* * * * * * MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2024 ~ VOL. CCLXXXIII NO. 88
00
Last week: DJIA 37983.24 g 920.80 2.37%
What’s
News
Business & Finance
 A series of weak auctions
for U.S. Treasurys are stok-
ing investors’ concerns that
markets will struggle to
absorb a coming rush of
government debt spear-
headed by about $386 bil-
lion up for sale in May. A1
 Recent acquisitions have
lifted to more than $260 billion
alternative assets under the
management of Franklin Tem-
pleton, which has been grap-
pling with a steady stream
of outflows from its legacy
mutual-fund business. B1
 GE’s famed management
academy at Crotonville,
N.Y., was sold to an entity
composed of real-estate in-
vestors and family offices
for $22 million. B1
 The U.S. continues to ac-
celerate its push for clean
energy but the market for
rooftop solar power is shrink-
ing, pummeled by high inter-
est rates, tight credit and
cuts to solar incentives. B1
 Global buyout firm CVC
was set to kick off an Am-
sterdam share sale, targeting
a valuation of up to $16 billion
in the latest sign of a pickup
in initial public offerings. B3
 A two-decade bet on a
biotech company turned into
a roughly $8 billion windfall
for investors in the Baker
Bros. Advisors hedge fund af-
ter Pfizer bought Seagen. B4
 KKR is focusing on Japan
as its main market in the
Asia-Pacific region, seeing
many opportunities there to
acquire businesses at bar-
gain prices, executives at the
investment firm said. B9
World-Wide
 Biden urged Israel to use
caution in any response to
Iran’s unprecedented attack
and pressed allies for a united
diplomatic front in a bid to
stop the hostilities from spi-
raling into open warfare that
could engulf the Middle East
and entangle the U.S. A1, A6
 Israel’s multilayered air
defense system successfully
fended off what military an-
alysts said was one of the
largest combined aerial at-
tacks in recent history. A7
 Trump will become the first
former president to sit for a
criminal trial when he appears
in a New York court to defend
himself against accusations
he directed an illegal scheme
to pay off a porn star. A1
 The chair of the Senate
Commerce Committee, Maria
Cantwell, said the content of
a bill to end China’s control
of TikTok remains in play. A5
 The Justice Department
was under growing pressure
to reach a plea deal with Ju-
lian Assange after Australia
asked for one and more diffi-
culties arose in securing the
WikiLeaks founder’s extradition
to the U.S. from the U.K. A8
 A tepid economic recov-
ery, fear of Russian aggres-
sion, and the prospect of a
Trump electoral victory in
the U.S. are nudging Europe
closer to China. A8
 Environmentalists and char-
ter boat captains are arguing
over a proposed rule aimed at
protecting whales that would
limit vessel speeds along a
stretch of the Atlantic Ocean
at certain times of the year. A3
JOURNAL REPORT
Encore: The new,
more-hopeful face of
Alzheimer’s. R1-9
CONTENTS
Arts in Review......A13
Business News........B3
Closed-End Funds......B8
Crossword..................A14
Heard on Street....B10
Markets...................B9,10
s 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
NASDAQ 16175.09 g 0.5%
AMIR COHEN/REUTERS
An antimissile system as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, on Sunday was deployed after Iran launched drones and missiles.
Joint Response to Repel Attack
Hints at Shift in Mideast Order
BY YAROSLAV TROFIMOV
Saturday’s Iranian strike on
Israel was huge by any stan-
dard. Tehran launched more
than 170 explosive-laden
drones, around 120
ANALYSIS ballistic missiles
and about 30
cruise missiles, Israel said.
The damage could have been
catastrophic. As it turned out,
almost all were intercepted.
That success stemmed from
a combination of Israel’s so-
phisticated air-defense system
and critical assistance pro-
Inflation
Weakens
Demand
For U.S.
Treasurys
BY ERIC WALLERSTEIN
A series of weak auctions
for U.S. Treasurys is stoking
investors’ concerns that mar-
kets will struggle to absorb an
incoming rush of government
debt.
A selloff sparked by a hot-
ter-than-expected inflation re-
port intensified this past week
after lackluster demand for a
$39 billion sale of 10-year
Treasurys. Investors also
showed tepid interest in auc-
tions for three-year and 30-
year Treasurys.
Behind their caution lies a
growing conviction that infla-
tion isn’t fully tamed and that
the Federal Reserve will leave
interest rates at multidecade
highs for months, if not years,
to come. The 10-year yield—
the benchmark for borrowing
rates on everything from
mortgages to corporate
loans—finished the week
around 4.5%, near its highest
levels since touching 5% in Oc-
tober.
At the same time, the gov-
ernment is poised to sell an
additional $386 billion or so of
bonds in May—an onslaught
that Wall Street expects to
continue no matter who wins
November’s presidential elec-
tion. While few fear a failed
auction—an unlikely scenario
that analysts said could poten-
Markets Digest.......B6 tially trigger prolonged tur-
Opinion................ A15-17
Personal Journal A11-12
moil—some worry that a glut
Sports.......................... A14 of Treasurys will rattle other
Technology................ B4 parts of the markets, raise the
U.S. News.............. A2-5
cost of government borrowing
World News........ A6-8
and hurt the economy.
“There’s been a big shift in
> decline in homicides,
the market narrative. The CPI
[consumer-price index] report
Please turn to page A2
 Outlook: Economists lift
growth forecasts............... A2
WSJ.com HHHH $5.
STOXX 600 505.25 g 0.3% 10-YR. TREASURY (Reopening) yield 4.499% OIL $85.66 g $1.25 EURO $1.0642 YEN 153.28
U.S. Calls
For Calm
After Iran
Strikes
Israel
Biden asks ally to be
cautious in response
to drone, missile blitz
and avoid wider war
TEL AVIV—President Biden
urged Israel to use caution in
any response to Iran’s unprec-
edented attack and pressed al-
lies on Sunday for a united
diplomatic front in a bid to
stop the hostilities from spi-
raling into open warfare that
could engulf the Middle East
and entangle the U.S.
By Rory Jones,
Gordon Lubold,
Catherine Lucey
and Anat Peled
The race to de-escalate ten-
sions underscored the intense
new phase that Iran and Is-
rael’s long-simmering conflict
had entered after Tehran
launched what military ana-
lysts said was one of the larg-
est combined aerial attacks in
recent history with more than
vided by the U.S. and other is Israel’s ability to defend it- nian soil could invite far more 300 drones and missiles.
Western and Arab partners. self without outside help. devastating retaliation. But U.S. and Western officials
American, British and Jorda- That is a key consideration not responding at all, or too anticipate that Israel will
nian warplanes played an es- as Israel and the U.S. consider weakly, could also erode de- quickly respond to Iran’s at-
pecially important role in responses to what is a new terrence, making Israel and tacks, as soon as Monday, offi-
downing drones. Most of the strategic reality, created by others more vulnerable to fu- cials said. But the officials
Iranian drones and missiles Iran’s first direct military at- ture Iranian barrages. said they hoped both coun-
were destroyed before they tack on Israeli territory since “Iran has started a new tries could come away with a
reached Israeli airspace. the Islamic revolution of 1979. phase. It has stopped hiding sense of victory, giving them
Whether Israel and its sup- Israel’s war cabinet met in Tel behind proxies and has now an off-ramp that would limit
porters can replicate that per- Aviv on Sunday as the coun- become exposed to a direct at- escalatory moves.
formance under the conditions try’s leaders weighed their op- tack from Israel,” said Nadav Please turn to page A6
of an all-out war—this week- tions, and Western officials Pollak, a former Israeli gov-
end’s salvo from Iran, clearly said they believed Israel’s re- ernment analyst teaching at  Biden pushes to contain
telegraphed in advance, was sponse could come quickly, as Reichman University near Tel spread of war...................... A6
the opposite of a surprise at- soon as Monday. Aviv. “Going forward, Israel is  Israel’s air-defense system
tack—is an open question, as Striking back hard on Ira- Please turn to page A7 stands up to raid............... A7
Masterful
Performance
Despite Trump’s Best Efforts,
His Criminal Trial Has Arrived
BY CORINNE RAMEY the four prosecutions he faces. sumptive Republican nominee,
AND JOE PALAZZOLO
Donald Trump will become
Trump would have no manda-
tory prison term if convicted.
Despite the salacious back
could be severe. Some Trump
supporters have said in Wall
Street Journal polling and sur-
the first former president to
sit for a criminal trial when he
story, the case at its core is
about documents: whether
veys of GOP primary voters
that they would change their
WARREN LITTLE/GETTY IMAGES
appears in a New York court Trump falsified the business votes if he is convicted of a
on Monday, kicking off an un- and financial records that ac- felony. But it could also be met
usual stretch in which the Re- counted for the hush money. with a shrug: Trump cruised
publican will campaign for a Still, the case, brought by to victories in primaries even
new term while defending Manhattan District Attorney as his legal problems mounted,
himself against accusations he Alvin Bragg, may be the only bemoaning the charges as po-
directed an illegal scheme to one of Trump’s criminal cases litically motivated.
Scottie Scheffler wins title pay off a porn star. to wrap before Election Day. The trial promises to bring
for second time. A14 The case of People v. Trump The political fallout of a a circuslike atmosphere to
itself has the lowest stakes of conviction for Trump, the pre- Please turn to page A4
Boomers Aren’t Budging From Big Homes
Many empty-nesters stay put rather than downsizing, keeping inventory tight
BY RACHEL LOUISE ENSIGN interest rates and steep prices are spective buyers on lower rungs of the
AND RACHEL WOLFE making homeownership less affordable housing economy. Many are working
for the average family. Many of these longer or planning on an active retire-
Baby boomers bought up many of older homeowners paid off their mort- ment, and are in no rush to move to a
the big homes across the U.S. when gages on properties that have appreci- retirement community.
they were raising their families. Now ated tremendously in value. About 28% of all U.S. homes with
they’re staying put, even though their Some are happy with their big three or more bedrooms are owned by
kids are all grown up. houses. Others would like to downsize, Please turn to page A10
Boomers are on top in a housing but are deterred by the same high
market where tight inventory, higher costs that are restraining other pro-  Rates shift home buyers’ plans...... A12
Ready, Set, Fix That Plane— Homicides Decline in Cities
In 15 Minutes or Less! In 133 cities around the country, homicides in the first few
months of 2024 were down around 20% from a year earlier,
i i i according to police department statistics. A3
Hundreds of mechanics compete -82% Boston
-58 Columbus, Ohio
in annual aerospace maintenance olympics -50 San Antonio
BY ALISON SIDER They are in McCormick Place -48 San Diego
Convention Center, in the an- -44 Nashville, Tenn.
CHICAGO—A bird flies into nual Aerospace Maintenance -43 Cleveland
an airplane engine after Competition. -42 Austin, Texas
touchdown. Mechanics are A crowd formed Tuesday, -40
Las Vegas
faced with the task of remov- on edge as the mechanics me-
Big U.S. cities with the -39 New Orleans
ing and replacing a thodically tapped
largest year-to-date -38 Phoenix
fan blade. There are each blade back
six minutes on the into position, rotat- -37 Jacksonville, Fla.
2023-24*
clock. The pressure ing them counter- -36 Milwaukee
is on. clockwise and try- -35 Pittsburgh
The two mechan- ing to keep them
*Cities' data through dates between -34 Philadelphia
ics aren’t in an air- Please turn to March 31 and April 10
port hangar, though. Fan favorite page A10 Source: the cities via AH Datalytics -32 Detroit
 A2 | Monday, April 15, 2024
THE OUTLOOK | By Sam Goldfarb and Anthony DeBarros
Economic Forecasters See Good Times Ahead
I
t has been two years
since forecasters felt
this good about the
economic outlook.
In the latest quar-
terly survey by The Wall
Street Journal, business and
academic economists low-
ered the chances of a reces-
sion within the next year to
29% from 39% in the Janu-
ary survey. That was the
lowest probability since
April 2022, when the
chances of a recession were
set at 28%.
Economists, in fact, don’t
think the economy will get
even close to a recession. In
January, they on average
forecast sub-1% growth in
each of the first three quar-
ters of this year. Now, they
expect growth to bottom out
this year at an inflation-ad-
justed 1.4% in the third quar-
ter.
Just 10% of survey re-
spondents think the econ-
omy will experience at least
one quarter of negative
growth over the next 12
months, down from 33% in
January.
The Wall Street Journal
survey was conducted from
April 5 to 9, just before the
release of March consumer-
price index data showing in-
flation running hotter than
economists had anticipated.
The U.S. economy has far
outperformed expectations
over the past year and a
half. Instead of stumbling
under the weight of the Fed-
eral Reserve’s most aggres-
sive interest-rate-raising
JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
READY TO RUN: The Boston Marathon Golden Retriever Meetup drew some friendly competition on the eve of the big race.
The event Sunday aims to take a stand against canine cancer and honors all dogs who have lost their lives to the disease.
CORRECTIONS 
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Journal to any errors in news
articles by emailing
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888-410-2667.
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SUBMIT IT AT WSJ.COM/TIPS
Probability the U.S. is in a recession
in next 12 months including today*
100%
75
50%
25
RECESSION
0 0
2006 ’10
*Average of economists' answers. Gaps indicate question not asked or data unavailable.
campaign in four decades, it
has continued expanding at
a robust clip.
F
ew think that the econ-
omy can do quite as
well as last year’s 3.1%
growth, as measured by the
seasonally adjusted fourth-
quarter change from a year
earlier. That figure might
have been boosted by one-
time factors such as federal
infrastructure and semicon-
ductor legislation and an up-
tick in immigration, which
also might not last.
Still, economists have had
to rethink forecasts for a
major slowdown as more
time has passed and one still
doesn’t seem imminent.
Economists on average think
the economy grew at a 2.2%
rate in the first three
months of the year, up from
a 0.9% forecast in January.
Treasury
Demand
Weakens
Continued from Page One
changed everybody’s view of
where Fed policy is headed,”
said James St. Aubin, chief in-
vestment officer at Sierra Mu-
tual Funds.
The government funds its
operations by selling the
world’s safest bonds to inves-
tors and dealers at regular
auctions. And issuance of
Treasurys has exploded since
the pandemic began. In the
first three months of 2024,
the U.S. sold $7.2 trillion of
debt, the largest quarterly to-
tal on record. That surpassed
the second quarter of 2020,
when the government was fi-
nancing a wave of Covid-19
stimulus. It also builds on a
record $23 trillion of Trea-
surys issued last year, which
raised $2.4 trillion of cash, af-
ter accounting for maturing
bonds.
The size of the sales has ex-
panded along with the market
for U.S. debt. After poor de-
mand at a series of auctions
late last year jarred investors,
the Treasury Department
eased concerns by shifting to
financing America’s deficit
mostly with short-term debt.
That helped, in part, because
U.S. NEWS
’15 ’20
“The U.S. economy is per-
forming very well,” Econ-
Forecaster economist James
Smith said in the survey.
“We’re truly the envy of the
world.”
Much has changed since
economists were last this
optimistic. Two years ago,
the Fed’s benchmark federal-
funds rate was set between
0.25% and 0.5%. Inflation
was high but economists
still generally thought that it
could come down without
too much help from the Fed.
They forecast steady growth
and the midpoint of the
range for the fed-funds rate
topping out at just above
2.5%.
Now, the fed-funds rate is
sitting between 5.25% and
5.5%, and economists don’t
see a bunch of cuts coming
soon. Many analysts
trimmed their rate-cut fore-
the Fed simultaneously sig-
naled a pivot to easier mone-
tary policy: Hopes that inter-
est-rate cuts would come soon
helped reassure investors
about the Treasury’s strategy.
Now, those hopes are dwin-
dling, and the Treasury is ex-
pected to announce its third-
quarter borrowing plans at
the end of April. The nonpar-
tisan Congressional Budget
Office forecasts that the defi-
cit will increase to 6.1% of U.S.
gross domestic product in the
next decade from 5.6%. Debt
held by the public is set to ex-
pand to $48 trillion in that
time from $28 trillion, up
from $13 trillion 10 years ago.
Wall Street doesn’t expect
the Treasury to raise auction
sizes of longer-term notes and
bonds until next year. But the
government must also con-
tend with refinancing a chunk
of its bonds. A record $8.9
trillion of Treasurys, roughly a
third of outstanding U.S. debt,
is set to mature just in 2024,
according to Apollo Global
Management’s chief econo-
mist, Torsten Slok.
Investors are also watching
how revenues from tax season
boost America’s coffers in the
coming weeks.
“We’ve been losing liquid-
ity as people and companies
pull out money to pay taxes,”
said Thomas Tzitzouris, head
of fixed-income research at
Strategas. “We’re in a bit of
an air pocket that’s letting the
bond market float more freely
and yields rise.”
Real GDP (quarterly,
annualized growth rate)
2.5% Apr '24 forecast
Jan '24 forecast
2.0 Oct. '23 forecast
1.5
1.0
0.5
’24 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q
2023 ’24
casts after last week’s hot
inflation report. But even
before the report, survey re-
spondents predicted that
rates would end the year at
4.67%, implying three cuts.
In January, their responses
suggested that they thought
four or five cuts were likely.
Economists now think the
economy can withstand
higher rates than they did
not long ago.
They expect the 10-year
Treasury yield—a key bor-
rowing benchmark that was
around 4.4% at the time of
the survey—to end 2024 at
3.97%. Looking further into
the future, they expect the
yield to end 2026 at 3.78%.
That is slightly above even
their forecast last October,
when the yield was higher
than it is now.
Many economists have
long thought that the econ-
One line of support is likely
to come from the Fed. Minutes
from the Fed’s March meeting,
released last week, showed
that policymakers are looking
to slow the pace of running
down the central bank’s large
holdings of bonds accumu-
lated to prop up the economy.
They would likely reduce the
rate at which they let Trea-
surys mature to $30 billion a
month, half of the current $60
billion pace.
$10 trillion
Public debt maturing
8 within next year*
6
4 crease demand for U.S. debt,
2 ing elevated relative to global
0 hopeful that as long as infla-
2000 ’05 ’10
Quarterly Treasury issuance, gross
$2 trillion
1 its biggest one-day rise since
0
2000 ’05
*Marketable debt
Sources: Apollo Global Management (public debt); Sifma (issuance)
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Consumer-price index,
forecast year-to-year change
3.2%
3.0
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
1Q June Dec. June Dec. June Dec.
’25 2024 2025 2026
Source: Wall Street Journal surveys of economists
omy can handle higher inter-
est rates when it is capable
of growing faster, and par-
ticularly when worker pro-
ductivity has increased.
To that end, economists
expect the Labor Depart-
ment’s measure of produc-
tivity to rise at an annual
rate of 1.9% over the next
decade. That matches the
annual increase in produc-
tivity over the last 40 years.
But it is above the 1.2% pace
of the 2010s, when the 10-
year Treasury yield was typ-
ically stuck between 1.5%
and 2.5%.
Some economists are now
enthusiastic about the econ-
omy’s longer-term potential.
“We think that the Ameri-
can economy has entered a
virtuous cycle where strong
productivity results in
growth above the long-term
trend, inflation between 2%
U.S.WATCH
NEBRASKA
Truck Hits Cruiser,
Killing Officer
A veteran police officer
was killed when his cruiser
was struck by another vehicle
after he made a traffic stop
in eastern Nebraska, authori-
ties said Saturday.
The Nebraska State Patrol
said Ceresco Police Officer
Ross Bartlett, 54, stopped a
car about a mile south of
Ceresco on Highway 77 about
7:30 p.m. Friday.
Both vehicles were parked
on the shoulder, and the
driver and officer were both
seated in their vehicles when
a pickup truck rear-ended the
police cruiser, pushing it into
the stopped car, the State
Patrol said.
Bartlett was flown to a
hospital in Lincoln, where he
was pronounced dead.
The driver of the car, a 27-
year-old Lincoln man, suf-
fered serious but non-life-
threatening injuries. The
pickup driver, a 49-year-old
man from the city of Crete,
wasn’t seriously hurt.
—Associated Press
Balance-sheet runoff,
known as quantitative tight-
ening, is meant to drain the
banking system of reserves
and increase the market’s
share of the sovereign-debt
pile. With the Fed paring back
that program, and prepping to
stop it sometime in the future,
investors will have to absorb a
smaller net share of Treasury
securities. That could support
bond prices and remove some
upward pressure on yields.
$7 trillion
6 and investors expect the Euro-
5
4 That leaves many investors
’15 ’20 ’23
3 yields will remain under 5%.
’10 ’15 ’20 ’24
and 2.5% and an unemploy-
ment rate between 3.5% and
4%,” RSM US chief econo-
mist Joe Brusuelas said in
the survey.
M
any aren’t quite as
optimistic. One
downside of a better
growth outlook is that a
stronger economy could
make it harder for inflation
to fall all the way back to
the Fed’s 2% target.
An inflation gauge that is
closely watched by the Fed,
the core personal-consump-
tion expenditures price in-
dex, was 2.8% in February, its
most recent reading. Econo-
mists now expect it to end
the year at 2.5%, after having
forecast 2.3% in January.
Economists, on average,
believe that core PCE infla-
tion will fall to 2.1% by the
end of next year without a
recession. However, their
projections might already
have ticked higher after last
week’s price data, and some
continue to worry that the
Fed’s efforts to control infla-
tion still present a major
threat to the economy.
“The risks are clearly
skewed toward more hawk-
ish Fed outcomes, which
could drag on our growth
forecasts,” Deutsche Bank
economists Brett Ryan and
Matthew Luzzetti said in the
survey.
The Wall Street Journal
survey was answered by 69
economists. Not every econ-
omist responded to every
question.
PENNSYLVANIA
Guilty Plea Over
Stolen Body Parts
The wife of a former Har-
vard Medical School morgue
manager pleaded guilty to a
federal charge after investi-
gators said she shipped sto-
len human body parts—in-
cluding hands, feet and heads
—to buyers.
Denise Lodge, 64, of Goffs-
town, N.H., pleaded guilty Fri-
day in U.S. District Court in
the Middle District of Penn-
sylvania to a charge of inter-
state transportation of stolen
goods, according to court re-
cords.
Federal prosecutors last
year announced charges
against Lodge and others in
an alleged scheme where a
nationwide network of people
bought and sold human re-
mains stolen from Harvard
and a mortuary in Arkansas.
Authorities said dissected
portions of cadavers donated
to the school were taken be-
tween 2018 and early 2023
without the school’s knowl-
edge or permission.
—Associated Press
Another factor supporting
Treasurys: Global investors
have a lot of savings and few
viable options to place them.
The eurozone and Japan both
run current-account surpluses,
meaning they take in more
money from trade than they
spend on imports. Treasurys
provide them a safe place to
stash their cash and pick up
more than 4% of yield. They
also offer an easy way to invest
dollar-denominated income
from trading with America.
The euro and yen are both
sinking relative to the dollar,
in part because the Bank of
Japan is still holding rates low
pean Central Bank to slash
them soon. That could in-
with Treasury yields remain-
alternatives.
tion continues to trend toward
the Fed’s 2% target, Treasury
But some worry the influx of
new Treasurys will exacerbate
already-volatile markets, par-
ticularly if inflation stays
sticky. After the CPI report
and weak auction on Wednes-
day, the 10-year yield posted
2022, jumping nearly 0.20
percentage point.
“If we continue to see hot
inflation prints, it’s going to
keep a lot of people on the
sidelines,” Sierra’s St. Aubin
said.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, April 15, 2024 | A3

U.S. NEWS

Homicides Drop

MICHELLE GUSTAFSON FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (2), MICHAEL DWYER/AP (WHALE)
In Major Cities
Across the U.S.
BY DAN FROSCH ment’s pulling back after social
AND CAMERON MCWHIRTER unrest following the high-pro-
file police killings of George
Homicides in American cit- Floyd and other Black people.
ies are falling at the fastest “The police went to sleep,”
pace in decades, bringing said Dean Dabney, a criminol-
them close to their levels be- ogy professor at Georgia State
fore a pandemic-era jump. University in Atlanta. “The
In 133 cities around the prosecution and the courts
country, homicides in the first went to sleep, and the jails Charter-boat operator Tom Daffin, top left, says cutting his speed in half will make his trips
few months of 2024 were and prisons let people out. So to fishing grounds too long, driving off customers. John DePersenaire, bottom left, of boat
down around 20% from a year you had an ideal situation for maker Viking Yacht, says advances in technology will protect the right whale, above.
earlier, according to crime- criminals.”
data analyst Jeff Asher, who Now, police are more en-
tabulated statistics from po- gaged and departments are
lice departments. working to hire more officers.
Killings in Philadelphia as Community-based crime-pre-
Rule Pits Yacht Owners Against Whale Lovers
of April 12 were down 35% vention programs have re- BY ERIC NIILER Speed Limit to Protect Whales Right whales are vulnerable
from the same point last year, sumed. And nationwide social because they spend most of
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wants to
police data show. In New York unrest has cooled. CAPE MAY, N.J.—It’s boat- their time feeding at the sur-
expand the area of an existing 10-knot speed limit to a much
City, homicides were down “It’s not one single thing ers versus environmentalists face. Since 2017, 15 have been
larger portion of East Coast waters to protect the endangered
15% through April 7. Homi- that makes that number fall. on the East Coast, where en- killed by vessels and two oth-
North Atlantic right whale. The limit, applying to boats at least 35
cides in Columbus, Ohio, were Here in D.C., and I’m sure it’s dangered whales are having ers seriously injured, accord-
feet long, would be in effect from November through May.
down 58% through April 7. like this in most cities, it’s a deadly encounters with vessels ing to NOAA’s National Marine
And Boston had just two ho- collaboration of efforts,” said traveling in the chilly Atlantic. MAINE Fisheries Service.
micides as of March 31, com- Leslie Parsons, an assistant The sides are duking it out “The loss of even one North
pared with 11 a year earlier. chief for the Metropolitan Po- in court and on Capitol Hill— FORAGING Atlantic right whale is very
The drop is an acceleration lice Department in Washing- and a political deadline is AREA concerning given the small
of a trend that began last year, ton, where homicides this year looming. population size, and the loss
following a surge in the num- have dropped 26% compared Environmentalists want N.Y. MASS. of a reproductive female is es-
ber of homicides during the with 2023. yachts popular for fishing and pecially devastating,” said
Covid-19 pandemic. The de- In some cities, the homicide day trips to go no more than Janet Coit, assistant adminis-
clines in 2024, on top of last decline has been accompanied 10 knots (11.5 miles an hour) at trator for NOAA Fisheries.
N. J.
year’s drop, mirror the steep by a reduction in property certain times of the year. The The whales killed this
declines of the crime. San goal is to prevent the kind of year—an adult and two
late 1990s. Francisco, collisions that have killed three calves—were female. One calf
MD.

35%
“There’s just where property whales this year. Boat captains was killed by a vessel esti-
a ton of places crime has been say a speed limit will ruin mated to be between 37 and
that you can a huge problem their business—and their fun. 54 feet long. NOAA couldn’t
point to that are in recent years, “People aren’t going to put determine the size of the ves-
showing wide- has recorded up with these long travel VIRGINIA sels that killed the others. The
As of April 12, the
n

spread, very decreases in times,” said Tom Daffin, who new speed limit would apply
a

positive trends,”
drop from last year in burglaries, rob- operates a 38-foot charter boat to vessels at least 35 feet long.
e
c

said Asher, co- the number of killings beries, larceny out of Cape May, N.J. His vessel Fishing and boating indus-
O

founder of crim- in Philadelphia thefts and mo- runs at about 20 knots to reach N.C. try representatives argue that
ic

inal-justice con- tor-vehicle game fish that arrive each n right whales can be protected
t

a
sulting firm AH thefts. And as spring about 40 miles off the tl with technology. Viking Yacht,
Datalytics. “Na- of April 7, ho- coast. With the lower speed A a boat manufacturer in New
tionally, you’re seeing a very micides numbered nine, down limit, that trip would take S.C. Gretna, N.J., is working with
similar situation to what you from 13 a year earlier. around 3½ hours each way. partners to develop a system
saw in the mid-to-late ’90s. But Crime researchers have “With those restrictions, combining standard video, in-
it’s potentially even larger in been particularly struck by the entire industry is dead,” frared cameras, marine radar
terms of the percentages and the drops in cities most said Bill Roohan, a real-estate and sonar imagery with artifi-
numbers of the drops.” plagued with violent crime in agent from Towson, Md., who CALVING AREA Right whale speed zones cial-intelligence software to
Police officials and re- recent years. In the first half takes his family out on a 41- identify whales that break the
searchers cautioned that of 2022, New Orleans had the foot sportfishing boat. Current surface or spout.
crime trends aren’t always highest homicide rate of any The National Oceanic and Proposed “These [infrared] cameras
consistent, and future homi- major U.S. city, according to a Atmospheric Administration, N Critical habitat have always had the ability to
cide rates are difficult to pre- Wall Street Journal analysis of charged with protecting endan- pick up anything in the water,
FLA.
dict. Some cities, like Denver, crime data. Through April 10 gered and threatened marine even really small things,” said
Los Angeles and Portland, this year, the number of kill- animals, proposed the rule af- Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Carl Churchill/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL John DePersenaire, Viking’s
Ore., reported rises in homi- ings was down 39% from the ter four environmental groups director of government affairs
cides as of early April, Asher’s same period in 2023. sued the agency to demand the down, it’s a slowdown,” said the end of May, it risks being and sustainability. “Now, what
data show. But more typical is But Ronal Serpas, the city’s change. The proposal drew Gib Brogan, campaign director overturned. The Congressional folks have been working on is
Baltimore, where homicides police superintendent from more than 90,000 comments, at Oceana, a Washington- Review Act allows a new Con- driving AI to be trained so it
have declined 30%. 2010 to 2014 and now a crimi- many opposing the plan. Some based environmental group gress to reverse regulations can clearly classify a marine
During the pandemic, homi- nal-justice professor at Loyola commenters said they have lobbying for the new rule. enacted during a prior admin- mammal.”
cide rates jumped. The number University New Orleans, said canceled plans to buy a yacht. The dispute, percolating for istration’s last few months. Marine scientists say it
of homicides in the U.S. in 2020 the numbers aren’t changing Boating and sportfishing 18 months, has intensified “I will do everything to isn’t clear whale-tracking
was up nearly 30% from 2019— public perception. Polls show groups have been lobbying since three right whales died stop it, including introducing technology—which boaters
the largest one-year increase people remain worried about Congress to block the rule. this year after being hit by a Congressional Review Act aren’t required to use—would
ever recorded by the Federal crime in their communities. Environmental groups say boats. In February NOAA offi- resolution to overturn it if fi- provide adequate protection.
Bureau of Investigation. “There certainly isn’t as the rule is a minor inconve- cials sent a final version of the nalized,” Rep. Greg Murphy “You have whales that are
Researchers and authorities much gun violence or as many nience that will protect an an- regulation to the Office of (R., N.C.) said of the NOAA just below the surface that the
attributed the increase to fac- murders as there were, but imal at the brink of extinc- Management and Budget, proposal. Murphy and a half- [infrared] system can’t detect,”
tors including crime-prevention the drug trade is the same,” tion. The number of North which must approve the rule. dozen other members of Con- according to Jessica Redfern,
programs’, courts’ and prisons’ said Alfred Klosterman, a 73- Atlantic right whales has Typically, OMB reviews can gress have said the lower associate vice president for
inability to operate normally as year-old retired graphic artist shrunk to under 360, from 509 take several months, and envi- speed limit would financially ocean conservation science at
Covid spread; young people’s in Philadelphia. “I guess I feel in 2011. Fewer than 70 are re- ronmental groups worry that devastate their constituents. the New England Aquarium in
being out of school because of a little safer, but you know productive females. if the Biden administration OMB officials declined to Boston. “So you’re going to
shutdowns; and law enforce- they are still out there.” “The new rule is not a shut- doesn’t issue the rule before comment. miss those whales.”
A4 | Monday, April 15, 2024 P W L C 10 11 12 H T G K R F A M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 O I X X THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. NEWS

Trump’s
Trial Date
Arrives

STEPHANIE KEITH/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Continued from Page One
lower Manhattan for weeks.
Trump is required to attend
the trial. That means he will
spend four days a week at the
defense table instead of cam-
paigning. His political team
has been trying to use his pre-
dicament as a springboard for
rallying supporters.
“Rabid Democrats will raise
MILLIONS while I’m stuck de-
fending myself in court,”
Trump said in a campaign
email last week.

JULIA NIKHINSON/ASSOCIATED PRESS

BRENDAN MCDERMID/PRESS POOL

Trump’s lawyers have re-

peatedly sought to delay the
trial, with minimal success.
The Manhattan district at-
torney’s investigation of
Trump began in August 2019,
when state prosecutors paid a
visit to Michael Cohen in a
federal prison. Clockwise from left, key figures in Donald Trump’s criminal trial: Trump; his accuser and former personal attorney, Michael Cohen; and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
Trump’s loyal retainer for a
decade, Cohen had broken was as if Cohen personally had can be elevated to a felony if gets unlawful conspiracies to dia’s efforts to intercept and at American Media.
with his boss and pleaded handed the Trump campaign records were falsified to con- promote political candidates, bury potentially negative news Trump’s lawyers have por-
guilty the year before to fed- $130,000, or about 48 times ceal or commit another crime. or a tax offense. Prosecutors about Trump, including Mc- trayed the case as a record-
eral campaign-finance crimes the legal contribution limit at The state investigation pro- don’t need to prove the crimes, Dougal’s story. keeping dispute and unsuc-
that implicated the president. the time. The $150,000 pay- ceeded in fits and starts. Some only that Trump intended to Cohen’s testimony is ex- cessfully tried to prevent
Trump called his former attor- ment by American Media to officials in the district attor- commit them. pected to tie Trump to the Bragg from making broader
ney and fixer a “rat.” McDougal violated federal re- ney’s office had concerns The trial is likely to last six payment to Daniels and the al- allegations about a scheme to
Those charges and the ad- strictions on corporate contri- about building a case. The of- to eight weeks, with jury se- leged plan to reimburse Cohen silence Trump accusers, argu-
mission of unrelated crimes butions, they said. fice had all but abandoned the lection, which begins on Mon- via false invoices. His cross- ing they have “no place at a
culminated in a three-year At his plea hearing, Cohen probe by the time Bragg, a day, expected to take a week examination by Trump’s law- trial that centers on account-
sentence for Cohen at the fed- said Trump directed him to Democrat, took office in 2022. or more. yers is likely to be a key point ing practices.”
eral minimum-security prison make and coordinate the pay- Bragg and his team looked Bragg has in the trial. His lawyers will likely ar-
camp in Otisville, N.Y. ments. Federal prosecutors at the evidence with fresh framed the case They have de- gue to the jury that Trump,
Cohen landed himself there declined to pursue Trump, de- eyes and began presenting it as about elec- scribed the for- who was president at the time
in part by paying adult-film ferring to a long-held Justice to a grand jury in January tion interfer- Trump’s mer Trump at- of the repayments to Cohen,
star Stormy Daniels $130,000 Department opinion that a sit- 2023. The 34 felony counts in ence, and in- political team torney in court had no knowledge of the cre-
in 2016 to keep quiet about an ting president couldn’t be the indictment are all tied to tends to present papers as a ation of the business records
alleged sexual encounter with prosecuted. records that prosecutors said evidence of a has been using “crooked, lying, in question.
Trump a decade earlier. That But Trump’s legal jeopardy Trump falsified as he reim- larger “catch- disbarred attor- Trump said on Friday that
same year, Cohen had also with New York officials contin- bursed Cohen for the Daniels and-kill”
his predicament ney acting in he planned to testify.
worked with American Me- ued to grow. When members of deal—11 invoices, 12 general scheme to take to rally support. his own inter- The hush-money case has
dia—then publisher of the Na- the Manhattan district attor- ledger entries and 11 checks. negative news ests.” attracted skeptics, because the
tional Enquirer tabloid—to ney’s office met with Cohen in State prosecutors alleged that about Trump off Other wit- manner in which prosecutors
purchase former Playboy prison, they wanted his help, each constitutes a felony be- the market as nesses could in- charged it has placed them in
model Karen McDougal’s story and Trump was the target. cause the former president he campaigned for president in clude Trump Organization em- uncharted waters.
of a 10-month affair with The federal prosecutors had “made and caused” the false 2015 and 2016. ployees and former Trump “The key for Bragg is to
Trump, who denies a sexual re- found that Cohen was repaid record entries with intent to Prosecutors’ early wit- adviser Hope Hicks, as well as make this case not just about
lationship with either woman. for the Daniels deal in commit or conceal another nesses are likely to include McDougal and Daniels, who falsified records, but to put it
Both transactions were monthly increments disguised crime. David Pecker, the former chief said on her podcast this year in the context of the catch-
crimes, federal prosecutors al- in Trump’s business records The district attorney’s office executive of American Media, that she was set to testify at and-kill scheme,” said lawyer
leged. Cohen’s payment to as a retainer for legal services. has said in court filings that and Cohen, people familiar the trial. The jury may also Adam Kaufmann, a former
Daniels, they said, was made That interested the state pros- the other crimes could include with the matter said. Pecker’s hear from Keith Davidson, who Manhattan prosecutor. “You
in coordination with Trump ecutors. Falsifying business federal campaign-finance vio- testimony could establish represented Daniels in the deal need the context—that he had
and meant to influence the records is a misdemeanor un- lations like Cohen’s, breaches Trump’s knowledge of and with Cohen, and Dylan How- an intent to further an election
2016 presidential election. It der New York state law, but it of a state election law that tar- participation in American Me- ard, who was Pecker’s deputy coverup—to prove the felony.”

Judge Pushes to Set Record

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years in prison, he took some
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healthy way that was impugn-
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Lamberth said. “He knew what write history” and martyrize “That,” he said, “needed
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, April 15, 2024 | A5

U.S. NEWS

Powerful Democratic Senator

Crafts Crackdown on TikTok

LINDSEY WASSON/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cantwell, known for
her deliberative work,
wants a vote ‘sooner
as opposed to later’
BY NATALIE ANDREWS
WASHINGTON—Sen. Maria
Cantwell said she wants to
end China’s control of TikTok.
She also wants such legisla-
tion to hold up in court. But
what that bill looks like, and
how quickly it could get to
President Biden’s desk, remain
in play, the powerful Demo-
crat said in an interview.
The House overwhelmingly
passed a measure in March
that would force the short-
video app to find a new owner
that isn’t a foreign adversary
proach could be attaching a
TikTok bill to the reauthoriza-
tion of the Federal Aviation
Administration, which faces a
May 10 deadline.
House bill as base
A senior Democratic aide
said the Senate was looking at
the House bill as a base for its
bill, rather than reviving previ-
ous TikTok-related measures
that had been introduced in
the Senate.
One element of the House
bill that Cantwell is open to
changing is the six-month pe-
riod for TikTok to divest to
avoid a shutdown. Critics of
the House bill, such as Sen.
Rand Paul (R., Ky.), have said
such a short timeline would
create a fire sale, unfairly hurt-
ing investors. Some U.S. figures
including former Treasury Sec-
retary Steven Mnuchin have
expressed interest in forming
an investor group.
Lengthening the time could
“give you the ability to actually
do a transaction and maybe
have a little bit more, not sta-
bility, but find the right dives-
titure,” Cantwell said.
She said she didn’t believe
the House TikTok bill violates
First Amendment speech pro-
tections, another concern some
lawmakers have raised.
Cantwell has a long history
in politics and technology. She
grew up in Indianapolis and
moved to Seattle to work on
Democrat Alan Cranston’s 1984
presidential campaign. He lost,
but she stayed.
In her office, which features
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.), chair of the Senate
Commerce Committee, has frustrated some colleagues.
photos of her home state, she “When I get frustrated, I
also keeps a picture of her with look at that picture,” she said,
the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. holding it up. “It reminds me,
The liberal Democrat, who yes, legislating is hard, it takes
played a central role in legisla- time, you have to keep at it.”
tion including the Americans
With Disabilities Act, took her  Inside Taylor Swift’s return
under his wing. to TikTok................................ B3

MAKING GOOD
within six months or be banned
in the U.S. That put the bill in
the lap of Cantwell, chair of the
Senate Commerce Committee,
who has deep experience with
technology issues but has also
sparked frustration among col-
leagues for how she handled
past efforts regarding user pri-
ON OUR
vacy and social media.
Now, TikTok’s allies and
critics alike see Cantwell as
critical to the app’s fate. The
$5 BILLION PLEDGE
65-year-old, four-term senator
from Washington state is
known for deliberate, time-
consuming work, and she and
other leaders have kept their
plans close to the vest.
Cantwell faces pressure to
move relatively quickly on any
changes to the bill, amid wor-
ries that the legislation that
sailed through the House could
get bogged down in the Senate.
In an interview in her Sen-
ate office, Cantwell laid out the
questions facing her. “Do we
want a tool by which the
United States can stop bad ac-
tors from broadcasting, if you
will, into the United States
with nefarious messages? And
the answer is yes, we want
that tool to exist,” she said.
“And so now the question is: Is
the House tool good enough, or
do we need to make some
changes to it?”

Vote timing
Asked on timing for a vote,
Cantwell said she wanted to
see it “sooner as opposed to
later, because I don’t think it’s
going to go away.” The bill
must get to Biden’s desk this
year, or it will expire, but pro-
ponents want quicker action.
“There’s some avenues by
which we could get this done
in a short period of time,”
Cantwell said.
TikTok has said it considers
the House bill as tantamount
to a ban as Chinese-controlled
parent Bytedance has said it
won’t sell and the Chinese gov-
ernment has signaled it
wouldn’t allow a sale. TikTok
also says it has never been
asked to provide U.S. user data
to the Chinese government and
wouldn’t if asked, and has also
said it doesn’t tailor content
based on political motives.
Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has
backed the House bill, as have
prominent Democrats such as
Intelligence Committee Chair-
man Mark Warner (D., Va.).
But other lawmakers have been
more cautious. Cantwell said
senators have been examining
the text of the House measure
to determine whether it is con-
stitutional and can withstand
expected court challenges.
Some critics of TikTok ex-
pressed concerns about
Cantwell’s panel and worry
that prolonged Senate rumina-
tion could sink the bill.
“Historically, the Commerce
Committee is where this stuff
goes to die,” said Sen. Josh
Hawley (R., Mo.), who has
called for a TikTok ban.
ROBIN HENSON
“I’m frustrated with the
committee, in that we don’t
seem to be getting these huge
issues resolved,” said Sen. Shel-
ley Moore Capito (R., W.Va.), Georgia Governor Brian Kemp opened
who serves on the committee.
Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) ex- our newest 100% recycled box factory
pressed confidence in
Cantwell, whom he said he
plans to meet with this in Atlanta with Executive Chairman Anthony Pratt —
week. “I have a great deal of
faith, because she’s had such a
great record in the past,”
the latest installment of our investment pledge to America.
Schumer said, citing her key
role in the Chips act, the 2022
law intended to revitalize the
U.S. semiconductor industry.
Schumer hasn’t said when
he wants to bring TikTok legis- WWW.PRATTINDUSTRIES.COM
lation to the floor. One ap-
A6 | Monday, April 15, 2024 * **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

WORLD NEWS
Biden Pushes to Contain Spread of War
Iran’s attack forces
Israel to confront
question of how to
respond militarily
BY MICHAEL R. GORDON

President Biden’s cardinal

objective since the outset of
the Gaza conflict in October
has been to prevent a wider
war in the Middle East.
On Saturday, he got the es-
calation he sought to avoid.
Iran fired more than 300
drones and missiles, marking
the first time that Tehran has
directly attacked Israel.
With that barrage, Iran has
set aside the veneer of deniabil-
ity it has long tried to exploit
by supporting regional proxies.
The direct attack forces Israel
to confront the question of how
to respond militarily and pres-
ents the Biden administration
with finding a way to avert the
larger regional conflict it has
long feared.
For now, the Biden admin-
istration is hoping that inter-
national political pressure on

WHITE HOUSE/GETTY IMAGES

Iran and quiet suasion with Is-
rael, which has become in-
creasingly dependent on U.S.-
led air and missile defense
protection for its security, will
dial down tensions.
Yet even if escalation can
be avoided in the coming President Biden, right, in a meeting with his national security team Saturday in Washington, D.C., after Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel.
hours and days, the U.S. and
its foremost Middle East ally full-scale conventional conflict siles at U.S. forces at the Al In a statement Saturday Biden’s counsel to Israeli tack on Israel “will require an
will have to grapple with a with the U.S. and Israel. Asad air base in Iraq after night, Iran made clear that its Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- appropriate Israeli response
volatile region that increas- Those militias were deadly. then President Donald Trump barrage wasn’t intended as the tanyahu in a Saturday night against Iran,” according to a
ingly requires American politi- During the U.S. war in Iraq, ordered a drone strike that opening phase of a new con- call was that this was a time statement from Gallant’s office.
cal and military involvement hundreds of U.S. troops were killed Qassem Soleimani, the ventional war but was punish- for careful reflection. Israel, Bi- Frank McKenzie, the retired
despite the White House’s killed and wounded by explo- head of the Islamic Revolu- ment for the April 1 Israeli air- den argued, had come out general who led the U.S. Cen-
early hopes to shift its atten- sively formed penetrators—a tionary Guard Corps’ Quds strike against top Iranian ahead: Israel had killed Islamic tral Command when it carried
tion to Asia. type of roadside bombs that Force, near the Baghdad air- paramilitary commanders in Revolutionary Guard leaders in out the strike that killed Solei-
“The Middle East has Iran provided to Shia-militias. port in January 2020. Timely Damascus earlier this month. its Damascus strike while Iran’s mani, said Iran has suffered a
changed. The red line that Is- Iran also trained and equipped intelligence enabled the U.S. to “The matter can be deemed missile and drone attacks had military setback by failing to
rael and Iran would not di- Hamas fighters, though the shift personnel out of harm’s concluded,” Iran’s Mission to been largely neutralized. damage Israel with its drone
rectly attack the other country U.S. has concluded that Teh- way before Iran’s missiles the United Nations said. “How- “The president was very and missile attack and that Is-
is now erased,” said Norman ran didn’t orchestrate Hamas’s struck, though more than 100 ever, should the Israeli regime clear that we’re going to help rael should take that into ac-
Roule, who served as a top U.S. Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Americans suffered concus- make another mistake, Iran’s defend Israel, and he made count in weighing a military
intelligence official on Iran. At times, Iran turned to its sions and brain injuries. response will be considerably very clear to the prime minis- response. “The Iranians are
“Each country will now claim missiles and drones to lash Yet those missile barrages more severe. It is a conflict be- ter last night that we do have weaker today than they were
they can use this option in re- out at its foes. In September were generally the exception tween Iran and the rogue Is- to think carefully and strategi- yesterday,” McKenzie said.
sponse to security threats, al- 2019, Iranian drones and to Iran’s strategy of strength- raeli regime, from which the cally about, you know, risk of “Whatever they say, everybody
though any future attacks may cruise missiles were used to ening the military capabilities U.S. MUST STAY AWAY!” escalation,” a senior Biden ad- knows this attack failed. And
not be on this scale.” strike oil-processing facilities of regional allies such as Hez- With that notice, Iran was ministration official told re- that’s good news for Israel.”
For decades, Iran has pri- at Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, U.S. bollah and Hamas, which reg- offering to end the current porters Sunday. But if Israel does decide to
marily worked through a net- and regional officials said, af- ularly carried out attacks round of open hostilities be- Israeli Defense Minister respond, it should do so
work of Middle East proxies in ter tensions grew between against Israel, while avoiding tween Israel and Tehran on its Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense quickly, and with a focused
Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Ye- Tehran and Riyadh. strikes that had a clear Ira- terms and putting the ball in Secretary Lloyd Austin last strategy. “And then walk away
men as it sought to avoid a Iran also fired ballistic mis- nian return address. Israel’s court. week that a direct Iranian at- from a famous victory,” he said.

U.S. Urges Troops Aim

Calm After To Quell
Iran’s Strike Settler
Continued from Page One
Israel benefited from an air-
Violence
defense operation with the
U.S., the U.K., France and even BY CARRIE KELLER-LYNN
Arab neighbors like Saudi Ara- AND FATIMA ABDULKARIM
bia and Jordan that thwarted
99% of Iran’s missiles and RAMALLAH, West Bank—
drones, officials from countries The Israeli military is sending
involved said. U.S. officials also troops to the West Bank to
estimated that about 50% of quell settler attacks on Pales-
Iran’s ballistic missiles failed to tinian villages after a 14-year-
launch or crashed during flight old Israeli Jewish boy who had
CHRISTOPHE VAN DER PERRE/REUTERS

before reaching their target or gone missing was found dead

getting intercepted. in the area on Saturday.
The limited damage lent The military said both Is-
momentum to Western efforts raeli and Palestinian civilians
to persuade Israel to hold off were injured in the clashes,
on a retaliatory strike, re- which broke out on Friday af-
gional analysts said. Biden on ter the boy went missing.
Sunday convened leaders from The Palestinian Authority’s
the Group of Seven nations, state-run news agency WAFA
who said they would consider An Israeli on Sunday inspected debris from an Iranian rocket that landed near Arad. Authorities said it injured a 7-year-old girl. reported that a Palestinian man
new sanctions on Iran. The was killed, dozens were injured,
United Nations Security Coun- “The world is against Iran,” Iran-backed allies such as gave Israel and its allies time drones, Navy ships in the Medi- and homes and property were
cil held an emergency meeting said Israeli war cabinet member Hezbollah in Lebanon and the to respond, saying Tehran terranean Sea intercepted at burned. Israeli settlers attacked
Sunday to discuss the attack. Benny Gantz. “This is a strate- Houthis in Yemen have attacked needed that time to prepare its least four Iranian missiles, and at least 10 Palestinian villages
In a call Saturday evening gic achievement that we must Israel since the Gaza war began, attack. At one point, more than a U.S. Patriot missile system in in the West Bank on Saturday,
with Israeli Prime Minister leverage for Israel’s security.” but nothing compares to the 100 ballistic missiles were in Iraq shot down an Iranian bal- according to the Israeli human-
Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden He added: “We will build a Iranian offensive launched on the air headed for Israel, the listic missile. U.S. Central Com- rights organization Yesh Din.
said the Israelis should now regional coalition to confront Saturday. The Israeli military official said. “Iran intended to mand forces, supported by U.S. Settlers shot weapons, burned
proceed with caution after their the Iranian threat and will exact said it included 170 to 180 ex- cause significant damage in Is- European Command destroyers, cars and homes, threw stones,
joint operation to thwart Iran’s a price from Iran in the time plosive drones, 120 ballistic rael,” the official said. destroyed at least six ballistic vandalized property, and
attack had been a success. and manner that is right for us.” missiles and 30 cruise missiles. Arab countries including missiles that were meant to blocked thoroughfares in the
“I think the president had a Israel will weigh the opinion Ballistic missiles fly steep, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the strike Israel from Iran and Ye- villages, the organization said.
discussion about trying to of the U.S., its biggest ally, as arched trajectories and gener- United Arab Emirates were men, Centcom said on X. Israel’s The Palestinian Authority
slow things down, think the most important factor be- ally follow predetermined paths, given advance notice of the at- Arrow system intercepted most prime minister’s office de-
through things, given what we fore deciding how to respond, while cruise missiles fly slower tack from Iran, with some re- of the ballistic missile attacks. scribed the attacks by settlers
just went through,” said a se- said Sima Shine, head of the and closer to the ground. ceiving details on the timing, Iranian President Ebrahim as “plans of displacement and
nior administration official, Iran program at the Institute The overnight attack was the according to Arab officials. Raisi said the barrage “taught a expulsions,” and said that
who added the call happened for National Security Studies, a largest ever in the Middle East The coordinated response lesson to the Zionist enemy” “Palestine is continuing its le-
during a period of “height- think tank in Tel Aviv. She said mixing drones and missiles, said by Israel and its Western allies and warned of a harsher strike gal efforts to demand that the
ened emotion.” she was skeptical a retaliatory Bernard Hudson, a former Cen- was unprecedented, Hudson if Israel hits back. International Criminal Court
“It was a very useful call,” strike would take place immi- tral Intelligence Agency coun- said. The aerial-defense opera- In a letter to the United Na- prosecute the colonialists and
the official said. “Just to kind nently given the limited damage terterrorism chief. U.S. strikes tion involved Israeli, U.S., Brit- tions, Iran said its attack was their leaders.”
of talk though where we are and injuries from Iran’s attack. on Iraq during its 2003 invasion ish and French jet fighters in self-defense after airstrikes The Israeli teenager was
and next steps and nobody The attack expands the likely involved more cruise mis- shooting down drones; early it attributed to Israel killed se- found dead after a daylong
wants to run up the escalation conflict ignited by militant siles but no drones or ballistic warning radar systems located nior Iranian military personnel search, and Israeli authorities
ladder here.” group Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 missiles. A few Russian attacks near Iran, including in Saudi in what Iran said was a diplo- described his death as the re-
Israel’s war cabinet met on raid, which killed 1,200 Israe- on Ukraine since the 2022 inva- Arabia; and the combined air- matic facility in Syria this sult of what they called a “ter-
Sunday without releasing a lis, most of them civilians. Is- sion were larger in aggregate defense systems of Israel and month. Israel hasn’t com- rorist attack” but didn’t pro-
statement about how it would rael’s war in Gaza has devas- but carried out over a longer the U.S. This coalition had mented on the attack in Syria. vide details.
respond. Israeli officials said tated Hamas’s military but period than Saturday’s strikes, spent days in advance prepar- Iran on Sunday said it plans The Israeli military said it
the coordinated defense with also slowed down in recent which lasted just a few hours. ing for such an attack, despite no more action against Israel. had clamped down on the un-
the U.S. and others showed Is- weeks, as international pres- The senior Biden adminis- intense diplomatic disagree- —Benoit Faucon, Dov Lieber, rest by Saturday evening, and
rael could overcome diplomatic sure grows on Israel to limit tration official said the attack ments with Israel over its con- Michael R. Gordon, that it already bolstered forces
isolation over its conduct of the civilian casualties in a conflict was at the high end of what duct in Gaza. Aresu Eqbali, Stephen Kalin in the immediate area, and is
war in Gaza and turn the spot- that has left more than 33,000 the U.S. expected and contra- U.S. officials said American and Summer Said sending several companies of
light back on Iran. Palestinians dead in Gaza. dicted the notion that Iran planes shot down more than 70 contributed to this article. troops into the West Bank.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. * * Monday, April 15, 2024 | A7

WORLD NEWS

Israel’s Air-Defense System How the Iranian Attack on Israel Unfolded

99% of drones and missiles were intercepted by the U.S., Israel and their allies including Jordan.

Stands Up to ‘Biggest Raid’

ARM. AZER.
TURKEY Casspian
Ca
Caspian TURKMENISTAN
Sea
Sea

T raan
Tehr
Tehran
BY RORY JONES but planes continued to take the attack before Iron Dome SYRIA
SYRIA IRAQ
RA
A
CYPRUS
AND CARRIE KELLER-LYNN off there Sunday, the Israeli took out any projectiles LEB.
Damascus IIRAN
RAN
A AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANIS
Baghdad
military said. missed by planes, according to Med. Sea
S ea
ISRAEL
ISRAE
IS
SRAE
EL
Israel’s multilayered air de- “This is the biggest raid we Rubin. The Israeli military 120 ballistic missiles, 30 cruise
G AZA
ZA
GAZAA missiles
miisssile and more than 170 drones
fense system, which has been ever faced, and most compli- said its jets shot down about JJORDAN
O N
decades in the making, suc- cated,” said Uzi Rubin, the for- 25 of the 30 cruise missiles EGYPT were
weere launched
lla by Iran and its
cessfully fended off what mili- mer head of Israel’s missile launched by Iran. KUWA
K
KU
UWA
AITT
A
AI
KUWAIT proxies
pro
o es in Iraq, Syria and Yemen
oxie
Soroka M Medical
edical Center
Cen
C
Ceent
en
e nt
nteerr
e toward
tow
w rd Israel.
war
tary experts say is one of the defense unit and one of the The drones were expected to PAKISTAN
in Israel treate
treated
te eigh
ted eight
ght
htt
h
biggest aerial attacks on a founders of the country’s air travel for up to seven hours to Countries closed
ose
ose
ed their airspace
airsp
pace
e
people whwho
ho suffe
suffered
ffe
ered
er d Per
Persia
errsian
aann Gulf
Persian Gulf
country in recent history. defense programs. “This is a Israel, while cruise missiles temporarily yddue tot the
th
h attack.
att k
light injuries.
ries
ess. They h have reopene ed and Q
reopened QA
QAT
ATTAR
QATAR R
The successful aerial de- landmark.” were predicted to take two Gulf
ulf of Oman
Om
m
fense operation was the result Israel used all three of its hours, giving Israel and its allies Nevatim mi
military
ilitary air traffic
raffic has resu
resumed.
umed. U.A A..E.
U.A.E.
of the combined jet fighter multilayered, overlapping air time to engage them in the sky. airbase suffered
u red
uffered
power of a handful of coun- defense systems on Saturday, “The airspace between Iran minimal damage.
amage. OMAN
most of which were developed SAUDI ARABIA Arabian Sea
tries, including Israel, the U.S. and Israel was cleared of civil-
the U.K. and France, early alongside the U.S. beginning ian aviation so it was very con- R d
Red
Seaa
warning radar systems located in the 1980s. The Arrow 3 in- venient for air forces, not just
near Iran and the combined air tercepts long-range ballistic the Israeli air force, to inter- SUDAN
defense systems of Israel and missiles that leave the earth’s cept slow targets like drones,” ERITTTR
R
ERITREA YEMEN
the United States. The alliance atmosphere, while an earlier said Tal Inbar, senior analyst
had days of advance warnings version of the Arrow is still at the U.S.-based Missile De- Gulf of Aden 250 miles
to prepare for such an attack. used for medium-to-long fense Advocacy Alliance. 200 km
In all, the Israeli military range missile threats. David’s The ballistic missiles ar- ETHIOPIA
said the attack included Sling covers short-to-long- rived more quickly, arriving in SOMALIA INDIAN OCEAN
around 350 projectiles, includ- range missiles, drones and air- Israel about 12 to 15 minutes
ing at least 170 explosive-laden craft. Iron Dome, its most after leaving Iran. The speed Sources: Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv; ICAO GIS; staff reports Camille Bressange/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
drones, 120 ballistic missiles well-known system, special- with which the missiles trav-
and 30 cruise missiles. Only a izes in dealing with shorter- eled, as well as the fact that military analysts. they have also caused signifi- drones at Ukrainian cities and
handful of ballistic missiles got range attacks. they were sent in batches, The Iranian attack mirrored cantly more damage and casu- infrastructure, and Ukraine
through the defenses, with an Israel and its partners likely made it harder for Israel recent Russian missile and alties than in Israel during shot down around 70% to 75%,
interception rate of 99%, and likely used jet fighters to ini- to shoot them down. These drone salvos across Ukraine. Iran’s attack. During a winter The Wall Street Journal re-
only one person was seriously tially fly to engage the drones are reasons why some were While Ukraine has successfully campaign in 2022 and 2023, ported.
injured, the military said. An and cruise missiles, shooting likely able to breach the air downed the majority of the Russia launched around 1,000 —Dov Lieber
air force base was damaged, them down and thinning out defense system, according to projectiles in those attacks, missiles and 1,000 long-range contributed to this article.

Joint Effort fore reaching their targets.

Iran’s failure to inflict seri-
ous pain on Israel as a result

Repelled of superior Israeli air defenses

“exposed how weak they are
when it comes to the conven-

Iran Attack tional military threat—which

is nothing new, and is the rea-
son why Iran has invested so
much in terror groups and dif-
Continued from Page One ferent groups that have essen-
not going to be able to sit qui- tially weakened the state sys-
ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES/REUTERS

etly and intercept everything.” tem in the Middle East,” said

ABIR SULTAN/SHUTTERSTOCK

Interceptors, particularly the Brian Katulis, a senior fellow

Arrow and Patriot systems used at the Middle East Institute.
against ballistic missiles, are “But they still have great ca-
extremely expensive and are pacity to sow fear and be a
limited in quantity. The U.S. cause of a great deal of risk
Congress, by stalling the mili- for the region.”
tary-aid package for Israel, The demonstrated weak-
Ukraine and Taiwan, has cre- Israel’s antimissile defense system, left, is deployed near Jerusalem. At right, an Israeli Air Force F-35 Lightning jet fighter lands. ness of Iran’s conventional
ated an additional complication. military capacity could carry
Saturday’s attack, which the resolve of the United tens of thousands of Palestin- Jordan, actually downing Ira- Russia first used Iranian- escalatory risks of its own,
Tehran says was carried out in States,” said Jonathan Schan- ians during Israeli military op- nian weapons, is likely to give made Shahed drones in a com- cautioned Ali Vaez, director of
retaliation for a suspected Is- zer, a researcher at the Foun- erations in Gaza, Jordan and them new influence with the bination with missile strikes in the Iran Project at the Inter-
raeli strike on April 1 that killed dation for Defense of Democra- other partners helped Israel Israeli government, as the cri- the Oct. 10, 2022, barrage that national Crisis Group.
seven Islamic Revolutionary cies in Washington. “Out of all fight off Iranian missiles and sis unfolds, to shape responses. targeted Ukraine’s infrastruc- As neither the proxy at-
Guard Corps officers, including of this comes a great risk. drones on Saturday. The design of Iran’s strike ture, with a total of 84 mis- tacks by Hezbollah or Hamas
two generals, at an Iranian dip- When two powerful parties en- “Our regional partners replicated in many ways some siles and 24 drones. That salvo nor a direct barrage on Israel
lomatic mission in Damascus, gage in direct hostility, no one stepped up despite six months of the biggest Russian attacks came after Ukraine struck the appear to work, decision mak-
has used up only a tiny fraction knows where this thing goes.” of very significant tension be- in Ukraine: first a swarm of bridge linking occupied Cri- ers in Tehran may be increas-
of the Islamic Republic’s vast The commander of the IRGC, tween them and Israel, and slow-moving Shahed drones mea to mainland Russia, and ingly tempted by the nuclear
arsenal of drones and missiles. Hossein Salami, portrayed the between them and the United intended to overwhelm air de- only about half of the Russian option, he said: “If they con-
Crucially, Tehran has also Saturday barrage as creating a States as they begged the fenses and to identify the loca- missiles were intercepted. clude that their conventional
kept in reserve its Lebanese new strategic equation: Every United States to do something tions of air-defense batteries, While Ukraine has since im- deterrence, which is really
proxy force, the Hezbollah mi- Israeli attack on Iranian inter- to restrain the Israelis,” said then cruise missiles and then a proved its interception rates their missile and drone sys-
litia, which has thousands of ests in the region will be met Steven Cook, a Middle East volley of faster ballistic mis- for drones and cruise missiles, tems, really is insufficient,
missiles and rockets. And, with a direct Iranian attack on analyst at the Council on For- siles that are hard to intercept. most Russian ballistic missiles they will probably conclude
while only a handful of Iranian Israel. This is, of course, a red eign Relations. The scope of the attack was hit their targets—a contrast that the only outlet left open
missiles got through on Satur- line that Israel, which has been He said that no matter how also among the biggest seen in with the outcome of Satur- to them is the ultimate deter-
day, causing minor damage to fighting Iranian proxies for de- much countries in the region modern warfare. Russia’s day’s Iranian attack. Iran’s rent.”
Israel’s Nevatim air base, the cades, can’t accept. may dislike Israeli Prime Min- opening “shock and awe” bar- missile technology is to a
Iranian military has drawn As it considers its response, ister Benjamin Netanyahu, they rage on the first day of the in- great extent based on Soviet
valuable intelligence from ob- however, Israel must also dislike Iran’s government more. vasion of Ukraine, Feb. 24, and North Korean know-how. Watch a Video
serving how Israeli and U.S. weigh the interests of its Arab The vital role played by 2022, involved between 160 U.S. officials told The Wall Scan this code
air defenses operate. partners, including Jordan, these Arab partners along with and 200 cruise and ballistic Street Journal that half of the for a video of
“Iran was testing the mis- Saudi Arabia and the United the U.S. and others in provid- missiles—against a country ballistic missiles Iran Iranian drones,
sile-defense system, the re- Arab Emirates. Despite popu- ing intelligence, opening their more than 20 times as large launched either failed to missiles being
solve of the regional countries, lar anger over the killing of airspace and, in the case of as Israel. launch or fell from the sky be- intercepted.

AUSTRALIA
Shoppers Confront WORLD WATCH
Mall Attacker
A police officer and several
bystanders are being hailed
for running “towards danger”
to confront the attacker who
stabbed and killed six people
at a Sydney shopping center.
The shopping mall, one of
the country’s busiest and
near the world-famous Bondi
Beach, was a hub of activity
on Saturday afternoon when
40-year-old Joel Cauchi used
a knife to kill five women and
DWI PRASETYA/ZUMA PRESS

one man. He also injured at

least a dozen others, includ-
ing a 9-month-old baby
whose mother died during
the attack. A police officer
shot him dead. New South
Wales Police confirmed
Cauchi had a history of men- FLOATING FESTIVITIES: Residents release giant balloons into the air during a traditional hot
tal illness and investigators air balloon festival in West Java province in Indonesia.
weren’t treating the attack as
terrorism-related. LATVIA AFGHANISTAN CHINA
The number would have
been far higher, according to
Diplomat Tapped Flash Floods Kill Two Detained After
NSW Premier Chris Minns As New Minister At Least 33 People Boat Capsized
who on Sunday praised “the The head of Latvia’s gov- Heavy flooding from sea- Two people have been de-
ordinary members of the ernment tapped an experi- sonal rains in Afghanistan tained following the capsizing
public that cornered and con- enced diplomat to become has killed at least 33 people of a tourist boat on a river in
fronted a murderer in the the Baltic nation’s new for- and injured 27 others in three northeastern China that led
Westfield Shopping Centre, eign minister after the in- days, a Taliban spokesman to the drowning deaths of 12
showing what I would call in- cumbent stepped down last said Sunday. visitors, state media reported
stinctive bravery under terri- week amid a criminal probe Abdullah Janan Saiq, the Sunday. The accident oc-
ble circumstances.” over alleged misuse of gov- Taliban’s spokesman for the curred Saturday outside the
Video footage shared on- ernment funds. State Ministry for Natural Di- city of Qinhuangdao near the
line showed many people The ruling center-right New saster Management, said coast of Hebei province.
fleeing. Unity party decided to back Sunday that flash floods hit A total of 31 people were
Other footage showed a the nomination of Baiba the capital, Kabul, and several thrown into the water. The
bystander holding what ap- Braže, 57, who is currently the other provinces across the boat was made by local vil-
peared to be a metal pole to ambassador for special tasks country. lagers and was unequipped
hold off Cauchi,who was at the Ministry of Foreign Af- He added more than 600 with life jackets or other
coming up an escalator at fairs, after Prime Minister houses were either partially safety equipment, according
the time. Evika Siliņa’s endorsement. or completely destroyed. to the Xinhua News Agency.
—Associated Press —Associated Press —Associated Press —Associated Press
 A8 | Monday, April 15, 2024
Australia Seeks U.S. Plea Deal for Assange
WikiLeaks founder’s
home country
makes request as
case has dragged on
BY ARUNA VISWANATHA
AND MAX COLCHESTER
The Justice Department is
under growing pressure to
reach a plea deal with Julian
Assange, after a request to do
so from the WikiLeaks
founder’s native Australia and
questions from a U.K. court
that could prevent his extradi-
tion to the U.S. for many more
months.
The government of Austra-
lia last week asked the U.S. if
it could reach a felony plea
deal with Assange that could
result in his return home, ac-
cording to people familiar
with the matter.
The U.S. is also facing a
Tuesday deadline to provide
assurances to a U.K. court that
Assange would be afforded
free-speech protections under
the First Amendment compa-
rable to those U.S. citizens en-
joy—something that contra-
FROM TOP: ANNABELLE CHIH FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; ANNABELLE CHIH FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
A beach in Lieyu Township, on an island on the Kinmen archipelago in Taiwan, with buildings in China’s Xiamen province
seen in the background. Below, a woman buys seafood at a local fishmonger on Kinmen.
Amid Tensions, This Taiwan Island Is Calm
BY JOYU WANG
AND AUSTIN RAMZY
KINMEN, Taiwan—Those
who live on this tiny island
joke that the Chinese main-
land, just 3 miles away, is close
enough that roosters crow to
chickens on the other side.
The Kinmen archipelago
has been the front line of fric-
tion between China and Tai-
wan for decades. Those ten-
sions have been heating up
again recently.
In February, China reacted
furiously to the death of two
fishermen who were killed
while being pursued by Tai-
wan’s coast guard. Taiwan’s
defense minister acknowledged
last month that American
troops have been sent to the
outlying islands to train Tai-
wanese forces. On Monday, the
Taiwanese army repelled two
Chinese drones flying close to
two of Kinmen’s outlying is-
lands, the military said.
But many of those who live
on Kinmen aren’t worried, say-
ing that China has little incen-
tive to use force against the
Taiwanese territory with the
strongest ties to the mainland.
Such an assault would only
harden the resolve of the rest
of Taiwan while encouraging
the U.S. to make a firmer com-
mitment to its defense.
Kinmen’s main island was
the site of a ferocious clash
shortly after the founding of
the People’s Republic of China
in 1949, when thousands of
Mao Zedong’s Communist
troops were killed by the rival
Nationalist forces, who were
retreating to Taiwan. In the
years after, two major artillery
battles were fought on Kinmen,
followed by decades of regular
shelling. Kinmen remained un-
der the control of the National-
ists, also known as the Kuom-
intang, and quiet has prevailed
since the late 1970s.
Yang Kuo-chin, 73, recalled
the time he heard the thump
dicts what U.S. prosecutors
previously suggested in the
case. Without providing those
assurances, Assange is likely
to be allowed to pursue an ad-
ditional appeal of his extradi-
tion from the United Kingdom,
where he has been in prison
for the past five years.
The Justice Department has
been considering a potential
plea deal with Assange, The
Wall Street Journal reported
last month, but no deal has
been finalized as the U.S. has
continued to pursue Assange’s
extradition from the U.K.
Earlier this year, Australian
Prime Minister Anthony Alba-
nese said he hoped the U.S.
could find a way to conclude
the case against Assange, and
lawmakers there passed a mo-
tion calling for Assange to be
allowed to return.
On Wednesday, President Bi-
den, in response to a reporter’s
question about Australia’s re-
quest, said the U.S. government
was considering it.
The next day, in a television
interview, Albanese said:
“We’ve used all of our diplo-
matic efforts at every level to
communicate that it is time
of Chinese artillery when he
was just 7 on his family farm.
“They are fighting again,” he
recalled his brother telling
him. They raced to hide un-
derneath piles of peanuts that
were used to make peanut oil.
The family dug a makeshift
bomb shelter under their
home, where they hid during
shelling in 1958, as hundreds
of thousands of bombs rained
on the island in what is known
as the Second Taiwan Strait
Crisis, or locally as the Aug.
23 Artillery War.
“Seeing it go—bang bang
bang—was very terrifying,” he
said. Nobody died, he added,
but his house was littered
with peanuts.
As he cleaned oysters from
stakes planted in a beach fac-
ing the mainland, Yang said he
wasn’t worried that the roar of
artillery would return. Rows of
metal posts were arrayed
across the beach to help defend
against a potential invasion.
His calm in the face of a
potential conflict with China
isn’t merely stoicism, but a
recognition of Kinmen’s posi-
tion that is sometimes lost
from afar. The archipelago
represents the Communist
Party’s slim hope of using soft
power, rather than force, to
win over a neighbor it covets
but has never controlled.
Kinmen’s proximity to
WORLD NEWS
Demonstrators at the Royal Courts of Justice in London in March.
that this was brought to a
close. Enough is enough.
There’s nothing to be served
by the ongoing incarceration
of Mr. Assange.”
Prosecutors and a lawyer
for Assange have discussed a
range of potential deals, in-
cluding those that include
pleading guilty to a felony un-
der the espionage law under
which he was indicted, and
those of conspiring to mishan-
dle classified information,
which would be a misde-
China means many of its resi-
dents have much more direct
kinship ties to people on the
mainland. The archipelago
tends to reliably support the
Nationalist Party, which takes
a warmer stance toward rela-
tions with China. But even as
many Kinmen residents call
for more travel and trade with
China, they also say they cher-
ish living in a democracy and
cast doubts on China’s author-
itarian system.
Kinmen was once defended
by as many as 100,000 Tai-
wanese soldiers in the late
1950s. The island beaches are
still festooned with old barri-
ers and disused forts.
Kinmen once served a key
role in bottling up China’s
then-limited ability to carry
out a maritime assault on Tai-
wan, said Chieh Chung, a de-
fense analyst at the National
Policy Foundation, a think
tank in Taipei. But as China’s
military strength has grown,
Kinmen’s military importance
has diminished to little more
than an early-warning post.
The garrison there is now
down to a few thousand Tai-
wanese soldiers.
Today, Kinmen is protected
more by political and eco-
nomic reality than military
might. The use of force
against Kinmen would signal
that China can no longer hope
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
partment officials, including
Deputy Attorney General Lisa
Monaco, the people said.
WikiLeaks published tens of
thousands of confidential U.S.
military records and diplo-
matic cables starting in 2010,
sparking a yearslong inquiry.
U.S. prosecutors in 2019
charged Assange related to
ALBERTO PEZZALI/ASSOCIATED PRESS
those leaks; U.K. law-enforce-
ment officials apprehended
him, and he has been in a Lon-
don prison ever since. He
faces 18 counts of conspiring
to disclose classified informa-
tion and hack a military com-
puter in relation to WikiLeaks’
releases, which painted a
highly critical picture of
meanor, people familiar with America’s actions in Iraq and
the matter have said. Afghanistan. Lawyers for As-
Assange has fought a wind- sange have argued that he
ing, and at times surreal, cam- merely published information
paign to avoid setting foot in given to him, much as a jour-
the U.S., and a misdemeanor nalist would, and so shouldn’t
plea could mean he might en- face punishment.
ter the plea remotely. After the A British court last month
end of the pandemic emer- ruled that the U.S. govern-
gency in the U.S., federal ment must give assurances
courts have generally required that Assange will be allowed
defendants to appear in person to argue that the WikiLeaks
to enter pleas for felonies. publications are justified by
Any deal would involve in- the right to freedom of ex-
put from senior Justice De- pression at any U.S. trial.
Europe Warms
To China Outreach
BY BERTRAND BENOIT
AND SHA HUA
A tepid economic recovery,
fear of Russian aggression,
and the prospect of a Donald
Trump electoral victory in the
U.S. are nudging Europe closer
to China.
On Sunday, German Chan-
cellor Olaf Scholz landed in
the southwestern Chinese city
of Chongqing for a three-day,
three-city tour of China fo-
cused on economic re-engage-
ment with Beijing. Leading a
blue-ribbon delegation of Ger-
man companies and flanked
by three cabinet ministers,
Scholz will meet Chinese
leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday
in the capital, Beijing.
Next month, Xi will travel
to Paris to meet French Presi-
dent Emmanuel Macron, ac-
cording to diplomats there,
capping a series of events and
festivities to mark 60 years of
diplomatic relations between
the two countries. The talks,
following Beijing’s lavish wel-
come for Ma-
cron last year,
are expected to
to win the rest of Taiwan focus on trade. The diplomatic
through anything but force, The diplo- ballet follows
and would make such an inva- matic ballet fol-
sion that much more difficult. lows overtures overtures
China’s chief tool of persua- by Beijing. In
sion toward Kinmen is now November, it al-
made by
economic. The archipelago has lowed nationals Beijing.
been largely left out of Tai- from the Euro-
wan’s boom. pean Union’s
Just across the water, the five biggest
glittering skyline of Xiamen economies to travel visa-free
shows the potential for to China, a privilege it has
growth. Construction work at since extended to an addi-
Xiamen’s new airport is visible tional six European nations—
and audible from Kinmen. but not the U.S. In January,
Hung Hsin-i, who owns a China reauthorized Irish beef
clothing and accessories shop imports, suspended last year
in Kinmen’s central town of on health grounds, and lifted a
Jincheng, said local businesses 2018 ban on Belgian pork.
have been struggling through This marks an inflection
a downturn in tourism, follow- point. In just a few months,
ing prolonged restrictions on the EU has launched four in-
mainland Chinese tourists vestigations into China’s sub-
since the onset of the Covid-19 sidizing of its train, wind tur-
pandemic. Last year, Chinese bine, solar panel and EV
nationals who live abroad manufacturers in an effort to
were allowed again to visit curb a flood of cheap Chinese
Taiwan, including Kinmen. imports. The EU is also push-
Hung had hoped that the ing European companies to re-
Nationalists would win the duce their reliance on certain
presidential election in Janu- raw materials from China.
ary. She said she expects the European governments
party and its allies to promote have also largely heeded
travel and trade with the Washington’s calls to cut
mainland. But the ruling Dem- China off from advanced chip-
ocratic Progressive Party, making technologies. Ger-
which is more skeptical of Bei- many, China’s biggest Euro-
jing’s intentions toward Tai- pean trade partner, unveiled
wan, retained the presidency,
with Lai Ching-te elected to Foreign direct investment
replace Tsai Ing-wen, who has in China
reached her two-term limit.
“We’ve come a long way 12 billion euros EU
from the past,” Hung said. Germany
“Even if we are afraid of war— 10
or unification—it’s not within
our control to worry about.” 8 said Stephan Mayer, Trumpf’s
Fishing has been the local
industry most heavily affected 6
by tensions between the two
sides. “There are simply too
many boats from the main- 4 with Europe and ask Berlin to
land,” said Chen Shui-i, the
head of the Kinmen Fisher- 2 tigations launched by the EU.
men’s Association, noting that
the Taiwanese fishing grounds 0 plans to place tariffs on Chi-
are richer compared with the
2015 ’20
more competitive conditions
on the Chinese side. Source: Rhodium Group
In 2020 the U.S. prosecutor
in charge of the case, Gordon
Kromberg, told a British court
that the U.S. “could argue that
foreign nationals are not enti-
tled to protections under the
First Amendment, at least as it
concerns national defense in-
formation.” Kromberg added
that Assange’s conduct may
not be protected by the First
Amendment because he pub-
lished the names of U.S. intelli-
gence sources and put them at
risk of harm.
Assange’s lawyers say that
under European human-rights
law, Assange’s rights to free
speech are protected. Sending
him to the U.S. to face trial
would therefore violate that
freedom, they argue. Last
month U.K. judges agreed it
could present an issue.
In late March, U.K. judges
said that the U.S. government
had three weeks to give “sat-
isfactory assurances” that As-
sange will be allowed to rely
on the First Amendment if he
faces trial.
If the U.S. government fails
to provide this, then the court
said it would give Assange the
right to appeal his extradition.
its first China strategy paper
last July, calling China a part-
ner and competitor but also a
systemic rival and pledging to
reduce Germany’s exposure to
the Asian giant.
German companies have
complained about increasing
competition from Chinese ri-
vals in sectors—from luxury
autos to advanced industrial
machines—that used to be
Western preserves.
But as Europe’s economy
struggles to recover from the
Covid-19 pandemic and Rus-
sia’s invasion of Ukraine, the
mood is shifting in some Eu-
ropean countries—if not in
Brussels. In the U.S., Trump’s
steady poll lead over President
Biden is raising concerns
about trans-Atlantic tensions
and a new global trade war.
“Brussels is moving aggres-
sively against China,” said
Noah Barkin, a Europe-China
analyst at Rhodium Group, an
independent research group.
“But some big European coun-
tries like Germany are more
preoccupied
with Ukraine
a n d
T r u m p …T h i s
raises ques-
tions about
how forcefully
they are going
to push back
against China.”
The threats
have led some
to question why
they should be following
America’s lead while China
represents a more distant
threat—and a bigger economic
opportunity—for Europe than
Russia.
“We are a manufacturing,
export-oriented nation. Our
wealth depends on access to
international markets,” said
Bernd Westphal, a lawmaker
for Scholz’s Social Democratic
Party.
After Scholz’s election in
2021, Germany adopted a
tough-on-China approach, cut-
ting state guarantees for Ger-
man investments there, inten-
sifying export controls and
blocking several prominent
Chinese acquisitions of Ger-
man companies.
Among the myriad products
made by Trumpf, a private
German engineering company,
are lasers essential for making
high-end semiconductors. Ber-
lin doesn’t allow those to be
sold to China, but last year,
the company’s CEO lashed out
at the German government,
saying it was slow-walking ex-
port permits for a range of in-
nocuous products.
In recent months, however,
“things have really improved,”
China chief.
Chinese analysts said Bei-
jing will use Scholz’s visit to
defuse growing trade tensions
help dilute antisubsidy inves-
Germany is skeptical about EU
nese electric vehicles because
German car manufacturers
fear retaliatory measures.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, April 15, 2024 | A9

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A10 | Monday, April 15, 2024
Ready, Set,
Fix That
Plane!
Continued from Page One
from locking up. Spectators
erupted in cheers when the
two American Airlines work-
ers clicked the final blade in.
“I’m shaking a little bit—I
was really nervous for this
event,” said Mike O’Connell,
clad in his team’s bright blue
jersey. “We came in here just
wanting to finish the event.
We didn’t just finish it, we
killed it.”
More than 450 airplane me-
chanics from airlines, the mili-
tary, other aviation companies
and school programs around
the world descended on Chi-
cago last week to show off
their skills and vie for brag-
ging rights at the annual
olympics of airplane mainte-
nance. Companies or other
groups can field multiple five-
person teams, and each team
competes in all of the 27
events.
Two-time reigning champs
from FedEx Express were
Left, Heather and Michael Sandifer at home in Greenwich, Conn. Right, Richard Brooks at his home in Martha’s Vineyard with his daughter Sandy Kovacs, her husband, Robert, and son.
Boomers
Aren’t
Moving
Continued from Page One
people between the ages of 60
and 78 living by themselves or
with another adult, according
to a Redfin analysis of 2022
census data. Millennials living
with children own just 14% of
these bigger homes. A recent
Fannie Mae survey found that
most Americans 60 and older
don’t intend to ever move.
Just a decade earlier,
empty-nesters in the silent
generation, who at the time
were about 67 to 84, owned
16% of homes with three or
more bedrooms. Meanwhile,
members of Generation X with
kids, who were 32 to 47,
owned 19% of those large
homes, Redfin found.
Boomers own half of all of
the $32 trillion in home equity
in the U.S., according to a
Redfin analysis of Federal Re-
serve data.
For years, some have pre-
dicted that boomers would
start selling off their big
houses en masse, flooding the
market with properties. In-
stead, many aren’t budging,
similar to younger home-
owners who don’t want to
give up their low-rate mort-
gages.
The problems, though, are
deeper than boomers not
moving.
Home-building activity
plummeted during the hous-
ing crisis and remained de-
pressed for years, contributing
to a historic decline in the
construction of new homes
and a housing shortage. A
rapid run-up in interest rates
over the past two years sent
mortgage rates soaring.
And older homeowners
downsizing in droves wouldn’t
actually solve the overarching
issue that there are not
enough homes on the market.
Instead, it would likely lead to
more competition for smaller
homes.
The state of the housing
market has left people on all
ends of the housing spectrum
unhappy.
Renters can’t buy first
homes, homeowners can’t
trade up and older home-
looking for a three-peat, but
Team Herb, a Southwest Air-
lines team named for the air-
line’s co-founder, emerged vic-
torious with the overall
award, taking home a 4-foot
trophy with the bust of the
mechanic who worked with
the Wright Brothers.
The event took place during
a larger aviation maintenance,
repair and overhaul confer-
ence and trade show. An an-
nouncer called the start of
each event: “Ready, set, start!”
In 15-minute slots, mem-
bers of each team raced to
complete sped up, concen-
trated versions of tasks they
do at work: troubleshoot mal-
functioning switches, secure
wires, inspect tires, fix a bro-
ken light and empty and refill
a fuel tank.
United Airlines brought a
hunk of a fuselage from a re-
tired Boeing 767 that employ-
ees drove from Tupelo, Miss.
Three mechanics from each
team had to follow the proce-
dure to remove and reinstall
an emergency slide pack—a
crucial skill. Slides that im-
properly deploy can cause in-
juries and thousands of dol-
lars worth of damage.
Preparations began weeks
ago. Kayler and Evan Randall,
brothers who work at Horizon
owners are disappointed their
adult children can’t afford to
live nearby. That’s contribut-
ing to gloomy feelings about
the economy at a time when
many of the typical metrics,
like unemployment, indicate
that the U.S. is going strong.
Mortgage rates, after fall-
ing late last year, are creeping
back toward 7%, which prom-
ises to keep some would-be
homeowners from being able
to buy. Hotter-than-expected
inflation data released
Wednesday will likely prevent
the Fed from cutting rates any
time soon, which means mort-
gage rates will stay high, too.
Empty nests
Hanging onto their proper-
ties has helped boomers accu-
mulate a level of wealth
greater than any other living
generation. Median prices of
existing single-family homes
have increased more than 10-
fold since the early 1970s,
when the oldest boomers were
buying their first homes.
Richard and Laurie Brooks
have bought and sold some
half-dozen properties over the
past four decades, starting
with a condo Richard bought
when he was 24 for $122,000.
The couple traded up to
their current Westwood,
Mass., home 22 years ago.
They paid $1.5 million for the
5,000-square-foot, five-bed-
room property because they
liked the top-rated school dis-
trict and family-oriented vibe.
The couple also have a
Martha’s Vineyard home and
rent an apartment in Boston
to take advantage of the city’s
restaurants and theaters. They
estimate the Westwood home
could sell for $2.5 million.
They own both of their prop-
erties outright.
Richard and Laurie say they
have too much space in West-
wood, but don’t like their
other options. They have ef-
fectively closed off the second
and third stories except when
their two daughters come to
visit.
When the couple moved in,
every house in their small
neighborhood held a young
family. Now, half are empty-
nest boomers like them. “You
would think our entire genera-
tion would have all moved out
by now,” said Richard, a 64-
year-old attorney.
The Brooks’s daughter
Sandy Kovacs, 33, would like
FROM PAGE ONE
Hundreds competed in the maintenance contest in Chicago.
Air, a regional airline owned
by Alaska Air, said their team
flew up to Anchorage for a
few days of training alongside
the Alaska crew and a team of
students they mentored.
American devoted a room to
competition prep at its Tulsa
maintenance facility.
Brian Davidson of FedEx
compared the adrenaline rush
to triathlons he has raced. His
team often taps athletes in
their ranks to gain an edge, he
said. “You put so much work
in—six weeks of training, then
today’s the day. You’ve got to
perform.”
to buy a home but feels she
can’t afford one in Martha’s
Vineyard, where she lives. She,
her husband, Robert Kovacs,
and their 2-year-old son reside
in the guesthouse of her par-
ents’ island property. Sandy, a
wedding planner, and her hus-
band earned a combined
$250,000 in 2023, but Robert
was laid off from his tech job
in January. The median home
price in broader Dukes County
is $1.8 million, according to
Redfin.
It’s not exactly what Sandy
envisioned for her adulthood.
Still, she doesn’t want to com-
plain. “There are such bene-
fits,” she said, “because we
would never be able to afford
something like this.”
Low rates
Even though families have
struggled with inflation, U.S.
household wealth has grown
in recent years, helped by
massive government stimulus
measures dur-
ing the pan-
demic and a
still-hot job Boomers own
market. Boom- half of all of the
ers had a me-
dian net worth, $32 trillion in
defined as as-
sets like homes
home equity in
minus liabilities the U.S.
like mortgages,
of nearly
$411,000 as of
2022, St. Louis Fed research-
ers found. That was higher
than any other age group.
“The timing has been ad-
vantageous for this genera-
tion. They had access to and
purchased a diverse range of
assets at affordable prices,”
said Lowell Ricketts, a data
scientist for the St. Louis Fed
who researches wealth.
Nearly 80% of boomers own
Median net worth, by generation
$400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0 Gen Z
1990 2000 ’10 ’20
Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (net worth); Redfin analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data (share of homes)
Southwest made a push for
a win this year. Its mechanics
holed up in a conference room
for about a month, building
mock-ups and studying in-
structions to plan their attack,
said Matthew Chumley, who
was on a second Southwest
team.
Worried they would be at a
disadvantage for the slide
event since Southwest doesn’t
have any 767 jets, the South-
west technicians tapped a
connection at another carrier
to scope out the plane.
“Every year we’ve gotten
better,” he said.
their primary residence and
about a quarter own an in-
vestment property, the St.
Louis Fed analysis found.
More than half of them have
retirement accounts like
401(k)s, with a median bal-
ance of $191,200. About 27%
own stocks and bonds outside
of retirement accounts, with a
median amount of $201,800.
Boomers are much less
likely than millennials to have
credit-card debt or auto loans.
Those with mortgages often
locked in ultralow rates in the
years that followed the 2008
financial crisis.
Mark Aldridge, 63, grew up
in a 900-square-foot home in
Middletown, Ohio, when the
town’s steel industry was still
vibrant. After studying fi-
nance in college, he started in-
vesting his and his parents’
money in the stock market.
He paid $68,000 for his
first home in Middletown in
1988. He traded up as prices
rose, using the proceeds of
each sale to
fund the next.
Eventually he
moved to the
Columbus sub-
urbs, where he
had four chil-
dren and built a
business as a
financial ad-
viser.
In 2016, he
and his wife,
Komal Aldridge, who is a doc-
tor, paid $535,000 for their
biggest home yet, a five-bed-
room with 4½ bathrooms
spread over five split levels. “I
have a bigger basement than
the entire house I grew up in,”
Mark said.
The Aldridges have paid off
their mortgage. They are con-
sidering buying a somewhat
smaller home in cash once
Share of 3+ bedroom owner-occupied homes
in 2022, by generation
Boomer Silent
Silent
Boomers
Generation
Gen X
Gen X
Millennials
Millennial
Gen Z
0 5
* * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
After a door plug blew out
from a Boeing plane flown by
Alaska Airlines in January, jit-
tery fliers have been more fo-
cused on airplane safety. Reg-
ulators are more closely
scrutinizing Boeing’s manu-
TAYLOR GLASCOCK FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
facturing processes and have
said they’re stepping up over-
sight at United Airlines after a
number of incidents.
With all the extra scrutiny,
some mechanics say they’re
happy for the chance to show
what they can do.
“Our profession has earned
the right to stand forward and
just be acknowledged for their
knowledge, skill and integ-
rity,” said Ken MacTiernan, an
American Airlines mechanic
and one of the competition’s
founders. “We’re the guard-
ians of safety. And we don’t
take our responsibilities
lightly.”
Mechanics are accustomed
to high stakes and working
under time constraints, like
when there’s a plane full of
passengers waiting for a re-
pair.
They are also acutely aware
nobody is happy to see some-
one in a bright orange vest
approaching a plane right be-
fore departure—they dread
the “walk of shame” through
the cabin when they have to
their two youngest graduate
from college. Home prices in
the Columbus area are up 65%
in the past five years, accord-
ing to Redfin. The couple
aren’t sure exactly what
they’ll decide.
“I’ve read a lot of Warren
Buffett. He lives in the same
house he’s been in for de-
cades,” Mark said. (Buffett, 93,
has lived in his five-bedroom
Omaha, Neb., house since
1958.)
Nowhere else to go
Many just don’t see a bet-
ter alternative to their big
homes. Smaller properties
with amenities that might ap-
peal to older homeowners,
such as no stairs and close
proximity to services, are
scarce in many areas, said
Jennifer Molinsky, director of
the Housing an Aging Society
program at Harvard’s Joint
Center for Housing Studies.
The ones that do exist can be
expensive, she said.
People also have big finan-
cial incentives to stay put.
More than half of boomers
have no mortgage. That group
pays a median $612 in
monthly housing costs, which
includes insurance and prop-
erty taxes, the Redfin analysis
found.
These homeowners could,
at least theoretically, sell and
use the windfall to buy some-
thing else. Those with mort-
gages face a different calculus:
They would generally have to
give up their cheap loans and
borrow at today’s much higher
rates to move.
Homeowners whose prop-
erties have appreciated dra-
matically might also face a big
capital-gains tax bill if they
choose to sell.
Elaine Garrison would love
1 or 2 adults 3 or more
with no minors adults with
no minors
Adults living
with their kids
(minors)
10 15 20 25 30 35%
fix something at the back of
the plane, with dozens of irri-
tated passengers staring them
down.
In real life, mechanics say
precision is paramount, even
if it means there’s a delay. In
competition, however, speed is
also crucial. A winning score
is based both on having the
quickest time and avoiding
penalties for mistakes, from
not following instructions to
improperly storing tools.
“We never do this in real
life—we’re never rushing at
work,” said Yolanda Gong,
who competed as a student
and is now on United’s all-fe-
male Chix Fix team. “Every-
thing here is about procedure
and did you follow it? It’s
great to shine a light on that.”
Elena Gonzalez, of Ameri-
can Airlines, said her favorite
event is also one of the most
feared: a series of safety wir-
ing challenges nicknamed the
“blood box” because contes-
tants tend to poke and slice
themselves as they wind the
steel wires.
Judges keep Band-Aids and
a can of Lysol nearby for
wipedowns.
Gonzalez’s technique is to
keep her hands off the wires
as much as possible. “I’m all
pliers.”
FROM LEFT: JOE BUGLEWICZ FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; LARISA STINGA FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
to move from the Palm Beach
Gardens, Fla., home where she
and her husband, Rick Garri-
son, raised their two sons.
“The house is too dang
big,” said Elaine, 69. “I don’t
need a formal dining and liv-
ing room. I don’t need four
bedrooms.” What she does
need: a place without stairs
that aggravate her lower back
every time she uses them.
The couple’s primary mort-
gage costs $1,750 a month in-
cluding taxes, interest and in-
surance. A second mortgage,
which they took out 15 years
ago to pay for living expenses,
runs between $700 and $800
a month. Their home insur-
ance is up steeply, from
around $7,000 in 2020 to
$11,000 this year.
Still, they believe they
would have to pay more if
they bought a smaller home in
the area. The Garrisons have
also looked into renting, but
they found that it would run
them about $4,000 a month.
She might be able to buy
something in another state,
she said, “but I’m not doing
that.”
Cash buyers
Still, boomers are often in a
better position to buy than
anyone else. They are much
more likely to buy in cash,
which blunts the effects of
higher interest rates and gives
them room to bid more in hot
housing markets.
Boomers made up 31% of
home buyers, while millenni-
als made up 38%, a 2023 Na-
tional Association of Realtors
survey found.
Michael and Heather Sandi-
fer, who are 73 and 77, have
no plans to leave the three-
bedroom Greenwich, Conn.,
home they bought in 1992.
They love the place and fig-
ure that moving to an apart-
ment or smaller house in the
area would cost them much
more. They owe about
$170,000 on the property at a
rate around 3%.
Heather, a former textile
designer, has taken over two
of the bedrooms as studios for
her botanical-focused art. The
property is close to local walk-
ing trails and a train line to
New York City. The Sandifers
enjoy cooking together in the
kitchen almost every day.
“We’re kind of stuck where
we are, but in a nice way,”
said Michael.

© 2024 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved.
Make Your
Triumphs Last
A win at work feels great—until the thrill fades
WORK
& LIFE
RACHEL
FEINTZEIG
L
ydia Fenet was having
one of the best nights of
her auctioneering career
before the sinking feeling
set in.
Decked in borrowed
jewels and a designer gown, she ca-
joled the crowd at a celebrity AIDS
fundraiser to keep the bids coming.
Elton John played piano beside her.
By the time she slammed down the
gavel, she was buzzing. She had
raked in $10.8 million.
Then she got on the flight
home, and the thrill faded fast. “Oh
my gosh, it’s over,” she realized.
A big win feels so great. Then
there’s the comedown.
Praise peters out. Our phones
and inboxes go quieter. We feel
restless for the next triumph, or
worry it’ll never come again. That
thought sneaks in: Am I only as
good as my last success?
The highs never last forever,
it’s true. But we can get better at
riding the roller coaster of our ca-
reers, learning to sustain our vigor
and creativity no matter where we
are on the track.
“What gets me that feeling
again?” Fenet asks herself when
she hits a lull. The answer, for her,
is often something scary. Instead
of attempting to repeat the last
success, she says yes to a totally
new challenge, like the car auc-
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: CARL GODFREY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; THEO WARGO/GETTY IMAGES; JAY BAILEY; CHUCK GRIFFITH
tions she started doing a few
years ago.
The first one—93 Porsches,
Ferraris, Aston Martins and more
in Monterey, Calif.,—was the most
uncomfortable she’d ever felt on
stage, she says. When it was done,
she felt elated for weeks.
The comedown
To head off a comedown, it helps
to see it coming. We’re
generally flooded with
hormones like adrenaline
and cortisol as we’re
building toward a big mo-
ment, says Karen Howells,
a sports psychologist who
has studied post-Olympic
blues in athletes. We feel
energized, wired.
Our bodies can’t main-
tain that heightened state
for long. When the thing—
Chuck Griffith at the
Louvre Museum in Paris
earlier this month. Manisha
Thakor, far right, testing a
pose on her paddle board.
Sofa So Good: Your New Desk Is a Couch
BY ANNE MARIE CHAKER
A
mie Miller has a go-to spot
for conducting job interviews:
a gray, L-shaped couch. The
problem is it is everyone else’s fa-
vorite spot, too.
“We’ve reached peak couch,” says
Miller, the chief talent officer at
TBWA Worldwide.
The advertising agency now
boasts 15 sofas in its Manhattan of-
fice space, up from five a year ago.
The living-room-like accessories
range from an armless sectional to a
boxy, geometric “big-lounge” model.
Companies have long tried to
make offices less stuffy by creating
collaboration spaces, chef-driven
restaurants, outdoor terraces and
even signature scents. The thinking
was that if the office were more
enjoyable, workers would spend
more time there.
Some of these initiatives have
come and gone with the free laun-
dry and dry cleaning. The couch,
however, is finding long-term fans
among executives and the rank-
and-file.
Workers say they feel more com-
fortable. Managers say it helps
them dream up big ideas.
“It cuts the nerves,” says Jona-
than Hastings, senior director of
business development at Sensis, an
advertising agency in Glendale, Calif.
Global architecture and design
firm Gensler estimates that de-
mand for couch installations in re-
designed office spaces rose 25% in
TBWA
the past year. Retailer Room &
PERSONAL JOURNAL.
be it your Olympic debut or that
big PowerPoint presentation—re-
cedes, your fight-or-flight re-
sponse usually does too. It often
leaves a feeling of loss and bore-
dom in its wake, says Howells, a
senior lecturer at Cardiff Metro-
politan University in Wales.
“You’re going, ‘This is not
stretching me. What is this? This
is nothing,’ ” she says.
The pressure isn’t all in our
heads. The pace of business, and
life, has quickened. Shareholders
and executives alike operate on a
“what have you done for me
lately?” ethos. Many of us are
steeped in an online culture of in-
stantaneous clicks and swipes,
where we see everyone else’s
wins too.
“People take that behavior of
scrolling to the next reel, they
kind of apply that to their life,”
says Chuck Griffith, who lives in
Austin, Texas, and
manages a design
team of 36 at a util-
ity company.
He’s noticed that
younger workers es-
pecially take a fre-
netic approach to
projects at times. “It
just seems like, ‘OK,
what can we do
next?’ ”
He worries they’ll
burn out, or that the
work they produce
will get monotonous.
After a win, the 48-
year-old urges his
team to pause and
reflect.
He gathers them
for improv-comedy
exercises to loosen up or sends
them to museums to gather
inspiration.
When I caught up with Griffith
earlier this month, he was wan-
dering Paris with a journal in
hand, on a solo trip meant to cele-
brate hitting last year’s goals.
Board says sofa sales for its busi-
ness customers are also up 25%.
One of its top sellers: The $2,499
André model, in ink blue, at 89
inches long.
Flophouse aesthetic
Carla Jaspers, a Duxbury, Mass., er-
gonomics consultant, says she sees
three or four clients a week who
have back and neck issues that can
stem from balancing a laptop while
working from a couch.
Clients lie down. They put their
feet up. They hunch forward to
stare at a screen.
“We’ve devolved a little bit into a
flophouse aesthetic,” says Jaspers.
Jaspers says that working on the
couch can be OK in short bursts,
but most adults need to be seated
or standing with a computer on a
desk or other flat surface most of
the time.
Upholstery cleaners have other
concerns, noting that when iced-
coffee season and office happy
hours meet work-couch culture, the
challenges can multiply.
“There’s no way I’m going to get
red Gatorade off a white sofa, but
we’re able to get most things,” says
Jose Smith, owner of 1st Class Fur-
niture and Carpet Care, which cleans
offices in Orange County, Calif.
Smith says the real problem isn’t
that people are behaving like they
would at their house, it is that they
are treating their companies’ furni-
ture much worse than they would
ever treat their own.
His business has increased 20%.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
“Take those breathable mo-
ments,” he says.
A creative rut
A hard-fought win can consume
so much energy that we feel
depleted of ideas afterward or
frozen by the expectation of
The new couch office
John McNeil, who runs a marketing
agency in Berkeley, Calif., says
couches have been critical to get-
ting employees to show up in the
office more.
When he calls a meeting in his
office, people first head for the
couch, aiming for the ends. Nobody
wants to sit in the middle.
“Creative people work better to-
gether, and working together better
starts with a couch,” he says.
The ideal office couch height is
18.5 inches high, with a seat depth
of 22 inches, and offering a “firm
sit,” says Gensler’s design director
Kelly Dubisar.
Doug Heiferman has trained over
500 small-business owners in up-
 Working the crowd
at the Elton John
AIDS Foundation’s
fundraiser last
month brought Lydia
Fenet ‘the most
incredible high.’
pulling off another
instantaneously.
To get to your
next big idea, you
have to be OK with
bombing a bit, says
Jeremy Utley, a gen-
eral partner at a
venture-capital firm
who teaches at Stan-
ford’s design school,
known as the d.school.
“Most of life is not punctuated
by win after win after win. Most
of the time, it’s kind of painful,”
he says. Brainstorm 10 possible
answers to a question or dilemma
at a time, he advises. Focusing on
quantity over quality takes off the
pressure.
Use a bad idea as a
jumping-off point. What
else does it make you
think of?
Or try taking what Ut-
ley calls a “wonder wan-
der.” Head off with your
problem in mind, and re-
late everything you see to
the problem. Spot an Am-
azon truck? Consider how
Jeff Bezos might solve
your quandary. Walk past
a playground? Imagine
the connection between
your issue and play.
ChatGPT could help
too, if you use it right. It
isn’t going to pop out the
 The advertising agency TBWA
Worldwide has 15 sofas in its
Manhattan office space.
holstery cleaning. These firms can
make up to $350 an office visit, de-
pending on the fabrics and furniture
that need deep cleaning.
His best advice to office couch
buyers: Patterned upholstery hides
stains while earth-tone fabric
makes them show more. Fabric pro-
tector is always a good idea.
Wake-up calls
Executive offices and cubicles are
being turned into lounges and hud-
dle rooms, which accounted for
19.3% of office space in 2023, com-
pared with 12% prepandemic, ac-
Monday, April 15, 2024 | A11
perfect answer on the first try, Ut-
ley says. Kick off the conversation
by describing the boss you want to
impress. Then ask: What are three
projects that could blow that
boss’s mind? Keep chatting with it
until you spark something great.
The downside of praise
Sometimes the kudos we get from
the big win are part of the prob-
lem. We derive our self-esteem
from external feedback, then feel
terrible when the congratulatory
notes dry up.
Manisha Thakor, a financial
services industry veteran, spent a
stretch of her career appearing on
TV as a personal-finance expert.
After each segment, she’d immedi-
ately pull up her email on her
phone to check to see who had
seen her segment and sent notes.
Then the TV opportunities died
down. “It just felt like this empty
quiet,” the 53-year-old says. “I
crashed and I needed the next fix.”
That need had fueled her ca-
reer, leading her to become a part-
ner at a wealth management firm.
But the stress ruined her health
and personal relationships, she
found.
A few years ago, she left her
corporate job and rethought her
relationship with success, writing
a book on the topic. Now a board
member, she’s not totally immune
to the post-achievement come-
down. When it hits, she reaches
for something unconnected to
achievement: paddleboarding, or
calling her aging parents to say hi.
“It pulls me out of myself,”
Thakor says. “It makes you see
that there is more to the world
than just that win you just
achieved.”
cording to WeWork’s Global Office
Trends report.
Lauren Lapitan is WeWork’s
community lead for three floors of
a New York City build-
ing where more than
100 small businesses
co-work. She acts as a
liaison between those
clients and the build-
ing’s maintenance staff,
but spends an increas-
ing chunk of her day
policing the couches.
Lapitan says she fre-
quently has to wake up
people who snore be-
cause they are disrupt-
ing others’ Zoom calls.
“I’ve had to tap
them. Sometimes it’s
not enough and I have
to shake them a bit,
and they get cranky,”
she says.
A poll of more than
700 U.S. workers found
that employees are split on the rise
of office couches. Only a third of re-
spondents said they liked them. The
rest said they were attractive but
uncomfortable, comfortable but
ugly or just not appealing on either
level, according to CivicScience, a
consumer-analytics firm that con-
ducted the survey this past month.
John Dick, chief executive of the
marketing and polling firm, likes to
get comfy on his favorite blue
couch. He kicks off his shoes and
works with his computer in his lap.
He is careful only to do it when col-
leagues aren’t around, and says he
listens for the ding of the elevator
doors. “I wouldn’t want my employ-
ees to come in with me looking like
that,” he says.
A12 | Monday, April 15, 2024 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

PERSONAL JOURNAL.
BY RACHEL WOLFE AND IMANI MOISE

Home Buyers Redo Plans

P
rospective home buyers
are giving up hope that
interest rates will come
down soon. They are
changing their life plans
accordingly.
An engaged couple that had
sold stocks to fund a down pay-
After Losing Hope on Rates
ment now expects to rent for an-
Housing market affordability isn’t getting any better, with inflation keeping mortgage costs high
other five years. A family that was
looking to trade up is considering
building an extra room instead. An
investor plowing ahead on a pur-
chase is scaling back his profit
projections.
Persistent hope of lower rates
and therefore lower monthly
mortgage payments has consis-
tently failed to bear out. It wasn’t
helped on Wednesday after a gov-
ernment report showed stubbornly
high inflation, dashing hopes that
rates were about to trend lower.
Many prospective buyers, already
facing high housing prices and a
shortage of homes, are now plan-
ning to sit out.
When Annie and Tyler Dartt
moved into their three-bedroom
rental with their three children in
2021, their plan was to only stay a
year. Each time their Ashville,
Ohio, lease has come up for re-
newal, however, they determined
that they still can’t afford to buy.
Her sister Courtney Johnson
lives down the street and is stuck
in a home she bought in 2014. Af-
ter spending quarantine in the
1,800-square-foot house and hav-
ing a third baby, she and her hus-
band, Brandon Johnson, were mo-
tivated to find a new place. The
cost deterred them. Instead, they
refinished their basement to make
enough space for now.
“We thought the situation
would have improved by now,” says
Annie Dartt, a 30-year-old nurse.
“Interest rates were predicted to
go down, but they haven’t.”
relief from builders expanding for clients looking to move after “If the first three years are old product director at a consult-
A conundrum supply of more-affordable options, new babies, new jobs or divorces. kind of rocky, that’s not really the ing firm.
A median-income household could according to Daryl Fairweather, People in those situations can only end of the world,” he said. “Uncle The rent vs. buy calculation of-
afford to buy a house for no more chief economist at real-estate wait so long for rates to fall. Jerome is making it really compli- ten comes down to where you live,
than $416,000 in March, assuming company Redfin. “The longer that they stay at cated right now,” he added, refer- says Richard Green, an economics
a 20% down payment and a mort- this level, the more life events will ring to Federal Reserve Chair Je- professor and director of the Uni-
gage at going rates whose pay- Buying out of necessity happen that will cause people to rome Powell. versity of Southern California’s
ments take up a third of pretax in- Most of the house shoppers in the move by necessity,” Schlichter says. Lusk Center for Real Estate. The
come. Three years earlier, that market are buying because they The prolonged high rates mean Staying put for now faster rents rise, the more quickly
household could afford a price of need to, said David Schlichter, a home buyers are learning what Patrick Waring and Emily Allen buying pays off.
up to $561,000, according to First real-estate broker in Denver. He economists have long grappled had gotten preapproved for a $1 Many still can’t make the math
American Financial. said he is busy finding new homes with: It is near impossible to time million mortgage, and he sold work. Emily Ferrell had to with-
A January survey of the market. some of his stock investments to draw an offer on a house in Erie,
2,000 U.S. renters by prop- It can pay to buy a home when fund a down payment. Colo., last week after the final rate
erty management firm En- it is least popular to do so, said Now, they don’t think they will from her lender changed to 8.9%
trata found that 20% don’t Michelle Maldonado, a real-estate buy before 2029 unless rates fall. from the 7.5% she was quoted ear-
expect to ever own a broker in the Nashville, Tenn., The engaged couple recently re- lier in the week. The new rate
home, a 33% increase from area. When rates fell early in the signed their New York City lease. would mean paying an extra
2021. Roughly half of the pandemic, fierce competition pres- After two years of holding out $1,000 a month.
FROM TOP: WALL STREET JOURNAL, ISTOCK (2); EMILY FERRELL

2,092 U.S. renters surveyed sured some buyers to make impul-
by Opendoor brokerage in sive choices.
February said they would Marcus Knox, a 38-year-old nat-
wait until interest rates ural-gas product manager in Colo-
were under 5% before con- rado, is moving forward with his
sidering buying. plan to buy his first investment
A potential drop in property in Memphis, Tenn., this
rates would benefit many year. He initially expected rate cuts
buyers, but it could be this fall, so he wanted to close on a
years before they get some home before the summer to beat
other investors to the market.
He still thinks the investment
Emily Ferrell’s house hunt will be profitable long-term, espe-
is on pause till at least cially if he refinances in a few
next year. years.
for lower interest rates and home
prices, Waring said he is leaning
into what he can control: his atti-
tude toward renting. The couple
says the $4,125 they pay for their
one-bedroom in the Financial Dis-
trict is considerably less than
what they would be spending to
own the same property.
They are no longer convinced
owning real estate with a typical
mortgage in the era of high rates
will pay off in the long-term.
“This is not the baby boomer
life plan,” says Waring, a 33-year-
Her house hunt is on pause un-
til at least January, she said. For
now, she and her husband are stay-
ing in the 1,600-square-foot home
they purchased in 2018. They both
work from home and commute two
hours daily to take their 2-year-old
daughter to daycare.
Trying to buy—and holding off
buying—have both been stressful,
she said. “I think about how we’re
missing out on that lifestyle we
could have right now,” she said.
—Joe Pinsker
contributed to this article.

MY RIDE BY A . J. BAIME

His Passionate Pink

’68 Mustang Quest
Sam McGee, 48, an owner of a
wealth-management firm who lives
in Boerne, Texas, on his family’s
1968 “Passionate Pink” Ford Mus-
tang, as told to A.J. Baime.
mother had suffered from depres-
sion and had died by suicide. It was
pretty traumatic for my dad. I never
pressed him on it.
As I got older, I owned several

W
hen I was 14, my dad and I
started restoring a 1966
Mustang in our garage in
Houston, and, once in a while, he
would bring up his mother—my
grandmother Eva Corcoran McGee—
who had owned a pink Mustang
where she lived in Kansas before her
death in 1973. He said the car had a
black and white houndstooth top. I
asked him about the car’s where-
abouts, and he said that, after she
died, the car was sold. He had no idea.
I later found out that the reason
the subject would come to an
abrupt halt was because my grand-
Mustangs. Around 2001, I asked my
grandfather about my grand-
mother’s pink Mustang. He said he
knew where the car was. A couple
in Selden, Kan., had it. I looked them
up in the White Pages and gave
them a call. I had this overwhelming
feeling that I had to get this car
back into the family. They said they
had no interest in selling it. But the
next May, I called and asked again. I
made it an annual tradition—every
May, I called, for some 20 years. In In the meantime, I learned a lot Sam McGee in his grandmother’s pay for her funeral expenses.
2007, I visited my grandfather in about this pink Mustang. When the 1968 Passionate Pink ‘Color of the I rebuilt the brakes and did some
Kansas for his 80th birthday, and Mustang first came out at the 1964 Month’ Ford Mustang near his engine work. The car has 53,000
that is when I saw the car for the New York World’s Fair, Ford had re- home in Boerne, Texas. miles and is rust free. It drives like
first time. cord sales. Ford came up with a new and is all original, like a time
“Color of the Month” promotion for of mental-health treatment. We capsule. My sister, who was born
the first four months of 1968, and in wanted to get the car back as a before me and had gotten to meet
February, the company made a small kind of living tribute. my grandmother, got married last
number of Passionate Pink Mus- During Covid, I made the call year, and we were able to use the
tangs for Valentine’s Day. The name again. I said, “I have found another car in her wedding. My dad’s two
is sometimes mistaken as Playboy or pink Mustang, but it’s not my grand- sisters were there, and they got to
Playmate Pink [because Playboy mother’s. If you are never going to ride in their mother’s Mustang. I
CHRISTOPHER LEE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (2)

magazine’s Playmate of the Year
was given a pink Mustang in 1964,
the year the Mustang was unveiled].
I did some research and, accord-
ing to my knowledge, only one pink
“Color of the Month” Mustang was
made with a black and white
houndstooth top. So according to
what I have found, my grand-
mother’s car is one-of-one.
Getting this car back became a
cause for my wife and me. Back in
the ’60s and ’70s, there wasn’t a lot
sell the car, I may go a different
route.” I kept pressing and, in 2022,
the couple finally agreed to sell.
My dad and I made an 800-mile
road trip from Texas to Kansas to
get this car, and during the trip, he
went from rarely talking about his
mom outside of all the things he
loved about her to sharing about the
events that surrounded her passing
in 1973. When she died, all she
owned was an organ and the Mus-
tang, and the Mustang was sold to
also use the car to promote mental-
health awareness however I can. I
am having the license plate
changed from EVAS 68 to UR1 OF1
because everyone is one of one.
When my grandmother owned
this car, she journaled that she would
drive it and feel better. When I am
stressed about work or other things,
I get in the car, drive it in the coun-
tryside, and feel better myself. It’s al-
most like she’s with me, even though
I never got the chance to meet her.
 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
ART REVIEW
Decades of Disquiet
A show explores German Expressionism and its long legacy
BY KAREN WILKIN
T
Washington
he passionate, in-
formed collectors
Ruth Cole Kainen
and her husband,
the abstract
painter, curator
and scholar Jacob Kainen,
were among the most munif-
icent patrons of the National
Gallery of Art. Between 1974
and 2012, together and sepa-
rately, they donated more
than 2,000 European and
American paintings, draw-
ings, watercolors, prints and
illustrated books from the
16th to the 20th centuries.
These lavish gifts included
works by artists ranging
from Northern Mannerists to
the couple’s friends Stuart
Davis, Arshile Gorky, Willem
de Kooning and Mark
Rothko, with an emphasis on
prints—etchings, engravings,
woodcuts and lithographs.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON (4)
Over the years, the Wash-
ington museum has mounted
exhibitions celebrating this
extraordinary gift—currently
“The Anxious Eye: German
Expressionism and Its Leg-
acy,” organized by Shelley R.
Langdale, the National Gal-
lery’s curator and head of
modern and contemporary
prints and drawings. Ms.
Langdale reminds us of the
discomfiting parallels be-
tween the present day and
the first half of the 20th cen-
tury in Europe, similarly
marked by political upheav-
als, war, social unrest and
economic inequities. “The
Anxious Eye” examines how
artists working in Germany
and Austria responded,
mainly in printmaking, as the
settled order of the 19th cen-
tury was replaced by the
speed, bright lights and in-
stability of modern life. The
selection honors the depth
and excellence of the Kain-
ARTS IN REVIEW
ens’ gifts, as well as other
important sources of the Na-
tional Gallery’s rich holdings,
showcasing works recently
acquired or rarely on view.
“The Anxious Eye” is
both illuminating and full of
surprises. Sections headed
“Portraiture,” “Nature and
Spirituality,” “Relationships
and Body Language” and
“Sources of Inspiration” of-
fer exemplary works by ev-
eryone we expect to see:
Max Beckmann, George
Grosz, Erich Heckel, Ernst
Ludwig Kirchner, Käthe Koll-
witz, Emil Nolde, Lovis Cor-
inth and their notable col-
leagues. But there are also
unfamiliar images by these
well-known artists and mem-
orable ones by such little-
known figures as Walter
Gramatté, a member of the
Expressionist group Die
Brücke, who died of tubercu-
losis at age 32, in 1929. Gra-
matté’s drypoint with water-
color “The Great Anxiety
(Self-Portrait in Three-Quar-
ter Profile to the Right)”
(1918) is the show’s emblem.
He confronts us with an
emaciated green face, re-
duced to enormous staring
eyes and pointed chin, and a
gnarled bony hand.
For the artists in “The
Anxious Eye,” printmaking
offered both a connection to
a long, distinguished tradi-
tion—think Albrecht Dürer
and Martin Schongauer—
and opportunities for experi-
mentation. Kirchner’s fero-
cious portrait of his
psychiatrist, “Dr. Ludwig
Binswanger” (1917/1918), all
slashing lines and violent
cross-hatching, challenges
the meticulousness of the
traditional woodcut, making
Walter Gramatté’s ‘The
Great Anxiety (Self-Portrait
in Three-Quarter Profile to
the Right)’ (1918), left;
Kirchner’s ‘Women Bathing
Between White Stones’
(1912), below.
the evidence of the brute la-
bor of cutting and excavat-
ing into a metaphor for in-
tense feeling. Super-heated
emotion, made visible as
wrenched forms, angular
bodies and freewheeling, ex-
perimental techniques, is a
constant throughout. Even
seemingly calm, ordered im-
ages, such as Kollwitz’s or
Beckmann’s introspective
self-portraits, exploit tonal
shifts for drama and expres-
sion. In contrast to the pre-
vailing Sturm und Drang, a
work such as Kirchner’s
woodcut “Women Bathing
Between White Stones”
(1912), with its smooth
patches of color and suavely
outlined nudes, one in a
fetching hat, seems posi-
tively cheerful and benign.
That may be because for
most Germans and Austri-
ans, in the years examined
by “The Anxious Eye” and
for decades after, being “one
with nature”—even on chilly,
pebbly beaches—was seen as
healing and enriching. (I
speak from uncomfortable
summer visits to German
friends.) Spending time
THEY RECORD HISTORY.
Monday, April 15, 2024 | A13
among forests, fields and
bodies of water was an es-
cape from the tensions of ur-
ban life, a symbolic return to
a simpler, Edenic state, the
equivalent of the Arcadia of
the south. Otto Mueller’s
skinny nudes in a landscape
may not evoke the nymphs
and shepherds of their Medi-
terranean counterparts, yet
as deliberately uningratiat-
ing representations of the
unclothed body, they signal
JOURNALISTS DON’T
‘JUST WRITE STORIES.’
Learn more about the impact your
journalism career can have on the world.
Wall Street Journal reporter Erin Ailworth
and others share career advice at
dowjonesnewsfund.org/careers.
Orit Hofshi’s ‘Time . . . thou
ceaseless lackey to eternity’
(2017), left; Ernst Ludwig
Kirchner’s ‘Dr. Ludwig
Binswanger’ (1917/1918),
below.
freedom and the rejection of
bourgeois values. Mueller
and Corinth cast other nudes
as Adam and Eve, updating
Dürer’s celebrated print, but
unlike Dürer’s, featuring un-
idealized, irregular bodies.
The proximity of prints with
religious themes to relatively
straightforward landscapes
by Nolde and Heckel empha-
sizes the spiritual virtues as-
signed to the natural world.
The influence of the for-
mal elements of non-Western
art, acknowledged as the re-
sult of European colonization
of Africa and Oceania, is ac-
counted for. The continued
relevance of the innovations
and emotional charge of the
works on view is attested to
by “German Expressionism
Reimagined,” dedicated
to prints by modern and
contemporary artists
with an appetite for in-
tensity and transgres-
sion. Not surprisingly, a
rough-hewed print by
Georg Baselitz reprises
the mood of his Expres-
sionist compatriots’ ef-
forts. More unexpected
are Nicole Eisenman’s
etching of a beer garden
and woodcuts by Kerry
James Marshall and the
Israeli artist Orit
Hofshi. Mr. Marshall of-
fers a tense male figure,
while Ms. Hofshi con-
fronts us with an enor-
mous multi-panel work
dealing with migration
and displacement. And
more. Is that continuity
because all art tends to be, on
some level, a response to
other art? Or does it reflect
the same disquiet that pro-
voked the work in “The Anx-
ious Eye”?
The Anxious Eye: German
Expressionism and Its Legacy
National Gallery of Art,
through May 27
Ms. Wilkin is an indepen-
dent curator and critic.
A14 | Monday, April 15, 2024 * *** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

SPORTS
Scottie Scheffler Wins the Masters
BY ANDREW BEATON

Augusta, Ga.
Scottie Scheffler had just com-
pleted his third round at the Mas- The world No. 1 clinched his second green jacket in three years with a four-stroke victory
ters, the one that left him alone at
the top of the leaderboard, when
he turned to an Augusta National
member and confessed to some-
thing that amounts to a cardinal
sin around here.
Somebody on his team had ac-
cess to a cellphone.
“If that’s alright?” Scheffler
said.
Scheffler was granted a special
exception to the infamously strict
no phone policy only because his
wife Meredith is pregnant and due
later this month. Scheffler was
prepared to bolt from the Masters
if that phone rang.
As it turns out, Scheffler is
playing so out of his mind right
now that the only person who
could’ve stopped him from win-
ning his second major champion-
ship isn’t even born yet.
Scheffler tightened his grip on
the golf world with his second
green jacket in three years, fend-
ing off a host of challengers led by
24-year-old Swedish prodigy Lud-
vig Åberg to win the Masters by
four strokes at 11-under par. At
one point, four players were tied
for the lead midway through the
final round, but Scheffler kept do-
ing what he always seems to do
these days, while everyone around
him suffered through a rapid suc-
cession of miscues.
The win continues an incredi-

ble run for the 27-year-old world
No. 1. Since the beginning of
March, Scheffler has now won
three times in four starts, includ-
ing a second consecutive victory
at the prestigious Players Champi-
onship. In the only event he didn’t
win, he finished tied for second.
Nobody in men’s golf is playing on
his level right now—and it’s not
even close.
Scheffler now inhabits the rar-
efied air of a generational great.
He’s the best ball striker in the
sport, nimbly manages courses in
difficult conditions, and is as un-
flappable as any player in recent
memory. He’s now the fourth-
youngest player to win the Mas-
ters multiple times, behind a trio
of legends: Jack Nicklaus, Tiger
Woods and Seve Ballesteros.
For a time, it looked as though
a different trio of players would
stop Scheffler from winning the
Scottie Scheffler celebrates after clinching the Masters. Since the beginning of March, the 27-year-old American has won three times in four starts.
same major he took in 2022.
Scheffler had begun the day in the
solo lead at 7-under, and when he
bogeyed the seventh hole and Max
Homa birdied the eighth, there
was suddenly a four-way tie for
first: Scheffler, Åberg and the
America duo of Homa and Collin
Morikawa.
That’s when Scheffler might
have folded. Instead, he took con-
trol.
After recovering with a birdie
on the par-5 eighth, he hit perhaps
the shot of the tournament, when
he nearly holed out with his ap-
proach shot on No. 9, masterfully
spinning the ball back down a
slope to set up a tap-in birdie. He
carded his third straight birdie on
the next hole to race out to a two-
shot lead over Homa and Åberg.
It was around the same time
that his closest competitors began
wilting on a steaming hot day.
Morikawa, a two-time major
champion, flubbed a bunker shot
on the ninth hole and fell back
with a double bogey. Then the
famed Amen Corner went on to
obliterate his field of challengers.
Åberg, a college student at Texas
Tech this time last year before go-
ing pro and skyrocketing into the
world’s top-10, hit his approach
shot into the water on the 11th.
Morikawa found the same water
for another double bogey, while
Homa hit his ball into the bushes
behind the 12th green for yet an-
other double bogey.
Scheffler spent most of the
back nine three or more strokes
up on Åberg. The final holes
weren’t much so much a competi-
tion as they were a coronation.
Scheffler prevailed during a
year when the Masters posed an
unusually daunting challenge. Dry
conditions and gusting winds on
Friday and Saturday made low
MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS
numbers nearly impossible to
come by after rain caused a delay
on Thursday. Tiger Woods, who
knows a thing or two about these
grounds, called one of the days
this week among the trickiest he
has ever experienced at Augusta
National. Only eight players fin-
ished the tournament under par.
When his final putt rolled in on
the 18th on Sunday, Scheffler
slipped the ball into his pocket,
hugged his caddie and doffed his
cap. Nobody could catch him.
It was time for Scottie Schef-
fler to slip into a green jacket—
again.

The WSJ Daily Crossword | Edited by Mike Shenk

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 20 Like a sauna
21 Pond jumper
A Hot Spot to Golf in Augusta
13 14 15
25 “I’ll pay for BY ANDREW BEATON That allows customers to was checking out the local
16 17 18 this” compete in all sorts of Hooters, where two-time
26 Glorifying Augusta, Ga. games that are automatically major champion John Daly is
19 20 21 verses Neil Currie flew to North scored on a screen in each on hand to greet fans.
29 Broadway Carolina last week for the stall based on where the ball Now, just a couple of
22 23 24 25 26 start of an epic golf trip lands. It’s like a bowling al- miles from the course,
star Menzel
with his buddies. First, they ley meets a videogame there’s a place to hit balls
27 28 29 30 30 Sausage for stopped in Charlotte on meets the classic driving and down drinks. The clien-
grilling Thursday to play Quail Hol- range. tele on Friday included Buf-
31 32 33 31 Microwaves low, the exclusive club that Part of the idea is that it falo Bills star Josh Allen and
will host next year’s PGA can appeal to anybody, even his much smaller predeces-
34 35 36 37 38 34 Spice akin to
Championship. Then they if they don’t have the time, sor Doug Flutie. Currie and
nutmeg headed south to attend the patience or skill to take on his friends came because
39 40 41 35 Everyone, in Masters on Friday. 18 holes. The pitch is work- they had some time to kill
the South Currie’s first time at Au- ing. These days, America has after checking out the Hoot-
42 43 44 45 46 47 gusta National Golf Club sur- more golfers who participate ers and before going back to
36 Genius
passed even his wildest ex- in the game off the course the tournament on Saturday.
48 49 50 51 37 Lower pectations. He watched Tiger than on it, and Topgolf had They also had an itch to
38 At the end of Woods tee off. He loaded up $1.7 billion in revenue in scratch.
52 53 54 one’s rope at the gift shop. He also 2023. “When you watch those
40 Old phone crushed six beers. “We don’t want to get rid players, you kind of want to
55 56 57 58 He was so fired up by the of traditional golf,” says come out and swing the
feature
experience that he simply Mary Leblanc, Topgolf’s se- club,” Currie says.
59 60 61 41 Skedaddles had to find somewhere to nior manager of event mar- One of the games avail-
43 Walloped play golf himself. The prob- keting, “but it can be intim- able to Topgolf customers is
62 63 64 lem is that teeing up at Au- idating.” using ball-tracking technol-
44 Songwriter’s
gusta National wasn’t ex- At 8 p.m. on the Friday of ogy to virtually play the
lines
actly an option. the Masters this year, every types of courses that sports
DIVERSIFIED PORTFOLIO | By Katie Hoody 45 Nation of So Currie went to the stall at Augusta’s Topgolf fans dream of. That means
Across 27 Grammy 52 Investment in 7 Doesn’t bring West Africa other popular golf venue in was booked up. And that re- you can spend your day at
winner carbon-free a plus-one 46 Like the this city that draws a crowd flects how this business the Masters while also tak-
1 Historian’s
Lil ___X energy? NSA being this time of year. He went to plugs a giant hole, especially ing on Pebble Beach or the
study 8 Ancient
hacked, say Topgolf Augusta. at this time of year. For the Old Course at St Andrews as
5 Schlep 28 Investment 55 Smug grin document, “I said, ‘That was the tens of thousands of people a nightcap.
in a reception 57 Stepped down or how to 47 Lease signer best day of my life!’” Currie who flock here annually for There is one glaring ab-
8 Pat with view a
venue? 51 Maze word said of his time at Quail Hol- the season’s first major, sence among the available
the record 58 Elsa’s sister in modern
for longest 31 Pimple, “Frozen” 53 Craving low from a stall at the there’s not a whole lot to do courses: Augusta National
informally document souped-up driving range. before and after the action. Golf Club.
career 59 GIF or JPEG, 54 Sighing word
hosting a 9 Actor “Then today I said, ‘Today is There’s a reason Augusta “I’ve been trying,” says
32 Pop for example
single game Guinness 55 Title for the best day of my life!’” isn’t a vacation destination Sean Frantom, who manages
33 Colosseum 60 Spider egg several A day at the Masters is a the other 51 weeks of the Topgolf Augusta’s sales and
show location 10 Much vending
containers “Spamalot” chance to watch the best year. For years, the main at- engagement. “Maybe one
13 Apex ocean machine fare
34 “Oops, I 61 Rider’s strap characters golfers in the world fight traction around the Masters day.”
predator botched 11 Termite’s kin over a green jacket. But
62 Entered the 56 Hybrid
14 Inspiring that” 12 Metric wts. walking some of the most
marathon fighting hallowed grounds in the
neither 14 Show sport, for
37 Really sport can also stoke the urge
praise nor 63 Snaky shape
relish contempt for short to actually play the game.
disgust 64 Diplomacy
38 Loses Previous Puzzle’s Solution The problem is that it’s
15 Held tightly Down hardly practical to play a
brilliance S I L T F I R O C T E T
(to) round after leaving Augusta
39 Org. for 50+ 1 Sneeze K N E E B O N E S H E E N A
16 Apex land trigger A S S U R I N G AM E N D S National in the early eve-
people T E L A I D A U K ning. For the past few years,
predator
40 Bear’s lair 2 Grammy A R D O R M I N I C AM P S though, it has been possible
17 Walking winner L O O N C O N C E A L
speed 41 Choose, as a to hit balls and virtually play
Grande I AM S AM S B A R E S
date C R E MO N A G O L I A T H some of the greatest courses
18 Landlord’s 3 Cleans with E S S E N D O L E D U O on earth—without even leav-
42 Investment
ANDREW BEATON/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

collections an abrasive T A P E R E D L A D E ing the club that hosts the

19 Investment in Greek A S P A R A G U S A Y R E S Masters
architecture? 4 Fiery S P A S O B C U R
in a comedy Topgolf, which will soon
Argentine H A D J I S B O U T I Q U E
club? 45 “Skedaddle!” E T R A D E E X P O S U R E open up its 100th location
dance
S E E M S D O S T O L L worldwide, takes the old
22 On the way 48 Quarterback 5 Repair shop
The contest answer is GRASS. Each of five
concept of a driving range
23 It rises over Manning amenity and infuses it with a gamer’s
names of countries, eight letters long (as
México 49 Crew tool 6 Maritime indicated by the clue for OCTET), can be found sensibility and the vibes of a
crossing a black square in a row of the grid, sports bar. Patrons can enjoy
24 Rock’s ___ 50 “Have any search-and- with one extra letter “in the country”:
Fighters doubts?” rescue org. SURINAME (with a G), DOMINICA (R), food and alcohol while their
MONGOLIA (A), PARAGUAY (S), DJIBOUTI shots are monitored with
▶ Solve this puzzle online and discuss it at WSJ.com/Puzzles. (S). The extra letters spell the contest answer. ball-tracking technology. Neil Currie went to Topgolf after a day at the Masters.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
OPINION
America’s New Regulation Busters
We have too
many regula-
tions. The
Code of Fed-
eral Regula-
tions is al-
most 200,000
INSIDE
VIEW pages long. In
2017 Presi-
By Andy
dent Trump
Kessler
signed Execu-
tive Order
13771, which held that “for ev-
ery one new regulation, at
least two prior regulations be
identified for elimination.” It
didn’t work. Can anyone cut
through the red tape mummi-
fying America?
Another “Ghostbusters”
movie is in theaters, but what
we need are regulation bust-
ers. I spoke with Salen Churi
and Brooke Fallon from Trust
Ventures, a $500 million
Texas-based venture-capital
firm. It’s almost as if they are
wearing plasma proton packs.
The two originally worked
together to legalize street
vending in Chicago. Mr. Churi
explained the problem: “Res-
taurants got together with the
city to prevent competition.
We got this food-cart license
passed. It didn’t scale
though,” as it was Chicago
specific, but it was the start
of a plan.
Trust Ventures came to-
gether, Mr. Churi said, be-
cause no one thinks “ ‘I hate
innovation,’ except perhaps
for incumbents. We have cri-
ses in the most human of in-
dustries—energy, healthcare,
housing. Everyone thought I
was nuts. They’re like, ‘Why
would you invest in compa-
nies with regulatory prob-
Elon Musk Resists Brazilian Censorship
Brazil’s Su-
preme Court
last week or-
dered the fed-
eral police to
add billionaire
AMERICAS entrepreneur
Elon Musk to
By Mary
its “digital mi-
Anastasia
litia inquiry.”
O’Grady
The investiga-
tion is de-
signed to uncover an alleged
conspiracy not by armed com-
mandos but by wordsmiths.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes
wants Mr. Musk’s Twitter plat-
form to block utterances by
Brazilian users that the judi-
ciary deems fake news. Mr.
Musk has decided to resist this
censorship, making him the
target of federal prosecutors.
This case has nothing to
do with containing the domi-
nance of big tech or reducing
risks to democracy or even
protecting children from so-
cial media. This is a fight be-
tween a politicized Supreme
Court and critics of President
Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva. It
shows Brazil no longer has an
independent judiciary. The
grim reality is that its de-
mocracy is dying in broad
daylight.
The court wants to shut up
opinion makers whose politics
it doesn’t agree with but who
reach millions of people via
platforms like Twitter. Many
Brazilians, along with Mr.
Musk, think that’s antidemo-
cratic. They think Justice de
Moraes is acting like a tyrant
who believes his side owns
the truth. They fear that a
court with this much arbitrary
power is a far bigger danger
Milton Friedman’s Worst Mistake
By Jason De Sena
Trennert
W
hen I worked for
someone else, my ex-
perience with the tax
authorities largely consisted
of having my employer with-
hold my wages and then hav-
ing my accountant inform me
each April about any addi-
tional tax liability. I had a
vague idea that I paid an ob-
scene amount, but I was con-
tent to have the process re-
main somewhat opaque. That
all changed when I started a
company. My partners and I
were forced to write checks
from our own accounts to the
Treasury and New York state
each quarter.
Only then did I realize how
much I was paying for the
great privilege of living in the
U.S. I came to feel that if peo-
ple paid their taxes after re-
ceiving their income—the
way they pay for every other
good or service—they might
lems?’ ” Good question.
Most venture capitalists in-
vest and help startups with
new strategies and hiring a
team. Mr. Churi describes
what he does as “trench war-
fare,” fighting with regulators
and incumbents deal by deal.
He notes that “we have built
houses the same way for
1,000 years—with sticks and
bricks.” A startup, ICON,
hoped to create homes for the
homeless in Texas using a gi-
ant 3-D printing machine that
deposits layers of concrete. It
can “print” a 500-square-foot
home in 24 hours. For $4,000.
Game changing.
Trust Ventures invests
in companies, then
helps them overcome
government blocks.
Then came the regulators.
Mr. Churi says that for homes,
international fire safety codes
say, “ ‘You’ve got to put the
wooden joists like this.’ But
there are no wooden joists.
The whole thing is inherently
fireproof—it’s concrete.” As
for regulators, “they’re like,
‘You’ve got to put the wooden
joists like that. See it says it
right here on the page.’ ”
They grappled with fire-code
permitting bodies. “New lan-
guage got passed. It took two
years.”
Mr. Churi explains that
“when you get a great new
technology that’s fundamen-
tally different, regulators just
want to shove you in the old
to Brazilian liberty than any
independent voice, even those
on the fringes.
In modern liberal democracy,
free speech acts as a check on
absolute power. The executive
has the bully pulpit, but the
public’s access to contrarian
points of view contributes to
the vibrancy of political debate.
Brazil’s constitution protects
civil liberties, and free expres-
sion has been a Brazilian value
since the country returned to
democracy in 1985.
That is, until Lula and his
Workers’ Party got caught
with their hands in the cookie
jar and Lula went to jail in
2017. The largest graft and
bribery scandal in Western
Hemisphere history exposed
the criminality of the political
class and its business-commu-
nity friends. In 2018 Brazil-
ians elected President Jair
Bolsonaro, an outsider who
promised to clean house.
Mr. Bolsonaro is a former
army captain with a lowbrow
style who can be crude. But
that alone doesn’t explain
why a good part of the coun-
try has come down with Bol-
sonaro Derangement Syn-
drome. Lula can also be
vulgar.
Mr. Bolsonaro’s main trans-
gression was his pledge to
protect private property, re-
store law and order, and chal-
lenge identity politics. He was
supported by social conserva-
tives, libertarians, the work-
ing and middle classes, entre-
preneurs and farmers, all of
whom were tired of demo-
cratic socialism. Many were
willing to overlook Mr. Bol-
sonaro’s flaws in exchange for
expect more value for their
money. Young people espe-
cially often see a tax refund
as a government benefit as
opposed to an interest-free
loan to the taxman. I have of-
ten wondered if the U.S.
should abolish the practice of
requiring employers to with-
hold taxes and return to a
system in which we pay taxes
directly to the Internal Reve-
nue Service.
There wasn’t a permanent
federal income tax in the U.S.
until 1913, when the states
ratified the 16th Amendment
and Congress passed the Rev-
enue Act. Before then, the
majority of funds used to pay
for the federal government
were derived from tariffs and
excise taxes.
Early on, only a sprinkling
of Americans paid taxes, at
relatively low rates, in the
manner that small businesses
pay today—by writing a check
once a quarter. That changed
with the onset of World War
box, right? Our challenge is to
say, ‘Well, actually, this needs
a new box.’ Otherwise, it’s go-
ing to sit on the shelf.”
Eye exams are a great ex-
ample of an old box. The
American Optometric Associa-
tion is powerful, and many
states banned online vision
tests. “Regulators don’t care
about all those single mothers
who have to pay three times
as much or that people in
Central Illinois have to drive
three hours,” Mr. Churi says.
The pandemic loosened
telehealth rules, providing an
opening to test your eyes
with your own smartphone.
As lockdowns ended, Trust
Ventures worked with the
startup Visibly in several
states to legalize online eye
exams permanently. They got
help from their investors net-
work—some of their limited
partners “are great American
families,” Mr. Churi says. Visi-
bly’s Food and Drug Adminis-
tration-approved online eye
tests, now in 36 states, cost
as little as $35 instead of
three times as much at Lens-
Crafters or box-store-located
optometrists.
Going forward, Mr. Churi
tells me the firm is focusing
on energy and artificial intel-
ligence. Trust Ventures is
working to provide a new de-
sign for safe, clean nuclear
energy to sit right next to
power-hungry AI data centers.
This means more trench war-
fare with slow-as-molasses
regulators. Another invest-
ment, Antora, stores energy
by using renewables to heat
up a chunk of carbon to 3,600
degrees Fahrenheit. This ther-
getting rid of the Workers’
Party. The legacy media calls
them “the far right.”
As president Mr. Bolsonaro
was far from a champion of
free markets and his language
was often reckless. But his ad-
ministration restored fiscal
sanity, deregulated parts of
the economy, and made doing
business less onerous through
digitization.
By March 2021 a Bolsonaro
re-election was enough of a
threat that his opponents de-
cided they had to revive Lula’s
political fortunes. Lula’s cult of
personality had survived the
It’s a spat between a
politicized high court
and critics of the left-
wing president.
multibillion-dollar corruption
scandal run during his party’s
13 years at the helm and he
had the best chance of defeat-
ing Mr. Bolsonaro. The Su-
preme Court vacated Lula’s
conviction—which had been
upheld by two appeals courts—
and released him from prison.
He was free to run again for
president in 2022, though he
was never exonerated.
Not surprisingly, his critics
went berserk, sharing their
outrage on the internet. Mr.
de Moraes had been silencing
Lula opponents for months,
inviting Brazilians to report
on their neighbors. But as the
campaign heated up, things
got worse. The electoral tribu-
nal increasingly instructed
II, when it became necessary
to expand the tax base
greatly. It was also then that
the idea of withholding taxes
at the employer level was de-
vised. Based on the ability of
the government to collect
taxes, the new system was a
Employers never
should have become
tax collectors.
success—the number of in-
come-tax payers expanded
more than tenfold during the
war, from some four million
in 1939 to nearly 43 million in
1945.
Ironically, free-market leg-
end Milton Friedman was in-
strumental in implementing
the new system when he
worked at the Treasury dur-
ing the war. While withhold-
ing income at the source was Mr. Trennert is chairman of
more efficient, it also made Strategas Research Partners.
mal battery can sit next to a
factory and generate electric-
ity or steam at night or when
the wind stops blowing.
Cool—or, rather, hot—stuff.
Ms. Fallon explains that the
problem with energy innova-
tion is a “web of jurisdic-
tions.” This includes “local
utilities, the City Council, the
county-level Public Utility
Commission, the state-level
Public Utility Commission”
and other entities that rarely
talk to each other.
With AI, there weren’t a lot
of regulations until the hoopla
around ChatGPT and genera-
tive AI produced a Biden ad-
ministration innovation-kill-
ing executive order. Then Sen.
Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) got
an itch to regulate and, sniff-
ing lobbyist dollars, began to
hold AI hearings. The model
for Trust Ventures and others
with AI is prophylactic: Get
ahead of regulators and fears
of job losses and help craft
sensible regulations. Mr.
Churi’s hope is to “be a
change agent to help the law
catch up to where technology
already is.” If not, AI will get
put in an old box. It’s too im-
portant to leave to politicians.
Who you gonna call? Reg-
busters! Startups aren’t big
enough to undertake this
themselves, and law firms
don’t have the right incentive
structure to help. VC-backed
Uber and Airbnb broke
ground taking on regulations.
Maybe it really does take ven-
ture capitalists, providing the
scissors to cut progress-
smothering red tape, to get
the job done.
Write to kessler@wsj.com.
platforms to block speech,
and it ordered YouTube to de-
monetize four Brazilian chan-
nels with large followings. It
also passed a resolution
granting itself the power to
police the internet. The tribu-
nal instructed Facebook, In-
stagram, TikTok, Twitter and
YouTube to remove content of
which it disapproved.
In recent years Lula critics
have had their bank accounts
frozen and financial records
subpoenaed. Some have fled
into exile, where they learned
that their passports have
been canceled. Questioning
the legitimacy of Lula’s elec-
tion victory has landed some
in jail. The common denomi-
nator has been a lack of due
process.
Brazil’s Congress has failed
to pass legislation that em-
powers the court to ban what
it subjectively brands “fake
news.” But the court contin-
ues to demand that platforms
block speech. On April 6 Mr.
Musk rebelled, tweeting that
while Twitter has “informed”
accounts that it was told to
block, it doesn’t “know the
reasons these blocking orders
have been issued.” Nor does it
“know which posts are alleged
to violate the law” and it’s
“prohibited from saying which
court or judge issued the or-
der, or on what grounds.”
Twitter is “threatened with
daily fines if we fail to com-
ply,” he said. Last week he
lifted the block on some us-
ers. He also threatened to re-
lease his communication with
the court, an accounting Bra-
zilians deserve to see.
Write to O’Grady@wsj.com.
the system more opaque and
the tax bite less obvious. This
is one of the main reasons
Friedman’s wife, Rose, also an
accomplished economist, ve-
hemently opposed its intro-
duction. Like some mistakes
married men make, all indica-
tions are that she didn’t let
him forget it. “Rose has never
forgiven me for the part I
played in devising and devel-
oping withholding for the in-
come tax,” he once said.
If ever there was a cause
that was worth a tax increase,
defeating the Axis was it. Un-
fortunately, when it comes to
Washington, powers once
granted in times of crisis are
never relinquished voluntarily
after the crisis passes. Turn-
ing taxpayers into consumers
might impose some discipline
on policymakers who have
shown no ability to discipline
themselves.
Monday, April 15, 2024 | A15
BOOKSHELF | By Mark Yost
Breathing
Problems
Chamber Divers
By Rachel Lance
Dutton, 448 pages, $32
T
wo significant events during World War II propelled the
British to seek a better understanding of the pressures
exerted upon the human body while submerged underwa-
ter. The first was the June 1939 accidental sinking of the sub-
marine HMS Thetis. Only four of the 103-member crew sur-
vived the stresses of resurfacing after the ship became stuck at
the bottom of relatively shallow waters. In response, the British
wanted to ensure their seamen would be able to escape a
stranded sub and survive the trip to the surface. The second
incident was Italy’s December 1941 underwater attack on the
British fleet at Alexandria, Egypt. Using a crude miniature sub-
marine known as a Maiale—essentially a manned torpedo—to
get into the harbor undetected, three teams of Italian divers
deployed underwater bombs
to cripple two battleships, a
destroyer and an oiler.
As Rachel Lance tells us in
“Chamber Divers,” the attack
would change the course of
naval warfare, opening up the
possibility that military divers
could approach a target unde-
tected and wreak havoc on an
enemy’s assets and psyche.
“With six divers, three bombs,
and the ability to breathe under-
water, the Italians had destroyed
the core of the Allies’ Mediterra-
nean fleet” and “regained control
of the Mediterranean for Italy for
the next several months.” This
prompted Prime Minister Winston Churchill to demand: “Please
report what is being done to emulate the exploits of the Italians
in Alexandria Harbour and similar methods of this kind.” The
answers he was looking for wouldn’t come from the Royal Navy
or Britain’s elite Special Operations Executive, but from a group
of scientists working in secret labs around London.
Ms. Lance is a biomedical engineer and blast-injury special-
ist who conducts research at Duke University’s hyperbaric med-
icine facility. Her previous book, “In the Waves” (2020), sought
to explain the physical forces that sank the Confederate subma-
rine Hunley while leaving its crew members appearing as if
they’d fallen asleep and died. In “Chamber Divers,” we are told
that by the outset of World War II, scientists still knew very lit-
tle about decompression sickness. Most of their knowledge
came from the experience of laborers who worked underwater
while building the Brooklyn Bridge some half a century earlier.
Many of the workers who spent hours in enclosed caissons at
the bottom of the East River came up to the surface too fast
and were wracked with incredible muscle cramps, causing them
to bend over in agony—thus the sickness’s common name, the
bends. We now know that those spasms were caused by a
buildup of excess nitrogen in the workers’ blood.
To understand decompression sickness, a group
of scientists experimented on themselves. One
suffered spasms so severe they broke her back.
Enter into this netherworld a small group of intrepid scien-
tists—Martin Case, Hans Grüneberg, J.B.S. Haldane, Elizabeth
Jermyn, Hans Kalmus, Ursula Philip, Jim Rendel and Helen
Spurway—whose job it was to figure out how long humans
could breathe some form of oxygenated air underwater, and to
what depth, before becoming incapacitated by the limits of
human physiology. To find the answers, the scientists con-
ducted tests on themselves. Their experiments were harrowing.
Haldane and Spurway’s goal was to see how long [Spurway]
could breathe [pure] oxygen before it began to poison her. She
was an eager test subject. The poisonous effects of oxygen
become far worse under high levels of pressure, and she wanted
to use her own body to puzzle out how bad they could
get. . . . After precisely thirty-three minutes of sitting in the
chamber calmly, patiently sucking down oxygen, Spurway
yanked the rubber mouthpiece from her lips. She vomited. She
vomited repeatedly. Later, she reported that she had been hav-
ing visual disturbances beforehand: brilliant flashes of dancing
purple lights she referred to as ‘dazzle.’
The early experiments were conducted in a dry chamber. But
the scientists soon shifted their experiments to a chamber filled
with water, their subjects breathing air made up of various lev-
els of oxygen. In experiment number 170, Jermyn, “a wisp of a
young woman” entered the wet chamber. She lasted 10 min-
utes. “She let out a ‘squeal’ or a ‘squeak.’ Then the oxygen took
control. And unlike the team’s past experiences with seizures,
rather than simply let this one pass on its own, they had to get
her out of the water before she could knock out her mouth-
piece. If she did that, she would almost certainly drown.” Jer-
myn’s spasms were so powerful that she broke her back. In
another experiment, Spurway spasmed “not very severe,” lab
notes say, but severe enough to dislocate her jaw.
As the scientists experimented with different mixes of gases
and depth pressures, the Admiralty experimented with minia-
ture submarines, or Chariots, and foldable kayaks—both some-
what clandestine but not the total stealth they were searching
for. Results were not good, as evidenced by an attack on the
harbor at Palermo, Italy. “In total, the eight teams of sixteen
divers placed one successful bomb and sank only one ship.”
Another beach-reconnaissance commander drowned when his
bulky dry suit sprang a leak, filling it with water, dragging him
to the bottom.
By D-Day on June 6, 1944, the Allies still hadn’t developed
capable submerged beach reconnaissance to help disable mines.
At best, miniature submarines, submerged for a few days
before the assault, could hover offshore and provide beacons
for the oncoming invasion. Closer to shore, most of the work
was done above water at low tide. After the beaches were
secured, British divers, using data developed by the lab teams,
used a 75% oxygen mixture that let them dive to 40 feet in high
tide and disarm mines and blow up obstacles that would
destroy landing craft. Other divers went on to clear bridges and
ports of the underwater explosives left behind by the Nazis.
To this day, “at least within the Allied world,” Ms. Lance tells
us, “all dive teams still use the original guidelines for oxygen
toxicity traceable to” the studies of those British scientists dur-
ing World War II. Indeed, the Cold War was “the perfect envi-
ronment for divers and submarines to thrive in. The operatives
for the two sides could swim along silently in the aptly frigid
ocean and monitor one another from afar with minimal signs of
open aggression.” The scientists themselves, too, would remain
hidden from view for decades, their work remaining classified
until 2001.
Mr. Yost writes about military history for the Journal.
A16 | Monday, April 15, 2024 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

OPINION
REVIEW & OUTLOOK LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Iran’s Ominous Attack on Israel The Inflation Debate: Your Eyes Aren’t Lying

I
ran’s drone and missile assault on Israel renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran spied Regarding “In Today’s Economy, now pays much more for eggs, and
Saturday night into Sunday is an open act weakness and has mobilized its proxy forces Voters’ Vibes Battle With Clear-Cut that Year Two’s increases added to
Data” (Page One, April 4): While the the consumer’s misery.
of aggression, but it isn’t the start of this against Israel, U.S. troops in Syria and Iraq, and
rate of change in prices has slowed, While price increases are moderat-
conflict. It’s an escalation of commercial ships in the Red that rate of change is still above the ing, the rate of change is still too
the war Iran has been waging U.S. deterrence fails Sea. The U.S. has responded Federal Reserve’s target. Prices con- high. Consumers need to spend many
against Israel for months again, as Biden tries with pinprick bombing raids, tinue to get higher at too rapid a rate, more dollars than before to purchase
through its Middle East prox- and now Iran is escalating only less rapid than before. the same goods and services. Hardly
ies. The difference now is that to restrain Israel. again. More important, this debate isn’t the right direction, and they know it.
Iran’s imperialistic face is in Imagine how Iran would about percentages. It is about pocket- DEAN KEHLER
the open rather than in the behave if it acquires nuclear books. The contention is that people New York
shadows, and that should change calculations weapons. At a minimum a nuclear-armed Teh- misunderstand inflation, but they un-
in Washington in particular. ran would be less restrained in its proxy wars derstand it all too well. For example, If I’m driving 60 miles an hour in a
i i i and terrorism. It is also a messianic regime bent if the price of eggs increased 10% last school zone and then reduce my
year and a further 3% this year, they speed to 40 mph, I’m still speeding,
Supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the Is- on spreading Shiite revolution. Such a regime
now cost 113.3% of their pre-inflation even though I have reduced my speed
lamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been the might be all too willing to risk Armageddon to cost. That the bigger increase hap- by a third. Yes, inflation has gone
puppet masters of Middle East mayhem, the destroy the Jewish state. pened in Year One and the smaller in- down, but it’s still inflation.
better to avoid direct culpability. Israel’s strike “Take the win,” Mr. Biden reportedly told Mr. crease happened in Year Two doesn’t ELLIOTT VAUGHN
on April 1 against IRGC generals in Syria, in re- Netanyahu. But is it a win if Iran can directly change the fact that the consumer Houston
sponse to Iran’s proxy attacks against Israel, attack Israel without consequences? Israel
was apparently more than the mullahs could shouldn’t have to wait in a defensive crouch un-
tolerate. The weekend attack is truth in adver- til Iran decides to attack again. Israel is justified
tising at last, and it is an ominous sign that Iran in attacking Iran’s assets, including military tar- Where Is the American Pressure on Hamas?
is willing to take new escalatory risks. gets in Iran.
How come all the pressure from see the Biden administration’s actions
It should also be clarifying to Western lead- Israel is no doubt considering whether to de-
congressional Democrats and Presi- must be wondering if they can de-
ers about Iran’s malevolent intentions. Thou- stroy as much of Iran’s nuclear capability as dent Biden is on Israel? (“Democrats pend on America in a crisis.
sands of American citizens live in Israel and possible and delay a nuclear breakout. But the Play Into Hamas’s Hands,” Review & SEYMOUR M. COHEN
could have been casualties. Iran’s bombardment risks for Israel are considerable without U.S. Outlook, April 8). The president could New York
wasn’t discriminate or limited to military tar- support, especially without bunker-buster set a deadline for Hamas to release
gets, unlike Israel’s precision strike that killed bombs to hit underground sites where enriched all the hostages—or else the U.S. will One sentence in your editorial
the IRGC generals. uranium is stored. This means Iran again con- double its lethal support to Israel. As sums up my feelings about the House
The fact that most of the drones and missiles trols when and how to escalate. long as all the pressure is on Israel, Republicans’ lack of support for
were intercepted is a relief, but it isn’t reassur- i i i time is on the side of Hamas. Ukraine: “Denying weapons to an ally
ing against future swarm attacks. Israeli air de- The attack should at least cause Mr. Biden TIM KELLY in the middle of a war is the defini-
fenses were a spectacular success, aided by as- and his fellow Democrats to end their cold war Naples, Fla.tion of betrayal.”
MICHAEL S. ELLIOTT
sets from the U.S., U.K., Jordan, and perhaps with Israel over Gaza and recognize that this
Democrats play into Hamas’s hands San Diego
others. But what happens if the next attack is really a war against Iran. The vocal Demo- by threatening to withhold arms from
comes all at once from Hezbollah in Lebanon cratic threats against Israel likely gave Iran Israel and pressuring it to stop fight- The situation in the Middle East is
and Syria as well as Iran? more confidence it could strike without conse- ing the terrorists who vow to repeat highly reminiscent of the Iran hos-
This is another case of failed U.S. deterrence. quences. Appeasing the left by threatening to Oct. 7. There is no pressure on the tage crisis in 1979. Fifty-two Ameri-
President Biden had warned Iran not to attack cut off arms to Israel is a betrayal and will invite terrorists, not even to allow the Red can citizens were held hostage for
after U.S. intelligence detected signs of prepara- more Iranian escalation. Cross to visit the hostages who still 444 days despite pleas and diplo-
tion in Tehran. “Don’t,” Mr. Biden said. But like This is an opportunity for Donald Trump too. might be alive, five of whom are U.S. matic efforts by the Jimmy Carter ad-
Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, Iran went ahead any- His response on Saturday night was to say our citizens, and ascertain their status. ministration. The hostages were re-
way, no doubt confident that Mr. Biden country is weak and this wouldn’t have hap- This policy of pressuring Israel ap- leased the same day Ronald Reagan
wouldn’t respond militarily. And sure enough, pened if he were President. But it did happen, pears to be dictated by the Demo- was inaugurated, Jan. 20, 1981.
crats’ attempt not to alienate anti-Is- I believe we will see the same re-
the word Sunday is that his main message in a and Mr. Trump would inherit the mess if he
rael voters in Michigan, some of sult for the U.S. hostages if Donald
call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan- wins in November. He should drop his own am- whom were heard screaming “Death Trump regains the presidency.
yahu Saturday was not to strike back. bivalence toward Israel and declare his undi- to America” at a rally observing Iran’s GERALD L. BRAVERMAN
White House theories of escalation manage- vided support. anti-Israel “Quds Day.” Our allies who Indianapolis
ment don’t work against a regime that thinks Leaders in both parties should also start tell-
a U.S. President fears escalation more than Iran ing the truth to Americans about the new world
does. U.S. restraint since the Oct. 7 massacre of global threats. Russia, China, Iran and North
has encouraged Tehran to see how much more Korea are all on the march and working to-
Canada’s Hydropower Will Remain Reliable
it can get away with. gether. That won’t magically change if Mr. Water-supply variability is a nor- available for hydropower production.
The attack on Israel also underscores the Trump wins. The U.S. needs an urgent program mal phenomenon in hydroelectric According to independent research by
production (“Drought Hampers Can- Ouranos, water inflows could increase
failure of Mr. Biden’s Iran policy. He tried to of rearmament to restore deterrence. Satur-
ada Push to Become a Hydro Super- by 6% to 8% in this region, which is
mollify the mullahs by easing sanctions, freeing day’s attack won’t be the last against our allies power, World News, March 28). Since where Hydro-Quebec’s very large up-
tens of billions in frozen funds, and trying to or the U.S. homeland. the 1960s, periods of low and high stream reservoirs are available to
water levels have alternated. In Que- hedge against inflow variability.

Trump Flip-Flops on Debates bec, water levels were lower in 2004

and 2014, compared with present lev-
Hydropower is the only renewable
energy source capable of complement-

D
onald Trump is hyped up about debat-
ing President Biden early and often
from here to November, making it an
almost daily part of his campaign commentary.
Too bad he undermined his position by refusing
to debate his GOP challengers.
Mr. Trump now says the two presumptive
nominees have “an obligation” to debate, which
he said is “for the good of our country.” We
agree it would be useful, especially given how
old both candidates are. Voters could compare
their relative intellectual acuity as well as their
positions on issues.
Mr. Biden says he’s open to debates depend-
ing on Mr. Trump’s behavior. But don’t be sur-
prised if he declines, especially if he continues
to rise in the polls. A coalition of media outfits
issued a plea Sunday to both candidates to de-
bate this year, but that is unlikely to make much
of a difference.
Mr. Trump would be on firmer ground had
he deigned to debate Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis,
Chris Christie and others. He refused because
he didn’t want to answer direct questions about
his first-term record, his legal vulnerability, or
his glib vow to stop the war in Ukraine in 24
hours. The decision paid off for him, but voters
are now likely to shrug at his pleas for Mr. Biden
to appear on stage with him.
Mr. Trump likes to invoke political norms
when they serve his purposes but dismiss them
when they don’t. If Mr. Biden chooses not to de-
bate, Mr. Trump can blame himself for setting
the precedent.
els. Conversely, in 2017 and 2018,
Hydro-Quebec experienced excess wa-
ter in certain areas, and needed to
open spillways to release it.
Independent studies suggest that
climate change will likely benefit
northern hydro systems in Quebec in
the long term, increasing the water
What I Found in the Oct. 6
Print Issue of the Journal
I never toss away my unread WSJs
because I know I will binge-read back
issues on some future date. I’m never
disappointed, as I always find some-
thing interesting, humorous or poi-
gnant. The latter was the case the
other day, when I finally read the Fri-
day, Oct. 6, 2023, edition. At the bot-
ing intermittent generation from solar
and wind and providing a renewable
energy mix that can effectively replace
fossil fuels for electricity production.
SERGE ABERGEL
Hydro-Quebec Energy Services
Hartford, Conn.
Improved standards of living, better
health and food to feed eight billion
people have all come about because
we have taken control and been less
passive in the face of whatever nature
presents. Green energy, such as wind,
solar and hydro, reverses that process
and makes us more vulnerable to the
whims of the natural environment. The
drought in Canada and Texas’ deep
freeze that knocked out wind turbines
are examples of how being more de-
pendent on nature can hurt us.

Kari Lake’s Baby Bonus Bust tom of page A15, I was struck by the
op-ed “Fifty Years Since We Almost
We need a serious discussion of
how reliance on green energy will

D
Lost Israel” by Prof. Abraham Ravid. constrain our ability to meet the in-
onald Trump last week said he won’t The country’s birth rate has increased mod- He recounts in detail how Israel creasing thirst for electric power.
support a federal limit on abortion, no estly since 2010, and some subsidies are still was attacked on Yom Kippur by Syria ROBERT J. SELTZER
doubt noticing that Republicans are relatively new. But the increase may be a blip. and Egypt on Oct. 6, 1973. Israel was Norfolk, Va.
losing elections on the issue. At roughly 1.59 children per caught off guard, and the early fight-
Arizona Republican Senate New entitlements won’t woman, the country isn’t close ing didn’t go well. Mr. Ravid, then an
candidate Kari Lake is now re-
Israeli officer, had to flee from advanc- Why Phones Stay in School
booting her own abortion po-
work as political cover to a replacement fertility rate
of 2.1. Such spending pro-
ing Syrian tanks in his Fiat. But Israel
Regarding Peggy Noonan’s “Can
recovered and won. “I still think the
sition while endorsing Euro- for an abortion ban. grams have failed to lift de- triumph was a miracle,” Mr. Ravid
We Save Our Children From Smart-
pean-style entitlements for clining birth rates across the phones?” (Declarations, April 6):
writes, “powered by reservists and
children. This isn’t a winning globe from Europe to Singa- Schools now “lock down” as a safety
soldiers who thought outside the box.”
precaution in the event of threats,
political safe harbor. pore. Uncanny how 51 years later, the
nearby incidents and active shooters.
Ms. Lake released a five-minute video on The price tag is also astonishing. Hungary events of the following day, Oct. 7,
This might happen a few times a year.
Thursday after the Arizona Supreme Court up- spends roughly 6% of its economy on family would once again throw Israel into a
At these times, parents are glad to
held an 1864 state law banning abortion except subsidies. That’s twice the share the United fight for survival. Like I said, I’ve
have a direct connection to their chil-
to save the mother’s life. A state court sus- States dedicates to its entire military and na- never been disappointed.
dren. Cellphones are not going away.
JOHN ROESCH
pended the law after the Supreme Court’s deci- tional defense. JEAN KNOX
Columbus, Ohio
sion in Roe v. Wade, which the U.S. High Court While she tries to escape the 1864 trap on San Luis Obispo, Calif.
reversed in 2022. Ms. Lake now says the ruling abortion, Ms. Lake is walking into another one.
“is out of line with where the people of this Progressives have long pilloried Republicans as Every Big Firm Needs One
state are,” which may be true. Ms. Lake now caring about children only until birth. As politi-
Nothing makes clearer to me the
Pepper ...
also accepts a woman’s right to choose: “I chose cal cover, some Republicans line up for new pro-
life. But I’m not every woman.” grams such as paid family leave, which Ms. Lake
degree to which government influ- And Salt
ences and meddles with business
She adds by way of changing the subject that also supports. than to learn that Intel has a “chief THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
she “had a real eye-opening experience this last Progressives will bank the progress on ex- government affairs officer” (Letters,
summer,” and her revelation is worth examin- panding the entitlement state and then refuse April 10). True capitalism may not be
ing. “I had the opportunity to visit Hungary, and to compromise on abortion, which Democrats dead yet in the U.S., but it is on life
it completely changed my view of how we increasingly view as a fundamental right. Ms. support.
should deal with this complicated, difficult is- Lake also supports “extending the child tax PROF. MICHAEL H. WAY
sue. In Hungary, what they did I thought was credit,” currently $2,000 a year and partially California State University, Bakersfield
so amazing.” When “you get married, they give paid in a check to those who owe no income
you a cut in your tax rate.” tax—a fact that belies her pander that govern- CORRECTION
And “by the time a mother has four children, ment does nothing for families. But voters who
she never pays taxes again. That’s called a baby dig that idea will sign up with her Democratic The share of eligible tax filers using
bonus. I think we should do that here in Amer- opponent, Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is offering the Internal Revenue Service’s Direct
ica. We bail out banks and multinational corpo- a bigger family payout. File is 0.3%. The April 12 editorial, “The
rations all the time. When’s the last time we’ve The U.S. is sorting out its views on abortion IRS Is Here to Help. Oh No,” miscalcu-
lated the percentage.
given an assist to a struggling mother and a for the first time in decades, and we’ve coun-
family?” seled Republicans to develop a more cogent pol-
Letters intended for publication should
Ms. Lake is in part playing to a portion of the icy that meets most voters where they are. But be emailed to wsj.ltrs@wsj.com. Please
Trumpian right that is preoccupied with its if Republicans start running on converting the include your city, state and telephone
Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Budapest offers U.S. into a European welfare state to dodge dif- number. All letters are subject to “‘Plummet’ is such a harsh term,
a bevy of subsidies to families, plus the income- ficult questions on abortion, they will keep los- editing, and unpublished letters cannot Mr. Dolan. We prefer to say priced
be acknowledged.
tax advantage. ing and deserve it. ‘below cost basis.’”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Democrats,
Support
Speaker
Johnson
By Tom Suozzi
I
just returned from a weeklong
congressional member delegation
to Ukraine, Poland and Moldova.
Ukraine faces a new Russian offen-
sive with insufficient ammunition.
My first social-media post reporting
on our trip was greeted with a flood
of hostility and propaganda, I suspect
mostly generated by Russian bots, in-
cluding a doctored photo of me wear-
ing a Nazi armband.
We need to put partisan
interests aside to defend
Ukraine and defeat Putin.
On my return to Washington, I was
greeted by Rep. Marjorie Taylor
Greene’s newest threats to remove
Speaker Mike Johnson if he brings to
the floor a bill to aid Ukraine. Demo-
crats and Republicans must join to-
gether to save Ukraine and stop the
disinformation campaigns promul-
gated by Vladimir Putin and fur-
thered by Mrs. Greene.
The Russians have killed more
than 100,000 Ukrainians, kidnapped
more than 20,000 children, and
chased more than 10 million Ukraini-
ans from their homes. Mr. Putin’s
goal is to push Russia’s borders far-
ther west, to control Ukraine’s sub-
stantial agricultural exports and nat-
ural resources, and to destabilize
Europe’s and the world’s democra-
cies. In addition to Russia’s substan-
tial military might, Mr. Putin and our
other strategic adversaries have em-
ployed a decadeslong disinformation
campaign using social media and
state-controlled media to get Ameri-
cans fighting among ourselves.
According to leading Republicans,
Mrs. Greene is parroting Russia’s
propaganda. House Intelligence
Chairman Mike Turner said this
week: “We see directly coming from
Russia attempts to mask communica-
tions that are anti-Ukraine and pro-
Russia messages—some of which we
even hear being uttered on the
House floor.” Foreign Affairs Chair-
man Michael McCaul said this propa-
ganda has “infected a good chunk of
my party’s base.”
“The ignorance of one voter in a
democracy impairs the security of
all,” John F. Kennedy said. What hap-
pens if Russia convinces Americans
of its lies? Kyiv is running out of the
antiaircraft weapons it uses to defend
from bomb-carrying drones. When
will we begin running interference on
the misinformation online that is a
direct threat to our democracy?
Mr. Putin didn’t invent American
partisanship, but his lies and propa-
ganda have fed it, giving rise to ex-
tremists like Mrs. Greene, who would
rather America do nothing with de-
mocracy on the line. This fight isn’t
only about Ukraine. Russia seeks to
tear apart the fragile fabric of interna-
tional order, end American promi-
nence in Europe, destroy the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, and end
the era of American-style democracy.
America must stop Mr. Putin before
our men and women in uniform are
forced to defend NATO soil.
Republicans in the House must lis-
ten to their intelligence chairman and
follow the lead of the Senate, which
passed a $95.3 billion foreign-aid bill
in a bipartisan 70-29 vote. Meanwhile,
Democrats can’t just wait for Republi-
cans to work with us. That’s why
when Mrs. Greene introduced her pro-
posal to remove Speaker Johnson, I
announced that I will support him if
he does his job.
Democrats must offer Speaker
Johnson our votes to save democracy
in Ukraine and here. We can’t let our
partisan instincts get in our way. We
must work with Republicans to dis-
arm Mr. Putin’s puppet, get a vote to
support Ukraine, and defeat Russian
disinformation. Our democracy is at
stake.
Mr. Suozzi, a Democrat, represents
New York’s Third Congressional Dis-
trict.
PUBLISHED SINCE 1889 BY DOW JONES & COMPANY
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Iran’s Attack Is a Show of Weakness
By Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr.
O
ver the weekend Iran
launched a ballistic-mis-
sile, drone and cruise-
missile attack on Israel
from its own soil. The at-
tack was without subterfuge and of
a scale well beyond any that pre-
ceded it. The strike was indiscrimi-
nate in targeting and designed to
cause casualties. Belated Iranian
protests notwithstanding, this was a
“maximum effort.” The Israeli re-
sponse, aided by the U.S., the U.K.
and nations in the region, was
largely successful. Iran has demon-
strated that it is willing to do any-
thing to further its campaign
against Israel’s existence.
There’s some history here. On
Sept. 14, 2019, drones launched from
bases in western Iran struck oil re-
fineries operated by Saudi Aramco
at Abqaiq and Khurais, Saudi Ara-
bia. The damage to global oil pro-
duction was significant. The Irani-
ans denied culpability, and the
profiles their drones used made it
easy to avoid the reality of a state-
on-state attack. On Jan. 8, 2020, Ira-
nian ballistic missiles, also launched
from bases in western Iran, struck
Al Asad air base in Iraq. This was a
response to the Jan. 3 U.S. strike
that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani in
Baghdad. No U.S. troops at the base
were killed, and heavy casualties
were averted only because com-
manders on the ground anticipated
the attack and repositioned forces
accordingly. Iran claimed responsi-
bility for this assault. Both these at-
tacks seemed to represent a major
escalation, a crossing of the Rubicon
Why I’m Leaving Clark University
By Mary Jane Rein
A
Worcester, Mass.
mong the many ills plaguing
higher education is a lack of ci-
vility, friendship and intellec-
tual humility. I observed this first-
hand on March 13, when an unruly
and hate-filled audience shut down a
lecture I helped organize at Worces-
ter State University. Because of the
response of my own institution, Clark
University, I am resigning my posi-
tion as executive director of Clark’s
Strassler Center for Holocaust and
Genocide Studies.
The lecture at Worcester State was
sponsored by a history professor
there in partnership with the Jewish
Federation of Central Massachusetts.
I helped organize it in my private ca-
pacity and in keeping with my life-
long commitments to Jewish advo-
cacy and Zionism. The speaker, an
Israeli reservist, was to describe
what he witnessed on Oct. 7 as an
early responder to Hamas’s attack.
The intent was to bring an Israeli
perspective to a campus that had
hosted anti-Israel events.
Some 100 people attended, but a
good number of them were deter-
mined to silence the speaker. In re-
sponse, he calmly announced his will-
ingness to answer any question and
invited the audience to fact-check
him after he had delivered his re-
marks. That wasn’t enough to as-
suage the crowd. Hecklers repeatedly
interrupted him, stood to make state-
ments, rang cell phones and pulled a
fire alarm, causing the auditorium to
be evacuated, interrupting the event
for 20 minutes or so.
There was also a specific attack
against me by a trio of Clark Univer-
sity Ph.D. students from the Strassler
Center, students I know well. When
the director of the Jewish Federation
called me to the podium to introduce
the speaker, one of them shouted at
him not to use my title, as my views
didn’t represent the Strassler Center.
I had yet to express any views.
After the talk, the same student
opened the question session by
proudly announcing herself as a sec-
ond-year Strassler Center doctoral
student and genocide scholar. That is,
after demanding that I not use my af-
filiation with the center, she flaunted
hers. She went on to accuse Israel of
genocide in Gaza. When the event
concluded, the Clark students ap-
proached me and shouted. They de-
manded that I step down from my
position and threatened to have me
investigated on spurious grounds, in-
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OPINION
into the territory of attributable
state-on-state attacks.
Why has Iran now undertaken
what can only be characterized as a
desperate attack—one that exposed
the weaknesses of its much-touted
missiles and drones? The reason is
clear. For the past several months, Is-
rael and Iran have engaged in a low-
level “dialogue of targets.” Israeli
strikes have taken out Iranian targets
in Syria, Lebanon and occasionally
Iran itself. Iran’s response has been
ham-fisted. In the shadow war, Israel
has outfought Iran.
The initiative has shifted
to the Israelis, who need
a calibrated response
to restore deterrence.
The April 1 Israeli strike against
Iranian planners in Damascus was
the culmination of Tehran’s embar-
rassment. Taking a page from Rus-
sian strategic doctrine, the Iranians
tried to escalate to de-escalate, tak-
ing a very aggressive action to raise
the stakes dramatically. The inten-
tion is to cow the opponent into
changing its behavior by convincing
it that it is at heightened risk. The
key to this kind of tactic is actual
leverage—a genuine capability that
puts the opponent at grave risk.
That hasn’t happened, because it’s
apparent that the Iranians are play-
ing a weak hand. For years the bal-
listic-missile, drone and cruise-mis-
sile force has been at the heart of
Iran’s strategic deterrence—more im-
cluding my views published in a re-
cent opinion piece.
In an email the next day, a senior
administrator admonished me against
using my university affiliation in con-
nection with non-Clark events, saying
it was “highly problematic.” I hadn’t
mentioned my title, either in my brief
remarks or in the event announce-
ment, but the administrator warned
me to ensure that others also refrain
from connecting me to Clark—some-
thing that had never been an issue
over the previous two decades.
I asked if others at Clark would be
subject to the same restrictions. Fac-
ulty who draw on their research and
expertise, he said, can speak freely,
while I alone, as an “administrator in
an executive position like yours run-
ning a center,” would create “confu-
sion” if my affiliation was noted. I
suspected I was being asked to cen-
sor myself on the basis of my Jewish
identity and support for Israel, as I
inferred there would be professional
consequences if I presented that dis-
favored view.
My resignation isn’t to give the
graduate students the satisfaction
that their threatening remarks suc-
ceeded in driving me from my long-
term position at Clark. I am making
explicit my reasons for leaving to af-
The Big Bank Elizabeth Warren Loves
Imagine a bank that
has made hundreds
of billions of dollars
in subprime loans.
When borrowers
start to default, the
bank refinances
LIFE
their debt and
SCIENCE
agrees to forgive
By Allysia
their loans if they
Finley
make minimum
payments for 10 to
20 years. When some still can’t make
their new, lower payments, the bank
eases the terms again.
Borrowers accrue more debt, be-
cause the minimum payments don’t
cover their interest costs. The bank
waives all unpaid accrued interest
and cancels debt after 20 years, even
if borrowers haven’t been making
minimum payments. It then asks
Washington for a bailout so it can un-
derwrite more bad loans. Meantime,
the bank has incorrectly computed fi-
nancial information for millions of
borrowers, resulting in lost credit ac-
cess for those with lower incomes.
This describes President Biden’s
Education Department, whose $1.6
trillion student-loan portfolio would
rank as the fifth-largest bank in the
U.S. by assets. It is run by none other
than Elizabeth Warren’s friends.
Mr. Biden’s loan-forgiveness an-
nouncement last week brought his
administration’s total write-down to
more than $850 billion, including the
cost of pandemic forbearance, admin-
istrative changes and eased repay-
ment plans. This is on top of the
$500 billion or so the government
was already set to write off, largely
owing to Obama-era loan refinancing.
Recall how Washington rescued
ailing big banks that issued taxpayer-
backed mortgages to subprime bor-
rowers. That spurred the creation of
the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau, Ms. Warren’s brainchild. The
bureau’s first director, Richard
portant in practical terms than its
nuclear program. The attack Sunday
morning was poorly executed and a
strategic miscalculation. The vulner-
ability of Iran’s force has been ex-
posed, and the regime is gravely
weakened as a result. Israel has been
strengthened by a stunning display
of military competence, a striking
contrast with that seen on Oct. 7.
Another factor is that Lebanese
Hezbollah’s involvement was mini-
mal, limited to tactical rocketing
into the Golan Heights. This is of
enormous strategic significance. The
scenario Israeli planners feared
most was the “dual axis” missile
and drone attack, in which thou-
sands of missiles from Lebanon
joined the attackers from Iran. Leb-
anese Hezbollah is as dedicated as
Iran to the destruction of Israel, but
it realizes Israel’s ability to wound
it badly if it enters the fray. So far
Hezbollah has chosen to sit on the
sidelines. That made the Iranian at-
tack a manageable problem for Is-
raeli defenders.
For the U.S., the successful defense
of Israel validates years of work to
create an integrated air and missile
defense, an effort that brought to-
gether many nations that all recog-
nize the threat of Iran. It also vindi-
cates the decision to move Israel
from European Command into Cen-
tral Command, which covers the rest
of the region. The seamless coordina-
tion and mutual support this enabled
was evident under demanding cir-
cumstances.
Iran’s overriding strategic prior-
ity is protecting the theocratic re-
gime. Fundamental to this was a
conventional missile and drone
firm that I am doing so on my own
terms and in keeping with my values.
I can no longer function effectively at
an academic institution that thinks
shouting a speaker down is tolerable
but introducing a speaker with whose
views people disagree isn’t.
As a Jew and as a scholar,
I have received a warmer
welcome at Assumption,
a Catholic institution.
Having worked enthusiastically to
develop the Strassler Center’s promi-
nent doctoral program, I am pained
by this sudden conclusion to my suc-
cessful tenure as executive director.
My activities included the construc-
tion of a beautiful new wing opened
in 2019. Among the comfortable
graduate student offices is one that
my family funded in honor of my par-
ents whose extended families were
victims of the Holocaust.
I had many satisfying years at
Clark advancing scholarship on the
Holocaust and other genocides. My
warm relationships with students,
faculty, staff, alumni and donors sus-
Cordray, was her protégé.
Mr. Cordray attacked “predatory”
for-profit colleges and blamed rising
student-loan defaults on servicers. In
January 2017, he sued Navient, previ-
ously Sallie Mae, on grounds that it
had “provided bad information in
writing and over the phone, pro-
cessed payments incorrectly, and
failed to act when borrowers com-
plained about problems.”
That sounds like the complaints fi-
nancial-aid experts, colleges and par-
ents have leveled at the Education
Department over its botched rollout
of the new Free Application for Fed-
eral Student Aid. Mr. Cordray led that
initiative. And guess who’s leading
the Biden administration’s student-
loan forgiveness efforts? Mr. Cordray.
His left-hand man has been Educa-
tion Undersecretary James Kvaal. He
helped craft the Obama gainful-em-
ployment rule, which aimed to put
for-profit colleges out of business.
Ms. Warren held up Mr. Kvaal’s Sen-
ate confirmation in June 2021 until
he promised to implement unspeci-
fied student loan “reforms.”
Two months later, she released her
hold: “I have had productive conver-
sations with Mr. Kvaal, the Depart-
ment of Education and the White
House, and I am glad they have com-
mitted to making substantial reforms
to the administration of the student
loan program.” Mr. Kvaal has deliv-
ered on his commitment.
Although the Supreme Court last
year struck down the department’s
$430 billion loan write-off, its gener-
ous income-based repayment plans
may cancel even more debt over
time. The University of Pennsylva-
nia’s Wharton Budget Model esti-
mates that they will cost taxpayers
$475 billion over the next 10 years.
Some 4.3 million borrowers—any-
one who makes less than roughly
$34,000 a year—won’t have to pay a
penny. A typical graduate with a
Monday, April 15, 2024 | A17
force that could overpower its
neighbors. This failure shakes the
regime’s stability. In conducting this
latest attack, it has shed the last
check on its ambitions. Iran will at-
tack any regional nation anywhere,
without pretense or deniability. The
downside for Iran’s targets is that
once a nation has conducted an at-
tack of this nature, it is politically
easier to do it again.
What’s next? The initiative has
shifted to the Israelis. The gap be-
tween Israeli competence and Ira-
nian aspirations is clear, even to the
Iranians, despite their attempts to
put a brave face on their failure. Is-
rael’s neighbors will certainly see the
effectiveness of its defense. Israel
could unleash a violent and decisive
counterstrike against Iran.
Some are calling for Israel to de-
stroy the Iranian nuclear enterprise.
Now isn’t the time for that. What’s
needed is a carefully calibrated re-
sponse on a scale that reinforces Is-
raeli technical mastery. That would
reset deterrence. Informed observ-
ers, whatever their sympathies, all
know who won this engagement. The
hard part, as always, is translating
battlefield success into lasting policy
advantage and an opportunity for
peace. That’s the task for Israel.
Gen. McKenzie, a retired U.S. Ma-
rine general, served as commander
of U.S. Central Command, 2019-22.
He is executive director of the
Global and National Security Insti-
tute at the University of South Flor-
ida and author of “The Melting
Point: High Command and War in
the 21st Century,” forthcoming in
June.
tained my belief in the importance of
the Strassler Center, which I still ad-
mire. But there is no joy in working
on behalf of those students who
would, with the support of university
leadership, try to silence me in public
rather than engage with me civilly. I
can’t invest my time and efforts to
advance an institution that lacks the
strength of character to protect di-
verse points of view.
I am ready to sign on to a different
cause, one rooted in respect, honest
inquiry and the free exchange of
ideas in the context of civic friend-
ship. I will be joining Assumption
University, where I will help launch
the new Center for Civic Friendship.
To my surprise as both a scholar
and a Jew, I feel a warmer welcome
and more commonality of purpose at
a Catholic institution than at Clark, a
secular one. I find common cause with
Assumption and have chosen to align
myself with its mission to pursue
truth in the company of friends. Its
commitment to a style of learning that
acknowledges and respects different
opinions gives me hope that universi-
ties can lead us toward a better future.
Ms. Rein is founding director of the
Center for Civic Friendship at As-
sumption University.
bachelor’s degree will pay $17,500
less over the life span of his loans,
which will be forgiven after 10 to 20
years no matter how little he pays.
The department’s administrative
actions have resulted in another
roughly $150 billion in loan forgive-
ness for four million borrowers, in-
cluding more than $70,000 for nearly
876,000 “public servants.” “Because
of our reforms, 25,000 people a
month nationwide have been receiv-
ing letters from me” that their debt
“is finally going to be forgiven,” Mr.
Biden boasted last week.
His latest installment of debt “re-
lief” will cost a mere $84 billion, ac-
cording to Penn’s model. The biggest
beneficiaries will be well-off profes-
sionals. An estimated 750,000 bor-
rowers with an average of $312,977
household income will save on aver-
age of $25,541 from a provision that
eliminates debt after 20 years. Do
Harvard law grads really need their
loans forgiven?
And guess who helps lead the de-
partment’s legal team: Toby Merrill,
who founded the Project on Preda-
tory Student Lending at Harvard Law
School. Ms. Merrill wrote a memo to
Ms. Warren in September 2020 argu-
ing that the department has broad
authority under the Higher Education
Act to cancel student debt without
congressional approval.
Never has there been a bigger tax-
payer scam than the federal student-
loan program. Democratic lawmakers
in 2010 took over the loan market
and claimed fictitious savings to fund
ObamaCare. Federal student debt has
since more than doubled to $1.6 tril-
lion and would be even higher but for
the hundreds of billions that have al-
ready been written off.
The student-loan office is the big-
gest government monopoly and pred-
atory lender in U.S. history. It’s also
perhaps the only big business Ms.
Warren doesn’t want to break up.
A18 | Monday, April 15, 2024 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
 BUSINESS & FINANCE
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$240,000 Walmart Manager at Work Franklin

Templeton
A day in the life of a
store chief: walking
As the pair start walking
through the store to review
each section, Hart shouts a
are living in two worlds.”
Hart has seen that change
firsthand. About 20 years ago,
Turns to
20,000 steps in
search of Super Glue
cheery “Good morning!” to
staff as they pass.
Hart is one of Walmart’s
then 19 years old and a
mother of two, she started
part-time at the Walmart she
Private
BY SARAH NASSAUER
4,700 U.S. store managers, an
important linchpin in the re-
tailing giant’s strategy. Wal-
now runs.
“That’s when I realized,
this might not be my favorite
Investing

DESIREE RIOS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

BELLMEAD, Texas—As mart is changing how its job, but I can develop pictures
night fades to day on a recent stores are run by leaning on or manage clothing at Wal- BY MIRIAM GOTTFRIED
morning, Nichole Hart walks managers to use staff to fulfill mart. I can get promoted,”
into the Walmart store she online orders and technology says Hart, now 40 years old Franklin Templeton, long
manages here, just off the to automate some work. Plus and a mother of four. known as a big investor in
freeway a few miles north of there are the classic retail re- Hart became the photo-lab stocks and bonds, has quietly
Waco. sponsibilities of managing department manager, then ran become a major force in pri-
Her overnight manager, Se- hundreds of employees, keep- the apparel section. She was vate markets.
ana Speck, meets her at the ing shelves stocked and cus- promoted to run a store in The 77-year-old asset man-
entrance. “How was the tomers happy. 2018 before she took over the ager made its name marketing
night?” asks Hart. “Rough,” While the demand for Bellmead one in 2021. Now, mutual funds for individual
says Speck. hourly retail workers cooled Nichole Hart, manager of the Walmart in Bellmead, Texas. like many Walmart Supercen- investors. Thanks to a recent
A few people hadn’t shown since the pandemic, finding a ter managers, she oversees spate of acquisitions, it now
up to work. “We got it done store manager that can run a attract more. Some can now han, chief operating officer for hundreds of workers and more manages more than $260 bil-
though,” Speck says, gesturing big-box retailer is a challenge. make more than $400,000 a Walmart U.S. As Walmart than $100 million in annual lion in alternative assets such
to all the products around her Walmart is offering higher year. shifts to automated systems, sales. as private credit.
that was unloaded from deliv- pay, bonuses and more stock “They determine success or managing a store is becoming Last year, she was paid a In just the past five years,
ery trucks overnight. options this year to retain and failure,” says Kieran Shana- more complex, he says, “You Please turn to page B5 Franklin acquired private-
credit manager Benefit Street
Partners; private real-estate

Grown-Ups Are Now a Gold Mine for Lego

investment firm Clarion Part-
ners—as part of a deal for as-
set manager Legg Mason; Lex-
ington Partners, a major
player in the business of buy-
BY TREFOR MOSS ing stakes in private-equity
funds; and European credit
MANCHESTER, England— manager Alcentra. Alterna-
Lego has always been a toy for tives accounted for 18% of as-
children, but try telling that to sets and 25% of management
its legion of adult fans. fees as of the end of last year.
Grown-up builders, often The firm needs to pivot.
rediscovering Lego after what The actively managed funds
aficionados refer to as the that were the bread and but-
“dark age”—the void separat- ter of Franklin and other tra-
ing childhood fandom from its ditional asset managers un-
resumption as an adult—are derperformed the broader
increasingly helping cement market during the recovery
the Danish company’s status from the 2008-09 financial
as the world’s biggest toy crisis and began to lose favor
maker by sales. with investors who gravitated
“We don’t buy every new instead toward cheaper index
set that comes out,” said and exchange-traded funds
Jonny Edmondson, a 38-year- that passively track the mar-
old graphic designer at a mass ket.
gathering of Lego enthusiasts Now Franklin Resources,
CHRISTOPHER NUNN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

in Manchester in February. as the publicly traded parent

“We’ve got to eat.” is known, is grappling with a
Lego has doubled the size of steady stream of outflows
its range targeting people over from its legacy mutual-fund
the age of 18 since the line’s business. Its market capital-
launch in 2020, and has made ization has shrunk to about
a series of ads aimed at older $13 billion from $35 billion a
builders with the slogan decade ago. Its shares were
“Adults Welcome.” down more than 13% so far
The best part from the this year as of Friday, com-
company’s perspective is that pared with a 7.4% gain for the
adults will pay grown-up S&P 500.
prices that kids could only Pharmacist Sian Twynham, at right, working with her husband, Jonathan, said she got into Lego while on maternity leave. Traditional asset managers
dream of. such as Franklin have long
Think $850 Millennium Fal- prompting a shift in strategy. replica with 2,083 pieces and a Annual revenue coveted private equity’s rapid
cons and $680 Titanics. “We decided to focus on 6,167-piece, $500 depiction of growth and rich fee streams,
$10 billion
When Lego first developed adults because we realized Rivendell, the Elvish town but until recently, private-
its plastic bricks in the 1950s, that we had a much bigger op- from “The Lord of the Rings.” Hasbro Mattel Lego
markets firms had little rea-
it had little clue that its color- portunity than we were tap- For many adults, buying 8 son to sell to Franklin or its
ful spaceships, racing cars and ping into,” said Julia Goldin, Lego had previously triggered ilk.
castles would ever appeal to Lego’s chief product and mar- “a kind of embarrassment— That has started to change.
anyone besides children. keting officer. they would go into a store and 6 Slowing inflows from institu-
Over time it noticed that Lego already produced have an imaginary nephew or tions have pushed private-
many former child fans carried some grown-up sets, but they niece they’d buy for,” said Ge- markets firms to tap individ-
their love of Lego into adult- weren’t easy to identify. That nevieve Capa Cruz, Lego’s 4 ual investors, a market that is
hood, becoming what the com- changed in 2020 when it head of adult products. The theoretically vast but that
pany calls AFOLs, or adult fans launched a new 18+ category, new packaging, whose grown- takes major investment, scale
of Lego, while other grown- comprising elaborate and of- up appearance sets the 18+ 2 and a known brand to access.
ups were drawn in by collabo- ten pricey sets in serious-look- products apart from those Hooking up with traditional
rations with franchises such as ing black boxes. The 18+ sets meant for kids, helped over- asset managers, whose pri-
Star Wars. Eventually the com- include the Lego Icons range. come that obstacle, she said. 0 mary client base is retail, of-
pany realized that adults were Among its “advanced builds The timing couldn’t have 2017 ’18 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23 fers a potential solution.
a potentially lucrative audi- designed with adult fans in been better: The 18+ line Note: Data for Lego are converted from Danish kroner “We have a 75-year history
ence in their own right, mind” are a $200 Concorde Please turn to page B2 Sources: S&P Capital IQ (Mattel, Hasbro); Lego Please turn to page B2

GE Sells Its Storied INSIDE Home Solar Gets a ‘Gut Punch’

Crotonville Campus As Consumers Sour on Panels
BY CHIP CUTTER Gibbons, director of economic BY PHRED DVORAK
development in Westchester
For decades, it was the site County, N.Y., where Crotonville When Tom O’Neill first in-
where General Electric manag- sits. stalled solar panels on his
ers arrived for days of lec- A number of corporate gi- home in Northern California in
tures, workshops and strategy ants are now working to shed 2019, he recalls thinking that
sessions on manicured properties once used to train MUSIC the investment returns were
grounds overlooking the Hud- high-performing employees. Taylor Swift plans a decent and “it’s the right thing
son River. 3M is looking for a buyer for a to do” for the environment.
TikTok marketing
SANDY HUFFAKER/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Crotonville, GE’s famed more-than-600-acre retreat Now, the retired informa-

management academy outside center in northern Minnesota campaign despite a tion-technology executive
New York City, is now in new known as Wonewok. Boeing is royalty dispute. B3 would like to get more solar to
hands. selling its nearly 285-acre cover the extra power needed
An entity made up of real- leadership center near St. for an electric vehicle he
estate investors and family of- Louis. would like to buy, but no lon-
fices has purchased the 3M bought the lakeside ger thinks the economics are
PATRICK MCMULLAN/GETTY IMAGES

roughly 60-acre campus for property in the 1950s as a feasible. “I’d really have to
$22 million, according to peo- place “away from the office to sharpen my pencil and do the
ple familiar with the matter share ideas and to dream,” ac- math,” he says. Financing solar has gotten more challenging for homeowners.
and the deed of the sale. It cording to an account in a 3M O’Neill’s about-face, which
will now function as a confer- corporate history book. The is mirrored by households and California encouraged home- very attractive.
ence center able to be booked manufacturer decided to sell small businesses throughout owners and businesses to stick Now financing that invest-
by outside groups. Wonewok as it underwent a the U.S., underscores a chal- solar panels on their roofs and ment has become more chal-
GE’s decision to sell Croton- cost-cutting effort. Land con- lenge in the country’s renew- carports with incentives that lenging for consumers, just as
ville, part of its split into servancies, private individuals, ables market. Even as the na- paid generously for the power some utilities are becoming
three separate companies, resort operators and other BIOTECHNOLOGY tion accelerates its push for those systems sent to the grid. stingier with their payments
represents an end of an era in corporations all have ex- A fund run by Felix clean energy, the market for The idea was that consumers to residential solar owners.
corporate training. pressed interest in buying it, a rooftop solar is shrinking, could offset the cost of most The amount of solar power
“It’s a snapshot of a point person familiar with the mat-
Baker and his brother pummeled by high interest or all of their electric bills, U.S. homeowners install could
in time of how companies ter said. gets windfall after rates, tight credit and cuts to greatly reducing the time it shrink 13% this year, as fore-
used to motivate and reward Boeing’s St. Louis property Pfizer’s Seagen deal. B4 solar incentives. took to break even on their in- cast by the trade group Solar
shining stars,” said Bridget Please turn to page B2 For decades, states such as vestments and making solar Please turn to page B4
 B2 | Monday, April 15, 2024 NY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

INDEX TO BUSINESSES BUSINESS & FINANCE

These indexes cite notable references to most parent companies and businesspeople in
today’s edition. Articles on regional page inserts aren’t cited in these indexes.

A H
Alphabet........................................B4
Apple.................................................B3
B
Blue Owl Capital.....................B3
Boeing...............................................B1
Bushu Pharmaceuticals....B9
Bytedance.....................................A5
C Kokusai Electric.......................B9
Citigroup......................................B10
Cushman & Wakefield.......B3
S
GE Sells
Hanwha Ocean......................B10
Hitachi..............................................B9
J
Salesforce......................................B2
Savills...............................................B3
Shamrock Capital
Crotonville
JPMorgan Chase..................B10
K
Advisors......................................B3
T
Campus
KKR.....................................................B9 3M........................................................B1
Kodiak Sciences.......................B4 Continued from page B1
T. Rowe Price.............................B2
has 14 classrooms, roughly
KPMG...............................................B2
Tesla..................................................B4 200 guest rooms, a dining
TotalEnergies..........................B10 room that can seat about 250
L people, sand volleyball and
U

CROTONVILLE CONFERENCE CENTER (2)

CVC Capital Partners..........B3
Liberty Media ..........................B3 tennis courts, plus 5 miles of
D UBS Group...................................B9 nature trails, among other
M
Deloitte............................................B2
Mercedes-Benz Group.......B4
UnitedHealth Group..........B10 amenities, according to mate-
F Merck ..............................................B4 Universal Music Group.....B3 rials marketing the property.
W There is also a château with a
Franklin Resources................B1 Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.............B10
wood-paneled library and fire-
G P Walmart..........................................B1 places.
GE Aerospace............................B2 Pfizer.................................................B4 Wells Fargo..............................B10 The marketing materials
advertise that the scenic es-
cape overlooking the conflu-
INDEX TO PEOPLE ence of the Missouri, Missis-
sippi and Illinois rivers could
The 60-acre Ossining, N.Y.,
campus had been used to
be redeveloped for a research train generations of GE
A F S facility, a trade school or even managers.
Feer, Jason................................B10 Salsburg, David........................R5 senior housing. Boeing inher-
Askildsen, Tormod.................B2
Flach, Justin................................R5 Santomassimo, Michael B10 ited the property when it ac-
B Serpas, Ronal............................A3 quired rival McDonnell Doug- at one time visited nearly once
G
Shagina, Maria.......................B10 las in 1997. a month, regularly holding
Back, Julie.....................................R1 Goodman, Saul D...................B2
Shanahan, Kieran....................B1 As tech companies have lectures in a sunken audito-
Baker, Julian...............................B4 H shed jobs in recent years and rium known as “The Pit.” Sup-
Siegenthaler, Craig................B2
Barnum, Jeremy...................B10 Hart, Nichole...............................B1 Slok, Torsten..............................A2 focused on efficiency, Sales- pliers and customers mingled
Braun, Scooter..........................B3 Smith, Michael..........................B3 force also cut ties with a 75- over dinners and on walks
K acre wellness retreat, known along gurgling streams. Resi-
Brogan, Gib..................................A3 Spector, Adam..........................B2
Kirste, Eric....................................R5
St. Aubin, James....................A2
as the Trailblazer Ranch, in dence halls scattered across
Burke, Dustin.............................B3 Koltes, Steve..............................B3
Strauss, Robert........................R2
Scotts Valley, Calif., where em- campus held rooms where at-
C M ployees attended training ses- tendees slept.
Swift, Taylor...............................B3
sions and enjoyed activities At its peak, when employ-
Capa Cruz, Genevieve.........B1 Mackenzie, Donald................B3 T such as hiking and yoga. ees visited Crotonville, many
Malone, Janice..........................R5 Taylor, Gary...............................B10 Executives can now easily were often given assignments
Caswell, Marianne.................R2
Coit, Janet....................................A3
O Tzitzouris, Thomas...............A2 train staffers via videoconfer- in advance and a learning
Osborn, Heather......................R5 V ence or through off-site events agenda, with curriculum on Some executives say a dedi- ing, amazing resource for
Cox, Jamie....................................R2
held in hotels or other venues, techniques such as Six Sigma cated place for learning and GE—or it was in the past—to
D P-R Van Rappard, Rolly...............B3
management specialists say. or strategies to improve GE’s gathering still holds appeal. build talent and we see it, too,
Parsons, Leslie..........................A3 W GE in recent years also has operations, said Noel Tichy, a Professional-services firms as a real way to build talent,”
Dabney, Dean............................A3
Ransom, John.........................B10 Watt, Fred....................................B3 emphasized to employees that professor emeritus at the Uni- Deloitte and KPMG have both Knopp said.
Davidson, Keith........................A4 Redfern, Jessica......................A3 Werde, Bill....................................B3 learning should happen closer versity of Michigan who led created large corporate train- Officials in Ossining, N.Y.,
DePersenaire, John..............A3 Russo, Mark................................B3 Wood, Taylor..............................B3 to core operations or at pro- executive training at Croton- ing retreats in recent years as where Crotonville is located,
duction sites, such as on its ville in the mid-1980s. a way to bring employees and had pushed for the GE campus
factory floors. A new-manager starter kit, others together. Deloitte to stay on the tax rolls, a rea-
‘Civil War’ Tops Box Office “I think we’re long past the, given to Crotonville attendees opened Deloitte University in son some locally hoped it
‘I can’t believe you’re going to in the late ’80s, outlines doz- Texas in 2011, while KPMG would remain a commercial
do something with Crotonville’ ens of potential problems for Lakehouse, located outside Or- site and not a nonprofit such
moment,” Larry Culp, who is bosses, such as: “Your budget lando, Fla., opened in early as a school or university.
now the CEO of GE Aero- has been cut, 2020. The Crotonville Conference
space, said in an interview in but the work- KPMG’s fa- Center, as it is now known, is
March. “Don’t for a moment load increases. cility has 800 managed by Pyramid Global
think we are backing away You’ve been 3M and Boeing single-occu- Hospitality. The lecture halls
from investments in the team, told to reduce also aim to shed pancy guest remain, along with amenities
but there are a whole host of staff while rooms and can including two restaurants, a
ways to deliver that content.” maintaining the properties train up to coffee shop, outdoor fireplaces
Culp had visited Crotonville current level of 1,200 people a and an on-site helipad.
during his tenure as CEO of productivity,
once used day. The com- Executives at Pyramid say
GE, but says a big campus but receive no for training. pany uses it for they are already hearing from
didn’t make sense for the advice on how internal learn- clients interested in setting up
newly split-up company. “It’s people are to ing and devel- meetings on the site, given its
A24/EVERETT COLLECTION

beautiful, you would go there keep up.” opment, plus as historical significance.
on vacation. It’s a great gath- What to do? A “Trouble- a way to woo recruits or to “The velvet rope has been
ering spot, a great cultural Shooting Guide” suggests that convene clients and hold con- lifted here,” said Dan Paradiso,
melting pot. But it is one of GE managers conduct brain- ferences, said Paul Knopp, the regional vice president of
those things that each of the storming sessions with staff CEO of KPMG US. He sees par- sales and marketing for Pyra-
three businesses will carry on and allow negative comments, allels in leadership develop- mid. “It has been a birthplace
The A24 film, starring Kirsten Dunst, opened this weekend. in their own way,” Culp said. while focusing on efficiency ment between KPMG’s site in for training and leadership for
GE opened Crotonville in and top priorities, according Florida and GE’s longtime fa- so many years.”
Estimated Box-Office Figures, Through Sunday 1956. The late former CEO to an article in The Wall cility. —Sharon Terlep
Sales, In Millions Jack Welch and other bosses Street Journal in 1987. “Crotonville was an amaz- contributed to this article.
Film Distributor Weekend* Cumulative % Change
1. Civil War A24 $25.7 $25.7 —

2.
Godzilla x Kong:
The New Empire
Warner Bros. $15.5 $157.9 -50 Franklin Franklin Resources
Market capitalization
over the past 10 years
Share price, year to date
bought investment firm Win-
field & Co. in 1973, L.F. Roth-
schild Fund Management in
3.
Ghostbusters:
Frozen Empire
Sony

4. Kung Fu Panda 4 Universal

$5.8

$5.5
$97.0

$173.7
-36

-29
Templeton $35 billion $30

Friday
1988 and Templeton, Galbraith
& Hansberger in 1992, among
other deals.
5. Dune: Part Two Warner Bros.
*Friday, Saturday and Sunday in North American theaters
$4.3 $272.1 -42
Source: Comscore
In Shift 30
29

28
$25.41
Now based in San Mateo,
Calif., Franklin manages about
$1.6 trillion in assets. It has
been run by Rupert’s grand-
Continued from page B1 daughter, Jenny Johnson,
27

Lego sure on the company to keep

the free-spending grown-up
cohort engaged.
of serving retail investors,”
said Adam Spector, head of
global distribution at Franklin.
25
26
since 2020. The Johnson fam-
ily and other insiders own
roughly 40% of its stock.

Cashes In The toy’s popularity among

adults has been aided by real-
ity-TV show “Lego Masters,” a
“To be successful, you need
world-class investment exper-
tise, massive investment in
20
25
Jan. 2024 Feb. March April
Franklin has a sales force of
more than 350 people who
regularly meet with financial

On Adults Lego-backed series in which

contestants tackle building
challenges, and 2014’s “The
distribution and the commit-
ment to long-range training
and education that doesn’t 15
advisers and talk to them
about their clients’ needs. If
an adviser has a question
Lego Movie.” Both have helped have an immediate financial about private-markets offer-
Continued from page B1 normalize Lego as an activity payoff.” ings from Clarion or Benefit
landed just as millions of peo- for grown-ups. Major strategy shifts such Street, a member of a 50-per-
ple, trapped at home by “Nowadays it’s not so as this are hard to pull off and 10 son group of alternative-asset
Covid-19 lockdowns, were geeky,” said adult fan Sian Tw- Franklin has a big hole to dig specialists weighs in.
Friday
looking for a hobby to alleviate ynham, who got into Lego out of. What’s more, mergers In one sign that Franklin is
the boredom. Sales of adult while she was on maternity among asset managers are no- $13.4B having some success with the
sets boomed. leave from her job as a phar- toriously tricky because of the 5 strategy, Lexington Partners
By 2021, grown-ups buying macist in the central English potential for a culture clash in January said it closed its
for themselves constituted town of Market Harborough. that could result in the depar- flagship fund at $22.7 billion,
one-fifth of Lego’s sales, up “You can have a set on your ture of investment profession- up from $14 billion for its
0 Weekly
from 5% five years earlier, Tor- coffee table and no one would als and clients. 2020 predecessor, making it
mod Askildsen, then Lego’s bat an eyelid.” Her daughter, “If these traditionals can 2015 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23 ’24 one of the biggest funds of its
head of AFOL engagement, now eight years old, also has maintain the cultures and the Source: FactSet kind ever raised. About 20% of
said at the time. Lego declined become a Lego enthusiast. strong track record that these the capital in the new fund
to disclose current sales fig- Movie tie-ups are popular firms had before they ac- wealth advisers at a place been a traditional asset man- came from wealthy individu-
ures but said sales of adult with older builders. Besides quired them, they’ll be suc- such as Morgan Stanley or ager. als, Franklin said.
sets had continued to grow Star Wars and Marvel sets, the cessful,” said Craig Siegentha- their private-credit product to About 80% of the deals
since the pandemic, and that it adult Lego lineup includes the ler, an analyst at Bank of become the favored option for have been either in credit,
plans to further expand the DeLorean from “Back to the America who covers asset an independent financial ad- secondary fund stakes or in-
range. Future,” the white Cadillac managers. “If you have a pe- viser. frastructure, which are seen
Lego has 142 sets designed from “Ghostbusters” and the riod where key talent leaves, Franklin isn’t alone among as growth sectors and well-
for grown-ups, out of 926 sets Ornithopter from “Dune.” there could be a problem.” traditional asset managers in suited for retail, said Saul D. NOTICE OF POSTPONATION -
INTERNATIONAL ELECTRONIC COMPETITION
currently available on its U.S. Adults also gravitate toward The biggest private-equity using dealmaking to push into Goodman, Evercore’s global o
N . 20230001 - ORIGINATING FROM SETUR -
website. Of the 42 Lego sets art, architecture, nature and firms such as Blackstone, private markets. T. Rowe head of alternative asset man- PROCESS No. 08579549/2023 -
COMPRASNET NUMBER: 90002/2024
now on sale that cost $300 or nostalgia, said Capa Cruz. Apollo Global Management Price bought private-credit agement, who has advised on The Secretariat of the Civil House makes public
more, all but two are for Lego recently added working and KKR, whose shares have manager Oak Hill Advisors in a number of recent deals. the REMARKATION of the INTERNATIONAL
ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE No. 20230001 of
adults. replicas of an old Pac-Man ar- vastly outperformed those of 2021 and in October launched But few have been more ac- interest to Tourism Secretariat - SETUR,whose
Sales to adults have helped cade game and a Polaroid cam- the traditional managers, have a credit fund aimed at individ- quisitive than Franklin, which OBJECT is: hiring a company to carry out
services for the implementation of the water
drive up Lego’s revenue, which era to its 18+ range, for exam- spent big to build their own ual investors. BlackRock now regularly gets inbound supply, sewage and drainage system in the
has more than doubled over ple, alongside a 2,316-brick connections to individual in- agreed in January to buy calls from firms looking to town of Preá in the municipality of Cruz, with
the supply of materials and equipment, duly
the past decade to hit $9.7 bil- rendition of Van Gogh’s paint- vestors. They have hired hun- Global Infrastructure Partners sell, Spector said. Franklin specified in Annex A - Term of Reference,
lion last year. Lego Icons was ing “The Starry Night” and a dreds to pitch their private- for $12.5 billion. While it promises firms it acquires in- according to the specifications contained in the
Notice and its Annexes. REASON: Failures in
one of its star properties in $160 replica of Japan’s Himeji wealth products to financial hasn’t detailed plans to offer dependence, capital to help Publication of the Bidding Notice in the DOE /
2023, the company said last Castle. advisers and launched their GIP products to individual in- them seed new strategies and DOU and in LOCAL / NATIONAL and
INTERNATIONAL NEWSPAPERS. RECEIPT OF
month. own “universities” aimed at vestors, analysts see that as funds, back-office support and VIRTUAL PROPOSALS: At
Lego’s growth did slow last training advisers and have inevitable. a public currency to give their www.comprasnet.gov.br, through Nº
year, though, with sales rising Watch a Video been spending more on mar- There have been 36 sizable owners liquidity. 90002/2024, until 7/22/2024, at 9am
(Brasília–DF Time). OBTAIN THE NOTICE: At
2%—its weakest performance Scan this code keting and advertising. deals for private-markets Founded in New York in the email address above or on the website
www.seplag.ce.gov.br. STATE ATTORNEY
in years—amid a slump in for a video on The challenge is getting managers since 2021, accord- 1947 by Rupert H. Johnson Sr., GENERAL – Ceará State Tenders Center –
global toy sales. That makes how Lego built their real-estate fund to be- ing to data from investment the company has been some- Central Contracting Commission - CCC, in
Fortaleza, April 10, 2024. Maria Betânia Saboia
its adult customers even more a media empire come one of the few preferred bank Evercore. In just under a thing of a serial acquirer since Costa - Vice President of CCC
valuable, while raising pres- beyond bricks. offerings for the private- third of those, the buyer has it went public in 1971. It
 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. * * Monday, April 15, 2024 | B3

BUSINESS NEWS

Swift Puts Music Back on TikTok CVC’s IPO Targets

Despite Resistance From Her Label Value of $16 Billion
BY BEN DUMMETT time partners Rob Lucas, the
BY ANNE STEELE firm’s chief executive, and
Global buyout firm CVC Chief Financial Officer Fred
In the battle between Uni- Capital Partners is set to kick Watt.
versal Music Group and Tik- off a planned Amsterdam Van Rappard, Donald Mack-
Tok, it may be Taylor Swift share sale Monday, targeting a enzie, Steve Koltes and Mi-
who has the most leverage. valuation of up to $16 billion chael Smith co-founded the
At a recent meeting with re- in the latest sign of a pickup business as an arm of Citi-
cord label executives ahead of in initial public offerings. group more than 40 years ago,
the debut of “The Tortured Po- CVC is looking for a valua- helping spearhead the devel-
ets Department,” Swift’s camp tion of about €13 billion to €15 opment of European private
shared plans to promote the billion, people familiar with equity.
new album on platforms in- the matter said, or the equiva- The partners spun out the
cluding TikTok, according to lent of $13.8 billion to $16 bil- business, originally known as
DAVID GRAY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

people familiar with the mat- lion. It aims to raise more Citicorp Venture Capital, in
ter. Label executives were sur- than €1 billion by selling stock the early 1990s as an indepen-
prised. from existing shareholders dent buyout shop. It has since
Months earlier, the label had and issuing new shares, as- grown into an investment gi-
pulled from TikTok a trove of suming the offering is ant with 29 offices around the
Swift’s songs such as “Cruel launched as planned, some of world.
Summer” and “Shake It Off,” as the people said. Mackenzie stepped back
well as works by its other art- The firm pulled a previous from an active role in Febru-
ists as part of a continuing dis- IPO attempt in November, as ary. Smith retired in 2013
pute over what the platform the outbreak of war in the while Koltes did the same in
pays in royalties. Middle East weighed on an al- 2022.
Initially, Swift’s team was on ready jittery market. Condi- CVC’s long-term investors
board and her music came Universal Music Group had pulled music by Taylor Swift and others from the platform. tions have since improved, include the Kuwait Invest-
down, but her fans have grown with rallying stock markets ment Authority and Singa-
frustrated as time passed. Plus, ists is saying, ‘No, I want to be Before going public in Janu- tal Advisors, which bought helping fuel a rebound in new pore’s GIC. More recently, the
Swift is preparing to release back on the platform,’ it’s very ary with a letter telling artists them from music executive listings in Europe and the U.S. New York-based alternative-
the new album on April 19. The damning to Universal’s argu- it would be removing their mu- Scooter Braun in 2020. CVC oversees about €186 asset manager Blue Owl Capi-
star put her work back on Tik- ment,” he said. sic from TikTok, Universal Since then, Swift has been billion in investments, span- tal bought a minority stake in
Tok. Universal has presented its made managers for some of its rerecording the albums from ning private equity, credit and 2021. That deal valued CVC at
The defection by the label’s battle with TikTok as existen- top acts—including Swift— her early catalog to create ver- infrastructure. It has forged a $11 billion, or $15 billion in-
biggest star casts doubt on tial to artists and one that will aware of its plans, the people sions she owns. Songs from the particularly high profile in cluding debt and a portion of
how much leverage Universal shape the future of the music said. The planned TikTok cam- re-recordings, as well as new sports-related deals. In 2016, gains from CVC holdings that
now holds in its dispute with business. Several artists, indus- paign made it clear to Univer- albums recorded under con- a CVC-led group sold the For- public investors wouldn’t typ-
TikTok, and whether other art- try and independent music or- sal that Swift would be rejoin- tract with Universal—“Lover,” mula One motor-sport fran- ically receive, said a person
ists might follow Swift’s lead. ganizations have come out in ing her fans on the platform. “Folklore,” “Evermore,” and chise to John Malone’s Lib- familiar with the matter. That
TikTok and Universal are public support of Universal’s Universal asked Swift’s “Midnights”—are returning to erty Media for $4.4 billion. sets a benchmark valuation to
feuding over how much the stances that the social-media camp to reconsider. Over more TikTok. Current sports holdings in- measure the success of the
platform should pay Universal platform should pay more and than a week of discussions, the In the weeks since Universal clude investments in the Six IPO.
to make its vast catalog of offer assurances around its use label reiterated its position, pulled its catalog, TikTok has Nations Rugby tournament The firm’s recent track re-
songs available to one billion- of artificial intelligence. laying out why it was holding made some overtures to restart and the Women’s Tennis As- cord amassing ever-bigger
plus social-media users world- Swift’s departure from her firm on its stance, why it felt it negotiations, but the compa- sociation, according to its funds is one reason the IPO is
wide, as well as platform safety label has surprised some indus- was important for the industry nies remain in a stalemate. website. expected to attract investors.
and AI issues. The spat is test- try observers. She is widely and what is at stake. Meanwhile, both sides have For Luxembourg-based Last year, CVC raised €26 bil-
ing the value of the song snip- recognized for using her star Swift’s camp didn’t budge. said the boycott isn’t harming CVC, a listing would offer the lion, then valued at the equiv-
pet in the social-media age and power as leverage to advocate Neither did Universal. The star their business. firm’s partners and other alent of $28.8 billion, for the
is a showdown that will deter- for the broader artist commu- didn’t need permission to re- While TikTok has said it shareholders the chance to re- biggest-ever private-equity
mine who has the most power nity. turn to TikTok. Acts of her hasn’t seen a decline in en- alize gains on their holdings, fund.
as listeners increasingly find In 2015, she wrote an open stature have more-flexible gagement or lost users due to while raising the alternative- Public investors value
and consume music on plat- letter to Apple, explaining she deals, and Swift’s agreement Universal removing its catalog, asset manager’s profile to listed PE firms on their ability
forms like TikTok. would hold back her album with Universal allowed her to before the standoff, the app support future fundraising. to grow assets, because of the
“Universal can’t claim “1989” from its streaming ser- strike a direct agreement with was already facing stagnating The buyout firm also would steady and growing fees this
they’re winning a fight Taylor vice because the company TikTok. user growth for the first time gain a currency to grow faster business generates. Perfor-
doesn’t want a part of,” said wouldn’t compensate musi- Her arrangement also gives in its history, the Journal has through acquisitions, which mance income, from selling
Bill Werde, director of Syracuse cians and songwriters for the her full ownership and control reported. Universal has said could broaden its reach and investments at a profit, is an-
University’s music business free three-month trial period over any music she records streaming of its artists’ music help it expand geographically. other source of earnings, but
program. “The fact that this offered to Apple Music custom- during her contract. Swift’s globally hasn’t been affected. Leading CVC’s IPO effort is less highly valued by the
all-powerful artist who has this ers. Apple reversed course and older recordings remain under —Georgia Wells are the firm’s co-chairman market because it is more vol-
track record of fighting for art- said it would pay artists. the control of Shamrock Capi- contributed to this article. Rolly Van Rappard, and long- atile.
KYLE GRILLOT/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Asking rents in California’s Inland Empire fell 2.7% in the first quarter from the previous one

Warehouse Rents Decline

Amid Weaker Demand
BY LIZ YOUNG Wakefield and Savills. The rate remains low by his-
The average asking rent for torical standards but is up sig-
Taylor Wood says bargain- industrial real estate in the nificantly from a nationwide
ing with warehouse owners first quarter stayed flat at 3% in late 2022.
for storage space is far differ- $9.73 per square foot per year, Demand for storage space
ent than during the pandemic, the first time in four years it skyrocketed in 2020 as compa-
when demand for industrial didn’t increase on a quarterly nies raced to position goods
space was red hot. basis, according to Cushman. for rapid delivery to homes.
“I’ve never seen a market Asking rents in California’s But in mid-2022, companies
like that, where we were basi- Inland Empire, the sprawling began pulling back on inven-
cally scratching and clawing industrial hub east of the tory restocking, and now they
for every building,” said Wood, ports of Los Angeles and Long are delaying decisions to lease
a broker at real-estate services Beach, fell 2.7% in the first distribution centers amid high
firm Savills. “There were five quarter from the previous interest rates and an uncertain
offers on every building.” quarter, according to Savills. retail economy, said Dustin
Now, Wood sees signs rents Mark Russo, head of indus- Burke, leader of the supply-
are flattening nationwide and trial research at Savills, said chain practice at consulting
even ticking down in some lo- the effective rent tenants are firm Boston Consulting Group.
gistics-heavy markets like paying in the Inland Empire is Warehouse rents remain
Southern California that were below the advertised asking well above prepandemic levels.
effectively sold out for years. price as more warehouse own- Average asking rent across the
Warehouse owners remain ers offer discounts such as U.S. in the first quarter was up
wary about publicizing lower months of free rent. 53% compared with the first
rents, but there are more deals More deals have emerged quarter of 2020, according to
to be had and concessions be- as more warehouse space be- Cushman.
ing offered, he said. came available over the past New capacity coming on-
“We’ve got these delayed year, a dramatic change from line, much of it planned when
start dates, we’ve got excess the height of the pandemic. demand was still strong, is
free rent, we’ve got more ten- The pressure on retailers, helping push prices down.
ant improvement moneys,” manufacturers and logistics Approximately 115 million
Wood said. companies to grab available square feet of newly con-
Rents are even falling in space “is gone for the most structed space became avail-
some markets as the urgency part,” Russo said. able in the first quarter, far
to find space and stock up on The average warehouse va- above the 10-year average of
inventory recedes, and leasing cancy rate across the U.S. 42 million square feet com-
rates are plateauing, according climbed to 5.8% in the first pleted per quarter from 2010
to reports from real-estate quarter from 5.2% the previous through 2019, according to
services firms Cushman & period, according to Cushman. Cushman.
B4 | Monday, April 15, 2024
Musk’s Driverless Car Faces Key Hurdle
E
lon Musk is at it
again, promising
new developments
with Tesla’s robo-
taxi.
For almost a decade, the
chief executive has been tell-
ing customers and investors
that the maker of electric
cars is on the cusp of achiev-
ing fully driverless cars. Yet
nothing. So, is this time any
different?
Investors are grappling
with understanding what is
aspirational and what is at-
present as Musk teases plans
to reveal Tesla’s long-prom-
ised robotaxi in August. His
announcement came after a
Reuters report that he was
giving priority to work on
the robotaxi over develop-
ment of the company’s low-
price consumer car intended
for human drivers.
An autonomous car is
complicated technology, to
say the least. But there is a
way we can know that he re-
ally stands behind it as
ready: when Tesla takes lia-
bility for crashes that occur
under its vehicles’ control.
Or, put another way, when
Musk is willing to put his
money on the line with our
safety.
That should be the red
line. Otherwise, it is just glo-
rified cruise control.
“Unless Tesla says humans
do not have to pay attention
and humans are not driving
and humans are not respon-
sible for what happens when
they’re not driving and when
they’re not paying attention,
then Tesla does not have
self-driving,” said Bryant
Walker Smith, an expert in
laws around automated driv-
ing at the University of
South Carolina law school.
Home Solar
Receives a
‘Gut Punch’
Continued from page B1
Energy Industries Association
and consulting firm Wood
Mackenzie. More than 100 so-
lar contractors have already
gone out of business during
the past year as demand dried
up, according to data tracked
by Solar Insure, a company
that monitors residential solar
installations and helps fix
problems.
The decline is led by Cali-
fornia, which has some of the
country’s most ambitious
clean-energy targets and more
solar panels on homes than
any other state. The state ac-
counts for 37% of the country’s
residential market, according
to SEIA and Wood Mackenzie.
The state has installed so
many panels that it has a glut
of solar power during the day.
Last year, California imple-
Brothers’ Big Biotech Bet Nets an $8 Billion Payout
BY PETER RUDEGEAIR
AND JONATHAN D. ROCKOFF
A two-decade bet on a bio-
technology company turned
into a roughly $8 billion
windfall for investors in a
New York hedge fund earlier
this year.
Baker Bros. Advisors, a
hedge-fund firm run by broth-
ers Felix Baker and Julian
Baker, had in 2003 invested in
Seagen, a developer of next-
generation cancer treatments.
Pfizer bought the company
for $43 billion last year.
The firm held a nearly 25%
stake in Seagen and reaped
about $10 billion in proceeds
when the acquisition closed in
December.
It gave back most of that to
its investors earlier this year,
people familiar with the mat-
ter said, in what was one of
the industry’s largest yet re-
turns of capital.
Big-ticket takeovers and
scientific advances like gene
editing helped make biotech
investing a hot hedge-fund
strategy last year. A health-
care stock-picking index
gained 13.3% in 2023, accord-
ing to hedge-fund research
firm PivotalPath, outpacing
the 7.6% rise in a broader in-
dustry index. Baker Bros.’
Tesla shares are down 31% this year on disappointing deliveries and growth concerns.
It can be hard to make
sense of all the different de-
velopments around Tesla and
Musk’s autonomous-driving
ambitions.
I
n addition to promising a
robotaxi this summer, the
billionaire has been ag-
gressively pushing the auto-
maker’s driver-assistance
system on new Tesla buyers
while also defending against
litigation that it doesn’t
work as promoted.
Despite Musk’s having
predicted he would have one
million robotaxis on the
roadways in 2020, Tesla has
yet to launch a vehicle that
doesn’t require a driver to
monitor its operation.
Waymo, Alphabet’s driv-
erless-car unit with vehicles
transporting passengers
around select cities without
anyone sitting behind the
wheel, is responsible for the
liability in a crash. German
automaker Mercedes-Benz,
mented new rules that cut the
amount of compensation most
rooftop solar owners get for
the electricity they send to the
grid by 75% or more to man-
age the oversupply and soar-
ing costs for upgrading the
grid.
Residential solar sales have
dropped to one-quarter of
what they were a year ago,
and more than one-fifth of the
state’s solar contractors have
been laid off, according to
some estimates.
“It was like getting a gut
punch,” says Carlos Beccar,
MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES
marketing director of Fresno-
based Energy Concepts, a solar
installer that had to lay off
more than half its 75 employ-
ees after sales plummeted as
much as 90% following the
new rules.
“California has done more
for the solar industry than any
other state in the nation,” said
a spokesperson for the Califor-
nia Public Utilities Commis-
sion, a regulator. “Now, we’re
focused on modernizing pro-
grams and policies to promote
solar and battery storage,
strengthen grid reliability, and
curb electricity costs for all
flagship fund gained roughly
19% in 2023, some of the peo-
ple said.
The Bakers, known for be-
ing intensely private, are a
throwback to a leaner, free-
wheeling style of hedge-fund
investing. While today’s most
sought-after hedge funds
divvy money up across battal-
ions of traders, Baker Bros.
employed around 18 invest-
ment professionals to manage
about $22 billion in assets at
the end of 2023, regulatory
filings show.
Other hedge-fund chiefs
minimize risk by avoiding
concentrated bets. At Baker
Bros., Seagen accounted for
about half of the value of its
publicly disclosed stockhold-
ings at the end of September.
That approach often comes
with volatility, especially in a
boom-or-bust sector like bio-
tech. Baker Bros.’s flagship
fund was down about 19% in
2022 and down about 25% in
2021, the people said. The
share price of Kodiak Sci-
ences, a maker of eye drugs
in which the Bakers have a
sizable stake, went from $10
at its 2018 IPO to a record of
$164 in 2021. It has recently
been trading under $5.
Each of the Baker brothers
is estimated to have a net
TECHNOLOGY
too, has said it is responsible
for its limited-autonomous
vehicles, owned by custom-
ers, when those vehicles are
driving themselves.
For Tesla, the automaker’s
driver-assistance system
FSD, or Full Self-Driving, is a
building block to an autono-
mous car.
Musk has suggested Tesla
will someday essentially be
able to flip a switch, sending
out software updates to its
cars that enable them to
drive themselves. Theoreti-
cally, Model 3 sedans and
Model Y sport-utility vehi-
cles as well as Tesla’s next-
generation lower-cost vehicle
will be able to be deployed
as on-demand taxis.
“You will also be able to
add your car to the Tesla
shared fleet just by tapping a
button on the Tesla phone
app and have it generate in-
come for you while you’re at
work or on vacation, signifi-
cantly offsetting and at times
California has installed so many panels that it has a glut of solar power during the day.
Californians.”
Solar homeowners still save
as much or more on their util-
ity bills now as they did in
2019, under previous rules, ac-
cording to a study from the
University of California, Berke-
ley, because electricity rates
have gone up so much during
the past few years.
Seagen share price, quarterly
$300
200
100
0 0
2005 ’10 ’15
Hedge-fund returns in 2023
PivotalPath
Composite Index
PivotalPath
Healthcare
Equity Index
Baker Bros.’s
Flagship Fund*
0%
*Return is approximate.
Sources: PivotalPath, WSJ reporting (hedge-fund returns); FactSet (price); S&P Capital IQ (stake)
worth of $2.8 billion, accord-
ing to Forbes.
Seagen, previously known
as Seattle Genetics, went pub-
lic a year after Baker Bros.’s
TIM HIGGINS
potentially exceeding the
monthly loan or lease cost,”
Musk wrote in his master
plan for the company in 2016
that laid out his vision for
autonomous vehicles.
L
ast year, Musk justified
cutting car prices to
help boost sales on the
gamble that Tesla would be
more profitable in the future
with a larger fleet of robot
vehicles running its yet-re-
leased autonomous soft-
ware.
On social-media platform
X, Musk recently amplified a
Tesla investor theorizing
that the newest version of
FSD was giving Tesla re-
newed confidence that its
driverless car ambitions
were on the right path.
“Maybe Elon and the team
have been so impressed with
how good FSD 12 has per-
formed and were maybe
thinking they should be
shifting even more resources
California’s experience
could foreshadow what the
rest of the country will face as
it deals with rising costs of
grid and transmission up-
grades along with higher lev-
els of solar, which only pro-
duces energy during the day.
The state’s utility compa-
nies are increasing rates fast
Percentage of Seagen stock
owned by Baker Bros.
30%
20
10
’20 2005 ’10 ’15
5 10 15
founding. The company pio-
neered a kind of next-genera-
tion chemotherapy called an-
tibody drug conjugates, or
ADCs. Chemotherapy patients
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
to the Robotaxi/FSD effort,”
Sawyer Merritt, the Tesla in-
vestor, concluded.
Tesla shares are down 31%
this year through Friday on
disappointing deliveries and
concerns that the company’s
meteoric growth is tapering
off.
S
ome investors have
been frustrated that the
latest version of the
drivers-assistance system,
known as FSD v12, hasn’t
generated more enthusiasm
for Tesla’s stock, arguing it
MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS
should be adopted enthusias-
tically by more owners and
generate new revenue.
The FSD upgrade to Auto-
pilot, which the company
says enables the vehicle “to
drive itself almost anywhere
with minimal driver inter-
vention,” is $12,000 up front
or $99 a month as a sub-
scription. The monthly fee
was lowered this past week
from $199.
Yet FSD isn’t as its name
implies—even Tesla tells us-
ers they are responsible for
their vehicles and to main-
tain attention.
Essentially, if you get into
a crash, Tesla points to you
as the driver. “Full Self-Driv-
ing features require active
driver supervision and do
not make the vehicle autono-
mous,” Tesla says on its
website.
Most car companies offer
their own version of driver-
assistance systems.
For Tesla to see a greater
share of buyers upgrading to
FSD, the company would
need to tell buyers “FSD
drives itself and they can
spend time sleeping, reading,
playing videos instead,” Gary
Black, a Tesla investor,
as they look for money to bulk
up the power grid as well as
bolster it against wildfires.
Rooftop solar owners weren’t
paying enough toward such
costs, the companies claim—
an argument that many con-
sumer advocates dispute.
At the same time, Califor-
nia’s solar growth is outpacing
usually endure brutal side ef-
fects because the drug kills
both cancer and healthy cells.
ADCs promised a more tar-
geted attack.
In 2003, Baker Bros.
bought around $16 million of
Seagen preferred stock, which
helped fund clinical trials.
That stock was convertible
into 10 times as many com-
mon shares at a price of $2.50
apiece. Felix joined the com-
pany’s board. The firm loaded
up on Seagen stock in the en-
suing years, at one point own-
’20 ing almost one-third of the
company.
Baker Bros. stuck with Sea-
gen as it worked out the ADC
technology kinks. It also stuck
around in 2022 when prose-
cutors investigated Seagen
co-founder Clay Siegall for
domestic violence, allegations
he denied. (Prosecutors de-
clined to charge him.) Felix
assumed the role of board
chairman upon Siegall’s res-
ignation.
20 By then, ADCs were becom-
ing one of the hottest new
categories in the cancer-drugs
market. The drugs will ac-
count for $31 billion of the
$375 billion market in 2028,
pharmaceutical-market re-
search firm Evaluate has esti-
mated.
WSJ.com/Tech
tweeted. “To do that [Tesla]
would have to shift the liabil-
ity from the driver to the
manufacturer, as Waymo has
done.”
T
he limits of Tesla’s
driver-assistance sys-
tem have been on dis-
play amid litigation against
the company. Tesla settled a
high-profile lawsuit this past
week brought by the family
of a California man who died
in 2018 while using Autopi-
lot.
Mercedes-Benz in some
parts of the U.S. offers an au-
tomated-driving feature that
can control the car in certain
situations, allowing the user
to watch videos or read
emails. But it can’t handle all
conditions, meaning the user
can’t sleep and has to be
ready to take over if needed.
“Where you really need to
draw a line is whether the
responsibility resides with
the driver or if the responsi-
bility resides with the car,”
Ola Källenius, Mercedes’s
CEO, told analysts. “That is a
fundamental dividing line
technologically, safety-wise,
and also from a product lia-
bility point of view.”
When asked if Tesla would
take liability like Mercedes,
Musk last year brushed aside
the question, and instead re-
ferred to a string of lawsuits
Tesla faces over its driver-as-
sistance system from cus-
tomers.
“There’s a lot of people
that assume we have legal li-
ability—judging by the law-
suits,” Musk told analysts in
October during a public earn-
ings call. “We’re certainly not
being let off the hook on that
front, whether we’d like to or
wouldn’t like to.”
the ability of its grid to handle
it. The state already supplies
more than one-third of its
power with renewables, and it
plans to raise that ratio to 60%
by 2030. But because the
state’s grid can’t absorb all the
solar power generated during
the day, it ends up throwing
increasing amounts of it away
or curtailing it.
Part of the rationale behind
the state’s new solar billing
rules is to encourage house-
holds to buy batteries, which
can store power for use later.
Other states also could re-
duce incentives for rooftop so-
lar as the amounts installed
rise, says Timothy Fox, a man-
aging director at Washington,
D.C.-based research firm
ClearView Energy Partners.
Not all of the outlook for
solar is gloomy. Utilities and
other large-scale power devel-
opers deployed a record
amount of solar in 2023, and
are expected to add another
26% in capacity this year. The
U.S. government is offering tax
credits of up to 30% of the
cost of home solar, making
clean energy affordable for
some households.
Felix was soon leading ne-
gotiations to sell Seagen, a
person familiar with the mat-
ter said. Discussions with
Merck about a sale in 2022
broke down. Pfizer Chief Ex-
ecutive Albert Bourla sent Fe-
lix a note asking to talk after
the J.P. Morgan Healthcare
Conference in January 2023.
A few months later, the com-
panies unveiled their $43 bil-
lion deal.
Investors including Baker
Bros. received $229 in cash
for each Seagen share. The
firm gave most of its haul
back to investors because it
didn’t see enough opportuni-
ties to deploy all that money
at once, a person familiar
with its thinking said.
It is rare for a hedge fund
that isn’t winding down to
volunteer to shrink itself so
much, said Jon Caplis, Pivot-
alPath’s CEO. Other recent ex-
amples come from much
larger firms: Citadel distrib-
uted about $8.5 billion to in-
vestors after a record 2022,
and Viking Global Investors
gave back $8 billion in 2017.
Baker Bros.’ investors have
included college endowments
like those of Yale and Prince-
ton and pension funds like the
Teacher Retirement System of
Texas.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. * * * * Monday, April 15, 2024 | B5

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Walmart solar-eclipse glasses and T-

shirts stocked near the front
of the store because Bellmead
take a dive into each area of
the store, using internal data
calculated by headquarters to

Manager is near prime eclipse-viewing

territory.
gauge where they have enough
staff and where they need
more. Before the store hires

At Work 7:35 a.m. Second tour

Hart starts her second lap
new workers, Hart tries to fill
holes with existing staff.

DESIREE RIOS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Continued from page B1
$119,000 salary and a roughly
$120,000 bonus.
“The hardest thing is the
uncertainty,” she says. “You
don’t know what you are go-
ing to walk into.”
6:55 a.m. First tour
Hart starts her first lap
around the store. Speck, the
overnight manager, gives a
high-level update on overnight
stocking and staffing levels.
Hart scans for problems.
Hart snaps pictures of a
messy sink in the back deli
area, uploads it to the internal
app that workers have on
their phones, and asks for it to
be cleaned up. Hart and Speck
use the app to relay what
work needs to be done as they
walk the store, which is bigger
than three football fields.
Speck is one of 10 mid-level
managers called coaches that
Hart relies on for day-to-day
operations. Hart works in the
store from about 7 a.m. to 5
p.m. except for Tuesdays,
when she works noon to 10
p.m. to have time with her
night staff.
Hart is excited about the
Borrowing Benchmarks | wsj.com/market-data/bonds/benchmarks
Money Rates
Key annual interest rates paid to borrow or lend money in U.S. and international markets. Rates below are a
guide to general levels but don’t always represent actual transactions.
Inflation
March index
level
U.S. consumer price index
All items 312.332
Core 317.088
International rates
Week
Latest ago
Prime rates
U.S.
Canada
8.50 8.50 8.50 8.00
7.20 7.20 7.20 6.70
Japan 1.475 1.475 1.475 1.475
Policy Rates
Euro zone 4.50 4.50
Switzerland 2.00 2.00
Britain 5.25 5.25
Australia 4.35 4.35
Overnight repurchase
U.S. 5.38 5.37
U.S. government rates
Discount
5.50 5.50
around the store, this time
with her day manager, Alicia 2:30 p.m. Evening prep
Wright, who has worked with Hart goes to the loading
Walmart for 13 years. dock to check on the surprise
This tour will include walk- truck that is being unloaded,
ing every aisle with shopping before swinging back to the
carts, filling them with prod- grocery section.
ucts left where they don’t be- Around 3 p.m. she and
long and watching out for any other team members head to
surprising out-of-stock items the front area for a moment
and what Walmart calls “Nil that Walmart calls “Alive @
Picks.” That’s when a store In the breakroom, Michael Cole, center, leads the staff in the daily Walmart Cheer. 5,” to make sure important
worker who collects goods for items like bread, produce and
online orders, a “picker,” finds plemented last year. different customers we disap- rotisserie chicken are well
an item out-of-stock even It’s nice for sensory-sensi- 9:35 a.m. Meeting point,” says Cobbs. “You need to stocked for the evening, the
though the computer system tive shoppers, says Hart, but Hart highlights the previous find someone to go on a busiest time in the store.
says it is available. for busy minds like herself, day’s big sales increase com- search,” she tells Hart. “The store needs to look
It is Hart’s job to make sure “it’s just awkward silence for pared with the same day last Near the entrance Cobbs just as good for evening shop-
Nil Picks are investigated and two hours straight.” year. The store is now hitting says she wants the store to pers as it does in the morn-
to correct the internal system its monthly sales goal, which is stock summer toys, not allergy ing,” says Hart.
so more items are ordered. determined by headquarters. medicine, as planned. She says She heads to the back, the
They next head to prime 9:11 a.m. Inventory “Congratulations!” says Hart. it will look better and more sea- online-order hub of the store.
display space near the store Hart finishes her second Workers cheer. “So keep doing sonally appropriate. Orders are coming in and
entrance. It is filled with flu tour through the store, having what we are doing.” brought to shoppers curbside,
and cold medicine. Toys will collected three carts of detri- A coach reminds workers as well as handed off to deliv-
look better in the entrance tus and misplaced items. that shoppers are getting tax 11:28 a.m. Office time ery drivers from the area.
area, but switching to allergy For the first time that refunds this week and to make Hart returns to her office to
medicine will make more morning, she heads to her of- sure all items are on the sales check on freight and labor
money because those items fice in the back to check on in- floor to be sold. “Don’t miss the needs for the evening. She 4:00 p.m. Recap
are higher margin, says Hart. ventory and customer-satisfac- boat,” he says. walks 8 to 10 miles a day, about Hart meets with her
tion data on her computer. The To end the meeting, Michael 20,000 steps. coaches one last time in her
store gets four or five delivery Cole, a maintenance worker, Like most days, Hart grabs a office.
8:00 a.m. Quiet hour trucks to unload each day. leads the group in the Walmart salad and two hard-boiled eggs They recap the day and re-
It’s the start of sensory- Hart checks what percent- Cheer: “Give me a W!,” shouts from the prepared-food area of alize that no one restocked the
friendly hours, a period with- age of goods have been were the group to kick it off. the store for lunch at her desk. display in the front of the
out Walmart Radio and lower scanned through an inventory- As she eats, she reviews stats store with summer toys. It
lighting, which Walmart im- management system. from the store to prepare for a still has the cold medicine.
10:00 a.m. Third tour meeting with her coaches. The group agrees to tackle it
Hart heads to the deli coun- the next morning.
ter to give worker Esthela San- While she walks back
doval a plaque commemorating 1:00 p.m. Coaches through the store, she uses
April 12, 2024 15 years with the company. San- Hart uses her walkie-talkie to her phone to review all the re-
doval couldn’t come to the call coaches to their daily meet- quested product orders and
morning meeting because no ing in the training room. They make sure inventory correc-
one else was available to staff review some of the day’s work, tions are accurate in the
Week —52-WEEK— Week —52-WEEK— the deli. like price changes. Hart reminds store’s internal systems.
Latest ago High Low Latest ago High Low
Chg From (%) Soon after, Lesia Cobbs, them to download a new beta She clicks through to ac-
Feb. '24 March '23 Federal funds Other short-term rates Hart’s boss and the market version of the Walmart app and cept orders for more water
Effective rate 5.3300 5.3300 5.3500 4.8400 manager for this store and 10 to focus on solving Nil Picks. balloons, sidewalk chalk and
Week 52-Week
High 5.6500 5.6500 5.6500 5.1500
Latest high low
others, arrives. She was previ- “That was a big highlight of water guns to prepare for
0.65 3.5 Low 5.3100 5.3100 5.3300 4.8000
ago
0.53 3.8 ously the store manager at Lesia’s tour with me today. coming summer demand.
Bid 5.3100 5.3100 5.3300 4.8200 Call money Bellmead and a mentor to Hart. There was some Super Glue we Those items will arrive in
Offer 5.3300 5.3300 5.3700 4.8400 7.25 7.25 7.25 6.75 Hart begins her third tour of couldn’t find,” she says. (The about two weeks, she says.
52-Week Treasury bill auction Commercial paper (AA financial) the store, this time with Cobbs, missing glue packs were later Around 5 p.m., Hart heads
High Low 4 weeks 5.270 5.265 5.840 3.190 90 days 5.34 n.a. 5.54 5.00 something the pair do every few found in the hardware section.) home. It is a seven-minute
13 weeks 5.225 5.230 5.345 4.980 weeks. Cobbs’s focus today is drive from the store, which is
26 weeks 5.120 5.125 5.350 4.795 Secured Overnight Financing Rate
Nil Picks. They hunt for a small never off her mind.
Secondary market
5.31 5.32 5.40 4.80
package of Super Glue. The sys- 1:45 p.m. HR “I love my job,” says Hart,
Value 52-Week
Latest Traded High Low
tem says the store has 11, but Hart meets with the head but “it doesn’t turn off. That
Fannie Mae they can’t find them. of human resources for her is one of the hard things about
30-year mortgage yields DTCC GCF Repo Index
4.50 3.50
“That could mean we have 11 store, Jessica Davis. The pair it.”
30 days 6.623 6.298 7.495 5.702 Treasury 5.344 28.000 5.504 4.806
2.25 2.00
60 days 6.633 6.308 7.554 5.702 MBS 5.368 36.850 5.689 4.829
5.25 4.25
4.35 3.60 Notes on data:
U.S. prime rate is the base rate on corporate loans posted by at least 70% of the 10 largest U.S. banks,
and is effective July 27, 2023. Other prime rates aren’t directly comparable; lending practices vary
5.48 4.82 widely by location; Discount rate is effective July 27, 2023. Secured Overnight Financing Rate is as
of April 11, 2024. 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
are Tullett Prebon rates as of 5:30 p.m. ET.
Sources: Federal Reserve; Bureau of Labor Statistics; DTCC; FactSet;
5.50 5.00 Tullett Prebon Information, Ltd.

Insider-Trading Spotlight
Trading by ‘insiders’ of a corporation, such as a company’s CEO, vice president or director, potentially conveys
new information about the prospects of a company. Insiders are required to report large trades to the SEC
within two business days. Here’s a look at the biggest individual trades by insiders, based on data received by
Refinitiv on April 12, and year-to-date stock performance of the company
KEY: B: beneficial owner of more than 10% of a security class CB: chairman CEO: chief executive officer CFO: chief financial officer
CO: chief operating officer D: director DO: director and beneficial owner GC: general counsel H: officer, director and beneficial owner
I: indirect transaction filed through a trust, insider spouse, minor child or other O: officer OD: officer and director P: president UT:
unknown VP: vice president Excludes pure options transactions

Biggest weekly individual trades

Based on reports filed with regulators this past week
No. of shrs in Price range ($) $ Value
Date(s) Company Symbol Insider Title trans (000s) in transaction (000s) Close ($) Ytd (%)

Buyers
Apr. 9 TKO Group Holdings TKO A. Emanuel CEOI 1,643 89.01 146,241 98.00 20.1
Apr. 9 P. Whitesell BI 1,643 89.01 146,241
Apr. 9 Atlanticus Holdings ATLC F. Hanna BI 263 28.21 7,431 27.33 -29.3
Apr. 2 Boundless Bio BOLD K. Burow DOI 200 16.00 3,200 11.29
Apr. 2 K. Crandell BI 200 16.00 3,200
Apr. 4 Riley Exploration Permian REPX A. Libin BI 75 27.00 2,025 29.31 7.6
Apr. 8 Flora Growth FLGC C. Starke CEOI 526 1.90 1,000 1.98 46.7
Apr. 4-8 Greif Inc GEF.B G. Martz GC 10 67.48-68.98 688 65.50 -0.8
Mar. 14-15 Cartesian Therapeutics RNAC T. Springer DOI 1,186 .54-.59 666 19.39 -6.2
Apr. 3 Pagaya Technologies PGY Y. Yulzari OD 60 10.17 610 10.74 -35.1
Apr. 4 A. Pardo CT 38 10.36 399
Apr. 4 G. Krubiner CEO 34 10.36 348
Apr. 4 A. Zeevi D 30 10.35 311
Apr. 5 S. Das P 23 10.57 240
Apr. 4 America's Car-Mart CRMT A. Peterson BI 9 57.85 492 56.66 -25.2
Apr. 3-4 BRT Apartments BRT J. Gould CEOI 25 16.81-16.90 415 17.64 -5.1
Apr. 3-4 M. Gould ODI 25 16.49-16.73 409
Apr. 10 Neogen NEOG J. Adent CEO 23 12.36 284 12.38 -38.4

Sellers
Apr. 9-10 TKO Group Holdings TKO V. Mcmahon B 3,497 89.01 311,241 98.00 20.1
Apr. 9 CCC Intelligent Solutions CCCS C. Egan DI 16,649 11.58 192,714 11.71 2.8
Apr. 9 E. Wei DI 16,649 11.58 192,714
Apr. 9 L. Young DI 16,649 11.58 192,714
Apr. 3-5 Ares Management ARES A. Ressler HI 400 131.49-134.25 53,129 131.35 10.5
Apr. 8-9 A. Ressler HI 387 132.46-135.93 51,833
Apr. 5-8 Workday WDAY D. Duffield BI 121 265.96-269.84 32,513 263.69 -4.5
Apr. 9 FedEx FDX F. Smith OD 113 274.28-274.83 31,106 267.80 5.9
Apr. 5 Vertex VERX J. Westphal BI 791 30.05 23,774 31.34 16.3
Apr. 3 Intercontinental Exchange ICE J. Sprecher CEO 168* 137.18-137.83 23,105 133.55 4.0
Apr. 5 NVIDIA NVDA M. Stevens DI 23 877.00-882.36 19,975 881.86 78.1
Apr. 3-5 Madrigal Pharmaceuticals MDGL R. Taub OD 74 240.11-248.23 18,023 236.59 2.3
Apr. 3-5 P. Friedman D 74 240.10-248.43 17,985
Apr. 8 Riley Exploration Permian REPX B. Lawrence DI 700 25.52 17,861 29.31 7.6
Apr. 5 Palo Alto Networks PANW L. Klarich O 60 265.87-269.44 16,082 279.07 -5.4
Apr. 9 Datadog DDOG A. Le-Quoc CT 127 125.13-127.75 15,956 127.51 5.1
Apr. 9-11 Cloudflare NET M. Prince CEOI 157 94.59-96.79 14,996 93.76 12.6
Apr. 4 Pure Storage PSTG S. Dietzen DI 273 52.68-54.49 14,536 53.43 49.8
* Half the transactions were indirect **Two day transaction
p - Pink Sheets

Buying and selling by sector

Based on actual transaction dates in reports received this past week

Sector Buying Selling Sector Buying Selling

Basic Industries 0 2,572,166 Energy 2,027,639 19,314,718
Capital Goods 234 6,456,274 Finance 10,995,259 47,258,053
Consumer durables 261,942 6,774,311 Health care 11,153,132 140,706,405
Consumer non-durables 0 11,851,961 Technology 444,724 211,099,939
Consumer services 970,464 44,601,120 Transportation 10,580 36,904,645

Sources: Refinitiv; Dow Jones Market Data

B6 | Monday, April 15, 2024 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

MARKETS DIGEST
Dow Jones Industrial Average S&P 500 Index New to the Market
Last Year ago Last Year ago
37983.24 t 920.80, or 2.37% last week Trailing P/E ratio 26.36 22.45 5123.41 t 80.93, or 1.55% last week Trailing P/E ratio * 23.17 18.56 Public Offerings of Stock
High, low, open and close for each of P/E estimate * 18.53 18.25 High, low, open and close for each of P/E estimate * 21.25 18.88
the past 52 weeks Dividend yield 2.21 2.07 the past 52 weeks Dividend yield * 1.39 1.67 IPOs in the U.S. Market
All-time high 39807.37, 03/28/24 All-time high 5254.35, 03/28/24
Initial public offerings of stock expected this week; might include some
Current divisor 0.15221633137872 offerings, U.S. and foreign, open to institutional investors only via the
Rule 144a market; deal amounts are for the U.S. market only
Week's high 39500 5100 Symbol/ Pricing
DOWN UP Expected primary Shares Range($)
pricing date Filed Issuer/business exchange (mil.) Low/High Bookrunner(s)
t

Monday's open Friday's close

38000 4900 4/17 3/22 Ibotta IBTA 5.6 76.00/ GS, Citi, BofA Securities,
Friday's close Monday's open Software-E-Commerce N 84.00 Evercore, UBS,
t

company engaged with Wells Fargo

65-day moving average shopping application and
providing cash back to its
Week's low 36500 4700 users for making
purchases in-store, on
65-day moving average mobile apps or via
websites.
35000 4500 4/17 3/22 Centuri Holdings CTRI 12.4 18.00/ UBS, BofA Securities, JPM,
Utility infrastructure N 21.00 Wells Fargo, R W
services company. Baird, KeyBanc,
Siebert Williams
Shank
33500 4300
200-day moving average Lockup Expirations
200-day moving average Below, companies whose officers and other insiders will become eligible
32000 4100
to sell shares in their newly public companies for the first time. Such
Bars measure the point change from Monday's open sales can move the stock’s price.
30500 3900 Lockup Offer Offer amt Through Lockup
A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A expiration Issue date Symbol price($) ($ mil.) Friday (%) provision
Primary April 19 April 20, ’23 Wang & Lee WLGS 5.00 8.0 –89.80 365 days
NYSE weekly volume, in billions of shares market Composite
t
t

Scan this code April 17 Jan. 18, ’24 CCSC Technology International CCTG 4.00 6.3 –28.00 90 days
36 April 15 Oct. 18, ’23 Webuy Global WBUY 4.00 14.9 –90.25 180 days
24 Get real-time U.S. stock quotes and track
most-active stocks, new highs/lows, mutual April 15 Oct. 18, ’23 Northann NCL 5.00 12.0 –90.00 180 days
12
funds and ETFs.. Sources: Dealogic; Dow Jones Market Data
0
A M J J A S O N D J F M A Available free at WSJMarkets.com IPO Scorecard
*Weekly P/E data based on as-reported earnings from Birinyi Associates Inc.; † Based on Nasdaq-100 Index Performance of IPOs, most-recent listed first
% Chg From % Chg From
Major U.S. Stock-Market Indexes Nasdaq Composite Company SYMBOL Friday's Offer 1st-day Company SYMBOL Friday3s Offer 1st-day
Latest Week 52-Week % chg t 73.43, or -0.45% IPO date/Offer price close ($) price close IPO date/Offer price close ($) price close
High Low Close Net chg % chg Low Close (l) High %chg YTD 3-yr. ann. UL Solutions 34.94 24.8 ... Auna 7.70 –35.8 –19.8
Dow Jones
last week ULS April 12/$28.00 AUNA March 22/$12.00
Industrial Average 39013.20 37877.30 37983.24 -920.80 -2.37 32417.59 • 39807.37 12.1 0.8 4.0 PACS Group
PACS April 11/$21.00
24.00 14.3 4.3 Black Hawk Acquisition 10.19
BKHAU March 21/$10.00
1.9 0.4
Transportation Avg 16031.70 15425.60 15498.11 -421.09 -2.65 13444.01 • 16695.32 8.8 -2.5 1.2
16450 Mobile-health Network Solutions 15.00 275.0 123.9 Reddit 42.27 24.3 –16.2
Utility Average 882.04 850.94 854.91 -14.80 -1.70 783.08 • 975.39 -10.6 -3.0 -1.4 MNDR April 10/$4.00 RDDT March 21/$34.00
Total Stock Market 52064.69 50783.26 50939.92 -884.54 -1.71 40414.80 • 52402.86 23.4 6.6 5.7 Contineum Therapeutics 15.50 –3.1 0.6 Astera Labs 72.73 102.0 17.2
Barron's 400 1151.52 1112.38 1115.77 -33.51 -2.92 881.58 • 1166.53 20.3 4.0 3.9 16300 CTNM April 5/$16.00 ALAB March 20/$36.00
Massimo Group 3.70 –17.8 22.9 Intelligent Group 1.67 –58.3 –49.4
Nasdaq Stock Market MAMO April 2/$4.50 INTJ March 20/$4.00
16150
Nasdaq Composite 16464.60 16092.02 16175.09 -73.43 -0.45 11799.16 • 16442.2 33.4 7.8 5.3 Zhibao Technology 3.41 –14.8 –7.8 Ryde Group 2.53 –36.7 –36.7
Nasdaq-100 18337.15 17932.41 18003.49 -104.97 -0.58 12725.11 • 18339.44 37.6 7.0 9.2 ZBAO April 2/$4.00 RYDE March 6/$4.00
16000 Alta Global Group 2.94 –41.2 –29.7 Lucas GC 2.54 –36.4 –29.5
S&P MMA March 28/$5.00 LGCL March 5/$4.00
5 8 9 10 11 12
500 Index 5224.81 5107.94 5123.41 -80.93 -1.55 4055.99 • 5254.35 23.8 7.4 7.5 April Boundless Bio 11.29 –29.4 –20.8 SolarMax Technology 13.45 236.3 68.1
MidCap 400 3015.88 2891.39 2899.72 -89.44 -2.99 2326.82 • 3046.36 16.5 4.2 2.7 DJ US TSM
BOLD March 28/$16.00 SMXT Feb. 27/$4.00
U-BX Technology 4.65 –7.0 13.4 DT Cloud Acquisition 10.33 3.3 2.1
SmallCap 600 1325.46 1265.16 1270.05 -38.61 -2.95 1068.80 • 1344.66 9.1 -3.7 -1.7
t 884.54, or -1.71% UBXG March 28/$5.00 DYCQU Feb. 21/$10.00
Other Indexes last week IB Acquisition 10.01 0.1 0.2 Chromocell Therapeutics 2.00 –66.7 –58.4
IBACU March 26/$10.00 CHRO Feb. 16/$6.00
Russell 2000 2084.07 1994.83 2003.17 -60.30 -2.92 1636.94 • 2124.55 12.5 -1.2 -3.6
NYSE Composite 18233.23 17593.55 17639.04 -483.22 -2.67 14675.78 • 18312.67 13.1 4.7 3.4 Sources: Dow Jones Market Data; FactSet
Value Line 608.72 583.70 585.22 -17.12 -2.84 498.09 • 615.81 5.5 -1.5 -3.6 52000
NYSE Arca Biotech 5269.04 5049.25 5065.66 -123.13 -2.37 4544.40 • 5511.46 -6.0 -6.5 -2.0
Public and Private Borrowing
NYSE Arca Pharma 1003.98 972.95 974.38 -29.15 -2.90 837.32 • 1029.37 10.2 7.1 12.0
51500 Treasurys
KBW Bank 103.76 97.57 98.08 -3.81 -3.74 71.71 • 104.85 18.2 2.1 -7.5
Monday, April 15 Wednesday, April 17
PHLX§ Gold/Silver 143.84 134.46 136.11 -0.24 -0.18 102.94 • 141.54 -3.8 8.3 -1.1
PHLX§ Oil Service 96.07 90.27 90.79 -4.280 -4.50 69.29 • 98.76 9.5 8.2 20.9 51000 Auction of 13 and 26 week bills;
announced on April 11; settles on April 18
Auction of 17 week bill;
announced on April 16; settles on April 23
PHLX§ Semiconductor 4911.54 4735.49 4745.05 -74.08 -1.54 2906.29 • 5165.83 54.5 13.6 13.3
Cboe Volatility 19.20 14.59 17.31 1.28 7.99 12.07 • 21.71 1.4 39.0 0.8 50500 Tuesday, April 16 Thursday, April 18

Nasdaq PHLX 5 8 9 10 11 12 Auction of 52 week bill; Auction of 4 and 8 week bills;
Sources: FactSet; Dow Jones Market Data April announced on April 11; settles on April 18 announced on April 16; settles on April 23
Auction of 5 year TIPS;
International Stock Indexes Commodities and announced on April 11; settles on April 30

Latest Week 52-Week Range YTD

Currencies
Region/Country Index Close % chg Low Close High % chg
Last Week YTD A Week in the Life of the DJIA
World MSCI ACWI 765.67 –1.40 629.46 • 783.58 5.3 Close Net chg %Chg % chg
A look at how the Dow Jones Industrial Average component stocks did in the past
MSCI ACWI ex-USA 323.14 –1.09 276.65 • 330.44 2.1 DJ Commodity 1030.92 8.26 0.81 7.63 week and how much each moved the index. The DJIA lost 920.79 points, or 2.37%,
MSCI World 3351.01 –1.51 2731.99 • 3437.76 5.7 Refinitiv/CC CRB Index 297.87 0.29 0.10 12.90 on the week. A $1 change in the price of any DJIA stock = 6.57-point change in the
MSCI Emerging Markets 1041.70 –0.38 910.91 • 1057.89 1.8 Crude oil, $ per barrel 85.66 -1.25 -1.44 19.55
average. To date, a $1,000 investment on Dec. 31 in each current DJIA stock
component would have returned $30,892, or a gain of 2.97%, on the $30,000
Americas MSCI AC Americas 1936.12 –1.63 1537.95 • 1986.20 6.7 Natural gas, $/MMBtu 1.770 -0.015 -0.84 -29.59 investment, including reinvested dividends.
Canada S&P/TSX Comp 21899.99 –1.64 18737.39 • 22361.78 4.5 Gold, $ per troy oz. 2356.20 30.50 1.31 14.25 The Week’s Action
Latin Amer. MSCI EM Latin America 2464.03 –2.59 2152.77 • 2675.33 –7.5
U.S. Dollar Index 106.01 1.71 1.64 4.56 Pct Stock price Point chg $1,000 Invested(year-end '23)
Brazil Bovespa 125946.09 –0.67 101797.09 • 134193.72 –6.1
WSJ Dollar Index 100.19 1.29 1.31 4.55
chg (%) change in average* Company Symbol Close $1,000
4.11
Chile S&P IPSA 3624.92 0.79 3048.00 • 3714.61 4.5
Euro, per dollar 0.9397 0.0172 1.86 3.72
6.97 45.79 Apple AAPL $176.55 $918
3.56 850
Mexico S&P/BMV IPC 56565.92 –2.63 48197.88 • 58711.87 –1.4
153.28 1.67 1.10 8.68 0.57
3.16 20.76 Nike NKE 92.00
Yen, per dollar 1.06 6.96 Amazon.com AMZN 186.13 1,225
EMEA STOXX Europe 600 505.25 –0.26 429.58 • 512.67 5.5
U.K. pound, in dollars 1.25 -0.0179 -1.42 -2.15 0.48 0.29 1.91 Walmart WMT 60.14 1,148
STOXX Europe 50 4385.26 0.30 3783.73 • 4428.10 7.1
52-Week 0.31 0.28 1.84 3M MMM 91.31 1,015
Eurozone Euro STOXX 509.27 –0.93 420.65 • 520.21 7.4 Low Close(l) High % Chg
0.26 907
Euro STOXX 50 4955.01 –1.19 4014.36 • 5083.42 9.6
DJ Commodity 930.59 l 1035.63 0.45
0.70 4.60 McDonald’s MCD 267.39
–0.12 975
Austria ATX 3554.82 –0.33 3020.72 • 3592.33 3.5 –0.06 –0.39 Cisco CSCO 48.49
–0.43 1,062
Belgium Bel-20 3850.04 0.41 3290.68 • 3872.45 3.8 Refinitiv/CC CRB Index 253.85 l 297.87 7.84 –1.18 –7.75 Visa V 275.96
–0.49 1,067
France CAC 40 8010.83 –0.63 6795.38 • 8205.81 6.2 Crude oil, $ per barrel 67.12 l 93.68 3.81 –0.77 –5.06 Procter & Gamble PG 155.33
–0.50
Germany DAX 17930.32 –1.35 14687.41 • 18492.49 7.0 Natural gas, $/MMBtu 1.575 l 3.575 -16.27 –0.99 –6.50 Honeywell HON 196.16 940
Greece Athex Composite 1400.61 1.24 1085.11 • 1434.87 8.3 Gold, $ per troy oz. 1816.60 l2356.20 17.68 –0.85 –3.62 –23.78 Microsoft MSFT 421.90 1,124
Israel Tel Aviv 1933.05 –0.45 1605.20 • 2010.41 3.6 –0.99 –2.67 –17.54 Amgen AMGN 267.28 935
Italy FTSE MIB 33764.15 –0.73 26051 • 34760 11.2 U.S. Dollar Index 99.77 l 107.00 4.38 –1.63 –2.64 –17.34 Chevron CVX 158.96 1,077
Netherlands AEX 883.45 0.32 714.05 • 886.67 12.3 WSJ Dollar Index 94.60 l 100.92 4.71 –1.76 –2.25 –14.78 Merck MRK 125.74 1,161
Norway Oslo Bors All-Share 1606.79 2.06 1347.84 • 1606.79 5.8 Euro, per dollar 0.8897 l 0.9555 3.31 –1.91 –4.26 –27.99 American Express AXP 218.20 1,172
Portugal PSI 20 6337.43 1.90 5729.40 • 6609.90 –0.9 Yen, per dollar 133.67 l 153.28 14.56 –2.07 –1.23 –8.08 Coca-Cola KO 58.28 997
South Africa FTSE/JSE All-Share 75311.76 0.72 69451.97 • 79294.76 –2.1 U.K. pound, in dollars 1.21 l 1.31 0.35 –2.51 –7.59 –49.86 Salesforce CRM 294.32 1,120
Spain IBEX 35 10685.96 –2.11 8918.3 • 11111.3 5.8 –3.20 –4.87 –31.99 Johnson & Johnson JNJ 147.52 948
Sweden OMX Stockholm 947.32 –0.82 753.35 • 971.52 4.9 Go to WSJMarkets.com for free –3.35 –2.00 –13.14 Dow DOW 57.69 1,065
Switzerland Swiss Market 11379.58 –1.01 10323.71 • 11790.46 2.2 access to real-time market data. –3.60 –13.67 –89.81 Caterpillar CAT 365.63 1,242
U.K. FTSE 100 7995.58 1.07 7256.94 • 7995.58 3.4
–3.63 –6.87 –45.13 IBM IBM 182.27 1,125
Asia-Pacific MSCI AC Asia Pacific 175.31 0.06 150.1 • 178.1 3.5 –3.63 –16.54 –108.66 UnitedHealth Group UNH 439.20 838
Australia S&P/ASX 200 7788.10 0.19 6772.9 • 7896.9 2.6 –3.69 –4.37 –28.71 Walt Disney DIS 114.01 1,263
China Shanghai Composite 3019.47 –1.62 2702.19 • 3395.00 1.5 –4.19 –15.00 –98.54 Home Depot HD 342.87 995
Hong Kong Hang Seng 16721.69 –0.01 14961.18 • 20782.45 –1.9 –4.24 –9.79 –64.32 Travelers TRV 221.10 1,166
India S&P BSE Sensex 74244.90 –0.004 59567.80 • 75038.15 2.8
–4.55 –18.58 –122.06 Goldman Sachs GS 389.49 1,017
Japan NIKKEI 225 39523.55 1.36 28416.47 • 40888.43 18.1
–5.70 –2.40 –15.77 Verizon VZ 39.72 1,089
Malaysia FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI 1551.04 –0.27 1374.64 • 1559.98 6.6
–7.42 –13.59 –89.28 Boeing BA 169.55 650
Singapore Straits Times 3216.91 –0.04 3053.36 • 3373.98 –0.7
–7.42 –14.66 –96.31 JPMorgan Chase JPM 182.79 1,088
South Korea KOSPI 2681.82 –1.19 2277.99 • 2757.09 1.0
–7.80 –3.02 –19.84 Intel INTC 35.69 712
Taiwan TAIEX 20736.57 1.96 15370.73 • 20796.20 15.6
*Based on Composite price. DJIA is calculated on primary-market price.
Source: FactSet; Dow Jones Market Data
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†: 6.56% Fri YTDchg Fri YTDchg
Country/currency in US$ per US$ (%) Country/currency in US$ per US$ (%)
5-year adjustable-rate Florence Savings Bank 5.38% 6.00%
mortgage (ARM) Tradeweb ICE Friday Close 16% Americas Thailand baht .02731 36.620 6.5
7.00% Florence, MA 800-644-8261
t t 5.00 Vietnam dong .00003995 25031 3.1
Argentina peso .0012866.7460 7.2
Grow Financial FCU 5.88% 8 WSJ Dollar Index Europe
6.00 s Brazil real .1954 5.1183 5.5
Hillsborough, FL 800-839-6328 4.00 Canada dollar .7259 1.3776 4.0 Czech Rep. koruna .04201 23.801 6.4
5-year Treasury 5.00 Star One Credit Union 6.13% t 0 Chile peso .001037 964.07 10.2 Denmark krone .1426 7.0114 3.5
note yield 3.00
Sunnyvale, CA 408-742-2801 One year ago Colombiapeso .000259 3857.88 –0.5 Euro area euro 1.0642 .9397 3.7
t s Ecuador US dollar 1 1 unch Hungary forint .002709 369.08 6.3
4.00 The Torrington Savings Bank 6.25% 2.00 –8
s Euro Iceland krona .007063 141.59 4.1
Mexico peso .0601 16.6419 –1.9
Torrington, CT 860-496-2152 Yen Norway krone .0917 10.9014 7.1
3.00 1.00 –16 Uruguay peso .02587 38.6576 –1.0
Apple Federal Credit Union 6.50% Poland zloty .2482 4.0293 2.4
M J J A S O ND J FM A 1 3 6 1 2 3 5 7 10 20 30 Asia-Pacific
2023 2024 Sweden krona .0918 10.8906 7.8
2023 2024 Fairfax, VA 800-666-7996 month(s) years Australiadollar .6477 1.5439 5.2 Switzerland franc 1.0939 .9142 8.6
maturity China yuan .1382 7.2370 1.7 Turkey lira .0309 32.3619 9.8
Yield/Rate (%) 52-Week Range (%) 3-yr chg
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 Hong Kong dollar .1276 7.8368 0.3 Ukraine hryvnia .0253 39.4500 3.4
India rupee .01196 83.602 0.5 UK pound 1.2459 .8026 2.2
Federal-funds rate target 5.25-5.50 5.25-5.50 4.75 l 5.50 5.25 Corporate Borrowing Rates and Yields Indonesia rupiah .0000620 16118 4.7 Middle East/Africa
Prime rate* 8.50 8.50 8.00 l 8.50 5.25 Spread +/- Treasurys, Japan yen .006524 153.28 8.7
Bahrain dinar 2.6525 .3770 0.01
SOFR 5.31 5.32 4.80 l 5.40 5.30 Yield (%) in basis pts, 52-wk Range Total Return Kazakhstan tenge .002226 449.28 –1.3
Egypt pound .0210 47.5774 53.8
Bond total return index Last Wk ago Last Low High 52-wk 3-yr Macau pataca .1238 8.0770 0.3
Money market, annual yield 0.48 0.48 0.46 l 0.64 0.40 Israel shekel .2652 3.7702 4.6
Malaysia ringgit .2096 4.7700 3.8
Five-year CD, annual yield 2.83 2.84 2.76 l 2.87 2.36 U.S. Treasury, Bloomberg 4.730 4.580 -2.20 -3.41 Kuwait dinar 3.2444 .3082 0.3
New Zealand dollar .5952 1.6801 6.2 Oman sul rial 2.5976 .3850 ...
30-year mortgage, fixed† 7.56 7.44 6.85 l 8.28 4.37 U.S. Treasury Long, Bloomberg 4.720 4.630 -10.89 -9.78 Pakistan rupee .00360 277.950 –1.1 Qatar rial .2746 3.641 –0.1
15-year mortgage, fixed† 6.91 6.72 6.16 l 7.42 4.45 Aggregate, Bloomberg 5.140 5.000 39 38 60 -0.70 -3.18 Philippines peso .0177 56.616 2.2 Saudi Arabia riyal .2666 3.7513 0.03
Jumbo mortgages, $766,550-plus† 7.66 7.52 6.89 l 8.33 4.47 Fixed-Rate MBS, Bloomberg 5.360 5.200 49 44 82 -1.25 -3.56 Singapore dollar .7346 1.3613 3.2 South Africa rand .0529 18.8964 3.3
Five-year adj mortgage (ARM)† 6.56 6.46 5.65 l 7.16 3.42 High Yield 100, ICE BofA 7.608 7.370 271 243 443 8.615 1.854 South Korea won .0007243 1380.60 6.6
New-car loan, 48-month 7.83 7.84 6.92 l 7.88 3.79 Muni Master, ICE BofA 3.509 3.499 3 -9 9 0.932 -0.801 Sri Lanka rupee .0033517 298.36 –7.9 Close Net Chg % Chg YTD%Chg
Bankrate.com rates based on survey of over 4,800 online banks. *Base rate posted by 70% of the nation's largest Taiwan dollar .03096 32.303 5.2 WSJ Dollar Index 100.19 0.53 0.53 4.55
EMBI Global, J.P. Morgan 7.464 7.283 283 270 411 7.460 -1.929
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
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, April 15, 2024 | B7

INTRODUCING A NEW CASH

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Societe Generale and AllianceBernstein
combine their strengths to create a
new leader in Cash Equities & Research,
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B8 | Monday, April 15, 2024 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

Listed are the 300 largest closed-end funds as
measured by assets. Closed-end funds sell a limited
number of shares and invest the proceeds in securities.
Unlike open-end funds, closed-ends generally do not
buy their shares back from investors who wish to cash
in their holdings. Instead, fund shares trade on a stock
exchange. NA signifies that the information is not
available or not applicable. NS signifies funds not in
existence for the entire period. 12 month yield is
computed by dividing income dividends paid (during
the previous 12 months for periods ending at month-
end or during the previous 52 weeks for periods
ending at any time other than month-end) by the
latest month-end market price adjusted for capital
gains distributions. Depending on the fund category,
either 12-month yield or total return is listed.
Source: Lipper
Friday, April 12, 2024
52 wk
Prem Ttl
Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret
General Equity Funds
Adams Diversified Eq Inc ADX 22.28 19.07 -14.4 30.5
Central Secs CET 49.84 40.93 -17.9 24.0
CohenStrsCEOppFd FOF 11.12 11.16 +0.4 12.5
EVTxAdvDivIncm EVT 25.39 22.84 -10.0 7.9
GabelliDiv&IncTr GDV NA 21.96 NA 10.1
Gabelli Equity Tr GAB NA 5.28 NA 4.6
GeneralAmer GAM 55.96 45.43 -18.8 23.8
JHancockTaxAdvDiv HTD 21.13 18.91 -10.5 -4.5
Liberty All-Star Equity USA 6.94 6.93 -0.1 23.3
Liberty All-Star Growth ASG 5.84 5.31 -9.1 10.4
Royce Micro-Cap Tr RMT 10.28 8.91 -13.3 13.5
Royce Value Trust RVT 16.30 14.28 -12.4 16.0
Source Capital SOR 44.87 41.57 -7.3 19.8
Sprott Focus Trust FUND 8.88 7.75 -12.7 1.7
SRH Total Return STEW 18.61 14.47 -22.2 18.8
Tri-Continental TY 34.14 29.68 -13.1 16.0
Specialized Equity Funds
abrdn Glb Prem Prop AWP 3.89 3.63 -6.7 3.5
abrdn Global Infra Inc ASGI 19.93 16.97 -14.9 2.2
Adams Natural Resources PEO 28.22 23.59 -16.4 16.5
ASA Gold & Prec Met Ltd ASA 20.12 16.97 -15.7 -1.5
BR Enh C&I CII 20.54 18.90 -8.0 12.0
BlackRock Energy & Res BGR 15.41 13.31 -13.6 13.8
BlackRock Eq Enh Div BDJ 8.95 7.88 -12.0 1.1
BlackRock Enh Glbl Div BOE 11.72 9.90 -15.5 5.3
BlackRock Enh Intl Div BGY 6.08 5.20 -14.5 2.2
BlackRock ESG Cap All T ECAT 18.38 16.44 -10.6 18.7
BlackRock Hlth Sci Term BMEZ 17.71 15.09 -14.8 -0.7
BlackRock Hlth Sciences BME 42.28 38.45 -9.1 -2.1
BlackRock Innov&Gro Term BIGZ 8.88 7.44 -16.2 6.4
BlackRock Res & Comm BCX 10.71 9.18 -14.3 0.5
BlackRock Sci&Tech Term BSTZ 21.83 18.27 -16.3 15.0
BlackRock Sci&Tech Trust BST 36.43 35.38 -2.9 21.5
BlackRock Utl Inf & Pwr BUI 21.54 20.56 -4.5 -6.0
CLEARBRIDGEENGYMDSOPP EMO 43.05 39.92 -7.3 48.5
CLEARBRIDGEMLP&MDSTMTR CTR 43.91 40.45 -7.9 41.8
ClearBridge MLP & Midstm CEM 48.43 44.59 -7.9 41.6
ChnStrInfr UTF 22.00 22.22 +1.0 2.3
Cohen&SteersQualInc RQI 11.84 11.24 -5.1 7.3
CohenStrs Real Est and I RLTY 15.01 13.50 -10.1 13.5
Cohen&Steers TotRet RFI 11.05 10.99 -0.5 0.2
CohenStrsREITPrefInc RNP 19.75 19.50 -1.3 11.8
Columbia Sel Prm Tech Gr STK 30.73 31.32 +1.9 25.0
52 wk
Prem Ttl
Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret
DNP Select Income DNP 7.59 8.86 +16.8 -9.3
Duff&Ph Uti&Infra Inc Fd DPG NA 8.95 NA -24.5
EtnVncEqtyInc EOI 18.59 18.20 -2.1 27.4
EtnVncEqtyIncoII EOS 21.21 19.94 -6.0 31.1
EVRskMnDvsEqInc ETJ 9.11 8.36 -8.2 16.4
ETnVncTxMgdBuyWrtInc ETB 14.71 13.49 -8.3 12.6
EtnVncTxMgdBuyWrtOpp ETV 13.86 12.82 -7.5 9.8
EvTxMnDvsEqInc ETY 13.85 13.21 -4.6 23.1
EtnVncTxMgdGlbB ETW 9.18 7.96 -13.3 6.8
EVTxMnGblDvEqInc EXG 9.09 7.97 -12.3 11.1
Ecofin S&S Impact Term TEAF 14.31 11.52 -19.5 -4.4
First Trust Energy Inc G FEN 16.53 16.33 -1.2 34.8
First Tr Enhanced Eq FFA 19.38 18.28 -5.7 16.7
FirstTrEnergyInfra FIF 18.14 17.86 -1.5 28.1
FirstTrMLPEner&Inc FEI 9.74 9.55 -2.0 31.7
Gabelli Healthcare GRX NA 9.35 NA -2.1
Gab Utility GUT NA 5.55 NA -6.4
GAMCOGlGold&NatRes GGN NA 4.16 NA 19.2
J Han Finl Opptys BTO NA 26.94 NA 2.2
Neuberger Brmn Enrgy I&I NML NA 7.19 NA 18.0
Neuberger Nxt Gen Conn NBXG 13.90 11.78 -15.3 31.1
NuvDow30DynOverwrite DIAX 15.91 13.74 -13.6 -0.6
NuvCorEqAlpha JCE 14.14 13.57 -4.0 22.3
NuveenNasdaq100DynOv QQQX 26.18 23.45 -10.4 6.6
Nuv Real Est JRS 8.28 7.35 -11.2 9.6
NuvS&P500DynOvFd SPXX 16.97 15.29 -9.9 6.0
NuvSP500BuyIncFd BXMX 14.45 12.81 -11.3 5.0
ReavesUtilityIncome UTG 25.71 26.08 +1.4 -2.6
Tortoise Enrgy Infra Crp TYG 37.77 30.63 -18.9 11.4
Tortoise Midstream Enrgy NTG 46.36 37.66 -18.8 19.8
VDivInt&PremStr NFJ NA 12.04 NA 11.3
V Art Int&Tech Opps AIO NA 19.64 NA 25.6
Income & Preferred Stock Funds
Dividend and Income BXSY 20.05 NA NA NA
CalamosStratTot CSQ 16.25 15.83 -2.6 23.2
CohenStrsLtdDurPref&Inc LDP 21.00 19.30 -8.1 19.8
CohenStrsSelPref&Income PSF 20.75 19.04 -8.2 17.0
CohenStrsTaxAvPreSecs&I PTA 20.34 18.62 -8.5 17.6
FirstTrIntDurPref&Inc FPF 18.79 17.00 -9.5 20.1
JHanPrefInc HPI NA 15.86 NA 13.0
JHPrefIncII HPF 15.70 15.81 +0.7 11.7
HnckJPfdInco III HPS 14.13 14.91 +5.5 16.2
J Han Prm PDT 11.94 11.05 -7.5 -4.6
LMP CapInco SCD 15.92 14.59 -8.4 30.4
Nuveen Pref & Inc Opp JPC 7.85 6.91 -12.0 16.2
Nuveen Pref & Inc Term JPI 19.43 18.83 -3.1 16.6
Nuveen Var Rate P&I NPFD 19.78 16.90 -14.6 14.6
TCW Strat Income TSI 5.01 4.65 -7.2 3.7
Convertible Sec's. Funds
AdvntCnvrtbl&IncFd AVK 12.17 11.62 -4.5 11.6
CalamosConvHi CHY 10.42 11.10 +6.5 14.4
CalmosConvOp CHI 9.84 10.88 +10.6 13.8
V Conv & Inc NCV NA 3.12 NA 3.9
V Conv & Inc II NCZ NA 2.81 NA 5.6
V Div Inc & Conv ACV NA 22.79 NA 31.3
V Eqty & Conv Inc NIE NA 22.07 NA 21.3
World Equity Funds
abrdn Emg Mkts Eq Inc AEF 5.89 4.97 -15.6 2.4
abrdn Glbl Dyn Div AGD 10.86 9.26 -14.7 6.2
abrdn Tot Dyn Div AOD 9.38 7.96 -15.1 5.5
ADVERTISEMENT
CLOSED-END FUNDS
52 wk
Prem Ttl
Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret
Allspring Gl Div Oppty EOD 5.36 4.54 -15.3 13.1
BlackRock Cap Alloc Term BCAT 17.49 15.53 -11.2 14.8
Calamos GloDynInc CHW 7.23 6.54 -9.6 21.6
EV TxAdvGlbDivInc ETG 19.96 17.58 -11.9 16.1
EtnVncTxAdvOpp ETO 26.89 24.13 -10.3 15.9
Highland Global Alloc HGLB 11.38 7.27 -36.1 -11.8
India Fund IFN 18.38 19.40 +5.5 38.9
Japan Smaller Cap JOF 9.69 7.68 -20.7 15.3
LazardGlbTotRetInc LGI 17.77 15.22 -14.4 7.6
Mexico MXF 23.36 18.56 -20.5 15.8
Miller/Howard High Inc E HIE NA 10.76 NA 8.4
MS ChinaShrFd CAF 14.40 11.94 -17.1 -14.3
MS India IIF 28.65 22.96 -19.9 34.1
MS CBRE Gl In Mg Term MEGI 13.65 11.79 -13.6 -10.2
Nuveen Multi-Asset Inc NMAI 13.49 11.88 -11.9 13.2
Nuveen Rl Asst Inc & Gro JRI 12.94 11.11 -14.1 4.0
Templeton Dragon TDF 9.21 7.74 -16.0 -24.6
Templeton Em Mkt EMF 13.65 11.65 -14.7 6.0
Prem12 Mo
Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld
U.S. Mortgage Bond Funds
BlckRk Income BKT 11.93 11.28 -5.4 8.8
Investment Grade Bond Funds
Angel Oak FS Inc Trm FINS 13.80 12.37 -10.4 9.9
BlRck Core Bond BHK 10.41 10.45 +0.4 8.2
BR Credit Alloc Inc BTZ 11.18 10.23 -8.5 9.4
Insight Select Income INSI 17.16 16.02 -6.6 4.7
InvescoBond VBF 16.03 15.30 -4.6 5.1
J Han Income JHS NA 10.76 NA 3.7
MFS Intmdt MIN 2.83 2.63 -7.1 0.0
Western Asset Inf-Lk Inc WIA 9.23 7.95 -13.9 9.8
Western Asset Inf-Lk O&I WIW 9.90 8.48 -14.3 9.7
Westn Asst IG Def Opp Tr IGI 17.26 16.78 -2.8 4.7
Loan Participation Funds
Apollo Senior Floating AFT 15.09 14.31 -5.2 10.8
BR Debt Strategy DSU 10.76 10.55 -2.0 10.0
BR F/R Inc Str FRA 13.13 12.90 -1.8 11.0
BlackRock Floatng Rt Inc BGT 12.78 12.82 +0.3 10.6
BS SFR 2027 T BSL 14.90 14.09 -5.4 9.4
BS St Cr 2027 Tm BGB 12.81 11.67 -8.9 9.5
Eagle Point Credit ECC NA 10.00 NA 16.6
Eagle Point Income EIC NA 16.27 NA 12.6
EtnVncFltRteInc EFT 13.37 13.28 -0.7 10.6
EV SenFlRtTr EFR 13.09 13.08 -0.1 10.3
FT/Sr Fltg Rte Inc 2 FCT 11.02 10.18 -7.6 11.1
Highland Oppty & Income HFRO 12.82 6.69 -47.8 11.5
InvDYCrOpp:AX VTA 11.06 NA NA NA
InvSnrIncTr VVR 4.10 4.29 +4.6 11.5
Nuveen Credit Strat Inc JQC 5.87 5.47 -6.8 11.0
NuvFloatRateIncFd JFR 9.26 8.64 -6.7 11.2
High Yield Bond Funds
abrdn Inc Credit Str ACP 6.86 6.62 -3.5 17.7
AllianceBernGlHiIncm AWF 11.03 10.18 -7.7 7.6
Allspring Income Oppty EAD 7.19 6.38 -11.3 8.9
Barings Glb SD HY Bd BGH 15.60 13.94 -10.6 10.0
BR Corporate HY HYT 9.51 9.47 -0.4 9.5
BlackRock Ltd Dur Inc BLW 13.86 13.50 -2.6 8.8
BNY Mellon Hi Yield Str DHF 2.65 2.29 -13.6 7.5
Brookfield Real Asst Inc RA 14.52 12.46 -14.2 6.7
Prem12 Mo
Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld
CrSuisHighYld DHY 2.18 2.00 -8.3 9.2
DoubleLine Inc Sol DSL 12.48 12.18 -2.4 9.97
DoubleLine Yld Opps DLY 16.02 15.33 -4.3 9.1
First Tr Hi Inc Lng/Shrt FSD 12.48 11.56 -7.4 10.5
First Trust HY Opp:2027 FTHY 15.33 14.05 -8.3 10.7
Franklin Univ FT 7.51 6.50 -13.4 7.6
KKR Income Opportunities KIO 13.64 13.17 -3.4 10.7
NeubHgYldStrt NHS 7.82 7.91 +1.2 13.4
New Amer Hi Inc HYB 8.11 7.13 -12.1 6.7
Nuveen Global High Inc JGH 13.26 12.45 -6.1 9.7
PGIM Global High Yield GHY 12.84 11.38 -11.4 10.5
PGIM High Yield Bond ISD 13.63 12.44 -8.7 9.7
PGIM Sh Dur Hi Yld Opp SDHY 17.22 15.05 -12.6 8.4
PioneerHilncm PHT 8.10 7.42 -8.4 8.6
WstAstHIF II HIX 4.56 4.33 -5.0 13.1
Western Asset Hi Inc Opp HIO 4.16 3.80 -8.7 10.2
Western Asset Hi Yld D O HYI 12.14 11.75 -3.2 9.5
Other Domestic Taxable Bond Funds
Allspring Multi-Sector ERC 9.88 8.96 -9.3 8.4
Apollo Tactical Income AIF 14.87 14.03 -5.6 10.6
Ares Dynamic Crdt Alloc ARDC 14.65 14.03 -4.2 9.7
BlackRock Mlt-Sctr Inc BIT 14.38 15.35 +6.7 9.3
BlackRock Tax Muni Bd BBN 17.26 15.64 -9.4 6.9
DoubleLine:Oppor Crdt Fd DBL 15.13 14.76 -2.4 4.9
EVLmtDurIncm EVV 10.42 9.45 -9.3 9.6
Franklin Ltd Dur Income FTF 7.11 6.18 -13.1 11.3
FS Credit Opportunities FSCO NA NA NA 11.2
J Han Investors JHI NA 13.01 NA 6.7
MFS Charter MCR 6.79 6.16 -9.3 0.0
NuvCorePlusImpact NPCT 11.69 10.05 -14.0 9.7
Nuveen Taxable Muni Inc NBB 16.35 14.84 -9.2 5.3
PIMCO Corp & Inc Oppty PTY 11.14 13.97 +25.4 9.5
PIMCO Corp & Inc Strat PCN 11.42 13.37 +17.1 9.6
PIMCOHilnco PHK 4.56 4.76 +4.4 11.6
PIMCO IncmStrFd PFL 7.92 8.18 +3.3 11.5
PIMCO IncmStrFd II PFN 6.98 7.14 +2.3 11.5
Putnam Prem Inc PPT 3.78 3.45 -8.7 8.0
Western Asset Dvsfd Inc WDI 15.50 14.19 -8.5 10.4
World Income Funds
abrdn AP IncFd FAX 2.97 2.63 -11.4 11.7
MS EmMktDomDebt EDD 5.37 4.55 -15.3 3.7
PIMCO Access Income PAXS 14.83 15.17 +2.3 11.4
PIMCO Dynamic Inc Strat PDX 23.59 20.79 -11.9 4.3
PIMCO Dynamic Income PDI 16.94 19.17 +13.2 13.7
PIMCO Dynamic Inc Opp PDO 12.45 12.63 +1.4 11.6
PIMCO Stratg Inc RCS 4.34 5.87 +35.3 10.0
Templtn Glbl Inc SABA 4.34 3.73 -14.1 11.1
Templeton Em Inc TEI 6.02 5.27 -12.5 10.3
WstAstEmergDebt EMD 10.52 9.12 -13.3 9.8
Western Asset Gl Cr D Op GDO 12.60 12.10 -4.0 9.7
National Muni Bond Funds
AllBerNatlMunInc AFB 12.31 10.54 -14.4 3.5
BlckRk Inv Q Mun BKN 12.86 12.06 -6.2 4.3
BlackRock Muni 2030 Tgt BTT 23.76 20.52 -13.6 2.9
BlackRock Muni BFK 11.33 10.02 -11.6 4.3
BlackRock Muni II BLE 11.94 10.45 -12.5 4.4
BlckRk Muni Inc Qly BYM 12.49 11.23 -10.1 4.4
BR MuniAssets Fd MUA 11.36 11.06 -2.6 4.9
BR MH Qly 2 MUE 11.44 9.82 -14.2 4.0
BR MuniHoldngs MHD 13.38 11.59 -13.4 4.0
BR MuniVest Fd MVF 7.90 6.89 -12.8 4.0
Prem12 Mo Prem12 Mo
Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld
BR MuniVest 2 MVT 12.20 10.55 -13.5 4.1 U.S. Mortgage Bond Funds
BR MuniYield Fd MYD 11.97 10.82 -9.6 4.5 Arca US Treasury NA NA NA 2.8
BR MuniYield Qlty MQY 13.02 12.12 -6.9 4.7 Ellington Inc Opp:A 8.86 NA NA 12.3
BR MuniYld Qlty2 MQT 11.49 9.97 -13.2 4.5 Ellington Inc Opp:M 8.73 NA NA 13.1
BR MuniYld Qly 3 MYI 12.38 11.13 -10.1 4.7 Loan Participation Funds
BNY Mellon Muni Bd Infra DMB NA 10.13 NA 4.1 1WS Credit Income;A2 18.78 NA NA 7.4
BNY Mellon Str Muni Bond DSM NA 5.63 NA 3.9 1WS Credit Income;Inst 19.18 NA NA 7.3
BNY Mellon Strat Muni LEO NA 5.88 NA 4.0
Axonic Alternative Inc 20.05 NA NA 8.8
DWS Muni Inc KTF NA 9.37 NA 3.5 Axonic Alternative Inc;A 20.00 NA NA NS
EVMuniBd EIM 11.28 10.09 -10.6 4.3 Blackstone FR EI D NA NA NA 9.5
EVMuniIncm EVN 11.21 9.98 -11.0 4.7 Blackstone FR EI I NA NA NA 9.8
EVNatMuniOpp EOT 18.30 16.40 -10.4 4.5 Blackstone FR EI T 22.00 NA NA 9.3
InvAdvMuIncTrII VKI 9.71 8.27 -14.8 4.5 Blackstone FR EI T-I NA NA NA 9.3
Invesco MuniOp OIA 6.32 6.24 -1.3 4.9 Blackstone FR EI U 22.97 NA NA 9.3
InvescoMuOppTr VMO 10.85 9.44 -13.0 4.3 Bluerock HI Inst Crd:A 24.00 NA NA 13.0
InvescoMuTr VKQ 10.90 9.28 -14.9 4.4 Bluerock HI Inst Crd:C 24.00 NA NA 13.0
InvescoQual Inc IQI 10.95 9.38 -14.3 4.6 Bluerock HI Inst Crd:F 24.00 NA NA 13.0
InvTrInvGrMu VGM 11.22 9.58 -14.6 4.3
Bluerock HI Inst Crd:I 24.01 NA NA 13.0
InvescoValMunInc IIM 13.38 11.52 -13.9 4.5
CliffwaterClFd;I 10.62 NA NA 13.7
MAINSTAY:MKDEFTRMUNOP MMD 16.89 16.24 -3.8 4.8 CliffwaterElFd;I 10.86 NA NA 13.5
NeubrgrBrm NBH 11.93 10.18 -14.7 4.3
CNR Strategic Credit 7.39 NA NA 23.0
Nuveen AMT-Fr Mu Val NUW 15.20 13.43 -11.6 3.6 Floating-Rate Opps;A 10.24 NA NA NS
Nuveen AMT-Fr Qlty Mun I NEA 12.53 10.72 -14.4 4.2
Floating-Rate Opps;I 10.22 NA NA NS
Nuveen AMT-Fr Mu CI NVG 13.55 11.70 -13.7 4.5
Floating-Rate Opps;U 10.24 NA NA NS
Nuveen Dyn Muni Opp NDMO 10.95 10.78 -1.6 6.8
Nuveen Mu Crdt Opps NMCO 11.55 10.27 -11.1 5.4 Equalize Community Dev 9.14 NA NA 3.6
Nuv Muni Credit Income NZF 13.63 11.81 -13.4 4.6 FedProj&TrFinanceTendr 9.95 NA NA 7.5
NuvMuniHiIncOpp NMZ 11.09 10.39 -6.3 5.0 Flat Rock Core Income 20.60 NA NA 9.2
Nuveen Muni Val NUV 9.29 8.47 -8.8 3.9 Flat Rock Enhanced Inc 21.56 NA NA 9.3
Nuveen Quality Muni Inc NAD 12.95 11.02 -14.9 4.3 InvDYCrOpp:A 11.06 NA NA 10.5
Nuveen Sel TF NXP 14.50 13.97 -3.7 4.0 InvDYCrOpp:R6 11.07 NA NA 10.8
PIMCO MuniInc PMF 9.31 8.99 -3.4 5.4 InvDYCrOpp:Y 11.07 NA NA 10.7
PIMCOMuniIncII PML 8.67 8.36 -3.6 5.5 Invesco Sr Loan A 5.87 NA NA 9.6
Pimco Muni III PMX 7.97 7.31 -8.3 5.3 Invesco Sr Loan C 5.88 NA NA 8.8
PioneerHilncAdv MAV 9.10 7.96 -12.5 4.2 Invesco Sr Loan IB 5.87 NA NA 9.8
PionrMuniHiIncOppty MIO 12.67 11.21 -11.5 4.5 Invesco Sr Loan IC 5.87 NA NA 9.7
PioneerMunHiIcm MHI 9.85 8.63 -12.4 4.0 Invesco Sr Loan Y 5.87 NA NA 9.8
Putnam Mgd Inc PMM 6.65 5.96 -10.4 3.3 Lord Abbett FR Hi Inc:A 10.26 NA NA 10.0
Putnam Muni Opp PMO 11.30 9.86 -12.7 3.9 Lord Abbett FR Hi Inc:I 10.26 NA NA 10.5
RiverNorth Flx Mu Inc II RFMZ 15.36 13.83 -10.0 7.4 Monachil Credit Income:I 10.09 NA NA 7.9
RiverNorth Mgd Dur Mun I RMM 16.24 14.80 -8.9 7.3 Nomura Alt Inc;I 10.02 NA NA 5.1
Western Asset Mgd Muni MMU 11.58 10.13 -12.5 4.5 OFS Credit Company OCCI NA 7.19 NA NA
Single State Muni Bond SEI Alternative Income:F 10.24 NA NA NS
BlackRock CA Mun BFZ 12.79 11.56 -9.6 4.3 SEI Alternative Income:Y 10.24 NA NA NS
BR MH CA Qly Fd Inc MUC 12.41 10.70 -13.8 4.2 Yieldstreet Alt Inc NA NA NA 8.8
BR MH NJ Qly MUJ 12.95 11.27 -13.0 4.3 High Yield Bond Funds
BR MH NY Qly MHN 11.92 10.32 -13.4 4.1 Apollo Diversified Cd:A 21.78 NA NA 9.1
BR MuniYld MI Qly MIY 12.88 11.25 -12.7 4.0 Apollo Diversified Cd:C 21.77 NA NA 8.4
BR MuniYld NY Qly MYN 11.55 10.22 -11.5 4.1 Apollo Diversified Cd:F 21.78 NA NA 11.8
BlackRock NY Mun BNY 11.86 10.34 -12.8 3.9 Apollo Diversified Cd:I 21.77 NA NA 9.4
EVCAMuniBd EVM 10.27 9.17 -10.7 4.0 Apollo Diversified Cd:L 21.77 NA NA 8.8
Eaton Vance NY Muni Bd ENX 10.61 9.52 -10.3 3.9 Apollo Diversified Cd:M 21.77 NA NA 8.6
InvCaValMuIncTr VCV 11.22 9.61 -14.3 4.0 Opprtnstc Crdt Intrvl;I 11.70 NA NA 12.0
InvPAValMuIncTr VPV 11.56 10.00 -13.5 3.6
PIMCO Flexible Cr I;A-1 6.90 NA NA 10.4
InvTrInvGrNYMu VTN 11.94 10.57 -11.5 3.7
PIMCO Flexible Cr I;A-2 6.90 NA NA 10.4
Nuveen CA AMT-F Qual MI NKX 13.03 11.85 -9.1 4.3
PIMCO Flexible Cr I;A-3 6.90 NA NA 10.1
Nuveen CA Val NCA 9.28 8.79 -5.3 3.8 PIMCO Flexible Cr I;A-4 6.90 NA NA 10.1
NuveenCAQtyMuInc NAC 12.57 10.71 -14.8 4.3
PIMCO Flexible Cr I;Inst 6.90 NA NA 10.9
NuvNJ Qual Muni Inc NXJ 13.56 11.94 -11.9 3.2 Other Domestic Taxable Bond Funds
Nuveen NY AMT/Fr Qual MI NRK 11.92 10.63 -10.8 4.1
AFA Private Credit;Fndr 9.43 NA NA 7.8
Nuveen NY Qual Muni Inc NAN 12.39 10.70 -13.6 4.3 AFA Private Credit;Inst 9.46 NA NA 7.8
Nuveen PA Qual Muni Inc NQP 13.30 11.60 -12.8 3.2 Alternative Credit Inc:A NA NA NA 7.2
Nuveen VA Qlty Mun Inc NPV 12.35 10.68 -13.5 3.8 Alternative Credit Inc:C NA NA NA 6.4
PIMCO CA PCQ 10.29 9.07 -11.9 4.6 Alternative Credit Inc:I NA NA NA 7.4
PIMCOCAMuniII PCK 6.56 5.56 -15.2 4.4 Alternative Credit Inc:L NA NA NA 6.9
52 wk Alternative Credit Inc:W NA NA NA 7.2

The Marketplace
To advertise: 800-366-3975 or WSJ.com/classifieds
CLASS ACTION NOTICE OF SALE
FORM OF PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF PROPOSED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENTS, PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT on May 15, 2024, at the
hour of 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, or as soon thereafter
FAIRNESS HEARING AND CLASS MEMBERS’ RIGHTS as practicable, WM CAPITAL PARTNERS 82, LLC and/or
its successors and assigns (“Secured Party”) will hold a
public foreclosure sale in person at the offices of Cole
Schotz P.C., 25 Main Street, Hackensack, New Jersey and
TO: ALL PERSONS WHO, DIRECTLY OR THROUGH AN AGENT, virtually via online video conference, pursuant to Section
9-610 of the Uniform Commercial Code as enacted in the
ENTERED INTO STOCK LOAN TRANSACTIONS WITH THE State of New Jersey, to sell to the highest qualified
bidder all of the right, title and interest of Irwin Sablosky
PRIME BROKER DEFENDANTS, DIRECT OR INDIRECT and Frank Valvano, Jr.( collectively, “Pledgor”) in the
following collateral (collectively, the “Collateral”): (a)
PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, OR DIVISIONS OF THE PRIME 50 shares of stock in New Loan Co. - Wm. S. Rich & Son,
Inc. pledged to Secured Party by Irwin Sablosky pursuant
BROKER DEFENDANTS IN THE UNITED STATES FROM to the Pledge; (b) 31.6675 shares of stock in New Loan
Co. - Wm. S. Rich & Son, Inc. pledged to Secured Party
JANUARY 7, 2009 THROUGH AUGUST 22, 2023, INCLUSIVE. by Frank Valvano, Jr. pursuant to the Pledge; (c) All
cash, securities, dividends, increases, distributions, and
profits received therefrom or in connection therewith,
The purpose of this Notice is to inform you of two separate proposed settlements in this including distributions or payments in partial or
complete liquidation or redemption, or as a result
Action (combined, the “Settlements”). The first settlement agreement is with the “Credit of reclassifications, readjustments, reorganizations,
stock splits or other changes in time to time, received,
Suisse Settling Defendants,” which are: Credit Suisse Group AG, Credit Suisse AG; Credit receivable, or otherwise distributed or delivered,
and all rights and privileges pertaining thereto; and
Suisse Securities (USA) LLC; Credit Suisse First Boston Next Fund, Inc.; and Credit Suisse (d) All products and proceeds of the foregoing and
all general intangibles and contract rights related
Prime Securities Services (USA) LLC. The “Settlement Class Period” for the Credit Suisse thereto, including without limitation, all revenues,
distributions, dividends, property, registration rights,
Settlement Agreement is January 7, 2009 through January 20, 2022, inclusive. contract rights, and other rights and interests that
Pledgor is, or may hereafter become, entitled to receive
on account of any collateral described herein. The
The second settlement is with the “Newly Settling Defendants”, which are: Goldman Sachs Collateral is pledged to secure the Consent Judgment
(as defined below) with an aggregate unpaid balance
& Co. LLC; Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing, L.P.; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC; amount of $13,020,245.95 as of March 26, 2024 and
the amounts due under the WM Consolidated Note
J.P. Morgan Prime, Inc.; J.P. Morgan Strategic Securities Lending Corp.; JPMorgan Chase (as defined below) with an aggregate unpaid balance
amount of $2,523,653.26 as of March 26, 2024. The
Bank, N.A.; Morgan Stanley; Morgan Stanley Capital Management, LLC; Morgan Stanley sales are being held to enforce the rights of Secured
Party under (a) that certain Forbearance Agreement,
& Co. LLC; Morgan Stanley Distribution, Inc.; Prime Dealer Services Corp.; Strategic dated August 7, 2020, between Santander Bank, N.A.
(“Prior Lender”) and New Loan Co. - Wm. S. Rich & Son,
Investments I, Inc.; UBS AG; UBS Americas Inc.; UBS Securities LLC; UBS Financial Inc. (the “Company” or “Borrower”), Irwin Sablonsky
(“Irwin”), Estate of Frank Valvano, Sr. by Dana Sullivan,
Services Inc.; EquiLend LLC; EquiLend Europe Limited; and EquiLend Holdings LLC. Executrix (the “Estate”), Frank Valvano, Jr. (“Frank”)
(collectively, Judgment Debtors”), as amended by the
The “Settlement Class Period” for the New Settlement Agreement is January 7, 2009 First Amendment to Forbearance Agreement, dated
January 8, 2021, between WM Capital Partners 82,
through August 22, 2023, inclusive. LLC (“Lender”) and Judgment Debtors, as further
amended by the Second Amendment to Forbearance
Agreement, dated March 2, 2021, between Lender and
Plaintiffs allege that Defendants, the dominant intermediary banks in the U.S. stock loan Judgment Debtors, as further amended and restated
by the Amended and Restated Forbearance Agreement,
market, conspired to block and boycott new offerings that would have increased competition dated August 11, 2021, between Lender and Judgment
Creditors, as further amended by the First Amendment
and improved the efficiency and transparency of the market, in violation of Section 1 of to Amended and Restated Forbearance Agreement,
dated September 14, 2022 between Lender and
the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1. The purpose and effect of this alleged conspiracy was to Judgment Creditors (collectively, the above-referenced
maintain supracompetitive “spreads” between beneficial owners of stock who lend their agreements are the “Forbearance Agreement”); (b) that
certain Stock Pledge Agreement, dated January 8, 2021,
stock out for a fee and borrowers of stock, who generally sell the borrowed shares as part of (the “Pledge”), between Irwin Sablonsky (“Irwin”) and
Frank Valvano, Jr. (“Frank” together with Irwin, the
a short transaction. As a result, Plaintiffs allege Class Members were damaged by receiving “Pledgor”), New Loan Co. - Wm. S. Rich & Son, Inc. (the
“Company”) and WM Capital Partners 82, LLC (“Secured
lower fees for lending shares of stock and/or paying higher fees for borrowing stock than Party”); and (c) that certain Consolidated Secured
Promissory Note, dated September 14, 2022, given by
they would have if Defendants had not conspired to block efficient new developments in New Loan Co. - Wm. S. Rich & Son, Inc. (“Borrower”) to
WM Capital Partners 82, LLC (“Lender”) in the amount
the market. The lawsuit also alleges that Defendants were unjustly enriched under common of $2,571,217.03 (the “WM Consolidated Note”).
Pursuant to the Forbearance Agreement, Lender agreed
law. All Defendants deny they did anything wrong. to forbear from enforcing a consent judgment entered
in the action entitled Santander Bank, N.A. vs. New
Loan Co. – Wm. S. Rich & Son, Inc., Irwin Sablosky,
The Court has preliminarily approved the Settlements with the Settling Defendants who Frank Valvano, Sr., Frank Valvano, Jr., John Does 1-5
and ABC Corporation(s) 1-5, Docket No. ESX-C-58-20
have agreed to pay a total of $580,008,750. Class Members who or which do not opt out (the Consent Judgment”) until September 30, 2023.
The Consent Judgment was assigned to Lender on
of the Settlements will release their claims against all Settling Defendants in the Action. January 8, 2021. Separately, the WM Consolidated Note
matured by its terms on September 30, 2023. The sales
will be held on a “where is, as is” basis, with reserve,
Your Options and without any representations or warranties of any
Fund (SYM)
General Equity Funds
Alternative Strategies:I 16.55 NA NA -7.5
Prem Ttl
NAV Close /Disc Ret
First Trust Hdg Strat;A 10.59 NA NA
First Trust Hdg Str;I 10.62 NA NA
Specialized Equity Funds
Accordant ODCE Index;A 9.48 NA NA NS
Accordant ODCE Index;I 9.49 NA NA NS
Accordant ODCE Index;Y 9.49 NA NA NS
Apollo Diversified RE:A 24.36 NA NA -5.1
Apollo Diversified RE:C 22.83 NA NA -5.9
Apollo Diversified RE:I 24.90 NA NA -4.9
ArrowMark Financial Corp BANX NA 18.65 NA NA
Bluerock Total Inc+ RE:A 27.95 NA NA -11.2
Bluerock Total Inc+ RE:C 25.96 NA NA -11.8
Bluerock Total Inc+ RE:I 28.72 NA NA -10.9
Bluerock Total Inc+ RE:L 27.47 NA NA -11.4
Bluerock Total Inc+ RE:M 26.11 NA NA -11.6
CBRE GlbRlEst IGR 5.41 4.96 -8.3 1.5
CIM RA&C A 23.61 NA NA 0.2
CIM RA&C C 22.93 NA NA -0.4
CIM RA&C I 23.83 NA NA 0.4
CIM RA&C L
23.36 NA NA 0.0
Clarion Partners REI D 11.84 NA NA 2.4
Clarion Partners REI I 11.85 NA NA 2.7
Clarion Partners REI S 11.84 NA NA 1.8
Clarion Partners REI T 11.83 NA NA 1.8
First Tr Real Assets;I 9.23 NA NA NA
Forum RE Income;I 9.61 NA NA 14.0
Private Opps A NA NA NA NS
Private Opps I NA NA NA NS
Private Opps SDR NA NA NA NS
NexPointRlEstStrat;A 16.80 NA NA -6.2
NexPointRlEstStrat;C 17.00 NA NA -6.9
NexPointRlEstStrat;Z 17.02 NA NA -6.0
PIMCO Flexible REI;Inst 10.49 NA NA 10.8
PREDEX;I 23.90 NA NA -13.5
PREDEX;T 23.99 NA NA -13.7
PREDEX;W 23.99 NA NA -13.7
Principal Real Asst A 25.06 NA NA 1.1
Principal Real Asst Ins 25.16 NA NA 1.4
Principal Real Asst Y 25.42 NA NA 1.6
Redwood Rl Est;I 25.13 NA NA NS
The Private Shares;A 39.49 NA NA -3.5
The Private Shares;I 40.16 NA NA -3.3
The Private Shares;L 38.85 NA NA -3.8
Thirdline Real EstateI 10.08 NA NA 7.2
USQ Core Real Estate:I 23.03 NA NA -15.9
USQ Core Real Estate:IS 23.10 NA NA -15.8
Income & Preferred Stock Funds
Alpha Alternative Assets 6.22 NA NA 0.5
Calamos L/S Eqty and DI CPZ 17.49 14.98 -14.4 9.0
Carlyle AlpInv Pvt Mkt:A NA NA NA NS
Denali Strctr Rtrn Strat 10.05 NA NA NS
First Trust Alt Opps;A 26.38 NA NA 9.2
First Trust Alt Opps;A 26.76 NA NA 10.1
Flat Rock Opportunity 19.37 NA NA 19.7
Lord Abbett Spec Sit I:A 9.31 NA NA 14.3
Lord Abbett Spec Sit I:I 9.32 NA NA 15.2
Variant Altrntv Inc:Inst 28.39 NA NA 9.7
Variant Impact;Instl 28.12 NA NA 12.6
Versus Capital Infra Inc NA NA NA NS
Convertible Sec's. Funds
Calmos Dyn Conv and Inc CCD 18.94 21.32 +12.6 9.0
World Equity Funds
ACAP Strategic:A 21.95 NA NA 36.5
ACAP Strategic:W 16.49 NA NA 37.6
CalamosGlbTotRet CGO 11.08 10.07 -9.1 19.0
Cantor Fitzgerald SI:A 11.03 NA NA 8.2
Cantor Fitzgerald SI:C 10.92 NA NA 7.3
Cantor Fitzgerald SI:I 11.04 NA NA 8.5
Primark Priv Eq Inv:I 12.78 NA NA 13.3
Sweater Cashmere 21.99 NA NA 6.7
Thornburg Inc Bldr Opps TBLD 17.93 15.48 -13.7 9.4
VirtusTotalRetFd ZTR NA 5.36 NA NA
Angel Oak Str Crdt:FI 20.90 NA NA 8.0
Angel Oak Str Crdt:Inst 20.89 NA NA 8.0
BR Credit Strat;A
BR Credit Strat;Inst
8.56 NA NA 8.2
8.53 NA NA 8.9
N BR Credit Strat;U 8.55 NA NA 8.2
N BR Credit Strat;W 8.56 NA NA 8.2
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;A NA NA NA 8.5
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;C NA NA NA 7.8
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;I NA NA NA 8.8
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;L NA NA NA 8.3
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;U NA NA NA 8.0
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt:U2 NA NA NA 8.0
CION Ares Dvsfd Crdt;W NA NA NA 8.3
CNR Select Strategies 14.46 NA NA 0.0
First Eagle Crdt Opps A 23.51 NA NA 10.5
First Eagle Crdt Opps A2 23.43 NA NA 10.2
First Eagle Crdt Opps I 23.37 NA NA 11.0
First Trust Private Cr;A 10.40 NA NA NS
First Trust Private Cr;I 10.40 NA NA 8.7
Franklin BSP Pvt Cr:A 10.39 NA NA 6.9
Franklin BSP Pvt Cr:Adv 10.40 NA NA 7.3
FS Credit Income;A 12.31 NA NA 7.3
FS Credit Income;I 12.35 NA NA 7.6
FS Credit Income;T 12.34 NA NA 7.1
FS Credit Income;U 12.29 NA NA 6.9
FS Credit Income;U-2 12.39 NA NA 7.1
GL Beyond Income 0.39 NA NA 0.0
KKR CREDIT OPPTY;D 22.66 NA NA 8.8
KKR CREDIT OPPTY;I 24.40 NA NA 9.0
KKR CREDIT OPPTY;T 24.17 NA NA 8.3
KKR CREDIT OPPTY;U 23.26 NA NA 8.3
NIAGARAINCOMEOPPORTNTS 10.27 NA NA NS
Palmer Square Opp Inc 17.91 NA NA 9.6
World Income Funds
BlueBay Destra Itl E:A 24.11 NA NA 7.4
BlueBay Destra Itl E:I 24.13 NA NA 7.7
BlueBay Destra Itl E:L 24.09 NA NA 7.2
BlueBay Destra Itl E:T 23.98 NA NA 7.0
Calamos-Aksia ACI:A 10.46 NA NA NS
Calamos-Aksia ACI:C 10.46 NA NA NS
Calamos-Aksia ACI:I 10.46 NA NA NS
Calamos-Aksia ACI:M 10.46 NA NA NS
Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:A 8.53 NA NA 9.8
Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:I 8.57 NA NA 10.1
Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:L 8.53 NA NA 9.7
Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:M 8.57 NA NA 9.6
Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:N 8.53 NA NA 10.3
Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:U 8.58 NA NA 9.6
Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:Y 8.53 NA NA 10.0
Fid MS Cr;A NA NA NA NS
Fid MS Cr;C NA NA NA NS
Fid MS Cr;I NA NA NA NS
Fid MS Cr;L NA NA NA NS
Jackson Credit Opps:I 10.24 NA NA NS
Lord Abbett Cred Opps Fd 8.90 NA NA 9.1
Lord Abbett Cred Opps Fd 8.91 NA NA 9.8
Lord Abbett Crd Op:U 8.91 NA NA 9.1
Oaktree Dvsfd Income;D 8.98 NA NA 8.6
PIMCO Flexible EM I;Inst 8.38 NA NA 7.1
National Muni Bond Funds
Ecofin Tax-Exempt Prv Cr 8.41 NA NA 3.8
Lind Cap Pt Mun Cred Inc 8.75 NA NA 6.1
MainStay MacKay Mu IO;A1 9.96 NA NA NS
MainStay MacKay Mu IO;A2 9.96 NA NA NS
MainStay MacKay Mu IO;A3 9.96 NA NA NS
MainStay MacKay Mu IO;I 9.96 NA NA NS
Nuveen En HY Muni Bd:A1 7.40 NA NA 5.2
Nuveen En HY Muni Bd:A2 7.41 NA NA 5.4
Nuveen En HY Muni Bd:I 7.39 NA NA 5.9
PIMCO Flex Mun Inc;A-3 10.20 NA NA 3.5
PIMCO Flex Mun Inc:A1 10.20 NA NA 3.7
PIMCO Flex Mun Inc;A2 10.20 NA NA 3.7
PIMCO Flex Mun Inc;Inst 10.20 NA NA 4.2
Single State Muni Bond
PIMCO CA FMI;A-1 10.17 NA NA 2.8
PIMCO CA FMI;Inst 10.17 NA NA 3.3

If you are a Settlement Class Member of either or both Settlement Classes and do not
kind, whether express or implied. There is no warranty
relating to title, possession, quiet enjoyment or the
Cash Prices | wsj.com/market-data/commodities Friday, April 12, 2024
like in these dispositions. Secured Party reserves the These prices reflect buying and selling of a variety of actual or “physical” commodities
exclude yourself, you are eligible to file a Claim Form to receive your share of money. right to sell the Collateral separately, or to sell all (or
in the marketplace—separate from the futures price on an exchange, which reflects
any combination) of the Collateral collectively and as
Claim Forms must be submitted online at the Settlement Website on or before 11:59 p.m. an entirety in its sole and absolute discretion. Secured what the commodity might be worth in future months.
Party reserves the right to establish bidding procedures,
Eastern time on July 8, 2024 OR postmarked by July 8, 2024 and mailed to: Stock Loan to require potential bidders to tender a minimum
Friday Friday
bid deposit, to approve or reject any bids in its sole
Transactions Settlement, c/o Epiq, P.O. Box 3546, Portland, OR 97208-3546. If you do not discretion, and to have potential bidders demonstrate Energy Grains and Feeds
their ability to perform and close to the satisfaction of
file a Claim Form, you will not receive any payments under the Settlements. Secured Party. Secured Party reserves the right to credit Coal,C.Aplc.,12500Btu,1.2SO2-r,w 77.350 Bran,wheat middlings, KC-u,w 75
bid at the auction, to assign its bid, and to credit the Coal,PwdrRvrBsn,8800Btu,0.8SO2-r,w 13.650 Corn,No. 2 yellow,Cent IL-bp,u 4.1000
purchase price against the expenses of the sales and Corn gluten feed,Midwest-u,w 87.9
If you are a Settlement Class Member and do not want to remain in either or both Settlement the secured obligations. Secured Party reserves the Metals Corn gluten meal,Midwest-u,w 396.3
right to adjourn, continue, or cancel the auction without
Classes, and do not want a payment from the Settlements, then you must take steps to further notice. The sales shall be held in accordance Gold, per troy oz Cottonseed meal-u,w n.a.
with the “Terms of Public Sale,” which set forth (among Engelhard industrial 2398.00 Hominy feed,Cent IL-u,w 112
exclude yourself from the Settlements. If you wish to exclude yourself from either or both other things) the sale procedures, the bidding deposit
Handy & Harman base 2401.50 Meat-bonemeal,50% pro Mnpls-u,w 325
requirements, and the timing of settlement. The public Oats,No.2 milling,Mnpls-u 4.3350
of the Settlement Classes, you must submit by U.S. first class mail or deliver a written sale shall be conducted by Mannion Auctions, LLC, by Handy & Harman fabricated 2665.67
*2331.75 Rice, Long Grain Milled, No. 2 AR-u,w 36.25
request to the Settlement Administrator so that it is received by June 7, 2024. If you exclude Matthew D. Mannion, Auctioneer, NYC DCA License No.
1434494-DCA, or other such licensed auctioneer(s) as
LBMA Gold Price AM
LBMA Gold Price PM *2345.65 Sorghum,(Milo) No.2 Gulf-u n.a.
yourself from a Settlement, you will not be bound by that Settlement, if approved, or that may be selected by the Secured Party, without further Krugerrand,wholesale-e 2449.93 SoybeanMeal,Cent IL,rail,ton48%-u,w 358.40
publication or notice. Any parties interested in further Soybeans,No.1 yllw IL-bp,u 11.5200
information about the Collateral, the exact location of Maple Leaf-e 2473.49
Settlement’s release, and you will not be eligible for any payment from that Settlement. the sales and/or link to the sales, the requirements to American Eagle-e 2473.49 Wheat,Spring14%-pro Mnpls-u 8.1275
be a “qualified bidder” and/or the Terms of Public Sale Mexican peso-e 2848.27 Wheat,No.2 soft red,St.Louis-u 5.4850
should contact Jim Barr Coleman (+1 (212) 584-6173; Austria crown-e 2312.06 Wheat - Hard - KC (USDA) $ per bu-u 6.2875
If you are a Class Member and you do not exclude yourself, you can tell the Court what you email: jimbarr@wmcapitalpartners.com). Wheat,No.1soft white,Portld,OR-u 5.7500
Austria phil-e 2473.49
think about the Settlements. You can object to all or any part of the Settlements, Plans of Silver, troy oz. Food
Allocation, and/or application for attorneys’ fees, reimbursement of litigation expenses and Engelhard industrial 29.5000
Handy & Harman base 28.9790 Beef,carcass equiv. index
costs, or plaintiff service awards. If you wish to object to either or both of the Settlements, Handy & Harman fabricated 36.2240 choice 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 283.55
LBMA spot price *£22.3400 select 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 276.04
THE
you must file a written objection with the Court and serve copies on Plaintiffs’ Counsel and (U.S.$ equivalent) *28.0150 Broilers, National comp wtd. avg.-u,w 1.3301
Settling Defendants’ counsel so that the written objection is received by June 7, 2024. You Coins,wholesale $1,000 face-a 21916 Butter,AA Chicago-d 2.9200
must be and remain within a Settlement Class in order to object to that Settlement. MARKETPLACE Other metals
LBMA Platinum Price PM *976.0
Cheddar cheese,bbl,Chicago-d
Cheddar cheese,blk,Chicago-d
157.25
153.50
Platinum,Engelhard industrial 1004.0 Milk,Nonfat dry,Chicago lb.-d 114.25
The Court will hold the Fairness Hearing on September 4, 2024. At the Fairness Hearing, Palladium,Engelhard industrial 1083.0 Coffee,Brazilian,Comp-y 2.1849
the Court will consider whether the Settlements are fair, reasonable, and adequate. The Court ADVERTISE TODAY Aluminum, LME, $ per metric ton *2410.5 Coffee,Colombian, NY-y 2.3955
Copper,Comex spot 4.2575 Eggs,large white,Chicago-u 2.4150
will also consider whether to approve the Plans of Allocation and requests for attorneys’ (800) 366-3975 Iron Ore, 62% Fe CFR China-s *108.7 Flour,hard winter KC-p 17.25
Steel, HRC USA, FOB Midwest Mill-s *835.0 Hams,17-20 lbs,Mid-US fob-u 1.04
fees, litigation expenses and costs, and plaintiff service awards. If there are any objections, For more information visit: Battery/EV metals Hogs,Iowa-So. Minnesota-u 89.53
the Court will consider them at this time. Plaintiffs’ Counsel will answer any questions the wsj.com/classifieds BMI Lithium Carbonate, EXW China, =99.2%-v,w 15175 Pork bellies,12-14 lb MidUS-u n.a.
BMI Lithium Hydroxide, EXW China, =56.5% -v,w 13800 Pork loins,13-19 lb MidUS-u 1.2279
Court may have. You are, however, welcome to participate at the Fairness Hearing. If you BMI Cobalt sulphate, EXW China, >20.5% -v,m 4485 Steers,Tex.-Okla. Choice-u 182.00
send an objection, you do not have to participate at the Fairness Hearing to talk about it. BMI Nickel Sulphate, EXW China, >22%-v,m 4192 Steers,feeder,Okla. City-u,w 303.75
BMIFlakeGraphite,FOBChina,-100Mesh,94-95%-v,m 485
As long as you file and serve your written objection on time, the Court will consider it. You Fats and Oils
Fibers and Textiles
may also hire your own lawyer to participate, but you are not required to do so. Degummed corn oil, crude wtd. avg.-u,w n.a.
Burlap,10-oz,40-inch NY yd-n,w 0.8000 Grease,choice white,Chicago-h 0.4100
Cotton,1 1/16 std lw-mdMphs-u 0.7912 Lard,Chicago-u n.a.
This Notice summarizes the Settlement Agreements. More details are in the Settlement Cotlook 'A' Index-t *91.40 Soybean oil,crude;Centl IL-u,w 0.4589
Agreements and Plans of Allocation, which are available for your review at the Settlement Hides,hvy native steers piece fob-u n.a. Tallow,bleach;Chicago-h 0.4350
Wool,64s,staple,Terr del-u,w n.a. Tallow,edible,Chicago-u n.a.
Website, www.StockLoanSettlements.com. The Settlement Website also has answers to
common questions about the Settlements, Claim Form, and other information to help you 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;
determine whether you are a Class Member and whether you are eligible for a payment. K=bi-weekly; M=monthly; N=nominal; n.a.=not quoted or not available; P=Sosland Publishing; R=SNL Energy;
© 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. S=Platts-TSI; T=Cotlook Limited; U=USDA; V=Benchmark Mineral Intelligence; W=weekly; Y=International
You may also call toll-free 1-877-606-2315. All Rights Reserved. Coffee Organization; Z=not quoted. *Data as of 4/11
Source: Dow Jones Market Data
 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
KKR Looks to Japan to Boost Its Growth
Nation is firm’s key
market in a region it
sees as vital to its
goal to double assets
BY LUIS GARCIA
Around 40 years ago, KKR
pioneered the buyout move-
ment by carving out subsidiar-
ies of U.S. conglomerates. Now
the asset manager is finding
similar opportunities in Japan.
The New York-based asset
manager said it sees the Asia-
Pacific region as vital to its
goal of doubling its assets un-
der management from $553 bil-
lion at the end of December to
more than $1 trillion in the
next five years. The firm has
chosen Japan as its main mar-
ket in the region, partly be-
cause of the many opportuni-
ties it sees to buy businesses at
U.S., U.K. Plan Curbs
On Russia Metal Trades
BY RICHARD VANDERFORD
The U.S. and U.K. will limit
trading of Russian aluminum,
copper and nickel on their
metals exchanges in a bid to
deprive Moscow of a key
source of revenue, a move that
comes despite concerns that
rising commodity prices could
fuel inflation.
The U.S. and U.K. said Friday
they are tightening a clamp-
down on Russia’s metals trade
with the London Metal Ex-
change and the Chicago Mer-
cantile Exchange, the world’s
leading metals exchanges, by
no longer allowing trade in
new aluminum, copper and
nickel produced by Russia.
The U.S. will follow a previ-
ous U.K. move and ban imports
from Russia of those metals.
The U.S. had previously im-
posed steep tariffs on Russian
aluminum, which cheered do-
mestic producers but met with
criticism from some quarters
about the potential effect on
the metal’s price. Friday’s
move comes amid a commodi-
ties rally some fear could
drive up inflation that the
Federal Reserve is fighting to
JUSTIN MERRIMAN/BLOOMBERG NEWS
CSX is expected to post per-share earnings of 45 cents.
THE TICKER |
MARKET EVENTS COMING THIS WEEK
Monday
Business inventories
Jan., previous up 0.0%
Feb., expected up 0.4%
Empire Manufacturing
Mar., previous -20.9
Apr., expected -10.0
Retail sales, ex. autos
Feb., previous up 0.3%
Mar., expected up 0.5%
Retail sales
Feb., previous up 0.6%
Mar., expected up 0.3%
Earnings expected
Estimate/Year Ago
Charles Schwab
0.73/0.93
Goldman Sachs
8.73/8.79
M&T Bank 3.01/4.01
Tuesday
Building Permits
Feb., previous 1.518 mil.
Mar., expected 1.50 mil.
Capacity utilization
Feb., previous 78.3%
Mar., expected 78.5%
Housing Starts
Feb., previous 1.521 mil.
Mar., expected 1.47 mil.
Industrial production
Feb., previous up 0.1%
Mar., expected up 0.4%
Earnings expected
Estimate/Year Ago
Bank of America
0.76/0.94
Bank of New York
Mellon 1.19/1.12
* FactSet Estimates earnings-per-share estimates don’t include extraordinary items (Losses in paren-
theses) u Adjusted for stock split
NY Monday, April 15, 2024 | B9
MARKETS & FINANCE
bargain prices, KKR executives Kokusai Electric, a former unit permarket chain Seiyu and tool [which] are trading below book of Swiss bank UBS Group. The
said last Wednesday during the of Japanese conglomerate Hi- manufacturer Koki Holdings, value,” Trehan said. “Some of deal increased KKR’s real-es-
firm’s annual meeting with in- tachi. KKR took the business also a former Hitachi unit. Last these are very high-quality tate assets under management
vestors in New York. private in 2018 before relisting year, KKR took private yet an- companies with global custom- by $54 billion, the firm said at
The country accounted for it in October through an initial other Hitachi subsidiary, logis- ers, but just haven’t been man- the time.
39% of the $47 billion the firm public offering on the Tokyo tics company Hitachi Transport aged as well.” Japan’s roughly $3 trillion
has invested across the Asia- stock exchange. System, which KKR also benefits from a insurance market is the world’s
Pacific region since 2005, fol- KKR had earned the firm re- lack of competition for deals in second largest, behind only
lowed by India and Australia 15 times its in- branded as Lo- Japan, co-CEO Bae said. He that of the U.S., which is valued
with 17% each, the firm said.
“We generated more [pri-
vate-equity returns] in this
market than in many other
vestment in the
company as of
early November,
39% gisteed.
A change in
the “mindset”
when Kokusai’s Portion of KKR’s Asia- of Japan’s con-
noted that alternative assets
represent only 9% of the entire
economy in Asia, compared
with 26% in North America and
at about $4 trillion, according
to Allan Levine, CEO of Global
Atlantic, KKR’s insurance busi-
ness. The two markets share
places for a lot of reasons that stock was up glomerates is 16% in Europe. “That 9% pri- several trends, including
probably aren’t obvious,” Jo- about 35% from
Pacific investment driving them to vate-equity penetration in Asia “growing demand for retire-
seph Bae, KKR’s co-chief execu- its IPO price since 2005 that shed assets as is even lower in the Japanese ment products, an aging popu-
tive, said of Japan. “It’s low and the firm Japan comprises they seek to market today,” he said. lation [and] interest rates that
valuations, big conglomerate still owned 40% streamline their KKR is betting Japan also have been low for a sustained
structures with a lot of noncore of the busi- operations, cre- can boost other parts of its period of time that are finally
businesses, massive room for nesses, KKR ating buyout business, including insurance rising,” he said.
operational improvement in said at the time. Kokusai’s opportunities for KKR, said as well as infrastructure and But the Japanese insurance
these companies when we stock has risen further since Gaurav Trehan, a partner who real-estate investments. The market is much less developed.
bought them, and a very low then. co-leads the firm’s Asia-Pacific firm roughly two years ago ac- For example, while sales of an-
cost of capital.” KKR has at least 10 other operations. quired KJR Management, a nuities in the U.S. total about
A particularly profitable Japanese businesses in its “If you look at the Tokyo Japanese real-estate manage- $300 billion a year, in Japan
KKR deal in Japan was semi- portfolio, including drugmaker Stock Exchange, it has nearly ment company, from Mitsubishi they amount to as much as
conductor-equipment maker Bushu Pharmaceuticals, su- 4,000 companies, 40% of and the asset-management unit $100 billion, Levine said.
tamp down.
The new measures don’t ap-
ply to Russian metals produced
before April 13, providing a
window to trade and withdraw
existing stock. They also don’t
apply to Russian metals incor-
porated into other products
made outside Russia, the Trea-
sury Department said.
But U.S. traders holding fu-
tures contracts won’t be al-
lowed to take physical deliv- WHERE VOLATILITY
RISK MEETS
ery of new Russian metals,
even outside the U.S., the
Treasury Department said.
The LME and CME are affili-
OPPORTUNITY
ated with a number of ware-
houses in the U.S., Europe and
Asia that can store and deliver
metals for buyers.
The LME sent a letter to its
members and warehouses say-
ing it would take steps to im-
plement the sanctions. A CME
spokeswoman didn’t respond Whatever the conditions, CME Group provides
to a request to comment.
The direct effect on U.S.
the tools that global market participants need UNCERTAINTY
supply should be minimal be- to manage risk and capture opportunities. With
cause many U.S. aluminum
companies began sourcing from
outside Russia after earlier
24-hour access to trading in futures, options,
sanctions, said Charles John- cash and OTC across all major asset classes,
son, president of the Aluminum
Association, a U.S. trade group. you can determine your best position and
take action at just the right moment.
VISIT CMEGROUP.COM/OPPORTUNITY
STRATEGY
Johnson & Johnson 30-year fixed 6.88%
2.64/2.68 15-year fixed 6.16%
Morgan Stanley
Leading indicators
1.67/1.70
Feb., previous up 0.1%
PNC Financial Services
Mar., expected up 0.0%
3.01/3.98
UnitedHealth Group Philadelphia Fed
6.62/6.26 survey POSITION
Mar., previous 3.2
Apr., expected 0.0
Wednesday
EIA status report EIA report: natural-gas
Previous change in stocks in
Previous change in stocks in
billions of cubic feet
millions of barrels
Crude-oil stocks up 5.8 up 24
Gasoline stocks up 0.7 Earnings expected
Distillates up 1.7 Estimate/Year Ago
Mort. bankers indexes Blackstone 0.96/0.97
Purch., previous D.R. Horton 3.07/2.73
down 5.0% Elevance Health
Refinan., prev. up 10.0% 10.51/9.46
Earnings expected Marsh & McLennan
Estimate/Year Ago 2.80/2.53
Abbott Laboratories Netflix 4.51/2.88
0.95/1.03 PPG Industries
Crown Castle 0.70/0.97 1.86/1.82 Laird Hamilton
CSX 0.45/0.48
Prologis 0.58/0.50 World-Class Big Wave Surfer
Travelers Cos 4.85/4.11
Friday
U.S. Bancorp 0.84/1.04 Earnings expected
Estimate/Year Ago
American Express
Thursday 2.95/2.40
Existing home sales Fifth Third Bancorp
Feb., previous 4.38 mil. 0.68/0.78
Mar., expected 4.11 mil. Huntington Bancshares
Initial jobless claims 0.24/0.39
Previous 211,000 Procter & Gamble
Expected 210,000 1.41/1.37 Derivatives are not suitable for all investors and involve the risk of losing more than the amount originally
Freddie Mac mortgage Regions Financial deposited and profit you might have made. This communication is not a recommendation or offer to buy,
survey 0.45/0.62 sell or retain any specific investment or service. Copyright ©2021 CME Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Previous weekly averages SLB 0.75/0.63
Note: Forecasts are from Dow Jones weekly survey of economists
B10 | Monday, April 15, 2024 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

HEARD STREET FINANCIAL ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

ON
THE

UnitedHealth Investors Eye Hack Damage

A cyberattack on the nation’s largest clearinghouse for medical claims is a serious problem for the managed-care organization

A cyberattack earlier this year ated costs will muddy the num- tion of Change for $13 billion in
on Change Healthcare, which oper- bers, making it harder for inves- 2022. Now, says Ransom, Change
ates the largest clearinghouse for tors to suss out the true medical is an “impaired asset,” and that
medical claims in the U.S., destabi- cost trend. raises questions about the com-
lized the country’s healthcare sys- To soothe investor concerns, pany’s long-term strategy to be-
tem, halting billions of dollars in UnitedHealth is likely to break out come a provider of products and
medical payments. the numbers in a way that strips platforms that make healthcare
While the ransomware attack out the impact from the Change more efficient.
drew plenty of national attention hack. But Gary Taylor, an analyst at The hack also highlights a big-
for the havoc it created for provid- TD Cowen, worries that the com- ger question for UnitedHealth and
GABBY JONES/BLOOMBERG NEWS

ers and patients, less understood is
the impact it had on Change’s
owner, UnitedHealth Group. On
Tuesday, investors might get a bet-
ter sense of the financial fallout for
the nation’s largest managed-care
organization, which is set to report
first-quarter earnings results.
In the short term, the most im-
mediate impact will be on medical
costs borne by UnitedHealth’s in-
surance arm, UnitedHealthcare.
Due to the attack, the company
temporarily suspended prior au-
thorizations for many Medicare
services. That means procedures
that under ordinary circumstances
might have been audited went
through. John Ransom, an analyst
at Raymond James, estimates that
normally about 17% of claims are
audited. He and other analysts ex-
UnitedHealth Group’s results might clarify the hack’s financial impact.
pect that to lead to higher medical
costs in the first half of this year.
Under normal circumstances,
that wouldn’t have been such a big
deal for investors: Wall Street
tends to be forgiving of transitory
impacts to earnings. But this is no
ordinary moment for healthcare in-
vestors. Since last year, medical
costs for insurers in the Medicare
business have surged thanks to
higher-than-expected medical pro-
cedure volumes among the senior
population. The surprising utiliza-
tion level has weighed on shares of
insurers such as UnitedHealth, CVS
Health and Humana, and raised
broader questions about the attrac-
tiveness of the Medicare business.
Their valuations have tumbled,
but investors want to see whether
the cost trend has stabilized. Un-
fortunately, that might be harder
now because the Change-associ-
pany could try to mask the true its investors. The company turned
scale of its core underwriting prob- into a sprawling healthcare giant
lem by blaming higher costs on the by buying up everything from doc-
impacts from the cyberattack. It tors to health-technology firms to
would then be impossible for ana- home-health providers. But as
lysts to “audit the true underlying UnitedHealth becomes larger, polit-
utilization patterns,” he says. ical leaders and regulators are in-
Beyond the medical costs, there creasingly scrutinizing its impact
also will be a longer-term earnings on the healthcare system. Earlier
impact from the hack. Some pro- this year, The Wall Street Journal
viders have switched away from reported that the Justice Depart-
Change, hurting that unit’s ment has launched an antitrust in-
growth. At this point, the unit vestigation into UnitedHealth, with
isn’t a massive contributor to a focus on certain relationships be-
earnings, so the financial hit will tween the company’s United-
be modest. The bigger impact is Healthcare insurance unit and its
on the company’s strategy of be- Optum health-services arm.
coming a financial and data ana- The cyberattack on Change was
lytics powerhouse. hugely disruptive to America’s
Ironically, UnitedHealth fought healthcare system. It also could
and beat a challenge by the U.S. have long-lasting effects on Unit-
Justice Department to its acquisi- edHealth Group. —David Wainer

Banks Face Moving Target on Deposit Costs

National average rate on
savings accounts
Effective federal-funds rate

For all the talk about rising de-
posit costs, the typical bank isn’t
yet paying much on things such as
savings accounts. But that could
still change.
Investors on Friday were proba-
bly hoping for more-upbeat projec-
tions from banks about their net in-
terest income, which were quite
muted as of their year-end reports.
After all, investors have slashed
their expectations of how many
times the Federal Reserve might
cut rates in 2024, from six or seven
times coming into the year to now
around two times. That should, in
theory, help lenders keep earning
higher yields.
But during their first-quarter re-
ports Friday, JPMorgan Chase
raised its 2024 core net interest in-
come projection only by roughly $1
billion, and Citigroup and Wells
Fargo maintained their forecasts.
Their shares were all off on Friday,
as was the KBW Nasdaq Bank In-
dex, which fell nearly 1.5%.
Part of the trouble seems to be
that even the biggest banks can’t
entirely get a handle on what will
happen with deposit pricing this
year. Although each of those re-
porting banks saw their interest-
bearing deposit costs rise more
slowly sequentially in the first
quarter, there were warnings that
repricing isn’t over yet—and hence
that the much-hoped-for inflection
back to growth for net interest in-
come can’t yet be called.
News of deposit competition
won’t be a surprise to anyone who
has walked past a bank branch win-
dow lately. As of late March, more
than 730 banks in the U.S. were
marketing one-year $10,000 certifi-
cates of deposits with rates over
4%, according to S&P Global Market
Intelligence.
Yet what is happening with CDs
has seemed a bit disconnected from
some other measures. Notably, the
national average rate paid on sav-
ings accounts, according to the Fed-
eral Deposit Insurance Corp., is still
under 0.5% as of mid-March. Inter-
est checking is even lower, at less
than 0.1%.
This illustrates the dilemma
banks face. It is one thing for bank-
ers to offer attractive promotions
through time-limited instruments
such as CDs to draw new customers
or keep existing ones happy. It is
quite another to reprice a product
such as day-to-day accounts, which
affect their vast “back books” of ex-
isting customers. As with a divi-
dend, raising a savings rate is a
tough thing to take back. And be-
cause it applies to a larger pot of
money, it can be pricier.
“There’s obviously the wild card
of potential product-level reprice,”
JPMorgan Chief Financial Officer
Jeremy Barnum told analysts Fri-
day. “We always say we’re going to
make those decisions situationally
as a function of competitive condi-
tions in the marketplace.”
He added: “In a world where
we’ve got something like $900 bil-
lion of deposits paying effectively
zero, relatively small changes in the
6%
product-level reprice can change
5
the [net interest income] run rate
by a lot.”
4
So until that is off the table,
more-buoyant projections might be
3
tough to find. For many customers,
whether short-term rates are cut
2
twice or six times doesn’t really
matter. In either event, they would
1
still be higher than what they are
getting on their cash today.
0
“In isolation, you certainly would
see a benefit from less rate cuts,” 2022 ’23 ’24
Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Michael Santomassimo told ana-
lysts Friday. He also said: “But I do forced to take some defensive mea-
think you have to put that in the sures.
context of, OK, now what’s going to Which is probably not a good
happen with client behavior and sign for some smaller banks. They
[deposit] mix shifts as we look for might have used deposit rates as a
the rest of the year?” lure to get people to leave their big
Even giant banks with scarcely banks. If that gap narrows even a
believable amounts of deposits bit, then perhaps big banks’ other
couldn’t totally ignore a slow bleed moats—such as technology, or
of core funding. When funding al- branch count—will become that
ternatives are so much more expen- much more relevant. So until the
sive because of high rates, even the biggest banks settle in, nobody will
strongest deposit takers might be feel comfortable. —Telis Demos

MARKETS

U.S. Is Trying to Cripple Russia’s Arctic LNG Project

BY ANNA HIRTENSTEIN
AND GEORGI KANTCHEV
Supercooled gas has quickly
become one of the world’s
most important energy
sources—and a flashpoint be-
tween Russia and the U.S.
Nowhere is that contest
more apparent than in Russia’s
Liquefied natural gas exports Russian natural-gas exports to break through frozen parts nies it suspected were seeking
for select countries of the Arctic Ocean haven’t to buy specialized carriers for
been delivered. the project, and companies
300 million metric tons 250 billion cubic meters Hanwha Ocean, a South Ko- working on a second facility
rean shipbuilder, said it has near the Baltic Sea.
250 canceled plans to build three “We’re very focused on en-
200 vessels for Arctic LNG 2 for suring that Russia is not able
Qatar LNG sanctions-related reasons. Mit- to develop new projects in or-
200 sui O.S.K. Lines, a Japanese der to re-destine the gas that
150 China pipeline shipping company, has said it they previously sent to Eu-
NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Arctic north. An enormous
new coastal facility is being
built there to produce liquefied
natural gas, a key project for
Russian President Vladimir Pu-
tin.
The U.S. is using a barrage
of sanctions to cripple the ini-
tiative, known as Arctic LNG 2.
These have stopped Russia
from taking delivery of special-
ized, colossal tankers that it
needs to transport the gas, and
made it hard to build alterna-
tive vessels domestically.
“Our role is to ensure Arctic
LNG 2 is dead in the water,”
Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. assis-
tant secretary of state for en-
ergy resources, told a confer-
ence in Switzerland last
Monday.
Globally, LNG is ascendant.
Demand is buoyant as govern-
ments ditch dirtier coal and
the uptake of power-hungry
artificial intelligence acceler-
ates. Supply is surging, too,
and players such as industry
heavyweight Qatar have major
expansion plans.
The Arctic tussle comes at a
delicate time for energy policy
in the U.S., which last year be-
came the biggest LNG ex-
porter. The Biden administra-
tion has paused approval of
new LNG exports due to envi-
ronmental concerns. The move
has angered business groups
150
100
50
0
2008 ’10
Sources: Kpler (LNG exports); Bruegel (Russian natural-gas exports)
The U.S. is using a barrage of sanctions to cripple the
initiative, known as Arctic LNG 2.
and customers in allied, en-
ergy-poor countries such as
Japan and Germany, and some
think it will handicap U.S. ef-
forts to limit Russia’s profits
from sales of natural gas.
House Speaker Mike John-
son (R., La.) is pushing to re-
verse the pause, possibly link-
ing it to a vote on Ukraine aid
in the chamber. Johnson’s
home district in Louisiana is
home to a proposed LNG ex-
port terminal affected by the
halt.
For Russia’s part, Putin
aims to more than triple LNG
exports in the coming years.
His goal is to bring in more
money to fund the war in
Ukraine and offset a decline in
Russia’s traditional business of
exporting gas via pipelines.
Gas exports have crashed
EU pipeline
Australia 100
U.S. 50
Russia 0 mostly recirculating already-
’15 ’20 2021 '23
since the invasion, with Eu-
rope weaning itself off piped
Russian gas and China now
Moscow’s main customer.
While Russia has found new
markets for its oil, transported
by ship, replacing lost volumes
that used to flow through fixed
gas pipelines has proved
harder.
That is where LNG comes
in. Russia’s experiment with
liquefied gas so far is compar-
atively small, but it wants to
expand rapidly. About 32 mil-
lion metric tons a year of ca-
pacity are under construction,
according to Rystad Energy, a
consulting firm, on top of an
existing 29 million tons.
Geopolitical considerations
also matter, said Tatiana
Mitrova, a research fellow at
the Center on Global Energy
also won’t provide vessels to
Arctic LNG 2 despite having
planned to charter three carri-
ers.
Without ships, Novatek
can’t export any gas. As a re-
sult, LNG output has ground to
a halt, and the facility is
produced gas, according to
people familiar with the plant.
Novatek didn’t respond to a re-
quest for comment.
Russia is trying to build its
own carriers at a shipyard on
the Pacific coast. But while it
Policy. “It’s about expanding has built hulls, it has struggled
presence with LNG, especially to source membranes to line
with China and in the global storage units. These mem-
south,” she said. branes are made largely by
“Gas has always been an France-based Gaztransport &
important tool of influence for Technigaz, which has stopped
Russia,” Mitrova said. working in Russia.
Last December, the first of France’s TotalEnergies,
three liquefaction plants, which holds 10% of Arctic LNG
known in the industry as 2, declared a force majeure
trains, was completed at Arctic earlier this year, indicating it
LNG 2, and the facility began can’t supply customers due to
producing LNG. The milestone, circumstances beyond its con-
despite U.S. sanctions, was trol. Total said it was comply-
lauded as a win for Moscow by ing with sanctions and doesn’t
analysts and Russian officials. plan to deliver gas from the
A few months later, how- project this year.
ever, victory looks less certain. In total, the U.S. has hit
Exports were supposed to be- Russia’s fledgling LNG industry
gin in the first quarter, accord- with four waves of sanctions
ing to Russia’s energy minister. since September. It has tar-
But the custom-built ships that geted operating companies for
Novatek, the Russian energy the Arctic LNG 2 project, stor-
giant behind the project, needs age vessels, shipping compa-
rope,” Pyatt, the U.S. official,
said. “As the G-7, we are collec-
tively committed to doing ev-
erything we can to thwart Rus-
sia’s future energy revenue.”
The U.S. could dial up pres-
sure because Russia isn’t a
dominant player in LNG,
meaning the blockades were
less risky than in oil markets,
said Maria Shagina, a sanc-
tions researcher at the Inter-
national Institute for Strategic
Studies.
Finishing Arctic LNG 2’s
second and third trains will be
challenging. Novatek could fi-
nalize the first because it was
mostly built before the Ukraine
invasion, according to Rystad.
The consulting firm expects
significant delays to the sec-
ond and third trains. Maintain-
ing the first train, with limited
access to some spare parts,
could also prove difficult.
Russia “had ambitious plans
and then blew them all up with
the invasion of Ukraine,” said
Jason Feer of Poten & Part-
ners, a shipping and brokerage
firm.
“Russia will be handicapped
in terms of what it can do in
LNG and people’s willingness
to sign contracts, lend the
money and provide technol-
ogy.”
—Lindsay Wise
contributed to this article.
 © 2024 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. Monday, April 15, 2024 | R1

JOURNAL REPORT

ENCORE THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

The New, More-Hopeful

Face of Alzheimer’s Disease
Advances in early detection and management of the disease have changed the way
patients view an Alzheimer’s diagnosis—and how they live with it

F
By MARC E. AGRONIN OR AS LONG as I’ve been
practicing medicine, Alzhei-
mer’s disease has been, essen-
tially, a death sentence. You
give the diagnosis, and you
prepare the patient and the
family for the worst.
Until now.
Consider one of my patients at the
memory-disorder clinic that I run. She’s
68 years old and not ready to retire. She
has been a hairstylist for the past 40
years and revels in the steady flow of
compliments she gets from her clients
at the salon where she still works three
days a week.
She has slowed down a little since I
diagnosed her two years ago with early-
stage Alzheimer’s disease, but she is de-
termined to maintain as active a life-
style as possible.
“I want to show my clients a different
face of this disease,” she says.
That different face is increasingly the
face of Alzheimer’s—the result of a
quiet revolution in the way doctors treat
Please turn to page R4

Dr. Marc E. Agronin is a geriatric psychiatrist and the chief medical officer of the Frank C. and Lynn Scaduto Mind Institute at Miami Jewish Health. He is the author
LISA SHEEHAN

of several books including “The End of Old Age: Living a Longer and More Purposeful Life.” He can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

says Julie Back, senior vice

You Plan to Retire in 5 Years.
Don’t Make These Mistakes.
The last few years before retirement can
make or break what comes next
BY CHERYL WINOKUR MUNK
derail your plans.
With that in mind, here are
Inside
president and financial ad-
viser in the Seattle office of OPEN SECRETS KNOCK, KNOCK
New York-based Wealthspire
Advisors. For 2024, this al-
Our parents’ old letters After having an emergency
sometimes contain surprises triple bypass at 76, a writer’s
lows them to contribute a to-
and offer insights that thoughts about mortality take
tal of $30,500. If you have
been making automatic con- make us see them in a on new intensity. R7
tributions from your pay- different light. R3
check, be sure you aren’t fall-
ing short of the limit, if you LET’S DISCUSS
can afford to contribute the
full amount, she says. Four money conversations

I
T’S SO CLOSE that you
can almost feel it: retire-
ment. You just need
about five more years and
you are there. So, here’s
some advice: Don’t blow it. Fi-
nancial mistakes in the few
years before retirement can
quickly—and permanently—
six common mistakes to avoid
1. Failing to maximize
retirement contributions
During their peak earnings
years, people should try to
maximize the employee con-
tribution, including the catch-
up contribution available to
people age 50 and above,
retired couples should have. R5
2. Not analyzing Social
Security options
The earliest age anyone can
take Social Security is age 62,
but full retirement age could Scan this code to
be anywhere from 65 to 67 hear about the rising
depending on your birthday. amount of savings
However, waiting a few years needed for a comfortable
Please turn to page R2 retirement.
R2 | Monday, April 15, 2024
All My Friends (and My Wife) Are
Retired. Why Am I Still Working?
They all want me to play with them, and I
admit it’s tempting. But in the end, I’m happy
I’m still toiling at my desk.
BY DANIEL AKST
S
ELF employment,
for me at least, is a
never-ending con-
test between the
world’s worst man-
ager and the world’s
laziest employee.
Laboring on into one’s 60s
adds the complication that a
goodly number of one’s friends
and associates have called it
quits. Once consumed by jobs
and family obligations, they sud-
denly have time on their hands.
And they will assume you do,
too, especially if you work at
home. Just as the sirens were
said to lure ancient Greek sailors
to their death, one’s retired
friends can be fatal to productiv-
ity, even if their song only takes
the form of text messages.
For Those
Retiring in the
Next 5 Years,
Avoid These
Mistakes
Continued from page R1
to take benefits—until age 70—
can often be financially prudent,
Back says.
Back’s own mother began tak-
ing Social Security benefits at age
62—without first running it by her
daughter—and permanently re-
duced her benefit. “She was one
of those people who had it in her
mind that she’d been paying in
her whole life and she was just
going to start taking it. It was a
gut punch when she told me,”
Back says.
There can be instances where it
makes sense for an individual to
start collecting benefits sooner
rather than later. But delaying ben-
efits can be especially important
because people are living longer.
Clients don’t think they are going
to live into their late 90s, but they
could, so it is important to plan for
that, Back says. Delaying Social Se-
curity “may allow you to have
more resources down the road to
cover long-term care or other
needs that might come up, or life-
style choices like travel,” she says.
3. Taking on
unnecessary debt
Financial advisers caution clients
JOURNAL REPORT | ENCORE
It’s fun, of course, to meet for
lunch, and more fun still to lin-
ger. But why not stop to look at
some art afterward? There is a
great exhibit showing, and then
we can talk about it over a drink
or two. One can always work in
the evening.
That was the same thing I told
myself recently when a retired
neighbor persuaded me to devote
most of a recent weekday after-
noon to golf, something I hadn’t
played in 30 years. That evening
unfortunately was spent not
catching up on work but recuper-
ating from a strained forearm,
countless insect bites and linger-
ing intimations of heat stroke.
Now that my wife has retired,
she has taken up the role of Siren
in Chief. There is always some-
thing to fix, plan or discuss, and
it’s all surprisingly alluring com-
pared with the pressing need of
not to take on unnecessary debt
or make overly large cash pur-
chases as they are nearing retire-
ment. Buying a home after retire-
ment might not be a bad idea,
depending on the circumstances.
But racking up large credit-card
debts or buying big-ticket items
that depreciate quickly can do a
number on your finances.
Beware also of taking on debt
that’s unsustainable such as a
huge house with a large mortgage
whose payments require the sal-
ary you are accustomed to. “That
will torpedo your retirement
faster than anything,” says Jamie
Cox, managing partner at Harris
Financial Group in Richmond, Va.
4. Investing like you’re still 25
People nearing retirement some-
times forget they don’t have as
much time to make up for losing
investment bets. Cox recalls an in-
vestor nearing retirement who
bought several rental properties
shortly before the 2008 housing
crash. After the market crashed,
he couldn’t rent the properties or
sell them without a loss and he
didn’t have cash to pay off the
mortgages. He sold them piece-
meal over time and he and his
wife had to keep working several
years longer than planned.
Cox recommends people who
are a few years from retirement
avoid risky investments and in-
stead bolster their portfolio with
dividend-paying stocks and bonds.
“You want to invest your money
in what you’re going to live on to
support your income,” he says.
Back advises clients nearing re-
tirement to start building up their
earning one’s daily bread. Besides,
it makes sense to visit museums
or big box stores on weekdays,
when such places aren’t thronged.
And after so many years of work,
it seems churlish to resist playing
hooky with her on occasion now.
Bad financial timing
Unfortunately the siren songs of
all these retirees come at the
worst possible time, profession-
ally and financially. The loss of
my wife’s earnings has made my
own meager scavengings all the
more important. Yet many editors
who once provided me paying as-
signments are themselves calling
it quits for a life of leisure.
Meanwhile, the song of retire-
ment is sounding more melodi-
ous than ever. Tiresome difficul-
ties relating to work, ever
present even under normal cir-
cumstances, at my age prompt
fantasies of hammocks and mai
tais. I had planned on writing
villanelles and studying ancient
languages right about now. But
like the conscientious gratifica-
tion-postponers we have always
cash reserves using tax refunds,
gifts, bonuses and other extra in-
come. She recommends retirees
keep two years of cash on hand
to cover nondiscretionary ex-
penses and protect their portfolio
in the event of a market down-
turn. This way you don’t have to
sell from the portfolio to cover
your expenses, she says.
5. Overspending on children
Not overindulging your children
becomes more important the
closer you get to retirement, says
Robert Strauss, estate-planning
attorney with Weinstock Manion
in Los Angeles. While the desire
to be generous with one’s children
is “obvious and clear,” the impact
on a retiree’s finances can be det-
been, Louise and I are trying to
put off Social Security until we
are 70—and then live long
enough to make the decision pay.
I can see the advantages of
our newly mixed marriage. In
these still-healthy years—may
they long endure!—there is a
special opportunity for each of
us to pursue interests that the
other doesn’t share. Thus, as I
write these words, Louise is off
in Iceland, happily combining
her passions for hiking and knit-
ting. In her absence, I am free to
indulge my love of sitting at my
desk and tearing my hair out.
Still, who am I kidding? My
favorite thing is working. As to
my retired friends: Not only do I
enjoy their availability, but I
learn a lot from their example.
Liberated from their toils, these
old pals are the unwitting canar-
ies in the coal mine of aging,
providing vital information to
the rest of us about life after
work. Some of them are plainly
thriving; I have never seen them
more cheerful and relaxed. They
sleep better, exercise more and
see more of the people they care
rimental, he says.
Strauss has a client who has
spent so much on one of his adult
children that he has to work lon-
ger as a result. “He’s using his sal-
ary to support himself and one of
his kids. If he didn’t have to sup-
port them, he could have retired
already,” Strauss says.
6. Neglecting to plan for your
desired retirement lifestyle
Many people say they want to
travel or garden or spend time
with their children and grandchil-
dren during retirement, but they
don’t map out a solid plan for how
much these activities are likely to
cost. This could mean that once
they retire, they won’t have saved
enough to do what they want, or
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
about. Some serve on boards,
give talks or even write books.
But others frankly seem lost,
especially those who were bribed
into retiring or just shoved out
the door. All of them had de-
manding, even voracious, ca-
reers. But finding again the
kinds of jobs they were used to
is nearly impossible at our age,
and most lack the instincts or
experience for entrepreneurship.
One or two are victims of
their own success, having sold a
business or otherwise accumu-
lated such wealth that they find
themselves groping for what to
do next. Nor is volunteering a
slam dunk. One well-meaning
friend, bursting with talent and
energy, doesn’t want to collect
tickets at the door or clean up
after charitable events, but even
unpaid work using her immense
skills and experience isn’t forth-
coming in the nonprofit world.
Back to my desk
What I have learned from these
folks is to keep typing, whether
it pays or not (which of course it
never has). I enjoy goofing off
with my retired pals, but it’s
funny how often I seem to get a
second wind late in the evening,
and how easy it is to find my
way back to my desk despite the
distractions of the day. Not a bad
metaphor, I suppose, for the re-
awakened sense of purpose I see
in some energetic older friends
who have embraced new outlets
for their talents.
And that’s important, too.
Reaping the rewards of work
doesn’t necessarily mean holding
on to a particular job. One re-
tired autodidact I know has writ-
ten a superb book, created sharp
social-media satires, and made a
hard-hitting documentary. Is this
guy even retired?
Retirement may yet come for
me, and if it does, I will be
grateful to others who have
shown the way. From them it’s
clear that the retirees who truly
thrive are those who relish their
well-earned freedom but have
managed to knit themselves into
a resilient web of family, friends
and personal passions. My sense
is that it’s crucial—long before
retirement—to cultivate interests
and relationships beyond work,
and to have some idea of where
you are going to land before you
yank the handle on the profes-
sional ejector seat.
Meanwhile, I take it as a good
sign that my retired friends
want to meet because the very
worst thing I see among them is
isolation. Avoid it at all costs, no
matter how old you are.
MARTIN TOGNOLA
Daniel Akst is a writer in New
York’s Hudson River Valley. He can
be reached at reports@wsj.com.
they might be unnecessarily cau-
tious about spending money, pre-
venting them from enjoying them-
selves, says Marianne Caswell,
president of Park Avenue Securi-
ties in New York.
Caswell has relatives who
saved for retirement for many
years but were hesitant to use
their savings for activities such as
small trips, eating out with friends
and other social outlets. She rec-
ommends that clients make a ten-
tative spending plan a few years
before they retire so they have “fi-
nancial confidence” to do the
things they want.
Cheryl Winokur Munk is a writer
ROB DOBI
in West Orange, N.J. She can be
reached at reports@wsj.com.
 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
The Secrets We Learn About Our
Parents From Old Family Letters
The letters often
surface after our
parents die, and we
see them in ways we
never did before
BY BETH DECARBO
W
HO WERE
your parents
before they
were your par-
ents?
Much of
what we know
comes from hearing Mom and
Dad talk about their childhoods
and youthful foibles, their early
setbacks and notable milestones.
Nevermind the scant details and
gaps in the timeline.
For some people, a fuller pic-
ture emerges only after Mom
and Dad die, leaving behind a
trove of old letters and keep-
sakes. In cleaning out attics,
emptying filing cabinets and
opening trunks, families unearth
letters that cast their parents—
and their grandparents—in a
whole new light.
We asked readers to share
how old letters gave them a new
perspective of their parents as
“people.” Below are their stories
of heroic acts and unflagging de-
votion, as well as shameful se-
crets and unspoken pain.
A terrifying margin call
When sorting through his fa-
ther’s papers, Michael Garrett
came across a Western Union
telegram dated Nov. 5, 1929, one
week after the Black Tuesday
stock-market crash.
At the present market your
account requires $2,000 addi-
tional margin. Please deposit this
sum at our main office before
ten o’clock tomorrow November
sixth without fail.
The recipient was Louis Gold-
farb, Garrett’s paternal grandfa-
ther, who had just one day to
come up with $2,000 (roughly
$35,000 in today’s dollars) to
send to his brokerage firm.
As a teenager, Garrett had
read about the stock-market
crash and Great Depression in
history classes. But that yel-
lowed, crinkled telegram made it
real for him, especially since it
likely arrived when Goldfarb’s
wife was pregnant. “If you’re a
student in high school, you can’t
imagine what the terror must
have been like for my grandfa-
ther,” Garrett says. “It’s different
than reading about it in a text-
book on page 343.”
Garrett, who is 58 and lives in
Montclair, N.J., found the tele-
gram in 2007, by which time he
FROM TOP: DAVID FLACK (3); JANICE KEARNY (3)
▲ Clockwise, A letter from Robert Weaver Jr. to his son, Robert Weaver III; father and son in an undated photo;
and a circa-1960 photo of Robert Weaver III, who was Janice Kearney’s father.
JOURNAL REPORT | ENCORE
▲ David Flack’s father, Al Flack Sr., in his World War I uniform, top, along with his dog tag. At right, a letter
Flack Sr. received in 1921 from a woman he befriended in France.
had two children of his own. woman said she had decided to
“Having started a family myself remarry and remain in
made it possible to contemplate France. The nature of his grand-
the dread and fear my grandfa- father’s relationship with the
ther must have felt,” he says. woman remains a mystery, Flack
Did his grandfather’s financial says. Were they just friends or
losses affect how Garrett’s father was there something more?
raised him? He can only specu- “As I reflect back, I was 12
late. “Dad always talked about years old when [my grandfather]
not taking on debt, living at your died,” says Flack, a 65-year-old
means, not buying things you pathologist in Wichita Falls,
can’t afford,” Garrett says. “One Texas. “Gosh, I wish I had been
morning, as Dad was getting wiser and smarter to ask more
dressed for work, an ad for questions.”
home-equity loans came on the After a few personal com-
radio. The dialogue was of a cou- ments, the letter ends with:
ple that could get a pool just like “I will not close my letter
the Johnsons down the street. without telling you the thankful
My dad said, ‘There’s an ad tell- remembrance and affection we
ing you to take on more debt so keep in all of France for the val-
people will think differently of orous soldiers and friends who
you, that you have more money came to help us during the terri-
than you really do.’ ” ble days of the war. Believe,
monsieur, in my best feelings.”
The letter, along with other
A wartime love? artifacts from WWI, gave Flack a
When cleaning out his widowed new perspective on what dough-
father’s house, David Flack dis- boys like his grandfather lived
covered a mystery at the bottom through. “They get on a troop
of a trunk. Along with his pater- ship, all crammed in, and spend
nal grandfather’s dog tag from two weeks in the ocean in dan-
World War I was a letter from a gerous circumstances getting to
woman in France, dated Oct. 15, France,” he says. After landing,
1921. In reading between the they faced the prospect of trench
lines, Flack thinks his grandfa- warfare in appalling conditions.
ther had given a widowed Compare that to today, “when we
Frenchwoman money to come to complain when the air condition-
America. But in her letter, the ing goes out,” Flack says. “It just
reinforced how silly it is for me
to get upset over little things.”
Dust Bowl
Lee Mequet’s discovery conjures
up images of Dust Bowl-era
hardships. Mequet, who lived in
Dana Point, Calif., shared this ac-
count with The Wall Street Jour-
nal in November. Regrettably,
she died at age 82 the following
month. With permission from
her family, here is a summary of
her story.
When Mequet’s mother died,
the family found a box filled
with letters from her father writ-
ten in the 1930s. Mequet’s par-
ents were married on New Year’s
Eve in 1929—she was 17 and he
was 27—but the letters revealed
that the couple spent the next
eight years apart.
While Mequet’s mother lived
with her sisters in Chicago, her
father tramped the country tak-
ing on various jobs. He ended up
in Los Angeles in 1933 amid the
Great Depression. His letters told
of out-of-work men sharing a
room with others and, when they
got lucky, splitting up leftover
food if one of them got a job at a
restaurant. He would sit for
hours in a “chilled” movie the-
ater to escape the heat.
His letters teased her with the
signoff, “Your constant husband.
Are you still my constant wife?”
In January 1938, her mother ap-
parently was fed up and asked for
a divorce. In response, his next
letter rages, “You had your di-
vorce the second you asked for
it!” But obviously they made up,
Mequet said, because a following
letter detailed plans to pick her
up at Los Angeles’s Union Station.
The couple’s first child was
born in November 1938, and per-
haps inspired by the signoff in
the letters, they named her Con-
stance. The couple was married
for 50-plus years.
Secret shame
Shortly after her father died in
October 2017, Janice Kearney and
her brother discovered a small
box in his dresser that they
hadn’t seen before. Inside was a
one-page letter dated March
1955. In it, Kearney’s grandfather,
Robert Weaver Jr., asked his son,
Robert Weaver III, to pick up
some groceries and bring them
to his third-floor apartment, say-
ing he was too sick to get out
and couldn’t even get his shoes
on. He also asked his son to take
his rent to his landlord. The note
closed with:“Hoping this doesn’t
inconvenience you too much and
trusting to your generous nature
I await your arrival.”
Kearney’s grandfather died
Monday, April 15, 2024 | R3
three weeks later.
There had always been some
mystery around her father’s fam-
ily. “His father didn’t seem to be
in the picture beyond a certain
point, and my dad wouldn’t talk
about it,” says Kearney, who is
60 years old and lives in Deats-
ville, Ala.
“I’m a paralegal by trade, and
in 2007 I started doing genea-
logical research on both sides of
my family. In 2012, I noticed
that the 1940 census listed my
grandfather’s residence as East-
ern State Penitentiary in Phila-
delphia. I asked [my dad] sev-
eral times about it. But at that
point, he was starting to show
signs of dementia. All he would
ever say is, ‘Well, he got into a
bit of trouble.’ ”
Ultimately, Kearney discov-
ered that her grandfather had
been convicted as a sexual of-
fender. “It was a big ‘Aha!’ mo-
ment. I knew why it had been
such a secret,” she says. “I don’t
even think my mother knew
about any of this.”
It also made Kearney realize
that she didn’t know her father
as well as she thought, and
wishes he had felt he could talk
openly about his childhood. “We
certainly wouldn’t have held his
father’s transgressions against
him,” she says. “Reading this
letter made me realize this addi-
tional heavy burden he’d strug-
gled with from age 14 to almost
91, and I just wanted to hug him
and tell him I loved him. It
made me see him as more hu-
man and more like a person
than just ‘Dad.’ ”
Still, she believes her father
was able to put the struggle be-
hind him. “My father clearly got
past things and moved on to a
better life,” she says. “He was
such a good dad.”
Homesick in America
In going through some old files,
Sunder Joshi came across two
letters that had been written by
his parents around 1998. For
some reason, they were never
mailed. In reading his parents’
words, Joshi was so stunned that
he had to sit down and collect
his thoughts. In the letters, ad-
dressed to their former neigh-
bors in India, Joshi’s parents,
Devshankar and Sulochana Joshi,
expressed the loneliness and
sense of isolation they felt after
moving to the U.S.
The couple had come to Amer-
ica when they were in their 70s
to be closer to their three chil-
dren, who had already immi-
grated to the U.S. for work. The
parents rotated among their chil-
dren’s homes for several months
at a time and would spend sev-
eral months in Mumbai when
they were still able to travel.
In the letters, Joshi’s parents
said that they enjoyed spending
time with their children and
grandchildren, but that the fami-
lies had busy schedules. They
also struggled to make new
friends. Joshi’s father wrote
about seeing Indian-looking men
at the mall, but if anyone
stopped to speak, their chats
were brief. On walks around the
neighborhood, the parents said
they met nice people, but they
didn’t feel a sense of community.
It was nothing like their old
condo building in Mumbai,
where residents spent long
hours together in the building’s
common spaces. Neighbors were
like family and could generally
come and go from apartments as
they pleased. Ordinary people
like street vendors and bus driv-
ers knew them by name.
“Reading these letters, my im-
mediate thought was, why did I
not see this? Why did I not
spend more time with them?”
says Joshi, 74, a retired executive
with the American Heart Associ-
ation who lives in Orinda, Calif.
“On the weekends, we would
go places. We would take family
vacations, which they enjoyed.
But they never shared with us
that they were missing their
home or that we weren’t spend-
ing enough time with them,”
Joshi says.
His father died in 2005, and
his mother died in 2014. Now
that he has children and grand-
children with busy lives of their
own, Joshi says he better under-
stands what his parents were go-
ing through. “Just spending time
with them would have made a
difference,” he says.
Beth DeCarbo is a writer in
South Carolina. She can be
reached at reports@wsj.com.
R4 | Monday, April 15, 2024
There’s a New,
More-Hopeful
Face of
Alzheimer’s
Continued from page R1
the disease, as well as the way
patients live with it. Thanks to
new developments in the early
detection and management of
Alzheimer’s, as well as new med-
ications, many patients can slow
the course of the disease and
boost their well-being. The result
is that more Alzheimer’s patients
are able to live relatively normal
lives for much longer than previ-
ously—several years, at least,
and often longer.
Lifestyle interventions
Until just a few years ago, the
typical work-up for Alzheimer’s
disease began when someone
walked into my office with no-
ticeable symptoms. The advice:
Get your affairs in order, and
fairly quickly.
By contrast, many work-ups
now begin with patients seeking
to improve their lives by either
preventing or lessening mild
symptoms, prompted by a host
of new findings about the cogni-
tive benefits of lifestyle inter-
ventions, as well as conditions
that can exacerbate decline. I en-
courage patients to stop smok-
ing, moderate their drinking, eat
better, exercise, deal with their
depression and keep their brain
active, among other things.
I am also on the alert to po-
tentially harmful conditions such
as hearing loss in middle age,
sleep apnea, negative attitudes
toward aging, and chronic expo-
sure to certain medications, en-
vironmental pollutants and toxic
metals. Addressing any of those
conditions can potentially lessen
a person’s risk of getting the dis-
ease or delay its onset.
My message to patients is that
preventing or ameliorating mild
symptoms isn’t a race but a mar-
athon over decades, and it re-
quires consistent, longstanding
lifestyle changes starting as
early as possible in adulthood.
What’s more, thanks to our
newfound ability to detect the
disease early, we can start that
marathon far sooner than in the
past.
The hairdresser, for instance,
noticed cognitive changes for
over a year, but like many people
she initially shrugged them off
as a normal part of aging (which
they often are). In the salon,
however, she was having a more
difficult time covering up her
mistakes when scheduling cli-
ents, and realized she needed to
get help. If someone in her situa-
tion had come to me at the start
of my career, there wasn’t much
I could do at such an early stage
JOURNAL REPORT | ENCORE
other than speculate on the diag-
nosis and monitor symptoms as
they unfolded.
Now there are tests for sev-
eral physical indicators of Alz-
heimer’s, called biomarkers, that
can reveal whether there are the
telltale toxic proteins of beta-
amyloid and tau in the brain.
When combined with other in-
formation, these results can pro-
vide a relatively definitive diag-
nosis of early-stage Alzheimer’s
disease and enable the person to
make lifestyle changes, as well
as start new treatments or clini-
cal trials right away to attempt
to alter its course.
Drug breakthroughs
I recently began working with a
59-year-old attorney with early
Alzheimer’s disease who, ironi-
cally, I met several years ago not
as a patient but as a caregiver
for his mother, who I am also
treating for Alzheimer’s.
Even as his symptoms have
become more noticeable over the
past few years, he has remained
an active and invaluable partner
at his firm. At the same time, he
devised a reduced work schedule
and began taking more time off
to vacation with his wife and
two adolescent children.
It is obviously incredibly pain-
ful for this robust and involved
father and attorney to receive a
diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
It is painful as a doctor to con-
vey such a diagnosis, knowing
that there is no cure.
With the advent of new immu-
notherapies to remove amyloid
plaques from the brain, however,
I can now offer a better course
to him and many others with
early-stage disease. He is hoping
that the twice-monthly infusions
of the recently approved drug
lecanemab (sold under the brand
name Leqembi by Eisai and Bio-
gen) can significantly slow the
progression of his cognitive de-
cline; studies indicate that sub-
jects on active medication versus
a placebo had up to 27% less de-
cline over the initial 18-month
course of treatment. He is also
hoping not to experience the po-
tential side effects of brain
edema or small bleeds that,
while often asymptomatic, have
been seen in around one-quarter
of subjects and warrant close
monitoring.
Along with lecanemab, there
are a host of other immunother-
apies and novel treatment ap-
proaches in clinical trials that
show promise in modifying the
course of the disease.
As this early detection and
new therapies become more re-
fined and widely known, I am
seeing more people come to me
in their 50s and 60s—much
younger than the average patient
I saw when I first started our
memory clinic over 20 years ago.
The discussion we have about
what a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s
means in such an early stage is
shaped by the fact that many af-
fected individuals are still work-
ing, traveling, parenting and
even taking care of their own ag-
ing parents, and they want to
continue engaging in all of these
roles and activities as long as
possible.
I now tell my patients that by
slowing the course of an already
slow-moving disease, these new
treatments could extend their
current quality of life even lon-
ger. This hopeful message often
prompts a more engaged and
happier partnership with the pa-
tient and family, since we are
shifting from an era of passively
watching the disease’s inexora-
ble decline to one in which we
are actively altering its course
until, we hope, something better
comes along.
For these people, I’m a coach
and counselor as much as a doc-
tor, encouraging them to main-
tain an active and normal life-
style. They need reassurance and
practical tips on how to keep en-
gaged on a level that is as mean-
ingful, safe and joyful as possible.
A new language
These advances have even
changed the actual words I use
when I talk to patients about
Alzheimer’s, which in turn fur-
ther shape our attitudes and ap-
proaches. I no longer say that
Projected numbers of people in the
U.S. with clinical Alzheimer’s
disease (AD) and mild cognitive
impairment (MCI)
22.5 million
20.0
MCI
17.5
15.0
AD
12.5
10.0
7.5
5.0
2025 ’30 ’40
Source: Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Rajan et al
someone with Alzheimer’s dis-
ease is “suffering from a dis-
ease”; instead, I tell them they
are “living with neurocognitive
changes.”
I go on to explain how these
changes are challenging in many
but not all settings, and we can
help them to actively engage and
elevate their strengths while cir-
cumventing and compensating
for the bumps.
“I have difficult days,” con-
fessed one patient—a 75-year-old
retired orthodontist, describing
how short-term memory lapses
and loss of words and names can
be frustrating and embarrassing.
I have encouraged him to take
these moments in stride and
move on, letting his gregarious
personality and well-preserved
gift of gab carry the day.
He and his wife have internal-
ized this approach and continue
to socialize with friends and
spend time on their boat as if
nothing has changed. This gives
them both a welcome sense of
normalcy. Similarly, the hair-
dresser keeps her mind active by
continuing to work, but has en-
gaged a supportive co-worker to
jump in when she needs help
scheduling a client or adding up
the bill. The attorney is still an
avid weightlifter but uses a
trainer to organize his workouts.
He has learned to reduce stress
and improve his sleep through
relaxation strategies.
In every case, I am spending
time in discussions I rarely had
in the days before the ability to
provide early diagnosis and dis-
ease modification. In those days,
the typical patient was already
quite impaired, often abandoned
by friends and surrounded by
too many caregivers and clini-
cians with nihilistic and pessi-
mistic attitudes.
In contrast, the science of
what we now call “neurocogni-
tive disorders” is conferring a
new era of more effective and
optimistic management. In this
sense, the medical advances—the
early detections, the recognition
of the importance of lifestyle
changes, the drug interven-
tions—have allowed us to adopt
a new approach to Alzheimer’s,
and that new approach, in turn,
has given patients permission to
figure out ways to continue to
live fuller lives.
Strategies for success
I would be remiss at this point
not to talk about some of the key
strategies that my most success-
ful patients employ in their ef-
forts to avoid, or slow down, the
progression of Alzheimer’s.
Among the most important:
• Prevention is key: Know your
risk factors for brain damage as
’50 ’60 you age, especially from high
blood pressure, diabetes, depres-
sion, tobacco use, excess alcohol,
hearing loss, obesity, a sedentary
lifestyle, social isolation, brain
injury from falls and other risky
activities, and negative attitudes
toward aging. Attending to these
issues as soon as possible, com-
bined with a brain-healthy life-
style, can reduce risk and im-
prove wellness.
• Watch your cognitive vital
signs: As you age, consider your
short-term memory skills, word-
finding ability and other brain
powers to be cognitive vital
signs that need to be measured
and monitored, just like blood
pressure and other important
physical vital signs. While it’s
normal to have age-related
changes in these skills, they
might also reflect problems with
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
stress, sleep, anxiety, depression,
medications or medical factors
that can be identified and re-
versed. When they persist and
progress, it might be the harbin-
ger of early Alzheimer’s.
• Work with experts: Alzhei-
mer’s disease and other neu-
rocognitive disorders are com-
plex, and diagnosis can be
elusive, even with all of the tech-
nology and biomarkers at our
fingertips. Don’t ignore early
signs or wait until symptoms get
too bad to ignore. Be proactive
and see an expert such as a geri-
atric psychiatrist or neurologist
for a comprehensive evaluation
at the first sign of cognitive
change.
• Active coping: Keep active and
find ways to enjoy life. You don’t
need to automatically give up
anything unless it’s posing a risk
of danger to you or others,
which isn’t typically the case in
early stages. My patients who
thrive continue to travel, social-
ize with friends and family and
engage in the interests they have
always enjoyed, but with minor
adjustments.
• Stay vigilant to factors that
make your conditions worse.
Anxiety, depression, pain, active
medical issues and social isola-
tion can make life miserable at
any stage, but are particularly
problematic during early stages
of neurocognitive change, since
they may reflect or cause changes
in brain function that can worsen
the course. The good news is that
they are treatable. Get regular
medical checkups and don’t hesi-
tate to seek counseling with a
mental-health specialist who has
experience working with neu-
rocognitive disorders.
• Be positive: Yes, it can be hard
to be positive when confronted
with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
But according to scientific stud-
ies, having a good attitude and a
sense of confidence and purpose
can make all the difference in re-
ducing the risk of Alzheimer’s
disease and improving wellness
after diagnosis. Caregivers can
help to bolster attitudes by pro-
viding empathy and encouraging
a sense of normalcy. Focus on
what you can do rather than
succumbing to what you can’t.
Ultimately, we all travel down
the same pathway of brain aging
that brings neurocognitive
changes—including both
strengths such as wisdom and
challenges such as memory de-
cline. For those facing a diagno-
sis of Alzheimer’s disease or any
other neurocognitive disorder,
we are well ahead of where we
were just a few years ago. And
science promises to give us fur-
ther advances in the years ahead.
But the key thing to remember is
DANIEL STOLLE
this: Merely surviving is no lon-
ger the only option. Now, thriv-
ing is available to us as well.
 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Four Questions Retired Couples
Should Ask Themselves About Money
Too many couples don’t have these crucial
financial conversations until it’s too late
BY MICHAEL A . POLLOCK
AND JOANN S. LUBLIN
F
OR SENIORS,
one spouse often
oversees the fam-
ily finances. The
other doesn’t
worry so much
about it. Until it
is too late.
If the financial steward dies
or becomes mentally incapaci-
tated, the surviving spouse is of-
ten left in a state of finan-
cial confusion. In particular,
wives stand a good chance
of being left in this position
during widowhood, because
average life expectancy for
women in the U.S. is nearly
six years longer than it is
for men.
Advisers encourage cou-
ples to share their financial
information and responsibil-
ities for that very reason.
Getting there, however, can
require some hard work—
and open discussion.
In our case, we have been
married for almost 52 years.
Michael retired well before
Joann, leaving ample time
for him to focus on our fi-
nances and apply invest-
ment knowledge gained as a
journalist covering financial
markets for Dow Jones
Newswires. Though Joann
also is a veteran business
writer and former career
columnist for The Wall
Street Journal, she found
taking personal investment
risks stressful and was puz-
zled by some of the ways
Michael managed their as-
sets.
We have worked through
a lot of our financial issues
as a couple, learning along
the way what conversations
are the most productive. To
that end, we offer four ques-
tions we think couples should
ask themselves to avoid the sur-
vivor trap that so often plagues
couples when the financial stew-
FRANKIE ALDUINO FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
ard must be replaced.
1. Do we talk enough about
our money?
Marital partners frequently
carve out distinct roles.
Joann long paid household
bills and balanced our check-
book. But she delegated over-
sight of her 401(k) to Michael
She Was a Black Entrepreneur. Now She Helps Other Black Entrepreneurs.
BY JULIE HALPERT
A
DOZEN years ago,
Janice Malone, at the
time a franchisee in
Mobile, Ala., looked
around a group of fel-
low business owners and saw
“no one who looked like me,” she
says.
Minority-owned businesses
weren’t having the success they
deserved, Malone says, and she
vowed to change that by training
Black small-business owners. In
2018 she started Vivian’s Door, a
nonprofit that this year was
awarded an AARP Purpose Prize.
Now, says Malone, “I get to
be a part of helping business
owners live their dreams, rein-
vest and build wealth for them-
selves and low-income and mar-
ginalized residents in their
communities.”
At different times over 25-
plus years, Malone, 69, worked
as a small-business consultant
JAVAUGHNAE MALONE
and owner of two franchises
that helped small companies
build client-referral networks.
She had some 1,500 clients at
one time in Alabama and Flor-
JOURNAL REPORT | ENCORE
and rarely questioned our finan-
cial adviser during meetings. She
now says that she feared her
limited investment knowledge
would make her sound stupid.
Investment reports can seem
daunting, says Justin Flach,
managing director of wealth
strategy in the San Diego office
of U.S. Bank’s Ascent Private
Capital Management division.
Before discussing specific invest-
ment strategies, a couple can
start by talking about shared fi-
nancial goals, Flach suggests.
Goals might include setting aside
money for overseas travel, gift-
ing funds to family members or
donating to favorite charities.
After jointly developing a fi-
nancial plan, review it together at
least yearly. Heather Osborn, the
Nashville-based director of wealth
planning at Baird, proposes a
deeper dive at least every five
years—or immediately after a
life-changing event such as sell-
ing a business or retiring.
We often discuss our financial
goals, which have shifted a little.
ida, and took numerous business
classes over the years.
Malone had a great-grand-
mother who owned a boarding-
house, a grandfather who
owned a cleaning business in
Mobile, and a grandmother who
was a farmer, selling fruits, veg-
etables and cotton.
We now have three grandkids
with “529” education-savings
plans to which we regularly con-
tribute. We have also decided to
spend more on international
trips sooner rather than later.
2. Are both partners on
the same page about
investment risk?
It can be a problem if spouses
have different levels of tolerance
for investment risk. Eric Kirste,
a principal wealth manager at
Savvy Advisors in New
York, says he has seen divorces
result from conflicting invest-
ment philosophies.
David Salsburg, founding part-
ner at Gresham Partners in Chi-
cago, says one spouse shouldn’t
accept more investment risk
than he or she is comfortable
with just to go along with a
partner. One way to satisfy both
spouses, he says, is to set aside
enough assets in a conservative
bond portfolio to meet their in-
come needs while putting the re-
maining portion into higher-
growth, thus riskier,
investments.
A spouse who lacks financial
expertise needed for riskier
Second Acts
▲ Janice Malone with Way-
mond Nettles, a beef and cattle
farmer in Monroe County, Ala.
She decided to sell her two
franchises in 2014. The scarcity
of Black small-business owners,
however, continued to weigh on
moves could gain confidence by
opening a brokerage account in
his or her own name and buying
shares of a few companies, mu-
tual funds or exchange-traded
funds, says Blair duQuesnay, a
senior adviser at Ritholtz Wealth
Management in New York.
Joann long kept silent about
her lower risk tolerance. But in
late 2023, she asked Michael to
trim the stocks in her retire-
ment account because she wor-
ried that year’s big market gain
might presage market pain. She
now says our frank discussions
about our attitudes toward risk
have helped her better grasp the
role that investment risk plays in
pursuing our strategic goals.
Michael and Joann
have been married
almost 52 years.
3. Is there a backup plan if
the financial steward dies
first or develops dementia?
If Michael couldn’t continue over-
seeing our assets, Joann hopes
our son, an attorney, would help
guide her decisions. But when we
raised this idea with our son, he
expressed concern that this kind
of advisory role might unfairly
exclude his sister.
Experts point to other possi-
ble downsides of enlisting a fam-
ily member’s assistance. For in-
stance, this relative must be
her mind. “My gut said it’s got
to be better,” she says.
So, Malone decided to start a
nonprofit that would provide the
kind of mentorship and guidance
to other minority business own-
ers that she had longed for in
her own career.
Vivian’s Door is named after
Vivian Malone Jones, the first
Black graduate of the University
of Alabama. Jones defied efforts
by then-Gov. George Wallace
and others to block her from at-
tending. She graduated in
1965 with a bachelor’s degree in
business management. Jones
was a cousin of Malone’s hus-
band, Willie LaVaughn Malone.
“She was a remarkable hero,
and she opened a lot of doors
for a lot of people,” says Malone,
whose nonprofit provides coach-
ing, training and help securing
bank loans and government
grants. Vivian’s Door assisted
some 500 clients last year.
Malone shows a particular in-
terest in Black farmers. She
helped more than 100 deter-
mine their eligibility for the Dis-
crimination Financial Assistance
Program of the Agriculture De-
Monday, April 15, 2024 | R5
prepared to perform time-con-
suming tasks. The person also
must be trusted by other future
beneficiaries of an estate, says
Flach of Ascent Private Capital.
Our plan now is to have our
son assist Joann, supported by a
financial adviser, whose neutral
presence offers assurance that
both siblings are treated fairly.
4. Are good financial
records being kept?
In our household, we recently re-
organized financial files, adding
investment account information
and maturity dates for bonds.
But we keep discovering infor-
mation gaps. When Joann
wanted details of our wa-
ter-utility account, we real-
ized that Michael had
stored its password in an
unusual location.
Salsburg of Gresham
Partners recommends cre-
ating a “just in case”
binder, placing it in a safe
location and inform-
ing family members about
how to access it. The
binder should list owned
assets, how they are titled
and names and phone
numbers of important
contacts such as advisers
and account administra-
tors. Also useful would be
a list of major regular ex-
penses, including utility
bills, mortgage payments
and property taxes, as well
as how those were
paid, Salsburg says.
A critical detail about
credit cards that both
spouses should know:
When the primary account-
holder for a card dies, that
card cannot be used for
any further transactions—
even if the surviving
spouse is designated as an
authorized user. Someone
who ignores that prohibi-
tion could be held liable for
fraud. The surviving part-
ner must have a new card
issued in their own name.
Joann recently got a
credit card in her own name.
Through Savvy Ladies, an educa-
tional nonprofit for women, she
also recently took an online class
about investment strategies—
and scored 83% on the final quiz.
These two minor declarations
of independence boosted her fi-
nancial confidence in a major
way.
Michael A. Pollock and
Joann S. Lublin are writers in
Pennsylvania. They can be
reached at reports@wsj.com.
partment, a program set up to
help farmers who were discrimi-
nated against in the depart-
ment’s lending practices before
2021. And she helped another
farmer launch a business selling
sand and gravel on his land—an
operation that she projects will
produce a significant source of
revenue for him.
“My grandma was that Black
farmer,” she says of their shared
experience, “so they trust me.”
Malone didn’t realize until af-
ter her grandmother died that
she didn’t own the farm she
worked. Her father, too, wanted
to be a farmer, but he didn’t
know how. Now, by helping peo-
ple “with the same issues and
problems,” she says she’s actu-
ally helping her ancestors. “It’s
so fulfilling. Sometimes I lay
down to sleep and I don’t even
believe I’m doing this.”
Second Acts looks at the varied
paths people are taking in their
50s and beyond. You can reach
Julie Halpert, a writer in
Michigan, and let us know how
you’re starting over, at
reports@wsj.com.
R6 | Monday, April 15, 2024
Retiring in Mexico:
A Former Librarian Reflects on 15 Years in Oaxaca
I was a lifelong Californian. Now, Mexico
feels like home.
BY SHANNON SHEPPARD
I
N JULY 2009, this
lifelong Californian
had never been to
Mexico. I had been to
Europe many times
and camped across
Canada twice. But un-
til that summer, I had
never set foot in Mex-
ico, much less Oaxaca.
When I did, it was love at first
sight.
A friend invited me to Oaxaca
de Juárez, the capital city of
Oaxaca, one of Mexico’s most eth-
nically diverse states, with 53% of
the country’s indigenous popula-
tion. I was supposed to stay nine
days, but stayed 12. Another visit
ensued six months later.
Something about the local cul-
ture spoke directly to me, and
still does. When I look at Zapo-
tec grandmothers in their house
dresses and embroidered aprons,
I see my Scots-Irish and English
grandmother. Dancers in the an-
nual Guelaguetza festival and vil-
lage celebrations in Oaxaca re-
mind me of my mother, herself a
folk dancer, who sewed, embroi-
dered and crocheted her own
costumes.
Retirement was thrust upon
me in December 2008 when the
research library in San Francisco
where I had been the director for
12 years announced it would be
closing. I was a divorced, 59-
year-old woman, and libraries at
the time were laying off staff, not
hiring them, due to the recession.
My friend in Oaxaca suggested
I might come down again and
give early retirement a try for a
year. And so I did, moving into a
tiny rooftop studio apartment
with a canvas ceiling, tin roof
and a million-dollar view. That
was almost 15 years ago.
My current home is a two-
bedroom apartment in Jalatlaco,
one of the “Barrios Magicos,” or
magic neighborhoods, designated
by Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism.
In addition to serving as back-
drop for my growing collection
of textiles, folk art and books, it
has a rooftop terrace where I
have created a large container
garden filled with cactus and
succulents.
Courtesy and community
The slower pace of life here ap-
peals to me. If one runs into an
acquaintance, the custom is to
stop, greet the person, and have
a conversation as brief or long
as the topics demand. Courtesy,
community and respect are key
For Decades, He Worked in Real Estate. Now He Runs a Special-Needs Camp.
D
ICK SESLER enjoyed
camp so much as a
child, he longed to
open his own camp as
an adult. He fulfilled
that dream in retirement.
The camp is different from
the one he first envisioned. It’s
for adults with intellectual dis-
abilities. And it was inspired by
his son.
Sesler, who is 75 and lives in
Charlotte, N.C., with his wife, Be-
tsey Moss Sesler, pursued a ca-
reer in real-estate investing on
behalf of pension funds and en-
dowments. Later he was a part-
ner in a real-estate-investment
firm. He liked that “at the end of
a deal or a transaction, you could
point to something physical that
you had acquired,” he says.
But as the years went by, he
thought increasingly about what
else he might do—especially in
retirement.
On his 50th birthday, Sesler
pledged that by age 60 he
would be working full time “in
service of others and not just
JOURNAL REPORT | ENCORE
characteristics of the culture
here. That speaks to me, too.
Though the uneven sidewalks
can be treacherous, the city is
wonderful for walking, and taxis
and buses are plentiful. I don’t
have a car. A couple of times a
month, I dine out with friends,
usually a late lunch. Mostly we
eat Oaxacan food prepared by
traditional cooks, with the occa-
sional hamburger or Italian food
thrown in when we get a craving.
Corn, first cultivated less than
30 miles from here almost
10,000 years ago, is the corner-
stone of the Oaxacan diet. My
freezer is always stocked with a
variety of tamales sold on week-
ends by a neighbor, and at least
once a week I buy fresh tortillas
and salsas from the woman
across the street who sells them
in her doorway. Her tortillas—
spread with shredded Oaxacan
string cheese or black beans,
topped with chopped lettuce and
sliced avocado, and garnished
with salsa and pickled red on-
ions—are a staple in my diet.
My Spanish is OK, after hiring
a private tutor for the first sev-
eral years, but I am far from flu-
ent. I volunteer at the Oaxaca
Lending Library, founded by ex-
pats, and I blog. Much to my de-
light, I’ve found there is no end
of subjects to explore and write
about—museums, street art, mu-
sic, archaeological sites, food,
fairs and festivals.
The majority of nearby com-
munities are Zapotec. I have had
the great privilege of becoming
familiar with some of the vil-
lages and several families. I am
included in many celebrations
and have sponsored several
Feather Dancers. It is these
friends, and some fellow expats,
who make my social life fulfilling
and meaningful. My friends and
I also go to galleries and muse-
working to make a living.” He
thought again about running a
camp, and recalled the happy
times he’d had at camp as a
child—exposing him to all sorts
of people and helping him build
a close community of friends.
Sesler’s only child, who is 42,
was born with a rare genetic dis-
order that caused delays in his
cognitive development. As Sesler
pondered retirement, he came
upon the idea of starting a camp
for people like his son. While
people with disabilities are still
in school, there is often support
and a social network. But when
they age out of the school sys-
tem, it can be “a pretty isolating
situation,” Sesler says. “All op-
portunities for recreation and so-
cialization simply disappear.”
So, Sesler decided to create a
camp for adults with intellectual
disabilities.
He retired in 2007, learned
from other camp directors how
their operations worked, and af-
ter three years opened Camp
Blue Skies in Boomer, N.C. He
▶▶ Dancers and carnival partici-
pants in the Zapotec villages of
Teotitlán del Valle, above, and
San Martín Tilcajete, below. At
right, the author with one of her
neighborhood’s murals.
ums, artisan fairs and festivals.
And at least once a week, my
apartment-compound neighbors
and I gather in our common pa-
tio for cocktail hour or a potluck.
Despite its attractions, Oaxaca
is one of the poorest states in
Mexico and can be a trying place
to live. Inadequate infrastructure
is a growing problem, given the
city’s increasing population and
popularity as a tourist and digi-
tal-nomad destination. Traffic is
a nightmare on roads originally
built for horse-drawn carriages
and frequently blockaded by pro-
testing workers, neighbors and
students.
In addition, climate change
and overpumping of aquifers
have contributed to a serious
water shortage. My city pipes
water about every 40 days into a
cistern for our apartment com-
plex. We don’t shower daily, and
Second Acts
▲ Dick Sesler at camp with his
son, Brent.
now has weeklong camps in
North and South Carolina and
Georgia. Fees range from $425
to $650, with financial assis-
tance available. A weekend-camp
option also exists. Blue Skies, a
when we do, we use a bucket to
catch the “gray water” for our
plants. For drinking water, I buy
5-gallon jugs as needed.
Waiting for things to cool
There really isn’t a typical day for
me here. Most days include tend-
ing to my rooftop garden. A few
times a week, I walk to local mar-
kets to purchase fresh produce.
Other days I might have appoint-
ments, meetings or get-togethers
with friends. However, at an ele-
vation of 5,000 feet, the intensity
of the late afternoon sun often
drives me inside, with fan on, to
read or listen to an audiobook
until the temperature cools.
I don’t have a Mexican bank
account, relying on ATM with-
drawals from my U.S. bank ac-
count. Credit cards are accepted
some places, but the stores and
weekly farmers markets are
cash-only. Depending on the
strength of the peso to the dol-
lar, my rent is around $625 a
month, with yearly cost-of-living
increases. Monthly utility ex-
penses (electricity, phone, inter-
net, cable TV and gas) total
about $120 and groceries come
to around $400 a month.
The question of medical care is
a concern. For many years, I was
part of a group plan through the
lending library that, for the
nonprofit, rents other camps in
their offseasons, spring and fall,
and most of the staff are volun-
teers. Over 300 people a year,
ranging in age from 21 to 70, at-
tend the camps.
One of the best parts of the
experience, Sesler says, is “ob-
serving the growth in confi-
dence and life skills of the
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
equivalent of about
$1,000 a year, covered
all expenses related to
hospitalization in a pri-
vate hospital. Unfortu-
nately, a few years ago
my type of group cover-
age was ended by the
Mexican government
and I have yet to find an
alternative. Now I use
local healthcare only for
small things and address
bigger issues on my
twice-yearly trips to the U.S. to
see friends and family. Medicare
covers these routine U.S. appoint-
ments and nonemergency care.
Thankfully, I am in good health.
I still have two sons and close
friends in the Bay Area, and a
son and grandchildren in upstate
New York. These are the people I
visit in the U.S., which is far
from Oaxaca. It takes a whole
day, with connecting flights, to
fly either to New York or San
Francisco.
Meanwhile, I never know what
the next day will bring. Errands
often take longer than planned,
as I might run into a street pro-
cession or see a new mural wor-
thy of photographing for my blog.
Some days I play informal tour
guide to visiting friends, friends
of friends and blog readers.
The serendipity of life makes
living here exciting and, at
times, challenging. It has taught
me to let go of expectations, be
open to change, accept differ-
ences and not assume I know
best. It has been almost 15 years
since my one-year trial balloon
was launched, and I have come
to feel more at home in Oaxaca
than I do when I return to San
SHANNON SHEPPARD (3)
Francisco.
Shannon Sheppard is a writer in
Oaxaca de Juárez. She can be
reached at reports@wsj.com.
campers.” He recalls one camper
who was “grumpy” at the start
of the session. Over the course
of the week, his confidence and
conversational skills rose. Three
months after camp, Sesler says,
he learned that the camper got
his first job.
He is gratified to provide a
week of respite to caregivers as
well, he says. He received a note
from a mother who told him it
was “unbelievable” that she was
able to spend four nights alone
with her husband for the first
time in 21 years. “It is so re-
warding to see that their
camper—the most important
person in their life—is having a
blast and is safe,” Sesler says..
Some campers come year af-
ter year, including his son. “They
call him the mayor,” Sesler says.
In fact, he says, the words that
bring him the most joy are from
his son. “He always says how
proud he is for his dad starting
this,” Sesler says. “Proud pro-
RYAN BOST
motes pride. It warms my heart.”
—Julie Halpert
 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
For Years I Denied My Mortality.
Then I Had Chest Pains.
I tried to look casual about the pain and the subsequent surgery.
But the truth was different.
BY JOHN BUSKIN
A
T 76, an-
nouncing I
have chest
pains is like a
film director
screaming,
“Action!”
I know that
pandemo-
nium will ensue. So I hold off
saying something serious may be
wrong with me, embarrassed to
express either fear or weakness.
If I really am having a heart
attack, though, I realize I’m at a
crossroads. I could do nothing,
give up, just die and get it over
with. Calling for help will expose
me to inevitable pain, diminished
capacity, shredded dignity, a
long recovery and gut-churning
expense. But not worrying in-
tensely about my health would
be weird. And it wouldn’t be me.
I alert my wife. Twenty minutes
later I’m in the ER.
It’s time for cardiac catheter-
ization. They insert a gizmo
through my groin that snakes
north and measures heart func-
tion. While the procedure is
novel for me, everyone else looks
like they are assembling catalytic
converters on an assembly line.
It’s the institutionalized chore-
ography of treating a heart at-
tack. I’m the only one new to the
cast. I feel like meat that’s still
breathing.
Good news, bad news
It turns out that I haven’t yet
had a heart attack but I need a
triple bypass. I have to be moved
to another hospital an hour away
where I’m told I will get to be
operated on by a famous cardiol-
ogist. He’s on call, ready to crack
open my chest and dig in first
thing in the morning.
From my gurney I communi-
cate to one and all with insouci-
ance; I’m Mr. Casual. I want to
appear fearless, like I’ve “been
there, done that.” As I’m rolled
out it occurs to me that this
could be my last sunset. The late
DEENA SO’OTEH
winter air is sharp and smells
great, flooding my mind with
aromas of early springs past. For
JOURNAL REPORT | ENCORE
the first time since I felt some-
thing was wrong I feel sorrow. I
can see my own death.
To turn down the sorrow, I
wrap myself in positive statis-
tics. How many miles of arteries
are spliced into chests every
night? Every hour?
Not so funny
I ask the EMT standing next to
me if he thinks I’ll have to re-
schedule my trip to the Virgin Is-
lands in two weeks. He rolls his
eyes. It’s nearly impossible to
lighten the mood when you’re the
one on the stretcher. But turning
up the old bonhomie and laugh-
ing at the jaws of death gives me
a sense of control. I’ve never ex-
perienced a medical condition
this grave and I’m relieved not to
be quaking in terror. It seems
that joking—like embarrass-
ment—wards off existential fear.
But only partly. The word in-
tubation crosses my mind, and a
pang of dread shivers through
me. I think about gagging and
not being able to breathe. I re-
member bobbing underwater as
a kid, freaking out that I couldn’t
reach the surface, feeling the
water was bottomless, opening
my mouth for air only to gag on
the lake water, then being
roughly yanked to safety by a
grown-up.
My father told me that once,
when I was 5, he found me cry-
ing over a sewer on the corner
during a rainstorm. There had
been a small wave coming down
the block, sloshing its way into
the grating. He asked why I was
crying, and I had told him that
when the sewer filled up there
would be a flood and we’d all
drown. He said I was inconsol-
able.
When the ambulance reaches
the hospital where the surgery
would take place, it’s already in
the wee hours of the next morn-
ing.
I’m wheeled into an open,
glassed-in intensive care unit.
I’m the lone patient with one
caretaker, a slim, young man in
his 30s. He’s a traveling nurse
who works pre- and post-op for
about a month before moving on
to another institution.
Clearly, he’s experienced with
patients at their most fearful
and vulnerable moments. No
matter that I try to project a no-
sweat manner, he’s treating me
as if I’m almost completely un-
glued, talking me down from the
ledge.
My wife’s eyes
As it nears H-hour, people come
in and activity begins. My wife
arrives, all good wishes, and I
try to see my predicament
through her eyes. When it’s time,
she’s ushered away. I remember
her leaving, the nurse accompa-
nying her to the parking lot to
help find her car. I guess she’s
more nervous than she let on.
That’s when they start the IV an-
esthetic and that’s when I won-
der if my thoughts are the last
ones I’ll have.
When I was 6, during the
Eisenhower administration, my
great aunt Mamie was taken to
the hospital never to return.
Death, I found, could occur with-
out a natural catastrophe, war or
I see lots of doctors and do lots of
physical therapy. They say my
numbers are good; that I’m now a lot
healthier than I was. But I think
about dying every day. I think maybe
I always did.
car crash. My Aunt Mamie just
vanished, never again to broil
lamb chops for my Sunday lunch.
My mother explained how old
Mamie was, how young I was,
and pretty much laid out how
learning to be in denial is the
way we all deal with fear of mor-
tality. “Oh,” she said. “It will be
100 years before you have to
worry about anything like Aunt
Mamie’s illness.” A hundred
years sounded like forever.
Intense nausea jolts me into
consciousness. The operation is
done. I’m back in the ICU. Before
I register my circumstances and
ascertain that I’m somewhat in-
tact, the respirator in my throat
has triggered a debilitating gag
response. I’m vomiting, then dry
heaving around this huge thing
in my mouth.
Fears of what’s ahead
I gradually divine that I have, in
fact, survived. My wife is there
smiling at me. I’m mortified be-
cause of the nausea and vomit-
ing. I’m repulsive. I cringe know-
ing that I’m going to need her
committed caring for months to
come. If she doesn’t hate me al-
ready, being an invalid will sup-
plant any shred of loving admi-
ration. In the past, I’ve always
been the one who was caretaker
to friends and loved ones.
During the 1980s, a friend’s
wife asked me to visit him regu-
larly in the hospital. He was in his
30s, had two little children and
brain cancer. She knew he was
dying and not coming home, but
continued planning a family trip
to Paris. Denial kept her going.
I dutifully visited him armed
with panel cartoons and squibs
from the humor project I was
working on at the time. And
while with him, ratcheted up my
aforementioned bonhomie to ele-
vate the mood, displaying my
wares. But the bleakness of a
terminal diagnosis isn’t lifted by
applying disingenuous glee.
When I left the hospital back
then, the searing cold of the city
winter froze the notion that my
visit had benefited anyone. My
friend’s disease and appearance
so destabilized me that I hid be-
hind forced comedy. I was a
phony, a poser, a snake-oil sales-
man.
I felt exposed and vulnerable
to all of life and death’s harsh
realities, and was secretly re-
lieved that he was the one who
got it, not me. I found a bar and
chugged three shots of Scotch.
Now I am the one lying help-
less in the hospital, and the side-
Monday, April 15, 2024 | R7
by-side images—of me relieved it
wasn’t me, of me scared that it
is me—come rushing in. I gird
myself to take stock. I feel like
I’m wearing body armor under
my skin. From my neck to my
waist the front of my body feels
like an inert, solid bulk.
I’m used to chronic pain but
the post-op pain is nonstop. Ten-
sion around pain-pill dosage re-
minds me of my first wife’s lost
battle with cancer. A tumor had
fractured a vertebra and one
doctor actually offered her Tyle-
nol. Years later, on the last night
of her life, she was fighting in-
fection and was in and out of
consciousness. I had to beg them
to stop her pain. They acqui-
esced. But at 2 a.m. they called
to tell me it was over. She had
died alone in a hospital bed. I
still feel guilty about it.
Barely in denial
My recovery from the bypass
took longer than expected. I’m
so much better that at some mo-
ments, my denial of mortality is
back. But I can’t deny for long; I
know I won’t live forever. I could
have 10 years or 10 days. I go to
great lengths to fight sleep. I lis-
ten to music or books on tape. I
get up in the middle of the night
and watch mindless crime shows
until I can’t keep my eyes open. I
see lots of doctors and do lots of
physical therapy. They say my
numbers are good; that I’m now
a lot healthier than I was.
But I think about dying every
day. I think maybe I always did.
When I was 8, the funeral cha-
pel next door substantially up-
graded its facilities, knocking
down two buildings on its prop-
erty to put up a three-story brick
building.
On a bright cold Sunday, my
buddies and I went exploring the
rubble from the demolition.
From within the junk we re-
trieved an empty can that was
labeled “cremated remains.”
Without discussion we started
frantically searching for a full
one. When we finally found one
intact, one of the children took a
rock and hit the can until ash
and bone poured out in front of
us. We stared at it silently and
solemnly and then, as if on cue,
all went home.
When the new building was
finished it was elegant and had
black pipes extending from the
roof. Regularly, smoke would rise
from the pipes. It might have
been from the heating system,
but I was sure the smoke was
from burning dead bodies. At
night, I would watch the smoke
from my bedroom window rising
into the dark sky.
John Buskin is a writer in
upstate New York. He can be
reached at reports@wsj.com.
R8 | Monday, April 15, 2024 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, April 15, 2024 | R9

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R10 | Monday, April 15, 2024 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

 
   
   
  

 
     
   

                           

                         
               

       

        

                       

       
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