The Wall Street Journal - Vol. 278 No. 063 (14 Sep 2021)
The Wall Street Journal - Vol. 278 No. 063 (14 Sep 2021)
* * * * TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 ~ VOL. CCLXXVIII NO. 63 WSJ.com HHHH $4.00
DJIA 34869.63 À 261.91 0.8% NASDAQ 15105.58 g 0.1% STOXX 600 467.69 À 0.3% 10-YR. TREAS. À 5/32 , yield 1.323% OIL $70.45 À $0.73 GOLD $1,792.00 À $2.40 EURO $1.1812 YEN 110.01
New York Schools Reopen, Leaving Remote Learning Behind Tax Plan
What’s
News Proposed
Business & Finance
To Fund
urboTax maker Intuit
Biden’s
T agreed to buy email-mar-
keting pioneer Mailchimp for
about $12 billion, in a move
aimed at capitalizing on the
Agenda
growth of small and mid- House Democrats seek
size businesses. A1
higher top corporate,
Three media firms tied to
exiled Chinese businessman individual rates, set up
Guo Wengui agreed to pay talks on budget outline
$539 million to settle regula-
tory claims they violated in-
BY RICHARD RUBIN
vestor-protection laws when
they raised money from more
House Democrats spelled
STEPHANIE KEITH/BLOOMBERG NEWS
Germany U.K.
Intuit Makes $12 Billion Deal
combat climate change. A1
The chief U.S. diplomat
defended the military with-
Blow to
Europe
300
250
To Buy Marketer Mailchimp
drawal from Afghanistan,
A decrease in wind BY CARA LOMBARDO tomer-relationship manage- Already popular among
telling a House panel the Bi- 200
in the North Sea in AND MIRIAM GOTTFRIED ment. small businesses, Mailchimp
den administration was
recent weeks has Mailchimp, established in became something of a house-
bound to Trump’s agreement
sent power costs 150 TurboTax maker Intuit Inc. 2001, is based in Atlanta and hold name in 2014, when it
with the Taliban, and that
surging in Europe. agreed to buy email-market- is still owned by founders Ben advertised on the first season
remaining would have risked
As wind-driven ing pioneer Mailchimp for Chestnut and Dan Kurzius, ac- of the hit podcast “Serial.”
more American lives. A18 100
electricity about $12 billion, in a move cording to its website. The The company now serves 2.4
The Justice Department production slowed aimed at capitalizing on the company, which hasn’t taken million monthly active users,
will put limits on the work down off the coast 50 growth of small and midsize any outside funding, began as including 800,000 paying cus-
of court-appointed moni- of the U.K., gas and businesses. a web-design agency and ran tomers. Half of its customers
tors who oversee local po- coal-fired electricity The cash-and-stock deal for an email-marketing service on are outside the U.S. It had
0
lice revisions, including set- plants were called closely held Mailchimp would the side that later became its about $800 million in annual
ting caps on their budgets in to make up the 2020 ’21 2020 ’21 be Intuit’s largest deal ever focus. Today it also offers revenue last year, a 20% rise
and tenure, officials said. A3 shortfall. B1 Source: ICIS and set it up to offer more other digital-ad services and from the year earlier.
Biden said he plans to services to small businesses customer-relationship-man- Intuit’s goal is to give
such as marketing and cus- agement tools. Please turn to page A2
nominate Rostin Behnam
as chairman of the CFTC
and announced two addi-
tional picks to fill vacan-
cies at the regulator. A2 Oil Rigs Toil to Restart After Ida
The NIH said it was re-
viewing the removal of ge- BY CHRISTOPHER M. MATTHEWS traordinary challenge. to two days’ worth. The more
netic data about the Covid-19 Power had to be restored than 30 miles of pipe on board
virus from an agency-run ar- APPOMATTOX OIL PLAT- after an apparent lightning had to be inspected for leaks.
chive after a scientist raised FORM—This gargantuan deep- strike blew a key fuse. At least Workers painstakingly
concerns about the episode water drilling base 80 miles one of four giant cranes scoured the decks, going
earlier this summer. A7 off the Louisiana coast hadn’t needed to load diesel for gen- through a 240-point list of po-
produced a drop of oil for erators had to be brought back Please turn to page A6
An international group of
scientists said there isn’t Royal Dutch Shell PLC since into service so a boat could re-
enough evidence yet to sup- Hurricane Ida. Turning it back stock the platform’s supply of OPEC says demand to exceed
port giving Covid-19 booster on was proving to be an ex- backup fuel, which was down pre-pandemic levels............. B10
shots to the general public. A6
Iran said it planned to re-
sume nuclear talks in the Guo-Tied Companies to Pay INSIDE
near future, the clearest indi-
cation yet that negotiations
on reviving the 2015 nuclear
$539 Million to Settle Probe Protection
JAVIER ROJAS/PI/ZUMA PRESS
CONTENTS
Arts in Review... A13
Opinion.............. A15-17
Personal Journal. A11-12
BY DAVE MICHAELS
AND BRIAN SPEGELE
gation it began last year into
whether the sale of stock and in the age of
ransomware.
Business News..... B3 Sports....................... A14 digital assets complied with
Capital Journal...... A4 Technology............... B4 WASHINGTON—Three me- rules meant to protect small
Crossword.............. A13 U.S. News............. A2-7 dia companies tied to exiled investors. The companies said
Heard on Street B10-11 Weather................... A13
Markets............... B9-10 World News... A10,18
Chinese businessman Guo the money they raised would
Wengui agreed to pay $539 be spent to build a news and Assess your resiliency.
million to settle regulatory social-media platform that Build a plan.
> claims they violated investor- would be “the only uncensored SPORTS Act now.
protection laws when they and independent bridge be- Max Scherzer could
raised money from over 5,000 tween China and the Western
investors. world,” according to the fund-
finish 2021 as the best Find out how we can help at
The Securities and Ex- raising documents. deadline pitching Events.DellTechnologies.com/Ransomware.
s 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved change Commission said the The three businesses—GTV pickup ever. A14
agreement resolves an investi- Please turn to page A2
.
U.S. NEWS
Powell Gets Backing From Frank, Dodd
BY NICK TIMIRAOS pick someone else to lead the have,” Mr. Frank said in an in- February, when he warned “Getting support for Biden’s lax certain financial rules.
Fed when Mr. Powell’s term terview with The Wall Street that the costs of doing too lit- economic program is the sin- Mr. Frank rebutted criticism
The two main sponsors of expires in February. Journal on Monday. tle were greater than the haz- gle most important thing right lodged against Mr. Powell, in-
the 2010 financial-regulatory In an opinion article pub- Mr. Frank said Mr. Powell, a ards of doing too much. now, and Powell’s denial that cluding by Massachusetts Sen.
legislation that bears their lished on the website of the Republican who was appointed “I want a debate about how inflation is either imminent or Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat
names said Monday that Presi- The Hill newspaper, Messrs. Fed chairman by former Presi- the government should best inevitable given the program is who has sharply chided Mr.
dent Biden should reappoint Dodd and Frank said reap- dent Donald Trump, has a very big deal.” Powell’s regulatory record.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pointing Mr. Powell would do helped to avoid further polar- Five House Democrats last “The changes he was making
to a second term. more to advance Mr. Biden’s izing a debate over how to month, including Massachu- on financial regulation were
The endorsement of Mr. economic agenda because of best manage economic growth
Two ex-lawmakers setts Rep. Ayanna Pressley and pretty marginal,” Mr. Frank
Powell by former Sen. Chris his support for an overall at a time when inflation has say Mr. Powell New York Rep. Alexandria Oc- said.
Dodd (D., Conn.) and former monetary policy that has em- soared but unemployment re- asio-Cortez, called on Mr. Bi- Fed governor Lael Brainard,
Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.) phasized healing the labor mains elevated.
deserves a second den to “reimagine a Federal who is widely considered the
is notable because the Fed market after the coronavirus Mr. Powell argued when the term as Fed chief. Reserve focused on eliminat- front-runner to succeed Mr.
chairman has encountered pandemic. coronavirus pandemic hit last ing climate risk and advancing Powell if he isn’t reappointed,
stiff resistance from some lib- “Dumping Powell and put- year that the U.S. should ag- racial and economic justice” would be “marginally better
eral Democrats who are disap- ting any kind of traditional gressively deploy fiscal policy by appointing a new Fed chair. on regulation, maybe, but the
pointed at measures to ease fi- liberal in there, who I would to limit scarring from long respond to economic problems, They said Mr. Powell had done impact that Powell has politi-
nancial regulations under Mr. ordinarily prefer, in this cli- spells of unemployment or not whether it should even try. too little to address climate cally [on economic policy] is
Powell. They have cited that mate complicates the political business failures. He repeated If it’s not Powell, we’re back in change and they criticized the enormously greater than Brai-
record in urging Mr. Biden to problem on the best issue we that message as recently as the latter,” Mr. Frank said. steps the Fed has taken to re- nard,” Mr. Frank said.
Mr. Guo, a former real-es- who sent $40,000 to Voice of media platform they planned
tate developer who fled China Guo Media last year. Soon af- to build. The businesses didn’t
a few years ago, has portrayed ter, Ms. Lu grew suspicious of develop or distribute the digi-
himself as a wealthy dissident Mr. Guo and the fundraising tal assets they sold, according
of the Communist Party. After effort, she said, and began to regulators.
taking up residence in New providing information to the Messrs. Guo and Bannon
York, he used a partnership SEC and the Federal Bureau of found common ground in the
with former Trump political Investigation. past few years as tough critics
adviser Steve Bannon to build Mr. Guo has lambasted Ms. of China, appearing frequently
a large online following. In Lu online and called her a together in person and in on-
China, he is considered one of proxy for the Communist line videos. Mr. Bannon also
the country’s top fugitives and Party, a claim she strongly de- served as one of GTV’s direc-
has faced longstanding allega- nies. tors, according to the com-
tions of money laundering, Mr. Guo said the companies had been the victims of ‘dark forces’ of China’s Communist Party. She said while she has all pany. Neither he nor any
fraud and other crimes, all of but written off getting back other individual is named in
which he has denied, and has the regulatory case on their into their fundraising. New GTV and Saraca said they the money she invested, the the SEC’s announcement.
applied for asylum in the U.S. websites and to repay pro- York state officials said the were “pleased to have reached SEC’s settlement was far from Mr. Bannon was charged
For more than a year, inves- ceeds of their fundraising companies failed to register as this solution, which achieves enough. “They hurt so many with fraud in an unrelated
tors in the companies have within two weeks. The SEC of- securities dealers before con- our goal of returning funds to people and so many families,” case last year in connection
complained that they couldn’t ten sets up what it calls a fair ducting the offerings. New our supporters, an objective she said. with an alleged scheme to si-
get their money out. The issue fund, whose administrator dis- York imposed a $479 million we have had since these regu- GTV and Saraca raised phon off hundreds of thou-
escalated after supporters of tributes money back to penalty that will be offset by latory matters commenced.” A some of their money from in- sands of dollars from a
Mr. Guo began showing up at harmed investors. any funds GTV and Saraca pay representative of Voice of Guo dividual investors who didn’t crowdfunding campaign that
the homes of some of his big- “The remedies ordered by to the SEC. Media didn’t respond to a re- meet wealth and income re- backed building a wall along
gest critics, including one who the commission today, which The Wall Street Journal quest to comment. quirements for the deal, the the U.S. southern border. At
had been working with law en- include a fair fund distribu- first reported many details of Mr. Guo said on social me- SEC said in a settlement or- the time of his arrest in Au-
forcement. tion, will provide meaningful the SEC’s probe into the com- dia that he accepted the SEC’s der. Under U.S. law, compa- gust 2020, he was on Mr.
The total fines ordered in relief to investors in these ille- panies tied to Mr. Guo last penalty but that the compa- nies that target such smaller Guo’s yacht. Mr. Bannon, who
the case constitute one of the gal offerings,” said Richard year. nies had been the victims of investors must file financial pleaded not guilty, was later
SEC’s largest enforcement Best, the director of the SEC’s The SEC said its investiga- “dark forces” of China’s Com- disclosures with the SEC and pardoned by then-President
cases of its fiscal year, which New York regional office. tion is continuing, a signal munist Party. “Our coopera- provide the information pub- Donald Trump.
runs through the end of Sep- GTV and Saraca also re- that regulators could formally tion with the SEC has been a licly. A representative for Mr.
tember. The deal calls for the solved an investigation by the allege wrongdoing by individu- success!” he wrote. Voice of Guo targeted many Bannon didn’t respond to a
companies to post a notice of New York attorney general als. A big question is whether of the smaller investors who request to comment.
Mailchimp with Intuit’s book- more than $150 billion follow- business and self-employed ditional initial public offering
keeping software QuickBooks, ing a big rise in its shares group, which had accounted for many.
the company said it would en- over the past several years, for much of the company’s The IPO market is booming,
able businesses to do every- partially driven by a growing growth. too, with richly valued private
thing from setting up online demand for cloud-based Mountain View, Calif.-based companies like Mailchimp opt-
stores and displaying ads to small-business services. Intuit was founded in 1983 The deal is the largest ever for the maker of TurboTax software. ing for public listings after
potential customers, to in- The company has been and went public in 1993. It re- years in which staying private
voicing clients and managing pushing further into the fi- ported revenue of about $7.7 earnings. The price includes Intuit shares closed down was the preferred option for
payroll. nances of the individuals and billion in 2020, up about 12%. about $300 million of about 2% on Monday. many.
In a presentation about the businesses it serves by adding The deal will be financed Mailchimp employee-transac- The companies expect the In some cases, however, a
deal, Intuit said that a survey more offerings to its platform, with cash on hand and about tion bonuses that will be is- deal to close in the second sale to a cash-rich public com-
it ran found nearly 80% of especially as competitors pro- $4.5 billion to $5 billion in sued in the form of restricted- quarter of next year. pany with a strongly valued
small and midmarket busi- viding free tax-preparation new debt, and is expected to stock units, expensed over Mailchimp’s headquarters will stock currency proves more
nesses don’t have a formal services eat into TurboTax’s boost Intuit’s fiscal 2022 three years. remain in Atlanta. alluring.
U.S. NEWS
U.S. Puts
Curbs on
Police
Monitors
BY SADIE GURMAN
WASHINGTON—The Justice
Department will put limits on
the work of court-appointed
monitors who oversee local
city from the agreement and and others served as payments into Harvard and Stanford uni- defendants having a tacit un-
end the monitorship. in exchange for admission of- versities as sailing recruits. derstanding of what services
The new rules also recom- fers, prosecutors told jurors in Defense lawyers said their they were paying for—packag-
mend more training for moni- opening statements at the first clients were bamboozled by ing their children as phony re-
tors and require them to seek criminal trial in the Varsity Mr. Singer, and portrayed the cruits—and how the money
input from community mem- Blues college admissions case. money paid by their clients as would be used.
bers and police officers as they The case is about “lies, lies Gamal Abdelaziz, center, with lawyer Brian Kelly, left, on Monday legitimate donations and part The case is “not about
consider whether a department to obtain admissions spots of accepted fundraising prac- wealthy people donating
is working toward the pre- that were bought and paid people—ultimately 57—in He is awaiting sentencing. tices in the admissions sys- money to universities with the
scribed improvements. Other for,” said Assistant U.S. Attor- what they called a complex Forty-six defendants, in- tem. hope that their children get
guidelines aim to make it easier ney Leslie Wright in the gov- fraud and bribery scheme. cluding Hollywood stars, Divi- “John Wilson did not break preferential treatment in the
for the public to learn about the ernment’s opening salvo. “It College counselor William sion I coaches and test proc- the law,” said Mr. Wilson’s admissions process,” Ms.
monitors’ work and expenses was a sprawling conspiracy “Rick” Singer has admitted to tors, have pleaded guilty. lawyer, Michael Kendall, a Wright said, referencing the
and ensure that monitoring that extended from coast to working with parents and oth- One of those parents, partner with White & Case defense’s claim these were
teams with experience and coast. None of these kids were ers to rig teens’ SAT and ACT Northern California real-estate LLP. “He trusted a con man standard gifts, not bribes.
skills are selected for the task. getting recruited to play colle- scores, and to bribe coaches at investor Bruce Isackson, was who stole his money.” Mr. Kelly, Mr. Abdelaziz’s
The rules apply not just to giate sports without the schools including USC, Stan- called as the government’s Mr. Singer was a “smooth lawyer, called USC a “fundrais-
monitors overseeing policing money.” ford and Yale universities to first witness and said he knew talker” and Mr. Abdelaziz and ing machine” and said his cli-
overhauls but also to consent The trial kicked off Monday, fraudulently present appli- all along what Mr. Singer’s others “got sucked in by him,” ent thought he was just mak-
decrees involving housing, more than two years after the cants as recruited athletes, all scheme entailed. said his attorney, Brian Kelly, a ing a regular donation, with
jails and the environment, of- U.S. attorney’s office in Massa- but guaranteeing they would Monday’s trial features two partner with Nixon Peabody the possibility but no promise
ficials said. chusetts charged dozens of get in. defendants: Gamal Abdelaziz, LLP. it would help his daughter.
U.S. NEWS
Amid a Dark Legacy, Reasons to See Light and innovators to stitch to-
gether global networks.
America’s own internal sys-
tems certainly are under
stress. Citizens have been told
they can no longer trust the
very heart of democracy—
their elections—inviting po-
CAPITAL JOURNAL tentially dire consequences.
By Gerald F. Seib They also have been told that
their government is both
wildly incompetent on the
The commemorations of one hand, yet somehow also
the 20th anniversary of the home to a nefarious “deep
9/11 terror attacks were es- state” secretly running affairs
pecially somber, and not just with ruthless efficiency.
because memories of that
B
day remain so searing. ut American institu-
No, the past weekend also tions have held. State
was dark because this mile- governments and Con-
stone arrived at a moment gress did, in the end, certify
when so much seems to have the last election, and a
gone off the rails. The ugly peaceful transfer of power
retreat from occurred. The courts con-
T
where a band of heroic energy, ideas and promise. he technological ad- dive. Too many front-line makes a great smartphone. it is striking to recall how
Americans brought down an Almost half of the Fortune vances this immigrant workers continue to hurt, and Its command economy has often foreign diplomats are
airliner on 9/11 before it 500 companies were founded nation has produced income inequality will emerge advantages, in efficiency and the ones who speak up to re-
could be used to kill thou- by immigrants or the chil- made coping with the coro- exacerbated, but there also scale. But the Chinese legal mind the natives how allur-
sands more. Mr. Bush re- dren of immigrants. Google, navirus far more tolerable has been resilience. and financial systems also ing America remains. They
counted a core lesson of 9/11: Tesla, Yahoo—the list of than it otherwise might have American ingenuity still appear fixed and opaque to see beyond the moment’s
“We saw that Americans iconic companies founded by been. The pandemic deliv- carries the day in much of many businesses and inves- choppy waters to recognize
were vulnerable, but not immigrants is long and sto- ered a painful economic the world. The smartphone tors. America has the open, the enduring power of the
fragile—that they possess a ried. blow, of course, but signifi- you hold in your hand, the liquid capital markets that American idea. Perhaps we
core of strength that survives And, as Mr. Bush noted, cant chunks of the machin- Internet you may be using to lure investment, which in need to give ourselves the
the worst that life can bring.” Americans at their best after ery kept humming because read this, the music playing turn allows U.S. companies luxury to see that as well.
From Investor's Business Daily, October 12, 2020, ©2020 Investor's Business Daily, Inc. All rights reserved.
©2021 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Member SIPC. (0621-1N90) ADP115182-00
.
U.S. NEWS
have roughly matched highs time it takes for many deaths the attention to pandemic pre-
near 1,800 a week set during to occur—shows some turbu- paredness is lower than I
last winter’s surge. These data lence since Delta began driv- would have expected,” the bil-
show weekly tallies for overall ing up cases this summer. This lionaire philanthropist and Mi-
Covid-19 deaths, meanwhile, metric counts all Covid-19 crosoft Corp. co-founder said
remain well under half of the deaths, including the roughly in an interview. He said that
pandemic peak near 26,000 one-third that occur outside proper preparedness included
reached in January. hospitals, meaning it doesn’t the ability to make a vaccine
The Delta-driven Covid-19 Younger age groups have represented a growing share of deaths since vaccines became available. precisely reflect the rate at in 100 days and manufacture
surge is the first major case which hospitalized patients enough for the entire world in
surge to spread through a par- likely to be infected, 10 times die. the next 100 days after that.
tially vaccinated U.S. popula- as likely to be hospitalized and Shots Save Lives, people infected before their sec- Measuring deaths against The Bill & Melinda Gates
tion. High vaccination rates 11 times as likely to die. ond dose or before the protec- hospitalizations shows a de- Foundation called in a report
among the elderly, who are At Tampa General Hospital, More Data Show tion from a second dose had cline in deaths after the mass published Monday for nations
more vulnerable to severe about 90% of recent Covid-19 kicked in, the ONS said. The vaccination effort began, re- to invest more in health sys-
Covid-19 outcomes, are re- patients were unvaccinated, agency identified 256 as break- flecting what some health-ex- tems, including the capacity to
straining the overall increase said Peggy Duggan, chief med- LONDON—An analysis of through deaths, in which the perts say is more exposure manufacture vaccines. The
in deaths, some researchers ical officer at the facility, more than 50,000 Covid-19 person died after testing posi- among younger people and tools to end the pandemic are
say. The change is shifting a which is one of Florida’s larg- deaths in England this year of- tive for the virus at least 14 improvements in care, but largely the same as those used
larger share of deaths to youn- est hospitals with more than fers reassuring evidence on the days after their second dose, or that decline stopped in the to fight other infectious dis-
ger populations with lower 1,000 beds. Many patients who effectiveness of vaccines, show- 0.5% of all Covid-19 deaths. spring. eases, the report said: wide-
vaccination rates, underscor- did get the shots have com- ing that mortality rates among The average age of the peo- Estimating the overall share spread testing, treatment and
ing the need to get more peo- promised immune systems due people fully inoculated against ple in those breakthrough of Covid-19 cases that become immunization.
ple inoculated to curb the pan- to organ transplants or cancer coronavirus were a fraction of deaths was 84, the ONS said. deadly is difficult, because Some 49 million doses of
demic, they say. treatment, Dr. Duggan said. those without a shot. More than 60% were male and testing captures only a portion Covid-19 vaccine were admin-
“We don’t want anyone to Tampa General’s recent The study, by the U.K.’s Of- over three-quarters were classi- of actual cases. A measure istered in the first half of this
die from a vaccine-preventable Covid-19 patients in intensive fice for National Statistics, re- fied as clinically extremely vul- known as the case-fatality ra- year in Africa compared with
disease,” said Samuel Scar- care were 46 years old on av- corded 640 deaths among fully nerable, a category that includes tio, which looks at the number 43 million in California, ac-
pino, managing director of erage, far below the average vaccinated individuals between people suffering from a variety of known cases that become cording to the report, high-
Pathogen Surveillance at the during prior surges when vul- Jan. 2 and July 2, or 1.2% of of chronic illnesses that heighten known deaths, appears to be lighting inequity in vaccine
Rockefeller Foundation’s Pan- nerable seniors were often 51,281 Covid-19 deaths overall. their risk of death from Covid-19. heading lower, some public- availability between low-in-
demic Prevention Institute. hospitalized, Dr. Duggan said. Of those 640, some were of —Jason Douglas health experts said. come and wealthy nations.
The seven-day average for The hospital’s death rate for But because deaths tend to “The only real solution to
newly reported Covid-19 Covid-19 patients hasn’t lag three to five weeks behind this problem is to have factories
deaths each day recently changed, sticking around 7%. ages 75 to 84, the risk of death pandemic. While the Delta cases, the death toll may yet that can make enough for the
eclipsed 1,600, up from an av- “These are working people, is 220 times as high. surge set off nursing-home grow even as new cases are entire world in 100 days,” said
erage that briefly moved be- they’re people with families Older Americans still ac- outbreaks again, and workers leveling off. The concentration Mr. Gates. “And that is doable.”
low 220 a day in early July. and children they’re still rais- count for the most Covid-19 who chose not to get the vac- of those fatalities among un- A new $65 billion plan by
With roughly 660,000 known ing,” Dr. Duggan said. deaths, but their higher vacci- cine prompted employers and vaccinated people demon- the Biden administration to
Covid-19 deaths to date, the Younger age groups have nation rates have helped hold officials to issue mandates for strates how important the strengthen pandemic pre-
U.S. is on track to soon top the represented a growing share down the numbers. About 54% these facilities, residents’ shots are to ending the pan- paredness is a step in the
estimated 675,000 deaths that of deaths since vaccines be- of the overall U.S. population deaths haven’t reached the demic, said Jodie Guest, vice right direction, he said, but
the Centers for Disease Con- came available, a trend that and 63% of eligible people levels seen earlier in the pan- chair of the epidemiology de- will have to be funded. “We’re
trol and Prevention has linked has continued into the sum- ages 12 and above are fully demic. partment at Emory Univer- going to have to keep pushing
to the 1918-19 flu pandemic. mer’s Delta surge. vaccinated, while the average Despite gains in protecting sity’s Rollins School of Public for that,” said Mr. Gates, who
Deaths have been concen- Age is a major risk factor among nursing homes is 84% seniors, the Delta surge has Health. is co-chairman of the founda-
trated among the unvacci- for people with Covid-19. Peo- for their residents, federal presented major risks to other “We cannot accept this as tion with his former wife, Me-
nated, federal data show. The ple in their 30s are four times data show. groups. CDC data continue to our endemic level, and we linda French Gates.
CDC released studies on Fri- as likely to die from infections This is yielding benefits in show that, compared with have the tools to keep this Mr. Gates said he is as en-
day showing that unvaccinated as people ages 18 to 29, ac- places hit hardest by deadly non-Hispanic whites, Black from being our endemic level,” gaged in his work with the
Americans were 4.6 times as cording to the CDC. For people Covid-19 waves earlier in the and Hispanic people face al- Dr. Guest said. foundation as ever because of
the pandemic and other press-
ing challenges. “It’s a very
group of scientists concluded from these variants. They said. ing 2020 in extreme poverty,
that current vaccine regimens noted that waning antibody “Even if some gain can ulti- the report found, and an eco-
were still very effective at levels don’t necessarily corre- mately be obtained from nomic recovery under way this
protecting against severe dis- late with a decrease in effec- boosting, it will not outweigh year is leaving women behind.
ease from viral variants, in- tiveness against severe dis- the benefits of providing ini- Women are expected to
cluding Delta. They said there ease. That is because tial protection to the unvacci- hold 13 million fewer jobs this
doesn’t seem to be a need for protection against severe dis- nated,” said Ana-Maria Henao- year than they did in 2019, be-
boosters to bolster the immu- ease also comes from other Restrepo, the study’s lead fore the pandemic began,
nity of the general population parts of the immune system, Current vaccine regimens are still very effective at protecting author and researcher at the while employment among men
yet. they said, such as memory B against severe disease from viral variants, the article’s authors said. WHO. She said vaccines would is forecast to recover largely
The scientists, including cells and T-cells. help inhibit the evolution of to pre-pandemic rates, accord-
some at the World Health Or- Boosters may eventually be actions, there could be impli- booster shots for certain im- further variants and bring the ing to the report.
ganization and the U.S. Food needed, but there could be cations for vaccine acceptance munocompromised patients, pandemic to an end if they are The pandemic didn’t dam-
and Drug Administration, risks if boosters were widely that go beyond Covid-19 vac- and the Biden administration deployed where fewer people age the global economy or
looked at data from random- introduced too soon or too cines. Thus, widespread boost- is considering plans to have had access to them so some developmental measures
ized control trials and obser- frequently, the authors of the ing should be undertaken only broaden distribution to the far. as badly as the foundation an-
vational studies published in review said. if there is clear evidence that general public within the ticipated. “It wasn’t the worst
peer-reviewed journals and “If unnecessary boosting it is appropriate,” they wrote. month. Your Health: Scientists weigh case, but it’s still a huge set-
preprint servers. causes significant adverse re- The U.S. has authorized Instead of boosters, health in on Covid boosters............ A11 back,” Mr. Gates said.
Go straight to smart.
The Deloitte Insights app connects you to
relevant, timely content from two of the most
trusted sources in the world: Deloitte Insights
and Dow Jones.
“After all the American peo- Scientists routinely scour leted sequences to a public da- a spokeswoman for the Na-
ple have been through since the gene sequences of the sort re- tabase maintained by the tional Center for Biotechnol-
pandemic started, they deserve moved from the archive as a China National Center for Bio- ogy Information, the NIH divi-
straight answers to basic ques- way to find clues about the or- information. The researchers sion that maintains the
tions which the Biden adminis- igin and evolution of viral published information about archive. In that same period,
tration has failed to give them pathogens. the sequences in a scientific 2.09% of the submissions were
to date,” the three senators said The controversy began in journal in June 2020. The re- updated and 0.19% were with-
on Sunday in a statement after June, when a virologist at the searchers didn’t respond to an drawn, the spokeswoman said.
receiving Dr. Collins’s letter. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Re- email requesting comment. NCBI officials said it was
The NIH and its parent agency, search Center in Seattle re- China’s National Health hard to determine the validity
the Department of Health and ported in a paper posted on- Commission said the request of requests to update or re-
Human Services, “have failed to line that he had discovered for the deletion came about as move data from the Sequence
be fully transparent with Con- that the sequences had been the result of a misunderstand- Read Archive and that they
gress and the American peo- deleted from the NIH-run da- ing between the Chinese re- take such requests at face
ple,” the senators said. tabase, which is widely used searchers and the journal that value. “We can’t adjudicate the
READY: Paul Villagomez stocked up on fuel Monday in Kingwood, An international scientific by scientists around the world. had published the paper de- truth,” said Stephen Sherry,
Texas, ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Nicholas. team led by the World Health As a result, “nobody was scribing the sequences, ac- acting director of the NCBI.
.
Ê
uments and on interviews with Board, it often provides mis-
Continued from Page One dozens of current and former leading or partial answers,
practices, marked attorney-cli- employees. masking how much it knows.
ent privileged, found favorit- At least some of the docu- One area in which the com-
ism to those users to be both ments have been turned over pany hasn’t struggled is prof-
widespread and “not publicly to the Securities and Exchange itability. In the past five years,
defensible.” Commission and to Congress during which it has been un-
“We are not actually doing by a person seeking federal der intense scrutiny and roiled
what we say we do publicly,” whistleblower protection, ac- by internal debate, Facebook
said the confidential review. It cording to people familiar has generated profit of more
called the company’s actions with the matter. than $100 billion. The com-
“a breach of trust” and added: Facebook’s stated ambition pany is currently valued at
“Unlike the rest of our com- has long been to connect peo- more than $1 trillion.
munity, these people can vio- ple. As it expanded over the
late our standards without any past 17 years, from Harvard
consequences.” undergraduates to billions of Rough justice
Despite attempts to rein it global users, it struggled with For ordinary users, Face-
in, XCheck grew to include at the messy reality of bringing book dispenses a kind of rough That means, for a select few members of our community, we are not
least 5.8 million users in 2020, together disparate voices with justice in assessing whether enforcing our policies and standards. Unlike the rest of our community,
documents show. In its strug- different motivations—from posts meet the company’s rules these people can violate our standards without any consequences.
gle to accurately moderate a people wishing each other against bullying, sexual con-
torrent of content and avoid happy birthday to Mexican tent, hate speech and incite-
negative attention, Facebook drug cartels conducting busi- ment to violence. Sometimes
created invisible elite tiers ness on the platform. Those the company’s automated sys-
within the social network. problems increasingly con- tems summarily delete or bury ments say, and a 2019 audit out clear governance or own- tions platform, called Face-
In describing the system, sume the company. content suspected of rule viola- found that at least 45 teams ership,” according to a “Get book Workplace. The previous
Facebook has misled the pub- Time and again, the docu- tions without a human review. around the company were in- Well Plan” from last year. month, Mr. Trump said in a
lic and its own Oversight ments show, in the U.S. and At other times, material volved in whitelisting. Users “This results in not applying post: “When the looting starts,
Board, a body that Facebook overseas, Facebook’s own re- flagged by those systems or by aren’t generally told that they XCheck to those who pose real the shooting starts.”
created to ensure the account- searchers have identified the users is assessed by content have been tagged for special risks and on the flip-side, ap- A Facebook manager noted
ability of the company’s en- treatment. An internal guide plying XCheck to those that do that an automated system, de-
forcement systems. to XCheck eligibility cites not deserve it (such as abusive signed by the company to de-
In June, Facebook told the qualifications including being accounts, persistent violators). tect whether a post violates its
Oversight Board in writing
that its system for high-profile
‘We are not actually “newsworthy,” “influential or
popular” or “PR risky.”
These have created PR fires.”
In practice, Facebook ap-
rules, had scored Mr. Trump’s
post 90 out of 100, indicating
users was used in “a small Neymar, the Brazilian soc- peared more concerned with a high likelihood it violated
number of decisions.”
In a written statement,
doing what we say cer star whose full name is
Neymar da Silva Santos Jr.,
avoiding gaffes than mitigat-
ing high-profile abuse. One
the platform’s rules.
For a normal user post,
Facebook spokesman Andy easily qualified. With more Facebook review in 2019 of such a score would result in
Stone said criticism of XCheck
was fair, but added that the
we do publicly.’ than 150 million followers,
Neymar’s account on Insta-
major XCheck errors showed
that of 18 incidents investi-
the content being removed as
soon as a single person re-
system “was designed for an Facebook review gram, which is owned by Face- gated, 16 involved instances ported it to Facebook. Instead,
important reason: to create an book, is one of the most popu- where the company erred in as Mr. Zuckerberg publicly ac-
additional step so we can ac- lar in the world. actions taken against promi- knowledged last year, he per-
curately enforce policies on platform’s ill effects, in areas moderators employed by out- After a woman accused nent users. sonally made the call to leave
content that could require including teen mental health, side companies. Neymar of rape in 2019, he Four of the 18 touched on the post up. “Making a manual
more understanding.” political discourse and human Mr. Zuckerberg estimated posted Facebook and Insta- inadvertent enforcement ac- decision like this seems less
He said Facebook has been trafficking. Time and again, in 2018 that Facebook gets gram videos defending him- tions against content from Mr. defensible than algorithmic
accurate in its communica- despite congressional hear- 10% of its content removal de- self—and showing viewers his Trump and his son, Donald scoring and actioning,” the
tions to the board and that the ings, its own pledges and nu- cisions wrong, and, depending WhatsApp correspondence Trump Jr. Other flubbed en- manager wrote.
company is continuing to work merous media exposés, the on the enforcement action with his accuser, which in- forcement actions were taken Mr. Trump’s account was
to phase out the practice of company didn’t fix them. taken, users might never be cluded her name and nude against the accounts of Sen. covered by XCheck before his
photos of her. He accused the Elizabeth Warren, fashion two-year suspension from
woman of extorting him. model Sunnaya Nash, and Mr. Facebook in June. So too are
from the files Facebook’s standard proce- Zuckerberg himself, whose those belonging to members
Ê
dure for handling the posting live-streamed employee Q&A of his family, Congress and the
of “nonconsensual intimate had been suppressed after an European Union Parliament,
imagery” is simple: Delete it. algorithm classified it as con- along with mayors, civic activ-
But Neymar was protected by taining misinformation. ists and dissidents.
XCheck. While the program included
For more than a day, the most government officials, it
system blocked Facebook’s Pulling content didn’t include all candidates
moderators from removing the Historically, Facebook con- for public office, at times ef-
video. An internal review of the tacted some VIP users who vi- fectively granting incumbents
incident found that 56 million olated platform policies and in elections an advantage over
Exempting (aka whitelisting) specific people and entities creates numerous Facebook and Instagram users provided a “self-remediation challengers. The discrepancy
legal, compliance, PR risks for the company and harms our community. saw what Facebook described window” of 24 hours to delete was most prevalent in state
in a separate document as “re- violating content on their own and local races, the documents
venge porn,” exposing the before Facebook took it down show, and employees worried
woman to what an employee and applied penalties. Facebook could be subject to
referred to in the review as Mr. Stone, the company accusations of favoritism.
abuse from other users. spokesman, said Facebook has Mr. Stone acknowledged the
“This included the video be- phased out that perk, which concern but said the company
ing reposted more than 6,000 was still in place during the had worked to address it. “We
times, bullying and harass- 2020 elections. He declined to made multiple efforts to en-
ment about her character,” the say when it ended. sure that both in federal and
review found. At times, pulling content nonfederal races, challengers
Facebook’s operational
whitelisting. “A lot of this in- Sometimes the company told what rule they violated or guidelines stipulate that not
ternal material is outdated in- held back for fear of hurting be given a chance to appeal. only should unauthorized nude
formation stitched together to
create a narrative that glosses
its business. In other cases,
Facebook made changes that
Users designated for XCheck
review, however, are treated
photos be deleted, but that
people who post them should
‘Facebook routinely
over the most important backfired. Even Mr. Zucker- more deferentially. Facebook have their accounts deleted.
point: Facebook itself identi-
fied the issues with cross
berg’s pet initiatives have
been thwarted by his own sys-
designed the system to mini-
mize what its employees have
“After escalating the case to
leadership,” the review said,
makes exceptions for
check and has been working to tems and algorithms. described in the documents as “we decided to leave Neymar’s
address them,” he said. The documents include re-
search reports, online em-
“PR fires”—negative media at-
tention that comes from
accounts active, a departure
from our usual ‘one strike’
powerful actors.’
ployee discussions and drafts botched enforcement actions profile disable policy.” Facebook memo
Internal documents of presentations to senior taken against VIPs. Neymar denied the rape al-
The documents that de- management, including Mr. If Facebook’s systems con- legation, and no charges were
scribe XCheck are part of an Zuckerberg. They aren’t the clude that one of those ac- filed against him. The woman from a VIP’s account requires as well as incumbents were in-
extensive array of internal result of idle grumbling, but counts might have broken its was charged by Brazilian au- approval from senior execu- cluded in the program,” he
Facebook communications re- rather the formal work of rules, they don’t remove the thorities with slander, extor- tives on the communications said.
viewed by The Wall Street teams whose job was to exam- content—at least not right tion and fraud. The first two and public-policy teams, or The program covers pretty
Journal. They show that Face- ine the social network and fig- away, the documents indicate. charges were dropped, and she even from Mr. Zuckerberg or much anyone regularly in the
book knows, in acute detail, ure out how it could improve. They route the complaint into was acquitted of the third. A Chief Operating Officer Sheryl media or who has a substan-
that its platforms are riddled They offer perhaps the a separate system, staffed by spokesperson for Neymar said Sandberg, according to people Please turn to the next page
IAN BATES FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Near Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Documents show that the company is trying to eliminate the practice of whitelisting, which renders VIP users immune from enforcement actions.
.
ZUMA PRESS; GETTY IMAGES (3); REUTERS (2); ASSOCIATED PRESS; PRESS POOL
Those included in the XCheck program, according to Facebook documents, include, in top row: Brazilian soccer star Neymar, former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg, and in bottom row, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Trump adviser Dan Scavino, author and political commentator Candace Owens and animal influencer Doug the Pug.
Continued from the prior page enforcement systems regularly As a result, Mr. El Sokkari’s following year, said that blan- “FB’s decision-making on our newsroom,” it added, link-
tial online following, including flub calls. account was blocked from ket exemptions and posts that content policy is influenced by ing to a 2018 blog post that
film stars, cable talk-show Part of the problem is re- broadcasting a live video were never subsequently re- political considerations,” wrote declared “we remove content
hosts, academics and online sources. While Facebook has shortly before a scheduled viewed had become the core of an economist in the company’s from Facebook, no matter who
personalities with large fol- trumpeted its spending on an public appearance. In re- the program, meaning most data-science division. posts it, when it breaks our
lowings. On Instagram, XCheck army of content moderators, it sponse, he denounced Face- content from XCheck users “Separate content policy standards.” Facebook’s 2019
covers accounts for popular still isn’t capable of fully pro- book on Twitter and the com- wasn’t subject to enforcement. from public policy,” recom- internal review had previously
animal influencers including cessing the torrent of user- pany’s own platform in posts “We currently review less than mended Kaushik Iyer, then cited that same blog post as
“Doug the Pug.” generated content on its plat- that received hundreds of 10% of XChecked content,” the lead engineer for Facebook’s misleading.
In practice, most of the forms. Even assuming thousands of views.
content flagged by the XCheck adequate staffing and a higher Facebook swiftly reversed it-
system faced no subsequent accuracy rate, making millions self, but shortly afterward mis- from the files
Ê
review, the documents show. of moderation decisions a day takenly took down more of Mr.
Even when the company would still involve numerous El Sokkari’s posts criticizing
does review the material, en- high-profile calls with the po- conservative Muslim figures.
forcement delays like the one tential for bad PR. Mr. El Sokkari responded:
on Neymar’s posts mean con- Facebook wanted a system “Facebook Arabic support
tent that should have been for “reducing false positives team has obviously been infil-
prohibited can spread to large and human workload,” accord- trated by extremists,” he Facebook routinely makes exceptions for powerful
audiences. Last year, XCheck ing to one internal document. tweeted, an assertion that
actors when enforcing content policy.
allowed posts that violated its The XCheck system was set up prompted more scrambling in-
rules to be viewed at least 16.4 to do that. side Facebook.
billion times, before later be- To minimize conflict with After seeking input from 41
ing removed, according to a average users, the company employees, Facebook said in a
summary of the program in has long kept its notifications report about the incident that
late December. of content removals opaque. XCheck remained too often
Facebook recognized years Users often describe on Face- “reactive and demand-driven.”
ago that the enforcement ex- book, Instagram or rival plat- The report concluded that
emptions granted by its forms what they say are re- XCheck should be expanded
XCheck system were unaccept- moval errors, often further to include prominent
able, with protections some- accompanied by a screenshot independent journalists such
times granted to what it called of the notice they receive. as Mr. El Sokkari, to avoid fu-
abusive accounts and persis- Facebook pays close atten- ture public-relations black
tent violators of the rules, the tion. One internal presentation eyes.
documents show. Nevertheless, about the issue last year was As XCheck mushroomed to
the program expanded over titled “Users Retaliating encompass what the docu- document stated. civic integrity team, in a June The XCheck documents
time, with tens of thousands of Against Facebook Actions.” ments said are millions of us- Mr. Stone said the company 2020 memo. show that Facebook misled the
accounts added just last year. “Literally all I said was ers world-wide, reviewing all improved that ratio during Buzzfeed previously re- Oversight Board, said Kate
In addition, Facebook has happy birthday,” one user the questionable content be- 2020, though he declined to ported on elements of these Klonick, a law professor at St.
asked fact-checking partners to posted in response to a came a fresh mountain of provide data. documents. John’s University. The board
retroactively change their find- botched takedown, according work. The leeway given to promi- That same month, employ- was funded with an initial
ings on posts from high-profile to the presentation. nent political accounts on mis- ees debated on Workplace, the $130 million commitment from
accounts, waived standard pun- “Apparently Facebook information, which the com- internal platform, about the Facebook in 2019, and Ms.
ishments for propagating what doesn’t allow complaining Whitelist status pany in 2019 acknowledged in merits of going public with the Klonick was given special ac-
it classifies as misinformation about paint colors now?” an- In response to what the a limited form, baffled some XCheck program. cess by the company to study
and even altered planned other user complained after documents describe as chronic employees responsible for pro- As the transparency pro- the group’s formation and its
changes to its algorithms to Facebook flagged as hate underinvestment in modera- tecting the platforms. High- posal drew dozens of “like” processes.
avoid political fallout. speech the declaration that tion efforts, many teams profile accounts posed greater and “love” emojis from col- “Why would they spend so
“Facebook currently has no “white paint colors are the around Facebook chose not to risks than regular ones, re- leagues, the Civic Team’s Mr. much time and money setting
firewall to insulate content-re- worst.” up the Oversight Board, then
lated decisions from external “Users like to screenshot us lie to it?” she said of Facebook
pressures,” a September 2020
memo by a Facebook senior
research scientist states, de-
at our most ridiculous,” the
presentation said, noting they
often are outraged even when
‘This problem is pervasive, touching after reviewing XCheck docu-
mentation at the Journal’s re-
quest. “This is going to com-
scribing daily interventions in
its rule-making and enforce-
ment process by both Face-
Facebook correctly applies its
rules.
If getting panned by every-
almost every area of the compaany.’ pletely undercut it.”
In a written statement, a
spokesman for the board said
book’s public-policy team and day users is unpleasant, inad- Facebook review it “has expressed on multiple
senior executives. vertently upsetting prominent occasions its concern about
A December memo from an- ones is potentially embarrass- the lack of transparency in
other Facebook data scientist ing. enforce the rules with high- searchers noted, yet were the Chakrabarti looped in the Facebook’s content modera-
was blunter: “Facebook rou- Last year, Facebook’s algo- profile accounts at all—the least policed. product manager overseeing tion processes, especially re-
tinely makes exceptions for rithms misinterpreted a years- practice referred to as white- “We are knowingly expos- the XCheck program to offer a lating to the company’s incon-
powerful actors.” old post from Hosam El Sok- listing. In some instances, ing users to misinformation response. sistent management of high-
kari, an independent journalist whitelist status was granted that we have the processes The fairness concerns were profile accounts.”
who once headed the BBC’s with little record of who had and resources to mitigate,” real and XCheck had been mis- Facebook is trying to elimi-
Flubbed calls Arabic News service, accord- granted it and why, according said a 2019 memo by Facebook managed, the product man- nate the practice of whitelist-
Mr. Zuckerberg has consis- ing to a September 2020 “inci- to the 2019 audit. researchers, called “The Politi- ager wrote, but “we have to ing, the documents show and
tently framed his position on dent review” by the company. “This problem is pervasive, cal Whitelist Contradicts Face- balance that with business the company spokesman con-
how to moderate controversial In the post, he condemned touching almost every area of book’s Core Stated Principles.” risk.“ Since the company was firmed. The company set a
content as one of principled Osama bin Laden, but Face- the company,” the 2019 review Technology website The Infor- already trying to address the goal of eliminating total im-
neutrality. “We do not want to book’s algorithms misinter- states, citing the audit. It con- mation previously reported on program’s failings, the best munity for “high severity” vio-
the document. approach was “internal trans- lations of FB rules in the first
In one instance, political parency,” he said. half of 2021. A March update
from the files whitelist users were sharing ar- On May 5, Facebook’s Over- reported that the company
Ê
ticles from alternative-medicine sight Board upheld the sus- was struggling to rein in addi-
websites claiming that a Berke- pension of Mr. Trump, whom tions to XCheck.
ley, Calif., doctor had revealed it accused of creating a risk of “VIP lists continue to
that chemotherapy doesn’t violence in connection with grow,” a product manager on
One of the fundamental reasons I joined FB is that I believe in its work 97% of the time. Fact- the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol Facebook’s Mistakes Preven-
potential to be a profoundly democratizing force that enables checking organizations have in Washington. It also criti- tion Team wrote. She an-
everyone to have an equal civic voice. So having different rules on debunked the claims, noting cized the company’s enforce- nounced a plan to “stop the
speech for different people is very troubling to me. that the science is misrepre- ment practices, recommending bleeding” by blocking Face-
sented and that the doctor that Facebook more clearly ar- book employees’ ability to en-
cited in the article died in 1978. ticulate its rules for prominent roll new users in XCheck.
In an internal comment in individuals and develop penal- One potential solution re-
response to the memo, Samidh ties for violators. mains off the table: holding
Chakrabarti, an executive who As one of 19 recommenda- high-profile users to the same
headed Facebook’s Civic Team, tions, the board asked Face- standards as everyone else.
which focuses on political and book to “report on the relative “We do not have systems
social discourse on the plat- error rates and thematic con- built out to do that extra dili-
form, voiced his discomfort sistency of determinations gence for all integrity actions
with the exemptions. made through the cross check that can occur for a VIP,” her
“One of the fundamental process compared with ordi- memo said. To avoid making
reasons I joined FB Is that I be- nary enforcement procedures.” mistakes that might anger in-
lieve in its potential to be a A month later, Facebook fluential users, she noted, Face-
profoundly democratizing force said it was implementing 15 of book would instruct reviewers
that enables everyone to have the 19 recommendations. The to take a gentle approach.
become the arbiters of truth,” preted the post as supporting cluded that whitelists “pose an equal civic voice,” he wrote. one about disclosing cross “We will index to assuming
he told Congress in a hearing the terrorist, which would numerous legal, compliance, “So having different rules on check data was one of the four good intent in our review flows
last year. have violated the platform’s and legitimacy risks for the speech for different people is it said it wouldn’t adopt. and lean into ‘innocent until
Facebook’s special enforce- rules. Human reviewers erro- company and harm to our very troubling to me.” “It’s not feasible to track proven guilty,’ ” she wrote.
ment system for VIP users neously concurred with the community.” Other employees said the this information,” Facebook The plan, the manager
arose from the fact that its hu- automated decision and de- A plan to fix the program, practice was at odds with wrote in its responses. “We wrote, was “generally” sup-
man and automated content- nied Mr. El Sokkari’s appeal. described in a document the Facebook’s values. have explained this product in ported by company leadership.
.
WORLD NEWS
Depopulation Hits Latvia Economy Hard
Industrialized nations Latvia’s total population* Percentage change in population since 2004*
struggle as birthrates 2.75 million 5%
decline, workers leave; 1990
2.50 2.7M 0
Riga seeks a reversal
EU 27 (2020)
–5
BY IAN LOVETT 2.25 Latvia
Lithuania
–10
DAGDA, Latvia—For nearly 2.00 2021
three decades, Inara Frolova, a 2021 –15
▼17%
local civil servant, has re- 1.9M
1.75
corded just how fast this re-
mote district on Latvia’s east- –20
ern border has dwindled. 1.50 2004 ’06 ’08 ’10 ’12 ’14 ’16 ’18 ’20
When her three brothers, her 2050
first husband and her son left 1.4M Live births in Latvia
1.25
for Ireland, she wrote it down.
50,000
When births hit their lowest-
ever level last year, she en- 1.00
tered the data. 40,000 2020
This year, with its popula- 0.75 17,552
VIT SIMANEK/CTK/ZUMA PRESS
Manage Your
WSJ Account
Online
Update your account details any time.
It’s quick and easy.
© 2021 Dow Jones & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. 6DJ8497
.
PERSONAL JOURNAL.
© 2021 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Tuesday, September 14, 2021 | A11
their smartwatches.
J
watch shipments, it’s a grow- doesn’t yet have a policy on School in the San Francisco Bay
ing segment of personal tech smartwatches except during Area get school-issued Chrome-
ust when schools finally for young people. According state standardized testing, books that have chat functions dis-
figured out how to deal to Pew Research, 13% of when they aren’t allowed. abled. The school requires cell-
with students’ cellphones, teens own a smartwatch. Cellphones aren’t allowed to phones to be securely locked
a new classroom distrac- Kids’ smartwatch unit sales be used by students except during the day in pouches made by
tion is emerging: smart- grew 12% to about 12 million at lunch. a company called Yondr. However,
watches. in the first half of this year “Every notification and the school doesn’t yet have a pol-
Parents have opted to send stu- compared with the prior-year text message distracts them icy governing smartwatches or
dents to school with child-friendly period, according to SuJeong Yondr recently developed lock pouches big enough from what they are doing. other devices, such as laptops and
wearables like Verizon’s Gizmo- Lim, a senior analyst at to hold both a smartphone and a smartwatch. The students usually have tablets, brought from home.
Watch, and even Apple Watches, Counterpoint Research. She them set on silent so that I “Children who can afford
as a less-distracting alternative to said she expects the kids’ don’t hear it, but it buzzes smartwatches and MacBooks have
cellphones. But educators say that smartwatch market to grow by can tell parents not to text their their wrist,” Ms. Johnson said. additional means to communicate,”
students are using their watches double digits annually. children, but let’s be real—there “The problem with the constant Adam Gelb, the school’s assistant
to cut class or text friends—some- Those figures represent watches are certain personality types who interruptions is that the students principal, said, adding that the
times with cheating in mind—and designed specifically for kids—so want 24/7 access to their kids, lose their train of thought,” she school is likely to develop a policy
still more are distracted by the no- they don’t include the Apple Watch. school rules be damned.” added. “They will be texted some- around outside devices soon. “If
tifications buzzing on their wrists. Apple recently made its smart- While her district’s tech policy thing like ‘Don’t forget to let the everyone just has a Chromebook,
Jeanne McVerry, a reading spe- watches more child-friendly by not doesn’t name smartwatches, it dog out when you get home’ and there’s an even playing field and
cialist and education-technology requiring kids to have an iPhone to states that students can use pri- then whatever they were working no one sticks out.”
coach in Teaneck, N.J., said her pair them with. (Parents can set up vately owned technology devices at on is just gone right out of their Yondr recently developed an
district doesn’t specifically forbid the Apple Watch—and parental con- school only with both parent and mind and they have to start over.” extra-large pouch that can hold
smartwatches in its tech-use pol- trols—through their own iPhone.) teacher approval, and that teachers Andrea Hawkins, of Saraland, both a cellphone and a smart-
icy but she has taken a hard line Many educators learned with can choose to prohibit their use. Ala., admits she’s guilty of sending watch, or a cellphone with those
on them. She asks students to put cellphones and texting that it is of- Ms. McVerry said she worries reminder texts to her 10th-grade pop-out grips. So far the larger
them in their backpacks during ten parents, and not other students, about how constant parent-child son’s Apple Watch but tries to keep pouches make up between 5% and
class. She learned students were who are the worst offenders—which communication is affecting kids’ it to a minimum. “It makes it simple 10% of Yondr’s orders.
using them to arrange bathroom led many districts to lock up development. “When parents are to communicate with him without “Smartwatches are definitely
meetups with friends to hang out phones during class rather than constantly sending that reminder violating the electronics policy, be- something schools are adapting to,”
during class time. simply forbid students to use them. text, they’re not giving their child cause the school doesn’t want cell- said Yondr Chief Executive Officer
“Technology changes so rapidly “Every once in a while, I bump the discomfort they need to advo- phones out during class,” she said. Graham Dugoni. “We wanted to cre-
and in ways we can’t anticipate into the whole ‘But my mom needs cate for themselves,” she said. Ms. Hawkins said she has had ate an environment free of phone
that we don’t know how we’re go- to get in touch with me’ excuse,” Diana Johnson, a high-school to text after learning that his distractions, and smartwatches are
ing to police every new thing,” Ms. Ms. McVerry said. “Administrators math teacher in eastern Georgia, cross-country practice was can- clearly an extension of that.”
S
ome people are trying to get tacharya, a professor help prevent him from getting a
Covid-19 booster shots. Oth- Protection for the elderly of immunobiology at mild infection that he could pass
ers aren’t sure if they need Studies indicate that a decline in the University of Ar- on to his children, who could de-
them. Mixed public health mes- vaccine effectiveness is leading to a izona College of velop more serious cases.
sages aren’t making personal- rising number of mild to moderate Medicine in Tucson. Some public health advisers say
health decisions any clearer. breakthrough cases. What is unclear Yet “the ones that governments should give priority
So far, the U.S. has authorized is whether the decline is due to are left tend to be of to vaccinating the unvaccinated,
booster shots—an extra dose of time or the highly contagious Delta higher quality, so it both in the U.S. and abroad.
the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer variant—or both. There isn’t any takes far fewer of “We’re not safe until the world
Inc. and its partner BioNTech SE, conclusive evidence suggesting that Booster shots are likely low risk, doctors say. them to protect is safe,” says Rebecca Wurtz, di-
and by Moderna Inc.—only for vaccinated people’s decline in im- Whether healthy people need them is less clear. against disease,” he rector of public health adminis-
people who are immunocompro- munity is leading to a major rise in says, adding that it tration and policy at the Univer-
mised, although others have man- Covid-19 hospitalizations or death, vaccine can help protect those who is difficult to tell exactly how sity of Minnesota School of Public
aged to get them. many scientists say. are at risk of a worse outcome, much additional protection a Health.
In August, the Biden administra- People who are elderly, frail or such as people over age 60, as well booster shot would provide. The World Health Organization
tion indicated boosters would be otherwise in high-risk groups have as those at risk of spreading it to Companies are working on boost- recently reiterated guidance that
available for the wider population the clearest need for boosters, sci- vulnerable people, such as health- ers that specifically target the Delta countries with large supplies of
starting Sept. 20. Regulators have entists say. “Older people tend to care and nursing-home employees. variant, Dr. Bhattacharya notes. “Any coronavirus vaccines should halt
since indicated they may take longer respond less vigorously to the first “If you got Pfizer more than six new variants coming up soon are giving booster shots through
to review the data and may limit ap- doses, which suggests that their months ago, as I did, and you’re at likely to be derivatives of Delta,” he year’s end and make more doses
proval to specific groups or vaccines. immunity may wane more quickly,” more than a moderate risk of a says. “So there’s some questions as available to poorer countries.
While scientists and doctors says David Topham, a professor of bad outcome if you got infected, I to whether or not we should maybe Ultimately, it is likely that the
say there is likely no harm in get- microbiology and immunology at think it’s a pretty clear call,” Dr. be thinking about waiting for a virus that causes Covid-19 will be-
ting a booster, a debate is under the University of Rochester Medi- Wachter says. Delta-matched booster.” come part of the fabric of seasonal
way about how helpful the shots cal Center. That population also Others say any additional pro- respiratory infections, like other
EMILY ELCONIN/BLOOMBERG NEWS
are for people who aren’t immuno- represents the majority of hospi- Questions for younger, tection provides benefits, with little coronaviruses, says Dr. Topham.
compromised. Many scientists say talized breakthrough infections— healthier people risk. Even a mild or moderate case “Eventually we hope it becomes
that because the vaccines are still still a small portion of overall hos- Less clear-cut is whether younger, of Covid-19 can make a person mis- a routine thing and everybody ac-
providing good protection against pitalizations. healthier people need boosters. erable for a week and can lead to quires a level of immunity that
severe illness and death—the in- Robert Wachter, chair of the Without a significant rise in severe persistent symptoms, or so-called prevents them from getting severe
crease in breakthrough infections department of medicine at the complications from breakthrough long Covid, Dr. Wachter notes. disease,” he says. “Eventually chil-
aside—the need for widespread University of California, San Fran- cases, some scientists advise wait- With boosters, “Why would you dren will acquire immunity that
boosters is less clear. A group of cisco, says there is enough data ing. “We don’t know if there are not do it if you can at zero cost and will carry into adulthood without
scientists came out against boost- showing a third dose of the Pfizer any disadvantages of receiving too essentially zero risk,” he says. needing to get a booster.”
.
PERSONAL JOURNAL.
WHAT’S YOUR WORKOUT? | JEN MURPHY The Workout
A Stairway to Fitness
Mr. Tileston arrives at work by SKIP THE ELEVATOR,
5:30 a.m., so Monday through Fri-
day he runs the stairs of his TAKE THE STAIRS
building at 4 a.m. He lives on the
29th floor and takes the elevator
to the lowest level, runs to the
top, then takes the elevator back
down to his apartment. It typi-
Y our office building’s stair-
well or the bleachers at
your local school can provide a
cally takes him between 4½ and workout equivalent to what
six minutes to run all 77 flights. you’d get at the gym. Seden-
“The key to tower racing is using tary people who climbed up
your arms and the stairway rails,” 60 steps three times a day for
he says. To practice, he alternates six weeks showed improved
running 10 flights at 90% effort cardiovascular capacity, ac-
without using the railing, one cording to a 2019 study pub-
flight at 50% effort for recovery, lished in Applied Physiology,
10 flights at 90% effort using the Nutrition, and Metabolism.
railing and continues repeating “When we walk up stairs we
these intervals. He runs the final work almost every muscle in
10 flights at 100% effort. the leg and we need to engage
When he gets home from the core to stabilize us,” says
work, usually around 7:30 p.m., Meghan Kennihan, a USA Track
he runs the stairs again, often in & Field-certified running coach
his work clothes and even some- based in La Grange, Ill. “And it’s
times in his heavy work boots. In a very efficient cardio workout.”
DARREN HAUCK FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (2)
W
hosts a points challenge. Mem- she says. “Once you feel good
bers receive one point for show- walking, skip a stair as you
hen Reid Tileston pandemic. “Once every four to six ing up, three points if it’s 5 de- walk, then progress to jogging
moved from San weeks I give someone in the stair- grees below zero, and other or running.”
Francisco to Mil- well quite the surprise when I awards. The highest point earn- She also suggests walking
waukee in 2019, he come barreling towards or behind ers win a T-shirt. “And bragging up sideways, alternating lead-
didn’t care about them,” he says. rights,” Mr. Tileston adds. ing with the right and left leg,
finding an apart- Mr. Tileston got into stair On Sundays, he swims with to work different planes of
ment with a pool or a view. He was running in 2013 while attending a club in Lake Michigan. He motion.
looking for a building with a lot of graduate school in Chicago. doesn’t wear a wetsuit, which And use a railing for balance
stairs. Mr. Tileston, 37 years old, When frigid winter weather means the length of his work- if you are starting out. “It’s im-
now lives in one the city’s tallest hampered his outdoor runs, he out is often dictated by the portant to make sure your en-
residential towers and runs its 77 took to running the 52 flights of water temperature. He usually tire foot lands on the step,”
flights of stairs twice a day. stairs in his high-rise apartment swims through September. His says Ms. Garner. “If only your
“I could have moved to Milwau- building. He soon discovered a apartment building has a gym, forefoot or toes hit the surface
kee and succumbed to beer and competitive tower-running com- which he also uses Sundays. you can put too much pressure
brats,” says Mr. Tileston, who munity and entered a few competi- on the knee joint.. Walking
owns an industrial-services com- tions, including Skyrise Chicago, a Essential Gear down or taking an elevator can
pany. “Instead I found a creative, climb up 2,109 stairs in Willis Mr. Tileston comes from a tech prevent sore quadriceps mus-
weather-proof workout.” The for- Tower. Top, Reid Tileston runs the stairs background but jokes he’s a Lud- cles or knee pain, she notes.
mer endurance athlete no longer “Winter does not help moti- in his apartment building twice dite when it comes to fitness. “I For a full-body workout, she
has hours to devote to training vate,” he says. “This is a workout daily. On Sundays, he hits the gym. keep it minimal,” he says. suggests using a step be-
during the week. His stair climbs that really gives me no excuses. I He always swims with a whis- tween sets of stair climbs to
take less than 10 minutes, don’t re- just go down to the basement. tle and a blinking light strapped perform triceps dips, incline
quire a commute and they’re free. Sometimes I don’t even change. I training event in Switzerland to to his goggles so boats can see push-ups, calf raises or decline
He runs up but takes the elevator run in my work clothes.” run up the Niesen-Stairway, but it him. split squats, where your back
down to save his knees. Mr. Tileston hopes to compete was canceled. “It’s in my sights for He never logs more than 50 leg is on a step as you per-
Because he runs at odd hours, in the Empire State Building Run- 2022,” he says. “It will provide me miles in a pair of sneakers. He form a lunge.
he has rarely had to worry about Up—a race up 1,576 stairs—this the motivation to give that extra currently runs outdoors in On
bumping into people during the fall. He was scheduled to attend a 10% this winter.” Cloudventure sneakers ($150).
F
What about getting lost?
or people who find the densed interview. If you’re going to run
runner’s high elusive, a with cannabis, do it in
new book offers this You loved running stoned, places you’ve run before.
suggestion: Run high. then you realized you Early on, trails were new to
Josiah Hesse, a runner weren’t alone. me, and the signs could be
and author of “Runner’s It seems like most peo- confusing. I loved running
High: How a Movement of ples’ journey through this is on trails so much and it was
Cannabis-Fueled Athletes Is they did it themselves and so much fun, and 10 miles
Changing the Science of never really discussed it, be- later I had no idea where I
Sports,” argues that more was, I didn’t have any
professional and amateur water, I didn’t bring any
athletes than ever before food.
are working out stoned.
The 39-year-old jour- Many professional sports
nalist contends that pot organizations ban the
makes for a more focused use of marijuana in com-
and relaxed athlete, creat- petition. Should they?
ing a positive-feedback Cannabis is not going
loop around exercise that to do anything that’s
can lead to improved per- taking you beyond your
formance. natural limits. It’s not
Mr. Hesse spent more going to swell your body
than four years interview- beyond its genetic limi-
ing dozens of professional tations. It’s not going to
athletes, scientists, doc- make your heart stron-
tors and other experts ger than it organically is
about what he calls the going to be. That said,
“open secret” of cannabis- there are plenty of en-
fueled fitness. His book durance runners who are
arrives Tuesday from pub- going out for days at a
lisher G.P. Putnam’s Sons. time. So much of that is
Runners might recoil mental. It is wrestling
at the idea that pot with pain, exhaustion,
brownies could help them your own doubt. If can-
notch their next personal nabis strips that away,
record. Over the years, scien- cause the sports world at that’s pretty important.
tists have disputed whether times can be conservative,
cannabis is a performance- and this is taboo and at times I recently ran in the park and
enhancing drug, with some illegal. This has become wondered, “How many peo-
arguing that it has the oppo- somewhat of an open secret ple here are stoned?”
site effect. in the sports world that so When a researcher from
The thorny subject of ath- many people are using can- University of Colorado Boul-
letes and pot took center nabis in their training and in der did a survey about exer-
stage this summer before the their recovery. cise habits—this was in legal-
Tokyo Olympics, when ized states—80% of
Sha’Carri Richardson was How does pot affect ath- respondents said they used
suspended from the U.S. letes’ mental state? cannabis before, during or af-
track and field team after If you talk to an evolu- ter their fitness routine.
testing positive for the tionary biologist, the joy
banned substance. from exercise is part of our Have you been high during
Mr. Hesse believes a fu- rewards system. A lot of peo- our conversation?
ture industry of cannabis ath- ple aren’t experiencing a lot I have not. I’m not terribly
letics is coming. He points to of joy from exercise. People sharp, at least in terms of wit
rising legalization of the drug think they don’t belong in a or recalling specific details,
for recreational use and the gym, they’re ugly, they’re when I’m high. Good ideas
boom in products made with stupid, they failed last time will come, but the execution
CBD, which is derived from so they’re going to fail again. of those ideas usually is
cannabis, for sports recovery. Cannabis can shut out that saved for more sober mo-
The author discourages excess chatter. ments.
.
ARTS IN REVIEW
Kacey Musgraves
performing at the 2021
MTV Video Music
Awards on Sunday
A Marriage Story
her closely with coun- short, it still communicates musi-
try-music tradition— cally. The radiant acoustic guitar
she grew up in a tiny strumming, accompanied by a
town in Texas, per- rhythm built around hand percus-
formed in yodeling competitions sion, cycles through a circular
Goes Intergalactic
as a young girl, and later worked chord progression that invites
as a contract songwriter in Nash- jamming. And then a playful flute
ville before becoming an artist solo delivers on that suggestion
herself—but she’s always defied and one imagines the track being
narrow definitions. In one early stretched for 10 minutes or more
song she fantasized about smok- onstage.
ing weed with John Prine. And Teaming again with writer-pro- friendly trip-hop of the French mood and vibe. Ms. Musgraves says she con-
“Follow Your Arrow,” from her ducers Ian Fitchuk and Daniel duo Air—we could retitle it “Kacey The album’s middle section fronted the pain of her breakup by
2013 debut “Same Trailer Differ- Tashian, who worked with Ms. Watch the Stars” to play on that tells the “what went wrong” por- embarking on psychedelic therapy
ent Park,” was an ode to LGBT ac- Musgraves on “Golden Hour,” she’s group’s 1998 single about a char- tion of her tale. “Breadwinner,” involving guided trips while on
ceptance. By the time of her 2018 crafted a deeply atmospheric al- acter named Kelly. about feeling like your partner psilocybin mushrooms, and it’s
LP “Golden Hour” she inhabited a bum of cosmic pop. In one sense, the interstellar isn’t pulling his weight, begins easy to hear the connection be-
genre all her own, with songs that Starting with the stunning title production flourishes and Ms. with a synth line mirrored on gui- tween the richly textured sonics
confidently moved among psych- track, which serves as a kind of Musgraves’s steady, uninflected tar, and when the drums kick in it and expanded consciousness. Dur-
inflected folk-pop, dreamy dance overture, “Star-Crossed” is a sonic delivery are an odd choice for an become funky and danceable—a ing one such session, she heard
music and country proper. The lat- experience first—the lyrics are album about a subject as emotion- low-key sequel to the club-ready Argentinian singer Mercedes
ter album was a critical smash, broad while the musical and ar- ally wrenching as divorce. The house groove “High Horse” from Sosa’s version of “Gracias a la
and she won four Grammys includ- rangement choices are detailed feelings as presented aren’t partic- “Golden Hour.” “Camera Roll” is Vida,” written by Chilean song-
ing Album of the Year—the more and specific. The song begins with one of a few songs during this writer and folklorist Violeta Parra,
she strayed from country’s center, mariachi-style guitar flourishes, as stretch that convey the gravity of and she closes “Star-Crossed”
the more success she found. if it’s setting up a western, and the breakup with a spare and inti- with her own cover. A translation
The warm and bright “Golden then as the synths fold in it takes
Kacey Musgraves’s new mate arrangement. It also has of the lyrics from Spanish reveals
Hour” was partly inspired by Ms. off like a rocket in slow motion, album takes an out-of- some of the cleverest lyrics on the it to be a song of gratitude with
Musgraves’s then-new relationship casting doomed romance in galac- record, as the singer looks at her images of the heavens inter-
with singer-songwriter Ruston tic terms, as if love were as mys-
this-world approach to smartphone and agonizes over the spersed with the mundane, giving
Kelly, whom she married in 2017. terious as the origins of the uni- the tale of her divorce. memories it contains. “Chronolog- thanks for “crickets and canaries,
The subsequent dissolution of verse. ical order ain’t nothing but tor- hammers, turbines.” It reaches a
their marriage—the couple di- The production and arrange- ture,” she sings. “Scroll too far level of poetry that Ms. Musgraves
vorced last year—serves as fodder ments bring to mind eras when back, that’s what you get.” never manages herself on this out-
for Ms. Musgraves’s fifth album, adventurous instrumentation ularly raw—there are no scenes of Here and there, Ms. Mus- ing. And the recording, processed
“Star-Crossed” (MCA Nashville/In- fused with pop and rock. Elec- shouting matches or dishes being graves’s words land on a cliché with crackle and a pinched mid-
terscope), out now. Structured as tronic rock of the late 1990s— smashed against walls, and there’s and go no further, which is the al- range to sound ancient, makes for
a three-act narrative that moves think Radiohead or the Flaming not much humor, either, which has bum’s major sticking point. On the a fitting conclusion to an album
from the flutter of new love Lips—is one obvious reference previously been a cornerstone of shuffling ballad “Keep Lookin’ about transitions, where one
through pain and heartbreak and point, and the third track, “Cherry her writing. Instead, “Star- Up,” she notes her father told her floats through time and space in
then to acceptance, it finds Ms. Blossom,” has the sparkly effer- Crossed” is an album that looks to “Keep your head in the clouds / search of happiness.
Musgraves once again in her own vescence of Fleetwood Mac circa back on torment from a place of And your feet on the ground.” On
stylistic orbit, this time with ele- 1987’s “Tango in the Night.” The relative calm, and it communicates “There Is a Light,” she sings of “a Mr. Richardson is the Journal’s
ments of traditional country al- gorgeous “If This Was a Movie...,” feelings in a more subliminal man- light at the end of the tunnel” and rock and pop music critic. Follow
most entirely stripped away. meanwhile, recalls the lounge- ner, speaking the language of you wait for a sly twist on the him on Twitter @MarkRichardson.
Zurich 78 61 pc 72 60 t N A N A L Y O N C S P A N
Oklahoma City 88 66 s 86 64 pc Edinburgh 62 51 pc 63 49 c
.
SPORTS
BY JARED DIAMOND
ROBERT HANASHIRO/REUTERS
“It’s just kind of amazing to
watch greatness,” outfielder
Mookie Betts said.
Betts spoke Sunday evening,
minutes after a game in which
Scherzer was about as great as a
pitcher could be. He retired the
first 22 San Diego Padres batters
before Eric Hosmer
broke up his bid at per- Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer became just the 19th pitcher in history to amass 3,000 career strikeouts.
fection with an eighth- Coming Up Aces
inning double. Scherzer Pitchers with the lowest ERA after a Naturally, he nearly threw a per- threw more over the entire sea- span of 29 2/3 innings that dates
exited after eight one-hit midseason trade (minimum five starts), fect game at the same time. son. Sabathia finished in the top back to Aug. 21. It has made
frames. since 1913. “I love strikeouts,” Scherzer six in NL Cy Young and MVP vot- Scherzer a favorite to win Cy
In the process, Scher- said. “To me, this is a testament ing despite pitching in just 17 Young honors for the fourth
zer continued his assault Player Year IP ERA to durability.” games. time, which would put him in a
on the record books, be- There are few precedents for a Perhaps an even more memo- club with only four others: Clem-
coming just the 19th Max Scherzer, LAD 2021 51.0 0.88 pitcher coming to a new team in rable performance came in 1998, ens (seven), Johnson (five),
pitcher in history to Johnny Niggeling, Was 1943 51.0 0.88 the middle of the season and when the Seattle Mariners Steve Carlton and Greg Maddux.
amass 3,000 career dominating the way Scherzer shipped Johnson to the Houston “Everything he does from here
strikeouts, joining the Justin Verlander, Hou 2017 34.0 1.06 has. Astros at the deadline. Johnson on out is just going to continue
likes of Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Hou 1998 84.1 1.28 In July 2008, CC Sabathia went 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA with to add to his lore, his legacy,”
Randy Johnson and Zane Smith, Pit 1990 76.0 1.30 went from the Cleveland Indians the Astros in a month-long Dodgers manager Dave Roberts
Roger Clemens. In the to the Milwaukee Brewers and stretch that has often been cited said.
second, he struck out the Source: Stats LLC put together a memorable as the best for a pitcher acquired That will depend on what hap-
side on nine pitchers—a stretch. He compiled a 1.65 ERA at the trade deadline. pens next. The Dodgers entered
feat known as an “im- in 17 outings and propelled the To this point, Scherzer has Monday 2 1/2 games behind the
maculate inning”—for the third his Hall-of-Fame résumé that fea- Brewers to the playoffs practi- been even better than either of Giants, meaning they could be
time in his career, something tures three Cy Young awards, cally by himself. Sabathia threw them, hardly giving up a run forced into a one-game wild-card
only two others have accom- two no-hitters, eight All-Star ap- seven complete games in less since he arrived in Los Angeles. play-in. If that happens, there
plished in recorded history. pearances and a World Series ti- than three months; only two He hasn’t surrendered an earned isn’t much doubt about who they
It was just another addition to tle with Washington in 2019. other teams besides the Brewers run in his last four outings, a will want on the mound.
were bad enough to debut. That’s what happens to Players Association said it was
draft Lawrence. rookie quarterbacks. There were launching an investigation into the
‘I believe deeply Jacksonville fin-
ished last year 1-15,
highs, including three touchdown
passes, and lows, including three
situation.
The biggest challenge facing
in this team. which gave the interceptions. One up-and-down Meyer and Lawrence, though, has
team the No. 1 pick game does absolutely nothing to nothing to do with their own prog-
We’ll work our in the draft. diminish his promising NFL fu- ress. Hiring a new coach and even
tails off and line Lawrence was a ture. drafting a franchise quarterback
certainty to be the What was most concerning, es- only put a dent in the deficiencies
up and go again.’ top pick of the 2021 pecially on the coaching side, was that allowed the team to finish
URBAN MEYER draft from the mo- how the team often looked out of last in the entire league in 2020.
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach ment he led Clem- sorts. The Jaguars committed 10 The offensive line protecting Law-
son to a national penalties and four more that were rence was porous while the de-
championship after declined. They were flagged three fense allowed Houston’s offense,
the 2018 season. He times for illegal formation and led by a backup quarterback, to
went undefeated once for having too many guys on put up 37 points.
that season and has the field—all signs of disorganiza- The next chance for Meyer and
played most of the tion. It ended in a sizable defeat to Lawrence to win their first NFL
last decade having a Texans club that sports books games will be next Sunday, more
barely experienced had projected would have the low- than a year after the Jaguars won
losing. His record est win total in the NFL. their last game.
.
OPINION
Gavin Newsom’s White Privilege BOOKSHELF | By Marc Levinson
If the polls
going into
Tuesday’s re-
mained closed, for example,
Mr. Newsom’s own children
were at a private school that
Yet far more interesting
than Mr. Elder’s race is that
he calls himself a “small ‘l’
the free market California Pol-
icy Center.
This failing structure is
The Necessity
call election
in California
hold
G a v i n
up,
offered in-person learning.
Perhaps the governor’s most
Marie Antoinette moment
came when he was caught
libertarian.” The tragedy of
this recall is that California
voters never heard a full de-
bate over what he means by
fiercely protected by the
teachers unions, which natu-
rally back Mr. Newsom. By
contrast Mr. Elder’s “small ‘l’
Of a Navy
MAIN
STREET Newsom will
keep his job
flouting his own guidelines by
dining out with a group of
that. Because if tearing down
privilege is the goal, a healthy
libertarianism” would give all
kids the choice to attend a
To Rule the Waves
By William
as governor. lobbyists at the French Laun- dose of libertarianism is the good school, whether public, By Bruce D. Jones
McGurn
But if he dry, where, the New York ticket. For the antidote to private or religious. (Scribner, 389 pages, $28)
E
does, no one Times reports, “dinner for two privilege is competition and Put it this way: If you’re
should ever again take seri- costs more than many people opportunity. one of the haves, California— ven for those transfixed by grand strategy, Alfred
ously progressive complaints earn in a week.” with its beautiful weather, Thayer Mahan’s “The Influence of Seapower Upon
about white privilege. In sharp contrast, Mr. Elder healthy lifestyle and great History” (1890) is a slog. In more than 500 pages of
Because if white privilege is is a talk-radio host whose fa- Instead of debating outdoors—has much to enjoy. often turgid prose, Mahan, who twice served as president
a thing, Mr. Newsom is ther, a former Marine, took But if you’re middle class, or of the U.S. Naval War College, examined how maritime
drenched in it. Mr. Newsom’s two jobs as a janitor to sup- ideas, progressives aspiring to become middle strength shaped war between 1660 and 1783. “The necessity
father was a well-connected port his family before opening call Larry Elder a class, Californian progressiv- of a navy,” he wrote, “springs . . . from the existence of a
state judge who once managed a small cafe. Mr. Elder grew ism keeps you struggling. peaceful shipping.” He concluded that a large merchant fleet
one of the trusts for the fam- up in South Central L.A., and white supremacist. With all this, Gavin and a strong navy with bases allowing it to operate far from
ily of oil magnate J. Paul his former high school was Newsom should not lose this home were vital to protect the U.S. economy and maintain
Getty. As for his son, the Los featured in the 1991 film recall because of any privi- foreign trade in times of war. “In order to do this,” he
Angeles Times says that “a co- “Boyz n the Hood.” If elected, Take housing. Of all the leges he may enjoy by being added, “the enemy must be kept not only out of our ports,
terie of San Francisco’s Mr. Elder would be Califor- reasons people are leaving white and well-connected. He but far away from our coasts.”
wealthiest families has backed nia’s first African-American California, the high cost of should lose because he cham- In “To Rule the Waves,” Bruce D. Jones attempts to adapt
him at every step of his rise.” governor. owning a home tops the list. pions the same dreadful poli- Mahan’s thinking to the 21st century. In prose much livelier
This privilege is reflected in So guess who’s the white Mr. Elder hopes to bring down cies that have priced the Cali- than his predecessor’s, Mr. Jones places the oceans at the
the $70 million Mr. Newsom supremacist in this race? costs by increasing supply, fornia Dream out of reach for center of modern globalization. They took on such impor-
raised to fight the recall— In August the Los Angeles and he proposes to do that by so many of its hard-working tance, he writes, amid “relative comity between the world’s
more than five times the $13 Times published an opinion reducing the environmental residents. most populous nations,” a
million raised by his leading column headlined: “Larry El- regulations that make it so For the same reason, Larry time of “deepening economic
challenger, Republican Larry der is the Black face of white hard for anything to get built. Elder ought not to be elected integration, and a sense of
Elder. supremacy. You’ve been The green policies so favored because he would become the shared stakes and even a
“California has become the warned.” A few days later, by progressives tend to bene- first black governor of Califor- shared fate in the evolution
epicenter of neo-feudalism, MSNBC’s Joy Reid accused fit the rich at the expense of nia. He ought to be elected be- of the natural world.” But
and Newsom symbolizes this Mr. Elder of falling victim to the poor. cause his market-oriented Mr. Jones warns that in the
new autocracy,” says Joel Kot- “white supremacist narra- Or take education. The re- prescriptions are just the years ahead, the oceans will
kin, a fellow in urban studies tives.” Another Times colum- cent scores from the National tonic for this ailing state. lie at the heart of a much
at Chapman University in Or- nist attacked Mr. Elder for Assessment of Educational Alas, California never had a more contentious relationship
ange County. “The irony is promoting the “white griev- Progress show that progres- good hard debate on policy among the great powers.
that Elder is attacked as the ance politics” of David Duke sive California isn’t working because some of the blue elite The book starts with a
candidate of the rich and and the Ku Klux Klan. Last for its Black and Latino chil- in this bluest of states pre- look at the explosive growth
greedy by this new elite—high Thursday a white woman dren, with some of the na- ferred to paint a black Repub- of maritime trade in mer-
tech, teachers unions, the me- wearing a gorilla mask tion’s largest racial achieve- lican as a white supremacist. chandise and oil since the
dia and some of the state’s showed up at an event to ha- ment gaps. “If we determine Even worse, they did it secure late 20th century. It was trade,
wealthiest citizens.” rass Mr. Elder. She threw an racism by results, our public in the knowledge that no pro- the author emphasizes, that
Covid has put this privilege egg at his head. Not a peep education system is among gressive would ever call them propelled China’s rapid rise to
in stark relief. While many of of protest was heard from the most racist in America,” on it. challenge the United States both economically and mili-
California’s public schools re- progressives. says Will Swaim, president of Write to [email protected] tarily. In particular, container shipping has enabled manu-
facturers and retailers to forge complex supply chains,
through which inputs from many countries are transported
American Global Leadership Is in Retreat across the seas to be combined into finished goods. Those
chains often have links in China, anchoring it at the center
of international commerce.
The 20th an- but as a practical matter, The fall of Hong Kong, the Meanwhile, the Biden ad- From the security perspective, Mr. Jones points out,
niversary of globalists have so far failed consolidation of Russian ministration occupies an un- supply chains that span the oceans have created a conun-
9/11 finds to master the challenges of power in Belarus, the Afghan enviable spot. Its goals on drum for the U.S. Keeping them secure requires military
American for- the 21st century. Progress on collapse, and gains by Ira- issues like climate change, force, and if America wants to maintain its naval primacy,
eign policy in international trade liberaliza- nian clients across the Mid- human rights and denuclear- then it must do the job. That effectively means, as Mr. Jones
a peculiar tion stalled as the World dle East signal to both U.S. ization would have been dif- puts it, that “the US Navy is securing a flow of trade in
place. The Trade Organization’s last allies and adversaries that ficult, if not impossible, to goods and energy that profits China and Russia.”
GLOBAL
U.S. hasn’t comprehensive round of Washington has lost control achieve even at the height of The imperative of protecting trade lanes, Mr. Jones says,
VIEW
stabilized the global trade talks ground to of geopolitical events. The U.S. geopolitical dominance is fueling maritime competition, especially between the U.S.
By Walter
Middle East, a halt during the Obama liberal order’s record in man- a quarter-century ago. To- and China. Superficially, much of this competition is not
Russell Mead
permanently years. Since then, protection- aging global challenges rang- day, the determined and fo- between militaries. The container terminals that China-
remade Af- ism has been on the rise. ing from Covid-19 to migra- cused hostility to American based entities control in Belgium, Djibouti, South Korea
ghan society or ended jihad. Liberal democracy is also los- tion to climate change also world leadership emanating and other places are profit-making ventures, as is state-
But no terrorist has managed ing ground. Surveys by de- remains uninspiring. from Beijing, Moscow and owned China Cosco Shipping Corp., which owns nearly
to inflict another attack on mocracy monitors like Free- Tehran limits Washington’s 1,400 commercial vessels.
the scale of Sept. 11 on the dom House show a steady ability to orchestrate a Viewed through Chinese eyes, though, this maritime
American homeland. As a re- decline in political freedom If the U.S.-led liberal global diplomatic consensus infrastructure also offers protection from hostile foreigners
sult, the War on Terror has around the world. Mean- around those ambitious who could disrupt China’s access to raw materials, fuels
receded to the margins of while, China, Russia and Iran international order is goals. and components headed to its assembly plants. “If the
U.S. politics as fears that the are challenging American crumbling, what Under the circumstances, United States and its allies could actually succeed in stop-
liberal world order is crum- power with growing success. the old consensus in support ping shipping from reaching Chinese shores, it could cripple
bling rise to the fore. The problems facing the lib- comes next? of a global liberal order the Chinese economy,” Mr. Jones writes. China’s strategic
The central pillar of eral world order are more seems fated to fade even as policy, including its effort to turn the East and South China
Washington’s post-Cold War acute and urgent than they geopolitical challenges such seas into Chinese lakes, is intended to keep that from
grand strategy was a quest were in 2001; the order’s re- Two alternative visions of as a rising China and global happening.
to build a liberal interna- sources to address them have American grand strategy are problems like climate change
tional order by promoting diminished. gaining prominence in U.S. grow. Whether restrainers or
free trade and secular demo- U.S. policy failures over- politics as globalism fades. global nationalists can pro- The imperative of protecting trade lanes on
cratic governance under the seas have reduced American Restrainers, who include both duce sustainable, realistic na- the high seas is fueling maritime competition,
aegis of American power confidence in the globalist progressives and conserva- tional strategies that work
around the world. The U.S. vision. The Trump movement tives, want to reduce Amer- remains to be seen. Inade- especially between the U.S. and China.
foreign policy establishment replaced traditional Republi- ica’s footprint abroad. As the quate globalist responses to
still believes not only that can internationalism with a U.S. withdraws from its global the complex challenges fac-
this strategy offers the best more populist agenda and commitments, restrainers be- ing America will likely give Mr. Jones, a foreign-policy scholar at the Brookings
way to secure American in- the growing progressive wing lieve a natural balance of one or both schools an op- Institution, is among the burgeoning community of China
terests, but that it repre- within the Democratic Party power will emerge, with portunity to try. hawks in Washington. “We are already deeply mired in an
sents humanity’s best hope has pushed for more funda- American allies from Europe Barring a dramatic, new arms race with China,” he insists. But as he observes, the
to survive. In the era of nu- mental changes in American to Asia taking responsibility attack on the scale of 9/11, naval arms race is not merely a contest between two coun-
clear weapons, the age-old foreign policy. While Presi- for their own defense. On the radical violence from fanati- tries. The expanding Indian navy has gained access to bases
cycle of great powers going dent Biden’s rhetoric often other hand, global national- cal Islamists, however, ap- throughout the Indian Ocean. Japan is bolstering its naval
to war with one another echoes the ideas of the old ists—mostly more hawkish Re- pears unlikely to play a large forces. Russia “has been using its navy in ways that are very
threatens the entire human American globalism, his ad- publicans and independents— role in the next era of U.S. helpful to China” and likely has the ability to tap or sever
race and must end, while ministration doesn’t seem to have little regard for global foreign policy debates. Even undersea cables. Several other countries have submarines on
global problems like climate have much appetite for the multilateral institutions, free as it steels itself for the patrol in the western Pacific. Hostilities could make things
change can only be ad- muscular humanitarianism trade and visionary human struggles ahead, America very messy very fast, and the ensuing interruption of supply
dressed through the estab- and liberal trade policy that, rights goals, but believe that should recognize that as a chains and communications links could cripple the economies
lishment of effective global for example, marked the U.S. security requires an ac- victory, which is something of countries seeking to steer clear of the conflict.
institutions. Clinton presidency. tive American presence in key to be grateful for in a dark Climate change is adding to these tensions. Though the
These are powerful ideas, More failures seem likely. theaters around the world. and dangerous time. phenomenon is global, the near-term effects vary by
geography. Mr. Jones highlights two of particular relevance
to China’s projection of power. One is a drop in fish stocks
A Cricket Ban Won’t Hurt the Taliban in the South China Sea, which may explain why China has
moved aggressively against Philippine boats fishing in
waters that both countries claim. The other is the poten-
By Tunku Varadarajan has made astonishing strides power, with a plea to stop kill- ostracizing of South African tially disastrous impact of changing rainfall patterns on
E
over the past 20 years, hold- ing Afghans.) teams during apartheid. Myanmar, threatening the country’s viability and increasing
ight days after a suicide ing its own against the Although the latest genera- This is heavy-handed and its dependence on China, which wants to import and export
bomber slaughtered world’s best. After initially tion of the Taliban is savvy misguided. In apartheid South through Myanmar to reduce its vulnerability to the closure
scores of people at Ka- banning all sports—including enough to know that it gains Africa, the cricket team was of sea lanes east and south.
bul airport, the Taliban al- kite-flying—during its first little by banning cricket, the all-white as a matter of na- Mr. Jones has managed to write an important book about
lowed a cricket match to be spell in power, the Taliban re- head of the Taliban’s cultural tional policy. A large majority foreign policy without delivering an impenetrable tome.
played in the Afghan capital. lented in 2000 and permitted commission has said that of South Africans, including He handles his reporting deftly, keeping the reader engaged
Players were drawn from cricket. It helped that crick- women won’t be allowed to many whites, supported the as he roams from a Cold War-era submarine base beneath a
among the best Afghan crick- eters play in pants, unlike play. By the Taliban’s twisted boycott. In Afghanistan a theo- Norwegian mountain, recently reactivated in anticipation of
eters. Some 4,000 spectators barelegged, brazen soccer. logic, how could women play cratic minority denies political conflicts in the Arctic, to the bridge of a missile-equipped
attended—each patted down in public stadiums when they rights to everyone. Unlike in command vessel in the Pacific. And he deftly diagrams the
at the gates by Taliban guards. can’t even walk outdoors with- South Africa, however, no non- connections between economic policy and national security.
The enthusiastic but prudent Boycotting the national out a male chaperone? So the Taliban Afghan would want a As he asserts: “Globalization has been very good for the
crowd waved both the flag of team would only punish Afghan women’s cricket team boycott of the national cricket US economy, but quite bad for the US polity.” But the stark
Afghanistan and the banner of is now moribund. team. choice he offers—“Either we pull away from globalization,
the Taliban. No women were ordinary Afghans. How should the world of Afghan cricketers play for at fantastic cost, or we remake it”—may be too pessimistic.
present. sport react? The Afghan men’s Afghanistan, not for the Tali- With little public attention, manufacturers have been
Under Taliban rule, educa- team is due to tour Australia ban. If they are barred from pulling away from globalization for more than a decade now.
tion, music and conviviality When the Taliban was in November, but the Austra- world cricket, the people of Relative to the world’s output, foreign direct investment
have been replaced by sev- ousted in 2001, cricket took lian cricket authorities have Afghanistan will lose their last peaked in 2007, and exports of manufactured goods did the
enth-century religious dogma. root on Afghan soil. The sport said that they’re likely to scrap source of pleasure, their last same a year later, due largely to businesses’ decisions about
Afghanistan today is a land al- became a metaphor for a new the visit in protest against the shred of joy. Let us keep them managing risks and costs. Increasingly globalization has to
most totally bereft of joy. I Afghanistan. Afghan players Taliban’s treatment of women. on the field of play. do with things that don’t move in container ships, such as
would omit the word “almost” won contracts in the Indian Pre- The Aussies argue that there software, research services and entertainment. These sorts
were it not for cricket. Afghan mier League, the world’s rich- can be no normal sport against Mr. Varadarajan, a Journal of products have international supply chains, too, but bigger
refugees learned the game in est. One player, Rashid Khan, is a team from a country that contributor, is a fellow at the navies won’t do much to protect them.
Pakistan in the 1990s, and it is among the best bowlers (or discriminates against women. American Enterprise Institute
now perhaps Afghanistan’s pitchers) in cricket. (“Kabul is Some critics are calling for a and at New York University Mr. Levinson’s most recent book is “Outside the Box:
most popular spectator sport. bleeding again,” he tweeted global ban on matches against Law School’s Classical Liberal How Globalization Changed From Moving Stuff to
The Afghan national team shortly after the Taliban took Afghanistan, modeled on the Institute. Spreading Ideas.”
.
OPINION
REVIEW & OUTLOOK LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Here Comes the Biden Tax Bill Family Farms Won’t Escape Biden’s New Tax
I
t’s been under wraps longer than some small businesses and savers who have built up Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, main on the farm. The heirs who don’t
Egyptian mummies, but the bill for the a small nest egg. If Republicans don’t pound the former Democratic governor of remain will be subject to the new tax.
Iowa, writes that “Biden’s Tax The heirs of the heir who remains on
Joe Biden-Nancy Pelosi-Bernie Sanders away on this assault on small business, they
Changes Won’t Hurt Family Farmers” the farm will also have to farm the
spending agenda is about to should retire from politics on or small-business owners (op-ed, land to avoid the capital-gains tax.
be exposed to the air. The Pelosi marches House grounds of incompetence. Sept. 9). Maybe he has been in Wash- Contrary to the secretary’s assurances,
Ways and Means Committee Democrats to the Corporations come in for ington too long, as he has lost his I’d hazard that 95% of farming fami-
draft tax increase that leaked a $900 billion fleecing, with grasp of today’s capital-intensive, lies will ultimately face the new tax.
over the weekend is a $2.2 political gallows. the top tax rate rising to high-risk farming economics in Iowa. JIM BEATTY
trillion Washington money 26.5% from 21%. Add state Mr. Vilsack states that his 600-acre O’Fallon, Ill.
grab for the ages. and local corporate levies, Iowa farm is worth almost $2 million,
The tax proposals aren’t final, but Ways and the 31% average rate will vault the U.S. or about $3,300 an acre. It must not Mr. Vilsack says it would be wrong
and Means will start debating them as early back to the highest in the developed world. be quality farmland—probably more for his children to avoid tax on the
as Tuesday. So much for deliberation. As Congratulations, we’re number one. The suitable for wild-game hunting. Good value of his land, which has risen ten-
farm ground in Iowa sells now for fold, when he dies. I’m sure his kids
Chairman Richard Neal has said, publicizing higher rate soaks some $540 billion from U.S.
about $12,000 an acre, and 600 acres appreciate his generosity, but how
tax increases too soon gives the opposition corporations, and the bill snatches another of corn and soybeans are likely re- about investors who merely doubled
time to build. Now that the details are out, we $360 billion in a complicated grab-bag of lev- quired to have an economically feasi- their money in equities over that time.
see what he means. ies on overseas income. ble family farming operation. Farming Let’s say they bought shares of Ford
i i i The sum of these corporate taxes would be profit margins are razor-thin due to or General Electric and willed them to
The most bizarre spin is that the House a greater burden on U.S. firms even than the globalization, and land is becoming their kids. Every penny those shares
Democratic draft is less onerous than Presi- global minimum tax that the U.S. Treasury is more expensive due to government- gained since the early ’90s has been
dent Biden has proposed. As a share of GDP, negotiating with developed countries via the caused inflation. Farms must expand due to inflation. Milton Friedman said
the House proposal is still the largest tax in- Organization for Economic Cooperation and to survive. that inflation is taxation without legis-
crease since 1968. It also doesn’t account for Development. The Europeans and Chinese In the event of a farmer’s death, his lation. Mr. Biden’s legislation will en-
the Senate Finance Committee, which has must be astounded at this display of American gross estate value, including land and sure no inflation escapes taxation.
equipment, could easily exceed $8 ALLAN DEMAREE
floated a paper with multi-trillions in tax in- economic masochism. million. With fully depreciated equip- Rocky River, Ohio
creases to choose from. Think of this exercise The political myth behind all this is that no ment, farmland acquired as little as 10
as the all-you-can-eat politician’s dinner at one making less than $400,000 a year will pay years ago when land was less expen- Once again, I’m being admonished
Applebee’s. more. But the economic literature is clear that sive, and no family members old that I am not paying my “fair share”
If Americans are successful, Democrats corporations don’t pay taxes. They are merely enough or willing to continue the of taxes. It seems I’ve been guilty of
want to tax more of their income. The top in- the collection vessels for levies that are farming operation, the amount of cap- this for most of my working life. Even
dividual tax rate will rise to 39.6% from 37%, passed along to some combination of employ- ital-gains and estate tax owed by the when Democrats raise taxes, it still is
as Mr. Biden promised. But wait: The higher ees, consumers and shareholders. Much of the widow under the proposed tax never enough to cover my fair share.
tax rate will kick in at a mere $400,000 for $900 billion will be paid in smaller wage gains changes would certainly “hurt.” A $2.5 I’d like Mr. Vilsack and other fair-
individuals and $450,000 for married couples. for workers who are already paying a Biden million capital-gains exemption would share advocates to answer two ques-
be woefully insufficient. tions: First, what is the fair share of
That’s down from $523,600 and $628,300 un- tax from higher inflation.
DENNIS M. TAYLOR taxes for each pot of money (income,
der current law. And who do Democrats think will pay the Muscatine, Iowa wealth, capital gains and estate)?
This is a steep rate increase on two-earner $96 billion they expect to raise from higher Second, how many times is govern-
upper-middle-class families. They may reach taxes on tobacco and nicotine—the folks who Mr. Vilsack’s argument that family ment allowed to tax the same dollar?
these income levels after a long career, and summer on Martha’s Vineyard? farms won’t be hurt by eliminating Likely they have no idea what a
only for a couple of years, but Democrats want i i i the step-up basis is not based on real- fair share is, yet they are certain I’ve
more than 40% if you include the 1.45% Medi- One surprising oversight in the House draft ity. Most family farms will only sup- never met it.
care payroll tax and the 3.8% ObamaCare sur- is a restoration of a larger deduction for state port one family; when divided among DAVE ERCHULL
charge on investment income. and local taxes. The 2017 tax reform cut the two or more heirs, only one will re- Tucson, Ariz.
If you make more than $5 million, there will maximum SALT deduction to $10,000, and
also be a three-percentage-point income-tax Democrats from high-tax states say they won’t
surcharge. That would take the top tax rate vote for a bill without a restoration.
to something like 46.4%. Add California or Mr. Neal said in a joint statement with two $300 a Week and the Persistent Jobs Problem
New York taxes, and government will take swing-district Democrats that a final bill will Regarding “The Biden Jobs Para- growth slip below inflation to reduce
about 60%. Hilariously, the committee figures include “meaningful tax relief” for “middle- dox” (Review & Outlook, Sept. 4): labor costs. Second, the gap between
the surtax will raise $127 billion in revenue, class communities.” But any major increase More than eight million renters self- job openings and hires won’t close
as if the rich will be dumb enough not to find in SALT will be expensive, and that may mean report as behind on rent. While the when the $300 unemployment benefit
tax shelters. even higher taxes elsewhere. extra $300 a week in enhanced unem- expires. Workers knew the extra ben-
The House proposal will hit small busi- Even with some SALT restoration, this bill ployment benefits has been a disin- efits were going to end the day they
nesses that pay taxes through the individual looks like a House Democratic suicide note. centive to work, a more significant were passed. Now, as they expire, the
code especially hard. They’ll pay the higher Mr. Neal and Speaker Nancy Pelosi want their disincentive has been the govern- benefit contributes almost nothing as
ment-sanctioned free housing (aka an incentive, and yet workers persist
individual rates, including a new 3.8% surtax Members to vote on this $2.2 trillion in pun-
eviction moratorium) paid for by in not taking new jobs. Notice that
on small business income, and they’ll pay on ishment even though Sen. Joe Manchin (D., property owners. the 25-odd states that canceled the
more of their income because the Democratic W.Va.) says he won’t vote for any more than ASHER CAMERON benefit early aren’t seeing unambigu-
proposal eliminates the 20% deduction on $1.5 trillion in new spending. Saratoga Springs, Utah ously higher employment growth
qualified business income. The White House claims it can get $600 bil- than states that kept the benefit.
That deduction was designed to equalize lion in revenue from dynamic scoring from its First, businesses know that real TYLER WAKE
the tax burden for passthrough and Subchap- spending and Mr. Neal also claims $700 billion wages matter. They are letting wage Charlottesville, Va.
ter S companies with corporations. Now it will in savings from drug price controls. That
vanish for individual business owners who means there’s only a need for $200 billion in
make more than $400,000. This will mean less tax increases to pay for Mr. Manchin’s spend- Religious Liberty, the State and the Yeshivas
hiring and fewer raises for the employees of ing limit. House Democrats could soon be vot-
Regarding Dovid Margolin’s “Com- exemption from Wisconsin’s compul-
these firms. ing for 11 times the tax increases that the Sen-
munism, Secularism and Jewish sory education law after the eighth
The death tax exemption would also be cut ate will pass. Nice of the Speaker to volunteer Schools” (Houses of Worship, Sept. grade to focus on farming and Bible
in half to $5.5 million—which would also hit her colleagues for retirement. 3): The yeshiva controversy is not study. In Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972),
merely a matter for Haredi Jews. the court again vindicated the rights
When the Ku Klux Klan successfully of families and religious communities.
Democrats Blink on Carried Interest lobbied to ban private (read: Catholic) Nevertheless, these decisions left
Y
schools in Oregon in 1922, a group of open some questions raised by the
ou may have heard, oh, several thousand called for its elimination. President Biden has nuns who ran schools filed suit. In yeshiva controversy. Who gets to de-
times, that Republicans protected their proposed killing it. Hillary Clinton claimed it’s Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), a cide what the minimum standard of
pals on Wall Street when they failed in unfair that money managers “pay lower tax unanimous Supreme Court struck education should be? When the views
2017 to kill the provision that treats “carried in- rates than nurses.” down the ban, holding that “the child of families conflict with the dictates
is not the mere creature of the state.” of policy makers, who should prevail
terest” like capital gains rather than regular in- Yet when Democrats have power, they never
In the 1970s, the Amish sought an and under what circumstances? De-
come. Well, don’t look now, but the draft House seem to kill the provision. And, lo, the draft fenders of religious liberty should pay
tax bill does the same. Ways and Means bill merely extends the holding close attention.
Carried interest is the share of profits that part- period to five years from three. Faced with of- Cuba’s Republic Outshines JASON BEDRICK
ners in hedge funds or private equity receive as fending some of their wealthiest financiers, the Director of policy, EdChoice
compensation as a kind of performance fee. It is Democrats are blinking. That’s fine with us as Colonialism and Castroism Phoenix
only paid if the fund’s return meets a certain a policy matter, but this ought to be the last we Felipe Fernández-Armesto’s review Mr. Bedrick is co-editor of “Religious
threshold and under current law only if it’s held ever hear about this as a loophole. of “Cuba: An American History” by Liberty and Education: A Case Study of
for three years. We’d prefer no such provision if With the Ways and Means bill, the lower tax Ada Ferrer (Bookshelf, Sept. 4) offers Yeshivas vs. New York” (2020).
tax rates were low enough, but it’s a useful incen- rate for carried interest is now Democratic tax insights into Cuba’s history under co-
lonialism and Castroism, but it does a Several years ago, I was working a
tive for risk-taking in a high-tax-rate world. policy. Tax cuts for the rich, you might say, or
disservice to Cuba’s democratic pe- night shift with a medical student in
But Democrats and progressives have wailed at least for certain rich who finance Democratic riod (1902-1952). During the Cuban the emergency department. I noticed
against the provision for years as a loophole and political campaigns. Republic, the island’s leaders negoti- he had an accent and asked him his
ated the return of the Isle of Pines story. He told me that he had grown
and reduced the U.S. military pres- up in an ultra-Orthodox community in
Iran’s Dangerous Nuclear Dance ence from four bases to two and then New York and that until he was 19 he
W
to one. The Platt Amendment was the spoke almost no English and learned
e’re not sure Iran could do anything has focused on Iran’s expanding its nuclear deal price for ending the four-year Ameri- no secular subjects in his yeshiva. He
to make President Biden give up his violations such as activating advanced centri- can occupation following the Spanish- left his community, learned English,
pursuit of reviving the 2015 nuclear fuges and enriching uranium at higher concen- American War, and ending Platt in got a GED and went on to college and
deal, and Iran is acting as if it trations. 1934 ended formal U.S. interference medical school. Mr. Margolin is
Will anything stop in Cuban affairs. wrong when he denies that some
agrees. This could explain But the regime also has
Over 50 years, Cuba developed a Jewish schools are failing to provide
Tehran’s escalations in re- Biden from trying to stonewalled a separate IAEA multiparty system, competitive elec- the minimum education needed to
sponse to U.S. concessions. investigation into undeclared tions, a free press, a modern public function in America, a failure that de-
The International Atomic revive the flawed deal? nuclear sites in the country. health system and a strong labor mands government intervention.
Energy Agency (IAEA) an- This points to a fundamental movement. This translated to social MARK MANDELL, M.D.
nounced Sunday that Iran flaw in the nuclear agreement: achievements placing pre-1959 Cuba Lake Hopatcong, N.J.
would allow its inspectors to service surveillance No one knows the true extent of the Iranian nu- at the top of Latin American indexes,
cameras monitoring Iranian nuclear sites. This clear program, let alone what’s happening at outperforming Castro’s Cuba.
is no great breakthrough. In February the regime the declared sites. The sense of security the Cuba even led in proposing, draft- Pepper ...
began blocking the agency from inspecting sev- deal provided the West was illusory, but the ing and lobbying for the passage of
the 1948 Universal Declaration of Hu-
And Salt
eral nuclear facilities in person, though it cut a sanctions relief was real.
man Rights. Language in the declara- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
deal to keep some monitoring equipment. The Mr. Biden already has downgraded America’s
tion was selected from Cuba’s 1940
latest agreement won’t guarantee access to this relationship with Iranian rival Saudi Arabia, constitution. Cuban diplomats pre-
data, which could be deleted at any time, but a ended the “snap back” sanctions fight with Iran sented nine proposals, five of which
joint Iran-IAEA statement still noted their “spirit at the U.N. and pulled some restrictions against are in the UDHR.
of cooperation and mutual trust.” Iranian officials. Multiple media reports say The Cuban Republic wasn’t perfect,
The 2015 deal’s apologists will say that this American negotiators offered sanctions relief but its achievements over a half-cen-
is proof Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi may be unrelated to nuclear issues at several rounds of tury delivered for all Cubans. It offers
ready to return to the negotiating table, but this talks in Vienna this year, but Iran has declined a powerful contrast to Cuba today.
move is really about keeping his options open. to resume talks. It may be holding out for more JOHN SUAREZ
Iran offered the token concession over the week- concessions, and the Biden Administration has Center for a Free Cuba
Falls Church, Va.
end to avoid an IAEA board censure, which theo- shown it will offer them.
retically could lead to United Nations sanctions. Arms-control agreements work best among
Letters intended for publication should
The U.S., Germany, France and the U.K. had been friendly nations. When dealing with adversar- be emailed to [email protected]. Please
considering a rebuke over the inspection intran- ies, the agreement is only as good as the verifi- include your city, state and telephone
sigence, but don’t hold your breath. cation and monitoring measures that come with number. All letters are subject to
The Islamic Republic has already done plenty it. An IAEA censure would send a message that editing, and unpublished letters cannot “The time for input has passed.
be acknowledged.
to earn a censure. Much of the media attention Mr. Biden understands this basic principle. Now is the time for stalling.”
.
OPINION
T
vaccinated.
he U.S. spends lavishly on
healthcare yet can’t an-
But the rate of infection in each
group was less than 0.01%, meaning
Their Books
swer basic questions infections were exceedingly rare in
about Covid-19. Some of the short two-month time period the By Gary Gensler
T
the best research has agency chose to study. This is odd,
come from Israel. American public given there are more than a year of he Securities and Exchange
health agencies should be producing data available. Moreover, despite Commission may need to pro-
data on breakthrough infections, having data on all 50 states, the CDC hibit trading in about 270
boosters and natural immunity. But only reported data from Kentucky. China-related companies by early
the Centers for Disease Control and Was Kentucky the only state that 2024. The reason can be traced to
Prevention has failed to provide the produced the desired result? Why the Enron and WorldCom accounting
information needed to inform a else exclude the same data from the scandals.
sound Covid strategy. other 49 states? Congress passed the Sarbanes-Ox-
Israel began its vaccine rollout Some public health officials are ley Act in 2002, mandating inspec-
with Pfizer in December, only days afraid to acknowledge natural immu- tions of public companies’ auditors
MARTIN KOZLOWSKI
after the U.S. But Israel kept good nity because they fear some will by the Public Company Accounting
data, reported them out frequently choose infection over vaccination. Oversight Board. More than 50 for-
and quickly, and used them to track But leaders can encourage all Ameri- eign jurisdictions allow the board to
subsequent Covid infections. When cans who aren’t immune to get vac- “audit the auditors.” Two do not:
the White House announced its plan cinated and be transparent with the China and Hong Kong.
to recommend a booster shot for all data at the same time. Congress acted last year to fill
Americans, it cited Israeli data. The from the Israeli study that the been especially lacking on natural The CDC shouldn’t fish for data to this gap by unanimously passing the
World Health Organization and oth- boosts that are being now done immunity from prior Covid infection. support outdated hypotheses. Heed- Holding Foreign Companies Account-
ers criticized the plan, calling the ev- there and contemplated here sup- On Aug. 25, Israel published the ing the robust Israeli data on natural able Act. The law prohibits trading
idence insufficient, and in what port very strongly the rationale for most powerful and scientifically rig- immunity could help restore the in an issuer’s stock if a foreign juris-
seemed like a coordinated protest, such an approach.” The FDA, trying orous study on the subject to date. agency’s credibility and even help diction prevents our oversight board
two top scientists at the Food and to evaluate the question of boosters, In a sample of more than 700,000 vaccination efforts. from inspecting the company’s audit
Drug Administration abruptly re- scrambled to obtain the raw data people, natural immunity was 27 Israel also contributed a brilliant firm for three consecutive years. The
signed. from Israel. times more effective than vaccinated study on vaccinating children. Re-
The bigger question is: Why didn’t immunity in preventing symptomatic searchers found that one dose of the
the CDC produce the research? The infections. Pfizer vaccine, instead of the normal China’s companies must
Decisions on boosters agency has 21,000 employees and a Despite this evidence, U.S. public two, was 100% effective in children
allow their audit firms to be
$15 billion annual budget. It has data health officials continue to dismiss ages 12 to 15. Such a finding could
relied on data from on more than 40 million Americans natural immunity, insisting that have significant implications for audited or their shares won’t
Israel. Why isn’t the U.S. who have tested positive for Covid those who have recovered from achieving broad immunity in adoles-
trade in U.S. capital markets.
and 200 million who have been vac- Covid must still get the vaccine. Pol- cents while reducing the risk of
producing this research? cinated. The data include the vaccine icy makers and public health leaders, heart complications, which have
type, dosing schedule and vaccina- and the media voices that parrot been clustered around the second
tion date. Calculating the rate of U.S. them, are inexplicably sticking to dose. SEC has taken all the required steps
The Biden administration recently breakthrough infections and subse- their original hypothesis that natural These are the studies U.S. public to implement this law, and the over-
got the supporting data it needed to quent hospitalizations and deaths immunity is fleeting, even as at least health agencies should be doing but sight board is on track to finalize its
justify its booster plan. But not from isn’t the Manhattan Project. It’s Epi- 15 studies show it lasts. aren’t. By any metric, the CDC has relevant rulemaking before the end
the CDC. Another Israeli study demiology 101. Meanwhile, employers fire work- failed in its primary task of prepar- of the year. The three-year clock be-
showed that a booster resulted in a The CDC’s failure to report mean- ers with natural immunity who won’t ing the country for a pandemic and gan ticking in 2021.
10-fold reduction in severe Covid ill- ingful data has left policy makers get vaccinated. Schools disenroll stu- telling us how to reduce harm from Now it’s up to Beijing to let the
ness in people over 60. The results flying blind. In the absence of good dents who won’t comply. the novel Covid pathogen. oversight board in so we can ensure
were published mere weeks after the data to answer the basic questions The CDC did put out a study on the relevant audits are up to U.S.
study’s completion, not months later Americans have been asking, politi- natural immunity last month, Dr. Makary is a professor at the standards. Early next year I expect
as often happens in the U.S. cal opinions have filled the vacuum. forcefully concluding that vacci- Johns Hopkins University School of we will announce which companies,
“There’s no doubt,” Anthony Strong data might have prevented nated immunity was 2.3 times bet- Medicine, and the author of “The if any, used an auditor that didn’t
Fauci said of the findings in a press much of the polarization over Covid. ter than natural immunity. The CDC Price We Pay: What Broke American open its workpapers to U.S. over-
briefing, “from the dramatic data Sound data from the CDC has used these results to justify telling Health Care—And How To Fix It.” seers. If these companies use an au-
dit firm in a noncompliant jurisdic-
tion for two more years
S
speech on vaccine mandates last the past few years haven’t exactly no complaints from U.S. allies, or that but Congress has spoken. Unless
ay what you will, it should be week. Even within the span of a few been a golden age for presidential he has said “without evidence” that China’s companies abide by the
obvious by now to any fair- minutes Mr. Biden managed a baf- credibility. Mr. Biden’s predecessor Covid was on the wane. Republicans rules, their shares won’t be able to
minded observer that Joe Biden fling inconsistency. One moment he set the bar for authoritative misdi- lie. Democrats merely misspeak. trade in the U.S.
is an incredible president. Absolutely assured us that if we were vacci- rection extremely high. His credibility problem isn’t sim- In addition to ensuring that the
unbelievable. nated we had an infinitesimal chance ply sapping Mr Biden’s poll numbers Public Company Accounting Over-
Given what might be politely of getting sick enough to need hospi- or even his ability to advance his po- sight Board can “audit the auditors,”
termed as recent adverse develop- talization. But the next moment he The dissembling and self- litical agenda. It’s further eroding we want U.S. investors to be fully
ments, this will come as a surprise to said the unvaccinated were threaten- trust in government, undermining aware of risks with respect to these
some readers, so let me clarify: I ing the health of those of us who are contradictions are many, America’s tattered reputation in the companies. We’ve put a pause on new
don’t mean “incredible” in the sense vaccinated. but the press never sees fit world and making it immeasurably offerings from both Chinese operat-
the word has come to be used in the What makes this Covid credibility harder for authority—now and in the ing companies who list directly and
modern argot of our rapidly devalu- problem more remarkable is that to call them out as lies. future—to maintain the kind of trust their shell-company affiliates. We are
ing language. Like “awesome,” which, Mr. Biden evidently thought it would that is essential to the functioning of working with them to ensure they
growing up I only ever heard used in be helpful for his credibility to a free society. clearly disclose relevant risks.
the context of the deity but which is change the subject from a subject on But you’ll recall that President Among America’s most important To explain why, let’s take a step
now typically deployed to describe a which it had already been shred- Trump’s whoppers were, in the som- allies there is no longer any trust back. In response to the Great De-
slice of pizza or a haircut, “incredi- ded—Afghanistan. ber reporting of the time, cast as an that Mr. Biden can be relied on as a pression, President Franklin Roose-
ble” has been subject to significant You’ll recall the nightly contentions existential threat to the very fabric of serious partner. They’re now making velt and Congress established a ba-
linguistic distortion. from the White House podium in that American democracy. News articles their own plans. At home, people are sic bargain. Investors get to decide
It’s amusing to hear some journal- last chaotic week of the U.S. with- would report something he’d said as so bewildered and angry about the what risks they wish to take. Compa-
ist of impressively wide self-esteem drawal from Kabul. The allies were either an outright lie or with the cen- endless inconsistencies on masks, nies that are raising money from the
but evidently narrower vocabulary perfectly happy with it. No Americans sorious clarification that his words lockdowns and vaccines that many public must make full and fair dis-
heap praise on a story by describing would be left behind. The Taliban were “false” or “without evidence.” (I of them have simply stopped paying closures to investors. This bargain
it as “incredible”—though the phrase were going to be helpful partners. earned infamy a few years back as attention. has been a source of America’s eco-
“this is some incredible reporting The president seems to have set- editor of the news pages of this It’s not the first, to be sure, not by nomic success for 90 years.
from CNN,” which I have occasionally tled on a strategy of rotating monthly newspaper for insisting that report- a long shot. But what an awesome— I don’t believe China-related com-
seen tweeted, has a satisfactorily, if through a different set of falsehoods. ing something confidently as a “lie” incredible—presidency. panies currently are providing ade-
unintentionally, faultless quality to it. quate information about the risks
So, in a probably futile bid to re- they face—and thus the risks that
turn English words to their actual
meaning, I should make clear that
what makes Joe Biden an incredible
A Four-Day Workweek Is No Holiday American investors in these busi-
nesses face. This summer Beijing
clamped down on some China-re-
president is that you can’t believe a By Erica Komisar For many parents, cramming five have more time to be with their lated companies raising capital in
T
word he says. days of work into four will mean child throughout the day and at bed- the U.S. These companies became
Remember that vaccine that Ka- he crowdfunding platform less time with their children. Three- time. subject to new rules, ranging from
mala Harris said a year ago she prob- Kickstarter has announced day weekends can be great for A trend toward shorter work- data-privacy regulations to restric-
ably wouldn’t take because Donald that its employees will work bonding, but children need a consis- weeks isn’t a bad thing. The search tions on business models.
Trump was responsible for it? Well, four days a week starting in 2022, tent, daily presence, not occasional for alternatives to the traditional In certain sectors, the Chinese
now she and her boss say we’ve all and the pandemic is reshaping chunks of time. Shorter days, not workweek—five days and 40 hours government doesn’t allow foreign
got to take it or else the federal gov- workplaces across the country. “Is a fewer days, are preferable. in person—is a great sign of prog- ownership. To raise capital on U.S.
ernment will have us fired from our Four-Day Week the Future of The needs of children are best exchanges, many Chinese companies
jobs. This followed a declaration on Work?” a headline in this newspaper met when they spend time with employ a structure called variable-in-
the vaccine by Mr. Biden, shortly be- recently asked. their primary caregivers every day. For most parents terest entities that establish contrac-
fore taking office, that he wouldn’t Let’s hope not. Despite the hype, Four-day workweeks can provide tual relationships with shell compa-
“demand that it be mandatory.” four-day workweeks have drawbacks parents with the illusion of presence with young children, nies in foreign jurisdictions, like the
Two months ago, we were “closer if they mean longer workdays. Com- because they are available in large shorter—not fewer— Cayman Islands. These shell compa-
than ever to declaring independence panies may say that working hours blocks of time during the weekend. nies then raise capital on U.S. ex-
from the virus” but last week we won’t increase, but reality can be But if this comes at the cost of workdays is a better deal. changes, but the contracts don’t ac-
were warned that defeating the virus different from what is outlined in a barely being around during the tually confer ownership of the
would “take a lot of hard work and corporate handbook. This is a par- week—missing bed time or home- operating company to American in-
it’s going to take some time.” ticular problem for families with work after school—the long week- ress for families with children. Com- vestors. I worry that some investors
Now, things change, it’s true. young children. end won’t yield much benefit. panies stand to benefit: One survey don’t realize they’re putting their
The idea that time quality is found employers lose $300 billion a money into a Cayman shell rather
more important than quantity is a year in lost productivity from than a company operating in China.
myth. Quantity of time is important stressed out parents. I directed the SEC’s staff in July
PUBLISHED SINCE 1889 BY DOW JONES & COMPANY for both toddlers and adolescents. The pandemic has created new, to ensure that these companies pro-
Rupert Murdoch Robert Thomson Nicholas Zill, a researcher with the flexible schedules that are almost vide full, fair and transparent disclo-
Executive Chairman, News Corp Chief Executive Officer, News Corp
Institute for Family Studies, reports certainly here to say. But what sure of their risks and corporate
Matt Murray Almar Latour
Editor in Chief Chief Executive Officer and Publisher
that a parent’s presence during ado- working parents need is a greater structures, among other factors, if
lescence significantly affects a ability to focus on the demands of they wish to offer securities in U.S.
Neal Lipschutz Karen Miller Pensiero DOW JONES MANAGEMENT:
Deputy Editor in Chief Managing Editor Daniel Bernard, Chief Experience Officer;
child’s success, including overall ed- young children. Companies shouldn’t markets.
Jason Anders, Chief News Editor Mae M. Cheng, SVP, Barron’s Group; David Cho, ucational attainment. jump on the bandwagon of four-day Whether in California, the Cay-
Thorold Barker, Europe; Elena Cherney, Coverage; Barron’s Editor in Chief; Jason P. Conti, General The presence of a parent in- workweeks without considering the man Islands or China, all companies
Andrew Dowell, Asia; Anthony Galloway, Video & Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer; Frank Filippo, creases trust and a sense of secu- hidden costs to families. that seek to raise money in the deep
Audio; Brent Jones, Culture, Training & Outreach; EVP, Business Information & Services;
Alex Martin, Print & Writing; Michael W. Miller, Robert Hayes, Chief Business Officer, New rity. It is also how children learn to and liquid U.S. capital markets
Features & Weekend; Emma Moody, Standards; Ventures; Aaron Kissel, EVP & General regulate their emotions and develop should play by America’s rules. The
Shazna Nessa, Visuals; Matthew Rose, Manager, WSJ; Josh Stinchcomb, EVP & resilience. Columbia University’s Ms. Komisar is a New York psy- steps that Congress, the SEC and the
Chief Revenue Officer, WSJ | Barron’s Group;
Enterprise; Michael Siconolfi, Investigations Nim Tottenham has shown the im- choanalyst and author of “Being Public Company Accounting Over-
Christina Van Tassell, Chief Financial Officer;
Paul A. Gigot Suzi Watford, EVP, Consumer & Chief portance of caregivers for develop- There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood sight Board are taking to protect in-
Editor of the Editorial Page Marketing Officer ment of the amygdala in very young in the First Three Years Matters” vestors aim to do just that. The
Daniel Henninger, Deputy Editor, Editorial Page;
Gerard Baker, Editor at Large
children. The best scenario would be and “Chicken Little the Sky Isn’t clock is ticking.
EDITORIAL AND CORPORATE
HEADQUARTERS:
a parent who worked 9 a.m. to 2 Falling: Raising Resilient Adoles-
1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y., 10036 p.m., with an option to finish their cents in the New Age of Anxiety,” Mr. Gensler is chair of the Securi-
Telephone 1-800-DOWJONES duties from home where they will out in October. ties and Exchange Commission.
.
A18 | Tuesday, September 14, 2021 * *** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
WORLD NEWS
with the Taliban and that re- it would drop a resolution cen-
maining would have risked suring Iran for failing to coop-
more American lives. erate with nuclear inspectors.
“The Taliban made abun- Monday’s comments came
dantly clear…that it was going after Iran agreed over the
to hold us to the deadline that weekend to allow International
the previous administration Atomic Energy Agency staff
negotiated in terms of with- access and reset cameras and
drawing American forces,” other equipment that monitor
Secretary of State Antony Iranian activities at various
Blinken told the House Foreign nuclear-related sites in Iran.
Affairs Committee. Iran’s new president, Ebra-
In the combative hearing, him Raisi, had warned that if
Republican committee mem- the U.S. and European powers
bers told Mr. Blinken that he sought to rebuke Iran at the
should resign. They accused Taliban fighters patrolling Kabul on Monday, the day Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified at a combative House hearing. meeting of IAEA member
him and the Biden administra- states, it could derail Tehran’s
tion of betraying U.S. troops, faulted the Trump administra- had long ago achieved its ob- mittee that the administration ghanistan wars. Rep. Ronny plan to resume the nuclear
of manipulating intelligence to tion for its February 2020 jectives in Afghanistan, includ- coordinated its withdrawal Jackson (R., Texas) criticized talks.
give an overly rosy prognosis agreement with the Taliban, ing degrading the ability of plans with U.S. allies, expedited Mr. Blinken for giving the The State Department on
of the Afghan government and but many also criticized the the al Qaeda terrorist group to processing of Special Immi- State Department credit for its Monday said if Iran imple-
military’s ability to hold off execution of the withdrawal. strike the U.S., and that stay- grant Visas for Afghans who work at the Kabul airport ments its weekend agreement
the Taliban and of surrender- “Yes, the majority of the ing longer wouldn’t have led had aided the U.S. government alongside Marines who died in with the IAEA, the U.S. will
ing to the Taliban. American people wanted to to a different outcome. and mounted an extraordinary a suicide bombing there. drop discussions of a resolu-
“The Biden administration’s leave Afghanistan but not like “One of the lessons is while effort to evacuate Americans “You have tried to act as if tion rebuking Tehran at the
outrageously inept withdrawal this,” said Rep. Steve Chabot we are very effective in deal- and others. He said the State you’ve made zero mistakes, IAEA board meeting, which
has left America and the world (R., Ohio). ing with terrorist threats to Department repeatedly urged and there’s been a continuous started Monday.
a much less safe place, 20 Rep. Brad Sherman (D., Ca- our country and eliminating Americans to leave the country effort in the State Department “Iran has an opportunity to
years after September 11,” said lif.) said that efforts by Afghan them, which we did very suc- and offered assistance to do so. to pat yourselves on the back,” engage with the IAEA on the
Rep. Ann Wagner (R., Mo.). One elites to flee the country ahead cessfully in Afghanistan, the He said that about 100 U.S. said Mr. Jackson, a former serious, pressing issues raised
of her constituents was among of a Taliban takeover triggered idea of using military force to citizens who still want to leave White House physician for Mr. in IAEA reports. Of course,
the 13 U.S. service members a “stampede,” preventing the remake a society is something remain in Afghanistan. Trump and Barack Obama. their cooperation must be
killed in the Aug. 26 terrorist Biden administration from exe- that is beyond our means and Mr. Blinken was repeatedly “Most Americans at this par- seen in actions and not just
attack at the Kabul airport. cuting an orderly exit. capacity,” Mr. Blinken said. assailed by lawmakers who are ticular point do not appreciate words,” said a State Depart-
The committee’s Democrats Mr. Blinken said the U.S. The secretary told the com- veterans of the Iraq and Af- your tone-deaf approach.” ment spokeswoman. “Based on
the director general’s report
on Sunday, we do not now
WORLD WATCH
ISRAEL but stopped short of claiming LEBANON
responsibility. Abdulatif Qanou, a
Aircraft Strike Gaza Hamas spokesman, said they President Wants to
After Hamas Attacks were meant to pressure Israel Resume IMF Talks
into “stopping its crimes against
Israeli aircraft struck a series our people and prisoners.” Lebanon’s new government
of targets in the Gaza Strip —Associated Press held its first meeting Monday
early Monday, while Palestinian with a call by the president to
militants launched rockets into EGYPT resume talks with the Interna-
SAID KHATIB/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
curbs an electrical
source just as stocks
covery and a lack of fuel in
storage caverns and tanks, hit
all-time highs. Thermal coal,
in power prices. “If this were
to happen in winter when
we’ve got significantly higher
prices for everyone. That
means that when countries de-
rive power from thermal
ances. Expensive carbon per-
mits then prodded energy
companies to turn back to gas,
Silent
of natural gas are low
long shunned for its carbon
emissions, has emerged from a
long price slump as utilities
demand, then that presents a
real issue for system stability.”
At their peak, U.K. electric-
plants with comparatively high
running costs, it boosts prices
for the whole market. Operat-
whose price rose again because
the fuel is in short supply.
The feedback loop has the
Attack
BY JOE WALLACE are forced to turn on backup ity prices had more than dou- ing costs at fossil-fuel power potential to ripple into the BY ROBERT MCMILLAN
power sources. bled in September and were plants are high right now after broader economy. European
Natural gas and electricity The episode underscored almost seven times as high as a relentless climb in prices for Central Bank President Chris- An Israeli cybersecurity
markets were already surging the precarious state the re- at the same point in 2020. gas, coal and carbon permits. tine Lagarde this month re- firm has been exploiting a sig-
in Europe when a fresh gion’s energy markets face Power markets also jumped in Energy prices could shoot ferred to energy markets as nificant Apple Inc. software
catalyst emerged: The wind in heading into the long Euro- France, the Netherlands and even higher if cool tempera- one of the main forces driving vulnerability since February to
the stormy North Sea stopped pean winter. The electricity Germany. tures stop gas stores replen- inflation higher. silently infect iPhones using
blowing. price shock was most acute in Prices for power to be dis- ishing before the period of Wind accounted for about a iMessage, the company’s mes-
The sudden slowdown in the U.K., which has leaned on patched the next day rocketed peak winter demand, said Tom quarter of Great Britain’s saging software, according to
wind-driven electricity pro- wind farms to eradicate net to £285 a megawatt hour in Lord, a carbon trader at U.K.- power last year, according to the research group that discov-
duction off the coast of the carbon emissions by 2050. the U.K. when wind speeds based Redshaw Advisors. the system operator National ered the issue.
U.K. in recent weeks whip- Prices for carbon credits, dropped last week, according “You’ve got a gas market that’s Grid. After the wind dropped On Monday, Apple supplied
sawed through regional energy which electricity producers to ICIS. That is equivalent to extremely tight,” he said. this month, National Grid a critical security update fixing
markets. Gas and coal-fired need to burn fossil fuels, are $395 a megawatt hour and Electricity, gas, coal and asked Électricité de France the flaw, but the vulnerability
electricity plants were called at records, too. marked a record on figures go- carbon markets have a way of SA to restart its West Burton had been used in attacks by Is-
in to make up the shortfall “It took a lot of people by ing back to 1999. feeding on one another. High A coal power station in Not- rael’s NSO Group, according to
from wind. surprise,” said Stefan Konstan- In electricity markets, the gas prices prompted utilities to tinghamshire. That won’t be Citizen Lab. Citizen Lab is an
Natural-gas prices, already tinov, senior energy economist cost of generation at the most burn more coal, so they had to Please turn to page B9 academic research group that
investigates cyberattacks on
journalists and dissidents.
GameStop, AMC 10 biggest weightings in the iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF* “After identifying the vul-
nerability used by this exploit
for iMessage, Apple rapidly de-
veloped and deployed a fix in
Competition in Apps
BY LIZA LIN Holding Ltd., ByteDance Ltd.
and Baidu Inc. were among
SINGAPORE—China has or- those called to a meeting last
dered its largest internet com- Thursday with Chinese officials
panies to stop blocking links to discuss the issue, people fa-
from their rivals on their apps, miliar with the matter said.
as Beijing seeks to boost com- Moves blocking app users
petition in a sector dominated from accessing rivals’ services
by a handful of companies. from within those apps have
NG HAN GUAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
A
Airbnb........................B10
Alibaba.................B1,B11
G
GameStop..............B1,B9
General Motors...........B9
NexGen Energy.........B10
O
Fox Buys Celebrity-News Platform
TMZ From AT&T’s WarnerMedia
Occidental Petroleum
Amazon.com ............... B3 Goldman Sachs...........B9 ...................................B10
AMC Entertainment...B1 Grupo Televisa............B3
Apple.................B1,B2,B3 GTV Media..................A1 P
ArcelorMittal .............. B9 Guo Media...................A2 Palantir Technologies.B9
AT&T............................B2 I Peninsula Energy........B9
Aura Energy................B9 Inspired ....................... B9 R
B
BY JOE FLINT TMZ co-founder and man- conflicts with TMZ. Fox Corp. and Wall Street
Intuit...........................A1 Robinhood ................... B9
aging editor Harvey Levin has “TMZ has been an impact- Journal parent News Corp
Baidu ........................... B1 J Royal Dutch Shell.......A1
Bannerman Energy.....B9 S Fox Corp. said it has ac- also produced shows for the ful program for our FOX share common ownership.
Johnson & Johnson....B3
Bayerische Motoren JPMorgan Chase.........B9 Saraca Media..............A2 quired celebrity news platform Fox News Channel. television stations and broad- The talks between Warner-
Werke........................B9 TMZ from AT&T Inc.’s War- Mr. Levin, who launched cast partners for many years,” Media and Fox predated
Blackstone...................B1
K Sony.............................B2
BryceTech....................B3 KakaoBank ................ B11 Spark Networks........B11 nerMedia unit, as the company TMZ in 2005 and serves as said Lachlan Murdoch, Fox AT&T’s decision earlier this
Spotify.........................B3 looks to expand in digital me- host of its TV shows, will re- Corp.’s executive chairman and year to spin off WarnerMedia,
Bumble......................B11 L
T dia and unscripted content. main in charge of operations. after less than three years in
C LEG Immobilien ........ B10
Live Nation Tencent........................B1 Terms of the deal weren’t In a statement, Mr. Levin said control of the entertainment
Cameco.................B9,B10
$50M
Entertainment..........B3 Tesla.......................B2,B9
Cheniere Energy..........B9 Toyota Motor..............B9 released but TMZ is being val- being under the Fox roof will giant.
L'Oreal.........................B3
D U ued at less than $50 million, create new opportunities to In May, AT&T and Discov-
M-N
Daimler........................B9 Unilever.......................B3 people familiar with the mat- grow TMZ. “We couldn’t be ery Inc. agreed to combine
Deutsche Boerse.........B9 Mailchimp ................... A1
Marathon Oil.............B10 V ter said. The Wall Street Jour- more charged,’’ he said. their entertainment assets
Discovery.....................B2
DWNI.........................B10 Match ........................ B11 Vonovia......................B10
nal reported in August that At WarnerMedia, TMZ was Approximate amount at which into a new stand-alone, pub-
Microsoft.....................B2 the companies were negotiat- something of an outlier. Its re- TMZ is valued in the deal licly traded company called
F Morgan Stanley..........B9 W-Y
Facebook................A1,B4 Walmart......................B1
ing terms that would value porting on movie and TV stars Warner Bros. Discovery. AT&T
Motive Capital............B9
Forge Global................B9 Naver.........................B11 WarnerMedia..............B2 TMZ at between $100 million with whom other parts of the shareholders would retain a
Fox...............................B2 News Corp...................B2 Yellow Cake.................B9 and $125 million. Warner empire had business 70% stake in the new business.
Fox already has deep ties to relationships created tensions chief executive. TMZ is among several as-
TMZ, which owns a popular inside the company, current Fox Entertainment Chief Ex- sets that AT&T has shopped
INDEX TO PEOPLE website and produces several
TV shows. Fox local-television
and former Warner Bros. exec-
utives have said.
ecutive Charlie Collier added,
“We see great potential build-
since John Stankey became
the telecom company’s chief
stations carry the TMZ shows Mr. Levin’s agreement with ing upon TMZ’s brand and executive in mid-2020.
B I S “TMZ” and “TMZ Live.” TMZ Warner Bros. was expiring and track-record and adding new AT&T in December reached
Bakish, Bob.................B2 Isaacman, Jared..........B3 Schäfer, Markus..........B9 has produced specials for Fox’s he wasn’t expected to stay on creative ventures with Harvey a deal to sell its animation
Berchtold, Joe.............B3 K Schwarzman, Stephen entertainment unit, including if the asset had remained and the TMZ team.” streaming service, Crunchy-
Bezos, Jeff..................B3 .....................................B2
Branson, Richard ........ B3
Kssis, Laurent.............A2
Shiyi, Pan....................B1
“Harry & Meghan: The Royals there, a person close to the This year, Fox acquired Out- roll, to Sony Corp. for $1.175
Kurzius, Dan ............... A1 in Crisis” and “UFOs: The Pen- situation said. kick Media, a news platform billion. That transaction
Brownell, Stan............A2 Shotwell, Gwynne ...... B3
L tagon Proof,” and a sports gos- Fox, which primarily pro- that covers sports, politics and closed last month.
C T
Liebenberg, Andre ...... B9 sip show that is carried by the duces unscripted fare and culture founded by outspoken —Drew FitzGerald
Chestnut, Ben.............A1 Taylor, Georgina........B10
M Fox Sports 1 cable network. sports, will likely have fewer commentator Clay Travis. contributed to this article.
Christensen, Carissa...B3 W
Collier, Charlie.............B2 Moussouris, Katie ...... B4
Murdoch, Lachlan ....... B2 Wengui, Guo...............A1
D
Litecoin
Perdon, Gregory........B10
Hinze, Jonathan........B10 Rodriguez, Kelly..........B9 Zuckerberg, Mark.......A1
BY JOE FLINT
In China 3.5
Chief Executive Bob Bakish
said would better position it
said.
Litecoin creator Charlie Lee
PATRICK T. FALLON/BLOOMBERG NEWS
AMC rallied more than 2,000% this year and helped the Russell 2000 value index beat the Russell 2000 growth gauge by a wide margin.
BUSINESS NEWS
Amazon
Accused of
SpaceX Seeks Its Next Milestone
Mission will put four
Driving Up civilians into orbit for
several days and then
Prices return them to Earth
BY RYAN TRACY BY MICAH MAIDENBERG
ers the price of a product to would give the world’s largest which will hold the remaining before seeing festivals in the
match another shopping site, live-entertainment company a 49%, the company said. region in the first half of 2022
the complaint says. As a result, 51% stake and controlling in- Live Nation is expected to and more international tours
it says, wholesalers have an in- terest in one of its largest hold back 7% of the closing later in the year.
centive to ensure other online competitors, which dominates price to cover any potential OCESA promotes more than
marketplaces don’t have lower the Latin American market operating losses for several 3,100 events for nearly six mil-
prices than Amazon’s price. that has exploded in the quarters. The deal price is lion fans in a typical year in
Sometimes, wholesalers streaming era, according to 8.84 billion Mexican pesos, Mexico and Colombia and has
“raised their prices to compet- Live Nation. equivalent to $444 million at businesses including ticketing,
ing online marketplaces to The deal is expected to Friday’s close. OCESA owns Foro Sol sports and concert venue in Mexico. sponsorship, food and bever-
prompt the maintenance of close by late 2021 or early Touring—the primary age, merchandise, and venue
higher prices on those market- 2022, the company said. It is source of revenue for most and listen to vast catalogs of their expanding audiences. operation. It owns or operates
places and even asked those subject to regulatory approval. musicians—has become an in- music, acts are developing Mr. Berchtold said Latin 13 venues across Mexico, in-
marketplaces to raise prices to The agreement is a sign the creasingly global business. more fans across the world. America is Live Nation’s larg- cluding Foro Sol and Auditorio
online consumers,” the com- companies are sure that busi- With the rise of music stream- Markets in Latin America, in est untapped market, as its Nacional, the top stadium and
plaint says. ness is getting back on track. ing on services such as Spotify particular, have helped drive presence there has lagged be- theater, respectively, in the
It alleges that these higher “We’re confident,” said Technology SA, Apple Inc. and the streaming boom. The pur- hind Europe and Asia. world by tickets sold in 2019,
prices harm consumers and ce- Live Nation finance chief Joe Amazon.com Inc., which give chase will help Live Nation While OCESA has long according to industry trade
ment Amazon’s market power. Berchtold. “The timing wasn’t users the ability to discover bring its artists’ shows to served as the company’s tour- publication Pollstar.
Skin-Care Industry
Is Divided Over
Asian Creams EXTRACT OF THE NOTICE OF CALL OF ORDINARY SHAREHOLDERS’ MEETING
(pursuant to Article 125-bis, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree 58/1998)
BY SURYATAPA BHATTACHARYA month, although the company
AND MEGUMI FUJIKAWA said some products already in
The Ordinary Shareholders’ Meeting of Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. is convened, on single call, at the New Headquarters
distribution channels may still in Torino, Corso Inghilterra no. 3, at 10:00 a.m. on 14 October 2021, to discuss and pass resolutions on the agenda as
Skin-care companies are split contain the discontinued words. stated below.
over a term commonly used on Last year, Unilever said it
Asian antiblemish creams that would rename its South Asia- In relation to the Covid-19 epidemiologic emergency and in compliance with Article 106, paragraph 4, of Decree
means “beautiful white,” with focused Fair & Lovely brand, Law no. 18 dated 17 March 2020, converted by Law no. 27 dated 24 April 2020, as subsequently amended,
Unilever PLC erasing it from one of its top-selling personal- participation in, and voting at, the Shareholders’ Meeting shall only be allowed through the Appointed
products while Johnson & care lines. It is now called Representative pursuant to Article 135-undecies of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998, as per the indications provided
Johnson says it isn’t offensive. Glow & Lovely and the com- in the specific paragraph of the notice of call available on the website group.intesasanpaolo.com (“Governance”
The debate over the term pany’s marketing emphasizes / “Shareholders’ Meeting”).
reflects the fallout of last it “has never been, and is not,
year’s antiracism protests. The a skin bleaching cream.” Agenda:
demonstrations prompted “We are fully committed to
many companies to reconsider having a global portfolio of Resolutions regarding reserves:
product names and images skin care brands that is inclu-
a) distribution of part of the Extraordinary reserve for the 2020 results
seen as having origins in rac- sive and cares for all skin
ist imagery. tones,” the company said in an b) placing of a tax suspension constraint on part of the Share premium reserve, following the tax realignment of
certain intangible assets.
The word that has divided email statement last month.
global companies consists of Johnson & Johnson and
two Chinese characters that L’Oréal SA’s Lancôme, by con- Information on the share capital as well as on methods and terms applicable to:
are used in writing Japanese— trast, said they were keeping • participating and casting votes in the Shareholders’ Meeting only through the Appointed Representative
the first meaning “beautiful” bihaku on their products. They Computershare S.p.A.,
and the second “white.” In said they didn’t think consum- • communication of ownership of voting rights with record date on 5 October 2021,
Japanese, the two together are ers interpreted “beautiful • exercising the right to add items to the agenda, the right to submit new proposals for resolution and the right to
pronounced “bihaku.” The white” to mean that the creams ask questions on the items on the agenda,
characters or the word bihaku would make the skin whiter. • the availability of the report concerning the item on the agenda with the related documentation,
in English letters appear on Bihaku products are sold by
many skin creams in Asia. Japanese brand Dr. Ci:Labo, is set forth in the notice of call available on the website group.intesasanpaolo.com (“Governance” / “Shareholders’
Bihaku products accounted which was acquired by J&J in Meeting”).
for more than $2 billion in 2019. “As a brand founded by a
sales in Japan in the year dermatologist, Dr. Ci:Labo cre- This extract is published in the daily newspapers “Il Sole 24 Ore”, “La Stampa”, “Corriere della Sera”, “Financial
ended March 2021, according to ated the Bihaku range for those Times” and “The Wall Street Journal”.
an estimate by TPC Marketing looking to prevent uneven skin
Research Corp. The products tone and dullness concerns,” a for the Board of Directors
are sold in Greater China, South J&J spokesman said. The Chairman - Gian Maria Gros-Pietro
Korea and Southeast Asia. Lancôme has a “Bihaku Care”
Unilever told The Wall Street line that offers products labeled
Journal it is removing “bihaku” “Absolue White Aura,” using a Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. Registered Office: Piazza S. Carlo, 156 10121 Torino Italy Secondary Registered Office: Via Monte di Pietà, 8
and “white” from products it French version of the word “ab- 20121 Milano Italy Share Capital Euro 10,084,445,147.92 Torino Company Register and Fiscal Code No. 00799960158 “Intesa Sanpaolo”
sells in Japan under the brand solute.” A spokeswoman said VAT Group representative Vat Code No. 11991500015 (IT11991500015) Included in the National Register of Banks No. 5361 ABI Code
name Pond’s as part of a global the characters in bihaku were 3069.2 Member of the National Interbank Deposit Guarantee Fund and of the National Guarantee Fund and Parent Company of the
policy to eliminate words that associated with “translucence banking group “Intesa Sanpaolo” included in the National Register of Banking Groups
suggest fairer skin is better. The and inner radiance,” not a light-
changes are beginning this ening of skin tone.
.
TECHNOLOGY WSJ.com/Tech
book Inc., was fined for failing have channels to voice dis- In 2018, when ByteDance’s
to tell EU residents enough agreement with each other’s short-video platform Douyin
about what it does with their cases, there might still be a started growing in popularity,
data, including sharing their need to re-evaluate GDPR pro- many users realized they
information with other Face- visions in the next few years couldn’t directly click through
book units. The fine was made and enable broader investiga- to Douyin links that were
public in early September by tions that aren’t overseen by shared on Tencent’s ubiqui-
Ireland’s Data Protection Com- one regulator alone, said Ulrich tous WeChat messaging plat-
mission, which had jurisdic- Kelber, the German federal form. Consumers also can’t
tion over the case because An attendee of the MWC Barcelona telecommunications trade show in June. data protection commissioner. smoothly open links from Ali-
WhatsApp’s and Facebook’s Andrea Jelinek, chair of the baba’s e-commerce platforms,
European headquarters is in their disputes, and the Irish have the big cases taking a lot Discontent among European European Data Protection such as Taobao and Tmall,
Ireland. authority said it followed the of time,” said David Martin privacy regulators has been Board, said in an email that from within WeChat.
Eight other regulators said other regulators’ recommenda- Ruiz, senior legal officer at the brewing since the GDPR took the dispute resolution process Tencent said it supports the
the Irish authority’s proposed tions, including raising the European Consumer Organisa- effect in 2018, with some au- is time- and resource-inten- government’s guidance and
fine of up to €50 million, fine. But regulators and pri- tion, a Brussels advocacy thorities publicly criticizing sive, but still works well. will make necessary changes
equivalent to roughly $59 mil- vacy experts say the process of group. If authorities from their counterparts for taking “It is important to bear in in phases. An Alibaba spokes-
lion, was too low and dis- sharing enforcement among other European countries co- too long to investigate in high- mind that the dispute resolu- woman said it would fully
agreed with the Irish regula- national authorities has led to operate early in investigations, profile cases. In May, the re- tion process is only employed comply with regulatory re-
tor’s analysis of the company’s bottlenecks. instead of waiting for the lead gional authority in Hamburg, in the exceptional circum- quirements, echoing a state-
data practices. “If everything relies on the regulator’s verdict before they Germany, used an emergency stance where the [authorities] ment made by Chief Executive
The regulators used a GDPR lead data protection authority can intervene, decisions might measure to issue a three- could not reach consensus at Daniel Zhang in an August
resolution process to settle taking the initial step then we be issued faster, he said. month ban on Facebook’s col- an earlier stage,” she said. earnings call.
The rules will be phased in,
a ministry spokesman said in
REGISTER
OCTOBER 12, 2021 | ONLINE BY 10/1
SAVE 25%
Register Now:
WSJRiskForum.com
Discover Your
Next Great Read FINDING FREEDOM
Instant International Bestseller
with New Exclusive Content on
the fallout from the couple’s move
to America and explosive
interview with Oprah Winfrey,
the epic story of Meghan and
Harry’s life together as a couple,
parents and change-makers.
D I S C O V E R GR E AT A U T H O R S , E X C L U S I V E O F F E R S & MO R E AT H C . C O M
.
The Marketplace
session. % CHG-Daily percentage change from the previous trading session. Trex TREX 114.61 -0.3 ColiseumAcqn MITAU 9.78 ... Owlet OWLT 5.54 -5.9
TritonIntlPfdE TRTNpE 26.76 0.2 CorsairPtrWt CORS.WS 0.70 -12.5 PAE Wt PAEWW 1.20 -3.3
Monday, September 13, 2021 Tronox TROX 25.48 11.1 CrownPropWt CPTK.WS 0.59 -7.8 PAE PAE 6.22 2.7
US NatGas UNG 18.46 4.3 CrucibleAcqnWt CRU.WS 0.88 -2.2 PassageBio PASG 10.40 -3.2
To advertise: 800-366-3975 or WSJ.com/classifieds 52-Wk % 52-Wk % 52-Wk % US12mthNtlGas UNL 13.74 3.3 DermataTherap DRMA 4.23 -4.2 PerdoceoEduc PRDO 10.54 2.3
Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg Ur-Energy URG 2.00 7.2 Dun&Bradstreet DNB 17.66 0.2 Pharming PHAR 9.87 -4.8
UraniumRoyalty UROY 4.66 24.3 Eargo EAR 19.25 0.2 PlumAcqnIWt PLMIW 0.72 -7.0
CentrusEnergy LEU 37.48 12.0 IHS Markit INFO 124.00 1.9
2.26 2.3 EsperionTherap ESPR 11.12 -3.6 Poshmark POSH 24.68 1.7
PUBLIC NOTICES BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Highs ChavantCap CLAY
ChesapeakeEner CHK
9.80
62.67
...
5.2
Identiv
IngersollRand
INVE
IR
20.50
55.62
-1.5
-1.3
VEON
Valaris
VEON
VAL 32.31 -0.2 EVgo EVGO 8.06 -2.1 PrimeImpactIWt PIAI.WS 0.63 ...
ACRESCmclPfdD ACRpD 25.78 0.3 VineEnergy VEI 16.70 5.5 ExcellonRes EXN 1.66 -1.0 QIWI QIWI 8.29 2.1
ChesapeakeWtB CHKEZ 33.04 8.8 IntlMediaAcqnA IMAQ 10.00 0.9
A10Networks ATEN 15.02 6.3 Vonage VG 16.36 4.4 Farmmi FAMI 0.27 -51.3 QellAcqn QELLU 9.80 -4.9
ChesapeakeWtA CHKEW 37.19 6.3 IntlMediaAcqn IMAQU 11.20 0.4
FCAP 41.66 3.9 QellAcqnA QELL 9.00 -6.1
AbbottLabs
AcademySports ASO
ABT 129.70
46.57
-1.7
0.9
CimarexEnergy XEC 77.12 3.6 InvescoMtgPfdC IVRpC 25.99 -0.5
WasteConnections WCN
WasteMgt WM
133.48
156.74
-0.7
0.4
FirstCapital
FortressValueIV Wt FVIV.WS 0.88 -6.1 QuotientTech QUOT 6.24 -3.7
Cintas CTAS 409.80 0.7 ItamarMedical ITMR 30.38 46.6
!
"
#
$
AdagioTherap
AehrTestSys
ADGI
AEHR
58.59
12.41
-20.2
15.3
CloverLeafA CLOE 9.95 -0.1 JattAcqnA JATT 9.84 0.7
WattsWater WTS
WellsFargoPfdAA WFCpA
175.47
26.57
0.9
0.2
FrontierAcqn
FusionAcqnUn
FRONU
FUSE.U
9.86 0.1 Regis
9.90 -1.9 RingCentral
RGS
RNG
4.36 -4.1
217.23 0.7
CloverLeafCapRt CLOER 0.50 4.7 Jabil JBL 63.78 -0.1
$
%
&'(''
Alcoa
AldelFinWt
AA
ADF.WS
51.17
2.16
-0.6
9.1
CN Finance CNF 5.00 0.2 LatticeSemi LSCC 64.27 2.2
Wingstop WING
WintrustFinPfdE WTFCP
186.02
29.14
-1.7
-0.3
FutureFuel
GMedInnovWt GMVDW
FF 7.66 1.7 Riskified RSKD
0.34 -2.2 RiverNorthDoubRt OPPr
23.23 -13.8
0.02 -23.5
) *
) ComputerPrograms CPSI 37.03 0.4 LaureateEduc LAUR 17.20 1.2 GAU 0.75 -6.0 RosecliffAcqnIWt RCLFW 0.49 -6.8
&
! +
,*
AldelFin
AlpineAcqn
ADF.U
REVEU
11.25
10.07
0.8
0.3
ComstockRscs CRK 8.92 9.7 McapAcqn MACQU 10.27 0.9
WorldAcceptance WRLD
YPF YPF
209.00
5.86
5.1
5.2
GalianoGold
GenerationIncmUn GIPRU 9.61 -1.4 SchmittIndustries SMIT 4.27 -5.7
! (
$
CFMS 1.96 13.5 COOP 41.77 ...
$ "
+#
$
AlumofChina
AmerantBncpB AMTBB
ACH 23.90
25.00
8.3
6.9
Conformis
ContinentalRscs CLR 40.73 3.5
MrCooper
Napco Security NSSC 44.12 16.0
Yandex
ZentalisPharm
YNDX
ZNTL
81.88
73.25
2.0
3.1
GlenfarneMergerWt GGMCW
GlobalBlueWt GB.WS
0.55 -0.9 Scienjoy
0.49 -3.8 Sentage
SJ
SNTG
4.10 -2.3
3.65 -4.4
, &$ #
$
) -
AnteroResources AR 17.03 3.7
Corvel CRVL 172.58 0.9 Navient NAVI 23.50 1.9 HEXO HEXO 2.09 0.5 SeresTherap MCRB 5.69 -6.1
#
$
#
$ $
$
Aon
AriesIAcqn
AON
RAMMU
295.23
11.13
0.1
0.2
DT Midstream
DianaShipping
DTM
DSX
48.06
5.95
2.2
6.9
NexGenEnergy NXE
Nuvalent NUVL
6.17
40.82
-0.7
-1.7 Lows H.I.G.AcqnWt
Hookipa
HIGA.WS
HOOK
0.74 -9.7 ShelterAcqnI SHQAU
6.18 -1.3 SilverbackTherap SBTX
9.89 -0.2
14.10 -23.4
DigitalOcean DOCN 77.24 8.1 ON Semi ON 47.75 1.6
$ * &
+
$
,*
ArlingtonAssetPfC AAICpC
Asana ASAN
25.55
107.10
0.2
3.9 ElbitSystems ESLT 149.87 1.5 Orix IX 99.49 1.3
AcadiaPharm
AcropolisInfr
ACAD
ACRO.U
15.92
9.90
1.1
-0.2
HeartlandExp
Humanigen
HTLD
HGEN
16.03 0.1 SilverSPAC
6.03 -9.2 SkydeckAcqnWt SKYAW
SLVRU 9.80 0.3
0.79 -10.2
./ 0
!
AthenePfdA ATHpA 30.08 -0.1 Equinor EQNR 23.40 1.8 OtterTail OTTR 58.60 -2.1 ActiniumPharm ATNM 5.88 -1.7 IndaptusTherap INDP 7.21 -4.2 SoYoungIntl SY 4.69 -11.6
1
!
ATCO 15.95 0.6 Euroseas ESEA 31.41 0.9 PaloAltoNtwks PANW 485.75 1.3 AcutusMedical AFIB 10.69 -4.2 InozymePharma INZY 11.68 -5.5 SoaringEagleA SRNG 8.90 -6.7
$
(
2$ Atlas
Atrion ATRI 783.84 ... Exelon EXC 50.99 1.3 PhenixfinNts2023 PFXNL 25.97 2.4 AEye LIDR 7.58 1.5 InterPrivateIV A IPVI 9.67 -0.3 SoaringEagle SRNGU 9.38 -5.9
$ #
$
!
aTyrPharma LIFE 9.29 67.0 FFBW
FirstAdvantage FA
FFBW 11.79
24.73
...
-1.8
PilgrimPride PPC
PonoCapitalUn PONOU
28.38
10.17
-0.1
...
AlzamendNeuro ALZN 2.73 -5.8 Jiuzi JZXN 2.75 -5.8 StoneBridgeWt APACW 0.52 -5.5
" $ $ $ AuriniaPharm AUPH 21.73 5.2 ArctosNorthWt ANAC.WS 0.65 -5.9 KinsTechWt KINZW 0.51 -2.4 StoneCo STNE 42.17 -0.1
$
!"
"
Avantor AVTR 42.73 ... FirstLightAcqn FLAG.U 9.95 0.1 PopularCapPfd BPOPM 28.81 1.8 ArtisanAcqnWt ARTAW 0.47 -17.2 Latham SWIM 17.51 -3.3 SummerInfant SUMR 7.80 -1.4
FlexLNG FLNG 16.50 0.4 PopularPfd BPOPN 29.63 4.5 ArtisanAcqn ARTAU 9.76 -0.8 151.51 ... TLGAcqnOneWt TLGA.WS 0.50 -8.3
$ "
$
#
$
# $% & ' BELLUS Health BLU
BancoBBVA BBAR
5.15
4.98
21.9
7.4 FormulaSys FORTY 101.00 0.3 PriorityIncmPfdI PRIFpI 25.84 -0.2 AtlasCrestInvt ACIC.U 9.26 -3.0
LendingTree
LeoHldgsII Wt
TREE
LHC.WS 0.60 -7.6 ThunderBridgeIIIWt TBCPW 0.69 -0.7
"
$
BancoMacro BMA 21.20 7.9 FrontierComms FYBR 33.34 1.5 Procter&Gamble PG 147.23 1.1 AtlasCrestInvt ACIC 8.79 -1.6 Limbach LMB 6.85 -3.5 ThunderBridgeIV A THCP 9.55 -1.5
3
!
$
Bio-Techne TECH 522.49 -2.7 GFL Env Un GFLU 86.89 0.3 QuantaServices PWR 117.19 -0.6 AvanosMedical AVNS 30.96 -0.3 LionGroup LGHL 1.23 -2.3 TortoiseEcoIII Wt TRTL.WS 0.95 -4.8
$
3
#
BlueOwlCapWt OWL.WS 4.88 3.2 GFLEnvironmental GFL 37.93 0.1 Radware RDWR 39.78 4.3 AytuBioPharma AYTU 3.16 -0.9 LiveOakMobilWt LOKM.WS 0.87 -3.3 TScanTherap TCRX 7.57 -6.9
BluegreenVac BVH 24.86 3.0 GabelliEqPfdG GABpG 26.58 2.7 RangeResources RRC 18.79 6.6 AzurRxBioPharma AZRX 4.08 -24.8 loanDepot LDI 7.19 -3.1 UWM Wt UWMC.WS 0.92 2.0
4 $
5(
BrookfieldInfr BIP 58.58 -0.9 GencoShipping GNK 21.78 5.3 RepublicSvcs RSG 126.15 0.5 B.RileyPrin250 BRIVU 9.83 -0.5 MarketAxess MKTX 429.15 -1.5 UiPath PATH 53.52 0.4
THEMARKETPLACE C4 Therap CCCC 50.58 1.5 GladstoneNts2028 GAINZ 25.82 0.6 SPS Commerce SPSC 141.09 1.8 BTRS BTRS 10.02 -3.4 Markforged MKFG 7.50 -5.1 UnitedInsurance UIHC 3.01 -2.5
!(
!4 %(
&
6''%%% CHS PfdB CHSCO 29.39 0.7 GlobalConsumer GACQU 10.07 0.1 SafeBulkers SB 4.89 16.7 Beachbody BODY 6.28 -3.6 MarroneBioInnova MBII 0.89 -0.2 UpHealth UPH 3.92 -2.7
(
$!* CHS PfdB4 CHSCL 30.19 0.7 GlbSpacSubUn GLSPT 9.96 0.1 SandRidgeEnergy SD 11.58 9.0 BeachbodyWt BODY.WS 1.50 -8.4 MercurySystems MRCY 46.36 0.4 ValorLatitudeWt VLATW 0.83 -2.4
% %
(2
ADVERTISE TODAY CONSOL Energy CEIX 28.27 -1.6 GlobalShipLease GSL 24.07 -0.4 SendasDistrib ASAI 18.04 3.0 BerkeleyLights BLI 33.64 -4.1 Missfresh MF 4.13 -2.5 ViantTech DSP 12.29 -7.0
7 %
(2
%
/
8
CaliforniaRscs CRC 42.36 7.7 GraceWR GRA 69.96 ... SignatureBank SBNY 270.23 2.2 BiomX PHGE 3.15 -0.9 MolecularTemp MTEM 6.04 -1.1 ViemedHealthcare VMD 6.13 -0.8
(800) 366-3975 Cameco CCJ 26.57 0.1 GreatAjaxNts24 AJXA 26.70 0.3 Stantec STN 50.88 2.0 BiomXWt PHGE.WS 0.23 -3.1 MorphoSys MOR 12.28 -4.0 Waitr WTRH 0.97 -4.8
"
8
" 5 ("
CapitalProduct CPLP 14.01 0.1 GreeneCnty GCBC 33.16 1.7 Starrett A SCX 13.60 10.9 BlueCity BLCT 3.16 -6.8 Movano MOVE 3.45 1.4 WashingtonPrime WPG 1.06 -6.1
© 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. CasellaWaste CWST 77.44 1.2 GreenSky GSKY 9.02 6.1 SyneosHealth SYNH 95.59 1.2 BreezeHldgsRt BREZR 0.17 -13.6 Nanobiotix NBTX 11.80 -1.4 Waterdrop WDH 2.98 -5.6
All Rights Reserved. CedarRealty CDR 20.22 5.7 GpoFinGalicia GGAL 12.75 9.3 TelusIntl TIXT 36.99 0.5 BridgetownWt BTWNW 0.98 -1.0 NautilusBiotech NAUT 6.86 -2.7 XponentialFit XPOF 10.25 -3.1
CentralPuerto CEPU 3.25 17.0 HollysysAuto HOLI 20.92 6.3 TMCthemetals TMC 15.39 32.3 CalavoGrowers CVGW 35.22 -9.2 NiSunIntlEntDevt NISN 8.80 -5.6 Zynex ZYXI 12.39 -0.3
.
RKLB
S PA C E I S
OPEN FOR
BUSINE S S
Neither Nasdaq, Inc. nor its affiliates makes any recommendation to buy or sell any security or any representation about any company’s financial
condition. Investors should undertake their own due diligence before investing. ©2021. Nasdaq, Inc. All rights reserved. Nasdaq.com
.
OUR MISSION
To build and donate specially adapted custom homes
nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans,
to enable them to rebuild their lives.
Homes For Our Troops is a national, publicly funded 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has been evaluated as one of America’s Top Rated Veterans and Military Charities.
.
MARKETS DIGEST
EQUITIES
Dow Jones Industrial Average S&P 500 Index Nasdaq Composite Index
Last Year ago Last Year ago Last Year ago
34869.63 s 261.91, or 0.76% Trailing P/E ratio 23.70 27.48 4468.73 s 10.15, or 0.23% Trailing P/E ratio * 31.41 36.58 15105.58 t 9.91, or 0.07% Trailing P/E ratio *† 36.35 36.35
High, low, open and close for each P/E estimate * 18.94 26.54 High, low, open and close for each P/E estimate * 22.10 25.57 High, low, open and close for each P/E estimate *† 29.17 31.79
trading day of the past three months. Dividend yield 1.85 2.22 trading day of the past three months. Dividend yield * 1.31 1.79 trading day of the past three months. Dividend yield *† 0.66 0.77
All-time high 35625.40, 08/16/21 All-time high 4536.95, 09/02/21 All-time high: 15374.33, 09/07/21
COMMODITIES wsj.com/market-data/commodities
Metal & Petroleum Futures Dec 684.75 689.25 674.50 686.25 3.75 137,968 Canadian Dollar (CME)-CAD 100,000; $ per CAD S&P 500 Index (CME)-$250 x index
Cattle-Feeder (CME)-50,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Sept .7884 .7912 .7878 .7895 –.0005 54,671 Sept 4468.90 10.60 47,082
Contract Open .7883 .7912 .7876 .7894 –.0005 113,902
Open High hi lo Low Settle Chg interest
Sept 152.900 155.900 151.500 152.200 –2.050 2,671 Dec Mini S&P 500 (CME)-$50 x index
Oct 155.600 159.475 154.775 155.450 –2.275 13,671 British Pound (CME)-£62,500; $ per £ Sept 4461.00 4492.75 4444.75 4469.00 10.75 1,832,343
Copper-High (CMX)-25,000 lbs.; $ per lb. Cattle-Live (CME)-40,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Sept 1.3842 1.3845 1.3798 1.3834 –.0011 58,881 Dec 4451.75 4483.50 4434.50 4459.50 10.50 1,063,334
Sept 4.4145 4.4670 4.3355 4.3635 –0.0845 3,281 Oct 121.975 124.325 120.850 122.275 –1.150 69,489 Dec 1.3843 1.3852 1.3798 1.3834 –.0013 134,185
4.4260 4.4715 4.3315 4.3670 –0.0850 124,548
Mini S&P Midcap 400 (CME)-$100 x index
Dec Dec 126.775 129.050 125.675 127.150 –1.075 108,018 Swiss Franc (CME)-CHF 125,000; $ per CHF Sept 2687.30 2709.30 2683.50 2702.60 17.20 21,956
Gold (CMX)-100 troy oz.; $ per troy oz. Hogs-Lean (CME)-40,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Sept 1.0886 1.0895 1.0822 1.0860 –.0035 13,924
Sept 1789.80 1796.00 1784.00 1792.00 2.40 149 Dec 2681.30 2703.20 2677.10 2696.70 17.50 21,331
Oct 82.675 86.025 80.700 80.775 –1.675 60,086 Dec 1.0913 1.0917 1.0844 1.0860 –.0059 41,310
Oct 1787.50 1797.80 1782.30 1792.30 2.40 37,203 Australian Dollar (CME)-AUD 100,000; $ per AUD Mini Nasdaq 100 (CME)-$20 x index
Dec 76.125 80.025 73.125 73.375 –2.725 91,215 Sept 15452.50 15565.00 15350.25 15436.75 –4.75 173,115
Nov 1788.30 1794.50 1788.30 1793.30 2.30 33 Sept .7357 .7375 .7337 .7360 –.0005 59,651
Lumber (CME)-110,000 bd. ft., $ per 1,000 bd. ft. Dec 15443.00 15557.50 15342.75 15430.00 –4.00 78,770
Dec 1789.80 1800.20 1784.40 1794.40 2.30 410,625 Dec .7357 .7379 .7339 .7364 –.0004 161,625
Sept 514.90 515.00 500.00 505.60 –2.60 118
Feb'22 1791.30 1802.10 1786.80 1796.50 2.30 31,071 Mexican Peso (CME)-MXN 500,000; $ per MXN Mini Russell 2000 (CME)-$50 x index
Nov 607.10 626.90 596.40 605.00 –2.60 1,403
April 1788.60 1803.00 1788.60 1798.30 2.40 12,437 Sept .05032 .05037 .05024 .05032 … 35,256 Sept 2230.10 2249.10 2213.90 2241.10 13.30 312,476
Palladium (NYM) - 50 troy oz.; $ per troy oz. Milk (CME)-200,000 lbs., cents per lb.
Dec .04967 .04978 .04961 .04967 –.00004 174,815 Dec 2225.00 2244.40 2208.70 2236.10 13.40 180,566
Sept 16.58 16.62 16.56 16.59 … 4,300
Sept 2100.00 2100.00 t 2063.00 2076.60 –46.40 5 Euro (CME)-€125,000; $ per € March'22 2219.50 2235.00 2210.00 2231.40 12.80 1
Oct 17.38 17.60 17.36 17.50 .16 5,199
Dec 2122.50 2156.50 t 2047.00 2079.80 –46.50 8,319 Sept 1.1813 1.1815 1.1770 1.1804 –.0011 108,855 Mini Russell 1000 (CME)-$50 x index
Platinum (NYM)-50 troy oz.; $ per troy oz. Cocoa (ICE-US)-10 metric tons; $ per ton.
Dec 1.1837 1.1839 1.1791 1.1825 –.0011 620,412 Sept 2510.20 2518.90 2494.60 2507.20 5.60 7,876
Sept 2,677 2,677 2,677 2,677 34 195
Sept 955.00 956.00 t 953.50 957.70 1.00 197 U.S. Dollar Index (ICE-US)-$1,000 x index
Dec 2,599 2,650 2,599 2,637 34 101,747
Oct 951.00 958.40 t 942.20 957.50 1.00 52,630 Index Futures Sept 92.64 92.88 92.64 92.65 .06 2,871
Silver (CMX)-5,000 troy oz.; $ per troy oz. Coffee (ICE-US)-37,500 lbs.; cents per lb.
Sept 184.35 184.35 184.35 184.35 –1.25 41 Mini DJ Industrial Average (CBT)-$5 x index Dec 92.60 92.88 92.55 92.65 .08 42,542
Sept 23.690 23.755 23.325 23.753 –0.102 297
Dec 23.790 23.890 23.360 23.796 –0.104 122,869 Dec 187.40 188.45 185.20 186.80 –1.25 136,409 Sept 34647 34935 34601 34870 263 76,496
Crude Oil, Light Sweet (NYM)-1,000 bbls.; $ per bbl. Sugar-World (ICE-US)-112,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Dec 34530 34821 34482 34754 263 36,513 Source: FactSet
Oct 69.74 70.97 69.51 70.45 0.73 241,588 Oct 18.81 19.02 18.57 18.98 .19 236,925
Nov 69.35 70.68 69.26 70.19 0.72 328,204 March'22 19.54 19.75 19.31 19.69 .18 354,249
69.10 70.28 68.89 69.81 0.68 309,416 Sugar-Domestic (ICE-US)-112,000 lbs.; cents per lb.
Dec
Jan'22 68.56 69.83 68.50 69.37 0.65 131,197 Nov 35.00 … 2,000 Bonds | wsj.com/market-data/bonds/benchmarks
June 66.62 67.67 66.57 67.30 0.53 146,756 Cotton (ICE-US)-50,000 lbs.; cents per lb.
Oct 94.18 94.18 94.18 94.41 –.82 227
Dec 64.30 65.16 64.23
NY Harbor ULSD (NYM)-42,000 gal.; $ per gal.
64.85 0.43 190,678
Dec 93.21 93.32 92.51 92.81 –.69 149,248 Tracking Bond Benchmarks
Oct 2.1436 2.1738 2.1380 2.1583 .0123 101,155 Orange Juice (ICE-US)-15,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Return on investment and spreads over Treasurys and/or yields paid to investors compared with 52-week
Nov 2.1360 2.1708 2.1360 2.1566 .0130 88,423 Nov 141.65 142.70 140.90 142.10 2.00 10,138
Gasoline-NY RBOB (NYM)-42,000 gal.; $ per gal. Jan'22 143.15 144.15 143.00 143.75 1.65 875 highs and lows for different types of bonds
Oct 2.1570 2.1822 2.1470 2.1609 .0069 96,825 Total Total
Nov 2.0956 2.1176 2.0874 2.1026 .0099 94,539 Interest Rate Futures return YTD total Yield (%) return YTD total Yield (%)
Natural Gas (NYM)-10,000 MMBtu.; $ per MMBtu. close return (%) Index Latest Low High close return (%) Index Latest Low High
Oct 4.945 5.289 s 4.879 5.231 .293 177,778 Ultra Treasury Bonds (CBT) - $100,000; pts 32nds of 100%
Nov 4.987 5.326 s 4.920 5.273 .300 223,531 Sept 200-010 1-04.0 13,140 Broad Market Bloomberg Barclays Mortgage-Backed Bloomberg Barclays
Jan'22 5.144 5.482 s 5.091 5.430 .301 155,850 Dec 197-010 198-130 196-280 198-060 1-04.0 1,237,560
Treasury Bonds (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100% 2277.71 -0.6 U.S. Aggregate 1.430 1.120 1.630 2225.66 -0.3 Mortgage-Backed 1.710 1.180 1.850
March 4.667 5.022 s 4.657 4.970 .290 117,008
4.001 s Sept 164-230 14.0 14,676 -0.7
April 3.857 3.857 3.942 .088 117,668 U.S. Corporate Indexes Bloomberg Barclays 2161.90 Ginnie Mae (GNMA) 1.740 0.680 1.840
May 3.744 3.862 s 3.744 3.814 .072 115,663 Dec 162-210 163-090 162-180 163-050 14.0 1,206,438
Treasury Notes (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100% 3462.25 0.04 U.S. Corporate 1.990 1.740 2.320 1316.47 -0.1 Fannie mae (FNMA) 1.700 1.230 1.860
Agriculture Futures Sept 133-295 5.0 37,761
Dec 133-045 133-125 133-025 133-095 4.5 3,851,643 3117.80 0.1 Intermediate 1.360 1.080 1.600 2020.34 -0.1 Freddie Mac (FHLMC) 1.700 1.210 1.870
Corn (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. 5 Yr. Treasury Notes (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100%
Sept 503.50 503.50 493.00 496.75 –6.00 311 5189.60 -0.1 Long term 2.960 2.780 3.580 602.10 1.1 Muni Master 0.805 0.687 1.157
Sept 124-030 1.5 19,872
Dec 517.50 519.75 507.50 513.25 –4.25 745,929 123-175 123-212 123-157 123-192 1.7 3,464,842
Dec 699.05 -0.5 Double-A-rated 1.730 1.400 1.990 426.11 1.0 7-12 year 0.803 0.687 1.156
Oats (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. 2 Yr. Treasury Notes (CBT)-$200,000; pts 32nds of 100%
Sept 502.00 503.00 497.00 492.25 4.75 4 Sept 110-102 110-105 110-100 110-102 .1 17,999 931.51 0.8 Triple-B-rated 2.200 2.010 2.570 489.95 1.6 12-22 year 1.155 1.000 1.663
Dec 493.50 512.75 488.50 510.25 17.25 3,914 Dec 110-050 110-053 110-043 110-051 .4 1,891,050
Soybeans (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. 30 Day Federal Funds (CBT)-$5,000,000; 100 - daily avg. High Yield Bonds ICE BofA 482.37 2.9 22-plus year 1.629 1.443 2.367
Sept 1271.75 1275.00 1271.75 1272.50 –2.75 61 Sept 99.9225 99.9250 99.9200 99.9200 95,518 520.53 5.1 High Yield Constrained 3.851 3.796 6.024 Global Government J.P. Morgan†
Nov 1290.00 1294.25 1277.00 1284.75 –1.75 345,844 Jan'22 99.9250 99.9250 99.9200 99.9200 100,125
Soybean Meal (CBT)-100 tons; $ per ton. 10 Yr. Del. Int. Rate Swaps (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100% 502.90 10.1 Triple-C-rated 7.062 6.304 12.268 605.75 -1.5 Global Government 0.810 0.510 1.010
Sept 342.00 345.90 341.90 344.70 2.70 22 Sept 96-145 5.5 43,522
Dec 342.30 345.60 339.10 345.20 2.70 170,461 Dec 102-260 103-085 102-260 103-055 5.5 143,889 3472.38 4.3 High Yield 100 3.317 3.162 5.112 841.55 -2.6 Canada 1.330 0.720 1.560
Soybean Oil (CBT)-60,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Eurodollar (CME)-$1,000,000; pts of 100%
Sept 55.86 56.04 56.04 55.80 .06 121 465.30 4.0 Global High Yield Constrained 4.031 3.968 5.937 n.a. n.a. EMU§ n.a. n.a. n.a.
Sept 99.8825 99.8825 99.8800 99.8840 .0015 932,975
Dec 56.33 56.46 55.68 55.99 … 159,894 770.34 -2.9 France 0.220 -0.160 0.450
Dec 99.8200 99.8300 99.8200 99.8250 … 1,124,998 351.40 4.1 Europe High Yield Constrained 2.373 2.352 4.242
Rough Rice (CBT)-2,000 cwt.; $ per cwt. Dec'22 99.5600 99.5750 99.5550 99.5700 .0050 1,058,403
Sept 13.25 13.25 13.25 13.33 .06 39 Dec'23 98.9850 99.0100 98.9700 99.0000 .0100 1,041,761 U.S Agency Bloomberg Barclays 540.74 -2.1 Germany -0.240 -0.530 -0.010
Nov 13.48 13.60 13.46 13.55 .07 7,427
Wheat (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. 1863.72 -0.2 U.S Agency 0.720 0.460 0.840 295.54 0.1 Japan 0.300 0.260 0.420
Sept 671.50 673.00 671.50 674.50 –.50 70
Currency Futures
1625.72 -0.1 10-20 years 0.600 0.340 0.710 602.25 -2.6 Netherlands -0.110 -0.450 0.130
Dec 690.00 690.00 679.00 687.00 –1.50 214,328 Japanese Yen (CME)-¥12,500,000; $ per 100¥
Wheat (KC)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. Sept .9099 .9102 .9078 .9099 … 58,289 4264.60 -0.3 20-plus years 1.990 1.430 2.460 1052.44 -3.9 U.K. 0.900 0.510 1.210
Sept 672.75 684.00 666.25 678.25 2.00 6 Dec .9106 .9109 .9084 .9096 –.0009 187,785
2927.25 -0.3 Yankee 1.590 1.370 1.850 939.65 0.6 Emerging Markets ** 4.534 4.295 5.068
*Constrained indexes limit individual issuer concentrations to 2%; the High Yield 100 are the 100 largest bonds † In local currency § Euro-zone bonds
Cash Prices | wsj.com/market-data/commodities Monday, September 13, 2021 ** EMBI Global Index Sources: ICE Data Services; Bloomberg Barclays; J.P.Morgan
These prices reflect buying and selling of a variety of actual or “physical” commodities in the marketplace—
separate from the futures price on an exchange, which reflects what the commodity might be worth in future Global Government Bonds: Mapping Yields
months.
Monday Monday Monday
Yields and spreads over or under U.S. Treasurys on benchmark two-year and 10-year government bonds in
Iron Ore, 62% Fe CFR China-s 122.6 Wheat,Spring14%-pro Mnpls-u 10.0600 selected other countries; arrows indicate whether the yield rose(s) or fell (t) in the latest session
Energy
Shredded Scrap, US Midwest-s,m n.a. Wheat,No.2 soft red,St.Louis-u 6.4700 Country/ Spread Under/Over U.S. Treasurys, in basis points
Yield (%)
Coal,C.Aplc.,12500Btu,1.2SO2-r,w 65.800 Steel, HRC USA, FOB Midwest Mill-s 1955 Wheat - Hard - KC (USDA) $ per bu-u 7.1225 Coupon (%) Maturity, in years Latest(l)-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 Previous Month ago Year ago Latest Prev Year ago
Coal,PwdrRvrBsn,8800Btu,0.8SO2-r,w 13.350 Battery/EV metals Wheat,No.1soft white,Portld,OR-u 10.8750
0.125 U.S. 2 0.213 t l 0.217 0.215 0.129
Metals BMI Lithium Carbonate, EXW China, =99.2%-v,k 15950 Food 1.250 10 1.323 t l 1.340 1.297 0.668
BMI Lithium Hydroxide, EXW China, =56.5% -v,k 18400
Gold, per troy oz BMI Cobalt sulphate, EXW China, >20.5% -v,m 12012 Beef,carcass equiv. index 5.500 Australia 2 0.020 s l 0.014 0.044 0.226 -19.7 -20.7 9.7
Engelhard industrial 1790.00 5775 choice 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 247.59
BMI Nickel Sulphate, EXW China, >22%-v,m 1.000 10 1.282 s l 1.236 1.224 0.920 -4.1 -10.5 25.0
Handy & Harman base 1793.90 BMIFlakeGraphite,FOBChina,-100Mesh,94-95%-v,m 530 select 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 218.01
Handy & Harman fabricated 1991.23 Broilers, National comp wtd. avg.-u,w 1.0578 0.000 France 2 -0.672 t l -0.655 -0.717 -0.631 -88.9 -87.6 -76.0
*1799.90
Fibers and Textiles Butter,AA Chicago 1.8025 0.000 10 0.004 s l 0.002 -0.124 -0.187 -134.0 -85.8
LBMA Gold Price AM -132.0
LBMA Gold Price PM *1794.60 Cheddar cheese,bbl,Chicago 146.25
Burlap,10-oz,40-inch NY yd-n,w 0.7775 0.000 Germany 2 -0.700 s l -0.703 -0.738 -0.685 -92.3 -81.4
Krugerrand,wholesale-e 1864.10 Cheddar cheese,blk,Chicago 181.50 -91.7
Cotton,1 1/16 std lw-mdMphs-u 0.9266
Maple Leaf-e 1882.02 Milk,Nonfat dry,Chicago lb. 135.50 0.000 10 -0.329 t l -0.327 -0.464 -0.478 -165.3 -166.9 -114.8
Cotlook 'A' Index-t *102.90
American Eagle-e 1882.02 Coffee,Brazilian,Comp 1.8011
Hides,hvy native steers piece fob-u n.a. Coffee,Colombian, NY 2.3922 0.600 Italy 2 -0.480 t l -0.468 -0.484 -0.121 -69.7 -68.8 -25.0
Mexican peso-e 2169.10 Wool,64s,staple,Terr del-u,w n.a.
Austria crown-e 1759.91
Eggs,large white,Chicago-u 1.2750 0.600 10 0.692 t l 0.708 0.557 0.987 -63.2 -63.3 31.6
Grains and Feeds Flour,hard winter KC 19.25
Austria phil-e 1882.02 0.005 Japan 2 -0.126 t l -0.125 -0.134 -0.142 -34.3 -34.5 -27.1
Hams,17-20 lbs,Mid-US fob-u 0.59
Silver, troy oz. Barley,top-quality Mnpls-u n.a. 0.100 10 0.046 s l 0.045 0.024 0.024 -129.6 -64.6
Hogs,Iowa-So. Minnesota-u 91.86 -127.7
Engelhard industrial 23.5000 Bran,wheat middlings, KC-u 120 Pork bellies,12-14 lb MidUS-u n.a.
Handy & Harman base 23.7950 Corn,No. 2 yellow,Cent IL-bp,u 5.0600 0.000 Spain 2 -0.617 t l -0.591 -0.608 -0.466 -83.4 -81.2 -59.5
Pork loins,13-19 lb MidUS-u 1.0834
Handy & Harman fabricated 29.7440 Corn gluten feed,Midwest-u,w 146.4 Steers,Tex.-Okla. Choice-u n.a. 0.500 10 0.327 t l 0.329 0.219 0.309 -99.6 -101.2 -36.1
LBMA spot price *£17.3200 Corn gluten meal,Midwest-u,w 514.9 Steers,feeder,Okla. City-u,w 171.63
(U.S.$ equivalent) *24.0250 0.125 U.K. 2 0.232 t l 0.248 0.140 -0.120 1.5 2.7 -24.9
Cottonseed meal-u,w 310
Coins,wholesale $1,000 face-a 19671 Hominy feed,Cent IL-u,w 155 Fats and Oils 4.750 10 0.657 t l 0.667 0.577 0.184 -66.6 -67.4 -48.7
Other metals Meat-bonemeal,50% pro Mnpls-u,w 355 Degummed corn oil, crude wtd. avg.-u,w 53.6600 Source: Tullett Prebon, Tradeweb ICE U.S. Treasury Close
LBMA Platinum Price PM *977.0 Oats,No.2 milling,Mnpls-u 5.4525 Grease,choice white,Chicago-h 0.5400
Platinum,Engelhard industrial 962.0 Rice, Long Grain Milled, No. 2 AR-u,w 27.75 Lard,Chicago-u n.a.
Palladium,Engelhard industrial 2165.0 Sorghum,(Milo) No.2 Gulf-u 6.7250 Soybean oil,crude;Centl IL-u,w 0.6872 Corporate Debt
Aluminum, LME, $ per metric ton *2896.5 SoybeanMeal,Cent IL,rail,ton48%-u,w 340.80 Tallow,bleach;Chicago-h 0.6625 Prices of firms' bonds reflect factors including investors' economic, sectoral and company-specific
Copper,Comex spot 4.3635 Soybeans,No.1 yllw IL-bp,u 12.5700 Tallow,edible,Chicago-u 0.7000 expectations
KEY TO CODES: A=ask; B=bid; BP=country elevator bids to producers; C=corrected; E=Manfra,Tordella & Brookes; H=American Commodities Brokerage Co; Investment-grade spreads that tightened the most…
K=bi-weekly; M=monthly; N=nominal; n.a.=not quoted or not available; R=SNL Energy; S=Platts-TSI; T=Cotlook Limited; U=USDA; V=Benchmark Mineral Intelligence; Spread*, in basis points
W=weekly; Z=not quoted. *Data as of 9/10 Issuer Symbol Coupon (%) Yield (%) Maturity Current One-day change Last week
Source: Dow Jones Market Data
Caterpillar Financial Services … 0.600 0.31 Sept. 13, ’24 –12 –24 n.a.
Pacific Life Insurance PACLIF 9.250 3.55 June 15, ’39 172 –9 n.a.
Borrowing Benchmarks | wsj.com/market-data/bonds/benchmarks International Business Machines IBM 4.150 2.63 May 15, ’39 80 –5 85
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial MUFG 2.193 0.99 Feb. 25, ’25 19 –4 n.a.
Money Rates September 13, 2021
HSBC Holdings HSBC 4.950 2.19 March 31, ’30 87 –3 94
Key annual interest rates paid to borrow or lend money in U.S. and international markets. Rates below are a Kinder Morgan Energy Partners … 5.625 3.59 Sept. 1, ’41 176 –3 182
guide to general levels but don’t always represent actual transactions. Liberty Mutual LIBMUT 4.569 2.02 Feb. 1, ’29 69 –3 n.a.
PepsiCo PEP 4.000 2.54 March 5, ’42 71 –3 n.a.
Week —52-WEEK— Week —52-WEEK—
Inflation Latest ago High Low Latest ago High Low
July index Chg From (%) …And spreads that widened the most
Switzerland 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Treasury bill auction
level June '21 July '20 Ascension Health Alliance ASCHEA 4.847 2.73 Nov. 15, ’53 84 7 n.a.
Britain 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 4 weeks 0.060 0.035 0.090 0.000
U.S. consumer price index 0.10 0.25 0.10 UnitedHealth UNH 2.950 1.30 Oct. 15, ’27 49 6 56
Australia 0.10 13 weeks 0.040 0.045 0.110 0.015
All items 273.003 0.48 5.4 26 weeks 0.050 0.055 0.120 0.030 Microchip Technology MCHP 0.983 1.02 Sept. 1, ’24 57 5 56
Core 279.146 0.33 4.3 Overnight repurchase Morgan Stanley MS 3.875 1.22 Jan. 27, ’26 41 4 n.a.
U.S. 0.05 0.05 0.12 -0.04 Secondary market
International rates Sumitomo Mitsui Financial SUMIBK 0.948 1.20 Jan. 12, ’26 39 4 37
U.S. government rates Fannie Mae Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank SUMITR 0.850 0.68 March 25, ’24 24 4 n.a.
Week 52-Week 30-year mortgage yields
Discount Barclays BACR 3.650 1.22 March 16, ’25 42 3 43
Latest ago High Low 30 days 2.371 2.357 2.622 1.836
0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 Brighthouse Financial Global Funding BHF 1.000 0.71 April 12, ’24 27 3 20
60 days 2.405 2.392 2.674 1.875
Prime rates
U.S. 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25
Federal funds
Other short-term rates High-yield issues with the biggest price increases…
Effective rate 0.0800 0.0800 0.1000 0.0500 Bond Price as % of face value
Canada 2.45 2.45 2.45 2.45
High 0.0900 0.0900 0.1500 0.0700 Week 52-Week Issuer Symbol Coupon (%) Yield (%) Maturity Current One-day change Last week
Japan 1.475 1.475 1.475 1.475 Latest ago high low
Low 0.0500 0.0200 0.0900 0.0000 United States Cellular USM 6.700 4.11 Dec. 15, ’33 124.759 0.93 n.a.
Policy Rates Bid 0.0700 0.0700 0.0900 0.0100 0.72 n.a.
Call money Ford Motor F 4.750 4.10 Jan. 15, ’43 109.139
Euro zone 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Offer 0.0900 0.1000 0.1200 0.0500
2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 Dish DBS … 5.875 1.04 July 15, ’22 104.000 0.50 103.500
Occidental Petroleum OXY 6.200 4.59 March 15, ’40 120.000 0.50 120.450
Commercial paper (AA financial)
Key Interest Rates 90 days 0.09 0.10 0.25 0.04 Teva Pharmaceutical Finance Netherlands … 3.150 3.98 Oct. 1, ’26 96.250 0.45 95.625
Graphic Packaging International … 3.500 3.05 March 15, ’28 102.625 0.44 n.a.
Data are annualized on a 360-day basis. Treasury yields are per annum, Libor
Navient NAVI 6.750 3.55 June 15, ’26 113.888 0.26 n.a.
on actively traded noninflation and inflation-indexed issues that are One month 0.08375 0.08300 0.15863 0.07263
Three month 0.11600 0.11463 0.25388 0.11413 HCA HCA 5.375 1.45 Feb. 1, ’25 112.879 0.25 112.651
adjusted to constant maturities. Data are from weekly Federal Reserve
Six month 0.14863 0.14875 0.27563 0.14663
release H.15. …And with the biggest price decreases
Week Ended
One year 0.22313 0.21950 0.40263 0.21950
52-Week Week Ended 52-Week
Sep 10 Sep 3 High Low Sep 10 Sep 3 High Low Nokia Oyj NOKIA 4.375 2.46 June 12, ’27 110.212 –1.03 111.148
Euro Libor
6-month 0.06 0.06 0.13 0.03 Bath & Body Works BBWI 6.694 3.25 Jan. 15, ’27 116.750 –0.63 117.500
Federal funds (effective) 1-year 0.08 0.07 0.14 0.04 One month -0.575 -0.580 -0.558 -0.607
0.08 0.08 0.10 0.05 Three month -0.565 -0.565 -0.510 -0.574 Telecom Italia TITIM 5.303 2.15 May 30, ’24 108.250 –0.50 108.600
2-year 0.23 0.20 0.26 0.11
3-year 0.44 0.41 0.47 0.15 Six month -0.535 -0.539 -0.491 -0.548 Ford Motor F 7.450 3.60 July 16, ’31 131.644 –0.33 131.717
Commercial paper
5-year 0.81 0.78 0.92 0.27 One year -0.495 -0.498 -0.423 -0.511
Nonfinancial Hat Holdings I … 3.750 3.49 Sept. 15, ’30 102.000 –0.25 n.a.
7-year 1.11 1.08 1.39 0.46
1-month 0.05 0.05 0.29 0.02 10-year 1.35 1.30 1.72 0.67 Secured Overnight Financing Rate Venture Global Calcasieu Pass VENTGL 4.125 3.59 Aug. 15, ’31 104.250 –0.25 105.156
2-month 0.06 0.06 0.12 0.03 0.05 0.05 0.11 0.01
20-year 1.87 1.84 2.32 1.20 Sensata Technologies ST 5.000 1.96 Oct. 1, ’25 111.760 –0.24 112.231
3-month n.a. 0.07 0.15 0.04
Financial Value 52-Week Ball BLL 4.000 1.24 Nov. 15, ’23 105.875 –0.14 106.345
Treasury yields (secondary market) Latest Traded High Low
1-month 0.08 0.07 0.17 0.05
2-month n.a. n.a. 0.23 0.08
1-month 0.06 0.04 0.10 0.00 *Estimated spread over 2-year, 3-year, 5-year, 10-year or 30-year hot-run Treasury; 100 basis points=one percentage pt.; change in spread shown is for Z-spread.
3-month 0.09 0.10 0.18 0.07 3-month 0.05 0.05 0.12 0.01 DTCC GCF Repo Index Note: Data are for the most active issue of bonds with maturities of two years or more
6-month 0.06 0.06 0.13 0.03 Treasury 0.056 55.630 0.132 -0.008 Source: MarketAxess
Discount window primary credit MBS 0.057 17.000 0.143 0.002
TIPS
0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25
5-year -1.73 -1.71 -1.20 -1.86 Notes on data:
Treasury yields at constant 7-year -1.36 -1.36 -1.04 -1.44
maturities 10-year -1.04 -1.04 -0.63 -1.14
U.S. prime rate is the base rate on corporate
loans posted by at least 70% of the 10 largest
Dividend Changes
1-month 0.06 0.04 0.10 0.00 20-year -0.54 -0.54 -0.08 -0.62 U.S. banks, and is effective March 16, 2020.
3-month 0.05 0.05 0.12 0.01 Long-term avg -0.42 -0.42 0.03 -0.47 Other prime rates aren’t directly comparable; Dividend announcements from September 13.
lending practices vary widely by location;
Amount Payable / Amount Payable /
Notes on data: Discount rate is effective March 16, 2020.
Secured Overnight Financing Rate is as of Company Symbol Yld % New/Old Frq Record Company Symbol Yld % New/Old Frq Record
Federal-funds rate is an average for the seven days ended Wednesday, weighted according to rates
on broker trades; Commercial paper rates are discounted offer rates interpolated from sales by September 10, 2021. DTCC GCF Repo Index is Initial ENI ADR E 4.8 1.01944 SA Oct07 /Sep21
Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.'s weighted
discounted averages of dealer bid rates on nationally traded certificates of deposit; Discount window average for overnight trades in applicable CMS Energy Pfd. C CMSpC 4.8 .30625 Oct15 /Oct01 STMicroelectronics STM 0.4 .06 Q Sep28 /Sep21
primary credit rate is charged for discounts made and advances extended under the Federal CUSIPs. Value traded is in billions of U.S. dollars.
Reserve's primary credit discount window program; rate is average for seven days ended Wednesday; Federal-funds rates are Tullett Prebon rates as Stocks Special
Inflation-indexed long-term TIPS average is indexed and is based on the unweighted average bid of 5:30 p.m. ET. AzurRx BioPharma AZRX 1:10 /Sep13 A-Mark Precious Metals AMRK ... 2.00 Sep24 /Sep20
yields for all TIPS with remaining terms to maturity of 10 years or more; Sources: Federal Reserve; Bureau of Labor
Sources: Federal Reserve; for additional information on these rate data and their derivation, Statistics; DTCC; FactSet; Foreign KEY: A: annual; M: monthly; Q: quarterly; r: revised; SA: semiannual;
please see, www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/data.htm Tullett Prebon Information, Ltd. B2Gold BTG 4.2 .04 Q Sep30 /Sep22 S2:1: stock split and ratio; SO: spin-off.
.
MARKETS
Uranium
Stocks Get
Private-Share Platform Sets SPAC
BY ALEXANDER OSIPOVICH Securities and Exchange Com- more lightly regulated type of company that would receive
to mitigate climate change, new multiyear energy deals have risen 51% this year.
helping to broaden the appeal Continued from Page One and firms that haven’t hedged The price surge shows the
of uranium among investors, possible in the future: The their electricity bills. need to have backup power
said Mr. Liebenberg. government has said all coal Two U.K. energy retailers— supplies for moments when
“The uranium market is plants must close by late 2024. PFP Energy and MoneyPlus the wind doesn’t blow and the
quite niche and small but the To be sure, abundant wind Energy—went out of business sun doesn’t shine, said Mark
interest I have seen from gen- power has at times led to peri- when electricity prices rose Dickinson, chief executive of
eralist investors has been much ods of cheap electricity. This this month. The companies, Inspired PLC, which advises
broader than I used to see in month, however, U.K. wind with a combined 94,000 gas companies on energy costs
the past,” said Mr. Liebenberg. farms produced less than one and power customers, didn’t and climate change. The U.K. has leaned on wind power as it aims to cut emissions.
B10 | Tuesday, September 14, 2021 * **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Spot uranium oxide (U3O8) price This hot commodity needs to be NorthShore Global Uranium Min- In the midst of the excitement, company has some flexibility to
handled with care. ing ETF has jumped 74%. It isn’t there are a couple of things to use its working inventory if prices
$45 a pound
Spot uranium oxide prices are uncommon for a commodity’s rally keep in mind. One is that Sprott get too high.
up more than 68% since mid-July to spur a rise in the share prices isn’t buying the uranium directly Today’s speculations might be
and reached $44 a pound on Mon- of a company that extracts the from the miners. Miners partici- rooted in real fundamentals, of
40 day, the highest since 2014. The said material. That hasn’t always pate in the spot uranium market course. In the medium term, a rise
immediate catalyst seems to be a been the case for uranium, though, too, but they primarily depend on in uranium prices means mining
Canadian mutual fund that has for which supply and demand long-term contracts with utilities. companies might command higher
35 started loading up on the commod- tends to be more stable than a A lot of the spot market trading prices on future contracts with util-
ity. The fund, Sprott Physical Ura- commodity such as oil. action in uranium occurs among fi- ities. Longer term, the surge of buy-
nium Trust, began trading on the Why the rally? Jonathan Hinze, nancial players such as traders and ing could reflect a belief that the
30
Toronto Stock Exchange on July 19. president of uranium market re- banks, according to Mr. Hinze. In global green energy transition will
It started an at-the-market equity search firm UxC, said that there other words, the commodity’s rally require more nuclear energy, and
issuance of $300 million in mid- has generally been more interest itself doesn’t necessarily reflect thus more uranium mining. RBC an-
August and in less than a month in uranium this year driven by de- changes in the underlying supply alyst Andrew Wong wrote in a re-
25 raised $244.7 million. Last Friday, mand for investments meeting en- and demand dynamics today. search note that the uranium mar-
the fund increased its authorized vironmental, social and governance The rally could even hurt min- ket will be “in balance or in a slight
issuance by an additional $1 billion criteria. Other clean energy-related ers. Cameco, for example, buys deficit” through the mid-2020s,
20 to meet investor demand. commodities such as cobalt and uranium from the spot market to with a larger deficit forming in the
Uranium miners’ shares are as- copper have also seen price bumps cover some of its contracts with late-2020s as new reactors come
cending alongside the commodity’s this year. Online hype has played a utility customers after it idled online—primarily in China.
15 Weekly rally. Canadian giant Cameco’s role too. WallStreetBets, the forum some mines. For 2021, Cameco ex- Those betting on a quick
shares are up 49% since the mu- that sent GameStop shares to the pects to buy between 11 million to turnaround in nuclear energy’s
2013 ’15 ’17 ’19 ’21
tual fund made its debut, while moon, has been filled with specu- 13 million pounds of uranium to outlook, however, may want to
Source: UxC NexGen Energy is up 64%. The lation about uranium recently. cover its obligations, though the take a U-turn here. —Jinjoo Lee
MARKETS
In Seoul
Ted Lasso is quite the eligible
bachelor, but he isn’t on Tinder,
Bumble or Hinge. He and other
characters on Apple TV+’s latest
streaming sensation are on Bantr,
Investors are selling technology a fictional dating app centered on
stocks in a major Asian economy playful conversation rather than
on regulatory worries just as one traditional selfies and swipes.
of the country’s biggest online And while you can’t buy a piece
payment companies is about to go of Bantr, you can still bet on love
public. China? No, it’s South Korea. the Lasso Way by exploring the
Shares of South Korean internet growing list of fringe dating apps.
companies took a hit last week af- The sector is unique in that con-
ter the country’s financial regula- sumers use several apps at a time.
tors said fintech platforms selling Since January 2019, App Annie
products like insurance or funds data show U.S. users have spent a
aren’t mere advertisers, but have collective average of 7.4 million
to get financial licenses, too. hours on dating apps a month on
Shares of Kakao, which owns Android phones alone. It may seem
South Korea’s largest messaging daunting to compete against the
app, are down 20% since Sept. 6. likes of dating giants Match Group
KakaoBank is down 17%. The mo- and Bumble, which collectively
bile-only bank went public last boast more than $50 billion in fully
month and has become the coun- diluted market value, but plenty of
try’s most valuable listed financial businesses are trying.
company. Kakao’s payment unit Even lesser known apps aren’t
Kakao Pay is planning an initial so small. Coffee Meets Bagel,
public offering in October. Shares which hits users with algorithmi-
of Naver, another internet giant, cally curated matches every day at
fell 10% over the same period. noon, says it has made over 130
Foreign investors were quick to million matches since its launch in
run for the exits. They net sold 2012. Hily, which works to make it
around $1 billion of South Korean easier to start conversations, says
APPLE TV+
shares last week, according to it now has more than 22 million
Goldman Sachs. They are probably users. Snack, which is focused on
haunted by the specter of an ac- video-first dating, was the 10th While the Bantr app on 'Ted Lasso' is fictional, investors see big potential in online dating’s smaller rivals.
tion similar to the one happening most-downloaded dating app in
in China. Shares of Chinese e-com- the U.S. last month, according to nie data showed Hinge saw just ample, did $233 million in revenue doesn’t disclose Tinder’s total us-
merce giant Alibaba have nearly App Annie. Ashley Madison, among around 100,000 U.S. downloads in last year—just over the roughly ers, but it is estimated to have
halved from their peak last year, the top 20 downloaded dating apps January 2018. By March 2021, it $200 million that Match has hinted about 70 million of them. Of those,
for example. in the U.S. last month, is for those was seeing closer to 600,000. Hinge is on track to deliver this just 9.6 million were paying for
The financial impact of the new in a relationship or marriage look- Match said Hinge expanded year. Spark operates 13 brands, in- service on the app, according to
fintech rules shouldn’t be big, but ing for…something else. revenue 150% in the second quar- cluding Christian Mingle, JDate Match’s second-quarter results.
the worry is that more rules could They get even more granular. ter and is on track to more than and Zoosk. With a portfolio skewed Smaller companies might one
be coming and could broaden to The League says its matchmakers double revenue this year after tri- toward older users, the company day turn out to be gems in their
the whole internet sector. Some are Ivy League educated while pling it last year. says it has 30% market share in own right, but most aren’t there
South Korean politicians have Raya blurs the lines between dat- Match bought Hinge in part to online dating among those 45-plus. yet. Spark, for example, put up an
raised concerns about alleged anti- ing and professional networking diversify away from its hookup app And then there is eHarmony adjusted earnings before interest,
competitive practices by big tech and is so exclusive it is said to be Tinder because people’s dating owner ParshipMeet, which Reuters taxes, depreciation and amortiza-
recently and the impact on small graced by celebrities. Bristlr is an needs change over time. It oper- reported earlier this month is pre- tion margin of about 16% last
businesses. app for bearded people looking for ates smaller apps in which it sees paring for a 2022 public offering. year—well below Bumble’s 26%
With the very different political beard lovers, Lawyr is an app for big potential such as black singles That company operates eight total and Match’s 37%. But if it takes off,
system in South Korea, any new legal professionals, and Gutsy is app BLK and Latino dating app brands with a focus on the U.S., investors buying in now would get
regulatory actions there are un- an app for those with digestive Chispa, both of which it developed U.K. and continental Europe. In the it on the cheap: Spark’s shares
likely to be as swift and sweeping problems. in-house. It also bought a Cairo- second quarter it had €139 million, fetch less than five times enter-
as those in China. But tech inves- Some just need a larger plat- based Islamic dating app in 2019. equivalent to $164.2 million, in prise value to forward Ebitda.
tors already thoroughly trauma- form to help them take off. Con- With that in mind, investors revenue, according to its majority Match and Bumble trade at an av-
tized by the action in Beijing sider millennial-focused relation- would be wise to keep tabs on on- shareholder’s half-yearly financial erage of around 36 times.
should keep a close watch on ship app Hinge, in which Match line dating’s smaller players, some report. Investing in love may be tricky,
Seoul as well. took a majority stake in 2018 be- of which are publicly traded. Ber- The dating game is hard work, but finding it can really pay off.
—Jacky Wong fore acquiring it in 2019. App An- lin-based Spark Networks, for ex- even for market leaders. Match —Laura Forman
All investing involves risks, including loss of principal. TD Ameritrade, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC a subsidiary of the Charles Schwab Corporation. © 2021 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. All rights reserved.
.
Helping 17 million
small businesses
connect with
customers
With a free Business Profile on
Google, small businesses like
Colony Pumpkin Patch in North
Liberty, Iowa are connecting with
customers across Google Search
and Maps.
Colony
Pumpkin Patch