___Lingus 54 Beneficial she appeared for a lone final events. started to feel better from
14 Poehler of offering at a of 17-, 25-, 39- 11 Tennis star 56 Imposing on the balance beam, and But she also picked up un- the moment she completed
“Parks and food court and 51-Across Osaka abode took a bronze medal, it finished business, performing her first twisting skill in the
Recreation” 43 2000s teen 66 Fashion 12 Musical staff 57 Some speech seemed that she might well the eye-poppingly hard official competition warm-up
15 Bolt with drama set in designer starter impediments have competed for the last Yurchenko double pike that and heard a roar of recogni-
great speed SoCal Perry 13 Bundle of 60 Awful rackets time. she had been working on tion and support from the
67 From the And it was utterly un- ahead of the Tokyo Games, spectators.
16 Arm’s length, 44 Kwik-E-___ papers 62 Box office
most clear, under bright event and hadn’t done in an arena She wasn’t the only
so to speak (store on “The 18 Letter after success
populous lights, whether she would since the official Olympic Olympic champion on a
17 Alternative Simpsons”) alpha 64 Tell tales
continent again experience the mental warm-up session. comeback mission on Satur-
to veal in 45 Fishing pole 22 Rowing tool 65 Boy condition that had rendered The vault was never day. Sunisa Lee, who won
osso buco 46 Units of 68 Soak up
her physically unable to do named after her because she the all-around crown in the
69 Put into Previous Puzzle’s Solution
19 Have ___to electrical skills she had done comfort- didn’t do it in international wake of Biles’s withdrawal,
words A N D C O F E Y S A P P
play resistance S C R A P E X E C U B E R ably for years. competition. made an emotional return to
20 Himalayan 49 Grocery 70 Requires P A I R E DW I T H E Y R E Would she look like the By the end of the night elite gymnastics after two
land shoppers’ aids 71 Busy hosp. S A P N Y E T A D D S U P gymnast who had been Saturday the gymnast who years of competing in NCAA
P I E R S T I E S cheered in Tokyo simply for had offered no promises gymnastics and a recently
21 Opening for 51 Be brusquely areas L E MA N S S T B A S I L
a coin or a dismissed Down A P I N G G Y R O S N E B
stepping back out in a leo- about her end-goals in a diagnosed kidney condition
TV show C E L T P E R O T P I MA tard in the Ariake Gymnas- comeback was talking about that disrupted her training
55 Page format 1 1945
E E L H E H I M T R A UM tics Centre at all? Or the one the world championships in even days before the event.
23 ___culpa for the conference S I N A T R A AM E N R A who had been undefeated in the fall, while stopping short Performing only on beam
24 Heaps internet site in P I D A Y C L O Y all-around competition since of making any promises for and vault, Lee also con-
58 Body spray Crimea C A E S A R G R U B A R C
25 “Do these R I D S D Y N AM I C D U O 2013, having pushed the dif- the next Olympic Games in firmed her spot for the na-
leftovers brand 2 Some of it I D E A S E A T L E A N S ficulty envelope of the sport 2024. tional championships.
smell okay to 59 “Frozen” is spam A S S N AWE E L M S T to new extremes with her “I feel a lot better now Biles and her coach Cecile
you?” snowman 3 Stand for The contest answer is COUPLES THERAPIST. ability to twist while simul- that’s out of the way,” Biles Landi both said that the
28 Work hard 60 Capital on the 4 Sudden burst Eight Across answers include a two-letter taneously turning? told reporters following the gymnast had only resumed
word or abbreviation (AND CO., ADDS UP, LE
30 “Good point!” Persian Gulf of wind MANS, ST. BASIL, HE/HIM, AMEN-RA, PI
It turned out to be both. event, saying she treated it training in full force after
DAY, ELM ST.). Those two-letter pieces, in Biles toned down some of as a “little win.” her April wedding to NFL
▶ Solve this puzzle online and discuss it at WSJ.com/Puzzles. order, spell the contest answer. her more outlandish feats in She was surprised to learn safety Jonathan Owens.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
OPINION
August’s Surprises Arrived Early
It’s as if they
read my
mind. In 2021
I noted that
surprises of-
ten come dur-
ing August.
INSIDE
Two weeks
VIEW
later, Presi-
By Andy
dent Biden’s
Kessler
Afghan exit
turned into
an unexpected fiasco. I fig-
ured, hey, let’s try again. I
spent the past few weeks re-
searching for a column about
more August surprises. Imag-
ine my surprise when July—
even its last week or so—spit
out a stream of surprises, all
seemingly related. I ripped up
the August column.
Let’s start with unidenti-
fied anomalous phenomena,
the trendy new expression
for UFOs. Former U.S. intelli-
gence agent David Grusch
testified to Congress on July
26 that the U.S. has retrieved
not only UFOs but also “non-
human” biologics of sup-
posed pilots. Any pictures? If
so, wanna bet they’re blurry
and grainy?
I’m in the camp that
thinks the government rolls
out UFOs every time it needs
a distraction. In 2003 the
Central Intelligence Agency
declassified documents
showing that it had made up
stories about flying saucers
shortly after it was outed for
its role in a 1954 Guatemala
coup. Are the UFO stories
being used to distract us
from the Donald Trump in-
dictment or the Hunter Biden
tax evasion?
Maybe UFOs are real. If
so, aliens must possess some
Groundhog Day for Deadbeat Argentina
Margaret
Thatcher fa-
m o u s l y
quipped that
the trouble
with social-
AMERICAS ism is that
“you eventu-
By Mary
ally run out
Anastasia
of other peo-
O’Grady
ple’s money.”
That hasn’t
yet happened to the world’s
most notorious deadbeat.
Last week Argentina
struck a deal with Beijing to
tap nearly $3 billion in yuan
from a currency swap line
the two countries renewed in
June. The announcement, in
which China is playing the
lender of last resort for Ar-
gentina, came two days after
the International Monetary
Fund reached a preliminary
agreement with Buenos Aires
to unlock access to $7.5 bil-
lion. The IMF said the money
is “intended to support Ar-
gentina’s policy efforts and
near-term balance of pay-
ments needs, including obli-
gations to the Fund.” In other
words, the fund is giving
money to its “client” so that
the client doesn’t go into ar-
rears on its $44 billion debt
to the fund.
The arrangement needs
IMF executive board ap-
proval, which may come later
this month. Meantime, Argen-
tina has used the China
loan—and help from Qatar—
to stay current with the IMF.
(Payment in yuan was an
Obama-era enhancement.)
None of this will solve the
fiscal and monetary prob-
lems plaguing the country.
The Politics and Science of Jet Fuel
By Fred Krupp
I
f you’ve flown recently,
you might have seen a
pre-takeoff promotional
video about the airline’s com-
mitment to sustainability. One
airline has even suggested
that its planes will soon be
powered by fruit compost.
Meantime, airline lobbyists
in Washington are trying to
weaken environmental safe-
guards in ways that would in-
crease pollution and waste
taxpayer money. Not all sus-
tainable aviation fuels are
created equal. Some, such as
high-quality e-fuels and fuels
sourced from cooking oil,
could significantly reduce the
climate impact of the 25,000
daily flights across the U.S.
Others, like those based on
sugarcane, could cause defor-
estation and harm the cli-
mate. As officials decide
which fuels will qualify for
tax credits under the Inflation
really cool technology, like
superconductors enabling
quantum-drive engines. Lo
and behold, July 22 saw the
announcement out of South
Korea of LK-99, a room-tem-
perature ambient-pressure
superconductor, surprising
everyone. A video claims to
show the Meissner effect,
levitation via emitted mag-
netic waves as material be-
comes superconducting.
The creators even de-
scribe how to make the lead-
based superconductor. The
first step requires the syn-
thesis of copper phosphide
from copper powder and red
phosphorus. Oops, the Drug
Enforcement Administration
labels red phosphorus a List
I chemical used by illegal
meth labs to convert pseu-
doephedrine into metham-
phetamine. It’s also in
strike-anywhere matches. I
suspect every scientist try-
ing to replicate the room-
temperature superconductor
is now binge-watching
“Breaking Bad” for tips.
Replicating the results will
take time—a few weeks, or
forever as many skeptics
think. Still, room-tempera-
ture superconductors would
usher in an era of magnetic
levitated trains, handheld
magnetic-resonance imaging,
cheap quantum computing
and even nuclear fusion.
In some surprise room-
temperature thinking, on July
24 Elon Musk clicked “de-
lete” on 17 years of valuable
brand building by inexplica-
bly changing the name of
Twitter to X. Why? Well,
with all the UFO fever, some
ex-Twitterers—see what I did
With inflation running at an
annual rate of 115%, there’s
no appetite to hold pesos.
Net international reserves
have plummeted and are
now negative.
Argentina’s central bank is
printing more pesos than the
market wants to hold because
the government, which is
broke, needs them to pay its
bills. This isn’t new in Argen-
tina. Successive governments
have generated repeated
bouts of high inflation for de-
cades. In an August 2019
piece in Forbes, Johns Hop-
kins economist Steve Hanke
summarized the history: “To
list but a few of Argentina’s
major peso collapses: 1876,
1890, 1914, 1930, 1952, 1958,
1967, 1975, 1985, 1989, 2001,
and 2018.”
Since Argentine inflation
began to take off again in
2007 until the end of 2022,
total money supply grew on
average 30.7% a year, accord-
ing to the Ministry of the
Economy. Headline inflation
grew on average annually at
35.1% according to Nicolás
Cachanosky, director of the
Center for Free Enterprise at
the University of Texas, El
Paso.
Capital controls exacer-
bate shortages of hard cur-
rency. Dollars coming into
the country have to flow
through the central bank,
which exchanges them for
pesos. The purchase of dol-
lars for travel abroad or to
pay for imports also is done
through the central bank. It
has more than 10 official ex-
change rates, none of which
reflect the market. The rate
Reduction Act, it’s critical to
get this assessment right.
The global aviation indus-
try is one of the largest
sources of climate pollution.
If its emissions were mea-
sured alongside countries, it
would be the sixth-largest.
No, planes won’t run
on fruit compost, but
they can be made
more sustainable.
For the existing fleet, and
tens of thousands of new
planes slated to enter markets
over the next two decades, an
aviation tax credit focused on
truly sustainable fuels would
spur greener private-sector
innovation and lead to cleaner
and more efficient air travel.
But fuels that are derived
from natural resources aren’t
there?—think it’s an homage
to the TV show “The X-Files.”
Makes more sense than any-
thing else.
On the other hand, this
makes absolutely no sense:
In a world of increasingly
short attention spans, mil-
lions voluntarily filed into
dark rooms to watch back-to-
back flickering celluloids
about dolls and nuclear
physicists—the Barbenheimer
timer ran nearly five hours.
Weird. Meanwhile, the stock
UFOs, brain scans
and superconductors
made it an unusually
interesting July.
market, surprising most,
spent July heading into the
stratosphere. Or was it an
Oppenheimer-like mushroom
cloud?
Even crazier: On July 20,
Google and researchers at
Osaka University released
details of Brain2Music. As it
sounds, it reconstructs mu-
sic from brain activity—yes,
reading your mind. While a
person listens to music,
fMRI, functional magnetic-
resonance imaging, captures
brain waves. That data is
run through artificial intelli-
gence to break down the
sounds into smaller elements
of text, which are then fed
into a text-to-music trans-
former called MusicLM that
plays the reconstructed mu-
sic. Amazing.
They tested the results
with 540 music samples from
at the central bank for retail
is around 290 to the dollar
while in the black market the
rate is about 565.
Off-loading pesos to hoard
dollars is a national pastime
for Argentines, who are
among the world’s most so-
phisticated currency specula-
tors. Investors, knowing that
they can’t put capital into the
country at market rates or
get it out when they want,
tend to go elsewhere. Stag-
nating Argentine economic
growth is no mystery.
Another peso collapse
may be coming as a
presidential election
approaches.
The central bank has tried
to counter its reckless peso-
printing by selling high-
yielding term instruments to
banks. Thirty-day Leliqs, as
these vehicles are called,
now carry an effective annu-
alized rate of some 155%. The
aim is to sop up excess pesos
in circulation.
Yet even with a healthy
Leliq spread over current in-
flation, demand for the cur-
rency is falling. Perhaps it’s
because Argentines expect fu-
ture inflation to be even
higher and they understand
the risks of a further selloff
that would likely trigger a hy-
perinflationary spiral. This is
particularly true in a presi-
dential election year. An un-
expected political shock, such
as the country experienced in
always good for the climate.
Depending on their produc-
tion process and feedstocks,
those fuels can cause defores-
tation, increase pollution and
raise food prices.
Federal regulators should
preserve rigorous environ-
mental standards such as
those set by the International
Civil Aviation Organization to
determine the extent to which
different sustainable fuels re-
duce climate pollution in pro-
duction and use. We need to
make room for promising new
technologies like synthetic e-
fuels made from surplus re-
newable electricity and direct
air capture of carbon.
Washington is right to rec-
ognize that incentives for pri-
vate innovation should be the
leading path toward a cleaner,
thriving aviation industry.
Calls by some in Europe to
limit flights are impractical
here, and the U.S. airlines’
push to grant tax credits to
10 different genres, including
the 1986 Beastie Boys head-
banger “(You Gotta) Fight for
Your Right (to Party).” The
reconstructed output is a bit
grainy, but this is a first step
toward literally reading
minds. All that’s needed is
portable MRI and—wait,
room-temperature supercon-
ductors will enable that.
Coincidentally, or maybe
not, on July 20 a patent ap-
plication filed by Apple was
published for a “Biosignal
Sensing Device Using Dy-
namic Selection of Elec-
trodes.” It looks like AirPods,
except the earpiece has 40 or
50 embedded electrode sen-
sors that could be used for,
get this, “accurate measure-
ments of brain activity.”
Hmmm. Could this read our
minds when we discuss
UFOs? It wouldn’t surprise
me.
All these surprises took
place while I was reading
George Gilder’s terrific new
book, “Life After Capitalism.”
It makes a thoughtful case
for an information theory of
economics based on the no-
tion that wealth is knowl-
edge, growth is learning, in-
formation is surprise, and
money is time. All scientific
and economic surprises are
information and, Mr. Gilder
explains, happen persistently,
or else we’d be living in a
static world.
By the looks of July, we
certainly aren’t in one of
those. July was a reminder
not to be closed-minded. My
only real surprise was that
these surprises weren’t in
August.
Write to kessler@wsj.com.
August 2019, could mean that
when the central bank tries to
roll over the $30 billion in
Leliqs outstanding it won’t
find buyers. In that case a
flood of pesos would hit the
economy.
Argentine authorities are
blaming the monetary crisis
on weather, and the IMF
agrees somewhat. In its ratio-
nale for the latest agreement
to release new funds, despite
the failure of Buenos Aires to
meet “key program targets,”
the fund pointed to the ex-
tended drought affecting agri-
cultural output. Yet it quickly
added that fault also lies with
“policy slippage and delays,”
which seems to be the better
explanation for the mess.
Neighboring Brazil also has
experienced a drought. Yet
Brazilian inflation is running
at 3.19%, comparable to the
U.S. Kudos go to Brazilian
central bank president Ro-
berto Campos Neto—and his
board—who tightened credit
when government spending
threatened to undermine
price stability. The central
bank has held its overnight
lending rate at 13.75% for the
past year despite pressure
from President Luis Inácio
“Lula” da Silva to pursue an
easier policy.
On Aug. 13 Argentines vote
in primaries for presidential
candidates, and this issue is
front and center. Yet promises
of a cure are short on details,
probably because it would
mean upending the long tra-
dition of Peronist populism
that has bankrupted the
country.
Write to O’Grady@wsj.com.
lower integrity fuels would
cause environmental damage
and crowd out cleaner, innova-
tive fuels.
For an example of smart
policies, look to Washington
state, where tax incentives to
promote the alternative-fuel
industry have taken shape. In
May, a Dutch company chose
the state as the future home
for its new biogas plant,
which is set to produce 30
million gallons of sustainable
aviation fuel a year starting in
2028. Last month a U.S.
startup also broke ground on
a Washington plant to make
fuel from carbon dioxide, wa-
ter and renewable power.
The stakes are high. For
the sake of a stable climate
and efficient use of federal
money, let’s not let politics
get in the way of science.
Mr. Krupp is president of
the Environmental Defense
Fund.
.
Monday, August 7, 2023 | A15
BOOKSHELF | By Frank Gannon
Treasure Map
To Nowhere
Anansi’s Gold
By Yepoka Yeebo
(Bloomsbury, 378 pages, $29.99)
I
n the mid-1970s, a charismatic young Ghanaian
named John Blay-Miezah was out and about in London,
New York and Philadelphia. This urbane Penn grad,
now in his early 30s, had an astonishing tale to tell and
an extraordinary deal to offer.
To all who would listen he related how, in April 1972,
he had been in Bucharest at the deathbed of Ghana’s first
president, Kwame Nkrumah. In his final moments, the
exiled leader confided to his tribal brother and protégé
that the long-rumored story was true: Before being over-
thrown by a coup in 1966, he managed to spirit billions of
dollars in diamonds, cash and—most notably—30,000 gold
bars from Ghana to banks in Switzerland. The money was
earmarked for improvement projects in his beloved country
and would stay abroad until some more settled moment
when it could be safely repatriated. Only Blay-Miezah
would know the account numbers and the passwords and
procedures required to
access the treasure.
Blay-Miezah told his
listeners that he was now
ready to carry out Nkrumah’s
instructions, and he was
confident that it would take
only a matter of weeks or, at
most, months to have the
money in hand. In the mean-
time, he was looking for
people to cover his expenses.
He didn’t expect virtue to be
its own reward because, in
addition to the satisfaction of
helping a struggling African
nation, investors were guaran-
teed breathtaking returns: 10 to 1, 20 to 1, even 100 to 1
for every dollar invested. Supporters and investors weren’t
hard to find—ranging from poor widows to former U.S.
Attorney General John Mitchell (on his uppers after release
from prison in 1979). The money poured in.
But there were problems with Blay-Miezah’s story. For
starters, the closest he came to studying at Penn was
working as a busboy at Philadelphia’s Union League Club.
Instead of being at Nkrumah’s deathbed in Romania, he
was an hour outside Philly doing time for fraud at the
State Correctional Institution at Graterford.
The sprawling story of Blay-Miezah’s outsize life and
wayward career is told with mordant aplomb by first-time
British-Ghanaian author Yepoka Yeebo in “Anansi’s Gold:
The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and
Swindled the World.” Ms. Yeebo identifies Blay-Miezah
with the mythical Ghanaian trickster Anansi. Like the
Monkey King in China, Anansi uses his guile to deceive
and cheat the bigger and stronger. While “Anansi’s Gold”
reflects a daunting amount of research, it reads like a
picaresque novel.
For almost two decades, as Ms. Yeebo chronicles, Blay-
Miezah strung investors along by revealing pesky new
technicalities that prevented him from accessing the money.
Pretty soon a pattern emerged. After endless delays,
investors would be summoned to Ghana (or Switzerland or
the Cayman Islands), where the long-awaited payout was
finally to take place. After a couple of days Blay-Miezah
would disappear. Eventually he would resurface elsewhere,
and the cycle would begin again.
Ms. Yeebo notes that Shirley Temple Black, the U.S.
ambassador to Ghana, saw through Blay-Miezah and tried
to warn others. In a 1975 cable to Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger, she explained the problem: “Those who believe
Blay-Miezah a fraud are worried he might just have the
money and then they would look extremely foolish.”
He knew how to find the billions of dollars that
Ghana’s leader had sent abroad, but first he
needed investors to keep him (luxuriously) afloat.
Blay-Miezah was a large man who lived large. His be-
spoke suits, bejeweled fingers, sleek limos, personal chefs
and penthouse suites added to his mystique instead of
undermining his credibility. He was faithless to his
investors (and to his wife, who was nicknamed “Columbo”
for her ingenious ways of tracking his dalliances), but he
was always faithful to his inner con man. Conveniently
timed health scares were part of his repertoire. Ms. Yeebo
describes him in a hospital with monitors beeping and
an oxygen mask covering his face: “Blay-Miezah opened
his eyes to greet his visitors. One investor proffered the
wad of cash to him. He remained stock-still, apart from
his right hand, which emerged slowly from under the
sheet, clutched the cash, and disappeared back under the
sheet again.”
In 1979 Blay-Miezah saw a way to escape prosecution
and get his hands on vast resources: He would become
Ghana’s president. Unfettered by facts and unconstrained
by reality, he ran as an anticorruption candidate. When it
looked as if he had a real shot at winning, the government
indicted him on charges of bribery, perjury and forgery.
Just to be sure, his name was removed from the ballot.
The guilty verdict and a sentence of nine years in prison
would have been the end of the road for a lesser flim-
flammer. But there were many scrapes and escapes still
ahead. In the end, it was Ed Bradley and “60 Minutes”
that brought Blay-Miezah down. The segment, broadcast
in January 1989, was titled “The Ultimate Con Man.” In
person Blay-Miezah may have been charming and con-
vincing; on the tube he came across as phony and pre-
posterous. Three years later, he suffered a heart attack
and died—or maybe not, as Ms. Yeebo avers. Either way, a
funeral was held, and someone looking very much like him
was buried in Accra in 1993.
While Ms. Yeebo’s narrative is compelling, some of her
postcolonial analysis is debatable. Ignoring the obvious
incentive of exorbitant profit, she writes that Blay-Miezah’s
black investors wanted to “repair the wounds of coloni-
alism” while his white ones saw a chance “to loot an
African country’s ancestral wealth.”
Perversely, the power of Blay-Miezah’s con and the
allure of Nkrumah’s gold live on. In 2009 an official
Ghanaian government commission found no evidence that
the gold ever existed. But avarice springs eternal, and
Ms. Yeebo notes that “right now, somewhere in the world,
someone is telling Blay-Miezah’s lie about Nkrumah’s gold,
and someone is investing in it.”
Mr. Gannon was special assistant to the president in the
Nixon White House.
 .

A16 | Monday, August 7, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

OPINION
REVIEW & OUTLOOK LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Democrats vs. the Supreme Court Trump’s Conspiracy and Campaign Troubles

D
emocrats are continuing their cam- prejudging a case because there is no such case, Your editorial “Another Troubling prefer several of Mr. Trump’s GOP
paign to discredit the Supreme Court, and there may never be. Trump Indictment” (Aug. 2) says the challengers, especially those with the
election conspiracy “had no chance of bravery to call out the former presi-
and their frequent demand these days The press is portraying comments by Justice
success.” Didn’t it? What if former dent and his threat to democracy.
is “recuse!” They want conser- Elena Kagan last week as a re- Vice President Mike Pence hadn’t GEORGE HAGER
vative Justices disqualified They want to influence buttal to Justice Alito. But her been a hero? One reason a conspiracy Washington
from hearing cases that they which Justices can comments aren’t as far apart to do an unlawful act is illegal is that
fear won’t turn out the way as the spin. “Can Congress do it could succeed. Irrespective of the outcome of the
progressives want. This needs hear certain cases. anything it wants? Well, no,” Former President Donald Trump various indictments, Mr. Trump is
to be understood as an at- she said, as reported by Polit- did more than “lobby” Mr. Pence. He consumed by legal troubles of an un-
tempt to usurp the judiciary ico. “There are limits here, no repeatedly ordered Mr. Pence to vio- precedented magnitude. At the same
and control the Court. doubts.” Do Democrats also want Justice Kagan late the law to overturn an election. time, he is running for president, the
The Democrats’ latest target is Justice Sam- to recuse herself from any case involving Con- After Mr. Pence said he wouldn’t, Mr. most demanding and all-consuming
uel Alito, who had the effrontery to talk on the gressional regulation of the Court? Trump tweeted to the angry mob that job there is. Something has to give.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage Mr. Trump, 77, simply can’t devote
record about the Supreme Court and his juris- i i i
to do what should have been done to the care and attention that these con-
prudence in an interview with this newspaper. Which gets us back to the Democratic recusal protect our country and our Constitu- flicting and, frankly, surreal agendas
The article offered a rare insight into the think- demands, and it’s important to understand how tion.” Members of the mob shouted, require simultaneously. Both his de-
ing of one of the Court’s most influential Jus- destructive they are. The decision of which “Hang Mike Pence!” and built a gal- fense and his campaign will suffer.
tices and the third longest-serving. cases to hear, and whether to sit on those cases, lows. Might Mr. Pence have been in- The prudent and statesmanlike re-
Justice Alito also dared to defend the Court is central to the judicial role. If Senators or timidated? course for Mr. Trump would be to
from recent political attacks. This has upset the some outsiders can coerce Justices to recuse EM. PROF. CANDACE KOVACIC-FLEISCHER drop out of the race to focus exclu-
press and Senate Democrats, who are escalat- from certain cases, they are intruding on the American University College of Law sively on clearing his name. Given his
ing. Ten of the 11 Democrats on the Judiciary authority and independence of a co-equal McLean, Va. proclivity for grandiosity, however,
Committee last week sent a letter to Chief Jus- branch of government. Mr. Trump will more than likely sol-
You write that “Democrats want dier on in his quest for a second
tice John Roberts demanding that he force Jus- The canon of judicial ethics sets standards
Mr. Trump to be the Republican nom- term, particularly if he deduces that
tice Alito to disqualify himself from specific for recusal for lower-court judges, though indi- inee.” Well, not this Democrat, and this is his only realistic means of
cases based on the interview. vidual judges typically decide for themselves not most of the Democrats I’ve asked. avoiding a lengthy stint in prison.
i i i when this obliges them to withdraw from a Given the nontrivial chance that Mr. MARK GODES
They claim Justice Alito should recuse him- case. Those recusal standards are merely advi- Trump could beat President Biden, I’d Chelsea, Mass.
self from hearing Moore v. U.S., a tax case the sory for the Supreme Court, and for good rea-
Court has accepted for the coming term. They son. A lower court can easily substitute another
claim it’s a conflict of interest because one of judge in a case. The Supreme Court with only
our interviewers was David Rivkin, who is on nine Justices cannot. Blinder Defends the Supply-Shock Theory
the legal team representing the plaintiffs in the Removing a single Justice can change the
case. Mr. Rivkin is well known to our readers result of a case, or even deny the litigants a In “What We’ve Learned About In- other prices, being sticky downward,
flation” (op-ed, Aug. 2), John Co- don’t fall. That is what happened in
as a frequent contributor on the law who has clear decision if the Court deadlocks 4-4. All
chrane argues that I (“Team Transi- the 1970s, 1980s and 2020s.
also interviewed Justice Clarence Thomas and nine Justices agree on this point. In April the tory Had a Point About Inflation,” op- Second, Mr. Cochrane claims, the
Henry Kissinger for these pages. nine signed a “Statement on Ethics Principles ed, July 20) and other supporters of supply-shock theory “predicts that
The conflict charge is specious. Justice Alito and Practices” stating that “Justices have a the supply-shock explanation of the the price level, not the inflation rate,
said nothing about Moore and wasn’t asked duty to sit that precludes withdrawal from a recent rise and fall of inflation make will return to where it came from—
about it in the interview. If a personal interac- case as a matter of convenience or simply to two mistakes. I beg to differ. that any inflation should be followed
tion with an appellate lawyer is disqualifying avoid controversy.” First, Mr. Cochrane claims, the sup- by a period of deflation.” No. Not un-
for the Justice, then the Justices would have to The statement explained that individual Jus- ply-shock theory is about relative less the prices of the goods afflicted
be hermits. They interact all the time with law- tices, rather than the entire Court, decide re- prices (that’s true), and that a rise in by supply shocks return to the status
yers who argue cases before them. cusal issues. Letting the full Court or a subset some relative price (e.g., energy) quo ante and persistent inflation
The articles recounting the interview with decide on recusal “would create an undesirable “can’t make the price of everything go doesn’t creep into other prices. Nei-
up.” This is an old argument that mon- ther has happened in this episode.
Justice Alito said generous things about his ju- situation in which the Court could affect the
etarists started making a half-century PROF. ALAN BLINDER
risprudence, but that also isn’t a conflict. If it outcome of a case” by selecting which Justices ago, when the energy and food shocks Princeton University
were, Justices would have to recuse from any could participate. struck. It has been debunked early and Princeton, N.J.
case involving the actions of the President who The Senators care nothing of this. Their con- often. All that needs to happen is that Mr. Blinder served as vice chair-
appointed them because they are no doubt cern is with the judicial result. That’s why the when energy-related prices rise, many man of the Federal Reserve, 1994-96.
grateful to that President. “ethics” bill that Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and
The Democrats also say Justice Alito should Dick Durbin have passed through the Judiciary
recuse himself from hearing any case that Committee includes a provision that would
might come forward in the future concerning make lower-court judges the arbiters of recusal
Mann Replies on Wildfires and Climate Change
Congress’s attempt to regulate the Court. Jus- decisions for the Justices. In “Climate Change Hasn’t Set the tense if we continue to heat the
World on Fire” (op-ed, Aug. 1), Bjorn planet with carbon pollution—and
tice Alito said in the interview that “no provi- This would open the door to widespread de-
Lomborg denies the effect of climate that’s true. Indeed, I emphasize the
sion in the Constitution gives them [Congress] mands for recusal. Left and right would play change on the increasingly devastat- importance of adaptation, in addition
the authority to regulate the Supreme Court— this game, and liberal as well as conservative ing wildfires that we are witnessing. to mitigation (reducing carbon emis-
period.” Justices would be the targets. This would turn In rebuttal, let me quote the Journal’s sions), in reducing our vulnerability
The Justice was stating his opinion on a gen- nearly every case the Court hears into a politi- online news article “The World Bakes to extreme weather in my forthcom-
eral constitutional principle. The question has cal football and ultimately destroy public confi- Under Extreme Heat” (World News, ing book “Our Fragile Earth.”
never been litigated as far as we know. Justice dence in the judiciary. It would be nice if law- July 19): “Punishing heat this summer But as I point out there, “We must
Alito did acknowledge in the interview that yers and judges would wake up to this threat has helped stoke wildfires in places recognize that there are thresholds
Congress can cut the Court’s budget, and it has and defend the Court so Justice Alito doesn’t like Canada, Southern California, beyond which we will simply exceed
changed the number of Justices. But he wasn’t have to do it by himself. Spain and . . . Greece.” the adaptive capacity that human civ-
Mr. Lomborg also misstates my ilization affords us.” This is the real
views, claiming that I’ve asserted cli- lesson your readers should take away
China and Russia Eye Alaska mate action is the “only way” to re-
duce vulnerability to wildfires. He
from the unprecedented summer
we’re currently experiencing.

A
uses a quotation where I was instead PROF. MICHAEL E. MANN
mericans who think the next major war shadow the foreign warships. That’s an im- pointing out that wildfires will neces- University of Pennsylvania
won’t touch American territory might provement from the September episode, when sarily become more frequent and in- Philadelphia
want to take note of the news that China a tepid U.S. response was criticized by Alaska
and Russia conducted a joint Sen. Dan Sullivan.
naval operation last week near A joint naval patrol A spokesman for U.S. We Have Enough Old Colonels Running Around
the coast of Alaska. off the Aleutians is a Northern Command said the
U.S. officials said 11 ships Sino-Russian patrol wasn’t The U.S. military’s up-or-out pro- stay on and fly my helicopter gunship
participated in the patrol near warning and a test. perceived as a threat, but one motion system, including the provi-
sion for some modest retirement-style
for a few more years. The Marine
Corps was wise to give my cockpit
the Aleutian islands. It was day soon it could be. In the
benefits as early as the 20-year point, over to a younger pilot, likely with
the largest such operation an- new era of great power com- isn’t perfect (“The Military Encourages sharper reflexes than mine. More im-
alysts can recall and follows a smaller one in petition, Russia, China and Iran are building an Its Best to Retire Too Soon,” Letters, portant, that young officer might
September 2022. The joint patrol underscores axis to challenge U.S. power. The naval patrol July 29). The basic structure, however, possess the rare talent, that I clearly
the cooperation between the two countries, is best understood as a warning that U.S. terri- has stood the test of time. Combat, lacked, for a high-level command po-
which is extending to military operations be- tory isn’t safe, as well as a test of how the U.S. and even many strenuous, noncombat sition in the future.
yond Beijing’s help for Moscow in Ukraine. (See will respond. positions, favors the young. The last MAJ. MIKE LEACH, USMC (RET.)
Seth Cropsey nearby.) The world is getting more dangerous, and a thing our military needs is a lot of old Virginia Beach, Va.
The U.S. responded with dispatch, sending complacent U.S. political class isn’t educating colonels and captains running
four destroyers and reconnaissance aircraft to the public about the growing threats. around—there are probably too many
as it is—much less a surfeit of older, I Married an Oppenheimer
midrange officers and NCOs.
Before my first date with the man
Why San Francisco Is a Homeless Mecca I would have been delighted to
who was destined to become my hus-
band, a friend whispered to me that

C
alifornia has spent more than $20 billion drugs,” Ms. Breed recently noted. he must be very rich, either in dia-
NATO Alliance Has Enough monds or funds (“The Perks and Pit-
on housing for the homeless since 2020, Since 2016 San Francisco’s homeless budget
yet public encampments continue to has ballooned to $672 million from $224 million, To Worry About in Europe falls of Being an Oppenheimer,” Re-
view, July 29). Alas, he was from
grow. As San Francisco pro- yet the number of homeless in The Ukraine war has revitalized
neither, but after 49 years of mar-
gressives are learning, govern- The city spends $646 shelters has increased by a NATO’s purpose: the defense of its
riage, I consider myself very rich for
ment can build more shelter, mere 736. That equates to member states from external attack.
but that doesn’t mean the
million on shelter, $609,000 in higher annual Before Russia’s invasion, the alliance
the beautiful family we’ve raised, even
if our children, grandchildren and I
but vagrancy grows. was dithering in out-of-area opera-
homeless will use them. spending for each additional still have to correct the pronunciation
tions, like training missions in Iraq
The city of San Francisco person in shelter. This is on top and no-fly zones in Libya, of dubious
of our family name. I hope the movie
released data last week show- of the $20 billion that Demo- will help with that.
importance to trans-Atlantic security.
ing that 55% of homeless individuals rejected crats in Sacramento have thrown at the home- DAHLIA OPPENHEIMER
NATO busying itself in Asia (“Asian
shelter when offered it. Days earlier a giant fire less problem. Boca Raton, Fla.
Allies Have a Role to Play in NATO”
destroyed a housing complex under construc- A 2018 local ballot measure championed by by John Bolton, op-ed, July 24) would
tion. The blaze is under investigation, but resi- Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff increased San Fran- be a strategic distraction.
dents in the area say they repeatedly complained cisco business taxes by some $300 million annu- Outside the U.S., France and the Pepper ...
to the city about fires igniting around homeless ally to build more homeless housing. Yet the tax U.K., NATO’s member states don’t
possess the strength in numbers, ca-
And Salt
encampments. increase has merely given businesses another in-
Mayor London Breed threw her hands up in centive, on top of rampant crime and shoplifting, pabilities or logistics to sail Asia’s THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
congested waters for anything more
response. “We can’t force people to accept or to move jobs out of the city.
than a short period. At best, deploy-
stay in shelters and we’re unable to prevent peo- San Francisco’s homeless epidemic is a result ments would be symbolic.
ple from setting up an encampment in an area in large part of the familiar problems of drug ad- Geopolitical factors should be con-
that was just cleaned. This is the situation we are diction and mental illness. But a particular prob- sidered as well. It’s hard to think of a
in,” she tweeted Wednesday. lem is the refusal to prosecute drug crimes. In more efficient way to buttress the
She’s right. San Francisco is under a federal 2014 California’s Prop. 47, which was backed by Russia-China-North Korea partner-
injunction that bars officials from enforcing laws Gov. Gavin Newsom and other progressives, ef- ship than dragging the U.S.-led mili-
against camping or sleeping in public spaces as fectively decriminalized drug use and shoplift- tary alliance into Asia.
long as its homeless population exceeds avail- ing. Localities can’t use the threat of jail to in- DANIEL R. DEPETRIS
able shelter beds. As we recently explained, the duce addicts to receive treatment. Fellow, Defense Priorities
New Rochelle, N.Y.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Democrats in Sacramento plan to ask voters
Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual next year for approval to borrow $15 billion
Letters intended for publication should
punishment creates a right to vagrancy. more to reduce homelessness. Only a progres- be emailed to wsj.ltrs@wsj.com. Please
Many homeless prefer to live on the streets sive could imagine that will this work any better include your city, state and telephone
where they can freely use drugs. “People are than the last tens of billions. How about instead number. All letters are subject to
coming here for so many different reasons in- repealing the misconceived law that is fueling editing, and unpublished letters cannot “My parents tried to rebrand nagging
be acknowledged.
cluding the ease of access to getting these the problem? as consistent messaging.”

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Ukraine Needs American Drones
By Seth Cropsey
C
hina’s recent decision to
restrict exports of drones
will blind Ukraine’s recon-
naissance advantage in the
war with Russia and con-
stitutes an active intervention on
Moscow’s side. The U.S. and its al-
lies should respond by developing
an industrial base that makes un-
manned aerial systems. Failing to do
so would all but guarantee that Rus-
sia gains the upper hand.
The Ukraine war is the first drone
war. Unmanned aerial systems, or
UAS, are crucial to Ukraine’s strat-
egy and are at the forefront of a
transition in military technology
that closes the gap between the po-
tential and actual effect of preci-
sion-guided munitions. Modern mili-
taries have fielded extraordinarily
accurate weapons for decades. First
employed during the U.S. bombing
campaign in the 1972 Easter Offen-
sive in Vietnam, precision weapons
have become increasingly accurate
and long-range. But accuracy is use-
ful only if a target can be identified
and rapidly engaged.
China’s export controls
on the unmanned aerial
systems Kyiv uses will
benefit Russia in the war.
Unmanned aerial systems also are
fixtures of modern militaries, first
used in 1982 at large scale to opera-
tional effect in suppressing Syrian
air defenses in Lebanon. They
searched for long-range heavy guns
during the Gulf War and were used
by the U.S. and its allies as a key
strike asset against jihadists during
the global war on terrorism.
Ukraine’s military success repre-
sents an evolution beyond standard
Western—and, before the current
war, standard Russian—military
practices. Outmanned and out-
gunned, the Ukrainians face an en-
emy with far more cannons, rocket
launchers and ammunition. Their so-
lution, developed since the 2014
Donbas war began, has been to fight
smarter.
The Ukrainian UAS reconnais-
sance system integrates a handful
of weapons with tens of thousands
of small drones, including handheld
machines, larger, four-rotored
What Was Donald Trump Thinking?
Did Donald Trump
believe the 2020
election was sto-
len? Who knows?
Discerning his
thoughts would be
as challenging as
LIFE
breaking into an
SCIENCE
iPhone without the
By Allysia
passcode.
Finley
Yet Mr. Trump’s
attorney claims
the government can’t prove, at least
not beyond a reasonable doubt, that
the former president knew his elec-
tion-fraud claims were false, even if
he had been advised by the vice
president, Justice Department, di-
rector of national intelligence and
White House attorneys that they
were. There might be some truth to
that.
Merely being informed that some-
thing is false often doesn’t change
people’s convictions. A 2019 Ipsos/
Reuters poll found that 50% of
Americans who were aware of Rob-
ert Mueller’s report, which found no
evidence that Mr. Trump’s campaign
colluded with Russia in the 2016
election, still believed that it had.
After the report’s release, 84% of
Democrats still believed the collu-
sion hoax, which had been peddled
by the media and partisans like Cali-
fornia Rep. Adam Schiff. Seventy-
nine percent said they hadn’t learned
anything from the report that
changed their minds about the issue.
Two-thirds of Democrats wanted
Congress to continue investigating.
How are Mr. Trump’s convictions
about election fraud in the face of
countervailing evidence any different
from Democrats’ continued subscrip-
tion to the Russia collusion lie?
They’re not, but psychologists
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A Ukrainian soldier launches a drone.
quadcopters and a handful of fixed-
wing craft. Ukrainian UAS units
drive forward, deploying drones
within a few hundred yards of the
enemy. Starlink satellites transmit
real-time images of Russian units.
This live battlefield data, which the
Russian military struggles to dis-
rupt, is fed back to artillery units.
When a target is engaged, Ukraine’s
drone operators can fire weapons
and assess the battle damage im-
mediately. This system enables
strikes deep into the Russian forces
by deploying long-range artillery
fire to destroy air defenses, elec-
tronic systems, and other high-
value targets.
Every month, Ukraine uses about
10,000 drones of different types.
Loss rates vary. Experienced opera-
tors might take the same drone on
dozens of missions, while infantry
units in hot spots could lose drones
each day of combat. Russia has cop-
ied Ukraine’s system, using the same
equipment, but less effectively. Rus-
sian forces typically use less mobile
but more reliable wired communica-
tions platforms.
Most drones are made for civilian
use. Before the Ukraine war, no de-
fense contractor had the capacity to
supply UAS at the scale required for
combat. Chinese state-backed com-
pany DJI is the world leader, making
up about two-thirds of the global
small drone market. Ukrainian sol-
diers prefer DJI equipment to Amer-
ican and European alternatives,
which cost more and are often less
user-friendly and reliable. A short-
range DJI quadcopter sells for be-
tween $1,000 and $5,000; a medium-
range one for $5,000 to $15,000.
wouldn’t find either surprising.
A wealth of social-science re-
search finds that people are predis-
posed to accept information compat-
ible with their existing beliefs and
knowledge. They are also more likely
to believe things that others in their
orbit do. Curiously, countervailing
evidence often has the effect of en-
trenching a false belief.
“Compatibility with other knowl-
edge increases the likelihood that
misleading information will be ac-
Good luck finding out. But
psychology can help us
grasp why he, like so many
Democrats, clung to lies.
cepted, and decreases the likelihood
that it will be successfully cor-
rected,” explains a 2012 article in the
journal Psychological Science in the
Public Interest.
The idea that Democrats were try-
ing to steal the election by stuffing
ballots and employing other deceit-
ful means was consistent with Mr.
Trump’s belief that his opponents
were out to get him. Democrats had
also lied in the past. Mr. Schiff prop-
agated the Russia-collusion story de-
spite firsthand knowledge that it was
false.
Mr. Trump was also surrounded
by supporters who believed the elec-
tion was being stolen. This convic-
tion fit comfortably with how Demo-
crats had gone to court in the weeks
before the election to change mail-in
ballot rules to their hoped benefit.
These various strands formed a psy-
chologically coherent and compelling
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Chief Executive Officer, News Corp
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OPINION
LIBKOS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Because DJI is a state-funded entity,
the Chinese Communist Party and
Ministry of State Security have ex-
tensive insight into its exports.
China has disrupted Ukrainian
drone deployment before. Through-
out 2022, it delayed quadcopter ex-
ports to the European Union while
still complying with EU market reg-
ulations and limiting the capabili-
ties of its Aeroscope UAS detection
systems. But with the export con-
trols announced last week, China in-
stituted a review process for any
drone sales that pass a certain
threshold, essentially regulating
ones with military use. The key part
is a ban on military end-use.
Ukraine gets most of its drones
through individual buyers and char-
ities that operate in Europe, mean-
ing after Sept. 1, when China’s ex-
port controls go into effect, it will
be hard for Ukrainian units to get
Chinese-made drones.
This is intervention on Russia’s
behalf. China is unlikely to restrict
drone-technology transfers to Rus-
sia. Even if it does so nominally, it
has almost certainly helped Russia
build a small but useful domestic
drone industry by exporting con-
sumer electronics that Russia can
repurpose into low-tech UAS.
A wholesale ban would over-
whelmingly benefit Russia. Despite
severe attrition, Russia has quantita-
tive artillery superiority over
Ukraine, while Ukraine’s entire ap-
proach rests on integrating drones
with artillery fire and infantry move-
ment. If the conflict reverted to a
20th-century contest between
massed artillery, Russia would have
an overwhelming advantage. Without
story—even if all of the pieces
weren’t true.
“Coherent stories are easier to
process than incoherent stories,” the
journal article explains. “An engag-
ing story from an untrustworthy
source may be remembered and ac-
cepted long after the source has
been forgotten.” While Mr. Trump’s
advisers who claimed that the elec-
tion was being stolen weren’t credi-
ble, their stories were engaging.
Many in Mr. Trump’s inner circle
rejected false stolen-election theo-
ries, so why didn’t he pull himself
back from the brink? “Retractions
rarely, if ever, have the intended ef-
fect of eliminating reliance on misin-
formation, even when people be-
lieve, understand, and later
remember the retraction,” the jour-
nal review explains. One reason is
people “generally do not like to be
told what to think and how to act, so
they may reject particularly authori-
tative retractions.”
The instinct for self-preservation
may also override all facts. Mr.
Trump couldn’t acknowledge he had
lost the election because doing so
would threaten the perception he
had built of himself as a winner. His
ego wouldn’t let him concede defeat.
This need for self-preservation
Notable & Quotable: Donors
From “Conservative Donors: Wake
Up!” by Heather Mac Donald in the
Summer issue of City Journal:
To understand just how confident
Harvard can be in its irresistible ap-
peal to donors, consider one of its
recent windfalls. In April 2023,
hedge-fund manager Kenneth Griffin
bestowed $300 million on the uni-
versity, close to the largest single
donation in the institution’s history.
. . . Griffin is not your usual high-
value donor—not a George Soros,
Bill Gates, or David Geffen, say. He is
a conservative.
(Of course, there is no escape
from Harvard’s diversity obsessions.
Griffin’s gift will itself be managed
according to diversity principles.
Harvard’s financial overseers brag
about having increased the diversity
of their staff and of the external fi-
nancial companies they employ. Pre-
sumably, Griffin selects his own
money managers based on merit, not
on race and sex.)
Griffin could have worked with
the administration to create courses
the reconnaissance edge, Ukrainian
offensives would be impossible. As
Ukrainian counterbattery fire deteri-
orates, Russian forces can simply
grind Ukraine down.
The West can’t sustain Ukraine in
a traditional fight. While Western ar-
tillery capacity is expanding and can
meet Ukraine’s needs without dipping
into stockpiles over the next 15
months, Ukrainian ammunition ex-
penditure is premised on its UAS-re-
connaissance system. The West would
need to supply Ukraine with not
120,000 to 150,000 shells a month,
but closer to half a million, and with
1,000 or more additional guns.
China’s actions demand a recog-
nition from the U.S., its allies and
Ukraine that Beijing is a full, if
stealthy, supporter of Russia’s war.
China has no desire to play honest
broker, nor any interest in seeing a
settlement that respects American,
European or Ukrainian security
concerns.
The U.S. and its allies must act
immediately. Drone makers in the
West are eager to compete with DJI
and other Chinese companies. The
U.S. should repurpose some of its
aid to Ukraine to include quadcop-
ters made by U.S. companies.
The defense secretary can initiate
an emergency program under the
Defense Department’s Rapid Acquisi-
tion Authority. This authority, which
lets the secretary appropriate funds
from almost any source in the Pen-
tagon budget, applies when a “com-
pelling national security need” de-
mands “the immediate initiation of
a project” and “rapid fielding.” The
need is obvious: American support
to Ukraine will fail if the UAS-recon-
naissance system collapses.
The Biden administration has
supported Ukraine thus far by deliv-
ering piecemeal capabilities weeks
to months after its need became ap-
parent. Ukraine has survived thanks
to ingenuity and technological adap-
tation, particularly by using UAS to
improve its artillery. If Ukraine
doesn’t get the UAS support it
needs, Russia will gain the upper
hand, likely by year end. If the U.S.
doesn’t act, it risks handing a deci-
sive victory to Russia—and a geopo-
litical gain to China.
Mr. Cropsey is founder and pres-
ident of the Yorktown Institute. He
served as a naval officer and as
deputy undersecretary of the Navy
and is author of “Mayday” and
“Seablindness.”
may also explain why President Bi-
den continues to deny that his son
Hunter did anything wrong despite
evidence of his misadventures, in-
cluding foreign influence-peddling.
Acknowledging that Hunter is a
scoundrel might also require Mr. Bi-
den to accept—at least to himself—
falling short as a father.
It’s also true that people resist
being told that their actions and be-
liefs are wrong. Messrs. Trump and
Biden are no exceptions. This resis-
tance is especially common among
addicts. In these pages last summer,
I recited the abundant research tying
marijuana use to mental illness. The
piece predictably sent pot-heads into
high dudgeon.
Such resistance occurs whenever
deeply held beliefs are challenged.
Try explaining to progressives that
climate change isn’t going to light
the world on fire and that their poli-
cies will do more harm than good.
All the evidence in the world won’t
convince them they’re wrong.
Human psychology doesn’t excuse
Mr. Trump’s actions and probably
won’t exculpate him in court. But it
does provide an alternative explana-
tion to special counsel Jack Smith’s
allegation that he was trying to steal
the election.
in Western civilization, given his re-
gard for the Constitution. If the fac-
ulty threw a tantrum, as the Yale
faculty did in 1995 at the prospect of
a $20 million gift to strengthen the
humanities curriculum, that eruption
would itself have been clarifying.
Griffin is accustomed to deal-
making. He warned Chicago for
years that he was prepared to de-
camp if it did not control crime.
When it came to Harvard, he seems
to have set aside his business sense
and his beliefs. . . .
Griffin’s gift signals to his fellow
businessmen, including to other con-
servatives, that the path to prestige
still leads through the Ivy League.
And it signals to universities that
they will continue to pay no price
for a political agenda antithetical to
mainstream American values, one
that proclaims racism as the funda-
mental American trait. As long as
this reflexive giving remains the
norm, the project of reforming uni-
versities from the inside out is
doomed to fail. It is time to start
building elsewhere.
.
Monday, August 7, 2023 | A17
Washington
Has Energy
Production
All Wrong
By Harold Hamm
G
asoline prices had their big-
gest one-day increase in a
year on July 25, rising to an
eight-month high, while oil passed
$80 a barrel. More than half a cen-
tury of experience working in the
oil industry tells me that with the
Organization of the Petroleum Ex-
porting Countries doing all it can to
keep prices high, the only way to
prevent them from rising higher is
to produce more oil and gas here at
home.
President Biden has pursued the
opposite strategy. Instead of in-
creasing production, he wants to
mandate that Americans use less—
by banning or restricting the use of
gas stoves, gas heat, air condition-
ing and even cars with combustible
engines. That is a recipe for lower
living standards, higher prices and
a waning of America’s geopolitical
leadership.
Every time government inter-
venes in unpredictable energy mar-
kets, politicians get it wrong. Take
the Fuel Use Act of 1978. The young
Sen. Joe Biden and Rep. Al Gore
were among those who championed
the act, which mandated the use of
coal to generate electricity because
so-called experts were sure the U.S.
was running out of oil and natural
gas.
Biden was wrong to back a
1978 law mandating the use
of coal, and he’s wrong to
push solar and wind now.
Then in 1980 the Carter adminis-
tration spent billions of dollars on
renewable-energy subsidies and
even a business called Synthetic Fu-
els Corp. that went bankrupt six
years later. When Ronald Reagan let
the market work by deregulating
energy, oil production soared and
prices tumbled. No one worried
about running out of oil anymore.
That is, until Barack Obama came
into office. In 2011, when gasoline
prices rose, Mr. Obama said that
“we can’t just drill our way out of
the problem.” He worried that
America was going to run out of
places to drill and that energy com-
panies would want to drill on the
Washington Mall. So instead Mr.
Obama spent millions on now bank-
rupt propositions such as the solar-
energy company Solyndra.
The politicians weren’t paying at-
tention to the amazing shale revolu-
tion driven by such oil and natural
gas companies as Continental Re-
sources. Horizontal drilling ex-
ploded in the late 2000s in the Bak-
ken Shale in North Dakota, the
Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania,
and later in the Permian Basin in
Texas. America has doubled its oil
and gas output in less than 15 years.
Yet Mr. Biden still says wind and
solar are the future. Let’s be hon-
est. We’ve spent trillions of dollars
on wind and solar, and the technol-
ogy is maxed out. The blades are
about as big as they can get, and
the panels are going to become es-
sentially worthless in years to come
because of new technologies. We
can go on shaping policy over pipe
dreams and flawed math, or we can
choose to put America on a path to-
ward energy independence and
dominance.
We can safely harvest American
energy while protecting our envi-
ronment too. In the past 20 years,
despite large increases in oil and
gas production, annual U.S. carbon-
dioxide emissions from such
sources have decreased, according
to the Energy Information Admin-
istration. Such technologies as hor-
izontal drilling have also allowed a
single well on less than an acre to
reach oil fields miles away in all
directions.
I like to call the shale revolution
the “trillion-dollar swing.” It’s
money that stayed in the U.S., was
invested here, and produced a
bounty of clean, affordable Ameri-
can energy. We’re not going to run
out, not for 100 years or more.
Politicians over the past 50 years
have had a rotten record of predict-
ing the next big thing in energy.
They say the technology for battery
storage and solar panels is improv-
ing, but the same can be said for
fossil-fuel production.
We can all agree that when it
comes to the most valuable natural
resource—energy—it’s far smarter
to trust markets than politicians to
ensure a bountiful future.
Mr. Hamm is founder and chair-
man of Continental Resources and
author of “Game Changer: Our Fifty-
Year Mission to Secure America’s
Energy Independence.”

A18 | Monday, August 7, 2023
Turks Leery of Lira Flock to Istanbul Bazaar
Patrons pour money
into foreign cash,
gold, other assets as
currency weakens
BY JARED MALSIN
AND ELVAN KIVILCIM
ISTANBUL—Deep in the
stone warren of Istanbul’s 560-
year-old Grand Bazaar, a cluster
of traders selling gold and dol-
lars pace the alleyway, murmur-
ing into phones and smoking.
The tension rises as demand
grows. A shout comes from the
crowd: “I’ve got it ready!”
Turks are pouring money
into foreign currency, gold,
cryptocurrency, jewelry and
other assets they see as a safer
bet than the Turkish lira, which
has lost more than 80% of its
value in the past five years.
“There’s an atmosphere of
panic,” said Mustafa Demiray,
39, a currency trader standing
on the edge of the crowd and
clutching two phones. “People
think the price [for dollars]
will go up, so there’s a higher
demand right now.”
The collapse of the lira is
the result of an era of eco-
nomic mismanagement by
Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, economists
say. The Turkish leader in re-
Khan Sentenced as Pakistan Vote Delay Looms Activist’s
BY SAEED SHAH
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—
Pakistan’s halting democratic
journey suffered a setback af-
ter a court sentenced former
Prime Minister Imran Khan to
prison, and the government
indicated that elections due
this year would be postponed.
Khan, the leader of the
country’s biggest opposition
party, was convicted of cor-
Derailment of Train en Route From Karachi Kills at Least 30
PERVEZ MASIH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—At
least 30 people were killed on
Sunday when a train ca-
reened off its tracks in south-
ern Pakistan, officials said.
There were around 1,000
passengers on the train,
which was traveling to north-
ern Pakistan from the
NIGER
Deadline Passes
For End to Coup
A deadline set by other
West African countries for
leaders of the July 26 coup in
Niger to back down and liber-
ate the nation’s elected presi-
dent passed on Sunday with-
out regional militaries
launching the armed inter-
vention they had threatened.
Eleven leaders from the
Economic Community of West
African States at an emer-
gency summit last weekend
said they would consider us-
ing force to return President
Mohamed Bazoum to power.
—Gabriele Steinhauser
A shop inside the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul sells gold jewelry and other precious metals.
cent years has pressured the
central bank into cutting in-
terest rates despite the coun-
try’s high rate of inflation—
the opposite of what central
banks would usually do.
Erdogan has attempted to
adjust course since winning a
close election in May in which
his opponents attacked him
over Turks’ purchasing power.
The country’s newly ap-
ruption and sentenced to
three years in jail on Saturday
by a court in Islamabad, the
government and his lawyers
said. Khan maintains his inno-
cence in this case, as well as
in dozens of other legal cases
brought against him by the
government since he was
ousted from power in April
2022. His party says he faces a
campaign to remove him from
politics. A conviction, if up-
southern port city of Karachi,
along the main track that
runs up the middle of the
country. More than 100 were
injured, officials said.
Rescuers pulled people out
of overturned and mangled
carriages, which had derailed
near the town of Nawabshah,
MOROCCO
At Least 24 People Governing Body
Die in Bus Crash Elects New Leader
At least 24 people died in
a bus crash on Sunday in the
province of Azilal in central
Morocco, marking one of the
deadliest such accidents in
recent years in the country.
Local authorities, cited by
Morocco’s official news
agency MAP, said the acci-
dent happened when a mini-
bus overturned at a curve
while en route to the weekly
market in the small town of
Demnate, in central Morocco.
Authorities are investigat-
ing the cause of the accident.
—Associated Press
WORLD NEWS
pointed central-bank governor,
Hafize Gaye Erkan, and Finance
Minister Mehmet Simsek have
raised interest rates, but too
slowly to get inflation under
control, some analysts say.
The lira continued to slide
after the central bank’s July
meeting, in which officials de-
cided to raise interest rates by
a mere 2.5 percentage points,
a move that slowed the pace of
held, would bar Khan from
taking part in elections.
Khan plans to appeal the
conviction, one of his lawyers
said. Police arrested the politi-
cian at his home shortly after
Saturday’s verdict.
Separately, the government
of Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif said on Saturday that
elections, due by early Novem-
ber under the constitution,
would be postponed. Law Min-
in the country’s Sindh prov-
ince, in the afternoon. Cranes
were brought to the site to
lift the carriages, and the
army was called in to help.
Survivors climbed out of
the windows of carriages,
with some searching desper-
ately for their children, local
WORLDWATCH
LIBYA
One of Libya’s top govern-
ing bodies elected a new
head on Sunday, a develop-
ment that could further frac-
ture the country, which is
split between two rival ad-
ministrations.
Members of the Supreme
Council of State, which is
separate from both govern-
ments, voted for Mohamed
Takala to be the new leader.
He would take over from
Khaled el-Meshri, a powerful
figure who had been key in ne-
gotiations over election laws.
—Associated Press
Fancy more free copies? Subscribe to https://t.me/+5exKXEXM2T0yNDI5
* *** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
lysts said the upward revision
was an acknowledgment that
the bank’s current stance was
unlikely to tame inflation,
which is running at 38%.
Erkan said the bank would
lift rates further, and would
adopt a holistic approach to
tackling inflation, including us-
ing other policy instruments
such as quantitative tightening.
Investors and analysts are
concerned that Erkan and
Simsek don’t have a genuine
EMANUELE SATOLLI FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
mandate from Erdogan to do
what is needed to stabilize the
Turkish economy. Erkan
pushed back on those ques-
tions on July 27.
“The central bank of the Re-
public of Turkey is an indepen-
dent institution,” she said. “We
will continue the increases in
interest rates alongside the
quantitative tightening along-
side the selective credit tight-
ening because that’s what the
current situation demands.”
the rate increases and put the Turkey’s economic turmoil
lira under further pressure. has put pressure on the trad-
The decision disappointed ers at the Bazaar, who have
some economists and inves- played a central role in the
tors who hoped Simsek and economy since the vast cov-
Erkan would be more aggres- ered marketplace was built
sive about tackling inflation. during the days of the Otto-
Erkan on July 27 raised the man Empire, more than five
bank’s year-end inflation fore- centuries ago. The shops in
cast to 58% from 22.3%, while the Bazaar are part of a
predicting price increases sprawling global network of
would slow next year. Ana- businesses and banks dealing
ister Azam Nazeem Tarar said Many in Pakistan fear that
the constitution also requires
elections to be held on the ba-
sis of the most recent census,
if the election doesn’t happen
as scheduled by the constitu-
tion, the delay could be far
which means more time will
be needed to prepare, taking
the polls to around February.
longer.
“The future of democracy is
bleak,” said Abid Saqi, a law-
Pakistan conducted a census yer who was formerly vice
this year. The Election Com- chairman of the Pakistan Bar
mission of Pakistan, an inde- Council. “When the entire
pendent federal body, will an- constitution has been put into
nounce a new date for the slumber, I don’t see elections
vote, he said. in the near future.”
television pictures showed. The driver said he wasn’t
“We have made great ef- speeding, the minister said.
forts to make rail travel safe,” Maj. Gen. Muhammad Hus-
said Khawaja Saad Rafique, sain, visiting the site of the
the railways minister, noting derailment, said a preliminary
that the track was in good investigation didn’t find evi-
condition. “We will have to dence of terrorism. Authorities
investigate to get to the root were trying to identify the
cause of this incident.” dead, he added. —Saeed Shah
ITALY IRAQ
Dozens of Migrants Bear Facts Sought
Recovered in Sea In Airline Mishap
Italy rescued dozens of mi- Iraqi Prime Minister Mo-
grants as they foundered in hammed al-Sudani ordered an
the sea or clung to a rocky reef investigation into how a bear
on Sunday after three boats escaped from its crate aboard
launched by smugglers from an Iraqi aircraft as it was set
northern Africa shipwrecked in to depart from Dubai’s airport,
rough waters in separate inci- leaving passengers disgruntled
dents over the weekend. Survi- over the delay.
vors said some 30 fellow mi- Iraqi Airways on Saturday
grants were missing. said it wasn’t to blame for
For years, migrants have the bear’s escape and that
taken to smugglers’ unsea- the aircraft’s crew worked
worthy vessels to make the with authorities in the United
risky crossing of the Mediter- Arab Emirates, which dis-
ranean to try to reach south- patched specialists to sedate
ern European shores. and remove the animal.
—Associated Press —Associated Press
.
in gold and currency.
Mehmet Akif Turker, a 44-
year-old gold trader, sat in his
office at the Bazaar on a recent
morning, his phone and two
slabs of gold on the desk in
front of him. The high demand
for gold should be good for his
business, he explained, but the
turmoil in the economy isn’t.
Turks and other traders
must contend with a complex
web of rules imposed by the
government in recent years to
scare up foreign currency and
keep the country from tipping
into insolvency. Those include
a rule that forces businesses
like Turker’s to convert 40% of
their foreign-currency earn-
ings into lira, traders say.
“In general, in our line of
work, crisis makes money,”
Turker said. “But when the dol-
lar fluctuates so much and the
market is so unstable, it can
bring us profit or it can bring
us losses. We are exhausted.”
Volatility in the economy
isn’t the only driver of gold
sales, vendors say. The pan-
demic also increased business,
said Metin Kocatepe, 54, a
salesman from another jew-
elry shop. “After corona, peo-
ple’s mentality changed.
They’re more relaxed in their
shopping. They say ‘maybe to-
morrow I’m gonna die, I’ll buy
something nice.’ ”
Family Is
Targeted in
Hong Kong
BY ELAINE YU
HONG KONG—Last Monday
at dawn, officers from Hong
Kong’s national-security police
burst into the apartment of
Derek Yuen and Eunice Yung,
the son and daughter-in-law
of a high-profile pro-democ-
racy campaigner who criti-
cizes China’s Communist Party
from perches abroad.
The police seized a laptop
and mobile phone in the raid
and took Yuen and Yung, who
is a pro-Beijing politician in
the city’s legislature, to a po-
lice station for hours of ques-
tioning about the activities of
their dissident relative before
releasing them without
charges, Yung said.
Elmer Yuen, a 74-year-old
U.S.-based activist, is one of
eight overseas critics of China
who are facing arrest war-
rants in Hong Kong after be-
ing accused of national-secu-
rity crimes. He appeared at a
news briefing in Washington
in July and another in London
last Tuesday, discussing his
plans to form an unofficial
government in exile.
Elmer Yuen, who shares his
political commentary in videos
posted online, said the authori-
ties’ actions against his family
members were intended to
pressure him to speak out less
and to halt his political efforts.
“Of course I worry about
my safety and that of my fam-
ily, but our work has a goal,
and a price must be paid,” he
told The Wall Street Journal.
He said he wouldn’t be de-
terred “even if they arrest my
entire family.”
The family and the widely
diverging politics of its mem-
bers have been the subject of
public discussion in Hong
Kong in recent years. They ap-
peared in a 2020 documentary
aired by the city’s public
broadcaster RTHK, and their
story has resonated with
many Hong Kongers in politi-
cally divided homes.
Yung is the vice chair of a
major pro-Beijing political
party. Her husband once joked
that their daughters’ crayons
at home were missing a yellow
one—the color of the city’s
pro-democracy movement—be-
cause his wife had removed it.
After Yung was questioned,
she said she was cooperating
fully with investigators and
hoped her father-in-law and
the other dissidents would be
arrested soon. Yung and her
husband didn’t respond to re-
quests for comment.
Hong Kong’s chief executive,
John Lee, has urged friends
and relatives of the wanted dis-
sidents to share tips and said
they were eligible, along with
other members of the public,
for a $128,000 reward for cap-
ture of each activist.
 BUSINESS & FINANCE
.

© 2023 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. * * * * * * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, August 7, 2023 | B1
Last Week: S&P 4478.03 g 2.27% S&P FIN g 0.83% S&P IT g 4.14% DJ TRANS g 2.25% WSJ $ IDX À 0.56% 2–YR. TREAS. yield 4.791% NIKKEI 32192.75 g 1.73% See more at WSJ.com/Markets

Truckers, Pilots Turn Up the Heat Troubled

Yellow
Transportation
industry faces
lower-paid weekend driver role
and agreed to ensure that de-
livery vehicles have adequate
Files for
heightened activism
from labor unions
cooling equipment for drivers.
Railroads are promising more Bankruptcy
STU BOYD II/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL/USA TODAY NETWORK/REUTERS

predictable work schedules so

workers can plan and attend
BY ESTHER FUNG family activities on their days BY PAUL PAGE AND SOMA BISWAS
off.
Surging demands on trans- Recent labor standoffs have Yellow, the 99-year-old
portation workers are fueling irked businesses and, in some trucking company, filed for
labor standoffs at companies cases, resulted in snafus in the bankruptcy and is closing the
critical to U.S. supply chains. movement of goods around the business, falling victim to
The Teamsters, which repre- country. Souring relations be- mounting debt including a
sents drivers at trucking com- tween the Teamsters and Yel- government loan and a stand-
pany Yellow, threatened a low prompted several compa- off with the Teamsters union.
strike shortly before the com- nies to pull their business. The bankruptcy follows
pany shut down July 30. FedEx The slowdown of work at years of struggles for the
pilots recently rejected a new West Coast ports caused some Nashville, Tenn., trucker as it
labor contract promising a ships to take a longer route to tried to address the debt it ac-
roughly 30% raise. Port work- dock at ports along the East cumulated through a series of
ers in Canada staged walkouts Coast instead. To prevent haz- mergers and a $700 million
earlier this year, and dock- FedEx pilots recently rejected a new labor contract promising a roughly 30% raise. ardous and other sensitive ma- federal Covid-19 relief loan
workers at West Coast ports terial from being left unat- during the pandemic. On July
slowed work at container ter- Transportation workers said “We know what we’ve sacri- vice was reached and amid the tended in the event of a labor 30, the company shut down its
minals. they are entitled to a larger ficed to make certain that Yellow threats. “Now is our stoppage, railroad operators operations and laid off a large
The renewed activism fol- share of the corporate profit goods and services are pro- time to be rewarded.” imposed restrictions on han- number of workers.
lows the Covid-19 pandemic, generated during the pandemic vided,” Teamsters General Employers say they are of- dling some commodities days “It is with profound disap-
when demands on train opera- and better pay and recognition President Sean O’Brien said at fering outsize wage increases before a strike deadline. Indus- pointment that Yellow an-
tors, package carriers, and for showing up through the a rally in Atlanta on July 22, and changing their operations try groups have warned about nounces that it is closing after
truckers surged to handle a health crisis when other staff days before a tentative agree- to improve conditions for the damage that potential work nearly 100 years in business,”
deluge of business. was able to work remotely. ment with United Parcel Ser- workers. UPS got rid of a Please turn to page B2 Chief Executive Darren Haw-
kins said in announcing the
filing for chapter 11 bank-

Quarterly Earnings Expected to Be Worst in Years

ruptcy protection late Sunday
in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
Delaware.
Please turn to page B2

BY PETER SANTILLI S&P 500 quarterly earnings, S&P 500 second-quarter earnings, change from
AND GEORGE STAHL

Earnings for the nation’s

change from a year earlier*
On pace for third straight decline
a year earlier, by sector†
Consumer discretionary 52.1%
Engine
Recall
biggest companies are poised Communications 18.7
to fall for the third straight 75%
quarter, hurt in part by the Industrials 12.2

Reduces
decline in energy prices. Real estate 10.4
The members of the S&P 50
Financials 5.8
500 are on pace to collectively
report a 5.2% decline in earn-

Flights
Consumer staples 5.8
ings, their worst performance 25 Utilities 4.6
since 2020.
Revenue is on track to rise Technology 1.1
0.6% from a year ago, accord- 0 –5.2 S&P 500 BY DOUG CAMERON
ing to FactSet.
Energy companies are pull- –27.7 Healthcare Airlines in the U.S., Europe
ing down the index as their –25 –28.7 Materials and Asia are temporarily re-
results have fallen from the ducing some flights and
2015 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23 –51.4 Energy
record-breaking levels re- routes to inspect aircraft af-
ported a year ago. However, fected by the recall of hun-
they remain strong by histori- Quarterly revenue of a selection of S&P 500 companies by sector, change from a year ago‡ dreds of Pratt & Whitney jet
cal standards. engines, leaving the unit of
“Obviously, gas prices were Revenue $10B $100B Evolution of revenue Falling revenue the aerospace and defense
down, but I think refining company RTX facing a poten-
margins are down a bit but COMMUNICATION SERVICES tial multibillion-dollar bill.
ENERGY TECHNOLOGY HEALTHCARE
still in very healthy territory,” Exxon Mobil and Chevron Apple sales fell for the third UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly Google parent Alphabet and Some 137 engines used on
Exxon Mobil Chief Executive each had 28% declines in consecutive quarter amid revenue rose by 15.6%, the Facebook owner Meta Platforms Airbus single-aisle jets will
Darren Woods said on the revenue with energy prices softening demand for company’s largest year-over-year benefited from increases in need to be inspected over the
company’s earnings call last lower than a year ago. consumer devices. percentage increase in seven years. advertising sales. next several weeks, RTX said.
month. –80% 0% 80% That is fewer than the 200
Exxon’s earnings fell by originally expected but still a
56% from a year ago on a 28% Meta problem for carriers that were
drop in revenue. Apple already dealing with staffing
CVS Alphabet
Through Friday, 84% of the shortages and air-traffic con-
S&P 500 companies have re- trol congestion.
ported results for the second UnitedHealth The ability of RTX to con-
Exxon Mobil Microsoft
quarter of 2023, and some big Chevron Group tain and fix the problems has
names remain, including Walt major ramifications for one of
Disney on Wednesday, Wal- *The change for the second quarter of 2023 is as of Aug. 4 and based on a blend of actual results and estimates. †As of Aug. 4
the world’s biggest aerospace
mart on Aug. 17 and Nvidia ‡Excludes companies that have yet to report earnings for the most recent quarter. To avoid overlap, the horizontal placement of some circles is approximated. and defense companies.
on Aug. 23. Sources: FactSet (S&P 500 quarterly earnings); Dow Jones Market Data (selection of companies) Peter Santilli/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Please turn to page B4

Whistleblowing Took Thieves Target Nike Shoes at Every Turn

Over One Man’s Life BY INTI PACHECO

BY JUSTIN BAER through, but one thing was It is getting harder for a pair
clear: Clothier’s life was falling of Air Jordans to make it all
Peter Clothier checked into a apart. the way from the factory to a
Santa Fe, N.M., hotel in 2017, Whistleblowers sometimes store shelf or your front porch.
alone and suicidal. win widespread acclaim, as Nike goods have been stolen
Drunk on red wine, uninter- when an Enron employee ap- at almost every step of the sup-
ested in the opera festival he peared on the cover of Time or ply chain, from distribution
had come to attend, Clothier when Russell Crowe starred in centers, rail yards and storage
fumed. For years, he had been a movie about a former Big To- trains to FedEx delivery trucks,
trying to call attention to what bacco executive. The U.S. gov- highlighting how retail crime
he believed was wrongdoing in ernment believes in rewarding goes beyond shoplifting or
his corner of Wall Street. He tipsters who call attention to smash-and-grab thefts in
JAKUB PORZYCKI/NURPHOTO/ZUMA PRESS

felt unheard by his former em- misbehavior. This year, the Se- stores.
ployer and the government. curities and Exchange Commis- Los Angeles police in June
Clothier emailed a former sion issued its biggest ever seized at least $3 million worth
colleague, saying he intended whistleblower award, for $279 of Nike products that they say
to kill himself and laying the million. were stolen from a warehouse
blame on other former co- But most whistleblowers near the Port of Los Angeles.
workers. He didn’t follow Please turn to page B6 Inside the boxes were pairs of
an unreleased style of the
NOCTA x Nike Glide, a $160

INSIDE sneaker collaboration between

the sportswear giant and hip-
hop superstar Drake.
Air Jordans are often resold for well above original price, making them a favorite for criminals.
BENJAMIN GIRETTE/BLOOMBERG NEWS

A few weeks earlier, Los An- than $50 billion in annual sales, Executives at retailers such profit. Air Jordans and other
geles County sheriff’s detec- hasn’t disclosed the amount of as Target, Macy’s, BJ’s Whole- designs regularly change hands
tives arrested a dozen people merchandise it loses to theft sale Club and Ulta Beauty for hundreds of dollars above
who authorities say were part and declined to comment for have blamed criminal networks the original price.
of a crime ring that over the this article. for causing problems with their In February, Nike offered to
past year stole around The journey to the U.S. for a inventories and called it an ur- pay for off-duty and more on-
$750,000 in merchandise from pair of Air Jordans starts at gent issue. Reports of cargo duty police officers to address
one Nike store. factories in Vietnam or China, theft across the supply chain safety and theft concerns at a
“The supply chain is under where the sneakers are typi- increased by 63% during the northeast Portland, Ore., store,
attack right now,” said Keith cally manufactured. The sneak- first half of 2023 compared which has been closed since
AVIATION HEARD ON THE Lewis, vice president of opera- ers then have a winding path with a year earlier, according last year. The Portland
Planet Labs, Astra STREET tions for Verisk-owned Cargo- from Asia, with several stops at to data from CargoNet. mayor’s office said the pro-
Net, a theft prevention and re- ports, warehouses and distri- Nike products became more posal wasn’t feasible given
Space and Satellogic Stablecoins are covery network that often bution centers before they ar- attractive targets for criminals staff limitations.
have all cut jobs amid offering less stability collaborates with law enforce- rive in stores or homes. A pair in recent years as reselling lim- Organized retail crime
lofty goals. B4 for Coinbase. B10 ment. of shoes are at risk of being ited-edition sneakers turned groups carry out carefully
Nike, which generates more stolen at each stop, Lewis said. into an easy way to make a Please turn to page B9
 .

B2 | Monday, August 7, 2023 * ***** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

INDEX TO BUSINESSES BUSINESS & FINANCE

These indexes cite notable references to most parent companies and businesspeople in

Striking Writers Auction Off Items

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

A Fiesta Restaurant Group B3 Planet Labs.................................B4

Airbus................................................B1
Amazon...........................................B2
AMC Entertainment............B9
Apple.................................................B3
Astra Space................................B4
B JetBlue............................................B4
Berkshire Hathaway....B3,R3
BJ's Wholesale Club............B1
BNSF Railway...........................B2
Blue Origin...................................B4
C U-V
Circle Internet FinancialB10
Coinbase......................................B10
Country Garden....................B10
D-E
DRW Holdings..........................B2
Exxon Mobil.................................B1
F-G
FedEx.................................................B1
INDEX TO PEOPLE
B Gleit, Naomi..............................A11
Bernstein, William.................R3
Bezos, Jeff...................................B4
Bourla, Albert............................A2
Branson, Richard....................B4
Buffett, Warren..............B3,R3
Burger, Barbara.......................A6
C Hellestø, Aslak..........................A6
GameStop.....................................B9 Rite Aid...........................................B9
Garnett Station PartnersB3 Rocket Lab USA.....................B4
H-J RTX......................................................B1
S BY ELLEN GAMERMAN notecards has cleared $5,000.
Hawaiian Airlines...................B4
Home Depot...............................B2 Satellogic.......................................B4 Other items range from a
SpaceX.............................................B4 The “Seinfeld” finale script football helmet signed by every
Jump Trading Group...........B2 Spirit Airlines............................B4 signed by its cast and creators. participating player at the
L T A 2001 People’s Choice Award NFL’s 2023 rookie premiere
Lufthansa......................................B4 Target................................................B1 trophy for “Friends.” The event to the 19th-century
Tupperware Brands..............B9
M chance to appear by name in a swivel chair owned by Robert
Macy's...............................................B1
Ulta Beauty..................................B1
Michael Connelly novel. Evans, the producer and studio
Mattel...............................................B2
Microsoft......................................A11 United Parcel Service..........B1 Writers on strike are auc- executive best known for clas-
N
Verisk.................................................B1 tioning off these prizes and sics including “The Godfather”
Virtu Financial..........................B2 others to raise money for film and “Chinatown.”
Nike.....................................................B1 Volaris..............................................B4
and television workers who are Bidders can vie for a visit
Norfolk Southern....................B2 W-Y
Nvidia................................................B1 suffering amid this summer’s with “Bridget Jones” writer
Walmart..........................................B1
P-R Walt Disney.................................B1 paralyzing Hollywood walk- Helen Fielding over a bottle of
Pfizer..................................................A1 Yellow........................................B1,B9 outs. wine at a swank oceanfront ho-
Auction organizer Kit Boss, tel in Santa Monica. When she
a TV writer whose resume in- was approached about donat-
cludes “King of the Hill” and
“Bob’s Burgers,” has spent
ing to the auction, she says, “of
course I said yes–anything to
weeks soliciting a somewhat support.” She came up with
Munger, Charlie.......................R3 madcap collection of donations the beachfront idea, she says,
Griffiths, Zach...........................A6 Musk, Elon...................................B4 while walking picket lines and because “…what’s not to like
GunderKline, Keith...............A11 P enlisting the help of well-con- about rosé by the seaside.” (A
H Perry, Katie..................................B9 nected friends and colleagues. British winner could meet her
Harvey, Campbell...................R6
Philo, Phoebe...........................A12 The online auction was slated at a London pub instead.)
Hawkins, Darren......................B1 R
Hayes, Greg.................................B4
to close Sunday evening. It fea- There is also a “Connor Roy for
Risinger, David..........................A2 tured roughly 120 lots with President” hat from behind the
Hicks, Angie..............................A12 Rubin, Elaine..............................R2 bids totaling more than scenes of “Succession.” And for

KIT BOSS
Caron, Jim....................................A6
Chen, Eva....................................A12 I-J S $100,000, ranging from memo- fans of “Insecure,” a virtual
Clothier, Peter............................B1 Irwin, Emily...............................A12 Shaw, Alan...................................B2 rabilia to personalized experi- hangout with showrunner
Collett, Mike...............................B4 Ives, Andy.....................................R4 Skloff, Aaron...............................R2 ences with show creators, writ- A signed script of the ‘Seinfeld’ finale was being auctioned. Prentice Penny and cast mem-
D Jordan, Scott..............................A2 Smith, Matt................................A6 ers and performers. bers to be named later. “I’m
L Sparks, Scott..............................R2 The Writers Guild of Amer- of many fundraising efforts in “Saturday Night Live” on 3×5 excited to share how the sau-
Denton, David...........................A2
Drake..................................................B1 Lewis, Keith.................................B1 W ica went on strike in May, fol- recent weeks to support those cards, typing them up and sage was made,” says Penny.
E-G Lucina, Pam.................................R2 Werbowy, Daria.....................A12 lowed two months later by the hurt by the strikes. This partic- later editing them by hand. One popular item already
Elaine Rubin...............................R2 M Woods, Darren..........................B1 Screen Actors Guild-American ular fundraiser benefits the One reads: “If you ever drop sold at a preauction: the
Erb, Claude...................................R6 Malik, Saira.................................R2 Z Federation of Television and Entertainment Community your keys into a river of mol- chance for the bidder’s name
Giangola, Ramya..................A12 Marshall, Will............................B4 Zuckerberg, Mark..................A11 Radio Artists. The clash with Fund, a nonprofit that helps ten lava, let ’em go, because, to appear in a crime novel by
movie and TV studios, net- people working in film, TV, man, they’re gone.” bestselling author Connelly,
works and streamers involves theater and other disciplines. The writer has held on to a who created the “Bosch” char-

Truckers, pany Norfolk Southern.

Teamsters representatives
said that the labor pact with
contract demands about sala-
ries, residual payments and
protections against the use of
Elsewhere, a starry group that
includes Leonardo DiCaprio,
Meryl Streep and Dwayne “The
few hundred such cards. “I’m
not sure I even get the one
about keys in lava, but people
acter of TV fame. The winner,
with an $8,200 bid, wants the
item to surprise his 76-year-old

Pilots Press UPS included provisions that

would stop the installation of
driver-facing cameras. The
artificial intelligence in cre-
ative work.
As the strike continues,
Rock” Johnson has donated
millions to a SAG-Aftra Foun-
dation relief fund.
seemed to find it funny,” he
says. He recently burned more
than 2,000 Deep Thoughts
wife, who is battling cancer.
Connelly, who has auctioned
off about 25 character names

Industries changes were in response to

concerns that their work is in-
creasingly measured against a
there are questions about how
Hollywood’s army of employees
will weather the dry period
Jack Handey had never do-
nated a “Deep Thoughts” note-
card before this auction. He
cards in the fireplace. “Not be-
cause I hated them, but be-
cause I ran out of firewood,”
over the years, is eager to pitch
in. “It’s a very easy way for me
to help out,” he says. “And
stopwatch and that drivers while out of work. The auction originally composed his zany he says. “Also, I hated them.” sometimes you get a good
Continued from page B1 were being surveilled for minor spearheaded by writers is one aphorisms from 1990s-era The top bid for a lot of three name.”
stoppages could have on supply infractions, union employees
chains. and officials said.

‘Barbie’ Tops $1 Billion at Box Office

Lynn Kelley, a business con- “Our focus is on safety, and
sultant who recently published not on surveillance or disci-
a book, said she was worried pline,” a UPS spokesman said.
about a possible UPS strike af- Pilots at FedEx recently sur-
fecting the book’s distribution, prised industry observers by
including large bulk shipments voting down a union-brokered BY CHIP CUTTER Estimated Box-Office Figures, Through Sunday become one of the highest-
for some events. deal that would have raised Sales, In Millions grossing female directors in his-
“There might have been their wages about 30% by 2028. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” is a Film Distributor Weekend* Cumulative % Change tory. She is known for her 2017
some delays,” said Kelley, add- Some pilots said that they saw billion-dollar hit. Warner film, “Lady Bird,” and the re-
ing that her book is on Ama- their counterparts at passenger The pink-obsessed comedy, 1. Barbie
Bros.
$53 $459 -43% boot of “Little Women” in 2019.
zon, which handles shipping. airlines get higher wages in re- starring Margot Robbie and “Barbie” is the first U.S.
“My concern is even if Ama- cent weeks, and that they were Ryan Gosling, topped more Warner motion picture directed by one
2. Meg 2: The Trench $30 NA NA
zon does use an alternative to also worried about insufficient than $1 billion in estimated Bros. woman to cross the billion-
UPS, everything will be slow job protections. global box-office receipts as of 3. Oppenheimer Universal $28.7 $229 -39% dollar mark globally. The next
because there’s not a lot of ex- FedEx said the voting re- this weekend, according to re- Teenage Mutant highest-grossing film by a solo
tra capacity.” sults will have no impact on search firm Comscore. It is 4. Ninja Turtles: Paramount $28 $43 NA female director, “Wonder
Unions have been pushing service levels. The Air Line Pi- now the first U.S. film directed Mutant Mayhem Woman,” directed by Patty
companies to improve on-the- lots Association, International, by one woman to reach the Jenkins, raked in $823.7 mil-
job conditions. After lobbying which represents FedEx pilots, billion-dollar mark. 5. Haunted Mansion Disney $8.9 $42 -63% lion worldwide, according to
for it last year, major freight and FedEx will return to the Through Sunday, the movie *Friday, Saturday and Sunday in North American theaters Source: Comscore Comscore.
railroads have started offering bargaining table with media- has grossed about $1.03 billion Overall, 53 movies have sur-
short-term paid sick leave—in tors from the National Media- overall in domestic and inter- savvy mix of consumer mar- Hollywood amid continuing passed a billion dollars in
some cases for the first time— tion Board. national markets, making it one keting and a story that is reso- disputes with labor and a shift global box-office receipts, un-
to union workers to ensure FedEx pilots will continue of only about a half-dozen films nating with audiences. Movie- in consumer viewing habits adjusted for inflation, includ-
ample staffing and service lev- working under the terms of since the pandemic to gross a goers have packed theaters that has led many people to ing “Barbie.”
els. “What we found over the the existing contract and billion dollars in ticket sales. across the U.S. in recent weeks stream movies at home. “It seems almost everyone
pandemic—and I think you see aren’t allowed to strike under Christopher Nolan’s World to watch the film, which fo- Only five other films have around the world is talking
this throughout all of soci- federal law. Workers in some War II drama “Oppenheimer,” cuses on the Mattel doll and surpassed $1 billion in box-of- about ‘Barbie,’” said Paul Der-
ety—is that those quality-of- railroad unions last year voted meanwhile, has grossed $552.9 her search for meaning as she fice sales since the start of the garabedian, a senior media an-
life issues become more and against a tentative labor deal, million globally. leaves a pink utopia. pandemic, according to Box alyst at Comscore. “You don’t
more important to folks,” said but Congress and President “Barbie” became a cultural The success of “Barbie,” Office Mojo. get to a billion dollars without
Alan Shaw, chief executive of- Biden stepped in to impose a phenomenon through what an- alongside “Oppenheimer,” has Gerwig, who co-wrote and a movie being some sort of
ficer of transportation com- settlement. alysts have described as a been a rare bright spot for directed “Barbie,” is now set to phenomenon.”

Ham Radio Fans Fight Street on Airwaves

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To advertise: 800-366-3975 or WSJ.com/classifieds
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tuning in to weak radio signals Jake Steinberg/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL High-frequency traders have AUCTIONS PUBLIC NOTICES
so they can chat with fellow been in a yearslong arms race to
hams in faraway places. Hun- old Los Angeles resident, he watts, and many use off-the- execute transactions as fast as PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT Michele Vives, the Court-
NOTICE OF PUBLIC AUCTION appointed Receiver (“Receiver”) for 1inMM Capital,
dreds of hams have filed letters likes using his radio to send shelf radios with 100 watts. possible, or risk losing money to CERTAIN ASSETS OF HYLETE INC. LLC (“1inMM”) as well as assets that are attributable
with the FCC opposing the digital data about weather con- “They’re asking for an in- speedier rivals. A DELAWARE CORPORATION
to investor or client funds or that were fraudulently
transferred by 1inMM or Zachary J. Horwitz (“Horwitz”),
traders’ proposal, and some ditions to other hams. He com- sane amount of power,” Fansler An FCC spokesman said: “We The assets to be sold consist of certain
and certain plaintiffs who invested in 1inMM, have
reached an agreement to settle and release all claims
have railed against the plan in plains that the traders are said. “It’s like having neighbors appreciate the importance of intangible assets used in the business of asserted or that could have been asserted against JJMT
Hylete, Inc. a Delaware Corporation, Capital, LLC, JJMT Group, LLC, J.T.H.D. Investments, LLC
YouTube videos. looking to transmit with up to move in with a drum set and amateur radio and make every including patents, trademarks, domain name, or Chi-Town Capital, LLC (collectively, “JJMT”), Joseph
Brock Fansler is among 20,000 watts of power, while guitar. This is going to be effort to ensure spectrum uses website, customer list & other intangibles. deAlteris, Jacob Wunderlin and Matthew Schweinzger
(collectively, “JJM Parties”), as well as their wives,
By Order of Secured Creditor
those speaking out. A 40-year- amateurs are capped at 1,500 blasted all over the planet, with do not interfere with each other.” UCC 9-610 Foreclosure Auction children, respective current and former employers
and certain other entities and trusts identified in the
Location: Online via zoom Settlement Agreement (collectively, “Related Parties”),
Thursday, August 10, 2023 at 11:00am PDT as to any acts or omissions arising out of, in connection
with or relating in any way to: (1) the 1inMM Ponzi

Yellow Brotherhood of Teamsters. ing, including BNSF Railway, Walmart, Home Depot and Call or email request for more information Scheme; (2) the 1inMM Defendants; (3) JJMT; (4) any
Brian Testo, Brian Testo Associates, LLC investment, loan or transfer of money to JJMT and/or
The company said it would Amazon.com with and Home many other smaller busi- (818) 592-6592 x 101 repayment or lack of repayment by JJMT or the 1inMM
Defendants (“Settlement”). As part of the Settlement,
seek bankruptcy court autho- Depot. nesses. or briantesto@gmail.com
the Receiver has asked the Court to permanently bar

Files for rization to make payments in- Yellow’s demise also re- Despite swallowing rivals www.btesto.com and enjoin any person or entity from commencing or
continuing any legal proceeding against any of the JJM
cluding wages, salaries and moves a major contributor to several years ago, getting Parties and/or any of the Related Parties asserting any
legal or equitable claim arising out of, in connection
benefits. the Central States Pension union concessions over the with or relating in any way to, 1inMM, the 1inMM Ponzi
Scheme, JJMT or Horwitz, as more particularly described

Bankruptcy The company said it has

lined up a loan to fund its stay
in chapter 11, including selling
Fund, a multiemployer pen-
sion fund that received a fed-
eral bailout last December un-
past 15 years and securing a
government bailout in 2020,
the company went into a fi-
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assets. Yellow owns some der a program aimed at nancial tailspin this year as proposed Bar Order and other documents pertaining to
Continued from page B1 12,000 trucks and dozens of shoring up near-insolvent re- shipping demand foundered (800) 366-3975 the Settlement are available on the Receiver’s website,
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The closure means the loss freight terminals across the tirement plans. and an operational restructur- For more information visit: Interested parties may submit written questions or
objections to the Settlement to the Receiver by sending
of 30,000 jobs, including country. Yellow was known for its ing effort triggered a show- wsj.com/classifieds an email to 1inMM@douglaswilson.com by no later than
4:00 pm PDT on September 4, 2023. (All capitalized
22,000 positions held by the Yellow listed 30 unsecured cut-rate prices and moving down with the Teamsters © 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. terms not defined in this notice are defined in the
members of the International creditors in its bankruptcy fil- freight across the country for union. All Rights Reserved. Settlement Agreement or the Motion.)

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
RACHEL MUMMEY/REUTERS
Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders’ meeting drew a big crowd to the company’s hometown of Omaha, Neb., in May.
Berkshire Hathaway Profit Rises
Buffett’s company
gets boost from
insurance division,
investment portfolio
BY LAUREN THOMAS
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire
Hathaway swung to a profit
in the second quarter, boosted
by its insurance division and
strong gains in its massive in-
vestment portfolio, while its
cash pile swelled.
The Omaha, Neb., company,
which owns businesses includ-
ing insurer Geico, railroad
BNSF Railway and sportswear
maker Brooks Running, posted
net income of $35.9 billion, or
$24,775 a Class A share equiv-
alent. That compared with a
loss of $43.8 billion, or
$29,754 a Class A share equiv-
alent, a year earlier.
Berkshire’s operating earn-
ings, which exclude some in-
vestment results, rose slightly
to just over $10 billion from
$9.3 billion a year earlier.
Earnings grew at most of the
company’s major units, includ-
ing its insurance-underwriting
operations and insurance-in-
vestment-income unit.
Buffett has long told the
company’s shareholders that
they should ignore net income
and focus on Berkshire’s oper-
ating earnings, which he feels
are a better reflection of how
Berkshire is doing. Accounting
rules require Berkshire to in-
clude unrealized gains and
losses from its investment
portfolio when it reports its
net income.
Berkshire’s Geico insurance
business—which has struggled
in the past year because of ele-
vated claims costs—recorded
higher average premiums,
lower advertising costs and a
reduction in prior accident
years’ claims estimates, Berk-
shire said in a securities filing.
Berkshire ended the second
quarter with $147.4 billion in
cash and cash equivalents,
compared with around $130
billion at the end of the first
quarter. The cash pile mostly
BUSINESS NEWS
contains holdings of short-
term U.S. Treasury bills and is
nearing record levels.
The strong results this
quarter came after Berk-
shire posted a big loss for the
same period in 2022 in large
part because of investment
declines. Last year, stock and
bond markets tanked as the
Federal Reserve embarked on
its most aggressive campaign
in decades to raise interest
rates.
Stocks have risen sharply
after last year’s selloff, defy-
ing any number of risks along
the way. The S&P 500 is up
about 17% this year, including
a 3.1% increase in July that re-
flected gains across all 11 sec-
tors. Investors in 2023 have
brushed off inflation
fears, corporate earnings be-
ing squeezed, the looming
threat of a recession, a stand-
off over the U.S. debt ceiling
and a massive bank failure.
Technology stocks have
been driving gains, and Berk-
shire boasts a more than $175
billion stake in Apple, which
has run up 40% so far this
year.
As a result, Berkshire’s
Class A shares have been hov-
ering near records, bringing
the company’s market value to
nearly $780 billion.
Last week, Fitch Rat-
ings downgraded the U.S. gov-
ernment’s credit rating weeks
after President Biden and con-
gressional Republicans came
to the brink of a historic de-
fault. But Buffett largely
shrugged off the news.
“Berkshire bought $10 bil-
lion in U.S. Treasurys last
Monday. We bought $10 bil-
lion in Treasurys this Monday.
And the only question for next
Monday is whether we will
buy $10 billion in 3-month or
6-month” T-bills, Buffett told
CNBC in an interview last
week.
Berkshire’s share-repur-
chase activity slowed during
the latest quarter. The com-
pany said it used about $1.4
billion to buy back stock, com-
pared with $4.4 billion in the
first.
Monday, August 7, 2023 | B3
Pollo Tropical
Restaurant Chain
Approaches a Sale
BY LAUREN THOMAS
The Pollo Tropical restau-
rant chain is nearing a deal to
be bought by an investment
firm for $225 million.
Authentic Restaurant
Brands, part of New York-
based Garnett Station Part-
ners, plans to add the fast-ca-
sual restaurant operator to a
portfolio that includes sand-
wich chain Primanti Bros., peo-
ple familiar with the matter
said.
The deal for Pollo Tropical
parent Fiesta Restaurant
Group is worth $8.50 a share,
representing a modest pre-
mium to the company’s closing
share price on Friday of $7.86.
The deal is expected to be
made official by Monday, bar-
ring any last-minute snags.
Fiesta shares
have risen
about 7% so far
this year, trail- An investment
ing the S&P firm is seeking
500.
Fiesta’s total to purchase
revenue in-
creased 8.4% in
the chain for
2022 to $387.4 $225 million.
million. The
company swung
to a loss of
$14.6 million, compared with
net income of $10.4 million in
2021, primarily because of
higher commodity and labor
expenses.
The Dallas company owned
and operated 137 Pollo Tropical
restaurants, plus 30 that are
franchised, across the U.S.,
Puerto Rico, Panama, Guyana
and the Bahamas as of April 2,
according to securities filings.
Miami-based Pollo Tropical is
known for serving heaping
portions of Latin American-in-
spired cuisine, including mari-
nated and grilled chicken, rice,
and black beans.
Fiesta used to have a larger
portfolio before it sold the
.
Taco Cabana chain to YTC En-
terprises, an affiliate of a Jack
in the Box, El Pollo Loco and
Denny’s franchisee, for $85
million in 2021 in a bid to pay
down debt.
Authentic Restaurant
Brands is a holding company
that also owns sports-bar
chain P.J. Whelihan’s and
Mambo Seafood. The company
is led by Chief Executive Felipe
Athayde and Chairman Alex
Macedo, both of whom previ-
ously held leadership roles at
Burger King parent Restaurant
Brands International.
Garnett Station was founded
in 2013 by Matt Perelman, for-
merly of private-equity firm L
Catterton, and Alex Sloane,
formerly of Apollo Global Man-
agement. The firm manages
over $2 billion of assets, with a
focus on the
consumer and
business-ser-
vices, health-
and-wellness,
automotive, and
food-and-bever-
age industries.
Some of Gar-
nett Station’s
other current
investments in-
clude the popu-
lar shaved-ice truck business
Kona Ice, auto repair and tire
provider Apex Automotive and
several carwash businesses, ac-
cording to its website.
Despite a general slowdown
in deal-making so far this
year—with a volatile stock
market and higher interest
rates chilling activity—there
has still been a flurry of trans-
actions in the restaurant sec-
tor. Olive Garden owner
Darden Restaurants bought
Ruth’s Chris Steak House for
$715 million. Meanwhile, sand-
wich chain Subway has been
working with advisers toward
a sale that could be completed
in the coming weeks.
 .

B4 | Monday, August 7, 2023 * ***** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

TECHNOLOGY WSJ.com/Tech

Space Firms
Struggle to Hit
Lofty Goals
Planet Labs, Astra execute,” said Will Marshall,
chief executive at Planet Labs,
Space and Satellogic in an email to employees the
cut jobs; Virgin Orbit company posted online.
The space industry ranges
filed for bankruptcy from satellite operators that
peddle internet connections to
BY MICAH MAIDENBERG
sprawling divisions of multibil-

PLANET LABS PBC/REUTERS

Newer players in the space
industry are running up
against harsh business reali-
ties. Several space-related com-
panies have been shedding em-
ployees, finding other ways to
reduce spending or have reined
in their plans.
Planet Labs, which uses a
fleet of satellites to capture im-
ages of Earth and sells data
and analytics based on the en-
terprise, said last Tuesday that
it would cut 117 jobs, about 10%
of its workforce.
The San Francisco-based
company earlier this summer
lowered its revenue forecast for
its current fiscal year after
bookings were lighter than ex-
pected, in part because cus-
tomers were scrutinizing their
spending, executives told inves-
tors.
The layoffs aim to refocus
Planet’s operations and rein-
force its push to generate
profit. “We need to focus and
lion-dollar defense contractors
that vie for contracts with the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
Two closely watched space
companies, Elon Musk’s
SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue
Origin, are privately held. Both
are in expansion mode, as they
develop rockets and start new
divisions.
Like other startups, a num-
ber of space-related companies
in recent years tapped into an
investor frenzy that allowed
them to raise new capital by
merging with so-called blank-
check companies.
Some space-industry execu-
tives have said the deals, which
required less scrutiny than tra-
ditional initial public offerings,
allowed their companies to ob-
tain the capital they needed for
growth.
Astra Space on Friday said
it laid off around 70 employees,
adding to previous reductions.
It also said it reassigned other
Planet Labs uses a fleet of satellites to capture images of Earth, such as this satellite image of wildfire in Athens, Greece.
staffers from a group focused
on rocket launches to support
its spacecraft-engine business.
The company, which failed
last year to complete two
launches for NASA, estimated
it had around $26 million in
cash and securities on hand as
of June 30, down from $201
million the year prior. Astra
said Friday that it was looking
at ways to raise more funds
and that it had raised almost
$11 million from an outside in-
vestor.
Satellogic, another Earth
imagery and data business, be-
gan cutting 18% of its employ-
ees in the third quarter of last
year, citing changes in the
global economy, according to a
securities filing.
It reduced head count by an-
other 8% at the start of this
year. It once hoped to have 111
satellites operational by the
end of this year but now won’t
meet that goal.
“There will be more pain
ahead for many of these com-
panies,” according to Mike Col-
lett, founder of Promus Ven-
tures, which has invested in
space-related companies.
Virgin Orbit, backed by bil-
lionaire Richard Branson, went
public through a blank-check
merger at the end of 2021.
The company tried to build
a business around using a mod-
ified 747 to ferry up a launch
vehicle that separated from the
plane and rocketed small satel-
lites into orbit.
Before it listed, the company
forecast $331 million in reve-
nue this year, and said that
would roughly triple in 2024.
Virgin Orbit struggled to
compete with rivals. A mission
the company launched in Janu-
ary failed, and customer satel-
lites were lost. In March, Virgin
Orbit said it would lay off 675
people, or most of its work-
force, and filed for bankruptcy
shortly after. It proceeded to
liquidate its assets.
Rocket Lab USA, which com-
pleted a listing in 2021, capital-
ized on the demise of its com-
petitor by taking over Virgin
Orbit’s former headquarters and
factory in California. The com-
pany conducts launches and has
a division that sells space sys-
tems, like a craft for satellites.
Last year, Rocket Lab gener-
ated $211 million in revenue,
ahead of a prelisting forecast.
An executive at the company
said at a recent investor event
that getting to positive cash
flow is highly dependent on
Neutron, the larger new rocket
it is developing.
Watch a Video
Scan this code
to watch a
video on China’s
satellite
ambitions.

Engine Hawaiian Airlines said it

would suspend some routes
and reduce its number of
dreds of engines to be re-
moved from Airbus A320neo
aircraft for inspection and
known as Raytheon Technolo-
gies, already has to pay com-
pensation to airlines for older
of customer calls.
“No one is happy,” Hayes
said in an interview last
provided Pratt a way back to
that market, using technology
developed for propeller planes

Recall Cuts flights to deal with engine in-

spections in the coming
months.
possible repair. The recall
adds to durability problems
that have dogged Pratt since it
problems with GTF engines
used on Airbus jets. These in-
clude oil-leak and vibration
month.
Decades ago, Pratt engines
powered the original Boeing
over the previous two decades.
Plane makers were initially
reluctant to try the new type

Flights Other carriers including

Continued from page B1
It will also help decide
whether Airbus can continue
efforts to boost the production
of its single-aisle jetliners. Air-
bus said that the engine prob-
lems won’t affect production
this year, but that it will be
watching for any impact after
that.
Spirit Airlines said last
week it would pull seven Air-
bus A320neo-family jets from
service in the fall for inspec-
tion. More than 40 of Spirit’s
fleet of around 200 jets are af-
fected, and the airline said the
engine problems could reduce
its ability to add more flights
next year.
BENOIT TESSIER/REUTERS
Germany’s Lufthansa, Mex-
ico’s Volaris and JetBlue Air-
ways in the U.S. have said
they are evaluating whether to
cut flights.
Pratt said recently that a
fresh analysis following the
discovery in 2021 of contami-
nated metal parts uncovered
the need for more-immediate
inspection of engines. The
company said around 1,200
engines could suffer cracks
faster than expected.
The company said Friday
that it told customers which
engines would have to be in-
spected over the next few
weeks and which could wait to
be checked over the next year.
What started as a minor
quality concern escalated in
recent weeks to require hun-
introduced its fuel-efficient
geared turbofan, or GTF, to
airlines in 2016. The engines
concerns that have required
extra servicing.
With more than 100 Pratt-
737s, but the manufacturer
lost out to General Electric
and French partner Safran’s
of engine as existing turbines
continued to improve fuel effi-
ciency and reliability. Canada’s
have been popular because powered Airbus jets—around rival turbine for the jet and Bombardier signed up for the
they cut fuel consumption by 10% of the A320neo and A220 the Airbus A320 in the 1980s. GTF in 2007 for its new
around 15% and have low fleet—already grounded by That left Pratt reliant on mak- CSeries jet. The plane was de-
emissions. durability problems and spare- ing engines for larger jets and signed to challenge Airbus and
RTX has sold more than parts shortages that have military aircraft, as well as Boeing in the single-aisle
10,000 GTF engines. Compen- dragged on for years, RTX propeller planes. market.
sating customers for inspec- Chief Executive Greg Hayes in The introduction of the —Andrew Tangel
tions and repairs that take late July embarked on a round geared turbofan to airliners contributed to this article.
planes out of service could de-
lay profitability for the pro-
gram. Some analysts estimate
that it will be 2030 before
RTX starts to recoup its in-
vestment in the engine. It has
taken an initial $500 million
charge to cover the cost of
Bringing Communities
new inspection, repair and
compensation for the first
batch of GTF engines being
of Support to Students
checked.
The company, formerly

Problems have dogged Pratt & Whitney since it introduced its GTF to airlines in 2016.

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 .

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, August 7, 2023 | B5

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B6 | Monday, August 7, 2023
Tipster’s
Cause Took
Over Life
Continued from page B1
don’t become rich or famous.
Many destroy their relation-
ships, lose their jobs, turn disil-
lusioned when their big revela-
tions are greeted with
ambivalence. Since the SEC
launched its whistleblower pro-
gram more than a decade ago,
the agency has received more
than 64,000 tips. By late 2022,
328 of those whistleblowers
had received financial awards.
“It’s all the things we be-
lieve or hope are true as chil-
dren—that eventually the
rightness of what they say will
be recognized,” said C. Fred Al-
ford, a professor emeritus at
the University of Maryland who
wrote a book about whistle-
blowers. “When that doesn’t
happen, or even when it does,
the whistleblowing becomes
their world.”
That is what happened to
Peter Clothier.
Clothier worked in a hum-
drum part of finance, manag-
ing proxy votes for mutual
funds run by some of the
world’s biggest money manag-
ers. He started in the business
in 1992, when he was in his
mid-20s, and joined a financial-
services company called Com-
putershare a decade later.
What Clothier discovered
wasn’t exactly jaw-dropping.
For people outside his arcane
sliver of Wall Street, it isn’t
even that easy to explain.
When a mutual-fund man-
ager wants to change the
fund’s mandate or merge it
with another fund, it is re-
quired to seek shareholders’
approval. Companies like Com-
putershare collect those votes
and certify the election.
Most voting shareholders
support the recommendations
of a fund’s board. The far big-
ger challenge for fund manag-
ers is getting enough share-
holders to vote at all. Typically,
without at least 50% turnout,
fund managers can’t proceed
with their proposals.
Around 2012, several of
SEC whistleblower tips
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0 Then, in December, another
FY2012 ’14 ’16 ’18
Source: Securities and Exchange Commission
Clothier’s sales colleagues com-
plained to him and others at
Computershare, he said. They
said that competitors had
found a way to ensure they
would almost always find
enough votes.
Computershare clients had
told the salespeople that rivals
like Broadridge and AST would
go to brokerage firms whose
customers invested in a partic-
ular mutual fund and ask them
to commit shares “for quorum
purposes only,” Clothier said.
These additional “unin-
structed” shares didn’t count as
“for” votes, but they could help
the fund get to the 50% thresh-
old, industry executives said.
It didn’t sit well with Cloth-
ier. “These people were on re-
corded lines saying, ‘I don’t
want to vote,’” said Clothier,
now 56 years old.
So he did what thousands of
employees do each year to
clear their conscience and, just
maybe, win a handsome re-
ward: In 2014, Clothier con-
tacted the SEC’s whistleblower
office.
Months went by. No re-
sponse came, beyond what ap-
peared like a form email. Cloth-
ier grew angry and frustrated
and started wondering if he
was crazy.
An SEC spokesman said the
agency “does not comment on
the existence or nonexistence
of a possible whistleblower
submission.”
“We take every submission
seriously and investigate thor-
oughly all credible tips, com-
plaints, and referrals of secu-
rity violations,” he added.
Clothier had always been a
drinker, but it got bad. He
BUSINESS & FINANCE
’20 ’22
Peter Clothier has continued to write to the SEC, copying officials from several states.
started pouring himself three,
sometimes four, strong drinks
after work and then passing
out, hoping to forget every-
thing.
Clothier’s partner ques-
tioned why he couldn’t just let
it all go. It wasn’t so easy,
Clothier would respond. Wall
Street offered financial secu-
rity, and familiarity.
Clothier didn’t have a prob-
lem with his own employer.
Computershare
wasn’t engaging
in the practice
he had flagged. By late 2022,
But Clothier 328
started sending
emails and texts whistleblowers
to his boss and
other execu-
had received
tives, imploring financial awards.
them to alert
regulators
about their
competitors’ behavior. The
messages often arrived late at
night, when Clothier had been
drinking.
A Computershare spokes-
man said the company “con-
ducted a formal review of Mr.
Clothier’s concerns about the
practices of other industry
players when he raised them in
late 2015. The review con-
cluded that there was no fur-
ther action required on our
part. We shared the results
with him at the time.”
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“We would of course coop-
erate to the extent one of our
regulators were to approach us
for information in connection
with an investigation into in-
dustry practices. To date, none
have on this.”
A spokeswoman for AST,
now called Equiniti, declined to
comment. A spokesman for
Broadridge also declined to
comment.
Eventually, Clothier and
Computershare
agreed he
should leave. He
got six months’
severance.
But Clothier’s
late-night
emails and texts
continued; his
drinking binges
worsened.
In August
2017, he went
on his Santa Fe trip, where he
emailed a former colleague
that he planned to kill himself.
The following month, another
former colleague alerted au-
thorities, saying Clothier had
repeatedly sent unwelcome
emails. Clothier was charged
with cyber harassment and
spent a night in jail.
Clothier said he completed
three weeks of community ser-
vice at a New York nonprofit
that helps people struggling
with homelessness, mental ill-
UNDER
DISASTROUS CIRCUMSTANCES,
HE COULD FIND A MISSING
CHILD IN THE WRECK AGE.
HARD TO BELIEVE NO ONE
WANTED THIS COURAGEOUS
DOG
.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
like someone finally got it.
He enlisted a college friend,
Christopher Ernst, as his attor-
ney. He also continued messag-
ing the SEC.
Still, no response came, save
one time when an SEC attorney
messaged Clothier to ask him
to resend file attachments.
As 2020 drew to a close,
Clothier started to believe
again that his crusade had
reached its end. It had been six
years since he filed his original
JOSÉ A. ALVARADO JR. FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SEC complaint, four since he
had left Computershare.
email arrived. This one was
from Craig Weldon, the chief
special investigator for invest-
ment protection at the state of
Delaware.
Clothier spoke a couple of
times with the Delaware offi-
cials, who told him they had
started an investigation. But in
June 2021, one of those offi-
cials wrote to him to say that
“we are unable to further in-
ness and substance abuse. vestigate at this time.”
Eventually, the charge was Soon, Clothier’s communica-
dropped. tions with NYSE officials fiz-
He continued to volunteer at zled out, too.
the same organization, named Unbeknown to Clothier,
Project Renewal, and later though, NYSE officials had be-
found a paid job as a full-time gun to discourage brokerage
counselor, working there until firms, fund managers and
recently. He also joined Alco- proxy-services firms from in-
holics Anonymous, he said, and cluding uninstructed shares for
checked into rehab. quorum purposes in certain
Clothier began to feel him- proxy votes, industry execu-
self again by the end of 2018. tives said. The exchange
At times, though, he caught stopped short of forbidding the
himself wondering about his practice, they said.
old life. Clothier, in one sense, had
He started sifting through won. Industry executives say
annual reports of mutual funds the practice Clothier first
and reviewed their shareholder flagged in 2014 has all but dis-
measures. The filings showed appeared from use. Clothier’s
that some managers were still more recent online searches for
including uninstructed shares examples have come up
in their votes. empty.
In February 2019, Clothier “It’s a small victory,” Cloth-
fired off emails to the SEC and ier said. But for him, it wasn’t
others. This time, he gave what enough. He still feels like no
he believed were more eye- one has been held accountable.
catching explanations. Last month, Clothier re-
Three months later, Clothier ceived a letter from the New
said, he received a voice mail York attorney general’s office.
from the NYSE’s enforcement “While the staff of the Investor
arm. They asked him to present Protection Bureau reviews ev-
his findings in person. ery submission we receive, the
He delivered his presenta- bureau does not act on every
tion in May 2019. Clothier said submission, and, as our investi-
he connected with Tony gations are confidential, we are
Frouge, now the NYSE’s head unable to provide details re-
of enforcement, and sometimes garding ongoing investiga-
other officials multiple times tions,” the bureau wrote in its
that year. July 13 letter. “I’m hoping this
Clothier was relieved. He felt works out,” Clothier said.
Not a real disaster site.
 .

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, August 7, 2023 | B7

MARKETS DIGEST
Dow Jones Industrial Average S&P 500 Index New to the Market
Last Year ago Last Year ago
35065.62 t 393.67, or 1.11% last week Trailing P/E ratio 25.53 19.36 4478.03 t 104.20, or 2.27% last week Trailing P/E ratio * 20.27 22.56 Public Offerings of Stock
High, low, open and close for each of P/E estimate * 19.38 17.41 High, low, open and close for each of P/E estimate * 20.75 18.22
the past 52 weeks Dividend yield 2.04 2.14 the past 52 weeks Dividend yield * 1.54 1.58 IPOs in the U.S. Market
All-time high 36799.65, 01/04/22 All-time high 4796.56, 01/03/22
None expected this week

Current divisor 0.15172752595384 Lockup Expirations

200-day moving average 34800 4600 Below, companies whose officers and other insiders will become eligible
200-day moving average
to sell shares in their newly public companies for the first time. Such
sales can move the stock’s price.
33500 4400
Lockup Offer Offer amt Through Lockup
expiration Issue date Symbol price($) ($ mil.) Friday (%) provision

32200 4200 Aug. 11 Aug. 11, ’22 Forza X1 FRZA 5.00 15.0 –76.0 365 days
Aug. 11, ’22 Reborn Coffee REBN 5.00 6.0 –86.2 365 days
Feb. 8, ’23 Lucy Scientific Discovery LSDI 4.00 8.0 –72.3 180 days
Week's high 30900 4000
Feb. 8, ’23 Nextracker NXT 24.00 500.0 70.3 180 days
65-day moving average DOWN UP Feb. 8, ’23 Hesai Group HSAI 19.00 162.0 –41.2 180 days
t

Monday's open Friday's close

29600 3800 Feb. 9, ’23 Mineralys Therapeutics MLYS 16.00 150.0 –16.9 180 days
Friday's close Monday's open Sources: Dealogic; Dow Jones Market Data
t

65-day moving average

Week's low 28300 3600 IPO Scorecard
Bars measure the point change from Monday's open Performance of IPOs, most-recent listed first
% Chg From % Chg From
27000 3400 Friday's Offer 1st-day
Company SYMBOL Company SYMBOL Friday3s Offer 1st-day
A S O N D J F M A M J J A A S O N D J F M A M J J IPO date/Offer price close ($) price close IPO date/Offer price close ($) price close
Primary MIRA Pharmaceuticals 6.01 –14.1 –19.0 ODDITY Tech 50.64 44.7 6.5
NYSE weekly volume, in billions of shares market Composite MIRA Aug. 3/$7.00 ODD July 19/$35.00
t
t

Scan this code

36 Cheetah Net Supply Chain Service 2.66 –33.5 –61.4 Apogee Therapeutics 20.70 21.8 –2.5
Get real-time U.S. stock quotes and track CTNT Aug. 1/$4.00 APGE July 14/$17.00
24
12 most-active stocks, new highs/lows, mutual Hanryu Holdings 6.00 –40.0 –23.1 Nabors Energy Transition II 10.15 1.5 0.4
HRYU Aug. 1/$10.00 NETDU July 14/$10.00
0 funds and ETFs..
SharkNinja 26.90 –10.5 –36.4 Sagimet Biosciences 16.09 0.6 0.9
A S O N D J F M A M J J Available free at WSJMarkets.com SN July 31/$30.05 SGMT July 14/$16.00
*Weekly P/E data based on as-reported earnings from Birinyi Associates Inc.; † Based on Nasdaq-100 Index ParaZero Technologies 1.49 –62.8 –58.6 Bowen Acquisition 10.16 1.6 0.3
PRZO July 27/$4.00 BOWNU July 12/$10.00
Major U.S. Stock-Market Indexes Nasdaq Composite Surf Air Mobility 1.39 –93.1 –55.9 Prestige Wealth 11.39 127.8 110.9
SRFM July 27/$20.00 PWM July 6/$5.00
Latest Week 52-Week % chg t 407.42, or -2.85%
High Low Close Net chg % chg Low Close (l) High %chg YTD 3-yr. ann. Haymaker Acquisition 4 10.14 1.4 0.2 Intensity Therapeutics 6.23 24.6 4.5
Dow Jones
last week HYAC.UT July 26/$10.00 INTS June 30/$5.00
–67.0 –65.4 –4.2
Industrial Average 35679.13 35033.76 35065.62 -393.67 -1.11 28725.51 • 35630.68 6.9 5.8 9.3
Janover
JNVR July 25/$4.00
1.32 Fidelis Insurance
FIHL June 29/$14.00
13.41 4.0

Transportation Avg 16717.04 16257.25 16319.79 -375.53 -2.25 11999.40 • 16695.32 11.8 21.9 17.4
14300 Keen Vision Acquisition 10.09 0.9 0.1 Kodiak Gas Services 19.16 19.8 22.0
Utility Average 937.99 882.55 886.07 -46.67 -5.00 838.99 • 1061.77 -12.6 -8.4 2.1 KVACU July 25/$10.00 KGS June 29/$16.00
Total Stock Market 46010.33 44806.71 44841.11 -1005.38 -2.19 36056.21 • 45969.67 7.3 16.4 10.0 Turnstone Biologics 11.48 –4.3 4.4 Savers Value Village 23.94 33.0 4.5
Barron's 400 1036.97 1019.59 1020.73 -11.30 -1.09 825.73 • 1036.97 7.1 10.9 12.7 14100 TSBX July 21/$12.00 SVV June 29/$18.00

Nasdaq Stock Market Sources: Dow Jones Market Data; FactSet

13900
Nasdaq Composite 14370.91 13881.35 13909.24 -407.42 -2.85 10213.29 • 14358.02 9.9 32.9 8.3
Nasdaq-100 15803.55 15258.69 15274.92 -476.01 -3.02 10679.34 • 15841.35 15.7 39.6 11.2 Public and Private Borrowing
13700
S&P
28 31 1 2 3 4 Treasurys
500 Index 4594.22 4474.55 4478.03 -104.20 -2.27 3577.03 • 4588.96 8.0 16.6 10.6 July
MidCap 400 2733.30 2665.44 2681.58 -35.30 -1.30 2203.53 • 2728.44 7.1 10.3 12.3 DJ US TSM Monday, August 7 Wednesday, August 9
SmallCap 600 1282.58 1250.28 1259.51 -11.58 -0.91 1064.45 • 1315.82 1.6 8.8 12.6
t 1005.38, or -2.19%
Auction of 13 and 26 week bills; Auction of 17 week bill;
announced on August 3; settles on August 10 announced on August 8; settles on August 15
Other Indexes last week Auction of 10 year note;
Russell 2000 2003.62 1948.70 1957.46 -24.07 -1.21 1655.88 • 2021.35 1.9 11.1 8.9
NYSE Composite 16448.00 16059.83 16071.06 -292.20 -1.79 13472.18 • 16427.29 5.2 5.8 8.4
announced on August 2; settles on August 15
Value Line 596.73 581.41 582.97 -9.26 -1.56 491.56 • 606.49 1.8 8.7 7.7 45800 Tuesday, August 8 Thursday, August 10
NYSE Arca Biotech 5348.37 5172.08 5178.79 -160.36 -3.00 4390.11 • 5644.5 1.6 -1.9 -3.4 Auction of 52 week bill; Auction of 4 and 8 week bills;
NYSE Arca Pharma 879.06 858.60 860.37 -18.69 -2.13 737.84 • 892.45 7.4 -0.9 9.1
45400
announced on August 3; settles on August 10 announced on August 8; settles on August 15
KBW Bank 89.87 86.37 87.90 -1.11 -1.24 71.96 • 115.55 -19.0 -12.8 5.9 Auction of 3 year note; Auction of 30 year bond;
PHLX§ Gold/Silver 128.00 117.95 119.63 -4.64 -3.74 91.40 • 144.37 10.8 -1.0 -9.1 announced on August 2; settles on August 15 announced on August 2; settles on August 15
PHLX§ Oil Service 94.37 91.02 93.16 1.570 1.71 56.08 • 93.94 45.5 11.1 35.6 45000
PHLX§ Semiconductor 3875.17 3658.43 3699.20 -152.56 -3.96 2162.32 • 3861.63 21.2 46.1 18.7
Cboe Volatility 17.42 13.57 17.10 3.77 28.28 12.91 • 33.63 -19.1 -21.1 -10.4 44600
 Nasdaq PHLX Sources: FactSet; Dow Jones Market Data
28 31 1 2 3 4
July
A Week in the Life of the DJIA
A look at how the Dow Jones Industrial Average component stocks
did in the past week and how much each moved the index. The DJIA
International Stock Indexes Commodities and lost 393.67 points, or 1.11%, on the week. A $1 change in the price of
Latest Week 52-Week Range YTD
Currencies any DJIA stock = 6.59-point change in the average. To date, a $1,000
investment on Dec. 31 in each current DJIA stock component would
Region/Country Index Close % chg Low Close High % chg
Last Week YTD have returned $32,300, or a gain of 7.67%, on the $30,000
World MSCI ACWI 689.00 –2.34 550.37 • 707.11 13.8 Close Net chg %Chg % chg investment, including reinvested dividends.
MSCI ACWI ex-USA 306.24 –2.42 244.35 • 314.69 8.9 DJ Commodity 1002.17 -11.31 -1.12 -4.44
The Week’s Action
MSCI World 2986.54 –2.33 2367.69 • 3064.30 14.7 Refinitiv/CC CRB Index 279.46 -1.02 -0.37 0.62 Pct Stock price Point chg $1,000 Invested(year-end '22)
MSCI Emerging Markets 1018.02 –2.41 842.76 • 1052.46 6.4 Crude oil, $ per barrel 82.82 2.24 2.78 3.19 chg (%) change in average* Company Symbol Close $1,000
Americas MSCI AC Americas 1698.19 –2.32 1363.36 • 1742.64 16.5 Natural gas, $/MMBtu 2.577 -0.061 -2.31 -42.41 6.15 16.01 105.52 Caterpillar CAT $276.44 $1,172
Canada S&P/TSX Comp 20236.04 –1.38 18206.28 • 20767.38 4.4 Gold, $ per troy oz. 1939.60 -20.80 -1.06 6.59 2.92 6.91 45.54 Amgen AMGN 243.28 943
Latin Amer. MSCI EM Latin America 2465.13 –3.57 2027.22 • 2570.27 15.8
U.S. Dollar Index 102.00 0.38 0.38 -1.47 1.37 3.24 21.35 Visa V 238.99 1,155
Brazil BOVESPA 119507.68 –0.57 97926.34 • 122560.38 8.9
WSJ Dollar Index 96.70 0.54 0.56 0.15 1.04 0.54 3.56 Cisco CSCO 52.63 1,130
Chile S&P IPSA 3550.61 –0.73 3021.53 • 3629.67 11.9
Euro, per dollar 0.9081 0.0006 0.06 -2.81 0.55 0.79 5.21 IBM IBM 144.24 1,051
Mexico S&P/BMV IPC 53991.42 –1.67 44626.80 • 55534.68 11.4
Yen, per dollar 141.73 0.58 0.41 8.09 0.28 0.44 2.90 Chevron CVX 159.31 904
EMEA STOXX Europe 600 459.28 –2.44 382.89 • 471.74 8.1
U.K. pound, in dollars 1.27 -0.0100 -0.78 5.38
STOXX Europe 50 3938.55 –2.47 3310.09 • 4079.60 7.9
52-Week
0.20 0.17 1.12 Walt Disney DIS 86.30 993
Eurozone Euro STOXX 457.74 –2.69 359.45 • 470.38 11.7 Low Close(l) High % Chg
0.20 0.06 0.40 Walgreens WBA 29.86 822
Euro STOXX 50 4332.91 –2.99 3279.04 • 4471.31 14.2
DJ Commodity 930.59 1113.32 -5.14
0.17 0.19 1.25 Nike NKE 108.81 935
Austria ATX 3200.02 –0.45 2647.43 • 3557.01 2.4 l
–0.003 –0.01 –0.07 Goldman Sachs GS 353.22 1,044
Belgium Bel-20 3731.41 –1.50 3313.82 • 3954.16 0.8 Refinitiv/CC CRB Index 253.85 l 301.75 -0.56
–0.01 –0.02 –0.13 American Express AXP 165.41 1,132
France CAC 40 7315.07 –2.16 5676.87 • 7577.00 13.0 Crude oil, $ per barrel 66.74 l 97.01 -6.95
–0.04 –0.18 –1.19 UnitedHealth Group UNH 502.73 955
Germany DAX 15951.86 –3.14 11975.55 • 16469.75 14.6 Natural gas, $/MMBtu 1.991 l 9.680 -68.04
Greece Athex Composite 1319.52 –1.08 788.46 • 1345.95 41.9 Gold, $ per troy oz. 1623.30 l 2048.00 9.40 –0.57 –0.89 –5.87 JPMorgan Chase JPM 156.02 1,189
Israel Tel Aviv 1851.01 –0.20 1707.57 • 2067.23 3.0 –0.72 –1.13 –7.45 Procter & Gamble PG 155.28 1,044
Italy FTSE MIB 28586.37 –3.10 20353 • 29645 20.6 U.S. Dollar Index 99.77 l 114.10 -4.33 –0.98 –1.57 –10.35 Walmart WMT 158.34 1,126
Netherlands AEX 772.71 –2.71 630.58 • 794.27 12.1 WSJ Dollar Index 94.37 l 105.14 -1.70
–1.26 –1.34 –8.83 Merck MRK 105.00 959
Norway Oslo Bors All-Share 1421.21 1.11 1247.07 • 1476.42 4.3 Euro, per dollar 0.8897 l 1.0422 -7.52
–1.49 –4.94 –32.56 Home Depot HD 326.43 1,049
Portugal PSI 20 6024.10 –2.24 5190.28 • 6273.94 5.2 Yen, per dollar 127.86 l 150.15 4.98
–1.71 1,111
South Africa FTSE/JSE All-Share 76960.61 –1.97 63263.94 • 80791.36 5.4 U.K. pound, in dollars 1.07 l 1.31 5.63
–0.95 –6.26 Dow DOW 54.51
Spain IBEX 35 9368.38 –3.27 7261.1 • 9694.7 13.8 –2.38 –7.01 –46.20 McDonald’s MCD 287.02 1,101
Sweden OMX Stockholm 829.58 –1.92 690.07 • 886.59 6.1 Go to WSJMarkets.com for free –2.66 –4.61 –30.38 Travelers TRV 168.65 909
Switzerland Swiss Market 11098.48 –1.94 10072.62 • 11595.25 3.4 access to real-time market data. –2.83 –1.77 –11.67 Coca-Cola KO 60.71 969
U.K. FTSE 100 7564.37 –1.69 6826.15 • 8014.31 1.5
–3.06 –5.98 –39.41 Honeywell HON 189.21 892
Asia-Pacific MSCI AC Asia Pacific 166.44 –2.11 134.3 • 170.8 6.9
–3.07 –7.33 –48.31 Boeing BA 231.36 1,215
Australia S&P/ASX 200 7325.30 –1.06 6456.9 • 7558.1 4.1
–3.12 –5.44 –35.85 Johnson & Johnson JNJ 169.04 971
China Shanghai Composite 3288.08 0.37 2893.48 • 3395.00 6.4
–3.13 –10.59 –69.80 Microsoft MSFT 327.78 1,373
Hong Kong Hang Seng 19539.46 –1.89 14687.02 • 22688.90 –1.2
India S&P BSE Sensex 65721.25 –0.66 56409.96 • 67571.90 8.0 –4.14 –1.41 –9.29 Verizon VZ 32.62 870
Japan NIKKEI 225 32192.75 –1.73 25716.86 • 33753.33 23.4 –4.59 –1.69 –11.14 Intel INTC 35.14 1,357
Malaysia FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI 1445.21 –0.35 1373.36 • 1518.78 –3.4 –4.88 –11.01 –72.56 salesforce.com CRM 214.59 1,618
Singapore Straits Times 3292.39 –2.34 2969.95 • 3394.21 1.3
–5.69 –6.37 –41.98 3M MMM 105.51 905
South Korea KOSPI 2602.80 –0.21 2155.49 • 2667.07 16.4
–7.07 –13.84 –91.22 Apple AAPL 181.99 1,405
Taiwan TAIEX 16843.68 –2.60 12666.12 • 17334.98 19.1
Source: FactSet; Dow Jones Market Data *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

Selected rates Currencies
U.S. consumer rates Treasury yield curve Forex Race
A consumer rate against its Five-year ARM, Rate Yield to maturity of current bills, Yen, euro vs. dollar; dollar vs. U.S.-dollar foreign-exchange rates in late New York trading
benchmark over the past year notes and bonds major U.S. trading partners US$vs, US$vs,
Bankrate.com avg†: 6.35% Fri YTDchg Fri YTDchg
Country/currency in US$ per US$ (%) Country/currency in US$ per US$ (%)
5-year adjustable-rate Grow Financial FCU 5.63% 5.00%
t mortgage (ARM) t 12% Americas Vietnam dong .00004213 23735 0.4
6.00% Hillsborough, FL 800-839-6328
Tradeweb ICE 4.00
s
WSJ Dollar Index Argentina peso .0036278.0762 57.3 Europe
The Torrington Savings Bank 5.75% Friday Close 6
4.75 Brazil real .2052 4.8734 –7.8 Czech Rep. koruna .04536 22.044 –2.3
Torrington, CT 860-496-2152 3.00 Canada dollar .7479 1.3372 –1.3 Denmark krone .1478 6.7678 –2.6
t s Euro
3.50 Savings Bank of Danbury 5.88% One year ago 0 Chile peso .001174 851.90 0.4 Euro area euro 1.1012 .9081 –2.8
t 2.00 Colombiapeso .000244 4104.47 –15.3 Hungary forint .002826 353.80 –5.2
Danbury, CT 844-723-2265
5-year Treasury 2.25 –6 Ecuador US dollar 1 1 unch Iceland krona .007588 131.79 –6.9
Star One Credit Union 5.88% 1.00
note yield s Mexico peso .0585 17.0797 –12.4 Norway krone .0985 10.1507 3.5
Sunnyvale, CA 408-742-2801 Yen Uruguay peso .02613 38.2750 –4.3 Poland zloty .2483 4.0277 –8.0
1.00 0.00 –12
PeoplesBank 6.00% Asia-Pacific Russia ruble .01043 95.875 30.0
A S O N D J F MAM J JA 1 3 6 1 2 3 5 7 10 20 30 2022 2023 Sweden krona .0945 10.5805 1.4
2022 2023 Holyoke, MA 413-538-9500 month(s) years Australiadollar .6570 1.5221 3.7
Switzerland franc 1.1455 .8730 –5.6
China yuan .1395 7.1708 4.0
3-yr chg maturity Turkey lira .0371 26.9281 44.1
Yield/Rate (%) 52-Week Range (%) Hong Kong dollar .1280 7.8114 0.1
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 Ukraine hryvnia .0271 36.9500 0.3
India rupee .01209 82.685 –0.1
UK pound 1.2749 .7844 –5.1
Federal-funds rate target 5.25-5.50 5.25-5.50 2.25 l 5.50 5.25 Corporate Borrowing Rates and Yields Indonesia rupiah .0000660 15153 –2.7
Japan yen .007056 141.73 8.1 Middle East/Africa
Prime rate* 8.50 8.50 5.50 l 8.50 5.25 Spread +/- Treasurys,
Yield (%) in basis pts, 52-wk Range Total Return Kazakhstan tenge .002245 445.40 –3.8 Bahrain dinar 2.6522 .3771 unch
SOFR 5.30 5.31 2.25 l 5.31 5.20 Macau pataca .1242 8.0500 0.02 Egypt pound .0323 30.9449 25.0
Bond total return index Last Wk ago Last Low High 52-wk 3-yr
Money market, annual yield 0.57 0.56 0.12 l 0.57 0.32 Malaysia ringgit .2195 4.5550 3.4 Israel shekel .2737 3.6538 3.6
Five-year CD, annual yield 2.85 2.86 1.83 l 2.86 2.16 U.S. Treasury, Bloomberg 4.430 4.440 -4.67 -5.47 New Zealand dollar .6088 1.6426 4.3 Kuwait dinar 3.2538 .3073 0.4
30-year mortgage, fixed† 7.49 7.42 5.43 l 7.49 4.45 U.S. Treasury Long, Bloomberg 4.320 4.150 -15.14 -14.82 Pakistan rupee .00351 285.265 25.8 Oman sul rial 2.5974 .3850 unch
Aggregate, Bloomberg 4.940 4.870 n.a. 44 69 -4.10 -4.74 Philippines peso .0181 55.130 –1.0 Qatar rial .2744 3.645 –0.6
15-year mortgage, fixed† 6.75 6.69 4.76 l 6.75 4.05
Singapore dollar .7448 1.3427 0.1 Saudi Arabia riyal .2666 3.7516 –0.2
Jumbo mortgages, $726,200-plus† 7.56 7.48 5.41 l 7.56 4.48 Fixed-Rate MBS, Bloomberg 5.110 4.850 n.a. 26 88 -5.10 -4.11
South Korea won .0007671 1303.62 3.3 South Africa rand .0541 18.4682 8.5
Five-year adj mortgage (ARM)† 6.35 6.22 4.19 l 6.35 3.11 High Yield 100, ICE BofA 7.994 7.823 350 321 467 4.016 1.659 Sri Lanka rupee .0031143 321.10 –12.6
Muni Master, ICE BofA 3.520 3.328 -3 -17 11 -0.431 -1.501 .03158 31.667 3.3 Close Net Chg % Chg YTD%Chg
New-car loan, 48-month 7.26 7.26 5.07 l 7.64 2.99 Taiwan dollar
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 7.710 7.541 348 334 478 3.103 -3.901 Thailand baht .02882 34.700 0.2 WSJ Dollar Index 96.70 –0.340–0.350 0.15
banks.† Excludes closing costs.
Sources: FactSet; Dow Jones Market Data; Bankrate.com Sources: J.P. Morgan; S&P Dow Jones Indices; Bloomberg Fixed Income Indices; ICE BofA Sources: Tullett Prebon, Dow Jones Market Data
 .

B8 | Monday, August 7, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

CLOSED-END FUNDS
Listed are the 300 largest closed-end funds as 52 wk Prem12 Mo Prem12 Mo 52 wk Prem12 Mo
measured by assets. Closed-end funds sell a limited Prem Ttl Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld Prem Ttl Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld
number of shares and invest the proceeds in securities. Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret
Unlike open-end funds, closed-ends generally do not Western Asset Inf-Lk Inc WIA 9.63 8.48 -11.9 14.2 BlckRk Muni Inc Qly BYM 12.38 10.91 -11.9 4.5 Apollo Diversified Cd:C NA NA NA 7.7
buy their shares back from investors who wish to cash Neuberger Brmn MLP & EI NML NA 7.06 NA 14.6 Western Asset Inf-Lk O&I WIW 10.33 8.98 -13.1 12.3 BR MuniAssets Fd MUA 11.00 9.99 -9.2 5.2 NexPointRlEstStrat;A 18.96 NA NA -8.8 Apollo Diversified Cd:F NA NA NA 10.5
in their holdings. Instead, fund shares trade on a stock
exchange. NA signifies that the information is not Neuberger Nxt Gen Conn NBXG 13.12 10.73 -18.2 4.1 Westn Asst IG Def Opp Tr IGI 17.07 16.22 -5.0 4.8 BR MH Qly 2 MUE 11.22 9.65 -14.0 4.3 NexPointRlEstStrat;C 19.18 NA NA -9.6 Apollo Diversified Cd:I NA NA NA 8.2
available or not applicable. NS signifies funds not in NuvDow30DynOverwrite DIAX 16.06 14.36 -10.6 -1.8 Loan Participation Funds BR MuniHoldngs MHD 13.27 11.49 -13.4 4.3 NexPointRlEstStrat;Z 19.20 NA NA -8.6 Apollo Diversified Cd:L NA NA NA 8.0
existence for the entire period. 12 month yield is NuvCorEqAlpha JCE 13.26 12.81 -3.4 1.1
computed by dividing income dividends paid (during Apollo Senior Floating AFT NA 13.17 NA 10.0 BR MuniVest Fd MVF 7.74 6.68 -13.7 4.2 PIMCO Flexible REI;Inst 10.18 NA NA NS Apollo Diversified Cd:M NA NA NA 7.8
the previous 12 months for periods ending at month- NuveenNasdaq100DynOv QQQX 24.43 23.83 -2.5 5.0 BR Debt Strategy DSU NA 9.98 NA 9.0 BR MuniVest 2 MVT 12.04 10.35 -14.0 4.1 PREDEX;I 27.33 NA NA -12.2 Opprtnstc Crdt Intrvl;I 12.06 NA NA 7.2
end or during the previous 52 weeks for periods Nuv Real Est JRS 8.44 7.43 -12.0 -17.7 BR F/R Inc Str FRA 13.19 12.48 -5.4 8.8 BR MuniYield Fd MYD 11.81 10.29 -12.9 4.6 PREDEX;T 27.48 NA NA -12.3 Peak Income Plus NA NA NA NS
ending at any time other than month-end) by the
latest month-end market price adjusted for capital Nuveen Rl Asst Inc & Gro JRI 13.28 11.29 -15.0 -10.6 BlackRock Floatng Rt Inc BGT 12.82 11.99 -6.5 8.9 BR MuniYield Qlty MQY 12.89 11.48 -10.9 4.7 PREDEX;W 27.48 NA NA -12.3 PIMCO Flexible Cr I;A-1 6.82 NA NA 15.6
gains distributions. Depending on the fund category, NuvS&P500DynOvFd SPXX 16.35 15.50 -5.2 1.2 BS SFR 2027 T BSL 14.49 13.08 -9.7 8.8 BR MuniYld Qlty2 MQT 11.43 9.96 -12.9 4.7 Principal Dvs Sel RA A 25.16 NA NA 0.3 PIMCO Flexible Cr I;A-2 6.82 NA NA 15.6
either 12-month yield or total return is listed.
Source: Lipper
NuvSP500BuyIncFd BXMX 13.84 13.25 -4.3 3.8 BS St Cr 2027 Tm BGB 12.48 11.04 -11.5 9.0 BR MuniYld Qly 3 MYI 12.23 10.82 -11.5 4.5 Principal Dvs Sel RA Ins 25.25 NA NA 0.6 PIMCO Flexible Cr I;A-3 6.82 NA NA 15.4
ReavesUtilityIncome UTG 26.62 27.16 +2.0 -9.0 EtnVncFltRteInc EFT 13.16 12.15 -7.7 9.3 BNY Mellon Muni Bd Infra DMB 11.62 11.10 -4.5 4.4 Principal Dvs Sel RA Y 25.48 NA NA 0.8 PIMCO Flexible Cr I;A-4 6.82 NA NA 15.4
Friday, August 4, 2023
Tortoise Enrgy Infra Crp TYG 36.24 29.97 -17.3 0.4 EV SenFlRtTr EFR 12.95 12.14 -6.3 9.0 BNY Mellon Str Muni Bond DSM 6.45 5.57 -13.6 5.0 Redwood Rl Est;I 25.03 NA NA NS PIMCO Flexible Cr I;Inst 6.82 NA NA 16.2
52 wk
Prem Ttl Tortoise Midstream Enrgy NTG 42.09 35.30 -16.1 8.9 FT/Sr Fltg Rte Inc 2 FCT 11.03 9.99 -9.4 9.2 BNY Mellon Strat Muni LEO 6.74 5.99 -11.1 4.8 SS Priv Venture & Gr:D NA NA NA NS Other Domestic Taxable Bond Funds
Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret VDivInt&PremStr NFJ NA 12.43 NA 3.7 Highland Oppty & Income HFRO NA 8.42 NA 10.8 DWS Muni Inc KTF NA 8.51 NA 3.9 SS Priv Venture & Gr:I NA NA NA NS AFA MMC;Fndr 9.42 NA NA 9.2
General Equity Funds V Art Int&Tech Opps AIO NA 18.10 NA 10.6 InvDYCrOpp:AX VTA NA NA NA NA EVMuniBd EIM 11.22 9.78 -12.8 4.3 SS Priv Venture & Gr:S NA NA NA NS AFA MMC;Inst 9.46 NA NA 9.2
Adams Diversified Eq Inc ADX 20.25 17.39 -14.1 11.5 Income & Preferred Stock Funds InvSnrIncTr VVR 4.11 3.87 -5.8 13.9 EVMuniIncm EVN 11.11 9.81 -11.7 5.0 SS Priv Venture & Gr;T NA NA NA NS Alternative Credit Inc:A NA NA NA 7.2
Central Secs CET NA 36.93 NA 6.5 CalamosStratTot CSQ 14.82 14.79 -0.2 3.6 Nuveen Credit Strat Inc JQC 5.81 5.04 -13.3 10.9 EVNatMuniOpp EOT 17.98 16.81 -6.5 4.3 The Private Shares;A 39.98 NA NA -6.5 Alternative Credit Inc:C NA NA NA 6.4
CohenStrsCEOppFd FOF 10.82 11.00 +1.7 2.0 CohenStrsLtdDurPref&Inc LDP 19.89 18.24 -8.3 -5.5 NuvFloatRateIncFd JFR 9.11 8.09 -11.2 10.7 InvAdvMuIncTrII VKI NA 8.29 NA 5.0 The Private Shares;I 40.59 NA NA -6.3 Alternative Credit Inc:I NA NA NA 7.4
EVTxAdvDivIncm EVT 24.20 22.93 -5.2 -3.8 CohenStrsSelPref&Income PSF 19.58 18.89 -3.5 -6.8 High Yield Bond Funds Invesco MuniOp OIA 6.18 6.18 0.0 5.2 The Private Shares;L 39.40 NA NA -6.8 Alternative Credit Inc:L NA NA NA 6.9
GabelliDiv&IncTr GDV NA 21.30 NA 3.3 CohenStrsTaxAvPreSecs&I PTA 19.42 18.19 -6.3 -2.4 abrdn Inc Credit Str ACP 6.86 6.87 +0.1 17.4 InvescoMuOppTr VMO 10.61 9.28 -12.5 4.9 Thirdline Real EstateI 10.07 NA NA 6.5 Alternative Credit Inc:W NA NA NA 7.2
Gabelli Equity Tr GAB NA 5.47 NA -1.4 FirstTrIntDurPref&Inc FPF 17.62 15.47 -12.2 -15.4 AllianceBernGlHiIncm AWF 10.64 9.82 -7.7 8.9 InvescoMuTr VKQ NA 9.31 NA 5.0 USQ Core Real Estate:I 26.51 NA NA -10.5 Angel Oak Str Crdt:FI NA NA NA 8.0
GeneralAmer GAM 50.72 41.55 -18.1 10.7 JHanPrefInc HPI 15.16 15.36 +1.3 -10.9 Allspring Income Oppty EAD 7.13 6.37 -10.7 9.7 InvescoQual Inc IQI NA 9.35 NA 5.0 USQ Core Real Estate:IS 26.57 NA NA -10.5 Angel Oak Str Crdt:Inst NA NA NA 8.6
JHancockTaxAdvDiv HTD 20.96 20.06 -4.3 -13.8 JHPrefIncII HPF 15.03 15.42 +2.6 -11.6 Barings Glb SD HY Bd BGH 14.83 13.19 -11.1 9.4 InvTrInvGrMu VGM NA 9.55 NA 4.9 Versus Cap MMgr RE Inc:I NA NA NA NE BR Credit Strat;A 8.68 NA NA 7.0
Liberty All-Star Equity USA 6.41 6.50 +1.4 6.8 HnckJPfdInco III HPS 13.52 14.22 +5.2 -8.5 BR Corporate HY HYT NA 9.04 NA 10.3 InvescoValMunInc IIM NA 11.63 NA 4.9 Wildermuth:A 9.91 NA NA -24.3 BR Credit Strat;Inst 8.65 NA NA 7.9
Liberty All-Star Growth ASG 5.55 5.27 -5.0 -12.8 J Han Prm PDT 11.63 10.97 -5.7 -23.2 BlackRock Ltd Dur Inc BLW 13.71 13.20 -3.7 8.8 MAINSTAY:MKDEFTRMUNOP MMD 16.82 16.85 +0.2 5.6 Wildermuth:C 9.30 NA NA -24.9 BR Credit Strat;U 8.68 NA NA 7.0
Royce Micro-Cap Tr RMT 10.29 9.02 -12.3 5.7 LMP CapInco SCD 14.77 12.70 -14.0 3.9 BNY Mellon Hi Yield Str DHF 2.56 2.23 -12.9 8.6 NeubrgrBrm NBH 11.75 10.07 -14.3 5.1 Wildermuth:I 10.04 NA NA -24.1 BR Credit Strat;W 8.68 NA NA 7.0
Royce Value Trust RVT 16.04 14.03 -12.5 -2.0 Nuveen Multi-Asset Inc NMAI 13.79 11.82 -14.3 0.3 Brookfield Real Asst Inc RA 14.81 17.15 +15.8 14.0 Nuveen AMT-Fr Mu Val NUW 14.97 13.50 -9.8 3.4 Income & Preferred Stock Funds BlackRock Mlt-Sctr Oppty 67.00 NA NA 9.0
Source Capital SOR 43.14 39.50 -8.4 9.0 Nuveen Pref & Inc Opp JPC 7.43 6.56 -11.7 -11.8 CrSuisHighYld DHY 2.11 1.89 -10.4 9.8 Nuveen AMT-Fr Qlty Mun I NEA 12.39 10.62 -14.3 4.4 Alpha Alternative Assets 6.30 NA NA 0.1 BlackRock Mlt-Sec Opp II 69.31 NA NA 9.0
Sprott Focus Trust FUND 8.77 8.19 -6.6 8.9 Nuveen Fd JPS 7.41 6.49 -12.4 -9.6 DoubleLine Inc Sol DSL 11.95 12.14 +1.6 12.5 Nuveen AMT-Fr Mu CI NVG 13.26 11.48 -13.4 4.9
Calamos L/S Eqty and DI CPZ 18.01 15.33 -14.9 0.6 CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;A NA NA NA 6.9
SRH Total Return STEW 16.69 13.51 -19.1 12.3 Nuveen Pref & Inc Term JPI 18.38 17.88 -2.7 -8.0 DoubleLine Yld Opps DLY 15.31 14.57 -4.8 9.7 Nuveen Dyn Muni Opp NDMO 10.75 10.68 -0.7 7.6
Nuveen Var Rate P&I NPFD 18.71 16.35 -12.6 -14.7 Carlyle AlpInv Pvt Mkt:I NA NA NA NS CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;C NA NA NA 6.3
Tri-Continental TY 31.62 27.74 -12.3 4.5 First Tr Hi Inc Lng/Shrt FSD 12.43 11.21 -9.8 10.9 Nuveen Mu Crdt Opps NMCO 11.52 11.49 -0.3 5.7
TCW Strat Income TSI NA 4.66 NA 0.5 Constitution Cap Acs A NA NA NA NS CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;I NA NA NA 7.1
Specialized Equity Funds First Trust HY Opp:2027 FTHY 15.35 13.68 -10.9 10.9 Nuv Muni Credit Income NZF 13.33 11.55 -13.4 4.8
Constitution Cap Acs D NA NA NA NS CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;L NA NA NA 6.7
abrdn Glb Prem Prop AWP 4.15 3.95 -4.8 -14.0 Convertible Sec's. Funds Franklin Univ FT 7.42 6.87 -7.4 7.2 NuvMuniHiIncOpp NMZ 10.74 10.46 -2.6 5.6
AdvntCnvrtbl&IncFd AVK 12.57 11.72 -6.8 -5.0 Flat Rock Opportunity 18.65 NA NA 7.8 CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;U NA NA NA 6.5
abrdn Global Infra Inc ASGI 20.70 17.63 -14.8 0.3 KKR Income Opportunities KIO NA 11.86 NA 11.2 Nuveen Muni Val NUV 9.20 8.63 -6.2 3.8
CalamosConvHi CHY 10.83 11.40 +5.3 -2.7 Lord Abbett Spec Sit I:A 9.12 NA NA 7.7 CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt:U2 NA NA NA 6.5
Adams Natural Resources PEO 26.20 22.54 -14.0 20.6 New Amer Hi Inc HYB 7.89 6.80 -13.8 7.9 Nuveen Quality Muni Inc NAD 12.80 11.01 -14.0 4.6
CalmosConvOp CHI 10.26 11.15 +8.7 -1.5 Lord Abbett Spec Sit I:I 9.12 NA NA 8.5 CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;W NA NA NA 6.7
ASA Gold & Prec Met Ltd ASA 17.52 15.00 -14.4 0.8 Nuveen Global High Inc JGH 12.84 11.55 -10.0 11.0 Nuveen Sel TF NXP 14.29 14.45 +1.1 3.9
Ellsworth G&I Fund Ltd ECF NA 8.66 NA -3.8 PGIM Global High Yield GHY 12.57 11.31 -10.0 11.0 Variant Altrntv Inc:Inst 29.22 NA NA 9.2 CNR Select Strategies 12.78 NA NA 0.0
BR Enh C&I CII 19.33 18.57 -3.9 6.8 PIMCO MuniInc PMF NA 9.69 NA 5.6
V Conv & Inc NCV NA 3.43 NA -4.5 PGIM High Yield Bond ISD 13.68 12.26 -10.4 10.1 Variant Impact;Instl 27.49 NA NA 11.3 First Eagle Crdt Opps A 23.56 NA NA 9.4
BlackRock Energy & Res BGR 14.28 12.42 -13.0 17.2 PIMCOMuniIncII PML NA 8.93 NA 6.2
V Conv & Inc II NCZ NA 3.02 NA -3.0 PGIM Sh Dur Hi Yld Opp SDHY 17.17 15.23 -11.3 8.4 Convertible Sec's. Funds First Eagle Crdt Opps A2 23.51 NA NA 9.1
BlackRock Eq Enh Div BDJ 8.85 8.21 -7.2 -1.6 Pimco Muni III PMX NA 7.74 NA 5.8
V Div Inc & Conv ACV NA 20.02 NA -1.6 7.73 6.75 -12.7 10.2 Calmos Dyn Conv and Inc CCD 20.06 20.77 +3.5 -0.2 First Eagle Crdt Opps I 23.47 NA NA 9.99
BlackRock Enh Glbl Div BOE 11.57 9.96 -13.9 3.4 PioneerHilncm PHT PioneerHilncAdv MAV 9.07 7.79 -14.1 5.6
V Eqty & Conv Inc NIE NA 21.36 NA 12.1 WstAstHIF II HIX 4.74 4.95 +4.4 11.9 PionrMuniHiIncOppty MIO 12.31 10.70 -13.1 5.7 World Equity Funds First Trust Private Cr;A 10.22 NA NA NS
BlackRock Enh Intl Div BGY 6.11 5.30 -13.3 9.3
World Equity Funds Western Asset Hi Inc Opp HIO 4.25 3.81 -10.4 9.3 PioneerMunHiIcm MHI 9.78 8.42 -13.9 5.7 ACAP Strategic:A 17.68 NA NA 6.4 First Trust Private Cr;I 10.25 NA NA 4.8
BlackRock ESG Cap All T ECAT NA 15.73 NA 12.5
abrdn Emg Mkts Eq Inc AEF NA 5.31 NA 5.1 Western Asset Hi Yld D O HYI 12.43 11.79 -5.1 9.5 Putnam Mgd Inc PMM 6.39 5.88 -8.0 5.8 ACAP Strategic:W 13.21 NA NA 7.2 Franklin BSP Pvt Cr:A 10.27 NA NA NS
BlackRock Hlth Sci Term BMEZ 18.35 16.11 -12.2 2.0
BlackRock Hlth Sciences BME 41.97 39.75 -5.3 abrdn Glbl Dyn Div AGD NA 9.39 NA 3.1 Other Domestic Taxable Bond Funds Putnam Muni Opp PMO 10.90 10.08 -7.5 5.4 CalamosGlbTotRet CGO 10.32 9.55 -7.5 5.6 Franklin BSP Pvt Cr:Adv 10.28 NA NA NS
-3.8
BlackRock Innov&Gro Term BIGZ 9.44 8.09 -14.3 -4.3 abrdn Tot Dyn Div AOD NA 8.13 NA 5.7 Allspring Multi-Sector ERC 9.91 9.46 -4.5 8.9 RiverNorth Flx Mu Inc II RFMZ 15.14 14.23 -6.0 7.5 Cantor Fitzgerald SI:A 10.36 NA NA -1.9 FS Credit Income;A 11.87 NA NA 7.2
BlackRock Res & Comm BCX 10.94 9.62 -12.1 13.4 Allspring Gl Div Oppty EOD 4.87 4.35 -10.7 -2.7 Ares Dynamic Crdt Alloc ARDC NA 12.69 NA 10.0 RiverNorth Mgd Dur Mun I RMM 15.99 15.42 -3.6 6.9 Cantor Fitzgerald SI:C 10.31 NA NA NS FS Credit Income;I 11.90 NA NA 7.4
BlackRock Sci&Tech Term BSTZ 21.46 18.36 -14.4 -7.2 BlackRock Cap Alloc Term BCAT NA 15.35 NA 8.6 BlackRock Mlt-Sctr Inc BIT 14.48 14.91 +3.0 9.9 Western Asset Mgd Muni MMU 11.39 9.75 -14.4 4.4 Cantor Fitzgerald SI:I 10.35 NA NA NS FS Credit Income;T 11.89 NA NA 6.9
BlackRock Sci&Tech Trust BST 34.01 33.91 -0.3 -0.2 Calamos GloDynInc CHW 6.77 6.04 -10.8 -10.0 BlackRock Tax Muni Bd BBN 17.40 15.98 -8.2 7.8 Single State Muni Bond Primark Priv Eq Inv:I 11.66 NA NA 1.4 FS Credit Income;U 11.85 NA NA 6.6
BlackRock Utl Inf & Pwr BUI 22.34 22.52 +0.8 2.8 EV TxAdvGlbDivInc ETG 18.52 16.76 -9.5 -4.1 DoubleLine:Oppor Crdt Fd DBL 14.53 14.39 -1.0 9.1 BlackRock CA Mun BFZ 12.73 11.38 -10.6 3.9 Sweater Cashmere 20.68 NA NA 3.4 FS Credit Income;U-2 11.94 NA NA 6.9
CLEARBRIDGEENGYMDSOPP EMO 35.96 31.36 -12.8 24.2 EtnVncTxAdvOpp ETO 25.13 22.88 -9.0 -12.4 EVLmtDurIncm EVV 10.43 9.39 -10.0 11.7 BR MH CA Qly Fd Inc MUC 12.33 10.57 -14.3 4.4 Thornburg Inc Bldr Opps TBLD.O 17.76 15.33 -13.7 11.8 GL Beyond Income 0.41 NA NA NE
CLEARBRIDGEMLP&MDSTMTR CTR 37.87 32.89 -13.2 24.3 FirstTr Dyn Euro Eq Inc FDEU 13.67 13.09 -4.2 23.8 Franklin Ltd Dur Income FTF 7.11 6.30 -11.4 11.4 BR MH NJ Qly MUJ 12.81 11.06 -13.7 4.8 VirtusTotalRetFd ZTR 6.50 6.09 -6.3 -8.5 KKR CREDIT OPPTY;D NA NA NA 8.3
ClearBridge MLP & Midstm CEM 42.38 36.41 -14.1 21.7 Gabelli Multimedia GGT NA 6.24 NA 6.0 J Han Investors JHI 14.04 12.96 -7.7 7.1 BR MH NY Qly MHN 11.81 10.15 -14.1 4.2 Prem12 Mo KKR CREDIT OPPTY;I NA NA NA 8.5
ChnStrInfr UTF 22.64 22.61 -0.1 -9.9 GDL Fund GDL NA 7.91 NA 1.4 MFS Charter MCR 6.74 6.18 -8.3 0.0 BR MuniYld MI Qly MIY 12.66 10.90 -13.9 4.4 Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld KKR CREDIT OPPTY;T NA NA NA 7.8
Cohen&SteersQualInc RQI 12.33 11.64 -5.6 -16.0 Highland Global Alloc HGLB NA 8.64 NA -4.0 NuvCorePlusImpact NPCT 11.62 9.92 -14.6 11.1 BR MuniYld NY Qly MYN 11.40 9.86 -13.5 4.1 U.S. Mortgage Bond Funds KKR CREDIT OPPTY;U NA NA NA 7.9
CohenStrs Real Est and I RLTY 15.80 13.96 -11.6 -6.6 India Fund IFN 16.67 16.78 +0.7 13.3 Nuveen Taxable Muni Inc NBB 16.57 15.28 -7.8 6.2 BlackRock NY Mun BNY 11.69 10.04 -14.1 4.1 Arca US Treasury NA NA NA NE Palmer Square Opp Inc 17.27 NA NA 9.0
Cohen&Steers TotRet RFI 11.54 11.55 +0.1 -16.6 Japan Smaller Cap JOF 8.72 7.26 -16.7 13.0 PIMCO Corp & Inc Oppty PTY 10.79 14.52 +34.6 10.6 EVCAMuniBd EVM 10.15 8.84 -12.9 4.2 Loan Participation Funds The Finite Solar Finance NA NA NA 3.3
CohenStrsREITPrefInc RNP 19.87 19.30 -2.9 -13.1 LazardGlbTotRetInc LGI 17.48 15.11 -13.6 -7.2 PIMCO Corp & Inc Strat PCN 11.06 13.87 +25.4 10.9 Eaton Vance NY Muni Bd ENX 10.50 9.45 -10.0 3.7 1WS Credit Income;A2 18.46 NA World Income Funds
NA 6.3
Columbia Sel Prm Tech Gr STK 27.86 29.85 +7.1 8.6 Mexico MXF NA 17.56 NA 34.3 PIMCOHilnco PHK 4.48 5.07 +13.2 11.3 InvCaValMuIncTr VCV NA 9.62 NA 4.5 BlueBay Destra Itl E:A 23.33 NA NA 13.3
1WS Credit Income;Inst 18.75 NA NA 6.2
DNP Select Income DNP 8.13 10.05 +23.7 -1.2 Miller/Howard High Inc E HIE NA 10.20 NA 7.2 PIMCO IncmStrFd PFL 7.73 8.27 +7.0 11.7 InvPAValMuIncTr VPV NA 9.75 NA 4.4 BlueBay Destra Itl E:I 23.35 NA NA 13.5
AlphCntrc Prime Merid In 8.05 NA NA 12.7
Duff&Ph Uti&Infra Inc Fd DPG 10.94 9.63 -12.0 -25.9 MS ChinaShrFd CAF NA 13.28 NA -14.5 PIMCO IncmStrFd II PFN 6.80 7.21 +6.0 12.0 InvTrInvGrNYMu VTN NA 10.03 NA 4.2 BlueBay Destra Itl E:L 23.31 NA NA 13.0
Axonic Alternative Inc 19.70 NA NA 9.0
EtnVncEqtyInc EOI 16.51 16.35 -1.0 7.1 MS India IIF 27.05 22.25 -17.7 7.4 Putnam Prem Inc PPT 3.82 3.59 -6.0 8.5 Nuveen CA AMT-F Qual MI NKX 12.86 11.42 -11.2 4.6 BlueBay Destra Itl E:T 23.21 NA NA 12.9
Blackstone FR EI D 21.52 NA NA 8.9
EtnVncEqtyIncoII EOS 18.67 17.99 -3.6 3.7 MS CBRE Gl In Mg Term MEGI 15.68 13.50 -13.9 -12.9 Western Asset Dvsfd Inc WDI 15.31 13.83 -9.7 11.1 Nuveen CA Val NCA 9.17 8.57 -6.5 3.8 Calamos-Aksia ACI:A 10.12 NA NA NS
Blackstone FR EI I 21.49 NA NA 9.2
EVRskMnDvsEqInc ETJ 8.50 8.13 -4.4 -5.5 New Germany GF NA 8.87 NA 2.4 World Income Funds NuveenCAQtyMuInc NAC 12.40 10.70 -13.7 4.5 Calamos-Aksia ACI:C 10.10 NA NA NS
Templeton Dragon TDF 11.34 9.71 -14.4 -14.7
Blackstone FR EI T 21.45 NA NA 8.7
ETnVncTxMgdBuyWrtInc ETB 14.22 13.48 -5.2 -8.5 abrdn AP IncFd FAX 3.09 2.70 -12.6 12.0 NuvNJ Qual Muni Inc NXJ 13.42 11.45 -14.7 3.8 Calamos-Aksia ACI:I 10.12 NA NA NS
Templeton Em Mkt EMF 14.10 12.23 -13.3 9.0 Blackstone FR EI T-I 21.98 NA NA 8.7
EtnVncTxMgdBuyWrtOpp ETV 13.15 12.98 -1.3 -6.5 MS EmMktDomDebt EDD 5.54 4.74 -14.4 6.1 Nuveen NY AMT/Fr Qual MI NRK 11.79 10.19 -13.6 4.4 Calamos-Aksia ACI:M 10.11 NA NA NS
EvTxMnDvsEqInc ETY 12.35 12.17 -1.5 PIMCO Dynamic Income PDI 17.22 19.37 +12.5 17.2 Blackstone FR EI U 22.40 NA NA 8.7
4.4 Prem12 Mo Nuveen NY Qual Muni Inc NAN 12.26 10.60 -13.5 4.5 Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:A NA NA NA 9.6
EtnVncTxMgdGlbB ETW 9.00 8.08 -10.2 PIMCO Stratg Inc RCS 4.31 5.61 +30.2 11.1 Bluerock HI Inst Crd:A 23.85 NA NA 8.1
-1.8 Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld Nuveen PA Qual Muni Inc NQP 13.01 11.06 -15.0 3.5 Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:I NA NA NA 10.2
EVTxMnGblDvEqInc EXG 8.66 7.89 -8.9 0.1 Templeton Em Inc TEI 5.73 4.98 -13.1 10.6 Bluerock HI Inst Crd:C 23.86 NA NA 8.1
U.S. Mortgage Bond Funds Nuveen VA Qlty Mun Inc NPV 12.13 10.75 -11.4 4.3 Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:L NA NA NA 9.6
Ecofin S&S Impact Term TEAF 15.44 12.68 -17.9 -6.1 Templtn Glbl Inc GIM 4.55 4.18 -8.1 8.5 Bluerock HI Inst Crd:F 23.86 NA NA 8.1
BlckRk Income BKT 12.57 12.07 -4.0 8.7 PIMCO CA PCQ NA 9.93 NA 5.6 Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:M NA NA NA 9.3
First Trust Energy Inc G FEN 15.42 14.05 -8.9 -1.3 WstAstEmergDebt EMD 10.17 8.93 -12.2 10.0 PIMCOCAMuniII PCK NA 5.89 NA 5.1 Bluerock HI Inst Crd:I 23.86 NA NA 8.2 Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:N NA NA NA 10.2
Invesco HI 2023 Tgt Term IHIT NA 7.39 NA 5.6
First Tr Enhanced Eq FFA 18.30 17.87 -2.3 9.96 Investment Grade Bond Funds Western Asset Gl Cr D Op GDO 12.95 12.40 -4.2 9.6 BNYM Alcntr Glb MS Cr Fd 88.42 NA NA 8.4 Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:U NA NA NA NS
52 wk
FirstTrEnergyInfra FIF 17.17 15.12 -11.9 10.9 Angel Oak FS Inc Trm FINS NA 11.77 NA 9.7 National Muni Bond Funds Prem Ttl CliffwaterClFd;I 10.58 NA NA 9.6 Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:Y NA NA NA 10.0
FirstTrMLPEner&Inc FEI NA 7.98 NA 9.1 BlRck Core Bond BHK 10.70 10.61 -0.8 8.2 AllBerNatlMunInc AFB 12.11 10.41 -14.0 4.1 Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret CliffwaterElFd;A 10.75 NA NA 9.8 Fid MS Cr;A NA NA NA NS
Gabelli Healthcare GRX NA 9.70 NA -12.4 BR Credit Alloc Inc BTZ 11.15 10.12 -9.2 9.8 BlckRk Inv Q Mun BKN 12.86 11.41 -11.3 4.8 General Equity Funds CNR Strategic Credit 7.37 NA NA 20.0 Fid MS Cr;C NA NA NA NS
Gab Utility GUT NA 6.89 NA 5.4 InvescoBond VBF NA 14.91 NA 5.2 BlackRock Muni 2030 Tgt BTT 23.27 20.72 -11.0 3.3 Alternative Strategies:I 4.93 NA NA -10.0 Equalize Community Dev 9.32 NA NA 3.6 Fid MS Cr;I NA NA NA NS
GAMCOGlGold&NatRes GGN NA 3.74 NA 17.6 J Han Income JHS NA 10.79 NA 4.0 BlackRock Muni BFK 11.37 9.78 -14.0 4.2 First Trust Hdg Strat;A 9.98 NA NA N FedProj&TrFinanceTendr 9.99 NA NA 6.3 Fid MS Cr;L NA NA NA NS
J Han Finl Opptys BTO 28.51 30.23 +6.0 -13.2 MFS Intmdt MIN NA 2.74 NA 0.0 BlackRock Muni II BLE 11.77 10.17 -13.6 4.5 First Trust Hdg Str;I 9.98 NA NA N Flat Rock Core Income 20.56 NA NA 7.0 Lord Abbett Cred Opps Fd 8.88 NA NA 8.4
Specialized Equity Funds Flat Rock Enhanced Inc 21.27 NA NA NS Lord Abbett Cred Opps Fd 8.88 NA NA 9.1
Apollo Diversified RE:A 26.63 NA NA -8.4 InvDYCrOpp:A NA NA NA 9.2 Lord Abbett Crd Op:U 8.88 NA NA 8.4
Apollo Diversified RE:C 25.09 NA NA -9.1 InvDYCrOpp:R6 NA NA NA 9.5 Oaktree Dvsfd Income;D 8.88 NA NA 8.2
Insider-Trading Spotlight Apollo Diversified RE:I 27.17 NA NA -8.2 InvDYCrOpp:Y NA NA NA 9.4 PIMCO Flexible EM I;Inst 8.18 NA NA 9.1
Trading by ‘insiders’ of a corporation, such as a company’s CEO, vice president or director, potentially conveys ARK Venture 24.03 NA NA NS Invesco Sr Loan A 5.88 NA NA 10.7 National Muni Bond Funds
new information about the prospects of a company. Insiders are required to report large trades to the SEC ArrowMark Financial Corp BANX NA 16.65 NA NA Invesco Sr Loan C 5.89 NA NA 9.96 Ecofin Tax-Exempt Prv Cr 8.47 NA NA 5.1
CBRE GlbRlEst IGR 5.85 5.34 -8.7 -18.5 Invesco Sr Loan IB 5.88 NA NA 10.9 Lind Cap Pt Mun Cred Inc 8.67 NA NA 4.5
within two business days. Here’s a look at the biggest individual trades by insiders, based on data received by Invesco Sr Loan IC 5.88 NA NA 10.8
CIM RA&C A 25.01 NA NA 3.8 Nuveen En HY Muni Bd:A1 7.19 NA NA 5.3
Refinitiv on August 4, and year-to-date stock performance of the company CIM RA&C C 24.40 NA NA 3.0 Invesco Sr Loan Y 5.88 NA NA 10.9 Nuveen En HY Muni Bd:A2 7.20 NA NA NS
KEY: B: beneficial owner of more than 10% of a security class CB: chairman CEO: chief executive officer CFO: chief financial officer CIM RA&C I 25.21 NA NA 4.1 Lord Abbett FR Hi Inc:A 10.11 NA NA NS Nuveen En HY Muni Bd:I 7.19 NA NA 6.0
CO: chief operating officer D: director DO: director and beneficial owner GC: general counsel H: officer, director and beneficial owner CIM RA&C L 24.79 NA NA 3.5 Lord Abbett FR Hi Inc:I 10.11 NA NA NS PIMCO Flex Mun Inc;A-3 9.84 NA NA 3.4
I: indirect transaction filed through a trust, insider spouse, minor child or other O: officer OD: officer and director P: president UT: Clarion Partners REI D 12.12 NA NA 0.7 Monachil Credit Income:I 10.09 NA NA NS PIMCO Flex Mun Inc:A1 9.84 NA NA 3.7
unknown VP: vice president Excludes pure options transactions Clarion Partners REI I 12.14 NA NA 1.2 Nomura Alt Inc;I 10.16 NA NA NS PIMCO Flex Mun Inc;A2 9.84 NA NA 3.7
Clarion Partners REI S 12.14 NA NA 0.2 OFS Credit Company OCCI NA 7.82 NA NA PIMCO Flex Mun Inc;Inst 9.84 NA NA 4.2
Biggest weekly individual trades Clarion Partners REI T 12.11 NA NA 0.2 Yieldstreet Prism NA NA NA 8.5 Single State Muni Bond
First Tr Real Assets;I 9.50 NA NA -2.0 High Yield Bond Funds PIMCO CA FMI;A-1 9.94 NA NA NS
Based on reports filed with regulators this past week Forum RE Income;I 9.22 NA NA NS Apollo Diversified Cd:A NA NA NA 8.1 PIMCO CA FMI;Inst 9.94 NA NA 3.4
No. of shrs in Price range ($) $ Value
Date(s) Company Symbol Insider Title trans (000s) in transaction (000s) Close ($) Ytd (%)
Borrowing Benchmarks | wsj.com/market-data/bonds/benchmarks
Buyers
Aug. 1 P.A.M. Transportation Services PTSI M. Moroun DOI 6,354 20.99 133,389 25.95 0.2 Money Rates August 4, 2023
July 31 Exxon Mobil XOM J. Ubben DI 458 105.20-107.11 48,973 107.42 -2.6 Key annual interest rates paid to borrow or lend money in U.S. and international markets. Rates below are a
Aug. 1 J. Ubben DI 192 106.17-106.82 20,437 guide to general levels but don’t always represent actual transactions.
July 31 Tidewater TDW R. Robotti DI 118 62.28 7,330 64.14 74.1 Week —52-WEEK— Week —52-WEEK—
Inflation Latest ago High Low Latest ago High Low
Aug. 1 Inozyme Pharma INZY R. Hopfner DI 833 4.80 4,000 5.02 378.1 June index Chg From (%)
level May '23 June '22 Australia 4.10 4.10 4.10 1.85 13 weeks 5.280 5.270 5.300 2.490
July 26-27 Asana ASAN D. Moskovitz CEO 160 22.03-23.52 3,596 22.02 59.9 26 weeks 5.270 5.270 5.290 2.850
July 28-Aug. 1Akero Therapeutics AKRO G. Graham DI 55 42.69-43.26 2,362 43.53 -20.6 U.S. consumer price index Overnight repurchase
U.S. 5.26 5.35 5.35 2.25
Secondary market
All items 305.109 0.32 3.0
July 27 Allegion ALLE J. Stone CEO 18 116.62 2,041 111.91 6.3
Core 308.910 0.26 4.8 Fannie Mae
Aug. 2 Agree Realty ADC J. Rakolta D 30 63.02 1,891 64.61 -8.9 U.S. government rates 30-year mortgage yields
International rates
Aug. 1-2 Crocs CROX T. Smach DI 10 105.27-107.59 1,059 105.91 -2.3 Discount 30 days 6.644 6.391 6.812 4.529
Week 52-Week 5.50 5.50 5.50 2.50 60 days 6.676 6.394 6.988 4.569
July 27 Better Therapeutics BTTX D. Perry HI 1,233 .73 900 0.71 -36.0 Latest ago High Low
July 27 G. Parker D 685 .73 500 Federal funds Other short-term rates
Prime rates
July 26-28 FB Financial FBK J. Ayers B 16 34.80-35.10 552 35.15 -2.7 Effective rate 5.3400 5.3400 5.3400 2.3300 Week 52-Week
U.S. 8.50 8.50 8.50 5.50 High 5.6500 5.6500 5.6500 2.4500 Latest ago high low
July 31 Nasdaq NDAQ A. Friedman CEO 10 51.00 510 49.45 -19.4 Canada 7.20 7.20 7.20 4.70
Low 5.3100 5.3100 5.3100 2.3000
Japan 1.475 1.475 1.475 1.475 Call money
Aug. 2 Monro MNRO M. Broderick CEO 10 35.03 350 35.32 -21.9 Bid 5.3300 5.3200 5.3300 2.3000
Policy Rates Offer 5.3700 5.3400 5.3700 2.3200 7.25 7.25 7.25 4.25
July 28 Commerce Bancshares CBSH B. Brauer D 5 53.00 265 53.33 -21.7 Euro zone 4.25 4.00 4.25 0.50
Treasury bill auction Commercial paper (AA financial)
Aug. 1 First Busey BUSE S. King DI 12 21.44 250 21.74 -12.1 Switzerland 2.25 2.25 2.25 0.25
Britain 5.25 5.00 5.25 1.75 4 weeks 5.275 5.275 5.840 2.110 90 days 5.46 n.a. 5.54 2.64
Aug. 2 electroCore ECOR D. Goldberger CEO 51 4.35 222 4.60 19.4
Notes on data:
Secured Overnight Financing Rate
U.S. prime rate is the base rate on corporate loans posted by at least 70% of the 10 largest U.S. banks, 5.30 5.31 5.31 2.25
Sellers and is effective July 27, 2023. Other prime rates aren’t directly comparable; lending practices vary Value 52-Week
widely by location; Discount rate is effective July 27, 2023. Secured Overnight Financing Rate is as Latest Traded High Low
Aug. 1 CBRE Group CBRE B. Boze ODI 3,400 80.80 274,720 83.92 9.0 of August 3, 2023. DTCC GCF Repo Index is Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.'s weighted average for
overnight trades in applicable CUSIPs. Value traded is in billions of U.S. dollars. Federal-funds rates
Aug. 1 P.A.M. Transportation Services PTSI M. Moroun DO 6,354 20.99 133,389 25.95 0.2 are Tullett Prebon rates as of 5:30 p.m. ET.
DTCC GCF Repo Index
Sources: Federal Reserve; Bureau of Labor Statistics; DTCC; FactSet; Treasury 5.271 25.946 5.365 2.221
July 27 Airbnb ABNB J. Gebbia DOI 517 147.81-153.07 77,716 140.17 63.9 Tullett Prebon Information, Ltd. MBS 5.333 20.680 5.407 2.319
Aug. 2 Vertiv Holdings VRT P. O'Doherty OI 1,917 33.07-33.62 63,579 35.71 161.4
July 28 Amphenol APH R. Norwitt CEO 650 87.43 56,832 87.30 14.7 Cash Prices | wsj.com/market-data/commodities Friday, August 4, 2023
July 28 C. Lampo CFO 300 88.11 26,432
These prices reflect buying and selling of a variety of actual or “physical” commodities in the marketplace—
July 28 L. Walter O 265 87.32 23,136
separate from the futures price on an exchange, which reflects what the commodity might be worth in future
Aug. 1 Palantir Technologies PLTR S. Sankar CT 1,968 20.00 39,354 18.20 183.5 months.
Aug. 1 TransDigm Group TDG W. Howley DI 40 900.00 36,219 896.10 42.3 Friday Friday Friday
July 28-Aug. 1St. Joe JOE B. Berkowitz DOI 407 62.88-64.95 26,087 60.36 56.2 Iron Ore, 62% Fe CFR China-s n.a. Wheat,Spring14%-pro Mnpls-u 9.2225
Energy Shredded Scrap, US Midwest-s,m n.a. Wheat,No.2 soft red,St.Louis-u 5.8750
July 31-Aug. 2Jefferies Financial Group JEF J. Steinberg CBI 667 35.87-36.85 24,215 35.50 8.4 Coal,C.Aplc.,12500Btu,1.2SO2-r,w 62.250 Steel, HRC USA, FOB Midwest Mill-s n.a. Wheat - Hard - KC (USDA) $ per bu-u 7.9250
Coal,PwdrRvrBsn,8800Btu,0.8SO2-r,w 14.300 Battery/EV metals Wheat,No.1soft white,Portld,OR-u 7.0500
July 28-31 PTC PTC B. Moret DI 160 141.97-146.80 23,247 141.22 17.6
Metals BMI Lithium Carbonate, EXW China, =99.2%-v,w 38775 Food
July 27-28 NVR NVR P. Saville O 3 6350.75-6352.54 18,103 6320.97 37.0 BMI Lithium Hydroxide, EXW China, =56.5% -v,w 37450
Gold, per troy oz BMI Cobalt sulphate, EXW China, >20.5% -v,m 6090 Beef,carcass equiv. index
July 28-31 Intuitive Surgical ISRG G. Guthart CEO 55* 325.89-326.76 18,057 309.31 16.6 Engelhard industrial 1944.00 BMI Nickel Sulphate, EXW China, >22%-v,m 4638 choice 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 284.86
Handy & Harman base 1942.45 BMIFlakeGraphite,FOBChina,-100Mesh,94-95%-v,m 620 select 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 259.88
Aug. 1 Microsoft MSFT B. Smith P 50 336.89-337.64 16,860 327.78 36.7 Handy & Harman fabricated 2156.12 Broilers, National comp wtd. avg.-u,w 1.0849
LBMA Gold Price AM *1936.90
Fibers and Textiles Butter,AA Chicago-d 2.6200
July 31-Aug. 1Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO S. Williamson CFO 29 550.00-557.42 16,116 548.64 -0.4 Cheddar cheese,bbl,Chicago-d 177.50
LBMA Gold Price PM *1935.65 Burlap,10-oz,40-inch NY yd-n,w 0.7225
Aug. 1 Linde S. Angel D 40 391.62 15,545 377.82 15.8 Krugerrand,wholesale-e 2028.66
Cheddar cheese,blk,Chicago-d 196.50
LIN Cotton,1 1/16 std lw-mdMphs-u 0.8227
Maple Leaf-e 2077.19
Milk,Nonfat dry,Chicago lb.-d 112.50
Cotlook 'A' Index-t *95.60 Coffee,Brazilian,Comp-y 1.6352
July 26 BlackRock BLK L. Fink CEO 20 741.54-743.40 14,989 710.28 0.2 American Eagle-e 2077.19 Hides,hvy native steers piece fob-u n.a. Coffee,Colombian, NY-y 1.9628
Mexican peso-e 2504.47 Wool,64s,staple,Terr del-u,w n.a.
* Half the transactions were indirect **Two day transaction Eggs,large white,Chicago-u 1.1150
Austria crown-e 1905.86
p - Pink Sheets Grains and Feeds Flour,hard winter KC-p 18.60
Austria phil-e 2038.37
Hams,17-20 lbs,Mid-US fob-u n.a.
Silver, troy oz. Barley,top-quality Mnpls-u n.a. Hogs,Iowa-So. Minnesota-u 102.16
Buying and selling by sector Engelhard industrial
Handy & Harman base
23.7500
23.6630
Bran,wheat middlings, KC-u,w 145 Pork bellies,12-14 lb MidUS-u n.a.
Corn,No. 2 yellow,Cent IL-bp,u 5.1800 Pork loins,13-19 lb MidUS-u 1.2199
Based on actual transaction dates in reports received this past week Handy & Harman fabricated 29.5790 Corn gluten feed,Midwest-u,w 159.4 Steers,Tex.-Okla. Choice-u n.a.
LBMA spot price *£18.6200 Corn gluten meal,Midwest-u,w 541.7 Steers,feeder,Okla. City-u,w 269.63
Sector Buying Selling Sector Buying Selling (U.S.$ equivalent) *23.5550 Cottonseed meal-u,w 345
Coins,wholesale $1,000 face-a 20745 Hominy feed,Cent IL-u,w 165 Fats and Oils
Basic Industries 0 41,330,740 Finance 15,059,041 99,341,668 Other metals Meat-bonemeal,50% pro Mnpls-u,w 438 Degummed corn oil, crude wtd. avg.-u,w n.a.
LBMA Platinum Price PM *921.0 Oats,No.2 milling,Mnpls-u 4.2975 Grease,choice white,Chicago-h 0.6400
Capital Goods 419,025 86,614,467 Health care 8,543,552 128,173,135 Platinum,Engelhard industrial 925.0 Rice, Long Grain Milled, No. 2 AR-u,w 37.25 Lard,Chicago-u n.a.
Consumer durables 368,830 40,898,543 Public Utilities 300 1,415,896 Palladium,Engelhard industrial 1270.0 Sorghum,(Milo) No.2 Gulf-u n.a. Soybean oil,crude;Centl IL-u,w 0.7220
Aluminum, LME, $ per metric ton *2147.0 SoybeanMeal,Cent IL,rail,ton48%-u,w 456.35 Tallow,bleach;Chicago-h 0.6750
Consumer non-durables 1,419,176 36,274,590 Technology 2,302,137 359,263,723 Copper,Comex spot 3.8450 Soybeans,No.1 yllw IL-bp,u 13.9500 Tallow,edible,Chicago-u n.a.
Consumer services 451,917 64,730,683 Transportation 0 20,126,418
KEY TO CODES: A=ask; B=bid; BP=country elevator bids to producers; C=corrected; D=CME; E=Manfra,Tordella & Brookes; H=American Commodities Brokerage Co;
Energy 7,330,231 16,947,680 K=bi-weekly; M=monthly; N=nominal; n.a.=not quoted or not available; P=Sosland Publishing; R=SNL Energy; S=Platts-TSI; T=Cotlook Limited; U=USDA; V=Benchmark
Mineral Intelligence; W=weekly; Y=International Coffee Organization; Z=not quoted. *Data as of 8/3
Sources: Refinitiv; Dow Jones Market Data Source: Dow Jones Market Data
 .

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. * * * * * * Monday, August 7, 2023 | B9

MARKETS

Meme-Stock Hype Persists, Lifting Shares

Investors hungry for
risk are pushing
Tupperware, Yellow
and Rite Aid higher
BY HANNAH MIAO
AND GUNJAN BANERJI
Short sellers, day traders,
shares of struggling compa-
nies soaring improbably
higher: The market right now
has all the elements of an old-
fashioned meme-stock rally.
Tupperware Brands is tee-
tering financially, but its stock
has climbed from below $1 to
about $5 in the past two
weeks. It jumped 36% on Fri-
day alone after news of a re-
structuring plan.
Trucking business Yellow
shut down operations around
a week ago, but shares have
jumped some 400% since. The
company filed for bankruptcy
late Sunday.
And shares of cash-
strapped drugstore chain Rite
Aid surged 68% in the past
week—for no obvious reason.
Their rallies contrast with the
overall market: The S&P 500
just notched its worst weekly
performance since March.
Meme stocks are companies
valued more for the excite-
ment around trading them
than their underlying funda-
mentals. It isn’t a strategy for
the faint of heart. The bank-
rupt Bed Bath & Beyond was a
meme darling earlier this year,
but shareholders will get
nothing under a proposed re-
organization plan filed last
month.
Still, the recent eye-pop-
ping share increases show
how hungry many investors
are to embrace big risks again,
after taking a breather during
last year’s market downturn.
Cryptocurrencies have soared,
too, even though U.S. regula-
tors are suing the biggest ex-
changes. The Nasdaq Compos-
ite, home to many tech
companies that are considered
relatively risky trades, is up
33% this year, despite the past
week’s decline.
Day traders were similarly
euphoric in late 2021, just be-
fore the market turned down.
Some money managers worry
that this year’s broad rally,
and the jump in meme stocks
in particular, has been too
much, too fast.
Ali Behzadpour, 49, used to
own a gas station where he
chased profit margins of pen-
nies a gallon. Like many indi-
vidual investors, he started
trading stocks during the pan-
demic. Now he trades full
time.
Behzadpour, who lives in
Napa, Calif., started noticing
moves in Tupperware and Yel-
low shares a couple of weeks
ago through stock-scanning
software and buzz on Discord.
Share of activity stemming from Share-price performance $3,000 from his short-term
individual investors, quarterly over the past month Tupperware trades.
Options Equities “I knew there was some
600% momentum behind it,” said
30% Tupperware
Brands Behzadpour. “And hype.”
500
Individual investors’ daily
net purchases of Yellow to-
20 taled nearly $5 million last
400 Tuesday, according to Vanda
Research. It had previously
10 never cracked $1 million, ac-
300 cording to data going back to
2014. Daily net retail buying in
Yellow Tupperware also soared.
0 200 Some of the most widely
2020 ’21 ’22 ’23 traded options tied to Tupper-
100 ware this past week were bets
that would pay out if the
shares jumped to $6 or $7.50.
Rite Aid 0 Shares ended the week at
$4.77 after closing the previ-
ous week around $3.
–100 To be sure, many individual
July 6 Aug. investors are trading less than
they did at the height of the
100,000 contracts pandemic—but still more than
they did in early 2020. Indi-
Rite Aid options trading vidual investors’ trading in
75,000 options recently made up 27%
Call options volume Put options volume of all activity, up from 23% in
50,000
early 2020, according to esti-
mates from Bloomberg Intelli-
gence.
25,000 Meme stocks represent one
way the market has funda-
mentally changed since the
0 pandemic. In 2021, newbie in-
Feb. 2022 ’23 vestors joined forces and piled
Sources: Bloomberg (share of activity); FactSet (performance); Cboe Global Markets (options trading) into stocks such as GameStop
and AMC, even though the
He said he has been “scalping” brief as seconds or minutes. In companies themselves were
Tupperware and Yellow, or one recent session, he esti- struggling. Earlier this year,
taking short-term positions as mates, he made more than individual investors jumped in
to trade the wild swings in
shares of regional banks.
“It’s kind of hard to put the
GameStop genie back in the
bottle,” said Katie Perry, gen-
eral manager of investor rela-
tions at investing platform
Public.
Nick Gaynier, 44, said he
has most of his portfolio tied
up in stocks like AMC, and he
has used small dips in the
shares to buy more. He doesn’t
mind the explosive swings.
“I would say that I have a
really massive tolerance for
risk,” said Gaynier, a waiter
from Morristown, N.J.
Gaynier said he picked up
Tupperware shares and op-
tions in recent weeks after
spotting chatter on social me-
dia. Last week, he scooped up
even more call options—which
confer the right to buy shares
at a specific price, by a stated
date—and watched in awe as
the contracts soared more
than 800% in early trading
Friday.
Bobby Mort, a 35-year-old
Sewell, N.J., resident, said he
has learned to move quickly
when trading meme stocks,
wary that the swings can be
short-lived. He prefers to bet
against stocks rather than ride
them higher and recently
shorted shares of Tupperware
and Yellow. But he said the
moves are often unpredict-
able and timing the trades can
be tricky.

Efforts to Detail Private Equity’s Healthcare Role Struggle

BY CHRIS CUMMING
Democratic lawmakers
seeking more information
about private equity’s role in
the healthcare sector have
made little progress, as sev-
eral bills have stalled in the
face of opposition from Repub-
licans and industry groups.
Some medical companies
would be required to disclose
ownership by private-equity
and other financial firms un-
der proposals advanced this
year by Democratic lawmakers
and regulators, who cited con-
cerns about how private-eq-
uity investment in the medical
sector affects patients and
workers.
But Republicans have re-
sisted, with GOP lawmakers in
the House of Representatives
recently excluding a provision
from the proposed Healthcare
Price Transparency Act that
would have forced healthcare
companies to make public
such ownership.
“It is impossible to talk
about transparency in the
healthcare industry without
talking about private equity,
which isn’t addressed in this
legislation,” Rep. Richard Neal
(D., Mass.) said at the bill
markup session, where
changes to proposed laws are
discussed, on July 26. “Pa-
tients have no indication of
how PE ownership affects
their care, nor can regulators
conduct proper oversight.”
The Democrat-supported
ownership-disclosure provi-
sion contained in an earlier
draft of the price measure got
stripped out as a part of a
number of changes made by
Republicans on the Ways and dustry a “vicious monster poorer quality of care, higher publicizing more data. For in-
Means Committee, say con- [taking] over our entire prices and more limited ac- stance, in April the HHS re-
gressional staffers and others healthcare system.” His pro- cess. leased ownership information
involved in the process. Re- posal was rejected in the Rep. David Schweikert (R., for more than 17,000 hospice-
publican House leaders are ex- markup session on a party-line Ariz.) said the government has care providers and home-
pected to integrate a version vote. created too many rules and health agencies.
of the bill, The session regulations that limit competi- Nevertheless, Democrats
which calls for revealed law- tion, driving up healthcare have intensified efforts to
more disclosure makers’ dis- prices. “Competition is what mandate disclosure of private-
on medical Some agreements bends the cost curve and takes equity ownership in the medi-
charges and lawmakers have about whether away the desire of private eq- cal system. None of the nu-
pricing to pa- private-equity uity to chase excess profits,” merous proposals made this
tients, into a argued that firms are re- Schweikert said. year at both the federal and
larger health- sponsible for Other lawmakers have state level have passed.
care measure
much of the data the healthcare questioned the disclosure push These efforts remain in rel-
that they in- is already public. system’s chal- on the grounds that much pri- atively early stages, and to
tend to present lenges. Republi- vate-equity ownership infor- move forward they must over-
to the full cans attributed mation in the healthcare sec- come fundamental disagree-
chamber for a high healthcare tor is already public. The ments between Republicans
floor vote later this year, the prices to government regula- Health and Human Services and Democrats about private
people say. tions and lack of competition, Department and Medicare ad- equity’s role in the health sys-
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D., N.J.) rather than predatory behav- ministrators already have the tem, said Jane Lucas, a part-
proposed an amendment to re- ior by investment firms. Dem- power to ask for ownership in- ner in healthcare legislative
store the private-equity disclo- ocrats say profit-seeking pri- formation, and under the Bi- and public policy at law firm
sure provision, calling the in- vate-equity firms lead to den administration have been Alston & Bird.

Thieves Are
Targeting
Nike Shoes
Continued from page B1
planned operations. They learn
about store layouts and create
TY ONEIL/ASSOCIATED PRESS

lists of valuable inventory at

each location. When it comes
to cargo, the groups hire spot-
ters trained to analyze contents
LIONEL NG/BLOOMBERG NEWS

of shipping containers based

on information in the bill of
lading. Retail and logistics
Wynn Resorts is slated to post quarterly results Wednesday. company employees sometimes
collude with the criminal
THE TICKER | groups, according to the Na-
MARKET EVENTS COMING THIS WEEK tional Retail Federation.
“The good guys, us, we’re Distribution centers are just one of the places criminals target in search of Nike sneakers.
Monday Wednesday billions of cubic feet playing checkers, and the bad
up 14 guys are playing chess,” Lewis pretend to be truckers offering StockX, a popular platform eral people who they say were
Consumer Credit Ratio, days of trading volume
said. “They’re always one or to pick up cargo. Since the sys- for sneaker reselling, temporar- part of that crime ring. Charges
of current position, at July 14 Initial jobless claims
May, prev. up $ 7.3 bil. two steps ahead of us.” tem moved online, the number ily halted sales of the sneaker, for those arrested are pending.
NYSE 4.4 Previous 227,000
June, exp. up $11.0 bil. of fraudulent tactics to skim saying at the time that the Stewart said his work relies
Nasdaq 2.5 Expected 231,000
Earnings expected Treasury budget payments and steal cargo has transactions violated its terms on collaborating with the re-
Estimate/Year Ago EIA status report Warehouse thefts gained momentum. of service and that it was coop- tailers because they can point
Previous change in stocks in July, ‘22 $211 bil. deficit
Coterra Energy A tip led Los Angeles police “We’re more reactive than erating with law enforcement. out details about repeated inci-
millions of barrels July, ‘23, exp.
0.34/1.35 in June to a warehouse con- proactive because of the Law-enforcement officials dents. Nike was one of the re-
Crude oil down 17.0 $95 bil. deficit
IFF 1.09/1.54 taining millions of dollars amount of activity,” Lopez and experts said one of the tailers that had a high level of
Gasoline up 1.5 Earnings expected
KKR 0.71/0.95 Estimate/Year Ago worth of stolen merchandise, said. most common ways to unload theft in Los Angeles County, he
Distillates down 0.8
ONEOK 1.02/0.92 Applied Industrial said police Capt. Alfonso Lopez. stolen merchandise is through said.
Palantir Technologies Mort. bankers indexes
Technologies 2.17/2.02 Several containers of merchan- online marketplaces. Congress Stewart said the criminals
0.05/(0.01) Purch., prev. down 3.0%
CyberArk Software dise were taken to the ware- Storage-yard heists passed legislation in June seek- look out for new product re-
Skyworks Solutions Refinan., prev.
down 3.0% (0.13)/(0.27) house after making it through About $800,000 worth of ing to deter criminals from ac- leases. They will go into the
1.67/2.44 News Corp 0.09/0.37 the Port of Los Angeles. The Nike sneakers and other prod- quiring and selling stolen or store in groups with their own
Earnings expected products were about to be ucts were stolen last Septem- counterfeit items through these bags, grab different boxes of
Tuesday Estimate/Year Ago
Onto Innovation
0.84/1.28 shipped to different locations, ber from a secured container marketplaces. Resale platforms shoes and one of them will give
Int’l trade deficit Illumina 0.02/0.57
US Foods Holding but multiple containers were drop yard in Memphis, Tenn., are now required to track and a signal so they all run out
May, previous $69.0 bil. Roblox (0.44)/(0.30)
0.76/0.67 stolen before they could be where the company has its big- get personal information for all with the loot at the same time,
June, exp. $65.0 bil. Trade Desk 0.26/0.20
Wheaton Precious moved to their final destina- gest distribution centers. sellers with 200 or more trans- he said. Sometimes they will
Vistra 0.88/(3.27)
Wholesale inventories Metals 0.27/0.33 tion, Lopez said. At least 20 trailers were actions and making at least hit multiple stores in different
Walt Disney 0.98/1.09
May, previous unch. The stolen goods were being broken into, and two people $5,000 in gross revenue during locations at the same time to
Wynn Resorts
June, exp. down 0.3% offered for sale through social were arrested days later on a 12-month period. generate confusion among law
0.64/(0.82) Friday
Earnings expected media and at least three indi- suspicion of possessing Nike enforcement.
Estimate/Year Ago Producer price index viduals bought items before au- merchandise that was stolen A year ago, Stewart’s task
Duke Energy 0.98/1.14
Thursday All items, June up 0.1% thorities confiscated them, Lo- from some of the trailers, ac- Stealing from stores force wasn’t focusing on orga-
Eli Lilly 1.98/1.25 Consumer price index July, expected up 0.2% pez said. cording to police reports. The Nike’s East Los Angeles nized retail theft, but members
GlobalFoundries All items, June up 3.0% Core, June up 0.1% The supply chain will re- investigation is continuing. store had reported about are now looking at it closely
0.50/0.58 July, expected up 3.3% July, expected up 0.2% main vulnerable as long as One product those trailers $750,000 worth of losses from because they have seen the
TransDigm Group Core, June up 4.8% U.Mich. consumer companies keep working the contained was the Jordan 11 merchandise thefts over one damage.
6.38/4.85 July, expected up 4.7% index way they do today, using an on- Cherry Red, a $225 sneaker year, and one crime ring was “We’ve seen stores that are
UPS 2.49/3.29 EIA report: natural gas July, final 71.6 line marketplace that lets that was scheduled for release responsible for most of it, said completely shutting down their
Zoetis Class 1.31/1.20 Previous change in stocks in Aug., prelim. 72.0 truckers, brokers and others last December. Authorities be- Nick Stewart, a detective with business and moving out of the
see merchandise that needs to lieve pairs of those Jordan 11s the Los Angeles County sher- communities that we service,”
* FactSet Estimates earnings-per-share estimates don’t include extraordinary items (Losses in paren-
theses) u Adjusted for stock split be moved, Lopez said. Crimi- were being sold on online mar- iff’s department. Stewart said. “That’s not
Note: Forecasts are from Dow Jones weekly survey of economists nals can access the system and ketplaces days after the theft. In June, police arrested sev- good.”
 .

B10 | Monday, August 7, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

HEARD STREETFINANCIAL ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

ON
THE

Coinbase A China Property

Is Losing Domino Wobbles
A Source Financial troubles at Chinese Price of Country Garden’s

Of Stability property developers are hardly

news nowadays. But a sudden cri-
dollar-denominated bond
maturing in January 2024
BENJAMIN GIRETTE/BLOOMBERG NEWS

sis of confidence in the country’s 120 cents on the dollar

largest developer by contracted
sales—roughly three years after the
Interest revenue from market started weakening—shows 100
stablecoins diminishes how deeply entrenched the sector’s
problems have become, and how 80
far off any real solution remains.
Even the easy part is getting Shares and bonds of property gi- 60
harder for Coinbase Global. ant Country Garden Holdings fell
Given the company’s brewing The crypto exchange continued to slash expenses in the latest quarter. sharply over the past week in the 40
battle with the Securities and Ex- wake of media reports that it had
change Commission following the nue coming in at $663 million, ple of years ago. At the time, that scrapped a planned equity place-
20
regulator’s lawsuit earlier this year down from $736 million in the seemed likely to fall as the crypto ment—which would have been a
and the broader role of Washing- first quarter. market matured. In fact, the oppo- rare ray of light for the cash-
ton in the future of digital assets, The company told analysts on site is happening: In the second strapped sector. Country Garden 0
quarterly earnings might seem Thursday that it was working with quarter it leapt to about 2.2%, now says there is no definitive 2022 ’23
somewhat beside the point for partner Circle Internet Financial nearly a percentage point higher agreement about the proposed Source: FactSet
Coinbase. That is especially the to try to increase USDC’s market than it was a year ago. placement, and it isn’t considering
case during the current crypto cap again after the stablecoin Being a go-to for crypto newbies the transaction at this stage. The mean no one—especially among pri-
winter, when little is expected broke its $1 peg during the bank- and occasional users can still be a company’s dollar-denominated vate developers—is really safe.
from trading activity. ing crisis earlier this year. backbone for Coinbase’s business. bonds maturing in January 2024 Moreover, Beijing’s latest moves
Still, Coinbase’s stock has found Meanwhile, Coinbase continued Coinbase did increase the spread it are trading at 25% of their notional to support the sector—including
its footing of late, rising more than to slash expenses, with second- earns on some retail transactions value, compared with 81% as re- making it easier to buy an apart-
150% so far this year, in large part quarter core operating costs down in the first quarter and said it cently as mid-June. ment—don’t seem likely to help
because it has been able to use a nearly 50% versus a year earlier, hadn’t seen an effect on customer Hopes of more easing measures much. The fact that even the big-
surge of interest income—driven and down about 13% from the first behavior. But the question of the briefly lifted Chinese property gest developers can still run into
by interest earned on customer quarter. It added $156 million to stability of these fees remains rele- stocks last month—but reality trouble presumably gives potential
cash and stablecoin reserves—and its cash resources. But against the vant. For example, though it might quickly set in again. Contracted home buyers little confidence.
a cost-cutting drive to improve backdrop of the revenue decline, no longer have to compete with sales at the country’s top 100 devel- The bitter truth is that there is
profitability measures. The com- adjusted Ebitda of $194 million the likes of FTX for advanced trad- opers plunged 33% from a year ear- probably no easy way to quickly
pany’s second quarter, reported on was down from $284 million in the ers, the likelihood of spot bitcoin lier in July, according to China Real turn around the market without ig-
Thursday, showed a second consec- first quarter. exchange-traded funds finally be- Estate Information. In the first niting another property bubble.
utive positive reading for adjusted Meanwhile, on the trading side, ing approved means that Coinbase seven months combined, sales for Goldman Sachs says China’s ur-
earnings before interest, taxes, de- though retail transaction revenue might have to compete with them those developers have now fallen ban housing demand will fall to 11
preciation and amortization. continues to tumble, it at least for more casual ones. 5% year over year, wiping out all million units this year, from 18 mil-
But even simply collecting inter- beat analyst expectations, accord- At the same time, Coinbase’s in- the progress notched at the begin- lion units in 2017. The country’s de-
est is becoming harder. Coinbase ing to estimates compiled by Visi- stitutional business could be bol- ning of the year immediately after velopers built around 13 million
has generated a lot of interest rev- ble Alpha—but perhaps for the stered by the market-making activ- China abandoned its strict pan- units a year on average over the
enue from reserves backing the wrong reasons. As crypto volatility ity that a spot bitcoin ETF would demic control policies. Country past decade. And the bank says Chi-
USD Coin stablecoin. That revenue dropped, there was a relative de- entail. It can also be the crypto Garden’s contracted sales in July nese developers have around $9 tril-
had jumped sharply in recent cline in activity among advanced custodian to these funds, earning were down 60%. lion of inventories—including raw
quarters. But a 28% decrease in av- traders, who pay smaller fees. This steady fees. But whether those Plunging sales translate into less land and uncompleted projects—
erage USDC market cap in the sec- left a bigger portion of the volume ETFs will happen is a decision that cash to repay liabilities and finish equivalent to around 4.8 years of es-
ond quarter helped drive a 16% for so-called simple traders that remains in the hands of courts and projects. Country Garden has nearly timated contracted sales this year.
quarter-over-quarter drop in inter- pay higher fees. regulators. $2 billion of bonds that will come The housing boom was a wild
est income, to $201 million. Along Coinbase’s take rate—or trans- Perhaps Coinbase can help its due or be eligible for early redemp- ride for Chinese property develop-
with falling transaction revenue, action revenue as a percentage of own case with smart lawyering tion this year. The company had ers, but the hangover will be long—
that helped end a two-quarter volume—for retail trading has re- and lobbying. You just can’t see been considered one of the stronger and perhaps has yet to reach its
streak of sequential companywide mained a lot higher than many in- that in a quarterly report. private developers still left stand- most painful point.
revenue increases, with net reve- vestors might have expected a cou- —Telis Demos ing. Yet sluggish housing markets —Jacky Wong

TIME FLIGHT GATE STATUS

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Let WSJ’s Carry On be your guide. Each week,
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MUTUAL
FUNDS
& ETFS
MONTHLY DATA
R4, R5

© 2023 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, August 7, 2023 | R1
ALEX NABAUM

HOW RETIREMENT PLANS SHOULD

PROTECT EMPLOYEES FROM THEMSELVES

The design of 401(k)s and other retirement
savings plans too often lead employees to
make financially harmful mistakes. It doesn’t
have to be that way.
BY IAN AYRES AND QUINN CURTIS
W
HEN IT comes to 401(k)s and
other retirement plans, employ-
ees are often their own worst
enemies.
The problem—as we have
learned by studying the portfo-
lios of thousands of employees
in a large institutional plan—is twofold. First,
many employees put their portfolios at risk by fail-
ing to diversify their investments. And second,
many choose investment options with relatively
high fees that eat into their returns.
Overall, we estimate that about 10% of plan par-
ticipants fell prey to one, or both, of those errors.
What’s more, both the advisers that administer
plans and help craft their menus, as well as the
Please turn to page R3
Ian Ayres and Quinn Curtis are law professors at
Yale University and the University of Virginia,
respectively, and authors of “Retirement Guardrails:
How Proactive Fiduciaries Can Improve Plan Out-
comes.” They can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

Inside
The Biggest Money Mistakes That
Golden?
RETIREMENT ROOKIES

College Students Make They are early in retirement, and

healthy. But an accident on
vacation made them realize they Precious metals and commodities
should plan better for a decline. R5 in general are often seen as a way
For many students, managing finances is new, bucks runs and entertainment. to diversify when stocks and bonds
and they’re prone to fall into all sorts of traps Such costs can easily run sev- are iffy. But a look at the historical
eral thousand dollars a year. data isn’t encouraging. R6
There are many sample
BY CHERYL WINOKUR MUNK Here are several slip-ups budgets available online, some
that college students should more granular than others. SCOREBOARD

Y
OUNG adults often
get their first taste
of financial indepen-
dence in college.
And for some, that
taste is bitter. Financial mis-
steps when you’re just start-
ing out can be costly and carry
long-term consequences.
avoid:
1. Not creating a budget
Students should understand
that the true cost of college
goes way beyond tuition,
room and board. Monthly bud-
get items that can spiral out
of control include clothing pur-
chases, food deliveries, Star-
For instance, card company July 2023 fund performance,
and lender Discover proposes total return by fund type. More on R2.
sample budgets that help
U.S. Intl. Bonds
show what a reasonable stocks* stocks* (intmd.)
breakdown of monthly college
expenses might look like. An- Scan this code to
other sample budget, by Best- learn how financial-aid
Colleges.com, owned by Red formulas are changing 3.8% 2.9% 0.1%
Ventures, includes tuition, rent for siblings in college *Diversified funds only, excluding sector
Please turn to the next page together. and regional/country funds Source: Refinitiv Lipper
 .

R2 | Monday, August 7, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

JOURNAL REPORT | INVESTING MONTHLY

JR
A Journal Report U.S.-stock funds (monthly)
special look at the 2023
7.2
numbers and news about 0.3% 0.03 M
3.8
this month’s investing
M A J J
–0.9

l
l Insight

Students’ linked account so the trans-

action will clear. This can be
a helpful tool once good
Money spending habits are estab-
lished, but Lucina doesn’t

Mistakes recommend young adults

Continued from page R1
and other fixed costs, as well
as personal expenses such as
entertainment and clothing.
2. Not tracking expenses
For a budget to work, stu-
dents have to actually track
their spending, which can be
 made easier using apps like
rely on this option because it
gives them the feeling it is
all right to spend more than
they have. Long-term that is
a bad practice, she says.
5. Misusing financial aid
Another issue can crop up
when students receive a
credit-balance refund. Col-
leges will issue a refund to
students if the amount of
their payments, loan dis-

7/10/23
Mint.com or an Excel spread- bursements and grants and
The Salt Lake City headquarters of Zions Bancorp, which says deposits have rebounded. sheet, financial pros say. scholarships exceeds the
Money flies out the win- cost of tuition, room and
dow when students pay for board and other school-as-
Change in the battered shares of The KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking

10% Zions Bancorp on July 20, the day

after it released earnings and
said that its deposits rebounded.
When Bay Area lender Silicon Valley Bank collapsed earlier this
Banks year, and two others lenders also failed, many regional banks’
18% Index’s performance in July, its best
month since November 2016. But it is
still down 10% for the year to date.
friends who don’t pay them
back immediately. Electronic
payment apps like Venmo or
Zelle can help with this, says
sessed fees for a term.
This money is supposed to
be used for books, transpor-
tation and other education-
Scott Sparks, founder and related expenses, but some
chief executive of Sparks Fi- students get carried away,
nancial, a Denver wealth-
management firm.
says Elaine Rubin, director of
corporate communications at

Climb stocks sank. Things looked a bit better in July, with rebounds in
both deposits and the stocks at some banks. While the stock
Back prices still haven’t recovered fully, could the worst be over?
Monthly Monitor • William Power
Stock Funds Are Up 16.7% for 2023
This is good, as long as it lasts.
That’s what many stock-fund inves-
tors are feeling, coming off a July when
stocks kept rising. Even regional-bank
stocks, which were pummeled by the
spring’s banking crisis, had a solid
month, with the KBW Nasdaq Regional
Banking index up 18%, its best month
since November 2016.
But stock investors are still at the
mercy of the Federal Reserve and its in-
terest-rate boosts, and relying on earn-
ings gains at companies both large and
small. As August began, rising bond
yields, in the wake of America’s credit
downgrade, caused stock-market angst.
The average U.S.-stock fund rose 3.8%
for July, according to Refinitiv Lipper
data, to expand the gain to 16.7% for the
year to date.
“Markets may be pricing in the best
of both worlds: a soft landing [for the
l with a credit card, you might
Financial Flashback
A look back at Wall Street Journal
headlines from this month
economy] atop a solid foundation,” says
Saira Malik, chief investment officer at
Nuveen. But she notes that interest
rates will likely remain elevated after
the Fed’s rate-increase campaign stops.
Higher rates and the impact of hawkish
monetary policy that began in 2022 “will
eventually take their toll on economic
growth, regardless of current market
bullishness,” she says.
International-stock funds were up
2.9% during the month, and are up 14.6%
for the year to date.
In addition to the rally in regional-
bank stocks, which have been weak
since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank,
financial-services stocks in general had a
good month. Lipper’s financial-services
fund category was up 9.4% for the
month, to pull the category into the
black for the year, at 2.6%.
Bond funds were little changed, on
average. The main concern for bond in-
vestors is whether there will be addi-
tional increases, as the Fed battles infla-
tion.
Funds focused on investment-grade
debt (the most common type of fixed-
income fund) rose an average of 0.1%, to
leave their year-to-date gain at 2.3%.
William Power is deputy section editor of
Journal Reports in South Brunswick, N.J.
Email him at william.power@wsj.com.
followed less than six years later by
the iPhone, a category-killer. “Steve
Jobs got tremendous recognition for
getting the company back on track,”
Pam Lucina, chief fiduciary
officer at Chicago-based
Northern Trust, recently
worked with a rising college
junior who, by carefully
tracking spending, saw all
the ways she had overspent
‘When you have the previous year on things
like coffee and food delivery.
a momentum-
driven rally, the
She’s planning to change her
spending behavior so she can
save more for her long-term
markets expect goals. “Fifteen dollars here,
perfection. If $20 there, it adds up for col-
lege students,” Lucina says.
there’s bad Another option is to fill an
news, you have envelope with just enough
cash for a student’s monthly
more to lose.... expenses. Once the money is
By learning gone, it’s gone, Sparks says.
from history 3. Going down the
and considering credit-card rabbit hole
where we are Many students won’t have
their own credit card be-
today, we can cause they don’t have in-
see that we come. Parents can add chil-
dren to their cards, then
may be in for monitor the child’s spending.
a volatile ride Many companies allow card-
holders to set up real-time
during the spending alerts.
second half of Students who have their
2023.’ own credit cards need to be
careful, even if they have a
Anna Rathbun relatively low spending limit.
Chief investment officer, They should decline offers
CBIZ Investment for additional cards and not
Advisory Services buy more than they can pay
off monthly. This is especially
important since the average
interest rate for a new credit
card in July was 24.24%, ac-
cording to LendingTree.
A debit card could be a bet-
ter option, says Aaron Skloff,
chief executive of Skloff Fi-
nancial Group, an investment
advisory firm in Naples, Fla.
If your balance is $100, you
can’t spend $200, whereas
be tempted to spend anyway,
Skloff says.
4. Getting slammed with
Edvisors, which offers fami-
lies advice on planning and
paying for college.
They may spend their re-
fund quickly on nonessential
items, so it isn’t available
later when they really need
it. Some students also try to
use the credit balance to pay
for spring break or another
vacation. They aren’t sup-
posed to, and if the school
finds out, it could affect their
aid or future aid, Rubin says.
6. Apartment traps
Many students choose to
move off campus. But those
receiving financial aid
shouldn’t assume they can
get the aid ahead of time to
cover move-in costs, Rubin
says. That aid often isn’t
available until several weeks
into the term—not in time to
cover, say, a security deposit
or a real-estate agent’s fee.
Lease agreements need to
be read carefully by the stu-
dent and another party be-
fore signing, adds Sparks,
who says he has seen stu-
dents sign 12-month leases
without intending to live in
the apartment over the sum-
mer. The second person read-
ing it could be a parent, col-
lege adviser or family lawyer,
who might do it free. “It’s
about a five-minute look for
somebody who knows what
they are doing,” Sparks says.
7. Not taking savings
opportunities
Many students could be set-
ting aside money for their
future, but they don’t always
think about the best ways to
save, Skloff says. There is a
big difference between a 1%
bank-insured CD and a four-
week Treasury bill that pays
about 5% annual percentage
yield, even though both are
considered safe investments.
PHOTO: KIM RAFF/BLOOMBERG NEWS; ILLUSTRATION BY ALEX NABAUM; MONITOR: GIACOMO BAGNARA

Kessler says. overdraft fees And it is never too soon

5 YEARS AGO 
Apple didn’t always have things
easy. But in August 2018, it became
the first U.S.-listed stock to achieve
a $1 trillion value.
“At the time, people started to
think about why and how Apple got
there,” says Scott Kessler, the lead
technology, media and telecom ana-
lyst at Third Bridge. “This wasn’t a
straight line to the top.”
The company, which first went
public in December 1980, suffered
switches in leadership and the 1985
ouster of one of its key founders,
Steve Jobs, plus an array of product
changes over four decades.
In the 1990s, Apple’s prospects for
corporate superstardom weren’t
compelling, Kessler says.
Wall Street Journal, Aug. 3, 2018
But then Jobs returned to the
company in 1997, and things
changed. By 2001, the iPod—a radical
product at the time—hit the stores,
Even after Jobs stepped down in
2011, the profits kept growing, snag-
ging the company a $3.05 trillion val-
uation recently. The stock recently
accounted for 7.7% of the S&P 500
index, making it the largest compo-
nent, with more share of the index
than Tesla, Meta Platforms and both
classes of Alphabet stock combined.
—Simon Constable
25 YEARS AGO 
As Russia’s Markets Swoon,
The World Wonders What to Do
50 YEARS AGO 
Choice of Evils: Many
Economists Think
Government Gives Up
On Fighting Inflation
Students with bank accounts
should set up alerts to moni-
tor their account balances.
Many banks still charge over-
draft fees, which can run
around $35 per transaction,
according to FDIC data.
These fees can add up if a
student isn’t keeping track of
their balance in real-time. A
number of banks have elimi-
nated overdraft fees, so
choosing a different bank
could also be an option.
These banks will decline a
transaction if there isn’t
enough money to cover it.
Some banks also offer
overdraft protection, which
allows funds to be automati-
cally transferred from a
to start saving for retire-
ment, Skloff says. A Roth
IRA is ideal for working stu-
dents because the money
grows tax-free and the con-
tributions can be withdrawn
at any point without penalty
or taxes. Students working
for companies that offer re-
tirement plans should take
advantage if they qualify.
Self-employed students
could consider setting up a
self-employed retirement
plan, such as an individual
401(k) or a SEP IRA.
Cheryl Winokur Munk is a
writer in West Orange, N.J.
She can be reached at
reports@wsj.com.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
William Bernstein on Investors’ Biggest Risk:
NOT PREPARING FOR THE WORST
The key, says the famed investment adviser, is to
hold enough safe, boring assets to keep you from
panicking when the value of your other assets drops
BY GLENN RUFFENACH
Q
UICK question:
When it comes to
investing, would
you describe your-
self as Mr. Spock
of “Star Trek”
fame, or George
Costanza from
“Seinfeld”? In other words, are you
an investor who’s logical and dis-
passionate, or one who’s impulsive
and excitable?
Most of us, not surprisingly, like
to think we’re Mr. Spock. But
when economic times are at their
worst, many of us are more apt to
resemble George.
So concludes William Bernstein,
an investment adviser and author,
in a new edition of his book, “The
Four Pillars of Investing.” First
published in 2002, “Pillars” today
is regarded as a classic among fi-
nancial guides. In a recent conver-
sation, Bernstein discussed why
he has updated his book, how his
thoughts about investing have
evolved, and why investors need
to rethink how they design and
build a portfolio.
Here are edited excerpts from
the conversation:
The lesson of Sylvia Bloom
• WSJ: Why update “Pillars” now?
• BERNSTEIN: I’ve learned a thing
or two in the past 20 years. For
starters, I’ve become less enam-
ored of a largely mathematical ap-
proach to personal finance. It does
little good to master the math if
you fail to understand financial
history, the madness of crowds,
and the enemy staring back at
you in the mirror.
• WSJ: You begin the new edition
GREG JONES
with a remarkable story about a
legal secretary. Tell us about Syl-
via Bloom.
Protecting
Workers From
Themselves
Continued from page R1
employers that offer the plans,
often act as enablers for poor in-
vestment choices—the advisers
because they include high-fee
funds that they profit from in
plan menus, and the employers
because they don’t do enough to
protect their workers from mak-
ing investment mistakes. It’s up
to employers to do better.
The gold rush
To get a sense of the problem,
consider what happened when
the plan we studied offered em-
ployees the option of investing
in a fund that tracks the price of
gold. Of the plan participants
who invested in the gold fund,
half invested less than 5% of
their portfolio in it—not a trou-
bling share of a portfolio for a
fund whose returns depend on a
single asset, as opposed to, say, a
diversified equity fund.
But a worrisome 35% of those
who held the fund had more
than half their money in it—
clearly far too much for a nar-
rowly focused fund, by our reck-
oning—including 11% who had all
of their money in it. Those in-
vestors don’t have the cushion
that greater diversification, or
any diversification, would pro-
vide should the price of gold de-
cline.
This failure to diversify suffi-
ciently wasn’t limited to a few
zealous gold bugs. Overall, we
found that nearly 22% of partici-
ALEX NABAUM
pants who held any narrow fund
held more than half their portfo-
lio in that fund.
JOURNAL REPORT | INVESTING MONTHLY
• BERNSTEIN: Sylvia Bloom
worked for 67 years as a secre-
tary at a law firm in New York.
She retired in 2014. When she
died a few years later, her execu-
tor discovered that her estate was
worth more than $9 million, con-
sisting mainly of common stocks.
No one, not even her husband,
knew about it.
• WSJ: How did she do it?
• BERNSTEIN: Some of it was
common sense. She understood,
and took advantage of, the magic
of compound interest. She wasn’t
trying to get rich quick, but rather
to get rich slow—a much safer
bet. Above all, she understood the
concept of risk: how much would
be required to meet her goals, and
how much she could tolerate as
she grew older.
I’ve come to realize that the
most dangerous facet of investor
overconfidence doesn’t involve the
ability to pick securities or money
managers, but rather the ability to
bear risk. In finance speak, our
“relative risk aversion” is anything
but constant, as theory assumes,
but rather rises dramatically in
the worst of times.
Sylvia Bloom weathered finan-
Dark Days
The 10 worst single-day percentage declines for U.S. stocks,* 1981-2023
Date Cause
Oct. 19, 1987 Black Monday
March 16, 2020 Covid pandemic
March 12, 2020 Covid pandemic
Oct. 15, 2008 Global financial crisis
Dec. 1, 2008 Global financial crisis
Sept. 29, 2008 Global financial crisis
Oct. 26, 1987 Black Monday aftershock
Oct. 9, 2008 Global financial crisis
March 9, 2020 Covid pandemic
Oct. 27, 1997 Asian financial crisis
*S&P 500 Index
Problematic menus
We also found that the menu it-
self was part of the problem—an
issue that isn’t peculiar to the
plan we studied. It made it too
easy for employees to invest too
narrowly and pay too much in
fees.
One issue with menus is that
some employers have no idea
whether plan participants are
making poor choices.
That’s because in those cases
the advisers who administer the
plan don’t give the employer any
information on how individual
employees allocate their savings.
Employers have fiduciary com-
mittees that are given reams of
information about the returns of
each investment option at quar-
terly meetings with the advisers,
as well as comparisons to the re-
turns of similar funds. But they
often aren’t told whether indi-
vidual participants are misusing
the menu by creating unbalanced
or expensive investment portfo-
lios.
The fund advisers don’t have
any financial incentive to pro-
vide such information, or to de-
sign plans in ways that would
tend to reduce diversification
mistakes to begin with. They of-
ten create menus that include
high-fee, undiversified funds of
their own that are attractive to
participants who believe they
can use such funds to beat the
broad market. Plan participants’
demand for these funds helps
perpetuate the problem.
Building a safer plan
So, with plan advisers and par-
ticipants often fueling the inclu-
sion of narrow, expensive funds
in retirement plans, and employ-
ers often blind to their employ-
ees’ mistakes, what can be done
to help workers make better
choices?
To start, employers’ fiducia-
Investors ‘overestimate their risk tolerance,’ says William Bernstein.
cial storms that would have
shaken the confidence of 99% of
investors. She did it by holding
enough safe assets, in addition to
common stocks, to see her through
the worst of times. We like to
think that we would do the same.
But when your savings are melting
before your eyes, you tend to panic.
• WSJ: So what does Sylvia
teach us?
• BERNSTEIN: The lesson I take
from her story, and from my own
experience as well, is that it’s a
huge, and usually fatal, mistake to
design a portfolio without focusing
primarily on those approximately
One-day fall
–20.47%
–11.98
–9.51
–9.03
–8.93
–8.79
–8.28
–7.62
–7.60
–6.87
Source: Hartford Funds
ries should ask for better infor-
mation about how participants
are using the plan menu. Armed
with this information, they can
act to reduce employees’ mis-
steps.
One way to do that is to
streamline plan menus by elimi-
nating undiversified funds that
participants tend to invest in too
heavily. The plan we studied did
just this in 2016, eliminating
more than 200 funds from its
menu, including all its narrow-
sector fund offerings—its gold
fund among them. Participants’
investments in these funds were
transferred by default to the
plan’s target-date funds or to
broad-based equity indexes. This
streamlining substantially im-
proved the diversification of par-
ticipants’ plan balances.
2% of times that will cause you to
lose your nerve and violate Charlie
Munger’s prime directive of com-
pounding. As Munger, who is War-
ren Buffett’s partner, puts it: “The
first rule of compounding is to
never interrupt it unnecessarily.”
That means holding plenty of
safe assets—like dull, low-yielding
Treasury securities—and being pre-
pared to see your risky assets get
periodically, and hopefully tempo-
rarily, slaughtered. As I note in the
book, there’s a reason why Buffett
holds 20% of Berkshire Hathaway
in Treasury bills and cash.
The pillars
• WSJ: Clearly, the one constant
in the new edition is the “pillars”
themselves. What are they, and
why are they important?
• BERNSTEIN: Just as medical stu-
dents have to master human anat-
omy, physiology, pathology and
pharmacology before they lay hands
on a patient, the competent inves-
tor must master four basic subjects
before they handle real money.
They are: investment theory,
which is the connection between
risk and return, and how portfolios
behave; investment history, which
is what long-term returns look like
and how markets occasionally go
bonkers on both the upside and
downside; investment psychology,
But streamlining isn’t the only
remedy for menu misuse. Fidu-
ciaries who learn that partici-
pants are misusing their menu
options should also consider im-
posing various forms of alloca-
tion guardrails. For example, in-
stead of eliminating a gold fund,
a plan might cap the percentage
of new contributions that can be
allocated to gold to, say, 10%.
That would protect those who
otherwise would have invested
too much in gold, while allowing
more-prudent investors to con-
tinue making moderate invest-
ments in this fund.
Guardrails can actually in-
crease choice overall: Plenty of
plans that might balk at offering,
say, a cryptocurrency option
might find it acceptable to do so
and cap its use at 5% of a plan
.
Monday, August 7, 2023 | R3
which is how to master the irra-
tionality of both yourself and
other participants; and the invest-
ment business, which is how to
protect yourself from brokers, ad-
visers and investment companies.
Beware the burn
• WSJ: In the book, you discuss
likely returns for stocks and
bonds in the coming decades and
the effect of those returns on re-
tirees’ “burn rate”—how much of
their nest egg gets spent each
year. The numbers are sobering.
• BERNSTEIN: From the mid-1920s
to the mid-1990s, investors were
blessed with real stock returns of
7% and real bond returns of 2%.
The reason for those high stock
returns, in particular, was the dra-
matic increase in stock valuations.
A more reasonable real return
over the next several decades will
be about 4.5% for stocks and
about 1% for bonds. When we plug
those figures into a 30-year retire-
ment, we confirm the suspicion of
many retirement analysts that “3%
is the new 4%.” In other words, if
you want your nest egg to last 30
years, you’re much safer pulling 3%
or less from your savings each
year than the popular 4%.
In fact, I think if your burn rate
is much above 3.5%, you’re in the
red zone.
• WSJ: To sum up, what do you
think are the biggest mistakes
that investors make?
• BERNSTEIN: Three big ones.
First, as already mentioned, they
overestimate their risk tolerance.
Second, they fail to understand
that whenever they buy or sell a
stock, the person on the other
side of that trade is likely some-
one named Warren Buffett or
Goldman Sachs, or worse, a corpo-
rate executive who knows more
about the company than even
those two names do. It’s like play-
ing tennis against an invisible op-
ponent, not realizing the person
on the other side of the net is
Serena Williams.
Third, they imagine that the
objective is to obtain the highest
possible returns, to get rich. It’s
not; your objective is to minimize
your chances of dying poor. Those
are two entirely different things.
Glenn Ruffenach is a former
reporter and editor for The Wall
Street Journal. He can be reached
at reports@wsj.com.
participant’s portfolio. Options
like that might keep the menus
of employer retirement plans at-
tractive to employees who would
otherwise funnel some of their
money into riskier brokerage
apps.
Guardrails also are more tar-
geted than streamlining.
Streamlining at the plan we
studied affected 30% of its par-
ticipants, while our analysis
showed that guardrails could
have produced similar or greater
benefits while only affecting the
10% of participants who were
making serious allocation errors.
Expect dissent
To be sure, a vocal minority of
participants will cry foul if their
choices are limited by streamlin-
ing or guardrails. But fiduciaries
have a legal obligation to design
menus prudently. This includes
a duty to reduce allocation er-
rors.
It should also be noted that
guardrails already exist in many
plans with regard to partici-
pants’ ability to invest in one
specific asset: their company’s
stock. Roughly two-thirds of
plans that offer company stock
limit participants’ stake in these
shares to 20% of their portfolio.
Here’s another way to look at
the whole issue by using an anal-
ogy outside the investing world:
Imagine a product manufacturer
that has ready access to informa-
tion that customers are injuri-
ously misusing its product, and a
ready means of reducing the
probability of harm, would have
a legal duty to redesign that
product. Plan providers who
have taken on the legal duty of a
fiduciary should have an analo-
gous duty, to learn whether par-
ticipants are misusing their
menu and, if so, to act by
streamlining the menu or put-
ting guardrails in place.
 .

R4 | Monday, August 7, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

JOURNAL REPORT | INVESTING MONTHLY

But if the original IRA owner And if they failed to do so, as

What Inheritors of IRAs Need to died on or after the required be-

ginning date—in effect, “turning
on” the RMD—NEDBs would
many did, they may have been
subject to a penalty of 50% of
the amount that should have
Know About Required Withdrawals have to take withdrawals from
that account in every year from
been withdrawn for each year it
should have been taken. (That
one to nine, with the entire re- penalty was reduced this year to
maining IRA balance distributed 25% and even 10% if corrected in
A lot of taxpayers were confused, and missed taking the IRS waivers. by the end of the 10th year. a “timely” manner.)
RMDs when they should have. Fortunately for them, For deaths in 2020 or later, Fortunately, for those NEDBs
the Secure Act required the pro- subject to penalties, the IRS real-
penalties have been waived. cess of taking withdrawals to Sorting it out ized there was significant confu-
continue, but for NEDBs it cre- “There was a lot of confusion sion and decided to grant relief.
ated the 10-year payout rule: If out there and the idea of RMDs Last October, it issued a notice
BY LEONARD SLOANE EDBs, who include surviving the original IRA owner died be- in years one to nine took some allowing for a transition and

T
spouses, children of the account fore his or her required begin- time to figure out,” says Andy waiving the penalty for missed
owner until age 21, disabled and ning date to take withdrawals— Ives, an IRA analyst at Ed Slott withdrawals in 2021 and 2022
HERE HAS been a chronically ill individuals and generally April 1 of the year after & Co., a tax consulting firm in within the 10-year period. And in
lot of confusion those not more than 10 years becoming 73 years old—mini- Rockville Centre, N.Y. It took July, it added another year of re-
about inherited in- younger than the original IRA mum withdrawals aren’t re- over two years after the Secure lief by excusing 2023 missed
dividual retirement owner; nondesignated beneficia- quired for NEDBs during years Act was passed for the industry withdrawals within the 10-year
accounts. ries, or NDBs, who include es- one to nine of the 10-year pe- to come to a consensus that period. If a taxpayer already paid
The confusion is tates and charities; and noneligi- riod. The account just has to be “RMDs did actually apply in a penalty for a “missed RMD” in
largely about the ble designated beneficiaries, or emptied by the end of the 10th years one to nine of the 10-year 2021 or 2022, a refund from the
annual withdraw- NEDBs, who include most non- year after the year of the origi- rule,” Ives says. IRS can be requested.
als known as required minimum spouse beneficiaries—such as nal account owner’s death. (All Lots of NEDBs who were sub- So, NEDBs who inherited an
distributions. If you inherit an children over age 21 and grand- Roth IRA owners are deemed to ject to the 10-year rule didn’t IRA in 2020 now essentially have
IRA, you may have to take these children—and are the ones af- have died before their required know that they had to take with- three years of withdraw-
RMDs, which are then taxable. fected by and benefiting from beginning date.) drawals in 2021, 2022 and 2023. als—2021, 2022 and 2023—
But because of confusion over waived. Those who inherited in
a 2019 law, many heirs were un- 2021 have two years—2022 and
aware they had had to take an 2023—of RMDs forgiven.
RMD. And those who inherited in
Guidelines were so opaque 2022 have their first year of
that the Internal Revenue Ser- withdrawals within the 10-year
vice in October 2022 retroac- period, 2023, waived. (Techni-
tively waived RMDs for those cally it is the penalty for failure
who fit into a specific benefi- to take the withdrawal that is
ciary category and mistakenly being waived, but the result is
hadn’t taken the RMDs for the the same because if you don’t
tax years 2021 and 2022. take the RMD there is no pen-
Then, last month, the IRS issued alty.)
a similar waiver releasing inheri- The amount of the RMD
tors in the same category from within the 10-year period uses
making RMDs this tax year as the IRS Single Life Expectancy
well. As a result, the first re- Table. Initially, it takes the bene-
quired withdrawals for these ficiary’s age in the year after the
types of IRA inheritors aren’t original owner died to find a life
due until 2024. expectancy factor (available in
Here’s the background and IRS Publication 590-B), which is
what inherited-IRA holders then divided into the previous
should know: year’s Dec. 31 inherited IRA ac-
count balance. This factor is
lowered by 1 in each successive
Three categories year.
The Secure Act of 2019 estab-

ALEX NABAUM
lished three categories of benefi- Leonard Sloane is a writer in
ciary for traditional IRAs: Eligi- New York. He can be reached
ble designated beneficiaries, or at reports@wsj.com.

Category Kings in 10 Realms Leaders and Laggards

Top-performing funds in each category, ranked by year-to-date total returns (changes in net asset values Performance numbers are total returns (changes in net asset values with reinvested distributions) as of July
with reinvested distributions) as of July 31; assets are as of June 30. All data are final. 31; assets are as of June 30. All data are final.
Large-Cap Core Small-Cap Core Best-Performing Stock Funds
Total Return (%)
Assets Total return (%) Assets Total return (%) Assets Annualized
($ millions) July YTD 1-yr 5-yr* ($ millions) July YTD 1-yr 5-yr* Fund Ticker ($ millions) Jul YTD 1-year 3-year 5-year
Roundhill MEME 1.1 19.8 69.6 26.0 N.A. Hennessy:Crnst MdCp;Inv 462.2 7.2 26.9 30.7 13.2 GrnShs:1.5x Lg NVDA Dly NVDL 118.8 14.9 415.4 N.A. N.A. N.A.
HCM Defender 100 Idx ETF 328.1 4.8 45.1 32.5 N.A. GMO:Sm Cap Quality;VI 70.7 4.4 26.1 N.A. N.A. MS FANG+ Index 3x Lev FNGU 2,440.0 9.1 373.3 104.3 15.0 27.2
IMS Capital Value;Inst 40.8 6.9 36.3 24.5 8.4 Oberweis:Micro-Cap;Inv 348.8 4.3 23.6 23.4 16.5 GrnShs:1.5x Lg META Dly FBL 6.4 15.7 295.0 N.A. N.A. N.A.
IndexIQ:IQ US LC R&D Ldr 5.1 3.7 34.6 20.5 N.A. Pacer US SC Csh Cws 100 2,518.8 7.8 22.9 17.0 10.3 MS Sol FANG & Innov 3X BULZ 612.0 15.7 292.1 48.4 N.A. N.A.
Amer Cent:Sustainable Gr 10.7 3.5 33.5 17.5 N.A. Vulcan Val PSC;Inst 423.4 8.0 22.4 1.8 N.A. Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners WGMI 13.6 24.0 259.4 40.9 N.A. N.A.
Invesco S&P500 Top50 2,316.0 3.2 31.6 16.1 14.2 WCM SMID Qual Value;Inst 137.3 2.8 21.8 15.1 N.A. GrnShs:1.5x Lg COIN Dly CONL 7.6 55.8 249.5 N.A. N.A. N.A.
Natixis:US Eq Opp;A 867.8 5.6 31.1 25.3 12.3 SouthernSun US Eq;I 47.3 3.9 21.8 17.1 10.0 VanEck:Digi Trans DAPP 45.6 24.5 211.3 34.8 N.A. N.A.
Fidelity Contrafund 107,887.8 4.2 30.4 19.4 11.9 Wasatch:Sm Cap Val;Inst 1,256.1 6.9 21.0 13.0 7.4
Glbl X Blockchain ETF BKCH 84.2 25.2 201.5 38.6 N.A. N.A.
Category Average: 1,688.4 3.1 18.6 12.2 11.1 Category Average: 563.3 5.1 12.3 8.0 5.9 MS FANG+ Index 2X Lev FNGO 192.2 6.6 199.1 82.6 23.8 N.A.
Fund Count 694 694 679 666 543 Fund Count 956 958 951 941 840 Direxion:Semicnd Bull 3X SOXL 7,046.9 14.1 194.5 44.8 23.9 22.7
Bitwise Crypto Ind Innov BITQ 86.1 24.9 194.1 27.3 N.A. N.A.
Large-Cap Value Small-Cap Value ProShares:Ult Semicond USD 294.1 13.2 189.0 89.1 43.7 34.4
Assets Total return (%) Assets Total return (%) Direxion:TSLA Bull 1.5X TSLL 820.7 1.8 185.3 N.A. N.A. N.A.
($ millions) July YTD 1-yr 5-yr* ($ millions) July YTD 1-yr 5-yr*
Invesco AG Crypto Econ SATO 4.5 23.7 180.4 38.8 N.A. N.A.
Selected American Shs;D 1,587.9 6.8 26.8 22.4 7.6 Ancora MicroCap;I 15.7 5.4 21.0 14.4 5.3
Davis:Sel US Equity ETF 363.5 6.5 25.4 19.6 7.8 Invesco S&P MC400 PV 231.5 5.5 21.0 23.4 10.9 Best-Performing Bond Funds
Total Return (%)
Davis:NY Venture;A 6,100.7 7.2 25.4 23.0 6.9 Easterly Snow SC Val;I 22.4 8.1 19.8 19.8 8.4 Assets Annualized
Clipper Fund 981.7 7.3 24.9 20.8 6.9 Rydex:S&P MC 400 P Val;H 19.7 5.3 19.7 21.4 8.8 Fund Ticker ($ millions) Jul YTD 1-year 3-year 5-year
Davis:Research;A 56.3 4.8 24.3 19.7 8.8 BrndywnGLB Sm Cp Vl;IS 18.1 5.9 18.6 N.A. N.A. Glbl X Blckchn & Btc Str BITS 14.2 10.2 130.2 35.6 N.A. N.A.
Artisan:Value Fund;Inst 292.7 4.8 21.6 21.9 10.6 First Eagle:SmCap Opp;I 1,182.6 4.2 18.1 12.0 N.A. Simplify:BTC Str + I MAXI 25.0 –5.2 72.7 N.A. N.A. N.A.
Fidelity Mega Cap Stock 1,714.6 4.3 20.9 19.8 12.6 Longleaf Partners SC 852.0 8.3 17.1 6.1 2.5 Hashdex Bitcoin Futures DEFI 1.9 –5.2 71.7 N.A. N.A. N.A.
DoubleLine:Sh En CAPE;I 4,251.7 3.8 20.8 6.7 9.9 Brandes Inv:SC Val;I 9.3 3.6 17.0 11.3 9.8 ProShares:Bitcoin Strat BITO 1,060.1 –5.4 70.0 19.8 N.A. N.A.
Category Average: 2,167.6 3.6 9.8 10.4 8.6 Category Average: 441.9 6.5 11.4 8.4 6.1 VanEck:Bitcoin Strategy XBTF 45.0 –5.0 69.6 22.5 N.A. N.A.
Valkyrie Bitcoin Strat BTF 29.2 –5.1 68.1 20.4 N.A. N.A.
Fund Count 354 354 347 341 301 Fund Count 162 162 161 155 135
ProFunds:Btcn Str PF;Inv BTCFX 52.6 –5.5 67.9 18.2 N.A. N.A.
ProShs II:UlS Yen YCS 27.1 –2.0 24.1 20.7 23.0 12.1
Large-Cap Growth Small-Cap Growth HCM Income Plus;A HCMEX 621.3 3.4 18.9 9.5 5.1 8.2
Assets Total return (%) Assets Total return (%)
($ millions) July YTD 1-yr 5-yr* ($ millions) July YTD 1-yr 5-yr* WisdomTree:Alt Inc HYIN 11.4 5.3 17.7 0.3 N.A. N.A.
Tidal:SoFi Social 50 14.9 9.3 57.2 16.6 N.A. Morg Stan I:Inc;I 446.7 9.6 56.7 19.7 12.9 ETFis:Virtus InfCp US PS PFFA 576.1 2.2 16.2 –2.1 11.6 4.2
Fidelity Blue Chip G ETF 651.7 5.2 48.3 25.4 N.A. Needham:Aggr Growth;Inst 204.0 7.3 36.9 27.8 19.5 FT III:EM Loc Cur Bd FEMB 144.3 3.0 14.6 17.4 –0.7 0.3
Fidelity Srs BlueChp G 8,857.6 5.2 47.2 26.8 17.6 Jns Hndsn Sm Cap Gr Alp 141.0 4.1 30.1 13.0 8.0 Glbl X Adptv US Rsk Mgmt ONOF 77.9 3.3 13.6 22.7 N.A. N.A.
Fidelity Blue Chip Gr 47,100.7 5.3 46.4 24.4 16.3 Delaware Sm Cap Gro;Inst 128.1 4.4 28.7 13.1 8.2 iShares:Convertible Bond ICVT 1,237.0 2.8 13.5 9.7 5.8 10.5
Fidelity Blue Chip Gr K6 9,211.1 5.3 46.4 25.6 16.7 Fuller&Thaler BSCG;Inst 279.5 5.8 27.3 19.3 11.3 Worst-Performing Stock Funds
WisdomTree:US Qual Gro 47.9 3.6 45.7 N.A. N.A. BBH: Prtnr Fd Sm Cp Eq;I 349.3 7.0 26.4 14.5 N.A. Total Return (%)
Invesco ESG NASDAQ 100 13.8 4.3 44.9 24.9 N.A. AMG Frontier SCG;I 41.7 2.2 26.2 18.0 12.8 Assets Annualized
Fund Ticker ($ millions) Jul YTD 1-year 3-year 5-year
Invesco NASDAQ 100 13,739.1 3.8 44.6 22.6 N.A. Jns Hndsn S/M Cap Gr Alp 216.6 4.6 25.5 14.5 9.0 VelShs 3x Long Nat Gas 0.2 –17.3 –95.0 –99.7 –83.6 –85.2
Category Average: 2,424.2 3.2 31.6 15.6 12.2 Category Average: 726.1 3.5 15.6 7.8 6.8 VS:2x Long VIX Futures UVIX 87.3 –18.9 –87.7 –93.3 N.A. N.A.
Fund Count 677 676 665 654 583 Fund Count 682 691 686 681 602 VelShs Dly 2x VIX ST ETN 0.3 –18.7 –87.0 –92.7 –91.5 –82.9
MS FANG+ Idx -3X Inv Lev FNGD 187.6 –12.0 –86.7 –82.6 –70.6 –73.2
MS Sol FANG & Innov -3X BERZ 18.4 –16.8 –83.0 –75.9 N.A. N.A.
Midcap Core Multicap Core
Assets Total return (%) Assets Total return (%) ProShs II:Ult Blm Nat Gs BOIL 1,144.4 –10.8 –82.9 –96.4 –51.9 –59.0
($ millions) July YTD 1-yr 5-yr* ($ millions) July YTD 1-yr 5-yr* AXS 1.25X NVDA Bear Dly NVDS 97.8 –12.0 –81.2 –79.9 N.A. N.A.
Needham:Growth;Retail 141.5 7.6 32.9 16.6 14.1 Opportunity;I 1,324.3 7.9 35.4 19.4 4.2 Direxion:Semicnd Bear 3X SOXS 1,110.6 –16.3 –78.6 –78.4 –74.3 –76.5
Tarkio 141.8 2.9 25.9 8.2 6.9 Simplify:US Eqty + GBTC 8.7 3.2 33.4 18.3 N.A. ProShs II:UltVIX STF ETF UVXY 387.8 –14.0 –76.9 –84.6 –81.5 –67.9
Hodges;Rtl 155.5 8.7 24.2 19.8 5.8 Permanent Port:Aggr Gr;I 29.2 7.4 29.9 24.6 12.0 Convxty 1.5x SPIKES Ftr SPKY 0.4 –13.8 –75.4 N.A. N.A. N.A.
IndexIQ:IQ US MC R&D Ldr 4.5 6.5 22.2 9.1 N.A. Invesco S&P500 Hi Be 608.4 5.5 29.8 19.6 14.5 KraneShs:Glb Crbn OffStr KSET 1.5 –25.3 –73.2 –84.7 N.A. N.A.
Paradigm:Select Fund 104.9 2.7 21.8 14.3 11.8 Goldman:Hdg Indus VIP 136.5 4.8 28.6 16.0 9.9 ProShares:UlS Semicond SSG 7.0 –13.4 –73.0 –69.7 –59.8 –57.8
Touchstone:Mid Cap;Y 4,619.6 2.8 20.2 11.5 9.8 Ave Maria Focused 57.3 3.4 28.2 11.9 N.A. MS Travel -3X Inv Lev FLYD 0.7 –15.7 –72.7 –78.1 N.A. N.A.
Federated Hs US SMID;IS 3.9 2.8 19.1 15.0 N.A. VanEck:Morningstar WM;Z 18.7 4.4 28.1 20.3 14.5 Direxion:DJ Int Bear 3X WEBS 33.7 –18.0 –69.0 –66.1 –39.8 N.A.
Argent Mid Cap 32.0 2.3 18.3 N.A. N.A. VanEck:MS Wide Moat 9,727.9 4.4 28.1 20.3 14.5
Worst-Performing Bond Funds
Category Average: 972.2 3.6 11.1 7.5 7.6 Category Average: 3,258.7 3.1 16.2 10.2 9.5 Total Return (%)
Assets Annualized
Fund Count 374 377 371 366 330 Fund Count 663 671 661 654 529 Fund Ticker ($ millions) Jul YTD 1-year 3-year 5-year
ProFunds:Sh Btcn Str;Inv BITIX 0.2 4.4 -51.1 -41.7 N.A. N.A.
Midcap Value Multicap Growth ProShares:Sh Bitcoin Str BITI 81.2 5.0 -50.0 -39.6 N.A. N.A.
Assets Total return (%) Assets Total return (%)
($ millions) July YTD 1-yr 5-yr* ($ millions) July YTD 1-yr 5-yr*
ProShs II:Ult Yen YCL 12.3 2.1 -19.0 -19.1 -21.3 -13.1
Typhon Tactic MF Str TYPHX 4.6 -1.5 -15.7 -23.3 N.A. N.A.
Longleaf Partners 1,371.6 6.3 24.8 9.1 3.6 Zevenbergen Genea;Inv 80.5 7.3 66.5 29.3 12.2
Cambria Global Tail Risk FAIL 3.8 -2.1 -7.5 -14.1 -9.4 -4.5
Vident US Equity Strat 540.0 3.1 18.9 17.8 9.1 One Rock Fund 12.6 10.0 61.0 34.1 N.A.
Invesco:Japanese Yen FXY 225.2 1.7 -7.5 -6.5 -9.9 -5.21
Vanguard Sel Value;Inv 6,245.2 4.8 16.3 18.0 9.3 Virtus:Zeven Inn GrSt;I 510.3 5.7 60.2 30.1 12.2
KraneShs:QIR V&I Hdg IVOL 728.8 -0.1 -7.4 -17.0 -5.3 N.A.
Ariel:Fund;Instl 2,791.7 5.0 15.6 10.0 6.8 Zevenbergen Growth;Inst 107.8 5.8 59.5 29.7 12.3
Rareview Inflation/Defl FLTN 15.7 -1.4 -7.3 -15.6 N.A. N.A.
LeaderShs AlpFtr Tct Foc 204.3 6.9 15.5 12.6 N.A. Berkshire:Focus 242.7 8.2 55.7 11.4 5.8
ProShares:UPSh 20+ Trs TTT 246.6 8.4 -7.0 36.7 41.9 -7.8
T Rowe Price MC Vl;I 13,611.4 4.8 14.2 14.3 8.9 AOT Growth & Innovation 25.4 6.0 50.1 19.5 N.A.
Simplify:ShTm Trs FS TUA 534.3 -0.4 -6.8 N.A. N.A. N.A.
J Hancock II:Mid Val;NAV 1,464.4 4.8 14.0 14.1 8.6 Baron Fifth Ave Gro;Inst 467.7 6.7 48.1 18.5 7.5
abrdn:Glbl Ret Str;I AGCIX 31.6 -0.1 -6.4 -7.6 -4.73 -1.4
Heartland:MdCp Val;Inst 500.8 5.3 13.8 13.3 10.7 Renaissance IPO ETF 178.1 12.1 48.0 12.2 4.5
Direxion:20+Y Trs Br 3X TMV 309.0 8.8 -5.8 37.3 41.8 -8.0
Category Average: 941.6 4.4 9.3 7.5 6.9 Category Average: 887.2 3.7 27.4 13.1 10.4 Direxion:20+Y Trs Bl 3X TMF 2,166.2 -8.7 -5.3 -45.3 -45.53 -16.3
Fund Count 152 152 150 150 135 Fund Count 445 445 438 436 366 Glbl X Interest Rate Hdg RATE 3.1 3.9 -5.2 24.7 N.A. N.A.
N.A.: Not applicable; fund is too new * Annualized Note: For funds with multiple share classes, only the largest is shown. Source: Refinitiv Lipper Note: For funds with multiple share classes, only the largest is shown. N.A.: Not applicable; fund is too new or data not available Source: Refinitiv Lipper
 .

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, August 7, 2023 | R5

JOURNAL REPORT | INVESTING MONTHLY

Retirement Rookies • Stephen Kreider Yoder and Karen Kreider Yoder

for another cross-country trip.

We’re Retired and Healthy. But When not traveling, we intend to
be volunteering in areas that re-
quire health and mobility, such as

How Do We Plan for Our Decline? disaster relief, bicyclist advocacy

and prison-inmate literacy.
But Karen’s broken arm has left
us with more questions. How
should we set priorities for our
An accident on vacation was a reminder that retirement won’t always be like this next decade? Do we need a Plan
B, for if one of us suddenly de-
clines or dies? Perhaps we should
The first year in retirement is just heed the biblical exhortation:
often the most difficult. But it “Therefore do not worry about to-
also can set the stage for how morrow, for tomorrow will worry
you’ll fill the years ahead—both fi- about itself. Each day has enough
nancially and psychologically. Ste- trouble of its own.”
phen Kreider Yoder, 65, a longtime Readers have offered us some
Wall Street Journal editor, joined perspectives. “Travel while you are
his wife, Karen Kreider Yoder, 66, young and fit. Life has a way of
in retirement last year. In this throwing roadblocks at you when
monthly column, they chronicle you age,” write a couple with
some of the issues they are deal- some experience, Ed and Lib of
ing with early in retirement. South Carolina, ages 87 and 96.
“Enjoy your retirement and don’t
• KAREN: Have you ever wished worry about the petty things,”
you could redo two seconds of writes Ken, 78, of New York’s Long
your life? Island. “I was working too much
I have. and my wife said enough is
I was strolling with Steve on a enough and before I could retire
sidewalk in Tunisia this spring, a she passed away from cancer.”
day before the flight home from Dale and Patty, ages 72 and 77,
our first postretirement trip in Tennessee write that after sev-
abroad. I was gawking up at the eral years reveling in travel—in-
French colonial architecture—the cluding an 80-day Pacific Rim
cornices, the statues, the intricate cruise—they suddenly had to
brickwork. change retirement plans when
Then I was sprawled on the Patty was diagnosed with Lewy
ground. body dementia.
A sharp pain stabbed my left “We are both shocked and
arm. I had apparently thrust it out grateful as we sit in our debt-free
to break my fall after I tripped. I home in Tennessee in our 70s.
knew immediately: My shoulder Shocked in that more destinations
was broken. sionally about how we would tour, a month in North Africa and by summer’s end. But we now may never be realized in our re-
Thoughts flashed. Why was I eventually decline physically and visits to Steve’s parents in Iowa. have a taste of the slow-go phase. tirement and grateful we began
looking up while walking? Why how we should probably start lay- Most immediately, we wondered our travels when we did,” they
didn’t I pick my feet up higher? ing contingency plans. But it was whether we should revive our Hok- write. “Caregiving challenges are
Then: What would this mean for easy to put such thoughts aside. kaido trip or punt it to next year or • STEVE: “I feel like we have now our new reality.”
our summer plans? And oh, my Until Tunis. just drop it. Beyond that, we won- been cheated in our Golden Years, Their advice: Prepare your
aching shoulder. Our doctor came in with X-ray der what other mishaps are in after having worked hard and home now for aging, such as by
An hour later, waiting for the images and apologetically gave store and whether we should dial saved money to do a few things widening the bathroom doorway
doctor in a spotless Tunis hospital the diagnosis, a proximal humerus down our ambitions—or tackle when we retired.” and adding a front-door ramp.
exam room, we asked: Was this fracture. On the plane the next them with greater urgency. It was a Colorado reader, Jan- We wrote in May about how
some kind of a message? morning, my arm in a sling, we We’ve been reciting the truism ice, 76, writing to tell us how her we’re starting to budget our time,
Yes, we agreed. Yes, it was—a began ripping up our plans. about retirement’s three stages, spouse’s Parkinson’s diagnosis much as we budget money. Karen
wake-up call. We’d hoped to spend the early that there are the go-go years, “rattled our world,” forcing her to put up a giant wall calendar for
Many retirees eventually face summer biking on Japan’s Hok- the slow-go years and the no-go drop her postretirement dreams 2023-24 to start mapping plans.
physical challenges that keep them kaido island, where Steve grew up. years. Rob, a 69-year-old Ohio and become his caregiver. She Perhaps we should stretch the
from doing all they had envisioned That timetable was out, and we reader who retired in 2019, ex- urges aging friends to travel now, calendar to 2050 and plot out
for their golden years. We each couldn’t reschedule until we knew pounded on this in an email to us: she says: “Just spend the money what we imagine we could still do
have retired relatives with neuro- my arm was well. 1. You first have five to 10 because health might not allow in our slow-go and no-go years.
logical diseases. One year, they Back home, I sat staring at all the good years, doing the things you them to do it later.” We’d rewrite the calendar regu-
were planning for their next de- things I couldn’t do. I had expected pictured doing when not working, Poignant notes like this from larly, especially if one of us sud-
cades with their spouses; the next, to return to a list of projects—proj- at full current health. readers have added to a growing denly needs the other’s caregiving.
their spouses were their caretak- ects that required two hands, such 2. Then it’s likely that some- realization of what Karen hints at: We could front-load intrepid
ers. Still other retired acquain- as scanning our boys’ childhood pho- thing happens to one or both of We have been in denial about hu- travel and energy-intensive volun-
tances have recently seen their tos. I put those off and canceled my you in your 70s. A hip, a heart, a man frailty. teering. We would kick down the
lives interrupted by less-final, but tutoring commitments, my weekly knee, cancer, some decrease in Yes, I quit a gratifying job with road some stuff that’s less health-
still soul-crushing, health crises. quilting group and plans to play capacity. my employer of 38 years partly be- dependent—river cruises, binge-
For others, a tragedy has cut with a toddler neighbor. 3. If you make it beyond that, cause I wasn’t sure how many years watching movies, building R/C air-
dreams even shorter. In the past By June, my fracture had you may have 5-10 years of not we had left to do everything else. planes.
year, several friends on the cusp healed and physical therapy was so good health and limits on your We are both blessed with good As a reader in Virginia writes:
of retirement have suffered a going well. My doctor said: “This physical and mental abilities. health, and we expect to keep “Keep traveling now when you are
spouse’s unexpected death. One is just a hiccup in your life.” We need to enjoy each stage, launching off on adventures for young and able. You can organize
moment they were preparing for a But the impact feels bigger. We plan ahead for the next stage and many years. We hope, for in- your photos when you are 85.”
shared retirement; the next, they lost some of the momentum of make sure we have supports in stance, to don our backpacks
PAUL BLOW

were single. our early retirement months, place by the time we’re there. We again to hop on buses down West The Yoders live in San Francisco and
Steve and I had talked occa- when we’d launched on a bike expect to be firmly back to go-go Africa, and load our tandem bike can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

Mutual-Fund Yardsticks: How Fund Categories Stack Up How the Largest Funds Fared
Performance numbers are total returns (changes in net asset values with reinvested distributions) as of
Includes mutual funds and ETFs for periods ended July 31. All data are final. July 31; assets are as of June 30. All data are final.
Performance (%) Performance (%)
Investment objective July YTD 1-yr 5-yr* Investment objective July YTD 1-yr 5-yr*
Stock Mutual Funds and ETFs
Diversified stock & stock/bond funds World stock funds Total Return (%)
Large-Cap Core 3.1 18.6 12.2 11.1 Global 3.0 16.5 11.5 7.3 Assets Annualized
Fund Ticker ($ billions) July 1-year 3-year 5-year 10-year
Large-Cap Growth 3.2 31.6 15.6 12.2 International (ex-U.S.) 2.9 14.6 13.9 4.1
Large-Cap Value 3.6 9.8 10.4 8.6 European Region 2.6 16.1 16.4 4.5 Vanguard TSM Idx;Inst+ VSMPX 1351.17 3.6 12.6 13.0 11.4 N.A.
Midcap Core 3.6 11.1 7.5 7.6 Emerging Markets 4.9 12.8 10.3 1.4 Vanguard 500 Idx;Adm VFIAX 887.02 3.2 13.0 13.7 12.2 12.6
Midcap Growth 2.9 17.7 8.8 8.5 Latin American 5.6 25.8 30.1 4.7 SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY 422.72 3.2 12.9 13.6 12.1 12.6
Midcap Value 4.4 9.3 7.5 6.9 Pacific Region 6.1 4.8 0.7 1.1 Fidelity 500 Index Fund FXAIX 420.61 3.2 13.0 13.7 12.2 12.7
Small-Cap Core 5.1 12.3 8.0 5.9 Gold Oriented 4.2 5.9 14.3 7.7 Vanguard Tot I S;Inv VGTSX 378.56 3.9 12.5 7.4 3.9 4.9
Small-Cap Growth 3.5 15.6 7.8 6.8 Global Equity Income 2.6 9.6 8.8 5.9 iShares:Core S&P 500 IVV 334.25 3.2 13.0 13.7 12.2 12.6
Small-Cap Value 6.5 11.4 8.4 6.1 International Equity Income 3.4 12.6 13.2 3.7 Vanguard Instl Indx;InsP VIIIX 254.07 3.2 13.0 13.7 12.2 12.7
Multicap Core 3.1 16.2 10.2 9.5 American Funds Gro;A AGTHX 232.64 4.1 15.6 8.7 10.3 12.5
Taxable-bond funds American Funds Bal;A ABALX 202.14 2.1 6.1 6.4 6.7 7.9
Multicap Growth 3.7 27.4 13.1 10.4 Short-Term 0.6 2.5 1.7 1.4
Multicap Value 3.8 9.0 9.2 7.9 Invesco QQQ Trust 1 QQQ 200.14 3.8 22.5 13.7 17.7 18.7
Long-Term 0.2 3.4 –2.0 1.3
Equity Income 3.2 8.3 7.2 8.0 Vanguard Gro Idx;ETF VUG 178.62 3.3 16.9 11.1 14.7 14.7
Intermediate Bond 0.1 2.3 –3.0 0.7
S&P 500 Funds 3.2 20.4 12.5 11.7 Vanguard Dev Mkt;ETF VEA 168.05 3.2 14.2 9.2 4.6 5.5
Intermediate U.S. 0.2 1.5 –4.4 1.8
Specialty Divers. Equity 3.5 15.3 8.8 5.5 American Funds Wash;A AWSHX 159.07 3.1 11.2 14.2 10.4 11.1
Short-Term U.S. 0.3 1.4 –0.4 0.5
Balanced 2.0 9.1 5.0 4.9 Vanguard Md-Cp I;ETF VO 147.30 3.5 7.4 10.9 8.8 10.2
Long-Term U.S. –0.7 1.1 –6.5 –0.3
Stock/Bond Blend 2.3 10.5 6.0 5.3 Vanguard Val Idx;ETF VTV 147.23 3.4 9.0 15.3 9.1 10.3
General U.S. Taxable 0.3 3.1 –1.4 0.9
Avg. U.S. Stock Fund† 3.8 16.7 10.0 8.4 American Funds EuPc;R6 RERGX 138.67 2.9 13.5 4.5 4.5 6.2
High-Yield Taxable 1.4 6.2 3.9 2.8
Sector stock funds Vanguard S-C Id;Adm VSMAX 123.33 5.0 9.1 12.7 7.2 9.3
Mortgage 0.01 1.9 –3.9 –0.1
American Funds NPer;A ANWPX 120.48 2.9 13.4 9.0 9.9 10.6
Science & Technology 5.0 40.4 19.5 13.7 World Bond 1.3 5.2 4.0 0.4
American Funds Inc;A AMECX 118.33 2.1 4.5 7.9 6.1 6.9
Telecommunication 1.7 17.3 3.2 4.1 Avg. Taxable-Bond Fund** 0.6 3.5 0.5 1.4
American Funds FInv;A ANCFX 116.79 3.7 15.8 12.1 9.5 11.3
Health/Biotechnology 1.0 3.6 4.9 5.7 Municipal-bond funds
Utility 2.0 –1.5 –4.5 7.0 Short-Term Muni 0.3 1.3 –0.4 0.5 Bond Mutual Funds and ETFs
Natural Resources 10.4 6.3 17.2 3.1 Total Return (%)
Intermediate Muni 0.2 2.2 0.5 1.3 Assets Annualized
Sector 4.0 6.5 –6.1 3.8 General & Insured Muni 0.3 3.2 –0.01 1.3 Fund Ticker ($ billions) July 1-year 3-year 5-year 10-year
Real Estate 2.0 6.8 –8.4 4.5 High-Yield Muni 0.3 3.5 –1.5 1.3 Vanguard Tot Bd;Adm VBTLX 297.33 –0.1 –3.2 –4.5 0.8 1.5
Vanguard Tot Bd II;Inst VTBNX 251.82 –0.1 –3.2 –4.5 0.7 1.4
PIMCO:Income;Inst PIMIX 123.71 1.2 3.3 1.8 2.7 4.3
Stock & Bond Benchmark Indexes All total return unless noted Vanguard Tot Itl B2;Inst VTILX 99.40 0.04 –3.0 N.A. N.A. N.A.
Performance (%) Performance (%)
Investment objective July YTD 1-yr 5-yr* Investment objective July YTD 1-yr 5-yr*
iShares:Core US Agg Bd AGG 91.90 –0.1 –3.3 –4.5 0.7 1.5
Vanguard Tot Itl BI;ETF BNDX 86.16 0.04 –2.9 –3.7 0.3 2.0
Large-cap stocks Stock indexes American Funds Bond;A ABNDX 75.75 –0.04 –4.0 –4.1 1.2 1.7
DJIA 3.4 8.5 10.6 9.3 DJ U.S. TSM Growth 3.5 38.0 18.5 14.5 Vanguard Int-Tm TxEx;Adm VWIUX 70.21 0.2 1.1 –0.63 2.0 2.6
S&P 500 3.2 20.6 13.0 12.2 DJ U.S. TSM Value 3.7 6.7 7.1 7.3 Fidelity SA Core Inc FIWGX 65.76 0.1 –2.6 –3.3 N.A. N.A.
Midcap stocks Taxable bonds Dodge & Cox Income;I DODIX 64.42 0.2 –0.6 –2.4 2.0 2.5
S&P MidCap 400 4.1 13.3 10.5 8.3 Barclays Agg. Bond –0.1 2.0 –3.4 0.7 Vanguard Sh-Tm B;ETF BSV 63.17 0.4 –0.4 –1.6 1.2 1.1
MetWest:Total Rtn;I MWTIX 62.03 0.04 –4.0 –4.6 0.8 1.6
Small-cap stocks Municipal bonds
Fidelity US Bond Index FXNAX 59.82 –0.04 –3.4 –4.5 0.7 1.5
Russell 2000 6.1 14.7 7.9 5.1 Barclays Muni. Bond 0.4 3.1 0.9 1.9
Vanguard Sh-Tm Inv;Adm VFSUX 57.16 0.7 0.8 –0.9 1.6 1.7
Broad stock market International stocks PIMCO:Tot Rtn;Inst PTTRX 54.61 0.3 –2.8 –4.1 0.8 1.6
DJ U.S. Total Stock Market 3.6 20.4 12.6 11.3 MSCI EAFE†† (price return) 3.2 13.1 13.5 1.9 Vanguard ST IPSI;Adm VTAPX 53.03 0.5 –1.2 2.2 2.8 1.6
Russell 3000 3.6 20.3 12.6 11.4 Dow Jones World (ex. U.S.) 4.2 13.8 13.1 3.9 Fidelity Str Adv Cre Inc FPCIX 49.96 0.1 –2.7 –3.9 1.1 1.9
*Annualized †Diversified funds only **Excludes money-market funds ††Europe, Australia, Far East Source: Refinitiv Lipper Note: For funds with multiple share classes, only the largest is shown. N.A.: Not applicable; fund is too new or data not available Refinitiv Lipper

R6 | Monday, August 7, 2023
Commodities Aren’t Likely to Boost
Investment Performance, History Says
Some cautionary numbers for commodity
investors about the past two decades
BY MARK HULBERT
A
S INVES-
TORS worry
that we are
entering an
extended pe-
riod of at-
best-medio-
cre stock
and bond returns, some are
wondering if diversifying into
commodities is the answer.
History doesn’t provide
much encouragement.
Consider a conservative
portfolio that, instead of allo-
cating 60% to the S&P 500 and
40% to investment-grade
bonds, takes 5% from both as-
sets and allocates the 10% to
Invesco DB Commodity Index
Tracking ETF (DBC).
Over the 16 calendar years
through 2022 in which the DBC
has existed, this yearly rebal-
anced three-asset portfolio
would have produced a return
that was 0.4 annualized per-
centage point lower than the
Commodities’ dismal run
400% SPDR S&P
500 ETF
350 iShares Core U.S.
Aggregate Bond
300
Invesco DB
Commodity Index
250 Tracking ETF
iShares S&P GSCI
200
Commodity
Indexed ETF
150
100
50
0 were publicly traded, however,
–50
–100
2007 ’10 ’15 ’20
Source: Hulbert Ratings
Do Commodities Provide
A Hedge Against
Recessions?
We Ran the Numbers
The answer: It depends on the commodities and
how you buy them. But generally, no.
BY DEREK HORSTMEYER
I
NVESTORS OFTEN look to
commodities to protect their
portfolio in a recession or
downturn.
But which commodities
actually preserve wealth during
adverse economic conditions?
And is it better to hold a mu-
tual fund or ETF that tracks the
commodity or to hold the physi-
cal commodity itself?
The short answer: Gold is the
only commodity (of the eight
categories we tested) that had
a positive average return during
recessions both in terms of the
fund tracking the commodity
and the actual commodity itself.
For all other types of commodi-
ties tested, returns for both
types of investment were nega-
tive during economic down-
turns.
To study this, Melvin Reyes
and Alberto Vergara, my re-
search assistants, and I pulled
data on all commodity mutual
funds and ETFs going back 25
years (when commodity ETFs
first appeared). We then orga-
nized them by the eight main
categories: generic commodity
fund, gold, silver, agriculture,
.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
JOURNAL REPORT | INVESTING MONTHLY
correlation applies to gold,
which many investors have
long considered to be the
quintessential inflation hedge.
In a separate study, Erb and
Harvey found that gold’s much-
vaunted inflation-hedging po-
tential emerges in the histori-
cal data only when focusing on
very long term hori-
zons—those lasting
many decades rather
than a few years. They
found that over the
60/40 portfolio. This shorter term, which is
stock/bond/DBC the typical focus of in-
portfolio was slightly dividual investors,
less volatile than the gold has a mediocre-
conservative 60/40 at-best inflation-hedg-
portfolio, but not by ing record.
enough to justify its
lower return.
A similar conclu- Benefits of
sion applies to a diversification
portfolio that in- It is still possible that
stead invested the commodities can in-
10% commodity allo- crease a diversified
cation in a different portfolio’s risk-ad-
commodity index justed return. To do
fund, iShares S&P so, commodities
GSCI Commodity-In- would need to: 1) have
dexed ETF (GSG), very low correlations
which invests in with those of the
most of the same other assets the port-
commodities in- folio holds, and
cluded in the DBC thereby lower the
fund, but with a dif- overall portfolio’s vol-
ferent weighting atility-related risk;
protocol. This stock/ and 2) reduce portfo-
bond/GSG portfolio performed cusing only on the 17 years for three were correlated with the lio risk by more than return is
even worse than the DBC ver- which we have real-world per- consumer-price index at the forfeited in the process.
sion, both in terms of raw and formance for these commodity 95% confidence level that stat- History indicates that com-
risk-adjusted return. index ETFs is that inflation isticians often use when as- modities largely satisfy the
Looked at another way: was low in many of them. You sessing whether a pattern is first of these two prerequi-
Since July 2006, the first might expect commodities to genuine. That is, the prices of sites. Whether they will be
month in which both commod- improve the performance of a only three commodities— able to satisfy the second pre-
ity index ETFs traded, DBC has stock-bond portfolio in coming which were heating oil, cattle requisite is anyone’s guess, but
produced an annualized total years if inflation were to re- and copper—reliably rose history supports being skepti-
return of just 0.3%, and GSG main high. when inflation rose. Though cal. Erb says he and Harvey
has produced a 4.9% annualized The data provide only lim- the remaining nine had no sta- were unable to find evidence
loss. That compares with a 10% ited support for this hope, tistically significant relation- supporting commodities “as a
annualized gain for stocks, in however, according to a 2006 ship with the CPI, the correla- strategic, long-term set-it-and-
the form of SPDR S&P 500 ETF study by Claude Erb, a former tions with four of these forget-it investment.”
(SPY), and 4.1% annualized for commodities portfolio man- remaining nine, while weak, Market-timers no doubt will
long-term Treasurys. ager at TCW Group, and Camp- were actually negative. That try to do better by varying
Commodity indexes have bell Harvey, a Duke University means they more often than their commodity allocation
been around for much longer finance professor. They not moved inversely with infla- over time, as well as altering
than the past 17 years, though searched for correlations be- tion—rising when inflation the mix of individual commod-
index funds benchmarked to tween inflation and individual was falling, and vice versa. ities. Insofar as they are suc-
these indexes are a relatively commodities over the two de- Erb says there are other pe- cessful, they will be better off
recent phenomenon. It is im- cades before DBC and GSG riods in U.S. market history in diversifying their stock-bond
portant to base our analysis on were created (specifically, which some commodities were portfolios with commodities.
years in which the indexes from 1982 through 2003), dur- more correlated with inflation. But they run the risk of doing
ing which inflation ran at a But he adds that it should give much worse.
because hypothetical commod- significantly higher pace than investors pause that the ma-
ity index returns can be an un- in recent years. They found jority of commodities can re- Mark Hulbert is a columnist
reliable guide to the future. only a few. main uncorrelated with infla- whose Hulbert Ratings tracks
Of the 12 major commodi- tion over a two-decade period investment newsletters that
ties that existed throughout in which inflation ran at a pay a flat fee to be audited.
Inflation hedges this 21-year period, the re- healthy clip. He can be reached
One potential drawback of fo- searchers found that only Erb says the inconsistent at reports@wsj.com.
25 years: March to No-
vember 2001; December
2007 to June 2009; and
February to April 2020.
We then looked at
how these commodity
funds performed in
comparison with the ac-
tual physical commodity
spot price. We also
looked at how each
grouping performed
when not in recession,
as a secondary control.
Gold stands out
The first interesting
finding is that only gold
palladium, platinum, copper and had a positive return
oil. Each was constructed based during recessions (an
on having at least 10 usable ob- average return of 0.18%
servations. a month for gold funds).
Next, we looked at the aver- All other funds tracking
age returns to each commodity- commodities had nega-
fund category in and out of re- tive returns during recessions average monthly return of are a little bit different, it
cession. To define recessions (see chart), averaging a monthly 0.49%. should be noted that they gen-
we used the National Bureau of return of -1.33%. Over the past The next interesting finding erally move in the same direc-
Economic Research’s definition 25 years, when we are not in a is that in general the physical tion.
of recession, which included recession, all commodity funds commodity did slightly better Both in and out of recessions,
three such events over the past had positive returns and had an than the funds tracking the the correlation in returns be-
commodity. In all eight catego- tween the spot price and the
ries, the spot price return of the corresponding commodity fund
The average monthly return for selected commodities during
commodity did better than the is high, averaging a correlation
a recession and out of a recession
fund tracking the commodity coefficient of 0.93 across the
In recession Out of recession when not in a recession. eight categories, where 1.0
–4.0% –3.5 –3.0 –2.5 –2.0 –1.5 –1.0 –0.5 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 During a recession, the re- would be perfect correlation.
sults are a little murkier. Only The grouping with the highest
ETF/MUTUAL FUND
Generic
SPOT PRICE
five did better on a spot-price correlation coefficient was silver
basis compared with a fund ba- with a coefficient of 0.97 and
Gold sis during a recession. For in- the grouping with the lowest
stance, while it is definitely was platinum with 0.87.
Oil good to hold a gold fund during In all, if you are looking to
a recession, it is even better to protect your money during a re-
Copper hold the physical gold itself. The cession the winner does appear
average gold fund delivered a to be gold over the past 25
Silver return of 0.18% a month during years. Even for silver or plati-
recessions, but the return based num, prices actually fall in re-
Palladium on the spot price of gold was cession.
1.30% during recessions.
Agriculture Derek Horstmeyer is a
In step
ALEX NABAUM X2
professor of finance at George
Platinum While the returns to funds Mason University’s business
tracking the commodity and the school in Fairfax, Va. He can be
Source: Derek Horstmeyer, George Mason University
spot price for the commodities reached at reports@wsj.com.
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