* * * * * WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXVI NO. 148 WSJ.com HHHH $4 .00

DJIA 30015.51 g 200.94 0.7% NASDAQ 12807.92 À 0.5% STOXX600 391.25 À 1.2% 10-YR. TREAS. À 7/32 , yield 0.917% OIL $47.02 g $0.95 GOLD $1,866.60 g $12.60 EURO $1.2162 YEN 103.64

WalmartSued byU.S. OverOpioidEpidemicRetailer says the DEAis to blame for lettingsome doctorsoverprescribe drugs

RECESSION

2010 ’12 ’14 ’16 ’18 ’20

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index (1985=100)

Source: The Conference Board

BY DANA MATTIOLI

Volcano Spews Back to Life on Hawaii’s Big Island

HOT SPOT: A handout photo made available by the U.S. Geological Survey on Tuesday shows the view of the new eruptionsite in the mouth of the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island. The volcano hadn’t erupted since 2018.

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Hunter Biden ramped upbusiness activities with Euro-pean and Chinese tycoons ashis father exited the vice pres-idency four years ago. For himit was a potential path to in-come; for the tycoons, the Bi-den family name promised toburnish their reputations.

The dealings got the youn-ger Mr. Biden a discountedstake in a private-equity firmin China and consulting ar-

rangements with a Romanianproperty magnate and overallallowed him to maintain aglobe-trotting lifestyle, ac-cording to interviews, docu-ments and communications re-viewed by The Wall StreetJournal.

A Chinese energy tycoongave Mr. Biden a 2.8 carat dia-mond, and entities linked tohim wired nearly $5 million toMr. Biden’s law firm, accord-ing to an investigation by Sen-ate Republicans.

PleaseturntopageA6

BY JAMES T. AREDDYAND ANDREW DUEHREN

Now There’sA Line forEverything

i i i

Capacity limits givevelvet-rope feel

to shoe stores, gymsBY TE-PING CHEN

Barbara Ann Rogers, 61,was shopping for stationery,aware that others were watch-ing.

She had waited in line for15 minutes on a cold day toget into a tiny Brooklyn statio-nery shop, which had cappedcapacity at just one customeras a coronavirus safety pre-caution. Now she was thestore’s sole customer, examin-ing racks of pens and note-books, conscious of others stilllined up outside in their win-ter coats, peering within.

After 10 minutes, she madea small purchase and exited. “Ijust wanted a new notebook,”says Ms. Rogers, a real-estatebroker, adding that she felt a

PleaseturntopageA5

PERSONAL JOURNALReaders share storiesof the best advice theyreceived from their

elders. A11

SPORTSNo practice, no

problem as NFL teamslearn they can do more

with less. A14

WASHINGTON—The Trumpadministration sued WalmartInc. Tuesday, accusing the re-tail giant of helping to fuel thenation’s opioid crisis by inade-quately screening for ques-tionable prescriptions despiterepeated warnings from itsown pharmacists.

The Justice Department’ssuit claims Walmart sought toboost profits by understaffingits pharmacies and pressuringemployees to fill prescriptionsquickly. That made it difficultfor pharmacists to reject in-valid prescriptions, enablingwidespread drug abuse nation-wide, the lawsuit alleges.

Walmart responded in apublic filing, saying the law-suit “invents a legal theorythat unlawfully forces pharma-cists to come between patientsand their doctors, and is rid-dled with factual inaccuraciesand cherry-picked documentstaken out of context.”

“Blaming pharmacists fornot second-guessing the verydoctors [the Drug EnforcementAdministration] approved toprescribe opioids is a transpar-ent attempt to shift blamefrom DEA’s well-documentedfailures in keeping bad doctorsfrom prescribing opioids in the

PleaseturntopageA2

BY TIMOTHY PUKOAND SADIE GURMAN

President Trump on Tues-day granted 15 pardons andfive commutations to individ-uals including a former cam-paign adviser whose activi-ties set off the Russiainvestigation, three formercongressmen and several for-mer military contractors con-victed of wartime killing ofIraqi civilians.

The list was the first in awave of pardons the presi-dent is expected to announcein his final weeks in office.

Mr. Trump has discussedwith advisers the prospect ofpardoning several individualsinvolved in the Russia inves-tigation as well as membersof his family and his personalattorney, Rudy Giuliani.

Among those he pardonedon Tuesday was George Papa-dopoulos, his former cam-

paign adviser whose bar sidecomments to an Australiandiplomat helped trigger whatwould become Robert Muel-ler’s Russia investigation.

He also granted clemencyto former New York Rep.Chris Collins, former Califor-nia Rep. Duncan Hunter andformer Texas Rep. SteveStockman, all Republicans.

Mr. Collins pleaded guiltylast year to conspiracy tocommit securities fraud and

lying to law-enforcement offi-cials, while Mr. Hunterpleaded guilty to one count ofcampaign-finance violations.

Mr. Stockman was sen-tenced to 10 years in prisonin 2018 for misuse of charita-ble funds. Messrs. Collins and

PleaseturntopageA4

BY REBECCA BALLHAUSAND BYRON TAU

Trump Pardons 15, IncludingCampaign, Blackwater Figures

ConsumersWary on RecoveryA drop in consumer confidence and a decline in home salesare the latest signs of worries for the economy. A3

Amazon’s Problem: It’s aGiant Acting Like a Startup

Jeff Bezos competes with the drive of a small-firm CEO trying to survive

Jeff Bezos built Amazon.com Inc. from hisgarage with an underdog’s ambition to takeon the establishment. He imbued staff withan obsession to grow fast by grabbing cus-tomers using the biggest selection and low-est prices. Today, he has more than 1.1 mil-lion employees and a market valuationaround $1.6 trillion.

But Amazon never really grew up. Mr. Be-zos still runs it with the drive of a startuptrying to survive.

That ethos helps keep Amazon booming.Aggressive competition—including wresting

market share from rivals—is often a hall-mark of a successful business. It’s also whythe tech-and-retail giant is the target of ri-vals, regulators and politicians who say itstactics are unfair for a company its size, andpotentially illegal. As the company hasgrown, so has its capacity to take on anever-growing array of competitors.

To keep customers happy, which Mr. Be-zos has long said is Amazon’s fixation andgrowth strategy, executives behind thescenes have methodically waged targetedcampaigns against rivals and partnersalike—an approach that has changed little

PleaseturntopageA10

President says Covid aid billisn’t enough................................ A4

Biden vows tough response tosuspected Russian hack...... A4

For Hunter Biden, FamilyName Aided Foreign Deals

INSIDE

Heard on the Street: Appleneeds one more thing........ B12

Tesla Inc.’s effort to bringout its Model 3 brought theelectric car company near col-lapse in 2018. Now Chief Execu-tive Elon Musk has divulged anew twist: He says he contactedhis Apple Inc. counterpart, TimCook, to save his company.

“During the darkest days of

the Model 3 program, Ireached out to Tim Cook todiscuss the possibility of Ap-ple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 ofour current value),” Mr. Musksaid in a tweet on Tuesday.But the Apple CEO, he said,“refused to take the meeting.”

Mr. Musk revealed the lat-est detail as he questioned theseriousness of Apple’s plans to

bring out an electric car of itsown, amid a new report thecompany is pushing for 2024production.

On Twitter, Mr. Musk calledthe report “strange, if true.”

Tesla has built a brand foritself as a Silicon Valley automaker offering high-tech carswith promises of fully self-driv-ing technology on the near ho-

rizon. The specter of a driver-less, electric car made by techgiant Apple could prove thekind of fierce competition thattraditional auto makers, such asGeneral Motors Co. and Volks-wagen AG, have yet to muster.

PleaseturntopageA2

BY TIM HIGGINS

Musk Says He Sought Tesla Sale to Apple

Sacklers debated suit risk toopioid fortune in 2007.......... A2

CONTENTSArts in Review... A13Business News... B3,5Crossword.............. A14Markets..................... B11Heard on Street... B12Opinion.............. A15-17

Personal Journal A11-12Property Report... B6Sports....................... A14Technology............... B4U.S. News............. A2-7Weather................... A14World News....... A8-9

s 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.All Rights Reserved

>

What’sNews

Trump granted 15 par-dons and five commutationsto individuals including a for-mer campaign adviser whoseactivities set off the Russiainvestigation, three formercongressmen and severalformer military contrac-tors convicted of wartimekilling of Iraqi civilians. A1 The president criticizedthe coronavirus relief dealpassed by Congress andcalled for lawmakers to in-crease direct payments toAmericans to $2,000. A4 The federal governmentis advancing toward a dealwith Pfizer to secure 100mil-lionmore doses of the com-pany’s Covid-19 vaccine. A7France and Britain saidtheywould reopen their bor-der to trucks from theU.K. af-ter the frontierwas closeddueto a variant of the coronavi-rus that has hit England. A8 Biden promised a force-ful response to the sus-pected Russian hack of thefederal government andfaulted Trump for not pri-oritizing cybersecurity. A4 The president-elect saidhe would nominate Con-necticut education chiefMiguel Cardona to be U.S.education secretary. A5 California Gov. Newsomnamed Alex Padilla, thestate’s secretary of state,to fill Vice President-electHarris’s U.S. Senate seat. A4 Israel’s parliament wasdissolved after theNetanyahu-led unity government failedto pass a newbudget, sendingthe country to a fourth elec-tion in less than two years.A9

The Trump administrationsued Walmart, accusing

the retail giant of helping tofuel the opioid crisis by in-adequately screening forquestionable prescriptionsdespite repeated warningsfrom its own pharmacists. A1 Elon Musk said that hehad reached out to TimCook about the possibilityof Apple buying Tesla whenthe effort to bring out theModel 3 pushed the electriccar maker near collapse. A1 The nation’s drugstoresand groceries are rushingto hire pharmacists andpharmacy technicians toadminister Covid-19 vacci-nations to the masses. A7Airlines are preparing tocall back tens of thousands ofworkers they had let go, af-ter Congress approved as-sistance to cover payrollsthrough the end ofMarch. B1 U.S. stocks were mixed,with the Dow and S&P 500losing 0.7% and 0.2%, re-spectively, while the Nasdaqrose 0.5% to a record. B11 States across the U.S.have received millions ofunemployment-insurancerequests that officials be-lieve to be tied to fraud. A2 Foot traffic to physicalstores fell 39.1% on Super Sat-urday and was down nearly40% for the weekend froma year earlier, data show. B1 Existing-home sales inNovember fell 2.5% fromOctober, marking the firstdecline in six months. A3 IAC plans to spin off on-line-video platform Vimeoas an independent publiccompany next year. B3

Business&Finance

World-Wide

P2JW358000-5-A00100-17FFFF5178F

A2 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

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A wave of attempted fraudis hitting state unemploymentbenefits programs after theystruggled to process record-high claims from layoffs dur-ing the economic turbulencetriggered by the pandemic.

States across the country—

including California, Louisi-ana, Illinois, Maryland andothers—have collectively re-ceived millions of unemploy-ment insurance requests thatofficials believe to be tied tofraud, with losses likely in thebillions of dollars.

More than $500 billion inregular and pandemic-relatedunemployment aid has beendistributed so far, according toTreasury Department data.

The nation’s unemploymentinsurance systems are runthrough a patchwork of state-run programs where fraud has“dramatically increased duringthe pandemic,” a U.S. Labor De-partment spokeswoman said.

The department, which ad-ministers federal componentsof aid programs in addition tocompiling data on state bene-fits, said thieves have targetedtemporary pandemic-relatedprograms extending unemploy-ment aid to millions of workers.The department is workingwith states to track denialswhere identities couldn’t beverified, the spokeswoman said.

Thieves often use stolen So-cial Security numbers, birthdates and other personal in-formation to apply for bene-fits. Fraud has led states totemporarily freeze unemploy-ment payments, at times af-fecting hundreds of thousandsof claims, including legitimateones for laid-off workers.

Illinois has detected andblocked 341,000 fraudulentclaims during the pandemic,while Michigan has fieldedmore than 190,000 reportssince March. In Arkansas, Lit-tle Rock police said they havebeen inundated with unem-ployment fraud reports.

By Sarah ChaneyCambon, Alejandro

Lazo and Paul Kiernan

JoblessProgramsAre HitBy Fraud

Tove Jansson’s last namewas misspelled as Jannson inthe credit with a photo of herpainting “Lynx Boa” that ac-companied the Flower Schoolcolumn in Saturday’s Off Dutysection.

Notice to readersWall Street Journal staff

members are working remotelyduring the pandemic. For theforeseeable future, please sendreader comments only byemail or phone, using the con-tacts below, not via U.S. Mail.

CORRECTIONSAMPLIFICATIONS

Readers can alert The Wall StreetJournal to any errors in news articlesby emailing wsjcontact@wsj.com or

by calling 888-410-2667.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30million

Regular stateprograms

Extendedbenefits*

Pandemicassistance†

Other

Number of people claimingunemployment benefits,by program

Source: Labor Department

*Reflects Pandemic Emergency UnemploymentCompensation for those who exhausted otherprograms. †Reflects Pandemic UnemploymentAssistance for self-employed and others nottypically eligible.

Jan. Nov.

U.S. NEWS

and remains a director, isamong hundreds of emails andother documents recently un-sealed in Purdue Pharma’sbankruptcy case at the requestof The Wall Street Journal andother news organizations rep-resented by attorneys at thenonprofit Reporters Commit-tee for Freedom of the Press.

A committee of Purduecreditors investigating theSacklers says the records sup-ply evidence for their probeinto whether Sackler familymembers unlawfully moved$10.3 billion in profits out ofthe company from 2008 to2017 to thwart future judg-ments, an allegation the Sack-lers deny. Purdue is trying toresolve those lawsuits throughbankruptcy.

Those dividend distribu-tions have become a flashpointin bankruptcy court and inhundreds of lawsuits filedagainst Purdue by states andmunicipalities. They accuse thecompany of fueling an opioidaddiction crisis that has killed450,000 people in the U.S.

The creditors contend thatthe company’s legal exposurewas so large that it was effec-

tively insolvent for years be-fore it filed for bankruptcy,which they argue makes anydividend payment to the Sack-lers improper. The Sacklersdeny the company was insol-vent and say the allegationisn’t supported by documentsthe committee cites.

Family members descendedfrom the late co-foundersMortimer and Raymond Sack-

ler and who now own the com-pany said they supported thedocuments being released. APurdue spokeswoman said thecompany cooperated in turn-ing over documents.

Attorneys for Mr. Boer andPurdue say he was an outsiderwithout knowledge of Purdue’sownership structure when hewrote the memo and that nochanges were made in re-

sponse to it.Sackler family members said

the internal documents showthe distributions they collectedwere legitimate, that they al-ways left hundreds of millionsof dollars in cash in the com-pany business, and that theystopped receiving dividendsonce they knew the severity ofthe lawsuits the companyfaced. Family members re-tained less than half of themoney being questioned, thefamily has said in court filings,with $4.7 billion going to paytaxes and $1.5 billion investedin international ventures.

David Sackler, a formerPurdue board member andgrandson of Raymond Sackler,told a House committee lastweek that family membersdidn’t anticipate the wave oflitigation that began in 2017.

Purdue pleaded guiltyagain in November, admittingto three felonies brought bythe U.S. Justice Department,including illegal kickbacksand deceiving drug-enforce-ment officials. Sackler familymembers agreed to a $225million civil settlement withthe Justice Department at the

same time, without admittingany liability.

The Sacklers have offered a$3 billion settlement to resolvethe lawsuits filed by states andlocal governments and totransform the company into apublic-benefit corporationowned by its creditors. Somecreditors want more money,saying there is strong evidencethe Sacklers “perceived andfeared” the threat of ruinouslitigation when they took divi-dends from Purdue, leaving itinsolvent and unable to coverthe full costs of the damage tocommunities from addiction.

The unsealed documentsshow the Sacklers discussedPurdue’s legal exposure anddebated how to respond toopioid-related liabilities beforeand after the 2007 guilty pleaand $634.5 million settlement.

In November 2006, Jona-than Sackler wrote in an emailto his brother Richard that thepharmaceutical industry hadbeen “enshrined as a perma-nent whipping boy” for politi-cians, regulators and lawyersand cautioned that “gettingcaught in the crossfire of thewar on drugs is obviously a

huge risk.”“Contingent liabilities con-

tinue to hover over the busi-ness,” he said.

Less than six months later,Jonathan Sackler againemailed family members about“a number of risks” that“we’re not really braced for,”including “[t]he emergence ofnumerous new lawsuits.” Hewrote: “If there’s a future per-ception that Purdue hasscrewed up on compliance, wecould get murdered.”

Days after the 2007 pleadeal, David Sackler, then a 27-year-old hedge-fund employee,asked his father, Richard, aboard member, and uncle Jon-athan, “how long it will takethese lawyers to figure outthat we might settle withthem if they can freeze our as-sets and threaten us.”

“[W]e’re living in America,”David Sackler wrote in anemail to them. “This is theland of the free and the homeof the blameless. We will besued.” Sackler family lawyerspointed to an email his unclesent earlier that day: “[Y]oushould rest assured that thereis no basis to sue ‘the family.’”

In July 2007, a few monthsafter Purdue Pharma pleadedguilty to federal charges ofmisleading the public aboutthe addictive risks of OxyCon-tin, a confidential memowarned one of the company’sowners that its assets werebest protected overseas.

The family-owned companyfaced “uncapped liabilities”and had to protect itself fromthe risk of a wave of lawsuitsakin to the decadeslong asbes-tos litigation, said the memo,written by Peter Boer, then anadviser to Jonathan Sackler,the Purdue co-owner and aboard member.

“For the family, it may bethat overseas assets with lim-ited transparency and jurisdic-tional shielding from U.S.judgments will be less attrac-tive to litigants than domesticassets,” Mr. Boer wrote in thememo to Mr. Sackler, analyz-ing a possible sale of Purdue.

The memo by Mr. Boer, whojoined Purdue’s board in 2008

By Jonathan Randles,Sara Randazzo

and Andrew Scurria

Sacklers Debated Suit Risk to Opioid Fortune in ’07

headed up by Doug Field, alongtime Apple executive wholeft the company for about fiveyears to work at Tesla, wherehe oversaw the development ofthe Model 3. He left in 2018and returned to Apple, wherehe began work on the car proj-ect.

Apple declined to comment.Mr. Musk on Tuesday didn’t

specify exactly when he ap-proached Mr. Cook.

Launched in 2017, the Model3 proved harder to build thanMr. Musk expected. Costly de-lays mounted before Teslaeventually worked throughproduction and delivery snagsin 2018, when it posted profit-able quarters in the secondhalf of that year. It continuedto struggle in the early part ofthe following year, however.

In August 2018, Mr. Muskshocked investors with theidea of taking the electric-carmaker private in what wouldhave been the biggest buyoutin history. Mr. Musk at thetime wrote on Twitter: “Amconsidering taking Tesla pri-vate at $420. Funding se-cured.” The deal didn’t happen,and the tweet spurred a Secu-rities and Exchange Commis-sion probe and legal battleswith the regulator.

As Mr. Musk tried to make adeal work to take Tesla private,his advisers sought fundingfrom several places, includingVolkswagen. He eventuallyscuttled his effort.

By the third quarter of 2019,Tesla had turned the cornerand kicked off a string of prof-itable quarters, exciting inves-

tors who have sent the com-pany’s shares soaring andmade the company the mostvaluable auto maker in theworld with a value of morethan $600 billion. It was addedto the S&P 500 index, a keybenchmark, on Monday.

Excitement around the com-pany has allowed Tesla to raisebillions of dollars for what Mr.Musk has described as his warchest.

Mr. Musk didn’t respond toquestions about his latesttweet.

The Model 3 wasn’t Tesla’sfirst troubled car introduc-tion—all vehicles up to thatpoint had been painful. Thecompany’s first vehicle, theRoadster sports car, almost ledto the company’s collapse in2008 and the Model S large se-dan in 2012 was also trouble-some. During that period, Mr.Musk turned to Google about apotential deal, people familiarwith the situation have said.

When sales of the Model Skicked in during the first quar-ter of 2013, Mr. Musk was ableto post the company’s firstquarterly profit and he quicklyraised more money amid theexcitement about the com-pany’s future.

Mr. Musk’s success withTesla has spurred investor en-thusiasm in electric cars andother advanced driving tech-nologies. It is also leading tomore competition for Tesla.Traditional car-making rivalsare ramping up their electric-vehicle efforts. And rivalsworking on self-driving cartechnology, such as WaymoLLC, a unit of Google’s parentAlphabet Inc. also are securingfunds to ramp up their activi-

ties. Amazon.com Inc. in Junesaid it was buying autonomouscar-developer Zoox.

Talk of an Apple-Tesla tieup has often circulated aroundSilicon Valley. During a 2015shareholder meeting, Mr. Cooksidestepped shareholderspushing for a deal. “Quitefrankly, I’d like to see you guysbuy Tesla,” one investor toldMr. Cook during the meeting—a sentiment met with laughterand applause.

Apple typically has es-chewed big acquisitions. Itbought Beats Electronics LLCfor $3 billion in 2014, thoughhas never done a transactionnear the scale of what Teslawould have cost. The car-mak-ing business is notorious forits high costs. Apple, though,has ample financial muscle.The company had around $192billion in cash and marketablesecurities on hand at the endof its latest financial year thatclosed in September.

Since his earliest days asCEO, Mr. Musk has turned toApple for key hires and inspi-ration from store designs, to alarge, flat-screen, touchpanelin the Model S. As Apple be-came more interested in cars, awar for talent ensued. Mr.Musk complained toBloomberg Businessweek in a2015 article that Apple wastrying to poach his engineerswith offers of $250,000 signingbonuses and 60% salary in-creases.

Still, it has been clear thatApple has been in Mr. Musk’ssights. That year, he also toldinvestors that he saw a pathfor Tesla by 2025 to be as valu-able as Apple was at the time,which then was $700 billion.

In 2014, Apple began work-ing on its own car project,dubbed Project Titan, details ofwhich emerged in early 2015.The project has gone in fitsand starts.

Apple has been makingplans to begin production of anelectric car as soon as 2024, aperson familiar with the effortsaid. Reuters earlier reportedthe new timeline.

The Apple project is being

ContinuedfromPageOne

Musk SaysHe SoughtTesla Sale

first place,” Walmart said, add-ing that it “always empoweredour pharmacists to refuse tofill problematic opioids pre-scriptions, and they refused tofill hundreds of thousands ofsuch prescriptions.”

The country’s largest re-tailer by revenue, Walmart hasbeen expecting this complaintand sued the federal govern-ment in October to fight the al-legations pre-emptively. Thatsuit accuses the Justice De-partment and DEA of attempt-ing to scapegoat the companyfor what it says are the federalgovernment’s own regulatoryand enforcement shortcomings.

The Justice Department’slawsuit alleges Walmart cre-ated a system that turned itsnetwork of 5,000 in-store U.S.pharmacies into a leading sup-plier of highly addictive pain-killers. The allegations date toJune 2013, according to thelawsuit.

“Many of these prescriptiondrugs would never have hitthe streets if Walmart phar-macies had complied withtheir obligations,” said MariaChapa Lopez, a U.S. attorneyin Tampa, Fla., who is one ofseveral prosecutors involvedin the suit.

Walmart started with cut-rate prices on opioids that ini-

ContinuedfromPageOne

tially drove shoppers to itsstores, the government alleges.Middle managers—under direc-tion from executives at com-pany headquarters—pressuredpharmacists to work faster, thesuit says, believing quick-fillprescriptions drew customersto stay and keep shopping.

Many of the alleged prob-lems centered in Walmart’scompliance unit, which over-saw dispensing nationwidefrom the company’s main officein Bentonville, Ark., the suitsays. Walmart allegedly ig-nored repeated warnings thatthe company had understaffedits pharmacies as pressure tosell quickly caused mistakesand put patients’ health at risk,according to the complaint.

Pharmacists allegedly gotlittle help from compliancemanagers who for years didn’t

share information betweenstores, and in many cases re-fused requests to give blanketrejections to suspect prescrib-ers even after rival retailershad done so, the suit says.

“Rather than analyzing therefusal-to-fill reports, thecompliance unit viewed‘[d]riving sales and patientawareness’ as ‘a far better useof our Market Directors andMarket Manager’s time,’ ” theJustice Department said, quot-ing a company compliance di-rector. “Given the nationwidescale of those violations, Wal-mart’s failures to follow basiclegal rules helped fuel a na-tional crisis.”

In one instance, the suitsays, pharmacists allegedlywarned superiors that Wal-mart stores in Texas and Okla-homa were “getting slammed”

by suspect prescriptions froma doctor in East Texas whowas under federal investiga-tion and that other stores hadcut off his clients. One of thepharmacists said the doctorrefused to answer questionsfrom the pharmacy.

In reply to one of the allegedwarnings, a Walmart compli-ance officer wrote in a 2014email that “an investigation ofitself is not a good reason todiscontinue filling legitimateprescriptions,” the suit says.

The government alleges thatWalmart pharmacies continuedfilling this doctor’s prescrip-tions for another three years—roughly 14,700 from 2014 to2017, an average of more than13 a day, for more than 1.5 mil-lion doses. The doctor waslater convicted of ControlledSubstances Act violations,

among other federal crimes,and sentenced to 20 years infederal prison, the suit said.

In its response, Walmartsaid that it blocked thousandsof questionable doctors fromhaving their opioid prescrip-tions filled at its pharmacies.

“By demanding pharmacistsand pharmacies second-guessdoctors, the Justice Depart-ment is putting pharmacistsand pharmacies between arock and a hard place withstate health regulators who saythey are already going too farin refusing to fill opioid pre-scriptions,” the company said.

In its own lawsuit, Walmartsaid nearly 70% of the doctorsthat the federal governmentidentified as problematic con-tinue to have active DEA regis-trations.

Walmart is one of severalother large companies thathave been targeted in suchlawsuits, filed by more thantwo dozen states and many lo-cal governments that claim ag-gressive marketing of painkill-ers helped fuel the crisis.

The Justice Departmentpreviously launched a parallelcriminal investigation, basedout of the U.S. attorney’s of-fice for the Eastern District ofTexas, related to Walmart’sdispensing of opioids. The de-partment decided in 2018against bringing charges, fo-cusing instead on a civil law-suit, according to a person fa-miliar with the matter.

The U.S. saw about 50,000fatal opioid overdoses in 2019,according to federal data, a re-cord high.

—Sarah Nassauercontributed to this article.

WalmartIs SuedBy U.S.

Walmart is accused of allowing its pharmacies to become a leading supplier of addictive painkillers.

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Amemowarned oneof Purdue’s ownersthat assets were bestprotected overseas.

P2JW358000-4-A00200-1--------XA

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, December 23, 2020 | A3

U.S. NEWS

MigrantsWaitFor Changes toAsylum Rules

Pedro Luis Ruiz, a Cuban migrant who has waited nearly two years for his asylum case to be heard, stands outside a shelter in Mexico.

PAULRA

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ARIZ .

100 miles100 km

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San Ysidro

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20 thousand105

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Nationality ofmigrantswithpending court cases

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Nationality ofmigrants notpresent at last hearing whoare believed to have given upand returned home

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Ecuador

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More than 69,000 foreigners have been sent back toMexico towait for U.S. court hearings. About 25,000still have cases pending.

Totalmigrants in theMigrant ProtectionProtocols program

“Without a doubt, there aretoo many buyers in relation tothe sellers,” said Lawrence Yun,NAR’s chief economist. “That isprobably the main driver as towhy the sales declined.”

Separately, U.S. consumers’outlook on the economy dark-ened in December as coronavi-rus cases climbed nationwide,the Conference Board, a privateresearch group, said Tuesday.

And economic growth in thesummer months was revisedslightly higher to a 33.4% an-nual pace, the Commerce De-partment said. The gain cameafter the economy contractedduring the first half of the year.Economists project a slower

pace of growth in the finalthree months of 2020.

Record-low interest rateshave boosted home-buying de-

mand in recent months. Exist-ing-home sales rose for fivestraight months through Octo-ber to the highest seasonallyadjusted annual rate since

2006. Fears of virus transmis-sion have made people wary ofputting their homes up for sale.

The supply of homes on themarket at the end of Novemberwas the lowest on record goingback to 1982. A widespreadshortage of homes for sale haspushed prices higher. The me-dian existing-home price rose14.6% from a year earlier to$310,800, NAR said.

The economy has shownsigns of cooling. Initial claimsfor jobless benefits, a proxy forlayoffs, rose in early Decemberto the highest level since Sep-tember. Private-sector data in-dicated the number of jobopenings slipped in this month.

And retail sales fell in Novem-ber for the second straightmonth. The Conference Boardsaid its consumer-confidenceindex fell to 88.6 in the firsttwo weeks of December, from arevised 92.9 in November.

“Consumers’ assessment ofcurrent conditions deterioratedsharply in December, as the re-surgence of Covid-19 remains adrag on confidence,” said LynnFranco, senior director of eco-nomic indicators at the Confer-ence Board. “It appears thatgrowth has weakened furtherin [the fourth quarter], andconsumers do not foresee theeconomy gaining any signifi-cant momentum in early 2021.”

Homes sales slipped in No-vember as the supply of prop-erties for sale fell to a new low,the latest sign strong economicmomentum in the middle of theyear is easing in 2020’s finalmonths.

Existing-home sales in No-vember fell 2.5% from Octoberto a seasonally adjusted annualrate of 6.69 million—the firstdecline in six months, the Na-tional Association of Realtorssaid. November sales of previ-ously owned homes, whichmake up most of the market,rose 25.8% from a year earlier.

BY NICOLE FRIEDMANAND GWYNN GUILFORD

Home Sales Decline for First Time in Six MonthsRECESSION

2018 20202019

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Number ofmonths itwouldtake to exhaust existing-homesupply at current sales pace

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CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico—Transition officials for the in-coming Biden administrationwarned that it would taketime to unwind the Trump ad-ministration’s asylum restric-

tions, even as they are poisedto begin processing some ofthe 25,000 migrants strandedin Mexico after taking office inJanuary.

As a candidate, President-elect Joe Biden vowed toquickly end the program knownas the Migrant Protection Pro-tocols, which has forced tens ofthousands of asylum seekersarriving at the U.S. border toreturn to Mexico and wait—sometimes for years—as theAmerican court system pro-cesses their requests.

But on Tuesday, Biden aidescautioned that ending the pro-gram, which they describe ashaving caused a humanitariancrisis, would take time. “Thetransformation that is reallyneeded at the border isn’t go-ing to happen overnight,”transition officials told report-ers during a conference call.

The cautionary note reflectssome of the difficult trade-offsthe new administration faceswhen it comes to immigration,including the challenge of roll-ing back some of the Trump-erarestrictions without promptingnew waves of migrants to ar-rive at the border from CentralAmerica and elsewhere.

This week, two top incomingadministration officials, JakeSullivan, Mr. Biden’s pick fornational security adviser, andSusan Rice, domestic policy ad-viser, told Spain’s news agencyEFE that Central Americans

shouldn’t view changes to im-migration rules as an open in-vitation to come to the border.

“Migrants and asylum seek-ers shouldn’t at all believe thepeople in the region who areselling the idea that the bor-der will suddenly be wideopen to process everyone onthe first day. It won’t be so,”Ms. Rice told EFE, citing thelogistical challenges of thepandemic and an overwhelmedborder system.

An estimated 25,000 asy-lum seekers are waiting inMexico, often in some of theworld’s most dangerous cities.The pandemic shut most U.S.courts that process asylum re-quests, prolonging a wait ofmonths into a year or longer.

While tens of thousands ofasylum seekers, mostly fromCentral America, have returnedhome, many others haven’t, in-cluding thousands from Cuba,Venezuela and Nicaragua flee-ing oppressive dictatorships.

The largest group com-prises thousands of Cubanslike Pedro Luis Ruiz, a politicalactivist who has been waitingin Mexico nearly two years. Hehad an initial court date in theU.S. in January, just before thepandemic. His second hearing,originally set for mid-June,has been canceled severaltimes. He is now scheduled tosee a judge in May.

Mr. Ruiz is relatively lucky:Other migrants have beengiven court dates later in 2021or even stretching into 2022,according to immigration law-yers and advocates.

“I won’t throw in the towel,much less now that there’s achange of administration inthe U.S.,” said Mr. Ruiz, whoadded that he can’t return toCuba because he belonged toan opposition political party

and faces persecution from theCommunist regime.

Transition officials saidthey plan to identify the mostvulnerable migrants in Mexico,with help from local aid or-ganizations, and allow thosepeople to come to the borderand be let into the U.S. wheretheir asylum cases can con-tinue. The officials said the Bi-den team is working on a planto ensure these migrants ar-rive at the border with a nega-tive Covid-19 test. But theystressed that not everyonewaiting will immediately be al-

lowed in—given the continu-ing public-health crisis andthe need to social distance in-side border facilities.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ruiz andothers have been forced to waitin border cities riven by orga-nized crime—some with travelwarnings from the U.S. StateDepartment equivalent to thosegiven to Syria or Afghanistan.

Migrants have been routinelytargeted by criminal cartels andbecame victims of violentcrimes or kidnappings, accord-ing to human-rights groups.

“People who are already in

the program should be allowedinto the U.S. to pursue theirclaims—so they’re not sub-jected to any more danger,”said Shaw Drake, policy counselat the American Civil LibertiesUnion’s Border Rights Center.

The program was launchedin 2019 as the Trump adminis-tration sought to curb a surgeof Central American familiesseeking asylum. Officials saidthey wanted to end what theydescribed as a legal loopholefor economic migrants tofalsely claim asylum as theeasiest way in the U.S.

Prior to the change, mi-grants who requested asylumgenerally were allowed intothe U.S. to work legally whiletheir claims wound their waythrough the courts. Even ifthose claims were eventuallyturned down—on average,roughly 85% of Central Ameri-can asylum claims are re-jected—migrants could returnhome with a nest egg.

There is a pending SupremeCourt case about the legalityof the program, which thecourt could take up early in2021.

By Michelle Hackman,Santiago Pérez

and Alicia A. Caldwell

Separately, U.S.consumers’ outlookon the economydarkened thismonth.

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From top to bottom, former Trump campaign adviser GeorgePapadopoulos served jail time for lying to investigators in theRussia investigation, and former Reps. Chris Collins (R., N.Y.) andDuncan Hunter (R., Calif.) pleaded guilty in corruption cases.

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Mr. Biden declined to elaborate,saying he didn’t want to tele-graph options for the adversary.

Speaking in Wilmington,Del., Mr. Biden said that he be-lieved Russia was responsiblefor the hack, which involvedcorrupting a software updateprovided by the network-man-agement company SolarWindsthat enabled hackers to infil-trate scores of computer sys-tems without detection. Solar-Winds boasts customers acrossthe federal government and U.S.businesses, giving the hackers arange of espionage targets.

The president-elect blamedMr. Trump for an insufficientfocus on cybersecurity, notingthe elimination two years agoof a White House cybersecu-rity coordinator position andan effort to downgrade cyber-security efforts at the StateDepartment. “The Trump ad-ministration failed to priori-tize cybersecurity,” Mr. Bidensaid. “This happened on Don-ald Trump’s watch.”

A White House National Se-curity Council spokesmandidn’t respond to a request tocomment.

dozen officials had engaged intreason because they “aidedand abetted the fraudulentelection against” Mr. Trump.

The website, which is nolonger online, featuredcrosshairs over photos of peo-ple it said should be targetedfor reprisal because they de-fended the election result de-claring President-elect Joe Bi-den the winner as legitimate. Italso included photos of homesand street addresses where theindividuals lived as well as per-sonal email addresses.

The FBI declined to com-ment. The bureau was in theprocess of briefing targeted in-

dividuals and planned an an-nouncement with the Cyberse-curity and InfrastructureSecurity Agency on Wednesday,the people said. The Washing-ton Post earlier reported thatthe FBI had concluded Iran wasresponsible for the operation.

A spokesman for the Iranianmission to the United Nationsdidn’t respond to a request forcomment.

There is no evidence ofwidespread fraud in the 2020election, and various federaland state organizations havesaid the contest was the mostsecure in U.S. history.

The attempt to promote po-

Leaders in the Latino com-munity had argued that thegroup’s sheer numbers—40%of the state’s population andgrowing—and the role itsgrowth played in turning Cali-fornia solidly blue warranted aseat in the Senate.

As Mr. Padilla, 47 years old,emerged as a front-runner inrecent weeks, several groupsof activists, church leaders andpoliticians mobilized in an at-tempt to convince Mr. Newsomto instead appoint a Blackwoman. They pointed to thefact that Ms. Harris’s depar-ture will leave no other Blackwomen in the U.S. Senate. Rep.Karen Bass, who was widelydiscussed as a possible candi-date for the post, said allowingthat to happen would be“shameful.” Rep. Barbara Leehad also expressed interest.

“Gavin Newsom made a dis-

appointing decision that leavesus with one less woman andnot a single Black woman inthe U.S. Senate,” said Aimee Al-lison, founder of She the Peo-ple, a group aimed at boostingwomen of color in politics.

Mr. Newsom said Tuesday hewould nominate Shirley Weber,a member of the Californiastate Assembly, to fill Mr. Pa-dilla’s position. She would beCalifornia’s first Black secretaryof state.

The Senate seat is safelyDemocratic and Mr. Padilla willhave to run for it in 2022; hefiled paperwork Tuesday withthe Federal Election Commis-sion to create a campaign com-mittee.

U.S. NEWS

The president’s announce-ment stunned Washington,where Monday’s vote on thedeal—with concessions fromboth parties—had capped a bit-ter, monthslong fight. Demo-crats said they would press topass more assistance next year.

Mr. Trump’s resistance islikely to delay payments toAmericans, upending a plan un-veiled by Treasury SecretarySteven Mnuchin—a key negoti-ator on the package—for thefirst batch to go out at the be-ginning of next week.

The legislation, which in-cludes a $900 billion in corona-virus relief, as well as $1.4 tril-lion spending bill funding thegovernment through Septem-ber, passed both chambers bywide margins—92-6 in the Sen-ate and 359-53 in the House—

and had been expected to besigned by the president. If hevetoes the bill, lawmakerswould need to either pass newlegislation meeting his demandfor larger stimulus checks orvote to override his veto—which requires a two-thirdsthreshold in each chamber.

Both chambers on Mondayalso passed a seven-day exten-sion of government funding,which Mr. Trump signed. If Mr.Trump doesn’t sign the aidpackage or have a veto overrid-den by next Monday the govern-ment could shut down briefly. IfMr. Trump doesn’t sign or vetothe bill within 10 days after itspassage, it would become lawwithout his signature.

The president’s tweet sur-prised many of his own aides,following a lengthy process in

which Mr. Trump had playedlittle role in the negotiations.Aides said they view the tweetmore as the president voicinghis displeasure with the billthan an actual veto threat. Oneaide said Mr. Trump’s an-nouncement amounted to an ef-fort to make Congress squirm.

Most lawmakers have al-ready left Washington for theholidays after the bill passed.

The White House didn’t re-spond to a question aboutwhether the president plannedto veto the bill. But the presi-dent—who is scheduled toleave Washington on Wednes-day to spend the holidays at hisFlorida resort, Mar-a-Lago—in-dicated he wouldn’t sign thecurrent version.

“I am also asking Congressto immediately get rid of the

wasteful and unnecessary itemsfrom this legislation, and tosend me a suitable bill, or elsethe next administration willhave to deliver a Covid reliefpackage,” he said. “And maybethat administration will be me,and we will get it done.” Hewill leave office Jan. 20.

The bill passed by Congressapproved another round of di-rect checks of $600 per adultand $600 per child, adds $300to weekly unemployment pay-ments for 11 weeks and extendstwo other unemployment pro-grams, supplies more than$300 billion in relief for smallbusinesses, including a secondround of the Paycheck Protec-tion Program, and pours morethan $50 billion into distribut-ing coronavirus vaccines, aswell as testing and tracing ef-

forts. The stimulus payments toindividuals in the bill weresmaller than the $1,200 and$500 payments in the spring.

Mr. Trump’s statements metresistance from some of hisGOP allies on Capitol Hill. “The#COVID19 package, while im-perfect, will save jobs and lives.The sooner the bill becomeslaw—the better,” Sen. LindseyGraham (R., S.C.) tweeted.

Democrats said Mr. Trumpshould sign the bill and thenwork with them to pass addi-tional aid. “We spent monthstrying to secure $2000 checksbut Republicans blocked it,”Senate Minority Leader ChuckSchumer (D., N.Y.) tweeted.“Trump needs to sign the bill tohelp people and keep the gov-ernment open and we’re glad topass more aid Americans need.”

President Trump on Tuesdaycriticized the roughly $900 bil-lion coronavirus relief dealpassed by Congress, saying thebill has “almost nothing to dowith Covid” and calling for law-makers to increase direct pay-ments to Americans to $2,000from $600.

“I am asking Congress toamend this bill and increase theridiculously low $600 to $2,000or $4,000 for a couple,” he saidin a tweeted video.

BY REBECCA BALLHAUSAND KRISTINA PETERSON

Trump Says Covid Aid Bill Not EnoughPresident calls onCongress to boostrelief checks, raisingdoubt on deal’s fate

Gov. Gavin Newsom namedCalifornia Secretary of StateAlex Padilla to fill the Senateseat being vacated by VicePresident-elect Kamala Harris,giving the state its first-everLatino senator.

Ms. Harris, the second non-white senator elected to repre-sent California, is set to vacatethe seat when she takes higheroffice on Jan. 20 and Mr.Newsom had been under in-tense pressure to appoint aperson of color to replace her.

“Through his tenacity, integ-rity, smarts and grit, Californiais gaining a tested fighter intheir corner who will be afierce ally in D.C., lifting up ourstate’s values and making surewe secure the critical resourcesto emerge stronger from thispandemic,”Mr. Newsom said ofMr. Padilla.

Mr. Padilla previously servedeight years in the state Senate,where he built a reputation asa business-friendly moderate,before being elected as secre-tary of state in 2014. He wasre-elected in 2018. Some Cali-fornia activists lobbied againsthis selection for Ms. Harris’sseat because they believed hewasn’t liberal enough.

He has been a longtime allyof Mr. Newsom, chairing hisshort-lived first run for gover-nor in 2010. California’s othersenator, Dianne Feinstein, forwhom Mr. Padilla once worked,had endorsed him for the seat.

“From those struggling tomake ends meet to the smallbusinesses fighting to keeptheir doors open to the health-care workers looking for relief,please know that I am going tothe Senate to fight for you,”Mr. Padilla said. “We will getthrough this pandemic to-gether and rebuild our econ-omy in a way that doesn’tleave working families behind.”

BY CHRISTINE MAI-DUCAND NATALIE ANDREWS

Padilla NamedTo Fill Harris’sSeat in Senate

Hunter received pardons,while Mr. Stockman’s sen-tence was commuted.

The White House said thepardons for Messrs. Collinsand Hunter had been re-quested by many members ofCongress.

Mr. Trump also pardonedfour military contractors ac-cused of killing more than adozen Iraqi civilians in a2007 incident in a Baghdadtraffic circle at the height ofthe Iraq war, an internationalincident that badly strainedU.S.-Iraq relations.

Paul Slough, Evan Libertyand Dustin Heard were con-victed in 2014 of manslaugh-ter, while a fourth contractor,Nicholas Slatten, was foundguilty of murder in a 2018trial.

All four at the time workedfor Blackwater USA, a privatefirm that was contracted tooffer support for U.S. militarypersonnel in Iraq and else-where.

The company at the timewas owned by Trump allyErik Prince. Mr. Prince’s sis-ter, Betsy DeVos, serves asMr. Trump’s secretary of edu-cation.

In a statement released bythe White House, press secre-tary Kayleigh McEnany saidMr. Papadopoulos had beencharged with a “process-re-lated crime” and that his par-don “helps correct the wrongthat Mueller’s team inflictedon so many people.”

Mr. Papadopoulos was sen-tenced to two weeks in prisonin September 2018.

Democratic lawmakerscriticized the president’s par-don announcement. “Trumpis doling out pardons, not onthe basis of repentance, resti-tution or the interests of jus-tice, but to reward his friendsand political allies, to protectthose who lie to cover uphim, to shelter those guilty ofkilling civilians, and to under-mine an investigation thatuncovered massive wrongdo-ing,” said House IntelligenceCommittee Chairman AdamSchiff (D., Calif.).

Mr. Trump also pardonedAlex van der Zwaan, a lawyerwho in 2018 admitted to lyingto federal investigators in theRussia probe about his contactwith a Trump campaign aide.

In the first case broughtby Mr. Mueller, Mr. Papado-poulos pleaded guilty to lyingto Federal Bureau of Investi-gation agents about his inter-actions with an “overseasprofessor,” later identified asJoseph Mifsud, who allegedlytold him Russians had “thou-

ContinuedfromPageOne

sands of emails” worth of“dirt” on then-Democraticpresidential candidate HillaryClinton.

That April 2016 meetingultimately led the FBI to startan investigation in July 2016into Russia’s efforts to inter-fere in the presidential elec-tion and any links between

those efforts and the Trumpcampaign.

Mr. Papadopoulos in abook last year said he didn’tactually lie to investigators—contradicting what he told afederal judge under oath ayear earlier after pleadingguilty—and said he realizedhe “misspoke” and that “the

‘lie’ I was charged with…cer-tainly wasn’t intentional.”

The president also par-doned two former Border Pa-trol agents, Ignacio Ramosand Jose Compean, who wereconvicted in the shooting of asuspected drug smuggler andaccused of lying about theshooting and trying to coverit up

The men were accused attrial of picking up spent shellcasings as part of an effort toconceal the incident.

During the trial Mr. Com-pean testified that he didn’treport the shooting becausehe didn’t think he would bebelieved. Mr. Ramos testifiedthat he “messed up” in notreporting the incident.

Both former agents servedroughly two years beforetheir sentences were com-muted in January 2009 bythen-President George W.Bush.

Other pardon recipients in-cluded Philip Lyman, a Utahlegislator who was sentencedto 10 days in prison after heprotested the closure of acanyon to ATV riders; OtisGordon, who since his convic-tion for possession of con-trolled substances has be-come a pastor; and WeldonAngelos, who was sentencedto 55 years in prison in 2002for selling marijuana and car-rying a handgun while doingso. Mr. Angelos was releasedafter 13 years and is a crimi-nal-justice-reform advocate.

Mr. Trump also commutedfive sentences, including inthree cases that were sup-ported by Pam Bondi, the for-mer Florida attorney generalwho defended the presidentduring his Senate impeach-ment trial.

More pardons are expectedfrom the president before heleaves office.

In November, Mr. Trumppardoned his former nationalsecurity adviser, MichaelFlynn, who had pleaded guiltyto lying to the FBI.

Mr. Flynn had cooperatedin Mr. Mueller’s inquiry intoRussian interference in the2016 election and any links tothe Trump campaign. Demo-crats said the president’s de-cision to pardon Mr. Flynnamounted to corruption andabuse of power.

Other presidents havemade controversial pardonchoices, often waiting untilright before leaving office.Then-President Bill Clintonpardoned fugitive commodi-ties trader Marc Rich, whoseex-wife was a major donor tothe Democratic Party and Mr.Clinton’s presidential library,on his last day in office.

President Barack Obamacommuted the sentence ofChelsea Manning, convictedon charges related to passingclassified documents toWikiLeaks, just days beforeleaving the White House.

—Alicia Caldwellcontributed to this article.

Ex-Adviser,14 OthersPardoned

tential violence in the U.S.around the election result fol-lows an effort to interfere inthe presidential contest by Iran,U.S. security officials say.

The administration in Octo-ber announced that Iran wasbehind an election-interferenceoperation that sent threateningemails to registered Democratsin several states. Those emailssought to incite social unrestby appearing to be sent by thefar-right group the Proud Boysand by telling recipients to votefor Mr. Trump “or we will comeafter you.”—Alexa Corse contributed to

this article.

WASHINGTON—The FederalBureau of Investigation has de-termined that Iran is responsi-ble for an online attempt thismonth to incite violenceagainst FBI Director Chris Wrayand federal and state officialswho pushed back on election-fraud claims advanced by Presi-dent Trump and some of hissupporters, according to peoplefamiliar with the matter.

A website called “Enemies ofthe People” and some associ-ated social-media accounts sur-faced about two weeks ago thatalleged Mr. Wray and about a

BY DUSTIN VOLZ

FBI Says Iran Behind Site Urging U.S. Unrest

CaliforniaSecretary ofState AlexPadillaemerged as afront-runner inrecent weeks.

WASHINGTON—President-elect Joe Biden promised aforceful response to the sus-pected Russian hack of the fed-eral government, faulting Presi-dent Trump for not prioritizingcybersecurity and saying digitalthreats were among the mostgrave problems facing the U.S.

Mr. Biden spoke of the hackin far more dire terms thanTrump administration officialshave publicly, saying that hesaw “no evidence that it is un-der control” and that he had noassurances that the problemwould be addressed by the timehe takes office next month.

“The question of the dam-age done remains to be deter-mined,” Mr. Biden said of theSolarWinds hack, which hascompromised at least six cabi-net departments and an un-known number of corporatenetworks. But addressing thefallout would be an “over-whelming focus for my admin-istration,” he said.

The hackers “can be assuredthat we will respond and proba-bly respond in kind,” he said.

BY DUSTIN VOLZ

Biden Vows ToughResponse to Hack

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commissioner, Dr. Cardona hasbeen an advocate of reopeningschools during the coronavi-rus pandemic but has left finaldecisions up to local leaders.

Fran Rabinowitz, executivedirector of the ConnecticutAssociation of Public SchoolSuperintendents, praised Dr.Cardona’s pursuit of a varietyof perspectives and recom-mendations when the statebegan planning how to reopenschools this fall.

Officials initially thought astatewide plan that broughtelementary students intoschools while eighth- through12th-graders continued tolearn remotely would be best,she said.

But after hearing feedbackfrom superintendents, as wellas parents and families andmental-health professionals,Dr. Cardona agreed that a one-size-fits-all plan wouldn’twork, Ms. Rabinowitz said.

“It was a wise move tomove to local control, lettinglocal superintendents and de-partments of health maketheir own decisions,” she said.

Randi Weingarten, presi-

dent of the American Federa-tion of Teachers, the nation’ssecond-largest teachers union,said she worked closely withDr. Cardona during his time inthe Meriden school district.

“If you want an example ofhow labor and management cancome together to improvelearning and student achieve-ment, you need only look atMeriden,”Ms. Weingarten said.“His deep respect for educatorsand their unions will travelwith him to Washington.”

Asked about charterschools in a 2019 interviewwith the Connecticut Post, Dr.Cardona said, “As a parentmyself I want to make sure Ihave options for my children.”He added that public schoolsand charter schools shouldhave to meet the same metricsfor accountability.

The AFT has criticized theproliferation of charterschools as sometimes drivennot by children’s educationalneeds but rather by corporateor political interests, and saidcharter schools can create acompetitive system of winnersand losers that is damaging to

public school districts.Many Americans and policy

makers view the Education De-partment as primarily oversee-ing K-through-12 education. Inreality, the agency’s biggestrole is in higher education.

The agency is the primarylender for America’s collegeand graduate students. Its $1.6trillion student loan portfoliois one of the biggest consumer-loan portfolios in the world.Forty-three million Americansowe federal student loans.

Dr. Cardona could be in-volved in several key decisionsabout student loans that willface the Biden administrationearly next year. The first iswhether to extend a benefitthat has allowed Americans tosuspend their monthly pay-ments on student loans, inter-est-free, during the pandemic.That benefit—first put inplace by President Trump lastspring, codified by Congressas part of the Cares Act, andlater extended by Mr. Trump—is set to expire Jan. 31.

—Josh Mitchell,Eliza Collins and Kate Kingcontributed to this article.

LABOR DEPARTMENT

Rule May RequireTips to Be Shared

Servers and other workerswho receive tips could be re-quired by their employer toshare that gratuity with non-tipped staff members such asdishwashers, under a final regu-lation the Labor Department an-nounced Tuesday.

The rule is the culmination ofmore than three years of workby the Trump administration todeliver the regulation long soughtby the restaurant industry.

The rule provides clarity to em-ployers and “could increase pay forback-of-the house workers, likecooks and dishwashers, who havebeen excluded from participating intip pools in the past,” said CherylStanton, the Labor Department’swage and hour administrator.

Advocates for low-wageworkers, however, said the newrules allow businesses to usetips, rather than wage increases,to compensate dishwashers,cooks and janitors.

—Eric Morath

WHITE HOUSE

Birx Says She PlansTo Retire Soon

Deborah Birx, the White Housecoronavirus response coordinator,said she would soon retire fromthe government.

In an interview with the newssite Newsy, Dr. Birx said shewanted the incoming administra-tion of President-elect Joe Biden“to be successful” but her publicrole had taken a toll.

through—through the window,she watched a salespersonpick up the phone. But shewas unsuccessful in pleadingher case.

With tighter capacity, somerestaurants have adopted timelimits. Mikey Ramirez, whoowns a record shop in Miamiwith a reduced capacity of 10,takes a softer tack. “We’re adigger’s shop,” he says, mean-ing customers like to siftthrough his collection andmake their own discoveries.But if someone has been lin-gering and there is a line out-side, he will occasionallygently ask if a customer hasany idea how much more timethey need. “They’ll be, like, Ineed 10 more minutes, is thatcool? And I’ll say, that’s cool,”he says.

Some places have encour-aged customers to prepare fora wait. With the onset of thewinter chill, ReRoot, a Denverplant shop, recently posted anotice online suggesting cus-tomers dress warmly in casethere is a line. “When you’reshopping for a plant, it’s avery therapeutic, intuitive ex-perience,” says owner PaigeBriscoe, adding that she is re-luctant to hurry people along.Her store has capped capacityat four customers.

Vanessa Raptopoulos,owner of Awesome Brooklyn, agift shop, says she has had herbusiest year ever, with salesup 30% in November, com-pared with the same periodlast year. She credits the de-sire of more people to supportsmall businesses, along withthe fact that more people areworking from home nearbyand can easily pop in. “I’m justtrying to get people out as fastas I can by being as nice as Ican,” she says.

In San Diego, Dorian Edler,a 32-year-old medical assis-tant, says he has grown accus-tomed to waiting in lines of upto 45 minutes to get into hislocal gym. Mr. Edler says it’sworth the wait, and that hehad gained 25 pounds duringlockdown before the gym re-opened this summer.

“I’m not going to take it forgranted anymore,” he says ofthe chance to work out. “Ifothers are willing to wait, too,then we’re going to wait to-gether.”

U.S. NEWS

WASHINGTON—President-elect Joe Biden said he wouldnominate Connecticut Educa-tion Commissioner Miguel Car-dona as education secretary.

If confirmed, Dr. Cardonawould be tasked with imple-menting Mr. Biden’s pledge toexpand resources for publicschools, make public college tu-ition-free for families makingless than $125,000 annually,and restore Obama-era civil-rights guidelines that theTrump administration re-scinded.

Dr. Cardona would take overthe Education Department dur-ing a time of uncertainty forthe country’s schools. The cor-onavirus pandemic has forcedmillions of students to takeclasses virtually and the presi-dent-elect will need to deter-mine how quickly to reopenschools. Mr. Biden has pledgedto open a majority of U.S.schools by the end of his first100 days in office.

“In Miguel Cardona, Amer-ica will have an experiencedand dedicated public schoolteacher leading the way at theDepartment of Education—en-suring that every student isequipped to thrive in theeconomy of the future, thatevery educator has the re-sources they need to do theirjobs with dignity and success,and that every school is ontrack to reopen safely,” Mr. Bi-den said.

Dr. Cardona was appointedConnecticut’s education com-missioner in August 2019. Be-fore that, he was a fourth-grade teacher in Meriden,Conn., and later became an el-ementary-school principal.

Dr. Cardona, who report-edly spoke only Spanish whenhe started school and whosegrandparents are from PuertoRico, would be the second La-tino to run the Education De-partment after Lauro Cavazosin the late 1980s. The Con-gressional Hispanic Caucus,which backed Dr. Cardona forthe job, has been pressing Mr.Biden to choose more Latinosfor his cabinet.

As Connecticut’s education

BY ANDREW RESTUCCIA

Biden Taps Connecticut Schools Chief

Miguel Cardona, shown this past January, was appointed Connecticut education commissioner in 2019.

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“I will be helpful through aperiod of time,” she said in theinterview. “And then I will haveto say that this experience hasbeen a bit overwhelming. It’sbeen very difficult on my family.”

Dr. Birx, who is 64 years old,alluded specifically to an Associ-ated Press article on Mondaythat said she had traveled, alongwith three generations of herfamily, to a vacation home onDelaware’s Fenwick Island overthe Thanksgiving weekend. Thereport included a statement fromDr. Birx that everyone who ac-companied her had been a partof her “immediate household.”

—Michelle Hackman

LOUISIANA

Man Who Died onFlight Had Covid-19

A passenger who died on aUnited Airlines flight last weekhad Covid-19, according to a cor-oner’s report Tuesday.

United Airlines flight 591 boundfor Los Angeles from Orlando, Fla.,was diverted to New Orleans onDec. 14 for a medical emergency.The passenger was pronounceddead at a local hospital. Gerry Cvi-tanovich, the coroner of JeffersonParish, La., listed respiratory failureand Covid-19 as the causes of the69-year-old man’s death.

United requires passengers toaffirm that they haven’t testedpositive for Covid-19 or experi-enced recent symptoms beforeflying. The airline said on Fridaythat it had later learned that thepassenger was feeling sick be-fore his flight. It declined tocomment further on Tuesday.

—Alison Sider

DERAILMENT: A train carrying crude oil burned after seven carswent off the tracks in Custer, Wash., near the Canadian border.

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little stressed to be keepingothers waiting.

Many Americans have expe-rienced lines this year at thegrocery store or while await-ing Covid tests. But particu-larly during the holidays—andas capacity limits have tight-ened—lines are popping up allover. In some cases, especiallyat small businesses, that hasmade the experience feel akinto shopping in a fishbowl. Inothers, it has meant lines out-side certain establishments—the hardware store, the gym—that were once the province oftrendy bars or restaurants.

As cases rise across thecountry, many cities andstates are permitting retail op-erations to remain open, butwith reduced capacity. Lastmonth, Philadelphia requiredstores to operate with a maxi-mum density of 5 customersper 1,000 square feet. In Cali-fornia, new regulations thismonth capped capacity fornongrocery retailers in regionsbadly hit by Covid at 20%.

In Los Angeles, Charles Pat-rick, 47, was recently sur-prised to encounter a line out-side his local Foot Locker.

“I haven’t waited in line likethat since I used to line up fornightclubs in my 30s,” saysMr. Patrick, a military veteran.Mr. Patrick waited 15 minutesbefore getting inside, where heexamined some sports sandalswithout purchasing anything.

“At least this time, I wasn’tworried about getting turnedaway by a bouncer,” he jokes.

Kimberly Palacios, 22, apostal worker in Albuquerque,N.M., says she has taken to en-suring her phone is fullycharged before heading to hernearby Walmart, so she canwatch videos while waiting inthe hourlong line to get in.Once inside, she excitedlytexts friends, offering to grabanything they might need.

“I’ll text anybody, like doyou need absolutely anything?

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MoreShoppersLine Up

Kimberly Palacios, in line.

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I waited in line, I don’t have toleave,” she says. “No one is go-ing to kick me out.”

Ms. Palacios says she tendsto make extra laps and wanderdown random aisles to ensureshe hasn’t missed anything.On a recent day, she was in-spired to buy blackout cur-tains, as well as staples suchas milk. “I’m more patientthan I used to be,” she says ofthe experience, adding thatshe’s glad stores are trying tokeep people safe.

Danny Turner, global seniorvice president of creative pro-gramming at Mood Media,which helps retailers selectbackground music, says retail-ers often pick more up-tempomusic during the holidays totry to ensure customers keep

moving, something he’s seenmore retailers do earlier thisyear as well. “You want to tryto avoid things that are maybetoo pensive and will have thepotential to cause folks to lin-ger,” he says.

In Las Vegas, Michelle Fen-delander, 35, recently waitedan hour to enter a Chanelstore to purchase perfume re-fills. While waiting, Ms. Fende-lander, a production assistant,called the store to see if theywould let her jump the line. “Iwas like, I’m not a looky-loo, Iknow exactly what I want,”she says. She was able to get

‘I haven’twaited inline like that since Iused to line up fornightclubs inmy30s.’

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reality because I’m the onlyone putting an entire familylegacy on the line,” he wrotein a 2017 text message to anassociate in the venture andviewed by the Journal.

A graduate of Yale LawSchool, Hunter Biden was fora period a registered lobbyistin Washington. He alsoworked in boutique invest-ment and property develop-ment firms along with Ameri-can partners who sometimestried to raise capital amongthe newly well-heeled in theformer Soviet Union andChina.

GOP EffortPresident Trump and some

Republican allies have triedover the past two years todraw attention to Hunter Bi-den’s business activities—aneffort that took off as Joe Bi-den emerged as a likely presi-dential challenger.

A particular focus wasHunter Biden’s board seatwith Ukrainian natural-gascompany Burisma Holdings.When he joined the board in2014, Burisma’s founderMykola Zlochevsky was look-ing to raise the company’sstanding in Washington, as heparried legal inquiries abroadand at home, where the gov-ernment was vowing to cleanup corruption.

Mr. Biden was paid roughly$50,000 a month from 2014to 2019. For the first threeyears, then-Vice President Bi-den served as the Obama ad-ministration’s pointman forinternational anticorruptionefforts in Ukraine.

Mr. Trump and his allieshave alleged corruption bythe Bidens. Mr. Trump’s re-quest to Ukraine’s presidentin 2019 to announce an inves-tigation into the Bidens fig-ured into Mr. Trump’s im-peachment; the GOP-controlled Senate ultimatelyacquitted him.

Joe and Hunter Biden de-nied any wrongdoing. HunterBiden later said he displayedpoor judgment in acceptingthe board seat. Two Obamaadministration officials raisedconcerns to the White Housein 2015 that Hunter Biden’sseat on the Burisma boardcould create a perceived con-flict of interest while his fa-ther was leading Ukraine pol-icy, according to the SenateRepublicans’ investigation,which was released in Sep-tember.

The investigation didn’tsupport Mr. Trump’s claimsthat Joe Biden had distortedU.S. policy to favor his son.

As his father prepared toleave office and political lifein early 2017, Hunter Biden’soverseas business activitiespicked up, moving beyond di-rectorships into shareholdingand consulting arrangements,primarily with Chinese enti-ties.

Central to this was the Chi-nese energy tycoon, Mr. Ye.His CEFC China Energy Co.was China’s largest private oilcompany, riding a global ac-quisition binge to buy up oilfields in Chad, productionrights in the United ArabEmirates and a swath of fi-nancial holdings in the CzechRepublic. Mr. Ye had links toChinese military intelligenceand in many countries workedto nurture ties with politicallyinfluential people to aid deal-making.

Closer TiesBy 2017, Mr. Ye and Hunter

Biden had struck up a rela-tionship leading to the forma-tion of the joint venture,which also included Mr. Bi-den’s uncle, James Biden, whoowns an investment firm andhas been associated with hisbrother’s political campaigns.James Biden said he andHunter helped Mr. Ye get hisdaughter into an exclusiveManhattan private school, ac-cording to text messages theJournal reviewed. James Bi-den didn’t respond to ques-tions.

tions can’t be verified with-out Mr. Biden and other part-ners, who declined to answerquestions when contacted bythe Journal. Interviews, pub-lic records and findings ofSenate Republicans supportmany of the events they de-scribe.

SinoHawk looked for infra-structure projects that CEFCwould fund, and the ventureproduced a business plan thatoutlined possible investmentsaround Europe, including Ro-mania, and in Oman and Co-lombia, sometimes buildingon Hunter Biden’s and JamesBiden’s personal relationshipswith politicians. As possiblecontacts in the U.S., the busi-ness plan listed more thantwo dozen American politi-cians.

“We have forged allianceswith the highest levels ofgovernment, banking and en-terprise,” noted an April 2017strategy summary by theSinoHawk team that wasmarked as sensitive and con-fidential.

World TravelsIn the spring of 2017, Mr.

Biden moved between Los An-geles, Miami and New York aspart of the push to get Sino-Hawk going.

In May 2017, texts andother communications showMr. Biden traveled to Bucha-rest to connect with CEFC ex-ecutives. CEFC was in themidst of a push into CentralEurope, and in Bucharest, theexecutives met with theprime minister, according to aRomanian government state-ment, as the company waslooking to expand beyond gasstations and refineries andmove into local infrastructureand finance.

At the same time Mr. Bidenwas trying to help CEFC ex-pand, he was advising awealthy Romanian facing le-gal troubles and trying to off-load property assets. Gabriel“Puiu” Popoviciu turned toMr. Biden for legal and busi-ness advice when a corrup-tion conviction threatened hisreal estate empire, and a per-son familiar with the situa-tion says the pair met a fewtimes a year over champagneat a high-end Bucharest club,Loft Diplomat.

Another Chinese business-man who had feted Mr. Bidenwas Beijing financier Jona-than Li, founder of private-equity firm Bohai HarvestRST (Shanghai) Equity Invest-ment Fund Management Co.Mr. Biden had been an unpaiddirector of BHR from its in-ception in 2013 when planscalled for it to target U.S. in-vestments, though his lawyerand others involved have pre-viously said he had virtuallyno role.

Then in October 2017,Mr. Biden joined Mr. Li as ashareholder in BHR, accord-ing to regulatory filings inChina. BHR was funded byBank of China Ltd. and otherbig government financialfirms.

By then, BHR had beenpart of at least 10 major ac-quisitions, initial public offer-ings and other deals thatpushed its assets above $1billion.

Still, the cost for Mr. Bi-den’s 10% stake, at $420,000,was based on BHR’s startupvalue in 2013, filings show. Ofthat, at least a third was pro-vided in the form of loans

from other BHR principals,according to people familiarwith the situation.

After a BHR-invested com-pany, lithium-battery giantContemporary Amperex Tech-nology Ltd., went public onthe Shenzhen Stock Exchangein June 2018, a portion of IPOproceeds due to Hunter Bidenwas credited instead towardrepaying the debt and went toa principal at the private-eq-uity firm.

The principal named WangXin confirmed the arrange-ment and said the lendingwas “perfectly legal, reason-able, and as far from corrup-tion or any of the suggestedfallacies as the sun is farfrom the earth.”

Chinese IPOs are highlysought after and are routinelya one-way bet for those whoget a so-called cornerstoneslice, as BHR did with sharesin CATL valued at $28 millionthe day it went public. Share-holders, including Mr. Biden,profited when CATL stocksurged from there by themaximum 44% in the debutsession, and kept going after-ward.

A statement released byMr. Biden’s lawyer last yearsaid Mr. Biden “has not re-ceived any return on his in-vestment” in BHR.

Personal ChallengesThe international activity

coincided with personal andfinancial challenges for Mr.Biden.

Mr. Biden had been dis-charged from the Navy re-serves when he failed a drugtest in 2014, and in 2017 di-vorce proceedings, Mr. Bi-den’s ex-wife Kathleen BuhleBiden claimed the coupleowed a tax debt of at least$313,970. Her filing said theyhad maxed out credit cardsand taken out double mort-gages on their properties, ac-cusing Mr. Biden of spendingextravagantly, including over$120,000 in one two-monthperiod. Public records showseveral tax liens placedagainst him in recent years,with some satisfied and onewithdrawn.

The SinoHawk venturenever got off the ground. Butstarting in August 2017, enti-ties linked to CEFC’s Mr. Yeexecuted the wire transferslisted as covering legal andadvisory costs totaling $4.79million to Mr. Biden’s Wash-ington law firm, Owasco PC,according to the Senate Re-publicans report. The trans-fers also covered over$100,000 for bills on creditcards issued to Hunter, Jamesand James’s wife, Sara Biden,the report said.

The Journal has reportedthat government investigatorszeroed in on Hunter Biden inresponse to suspicious-activ-ity reports by a bank in theU.S. that handled foreigntransactions for him. In theirinvestigation, Senate Republi-cans requested suspicious-ac-tivity records from the Trea-sury Department.

The Department of Justicehas declined to comment onthe matter, which is beinghandled from the U.S. attor-ney’s office in Delaware.

Burisma ExitBy the time Hunter Biden

pledged in October 2019 thathe wouldn’t serve on any for-eign board of directors if hisfather were elected, he hadalready stepped down fromUkraine’s Burisma. CEFC hadvirtually collapsed. Mr. Ye haddisappeared more than a yearearlier following the prosecu-tion in New York of one of hisdeputies on corruptioncharges.

Mr. Biden’s October 2019statement, issued through hislawyer, Mr. Mesires, stoppedshort of promising he woulddivest himself of foreignholdings. Corporate recordsin China suggest he hasn’t.

A Delaware-registered cor-poration, Skaneateles LLC,controlled by Mr. Biden, stillowns 10% of the Chinese pri-vate-equity firm BHR, the re-cords show.

A sale of Mr. Biden’s BHRstake is possible but compli-cated by the difficulty ofvaluing the firm’s holdings ofunlisted assets.

A person close to BHR saysthe international scrutiny Mr.Biden’s involvement hasdrawn has limited the com-pany’s dealmaking.

“We didn’t know what kindof lightning rod he would be,”the person said.—Valentina Pop in Brussels,

Elisa Cho in New Yorkand Xie Yu in Hong Kong

contributed to this article.

“I was his first guest at hisnew apartment he cooked melunch himself and we ate inthe kitchen together,” HunterBiden wrote in one messageto a business associate aftervisiting Mr. Ye’s $50 millionNew York penthouse. “He hasme helping on a number ofhis personal issues.”

That associate, a Los Ange-les businessman named TonyBobulinski, was a partneralong with Hunter and JamesBiden and several others inSinoHawk Holdings LLC, aventure in which CEFC wouldhold a 50% stake and prom-ised to fund in whole with

$10 million.Mr. Bobulinski said he was

initially excited about work-ing with Mr. Biden and CEFC,so agreed to handle the legwork of establishing the jointventure. In October, Mr. Bob-ulinski shared hundreds ofemails, texts and other corre-spondence from Mr. Bidenand his partners with theJournal. He said he was frus-trated that SinoHawk nevergot the seed money promisedby CEFC, and the frustrationgrew when he read in theSenate report about wiretransfers to Mr. Biden.

Many of the communica-

No reporting foundthat Joe Biden wasinvolved in his son’sbusiness activities.

These arrangements nowloom over President-elect JoeBiden. A federal criminal taxinvestigation into Hunter Bi-den’s business dealings is un-der way, with findings poten-tially trickling out in comingmonths. His business ties towell-connected people inChina and other places couldadd to scrutiny of foreign-policy decisions taken by theBiden administration overpossible conflicts of interest.All are likely to provide am-munition to Republicans.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R.,Iowa), who has led the SenateFinance Committee whose Re-publican staff helped investi-gate Hunter Biden, has saidhe will continue to look intowhat he says are possiblecounterintelligence and crimi-nal concerns related to Mr.Biden’s business dealings.

“Based on all the factsknown to date, Joe Biden hasa lot of explaining to do,” Mr.Grassley said recently.

Hunter Biden has said hetakes the tax investigation“very seriously” and is “confi-dent that a professional andobjective review of these mat-ters will demonstrate that Ihandled my affairs legally andappropriately.” He declined tocomment for this article, andhis lawyer, George Mesires,didn’t respond to questions.In 2019, Mr. Biden said hewouldn’t work with any for-eign companies if his fatherwere elected U.S. president.

None of the Journal’s re-porting found that Joe Bidenwas involved in his son’sbusiness activities. The taxinvestigation doesn’t impli-cate the president-elect, ac-cording to people familiarwith the matter.

In a statement this monthabout the investigation, thepresident-elect said he is“deeply proud of his son.”

He told reporters Tuesdayhe had not and would not dis-cuss the federal tax investiga-tion with prospective attor-ney-general candidates.

“The attorney general ofthe United States of Americais not the president’s lawyer,”the incoming president said.“I will appoint someone whoI expect to enforce the law asthe law is written, not guidedby me.”

Joe Biden has previouslysaid that his family memberswon’t be involved in busi-nesses that appear to create aconflict of interest and alsowon’t have “a business rela-tionship with anyone that re-lates to a foreign corporationor a foreign country.”

Mixed RecordSome of Hunter Biden’s

business deals appeared to gonowhere. Sometimes his con-tribution mainly consisted ofmaking introductions to im-portant people in businessand government, according topeople involved and docu-ments.

Still, legal and consultingservices he provided offered away to generate income; theSenate Republicans’ reportsays the millions of dollars inwire transfers from entitieslinked to Shanghai energy en-trepreneur Ye Jianming weredescribed as payment forsuch services.

The tycoons who soughtout Mr. Biden as a businesspartner were looking to buildties to the Washington estab-lishment that Joe Biden in-habited for decades, and bydoing so, smooth the way formajor deals or ward off legaltroubles, according to inter-views, documents and com-munications.

For businessmen in somecountries, paying for intro-ductions and getting close topeople in power or their rela-tives is a normal part of do-ing business, and the son of aveteran American politicianoffered a potential trove ofconnections.

Mr. Ye "would say if youfind a strong partner then op-portunities can flow just fromthis relationship,” said a for-mer subordinate.

Mr. Biden, in an exchangeabout putting together a ven-ture with Mr. Ye, pointed tothe value of his family name:“Just happens that in this in-stance only one player holdsthe trump card and that’s me.May not be fair but it’s the

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Biden SonUsed NameIn Deals

Shanghai energy entrepreneur Ye Jianming, center, and Hunter Biden struck up a relationship that eventually led to the formation ofa joint venture, SinoHawk Holdings. Below, Mr. Biden at a World Food Program event in Washington, D.C., in 2016.

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New Strain Tests Effort to Curb Spread

People waited outside a grocery store on Monday in London. British scientists have been actively monitoring mutations in the virus.

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trust in a fair process, said ex-perts in law and ethics. “Be-cause they haven’t explainedtheir policy, you can’t givethem the benefit of thedoubt,” said Govind Persad, anassistant professor at the Uni-versity of Denver Sturm Col-lege of Law.

Rollout of initial Covid-19

vaccine supply is forcingtough decisions by federalpanels and state agencies overwhich industries to immunizenext after heath care. An advi-sory panel Sunday recom-mended the nation’s oldest,along with teachers, grocerystore workers, police and fire-fighters and other sectors es-

sential to the economy and athigh risk be vaccinated next.

The advisory panel, whichhas held its meetings publiclyand released information ondata and methods used tomake its recommendations,has stressed the need fortransparency in its decisionmaking.

WorrisomeMutationsAnew coronavirus strain spreading in the U.K. has geneticchanges that couldmake it better at infecting cells.

Several changes, ormutations, were foundin genes that code forthe spike proteins onthe virus’s surface.

Spike proteins bindto receptors on thesurface of cells,aiding viral entry.

Scientists are stillstudying theeffects of thesemutations on howquickly the virusspreads.

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The federal government isadvancing toward a deal withPfizer Inc. to secure 100 mil-lion more doses of the com-pany’s Covid-19 vaccine, ac-cording to people familiar withthe matter, an agreement thatwould bolster the vaccinationcampaign under way in the U.S.

Under the terms in discus-sion, Pfizer would provide theadditional doses by July fornearly $2 billion, according toone person familiar with thediscussions.

An agreement could be an-nounced as soon as Wednes-day, according to the person,though other people said theyweren’t aware negotiationswere that far along or were for100 million doses.

The New York Times earlierreported that the U.S. wasclose to an agreement withPfizer for additional doses.

In July, the U.S. governmentagreed to pay Pfizer and itsGerman partner, BioNTech SE,$1.95 billion for the first 100million doses of the vaccine, or$19.50 a dose, with options tobuy an additional 500 milliondoses.

The first such doses startedto be distributed in the U.S. af-ter the Food and Drug Admin-istration authorized emergencyuse of the Pfizer vaccine thismonth.

But Pfizer had offered toprovide additional doses to thegovernment in the summer,and federal officials declined.More recently they began dis-cussions for additional doses.

The Operation Warp Speedchief adviser, Moncef Slaoui,told reporters Monday that thegovernment has continued tohave conversations with Pfizer“to support their efforts to en-sure that they would be able toprovide us with an additional100 million doses in the secondquarter of 2021.”

BY PETER LOFTUSAND REBECCA BALLHAUS

PfizerNears DealFor MoreDoses

gen, will protect against thenew variant.

Ugur Sahin, the chief execu-tive of BioNTech SE, whichpartnered with Pfizer Inc. on avaccine, said Tuesday hethought the shot would workagainst the new version of thevirus, but that if it is indeedmore transmissible, it couldraise the threshold needed toprotect the community.

“If the virus becomes moreefficient in infecting people, wemight need even a higher vacci-nation rate to ensure that nor-mal life can continue withoutinterruption,” he said.

Yet David Dowdy, an epide-miologist at the Johns HopkinsSchool of Public Health, saidhigher rates of vaccinationwouldn’t be necessary, even ifthe variant proves more trans-missible, as long as enoughpeople get inoculated.

“If we are able to success-fully vaccinate a large fractionof the population, I don’t thinkthe added transmissibility ofthis variant will be sufficient toovercome that very strong ef-fect,” he said.

The U.K. government wasalerted in recent days to datasuggesting the new variant was

spreading between 50% and70% more rapidly than otherstrains of the virus.

British scientists looked athow frequently the new variantwas detected, whether changesin its replication might make itmore transmissible and whatdata on the correlation be-tween the increase in casenumbers and increase in detec-tion of the new variant showed.

“All those three strands ofevidence really all point in thesame direction that this virus isa new variant that is slightlymore transmissible than the ex-isting virus,” said Peter Horby,a professor at the University ofOxford who is chairman of theNervtag panel, which advisesthe British government.

Yet, he added, more researchwas needed to figure out how

much more transmissible it isand the biology behind it. “Westill don’t understand the exactbiological mechanisms of that,there is still a lot of uncertaintyabout exactly how it’s occur-ring.”

British scientists have beenactively monitoring mutationsin the virus and have sequencedthe genomes of 10% of all thecases of Covid-19 in the coun-try. All told, British researcherssay their work accounts for halfof all the coronavirus genomessequenced around the worldsince the start of the pandemic.

As they looked at the newvariant, researchers found ithad 23 mutations, 17 of whichcould have an effect on the vi-rus’s behavior. Despite the find-ings, many researchers saymore work needs to be done tofigure out whether the changeshave a real-world impact.

“The new variant is concern-ing, but there’s still a lot wedon’t know,” said Angela Ras-mussen, a virologist at the Cen-ter for Global Health Scienceand Security at GeorgetownUniversity. “I don’t think wecan make any conclusion aboutthis besides that we need tolook into this more.”

Scientists around the worldare racing to assess the dangersposed by a new variant of thecoronavirus that has spreadrapidly in Britain, as morecountries shut their borders totravelers from the U.K. in an ef-fort to keep it out.

Epidemiologists and virolo-gists advising the British gov-ernment say initial evidence in-dicates the new strain is morecontagious than older variants,but that so far there are nosigns that it causes more se-vere disease.

Transmissibility—how easilythe virus spreads from one per-son to another—and the seri-ousness of the illness it causesare both important metrics forgauging the potential threat.And scientists say there ismuch they don’t know.

Viruses mutate naturally,particularly RNA viruses likethe new coronavirus. Manyvariants of the new coronavirushave surfaced since it racedaround the world.

Anthony Fauci, director of theU.S. National Institute of Allergyand Infectious Diseases, said heexpects the variant will come tocirculate in the U.S. if it isn’t inthe country already, but said hedidn’t believe it has been a fac-tor in the current surge in infec-tions in the U.S.

He said he doesn’t believe theU.S. needs to halt flights fromthe U.K., but that “I think youmight want to consider the pos-sibility of requiring people whoget on a plane and fly from Eng-land to have been tested in thelast 48 to 72 hours.”

Dozens of countries aroundthe world have moved to curbtravel from the U.K. The U.S.has not. New York has askedairlines to require all passen-gers from the U.K. to have anegative Covid-19 test beforeboarding flights to the state.

Health experts and drug in-dustry officials say they expectnewly authorized vaccines,which induce virus-busting re-sponses aimed at different ar-eas on the surface of the patho-

By Daniela Hernandez,Joanna Sugdenand Betsy McKay

takenly included in its firstwave. Three employees at theclinics received vaccines.Stanford Health Care re-worked its priority list afterprotests on Friday by doctorsin specialty training who saidthey had been unfairly over-looked.

“Our revised approach,driven by the same principlesof equity and ethics, priori-tizes health-care workers inour clinical settings, includingresidents, fellows, nurses, en-vironmental services and oth-ers, to ensure they will bevaccinated first,” Niraj Sehgal,Stanford Health Care’s chiefmedical officer, said Sunday.

The original algorithm fac-tored in age and other criteriato calculate overall risks fromCovid-19, he said.

Physicians in training,known as residents and fel-lows, at Stanford and the Uni-versity of California San Diego

Health said they had little ad-vance explanation of how thefirst shots were allocated.However, concerns grew amidreports that many amongtheir ranks hadn’t been of-fered vaccines. “We all had alot of questions about how didthis happen, what was done,what was in this algorithm?”said Jessica Buesing, a Stan-ford resident.

Physicians at the start oftheir careers have little powerin the workplace but do muchof the front-line work in hos-pitals, said Sean Li, a residentphysician and president of theunion of residents and fellowsat UC San Diego Health. Thephysicians are seeking a voicein the plan to distribute fur-ther allocation of the vaccine,he said.

Private employers may notpublicly disclose details ofhow they gave priority toworkers but risk undermining

Hospitals pushing aheadwith Covid-19 vaccinations arefacing calls for more transpar-ency into how they decidewho gets the earliest shots, asmanufacturers race to distrib-ute limited early supply ofvaccine.

The sector is among thefirst to confront tensions, ashospitals launch immunizationcampaigns across their work-force. In many cases, planswere hastily completed in thedays before federal regulatorsapproved the first Covid-19vaccine.

Overall, initial rollout ofthe vaccine has been rocky insome spots, with hospital sys-tems in New York and Califor-nia changing course after be-ginning to immunize workers.Mount Sinai Health System inNew York said it halted vacci-nations at some clinics mis-

BY MELANIE EVANS

Hospitals Face QuestionsOn Who Gets Vaccine First

Nguyen Bui, a doctor, was vaccinated at Redlands Community Hospital in Redlands, Calif., on Friday.

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The nation’s drugstores andgroceries are racing to hirethousands of pharmacists andtechnicians to administerCovid-19 vaccines to themasses.

Pharmacies big and smallwere laying off pharmacists asrecently as summer, as the pro-fession’s outlook grew dim.Now some of those same phar-macies and supermarkets aremaking public pleas, reachingout to retired workers and of-fering signing bonuses. Severalretail pharmacy chains, includ-ing CVS Health Corp. andWal-greens Boots Alliance Inc.,have agreed to work with theU.S. government to serve asCovid-19 vaccination sites.

“Calling all pharmacists,nurses and pharmacy techs,”read a mass email to custom-ers from CVS, in which thecompany said it is urgently hir-ing thousands of health-care

professionals. CVS, which em-ploys 34,000 pharmacists and65,000 technicians, declined tosay how many workers it ishiring. The company is lookingfor both short-term and per-manent workers.

Walgreens said it plans tohire about 25,000 peopleacross the U.S., including 8,000to 9,000 pharmacists and otherhealth-care workers, to admin-ister the vaccine. It employs75,000 pharmacists and techni-cians.

Executives at both chainssaid they are confident theywill have adequate manpowerto administer the vaccines.“There is a sense of pride, ofwanting to step up,” said RickGates, a senior vice presidentat Walgreens. “We have peoplecoming out of retirement say-ing, ‘I absolutely want tohelp.’ ”

Smaller chains and grocers,many of which have pharmacycounters, are less certain they’llfind the workers, particularly

when it comes to technicians.Technicians are typically hourlyworkers who are licensed to as-sist pharmacists with fillingprescriptions, such as countingpills or answering customerquestions.

“There’s not enough peopleto immunize. It’s going to take

all hands on deck,” said AaronWiese, chief health officer atHy-Vee Inc. The Midwest gro-cer, which has roughly 1,300pharmacy technicians in morethan 270 pharmacies, is seekingto hire 1,000 more for the dis-tribution of Covid-19 vaccinesand tests.

The job market for pharma-

cists has been bleak for years,with the number of pharmacy-school graduates far outnum-bering jobs. The U.S. Depart-ment of Labor expects the jobmarket for pharmacists toshrink by 3% in the next de-cade, according to data from2019.

Hundreds of independent andgrocery-based pharmacies haveclosed, unable to handle highoperating costs and makemoney. Big chains have eitherslowed store growth or begun todownsize as consumer purchas-ing, even of prescription drugs,has moved online. Meantime,declining drug-reimbursementrates have pinched profits. Thefallout for working pharmacistshas been fewer jobs and lowerpay, along with a rougher work-load.

“I’m not really interested ingoing back just to give shots,”said Michael West, a pharmacistwho was laid off in July fromWalgreens in North Carolina.Mr. West, who spent more than

two decades as a pharmacist, in-cluding at CVS, said he plans toremain in retirement.

Walgreens, CVS and RiteAid Corp., the third-largest U.S.drugstore chain, combinedhave about 21,300 U.S. stores,about 1,000 fewer than fiveyears ago. The number of gro-cery pharmacies declined forthe first time in years in 2017,the latest year for which datais available, to 9,026, downfrom 9,344 in 2016.

“It’s a supply and demandthing—we didn’t have enoughsupply [a decade ago frompharmacy schools] and now wehave too much supply,” saidScott Knoer, president of theAmerican Pharmacists Associa-tion. That oversupply willlikely be enough to ensureenough workers to vaccinatethe masses starting next year,he said.

And the hiring spree is abright spot for pharmacyschool graduates and techni-cians, he said. But for many in

the field, the new jobs—manyof which are short-term for theduration of vaccination ef-forts—are less attractive than along-term spot. Median annualpay for a pharmacist was$128,090 in 2019; pharmacytechnicians made $33,950 ayear, according to the LaborDepartment.

The median hourly wage forpharmacists rose 4.8% between2016 and 2019 while wagesrose 7.5% for all occupations,according to Labor Departmentstatistics.

Pharmacists require a doc-toral or professional degree.Pharmacy technician jobs re-quire a high-school diploma orequivalent. Employers may re-quire additional training or ed-ucation.

Pharmacies have looked tohire more technicians in recentyears to free up pharmacistsfrom administrative tasks. Thepace of that hiring is intensify-ing ahead of the Covid-19 vacci-nation drive.

BY SHARON TERLEPAND JAEWON KANG

Rollout SparksRush toHireWorkers toGive Shots

Walgreens said itplans to hire about25,000 peopleacross the U.S.

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One Beijing-based user saidhe was taken in for question-ing several days afterhis WeChat account wasblocked for criticizing China’sforeign policy. During the two-hour interrogation, police offi-cers held printouts ofhis WeChat chat logs and readout parts that were critical ofthe Chinese leadership. He wasreleased after signing a pledgethat he wouldn’t criticize thegovernment again.

The problem for many us-ers is that the app has so thor-oughly permeated everydaylife that shutting it off wouldbe like giving up water or air.

“There are many functionsinWeChat that we just can’t livewithout,” said Zhang Qingfang,a Beijing-based human-rightslawyer, adding that his WeChatcommunications have also comeunder surveillance.

Disturbed by their overde-pendence on the app, severalusers started a campaign thisyear called “FreeFrom WeChat,” in which theycalled on peers to migrate toother platforms—like Tele-gram—that are believed to be

China’s do-everything app,WeChat, has become one of themost powerful tools in Beijing’sarsenal for monitoring the pub-lic, censoring speech and pun-ishing people who voice discon-tent with the government.

Authorities are increasinglyusing the app from TencentHoldings Ltd. to justify arrestsor issue threats, dissidents,consumers and security re-searchers say.

Wang Shengsheng, a laborand women’s rights lawyer, saidauthorities were monitoring herWeChat and text messages thisyear so they could gather evi-dence to thwart her legal career.

Local public-security andparty-discipline officials in herhometown also tracked downher father as part of their ef-forts to tarnish her reputa-tion, she said. “People alwayssay that all of your communi-cations on WeChat are out inthe open. I never fully graspedwhat that meant until the re-cent incident,” she said. “NowI’m terrified.”

A spokesman for Tencentdeclined to comment. The Cy-ber Administration of Chinaand China’s Ministry of PublicSecurity didn’t respond to re-quests to comment.

Released in 2011, Tencent’sWeChat and its domestic sis-ter app Weixin now have morethan 1.2 billion monthly activeusers, the majority of them inChina, where its pervasivenessextends beyond any app usedin the U.S. In addition to mes-saging, Chinese consumers useit to share photos, pay utilitybills, hail taxis, get news, bookdoctors' appointments and usegovernment services.

Its dominance in Chinesesociety has become more en-trenched this year because ofremote working and learningduring the coronavirus pan-demic. Companies and schools

WORLDWATCH

The court’s decision renderedinvalid a vote by lawmaker EtemArifi from the minority AshkaliParty for Integration. Mr. Arifi’svote had given the governmentof Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti61 votes in the 120-seat chamber.

The country’s president isnow expected to announce thedate of the election, which musttake place within 40 days.

Acting President Vjosa Osmanibegan consulting Tuesday withparty leaders for an election date,which will likely be at the end ofJanuary or early February underlockdown conditions as a result ofthe coronavirus pandemic.

The court’s ruling was made

as a result of a petition by 16lawmakers from the oppositionleft-wing Self-DeterminationMovement. The party had beenpart of a short-lived coalitionwith Mr. Hoti’s DemocraticLeague of Kosovo until June, butquit after a falling-out.

Mr. Arifi was sentenced to 15months in jail in August 2019 forillegally using €26,000 ($31,800)of public money given to a non-governmental organization forpersonal profit. Nevertheless, heran for the new parliament inOctober 2019 and was automati-cally elected to parliament asleader of a Roma minority party.

—Associated Press

AFGHANISTAN

Roadside Bomb Kills3 Doctors, 2 Others

A roadside bomb torethrough a vehicle in the Afghancapital of Kabul on Tuesday, kill-ing at least five people, three ofthem doctors, police said.

The doctors worked at thePuli Charkhi prison, Kabul’s mainpenitentiary, and were killed asthey were on the way to theiroffice in the city’s Doghabadneighborhood.

It wasn’t clear if the doctorswere targeted in the attack.Their car, a white sedan, didn’t

appear to have any markings onit that indicated that its passen-gers were medical workers. Thevehicle was almost completelydestroyed in the blast.

Farhad Bayani, a spokesmanfor the office of the prison ad-ministration, said that fourprison staff were killed in theblast, including the three doctorsand their driver. He said thatamong those killed was NazefaIbrahimi, the acting health direc-tor of the prison. Another doctorwas in serious condition.

No one claimed responsibilityfor the attack, which damagedbuildings and shops.

—Associated Press

RUSSIA-CHINA

Joint Patrol ShowsCloser Military Ties

Russian and Chinese bombersflew a joint patrol mission over theWestern Pacific on Tuesday in ashow of increasingly close militaryties between Moscow and Beijing.

The Russian military said thata pair of its Tu-95 strategicbombers and four Chinese H-6Kbombers flew over the Sea ofJapan and the East China Sea.

The Russian Defense Ministrysaid the joint mission was in-tended to “develop and deepenthe comprehensive Russia-Chinapartnership, further increase thelevel of cooperation between thetwo militaries, expand their abil-ity for joint action andstrengthen strategic stability.”

The ministry added that thepatrol flight “wasn’t directedagainst any third countries.”

Tuesday’s mission was thesecond such flight since a July2019 patrol over the same area.

It follows Russian PresidentVladimir Putin’s statement inOctober that the idea of a fu-ture Russia-China military alli-ance can’t be ruled out.

—Associated Press

KOSOVO

Court Orders NewGeneral Election

Kosovo’s Constitutional Courtruled that the country must holda new general election becauseparliament’s June confirmationof the cabinet passed becauseof an invalid vote.

A photo from a Russian Defense Ministry video shows a Chinese H-6K bomber during the countries’ joint patrol on Tuesday.

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“I was shocked and befud-dled,” a Chinese studentstudying in Australia said ofhis reaction when his accountwas blocked this year for post-ing comments critical of thegovernment’s handling of theoutbreak in Wuhan.

Although he was able to setup a new account with a dif-ferent mobile number within a

few days, he lost access per-manently to tens of thousandsof chat messages with his fam-ily, friends and scores of pro-fessional contacts.

“It puts me in a very awk-ward situation because havingyour WeChat blocked meanstelling others you have dis-senting political views, whichis frowned upon when you arelooking for a job,” he said.

For many users,shutting off WeChatwould be like givingup water or air.

have flocked to WeChat Work,a communication tool for busi-nesses that is integrated withthe WeChat app. In the firstquarter this year, governments,businesses and individualsused WeChat QR codes morethan 140 billion times, accord-ing to Tencent. A WeChat QRcode is used to make paymentsand also when logging onto de-vices and accounts.

The Chinese governmentalso tapped Tencent and Ali-baba Group Holding Ltd. to de-sign health-rating systems thatmake up one of the main con-tact-tracing tools to containthe spread of the coronavirus.

That utility has come with acost. WeChat was one of theprimary venues where govern-ment censors tried to restrictinformation during the out-break in Wuhan.

In addition to taking downcontent that was deemed sensi-tive, users say WeChat routinelyblocks accounts for discussingissues ranging from the pan-demic to human-rights abusesin the Xinjiang region. After us-ers’ accounts are blocked, policewill often question them.

free of government interference.After members of the group

had persuaded a few hundredusers to join Telegram, state se-curity officials began callingthem and their families in forquestioning. Those involved saythey ended the campaign inMarch and told authorities theyhad no political motives, but se-curity officials have continuedto question and monitor them.

China’s internet firewall haslong blocked foreign sites andmessaging apps, includingGoogle, WhatsApp, Telegramand Facebook, but these canbe accessed via virtual privatenetworks, or VPNs. Signal, an-other messaging app, is avail-able to users of Apple Inc.’siOS, but not Android users.

The hassle of setting up aVPN keeps most people fromusing the sites and apps,which means those who try tomigrate to more-secure appscan have trouble persuadingothers to join them.

But disenchantmentwith WeChat appears to havegrown over the past year, asmore evidence emerged thatauthorities were increasinglyrelying on WeChat to controlspeech and surveil dissidents.

Downloads of Telegram andSignal in China iOS storeshave been growing steadilyover the past few years, ac-cording to app tracker Appto-pia, though they still have onlya fraction of WeChat’s userbase. Both apps provide end-to-end encryption that pre-vents any third-party access tocommunications between thesender and the receiver.

“I’ve been calling on myfriends in mainland China toswitch to Telegram for the lastfew years,” a university pro-fessor in Hong Kong said. “Alot of them used to think usinga VPN service to get over thefirewall was such a bother.Now more and more of themdon’t mind this bother.”

WORLD NEWS

leading to English Channelports.

Around a quarter of Britishgoods trade takes place fromthe port of Dover, along withthe nearby Channel Tunnel,and its usual speed means it isthe preferred route for freshproduce, such as fish, vegeta-bles and fruit. At this time ofyear, British supermarkets areheavily dependent on theroute to bring in tomatoes, let-tuce and soft fruit.

Rail, air and sea serviceswill resume Wednesday, withall people traveling to Francefrom the U.K. required to showproof of a negative coronavirustest taken within the previous72 hours, the U.K. Departmentof Transport said Tuesday.

Truck drivers, irrespectiveof nationality, will need to sub-mit to a rapid coronavirus testbefore departure. So-called lat-eral flow, or antigen, tests candetect coronavirus—includingthe new variant described byBritish scientists last week—in30 minutes. A standard test,known as a PCR test, can take24 hours to return results.

The French government willalso carry out sample testingon drivers bringing freight tothe U.K.

A statement from the officeof French Prime Minister JeanCastex said that starting frommidnight Wednesday, Frenchnationals and others who livein the European Union wouldbe permitted to enter the

country, provided they had aCovid-19 test with documenta-tion showing a negative resultin the previous 72 hours thatthey would have to showahead of departure.

Also allowed to travel onessential business are othercategories of people, includingtruck drivers, the office said,adding that the specific detailswould be spelled out soon.The new arrangements willlast until at least Jan. 6.

The office said that either aPCR test, which is short forpolymerase chain reaction, ora more rapid antigen testwould be adequate, though theantigen test had to be sensitiveto the new variety of the virusand from a supplier approved

by the French authorities.The British government had

feared that forcing truck driv-ers to take a PCR test at theborder would be impracticalbecause results can take up to48 hours to return from a lab-oratory. Antigen tests arequicker but tend to be less ac-curate.

Dozens of countries in Eu-rope and farther afield haveclosed their borders to travel-ers from the U.K., hoping toprevent the introduction ofthe variant, which is spreadingrapidly in London and parts ofsoutheast England. Somecountries including Denmarkand the Netherlands havenoted a handful of cases, whilethe Irish government, where

cases are also rising fast, saysit assumes the variant is al-ready in the country.

Earlier in the day, the Euro-pean Commission advised all27 European Union countriesto bar nonessential travel fromthe U.K., but it recommendedthat they should keep theirborders open for transportworkers, without quarantineorders or testing, in order tokeep supply chains going.

For many truck drivers, thedelays portend holdups theyhave been expecting from Jan.1 when Britain leaves the EU’scustoms union and single mar-ket, necessitating significantborder checks on imports andexports for the first time indecades.

The British and French gov-ernments said they would re-open their border to trucksfrom the U.K. after the busyfrontier was closed for 48hours in an attempt to keepout a variant of the coronavi-rus that is spreading rapidlyin England.

The border closure led tolines of thousands of trucks,some carrying fresh producewhich was spoiling, on roads

BY STEPHEN FIDLER

France to Reopen Border to U.K. TrucksClosure led to lines ofthousands of truckson roads leading toEnglish ports

OTTAWA—Canada blockedChinese state-owned Shan-dong Gold Mining Co. frombuying a gold mine in the Ca-nadian Arctic as Prime Minis-ter Justin Trudeau faces grow-ing pressure to curb Beijing’srising influence in the countryand the polar region.

Monday’s decision was thesecond time Mr. Trudeau hasvetoed a China-led deal sincecoming to power in late 2015,backtracking in part on hisLiberal administration’s initialpolicy goal of developingcloser economic ties withChina.

The move could worsen re-lations between the two coun-tries, which are alreadystrained over Canada’s role inthe arrest of senior HuaweiTechnologies Co. executiveMeng Wanzhou, the daughterof Huawei’s founder, in Van-couver in 2018 over the com-pany’s alleged violations ofU.S. sanctions on Iran.

China subsequently de-tained two Canadians for al-legedly violating national se-curity laws, which Mr.Trudeau has described as re-taliation for Ms. Meng’s arrest.

Shandong, one of theworld’s largest gold miners,had proposed buying TMACResources Inc., which owns amine almost 120 miles northof the Arctic Circle, forroughly $150 million.

But former Canadian na-tional security and military of-ficials came out against thedeal. They argued that itwould give China too much ac-cess to the Arctic, a sensitiveregion where China has beeninvesting because of its grow-ing importance as a shippingroute and a source of valuableminerals.

Under Canadian law, thegovernment must review anyacquisition by a foreign state-owned enterprise and canblock it to protect national se-curity, a term that is left unde-fined in law to give officialssome flexibility on how to usethe veto.

Although it doesn’t haveany oversight authority on ac-quisitions in Canada, the U.S.Senate Energy and Natural Re-sources Committee also wastracking developments on theproposed TMAC deal.

TMAC said late Mondaythat the government had com-pleted its review and blockedthe deal from going ahead.“TMAC and Shandong are indiscussions regarding termina-tion of the transaction,” theCanadian company said.

A spokesman for the Cana-dian minister in charge of in-vestment policy confirmed thetransaction was vetoed. Shan-dong didn’t respond to anemail seeking comment. TheChinese Embassy in Ottawasaid Canada should provide afair and nondiscriminatorymarket environment for enter-prises from all countries, in-cluding China. Any politiciza-tion or interference “with theexcuse of national security iswrong,” the embassy said.

The first time Mr. Trudeau’sgovernment vetoed a Chinesedeal was in 2018. Canadablocked the proposed acquisi-tion of Toronto-based AeconGroup Inc. by CCCC Interna-tional Holding Ltd., citing na-tional security concerns.

BY VIPAL MONGAAND PAUL VIEIRA

CanadaWon’t LetChina BuyGold Mine

BY JING YANG

Beijing Tracks Dissent Over Ubiquitous App

A customer used WeChat to pay at a Beijing market in September.

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Chinese smartphone users areincreasingly adopting appsthat offer greater protection oftheir communications.

Cumulativemonthly down-loads in Chinese iOS stores

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WORLD NEWS

cooperating on little except forcombating Covid-19.

Messrs. Netanyahu andGantz have each blamed theother for the collapse of thegovernment and for forcing an-other national vote on thecountry.

“Netanyahu is taking us toelections just so he won’t entera courthouse. Every other ver-sion is a trick or a shtick,” Mr.Gantz tweeted Tuesday.

Had a budget been passed,Mr. Netanyahu would havebeen obligated to hand overthe prime minister’s seat to Mr.Gantz in late 2021, according toa power-sharing agreement thetwo struck this spring.

Mr. Netanyahu’s political ri-vals and analysts say the pre-mier used his power over thefinance ministry to prevent abudget from passing and re-main the prime minister.

“The reason we’re headingto an election is because Ne-tanyahu refused to pass a bud-get as required by law andhonor political agreements sothat he can remain in power,”said Yohanan Plesner, presidentof the Jerusalem-based IsraelDemocracy Institute.

Mr. Netanyahu denies usingthe budget to stay in power.The coalition pact called for atwo-year budget for 2020 and2021 to be passed this year.But Mr. Netanyahu argued thatthe lack of economic claritygenerated by the pandemiccalled for delaying the passingof the 2021 part of the budget.

Mr. Netanyahu said thatwhile he had hoped to avoid anelection, he was confident hewould emerge victorious. Hewill remain prime minister un-til the next vote but can’t fireMr. Gantz or any ministersbrought into the governmentby Mr. Gantz under the rules oftheir coalition agreement.

“The majority of the publicsees our great achievementsand leadership,” Mr. Netanyahusaid Tuesday.

TEL AVIV—Israel’s parlia-ment was dissolved after theshort-lived unity governmentled by Prime Minister Benja-min Netanyahu failed to pass anew budget, sending the coun-try to a fourth election in lessthan two years.

The parties making up Mr.Netanyahu’s coalition—whichhave been squabbling over se-nior judicial appointments andpower-sharing since the gov-ernment’s inception this pastspring—failed to agree on anew budget in time for a mid-night deadline on Tuesday. Theresult was the automatic disso-lution of the Knesset, Israel’sparliament, which triggeredfresh national elections thatare set to be held on March 23,according to the parliament’sspeaker.

It presents a fresh challengefor Mr. Netanyahu, who is fac-ing possibly the toughest phaseof a storied political career. Heis standing trial for corruption,even as he oversees a rapidrollout of a Covid-19 vaccineand works to stem the eco-nomic damage the pandemichas wrought.

The collapse brings to anend a government that was es-tablished only in May, whenBenny Gantz, leader of the cen-trist Blue and White party, setaside his opposition to joininga Netanyahu government andagreed to form a unity coali-tion that would guide thecountry through the twin coro-navirus and economic crises.

That agreement came afterthree elections in the space ofa year produced a stalemate, inwhich Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party won the mostvotes but fell short of enoughparliamentary seats to form acoalition. Polls currently proj-ect a similar deadlock.

The partnership was fraughtfrom the start, with the parties

BY DOV LIEBERAND FELICIA SCHWARTZ

Israel Faces AnotherElection AfterKnesset Is Dissolved

RABAT—Senior WhiteHouse adviser Jared Kushnerflew Tuesday aboard the firstdirect commercial Israeli flightfrom Israel to Morocco, possi-bly the capstone of his four-year campaign to help Israelshift power dynamics acrossthe Middle East.

In Rabat, Mr. Kushner and adelegation that included hisWhite House team and Israeliofficials met with Moroccanleaders to sign diplomatic andeconomic agreements betweenthe U.S., Israel and Morocco.

“It is now time to put theregion and all of its people ona truly transformative patchtoward stability, security andprosperity,” Mr. Kushner saidafter meeting with King Mo-hammed VI of Morocco.

Mr. Kushner, who is alsoPresident Trump’s son-in-law,is devoting much of his timein the final days of the Trumpadministration trying to ad-vance his Middle East agendabefore he leaves the White

House on Jan. 20.The deal between Morocco

and Israel is the fourth suchagreement Mr. Kushner andthe Trump administrationhave secured with Arab na-tions this year.

In August, Israel and theUnited Arab Emirates agreedto establish diplomatic rela-tions. That breakthrough thatwas soon followed by similardeals with Bahrain and Sudan.

Mr. Kushner is also tryingto broker a difficult deal toend a rift between Qatar andits regional rivals that hashampered U.S. efforts to iso-late Iran.

Earlier in December, Mr.Kushner flew from Saudi Ara-bia to Qatar in a bid to end thefeud, but forging an agree-ment has proven to be a chal-lenge.

U.S. officials also hoped tosecure an agreement betweenIsrael and Saudi Arabia to nor-malize ties, but that appearedto be out of reach. IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia

for a secret meeting withCrown Prince Mohammed BinSalman, but the talks failed toproduce a diplomatic break-through.

Moroccan officials playeddown the significance of Tues-day’s agreements by notingthat Morocco was merely re-establishing low-level diplo-

matic relations it had with Is-rael until 2000.

As part of the deal, Mr.Trump agreed to recognizeMorocco’s disputed hold onWestern Sahara, a formerSpanish colony that Moroccosought to annex in 1975.United Nations peacekeepershave kept peace in the remotecorner of Africa for decades,

but fighting between Moroccoand Polisario fighters based inneighboring Algeria unexpect-edly flared up last month rightbefore the U.S.-brokered dealwas announced.

The White House decisionto recognize Morocco’s holdon Western Sahara upendeddecades of U.S. policy in NorthAfrica, but Trump administra-tion officials said the rewardsof the deal outweighed risksthat the shift might becomethe spark for open war be-tween Morocco and militantsbased in Algeria fighting forWestern Sahara independence.

Mr. Kushner’s focus on theMiddle East in the waningweeks of the administration isa reflection of his drive to lockdown more diplomatic gainsthat will be harder for the Bi-den administration to undo.

U.S. officials expressed con-fidence the next administra-tion was unlikely to roll backmany of the Trump adminis-tration deals, such as backingMorocco’s claim to WesternSahara.

BY DION NISSENBAUM

Kushner Signs Accords in MoroccoJared Kushner, left, and Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat disembarked in Morocco’s capital Rabat on Tuesday.

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TheU.S. envoy tookthe first direct Israeliflight toRabat andmet the king.

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Member Voices

Emily PachutaChiefMarketing &Analytics Officer, AmericasInvesco

The Wall Street Journal CMO Network connects leaders of the world’s most influential brands to examinewhat — and who — is driving trends and provide the facts they need to chart the path forward.

What’s your approach to leadingwithempathy and awareness?

It’s a flexible approach because atthe core of empathy is relating to andunderstanding another person, so youneed to be adaptive. But the approachhas three dimensions. The first isgenuine curiosity, whether that’s aboutone of my teammembers or a client;I believe I’m here to serve them. Thesecond dimension is empowerment,so that people closest to a problemhave the responsibility and informationthey need to solve the problem. Thethird dimension is being a consciouscommunicator — transparent andfrequent. We’ve entered an era ofempathy, borne out of the challengeswe’ve all faced and observed, and that’sa different and higher standard for all ofus as leaders.

What does authenticmarketing looklike for you?Howdo you bringmeaningand purpose into focus?

I’m very lucky towork in a purpose-ledorganizationwherewe understandthat the products and the experienceswe deliver can help create greaterpossibilities for people. Assetmanagement products,market dynamics,economic environments, these can behighly technical subjects. Authenticmarketing puts the person—not thecompany or the product— at the center.It demystifies complexity and focuses on

tangible and emotional benefits. And it’sclear, intelligent and an invitation into aconversation or a relationshipwitha brand.

When it’s time to get creative,what doyou do to get inspired?

The first thing that I do is close thelaptop and turn off the phone so thatthere’s some silence and open spacefor mymind to wander. I think thatat the core of creativity is emotionand storytelling. So, because I have abackground in film, I gravitate to movieswhere I can lose myself in both the storyand the craft itself — The Godfather(Parts 1 and 2), 12 Years a Slave, RearWindow,Nashville, Roma— the list goeson and on. It’s the holidays, so I wouldadd It’s aWonderful Life, too.

What new technology are youmostexcited about?

Our organization is very focused on dataand deriving insights fromdata to drivemore effective client engagements.Whilethere are some very necessary technicalskill sets required to conduct themostadvanced analytics, there’s an opportunityto democratize data and the use of dataso that this essential and actionableinformation is in the hands of all who needit. I’m very excited about technologies thatsimplify and organize data capture, aswell as technologies that democratize theaccess to, and use of, data.

What are youmost proud of in yourcurrent role?

I’m so proud of the team that I serve.They have proven to be so resilient,so focused on addressing our clients’needs, so generous to one another.We’ve launched multiple contentprograms, omnichannel campaignsand digital products in this COVID-19environment, all aligned to our long-term marketing transformationstrategy. And these programssurpassed all of our previous metricsbenchmarks so, of course, I’m proud ofthose accomplishments. But I’m trulyhumbled by how the team has goneabout these accomplishments. It reallyis true what Peter Drucker said, thatculture eats strategy for breakfast.

What do you valuemost in abusiness partner?

In asset management, the potentialof marketing as a revenue driver isnot always well-understood. I valuea business partner who comes tothe conversation with an open mind,curiosity about what marketing is allabout and a willingness to challengeme. When someone is willing to takethe time to learn and also challengeyour thinking, it means we now sharea commitment to our clients’ and ourfirm’s success.

TheWall Street Journal news organization was not involved in the creation of this content.

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among retailers to choosewhich products they promote.

The Justice Department lastyear launched a broad investi-gation of the market power oflarge technology companies in-cluding Amazon. Europe’s anti-trust regulators last monthcharged Amazon with violatingcompetition law. Amazon saidit disagreed with the allega-tions and would continue toengage with the commission.

In October, the House Anti-trust Subcommittee concludeda 16-month investigation intotech companies with a reportaccusing Amazon of exerting“monopoly power” over sellerson its website. “It’s very clearthat they use the enormousmarket power that they have tomaintain dominance,” Rep. Da-vid Cicilline (D., R.I.), chairmanof the subcommittee, said in aninterview.

Amazon has denied exertingmonopoly power. In responseto the investigation, it pub-lished a blog post saying that“large companies are not domi-nant by definition, and the pre-sumption that success can onlybe the result of anti-competi-tive behavior is simply wrong.”

Amazon’s versionAt its height about a decade

ago, Pirate Trading LLC wasselling more than $3.5 million ayear of its Ravelli-brand cam-era tripods—one of its bestsell-ing products—on Amazon, saidowner Dalen Thomas. In 2011,Amazon began launching itsown versions of six of PirateTrading’s top-selling tripodsunder its AmazonBasics label,he said. He ordered one of theAmazon tripods and found ithad the same components andshared Pirate Trading’s design.For its AmazonBasics products,Amazon used the same manu-facturer that Pirate Tradinghad used. Amazon priced oneof its clone tripods below whatMr. Thomas paid his manufac-turer to have Pirate Trading’sversion made, he said.

Amazon suspended PirateTrading camera tripod modelsthat competed with the Ama-zonBasics versions repeatedly,Mr. Thomas said, alleging histripods had authenticity is-sues. Amazon rarely sus-pended the tripod models thatdidn’t compete with Amazon-Basics versions, he said. In2015, Amazon suspended allRavelli products, he said, andeven though the suspensionended, his company’s tripodbusiness is now a fraction ofthe size it was. Mr. Thomassaid he found being a seller onAmazon too risky and haslargely pivoted to real-estateinvesting. The Amazon spokes-man said the AmazonBasicstripods don’t violate any intel-

prices by 30%, Quidsi execu-tives were shocked and ran ananalysis that determined Ama-zon was losing $7 for every boxof diapers, former Quidsi boardmembers said. Senior Quidsiexecutives were even more sur-prised when, the day of theprice cuts, Jeff Blackburn, a toplieutenant to Mr. Bezos, ap-proached a Quidsi board mem-ber saying the company shouldsell itself to Amazon, said aperson familiar with the mat-ter. Quidsi wasn’t for sale.

Quidsi started to unravel af-ter Amazon’s price cuts, saidLeonard Lodish, a Quidsiboard member at the time,missing its internal monthlyprojections for the first timesince 2005. The company feltit had no choice but to sell it-self because it couldn’t com-pete with what Amazon wasdoing and survive. Amazonbought Quidsi in 2010 forabout $500 million. It shutdown Diapers.com in 2017,saying it was unprofitable.

“What Amazon did wasagainst the law. They wereselling diapers for below cost,”said Mr. Lodish. “But whatwere we going to do? Sue Am-azon for antitrust?”

The Amazon spokesman de-clined to comment on the spe-cifics of the Quidsi acquisition,saying Diapers.com wasn’tprofitable when Amazon ac-quired it. Mr. Blackburn de-clined to comment.

Wayfair Parity TeamIn 2016, Wayfair was an on-

line retailer of furniture with$3.4 billion in revenue thatyear, compared with Amazon’s$136 billion. Amazon had lessfurniture selection than Way-fair, and its so-called S-teamof senior vice presidents—some directly under Mr. Be-zos—made the market a prior-ity, said the people whoworked on the team.

That year, Amazon launchedits Wayfair Parity Team, whichanalyzed Wayfair’s businesswith the goal of eventuallyselling on Amazon 90% of fur-niture Wayfair offered, thepeople said. The team grew toaround 100 people. It strug-gled to find Wayfair’s suppli-ers. Wary of competitors, Way-fair was buying items frommanufacturers and rebrandingthem to mask their identity,said the people. The teameventually identified the man-ufacturers by ordering Wayfairproducts to check manufactur-ing information and by goingto trade shows to find Way-fair’s suppliers, they said.

Amazon didn’t stop Way-fair’s growth. The smallercompany increased its share ofonline furniture sales in theU.S. to 25% last year from un-

der 18% in 2016, according tomarket-research company1010data. Amazon’s marketshare stayed steady, at justover half of online furnituresales, including its direct salesand those of outside vendorson its platform. The Amazonspokesman, declining to com-ment on the Wayfair ParityTeam, said part of earningcustomer loyalty is making se-lection and pricing as good orbetter than competitors’.

Powerful toolIn targeting competitors,

Amazon’s private-label teamhas access to a powerful tool:Amazon’s database of searchterms customers frequentlyuse. The team can add thoseterms to their product descrip-tions and detail pages to gaina boost on Amazon’s searchengine, some former Amazonprivate-label employees said.

When employees on Ama-zon’s private-label team in2017 launched its Goodthreadsline of apparel, they sought tocreate an aesthetic similar tothat of J.Crew, one of the for-mer employees said. Parentcompany J.Crew Group foryears avoided selling on Ama-zon. J.Crew’s then-ChairmanMickey Drexler in a 2017 con-ference said he wouldn’t sellon Amazon because: “No. 1,they own the customer” andwould “take every bestsellerand put it into their private la-bel collection.”

So the Goodthreads manag-ers took steps to help searchesfor “J.Crew” show results thatincluded Goodthreads, accord-ing to the person. Goodthreadsis now one of Amazon’s top 10private-label brands, accordingto e-commerce intelligence firmMarketplace Pulse. The Amazonspokesman said Goodthreadstargets an aesthetic commonamong multiple brands andisn’t unique to J.Crew. J.Crewdeclined to comment.

Allbirds launched its firstshoe, “Wool Runner,” in 2016.The lightweight shoe becamean instant success. Amazonconsistently contacted Allbirdsbetween 2017 and 2019 to sellon its site, said Mr. Zwillinger.Allbirds always declined.

Allbirds’ team in mid-2017began noticing that, onGoogle’s search engine, the topresults for “Wool Runner” wereknockoffs from outside vendorson Amazon, Mr. Zwillingersaid. Allbirds believed Amazonwas buying advertisements onGoogle to siphon demand forthe shoes to itself, he said.

Then came Amazon’s Galenshoe. Mr. Zwillinger said he be-lieves search data guided Ama-zon’s decision to clone his hitproduct, which he said looks“eerily similar” to his shoe.“I’m not saying whether theydid or didn’t infringe. We didn’tget a lawyer involved,” he said.

The Amazon spokesmansaid that the company didn’ttarget Allbirds on Google ad-vertising and that it was obvi-ous wool shoes were trending.

Now, Amazon is targetingone of the biggest pandemicbeneficiaries, Shopify. Withthe coronavirus causing storeshutdowns, many smaller re-tailers have invested in creat-ing online stores usingShopify’s technology.

Earlier this year, Amazoncreated a top-secret task forcededicated to studying the Ca-nadian company and copyingparts of it, said the employees.

Amazon declined to com-ment on Project Santos.Shopify didn’t respond to re-quests for comment.

In October, the team pre-sented its work to Mr. Bezos,who was enthusiastic that theproject could help stem thedefection of sellers to its Ca-nadian rival, said the employ-ees. Amazon hasn’t launchedthe project yet, they said.

—Sebastian Herreracontributed to this article.

through the years, from dia-pers to footwear.

No competitor is too smallto draw Amazon’s sights. Itcloned a line of camera tripodsthat a small outside companysold on Amazon’s site, hurtingthe vendor’s sales so badly itis now a fraction of its originalsize, the little firm’s ownersaid. Amazon said it didn’t vi-olate the company’s intellec-tual-property rights.

When Amazon decided tocompete with furniture retailerWayfair Inc., Mr. Bezos’s depu-ties created what they calledthe Wayfair Parity Team,which studied how Wayfairprocured, sold and deliveredbulky furniture, said peoplewho worked on the team. Am-azon and Wayfair declined tocomment on the matter.

Amazon set its sights onAllbirds Inc., the maker of pop-ular shoes using natural andrecycled materials, and lastyear launched a shoe that looksnearly identical to Allbirds’bestseller—without the envi-ronmentally friendly materials.

“You can’t help but look at atrillion-dollar company puttingtheir muscle and their pocketsand their machinations of theiralgorithms and reviewers andprivate-label machine all be-hind something that you’ve putyour career against,” said All-birds Co-CEO Joey Zwillinger.

An Amazon spokesman saidthe company’s shoe didn’t in-fringe on Allbirds’ design, add-ing that the company has pre-viously said: “Offeringproducts inspired by thetrends to which customers areresponding is a common prac-tice across the retail industry.”

This year, Amazon has ze-roed in on Shopify Inc., a fast-growing Canadian companythat helps small merchantscreate online shops. Amazonhas established a secret team,“Project Santos,” to replicateparts of Shopify’s businessmodel, said people familiarwith the project.

Amazon executives ofteninitiated efforts like these ontheir own, though in somecases examined by The WallStreet Journal, Mr. Bezos him-self was involved, according toformer Amazon executives andinternal emails.

From its start as an onlinebookstore 26 years ago, Ama-zon has expanded into an on-line retailer with a presence innearly every major category. Itis also the leading provider ofcloud-computing services, agadget maker, a major enter-tainment player and a rival toUnited Parcel Service Inc. andFedEx Corp. Mr. Bezos is theworld’s richest man.

He still exhorts employeesto consider Amazon a startup.“It is always day one,” he likesto say. Day two is “stasis, fol-lowed by irrelevance, followedby excruciating, painful de-cline, followed by death.” Mr.Bezos originally consideredcalling his company Relent-less, and www.relentless.comstill redirects to Amazon’s site.

Mr. Bezos declined to be in-terviewed. Amazon declined toprovide an overall commenton the topic of this article andresponded only to specific ex-amples.

Some rivals and partnerssay Amazon’s competitive zeallooks like unfair practices. TheJournal this year reported thatAmazon employees used dataabout independent sellers onits platform to develop com-peting products and that ithas used the investment anddeal-making process in waysthat entrepreneurs and otherssaid helped it develop prod-ucts that competed with itswould-be partners. Journal re-porting showed how Amazonhas limited some competitors’ability to promote rivalstreaming devices and othergadgets on its dominant e-commerce platform.

Mr. Bezos in July testimonyto the House Antitrust Sub-committee about the Journal’sprivate-label article, said: “Ican’t guarantee you that thatpolicy has never been vio-lated.” The Amazon spokesmansaid the company doesn’t useconfidential information thatcompanies share with it in themergers-and-acquisitions andventure-capital processes tobuild competing products. Am-azon didn’t directly addressthe question of whether ithobbles rivals’ marketing, say-ing it is common practice

ContinuedfromPageOne

AmazonActs LikeA Startup

FROM PAGE ONE

lectual-property rights.Several Amazon sellers said

they have received notifica-tions from Amazon that saytheir products are used orcounterfeit. Amazon suspendstheir selling accounts untilthey can prove that the prod-ucts are legitimate, they said.

To turn their accounts backon, Amazon often requeststhat the sellers provide detailson who manufactures theirproduct along with invoicesfrom the manufacturer so thatAmazon can verify authentic-ity. Several sellers told theJournal they provided thosedetails to Amazon, only forAmazon to introduce its ownversion of their products usingthe same manufacturer.

The Amazon spokesmansaid the company requests in-voices when there is a coun-terfeit claim and doesn’t useinformation it requests abouta seller’s manufacturer to pro-cure private-label products.

Mr. Bezos set out to makeAmazon a destination whereconsumers can find everythingthey want and continues thatpush. “If a company is offeringsomething that Amazon thinksthey can do better, or can doless expensively, then they willtry to do it,” said Patrick Win-ters, an Amazon Prime Videomanager who left this summerto work for Albertsons Cos.

Quidsi, parent of Dia-pers.com and Soap.com, be-came a target a decade ago,

when Amazon set up a team tofocus on it, according toemails released as part of con-gressional hearings. Amazonwanted to know how the NewJersey e-commerce companycould deliver bulky packagesof diapers so quickly, said peo-ple familiar with the matter.

Amazon in 2009 developeda 12-step plan to take onQuidsi, according to the emailsreleased by Congress. Actionitems in emails included “Beator meet Diapers.com’s 6PM or-der time cutoff.” An internalemail that year from a top

Amazon retail executive calledQuidsi “our #1 short termcompetitor,” and said: “weneed to match pricing on theseguys no matter what the cost.”

In a June 2010 email chainthat included Mr. Bezos, a se-nior executive laid out tactics,saying “We have already initi-ated a more aggressive ‘plan towin’ against diapers.com in thediaper/baby space,” a plan thatincluded doubling Amazon'sdiscounts on diapers and babywipes to 30% off.

When Amazon cut diaper

0 100 200 $300 billion

1997

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

Amazon Prime

Baby products, cloud-computing services

Amazon Kindle, first own-branded gadget

Office products, clothingSporting goods

Jewelry, beauty products

Music-streaming service, Echo smart speaker

AmazonHandmade storefront

BuysWhole Foods

Shippingwith Amazon

Prescriptionmedicine

AmazonBasics electronics accessories

Amazon Studios to developmovies

Fine art

CDs, DVDs

Consumer electronics, toys, home-improvement goods

Wine

Bull MarketAmazon has continually expanded into new categoriesin its online store.

Amazonannual sales andmajor additionstoproducts and services

Note: 2020 sales is a FactSet estimate.Sources: FactSet; the company; staff reports

Jeff Bezos originallyconsidered callinghis company‘Relentless.’

Mr. Bezos still exhorts employees to consider Amazon a startup; ‘It is always day one,’ he likes to say. Above, an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Eastvale, Calif., in May.

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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos testifies remotely during a House Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on antitrust in July.

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In-house self-winding movement, 40mm steel case

said the program is working.He cited a decline in the an-nual number of pedestriandeaths. The toll for the yearthrough Dec. 21 was 98 and ison track to be the lowest sincerecords began in 1910. The to-tal number of road deaths inthe city so far this year is 238.It is on track to be the highestfatality count since 2014.

This year’s rise in fatalitieshas been fueled by deaths of117 drivers, motorcyclists andpassengers, a 72% increasefrom the same period last yearand the highest number ofsuch deaths since 2006.

NYPD Chief of Transporta-tion Kim Royster said at a sep-arate news conference Tuesdaythat additional officers wouldbe deployed on highways andlocal streets over the holidayperiod to monitor speedingand people driving under the

influence. She said she wouldjoin the administration in lob-bying Albany to expand theuse of speed cameras.

The city deploys the cam-eras at 750 school zones.Speed-camera tickets peakedin April at just over 500,000that month, according to citydata. Since then, they have de-creased to about 300,000 tick-ets issued in November.

Ed Pincar, the interim se-nior borough commissioner forthe city’s Transportation De-partment, said the current rateof tickets is about 11/2 timesmore than the same periodlast year. He said city datashowed cameras have reducedspeeding in school zones bymore than 70% and cut injuriesby 17%. He added that two-thirds of drivers who receive aviolation don’t receive anotherticket within a calendar year.

looked at more than 3,700 vi-rus sequences found in NewYork and haven’t found theU.K. variant yet in samples,Mr. Cuomo said.

The test is complicated, thegovernor said, but if a hospi-tal-based laboratory some-where in the state has the ca-pacity to do it, the state will

provide authorization and thenecessary materials.

The new strain was first de-tected in England in Septemberand identified last week.

U.K. researchers say theybelieve the variant could be asmuch as 70% more transmissi-ble than more establishedstrains.

closed 26 adult and juveniledetention facilities as thenumber of inmates has de-clined by about 21,000, accord-ing to the governor’s office. Asof Dec. 1, there were 35,353 in-mates in New York state pris-ons, according to DOCCS.

State Senate Minority LeaderRobert Ortt, a Niagara CountyRepublican, called on the de-partment to reverse its deci-sion. “It is no secret that Albanyhas buckled under the pressuresof pro-criminal special interestgroups, but to make this an-nouncement the week of Christ-mas is distasteful,” he said.

As of Dec. 7, DOCCS officialssaid, 277 people worked atClinton Annex, 671 at Gowandaand 306 at the Watertown Cor-rectional Facility. Mr. Maileysaid the department doesn’tanticipate layoffs, and wouldwork with guards to transferthem to other facilities.

New York State Correc-tional Officers and Police Be-nevolent Association PresidentMichael Powers, who repre-sents officers and sergeantsworking in state prisons, said“additional closures will onlyserve to condense the prisonpopulation within a decreasingnumber of facilities, furtherjeopardizing the safety of NY-SCOPBA members and the in-mate population as a whole.”

Jose Saldana, director ofthe Release Aging People inPrison Campaign, said Mr.Cuomo should go further andgrant clemency to older in-mates who are at risk of seri-ous health problems if theybecome infected with Covid-19.

New York state officials willclose three upstate prisons incoming weeks, a move theysaid was justified by a declin-ing inmate population and alooming budget deficit.

The state Department ofCorrections and CommunitySupervision said Monday itwould close the prisons at theend of March. They are theGowanda Correctional Facilityin Erie County, the WatertownCorrectional Facility on theoutskirts of that city and theClinton Annex near Plattsburgh.

Republican politicians criti-cized the move, saying the clo-sures would cause hundreds ofjob losses in struggling areas.

The administration of Gov.Andrew Cuomo said the closureswould save about $89 million ayear and that the nearly 1,500inmates in the facilities wouldbe transferred to other prisons.

The closures were autho-rized as part of the state bud-get adopted in April.

DOCCS spokesman ThomasMailey said the closures con-tinue Mr. Cuomo’s push tochange criminal-justice laws andclose unused prisons—many ofwhich were constructed or ex-panded when his father, the lateMario Cuomo, was governorfrom 1983 to 1994.

Mr. Mailey said the decisionto shut the prisons was basedon the condition of the facili-ties and programs that wereoffered, the locations of priorprison closures and the abilityto reuse the sites.

Since 2011, the state has

BY JIMMY VIELKIND

New York Is Set toClose Three Prisons

New York health officialsare asking hospitals aroundthe state to test for the newcoronavirus strain that hasemerged in the U.K., Gov. An-drew Cuomo said Tuesday.

Although there was no evi-dence the strain has made itsway to New York, Mr. Cuomosaid health officials believe itcould have traveled globally.

“If it’s here we want toknow it—we want to isolate itimmediately,” the Democraticgovernor said during a confer-ence call with reporters.

“Chances are, if it’s beenmoving globally, it came here,”Mr. Cuomo said.

The state-run WadsworthCenter laboratory in Albanyalready has started aggressiveresearch into the newer strainof the virus that causesCovid-19, and has joined withsix other hospitals to obtainother samples, the governorsaid.

Workers at the lab have

BY JIMMY VIELKINDAND KATIE HONAN

GREATER NEW YORK

Concerns about the strainprompted Mr. Cuomo on Mon-day to request travelers fromthe U.K. be tested for the virusbefore landing at New Yorkairports.

Covid-19 cases continued torise across New York, with6,661 hospitalized statewideon Monday and 139 people dy-ing of the virus, according tostate data.

Of the 164,868 Covid-19tests reported to state officialson Monday, 5.89% were posi-tive, Mr. Cuomo said.

New York City Mayor Bill deBlasio introduced on Tuesdayan outreach campaign to edu-cate residents about theCovid-19 vaccine, which the citystarted administering last week.

More than 22,000 peoplehave been vaccinated so far,Mr. de Blasio said, withhealth-care workers the firstto receive doses.

“We are launching a mas-sive vaccination campaign atbreakneck speed, guaranteeingthat a vaccine will be safe,free, and easy to get for allNew Yorkers,” he said.

Mr. de Blasio said thou-sands more New Yorkers willreceive the vaccine in thecoming months, and the city isfocused on neighborhoodshardest-hit by Covid-19.

Hunt Is on for Signs of New Virus StrainNew York state askshospitals to check forCovid-19 variant thathas emerged in the U.K.

A Crown Heights Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation employee received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

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New York City will ask thestate for permission to operatespeed cameras around the clockas deaths of drivers, motorcy-clists and passengers appearpoised to reach their highestannual levels in nearly 15 years.

Mayor Bill de Blasio saidTuesday that almost three-quarters of traffic deaths thisyear occurred at times or inplaces where automated speedcameras aren’t allowed. Hesaid one-third of non-highwaydeaths happened in speed-camera zones at times whenthe cameras can’t issue tickets.

New York state restrictswhere and when the city canoperate cameras. According tostate law, they can only beplaced within a quarter mile ofa school and operated on week-days from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Mr. de Blasio said he wouldappeal to the state Legislatureto allow the city to operatethe cameras round the clock.He acknowledged at a newsconference that many driversdon’t like the cameras andthat even he has received tick-ets. “But you know what, theychange behavior,” he said.

City transportation and po-lice officials say the pandemichas caused an increase inspeeding and other recklessbehavior, especially at nightwhen roads are less busy. Re-searchers at the federal Na-tional Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration have noted anincrease in speeding and inroad fatality rates nationwideduring the pandemic.

Fatalities in New York Cityhave risen this year despite

BY PAUL BERGERAND KATIE HONAN

City Moves to Expand Camera Use

City officials say the pandemic has caused an increase in speeding and other reckless behavior.

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from Peter Barbey, an heir tothe fortune behind fashionbrands North Face and Timber-land who bought the publicationin 2015, but closed it three yearslater. The price wasn’t disclosed.

Brian Calle, the chief execu-tive of Street Media and pub-lisher of LA Weekly and its sis-ter paper, Irvine Weekly, said heintends to begin publishing newcontent on the Village Voicewebsite in January and will

bring it back to print as a quar-terly starting at the end ofMarch. Its print frequency mightincrease over time, he said.

“I believe it is somethingthat is going to be neededwhen New York begins to fullyreopen next year,” he said.

Mr. Calle said he plans tobegin with a handful of staff-ers and would add more as thepublication re-establishes it-self. The sale includes all the

Voice’s assets, except for theObie Awards for off-Broadwaytheater productions.

Since closing the Voice, Mr.Barbey has worked to digitizeits archives, which date to1955, when it was founded bya group that included authorNorman Mailer. Mr. Calle saidthe work is about 90% finishedand when it is done, the ar-chive would be donated to apublic institution.

“Though we were not ableto overcome the economicconditions facing the news-media industry, we have sinceworked tirelessly to ensurethat the Village Voice inspires,informs and educates futuregenerations,” Mr. Barbey said.

For decades, the Voice setthe pace for arts coverage inNew York City, featuring workby well-known columnists andcritics including Nat Hentoff,

Jonas Mekas, Robert Christgauand Michael Musto. It wonthree Pulitzer Prizes for inves-tigative features on politicsand corruption, and was hometo muckraking reporters likeWayne Barrett, Jack Newfieldand Tom Robbins.

The publication created thetemplate for alternative week-lies, typically offering left-wing perspectives not found inthe mainstream press.

The Village Voice will beheard again.

The iconic New York alter-native weekly, which closed in2018 after more than half acentury of chronicling thecity’s cultural life, will return inearly 2021 with a new owner.

Street Media, a California in-vestment group that owns LAWeekly, has acquired the Voice

BY LUKAS I. ALPERT

Iconic City Newspaper, the Village Voice, Is Slated to Return

the number of crashes involv-ing injuries or deaths fallingabout 30% during the pan-demic, according to a recentWall Street Journal analysis ofTransportation Departmentdata. For every 1,000 serious

crashes from April throughNovember, there were 8.6deaths—almost twice as manyas in the past three years, theanalysis found.

New York City launched aninitiative in 2014 to get roaddeaths to zero. Mr. de Blasio

Mayor will ask stateLegislature to allowNYC to operate thedevices 24­7.

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tourists vanished from thecity. Licensing revenue fromhis eponymous oyster brandplunged. And the extra in-come he typically earns fromappearances and product en-dorsements—such as thelong-running TV commercialhe shot for a Queens cardealership—all but dried up.

T his year, for the firsttime since he startedperforming in Times

Square 22 years ago, he hadto borrow from his retire-ment account to pay the rent.

But he looks on the brightside: His fame rose to newheights this year as shots ofhim playing a desolate TimesSquare became a global sym-bol of the lockdown andlanded him on the cover ofNew York Magazine.

Another strategy for stay-ing motivated? A total com-mitment to being the NakedCowboy. Mr. Burck follows astrict, taxing exercise, dietand work routine seven days

a week. He has no children,no lease, and says all his pos-sessions would fit in the backof his SUV: “I’m not tied toanything and never will be.”

One exception: Eight yearsago, he married PatriciaCruz, a belly dance instruc-tor he met at a Times Squarecafe when she served him

his sushi and coffee. Now,she joins him for much of hisdaily routine, appearing, attimes, as the Naked Cowgirl.

Dialogue finished, I followedMr. Burck as he preparedbreakfast—seven eggs gobbledstraight from the frying pan—drove to his bare-bones gym,stopped by the liquor store for

a bottle of vodka and duckedinto a 7-Eleven for a secondbreakfast: sliced turkey and aprotein shake.

Driving to Manhattan, welistened to his X-rated coun-try songs before tuning in toa conservative radio talkshow. A big Trump supporter,Mr. Burck remains a red-statecowboy in a bright blue town.

M r. Burck grew upnear Cincinnati andwas “a crazy, out-of-

whack kid who was always introuble.” He studied politicalscience in college andworked as a stripper beforeinventing his Naked Cowboypersona while performing onCalifornia’s Venice Beachboardwalk in 1998. He lovedthe attention. “I was readyto be the Naked Cowboy forthe rest of my life,” he says.

He spent the next yearperforming in public spacesacross the U.S. New YorkCity was the end of a longroad. “People say, ‘You were

METRO MONEY | By Anne Kadet

The Naked Cowboy Displays True N.Y.C. GritThe Naked

Cowboy isturning 50this week.And if you askme, he’s got

plenty to celebrate. Everysingle day through the pan-demic, the one-man touristattraction showed up to dowhat he’s always done—per-form in the middle of TimesSquare wearing only his hat,boots and tight, white under-wear. He was out strummingand singing even when thedistrict was deserted and hewasn’t making a dime.

“He is, absolutely, an in-the-flesh representation ofthe resilience of TimesSquare and New York,” TimTompkins, president of theTimes Square Alliance, said.“A representation of how wejust keep going.”

But most of us aren’tshowing up near-naked in asnowstorm, like the cowboydid last week. How does hecontinue?

I recently stopped by theNaked Cowboy’s apartment inQueens to watch him preparefor the day. The performer,Robert Burck, was already pe-rusing his “Naked Cowboy Di-alogue,” the lengthy, self-mo-tivational pep talk he reads tohimself every morning.

“I want unlimited wealth,financial independence, andanything I want, whenever Iwant, as often as I want, withwhomever I want,” he readaloud from a tattered printout.

The dialogue went on andon: “I want my fortune to beunequaled in the history ofmankind…I am committed toleaving an indelible mark onthis world…”

“I’ll do this and get com-pletely jacked out of mymind, excited to go,” Mr.Burck said.

The relentlessly positiveMr. Burck won’t say this, butI will: It’s been a tough yearfor the Naked Cowboy.

His tips, which can top$500 a day, plummeted as

a genius to come here,’” hesays. “But it’s the very lastplace I went.”

His focus shifted as his no-toriety grew. Now, he wantsmore than fame—he wantsfame and fortune. “Money,money, money,” he says.“Richest man in the world.”

He’s tried everything fromselling Naked Cowboy figu-rines and recording three al-bums to serving as a wed-ding officiant—a TimesSquare ceremony costs $500.

His current goal: To land amultimillion-dollar deal byChristmas. “With a $100,000signing bonus,” he says. “It’llhappen, it’ll happen.”

But first, another day inTimes Square. After chang-ing into his costume in aparking garage, the 6-foot-2-inch Mr. Burck—suddenly 6inches taller in his hat andboots—boldly stepped outinto the freezing drizzle,singing and strumming.

“Well, I’m the Naked Cow-boy, you gotta do what yougotta do!” he belted, stroll-ing up Broadway.

As New Yorkers will do,most of the locals ignored himas they passed, ducking theirheads as if they didn’t see thehandsome, shining, near-na-ked singer in their path.

Their stubborn determina-tion to pretend nothing oddwas happening—and Mr.Burck’s cheerful determina-tion to ignore the fact thatalmost everyone was ignor-ing him—suddenly made melove New York City morethan I ever have in my life.

Happily, he soon bumpedinto a band of tourists fromColombia. He sang to themin Spanish and posed withthem for a photo. Theylaughed and smiled andslipped him a $20. He askedhow long they planned tostay in New York.

“I’ll see you at Christmas,then,” he called as they de-parted. “I’ll still be here!”

anne.kadet@wsj.com

Robert Burck, better known as the Naked Cowboy, performed during a recent nor'easter. His Times Square appearance made him aglobal symbol of the lockdown. The 50-year-old routinely works out, below, at a bare-bones gym in Queens, where he lives.

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All thePowerWithout thePinchHealthcare Starts with Healthy Food.

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© 2020 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, December 23, 2020 | A11

PERSONAL JOURNAL.FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS

best hard-times advice they evergot from an older family memberor friend. Here it is.

Think positive.Claudia Rosen, a licensed clinicalsocial worker in Evanston, Ill., saysher mother, Sylvia Cahan, taughther that she has control over hermood. Her mom was an Englishteacher who often quoted Shake-speare: “For there is nothing ei-ther good or bad, but thinkingmakes it so.” “I was raised to be-lieve that even when I don’t havecontrol over external events, suchas the pandemic, my attitude cansignificantly affect my experience,”says Ms. Rosen.

Anne Smith, a music teacher inJupiter, Fla., recalled her mother’sadvice on how to cope with uncer-tainty. Years ago while her momwas frosting a cake, Ms. Smithworried she would run out of ic-ing. Nancy Smith—who raised ninechildren on her husband’steacher’s salary—replied: “Alwaysproceed as if there will beenough.”

Focus on what matters.Tamara Wilson’s grandmothertaught her to simplify. After Ms.Wilson’s Seattle marketing firm lostbusiness this year, her motherpassed along her grandmother’s De-pression-era recommendations:“Buy only things you need. Treatyourself once in a while with an icecream cone or beer. (They’re afford-able.) Use the library. Give gifts of

food for the holidays. Appreciatethe day, no matter how difficult.”

Manage your emotions.Orville Bach, a Yellowstone Na-tional Park ranger and retired pro-fessor, says his mother, MargaretKnowlton Bach, taught him how toease tension in a relationship: “Goout and water the garden.” Ratherthan take her frustrations out onher husband when she was upset—say, when he tracked mud in thehouse—she tended to her plants.It’s been helpful advice for thequarantine, when “we’re coopedup more with just our spouse,frustrated over restrictions, andit’s easy to be ‘chippy’ or nag atthe very people we love most,”says Mr. Bach, who lives in Boze-man, Mont.

Look to the future.Charise Olson, an executive direc-tor for a nonprofit in Cleburne,Texas, says her grandfathertaught her to think long-term.When she was 20, he gave her ad-vice as she decided between stay-ing in her stable job or movingseveral states away for a fun tem-porary one. He asked her to con-sider what she would most valuewhen she looked back years later:having a fun new experience orsticking with stability. “As I facedincredible challenges aroundwork due to the pandemic, Ithought of him and the idea ofpursuing the option that wouldleave me with the fewest re-

BONDSELIZABETHBERNSTEIN

Afew years ago in a mo-ment of terror, I calledmy Uncle Sidney. Hurri-cane Irma was bearingdown on South Florida,where I live, forecast as

a Category 5. I didn’t evacuate be-cause I planned to report on theaftermath. Much of what I holddear—my family, home and be-loved old sailboat—was in its path.

Uncle Sidney—a former sur-geon and Vietnam veteran, wholost a son and whose parentslived through poverty in the GreatDepression—listened to me pourout my fears for a few minutes.When he spoke, he was direct:“Pull yourself together,” he said.“You need to be the person your17-year-old self always wantedyou to be.”

My uncle reminded me of howbadly I’d wanted to be a writerand to be adventurous. He calledthe storm an “opportunity of alifetime” for a reporter. And hetold me to focus. “Go find yoursafety,” he said. “Then suck it upand start composing.”

Think of the best advice you’vereceived. Chances are it came fromsomeone older and wiser, whoknows a thing or two about get-ting through tough times. You’veprobably channeled it during thepandemic—just as I’ve done withUncle Sidney’s guidance.

As we close out this toughest ofyears, I asked readers to share theFR

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Motor City Rockets Oldsmobile club.While I was working on that car, Iwould drive my Ford truck to Olds-mobile events and the guys wouldlaugh and say I was their tokenFord guy. I am still working on thatOldsmobile. The Ford truck is theone vehicle that I have put enoughtime into that I can really drive andenjoy. I drive it regularly in the sum-mertime.One day an Oldsmobile club

member asked me if I would helphim fix the power windows on hisconvertible. I said sure. Then some-

MY RIDE | A.J. BAIME

This VintageFord F-100 IsStraight OutOf the 1970sJosh Fear, 20, a classic-car repair-man from Howell, Mich., on his 1970Ford F-100, as told to A.J. Baime.

A lot of people think it’s funnythat a person my age wouldspend so much time working

on cars that were made years be-fore I was born. I spend a lot oftime with people alot older than me. Ilike it that way.Growing up in

Michigan, it seemedlike everyone Iknew—every fam-ily—was somehowconnected to theauto industry. Mydad was into clas-sic cars. Most ofmy uncles wereinto classic cars. Inthe summer of2013, when I was

13, I spent a lot of time helping mygrandpa. He had this 1949 Chevro-let Styleline sitting behind hishouse that I had always loved. Soin exchange for the work, he gaveme that car. It hadn’t run since theearly ’60s. I still have it. The bodyis off, and I am taking my timewith it.That same year, I was on Craigs-

list looking at old trucks when anad for this 1970 Ford came up, for$700. I was instantly attracted tothe body. Those trucks did not al-ways hold up so well in Michiganbecause of rust, so you do not seethem often here. To me it lookedunique, and green has always beenone of my favorite colors on cars.We called the guy who owned it;he was in New Mexico. I had halfthe money and I sold a minibike for

the other half. We gotthe truck in Decemberof 2013.I spent a lot of time

with my dad workingon it. It had the wrongengine in it, so wefound a 302 cubic inchV-8 like the one that itshould have had. Ispent a lot of time re-building that engine.The interior of thetruck was in goodshape, but the seatsneeded reupholstering.By the end of thesummer in 2014, I hadthat truck moving andstopping. I could drivearound our yard. I wasstill a long way awayfrom getting mydriver’s license.I am really into NOS stuff, which

means new old stock. That meansthings that would have been pur-chased for a vehicle when it wasnew or a few years old, that werenever used. For example, for my Ford,I bought a Radio Shack CB radiofrom 1977, and an 8-track cassetteplayer from 1975. I have a couple car-rying cases of 8-tracks. I found abumper sticker from 1976 celebratingthe country’s bicentennial.Later, I bought a 1953 Oldsmobile

Super 88 and I joined the vintage

one else said, “Hey can you fixthis?” I said, “Yeah, I can.” I havebeen working so long on my 1949Chevy, I applied and was acceptedto be the technical adviser for 1949and 1950 Chevrolets for the VintageChevrolet Club of America.I never imagined that I could ac-

tually work on vintage cars for a jobin the future, but now that seemsrealistic to me. I have also made alot of great friends. In almost all theconversations I have about cars, Iam the youngest person there. Iguess that’s just the way it goes.

Josh Fear spent years rebuilding his 1970 Ford F-100. He got it when he was 13.

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Clockwise, from topleft: Sidney Bernstein,Josephine Garcia de laRenta, Claudia Rosenand Sylvia Cahan, EricPagremanski and hismother, Anna, in 1937,Margaret KnowltonBach and Nancy Smith.

The Best AdviceOur Elders

Ever Gave UsFind joy.Marcy Clark’s grandmother, Jose-phine Garcia de la Renta, showedher how memories can lift you up.This summer Ms. Clark found atranscript of a lecture her grand-mother gave to her church. Shetalked about her travels and careeras a nurse, but also about losingher mother at age 11, her littlebrother, most of her possessionsduring the Depression, and a sonto AIDS. Ms. Clark read it crying inbed. “It helped me see that youcan experience the worst lossimaginable and still there can bejoy, adventure, success and happi-ness in your life,” says Ms. Clark,who owns a public relations com-pany.

Ken Page’s father, Eric Pagre-manski, a Holocaust survivor,taught him to find happiness evenin the darkest times. Throughouthis life, his dad told a story ofwhen he was a child in Lithuaniain the late 1930s. One day an oldfriend came to visit the family, andtold them: “Now comes a time ofgreat joy.” Someone asked what hemeant and he said: “Every daythat we are safe there will be joy.Every time we can eat and ourchildren can eat there will be joy.Every day that we survive, movingus one step closer to freedom,there will be joy.”

“My dad survived a concentra-tion camp, and that message waspart of what helped him,” says Mr.Page, a licensed clinical socialworker in New York.

grets,” says Ms. Olson.Kelly Miller, a retired teacher in

Platte City, Mo., says her grand-mothers taught her to imagine that“tomorrow will be better.” They both“lost everything” in the Depression,yet remained positive. She’s followedtheir example during difficult times,such as job searches or parentingchallenges. “The cornerstone of theiradvice is hope,” Ms. Miller says. “Ifyou can manifest hope, then you canhave the strength and the fortitudeto carry on.”

The family friend whom Davia

Temin considers her “secondmother” has often advised her that“nothing lasts forever.” The friendtold her stories of the polio epi-demic, when she had to avoidswimming pools and large gather-ings and stay indoors more thanshe liked.

“Her message was that theworld returned to normal,” saysMs. Temin, who owns a crisis man-agement consultancy in New York.“And the best thing is to stay re-lentlessly focused on the upside ofthe future, and what you can ac-complish in it.”

Many of us are relyingnow on wisdomwereceived long ago fromolder family members.

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A12 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Googling ortexting foranswers ispervasive,teachers say

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As they grow older, rapperstend to transition to otherventures, whether acting,

business, production or some dif-ferent pursuit—for artists like Dr.Dre, Jay Z and 50 Cent, makingrecords has become just part of adiversified portfolio. And thenthere’s Eminem, born MarshallMathers, who is not only the big-gest-selling rapper of all time butalso one of the most influential.At age 48, he still seems inter-ested in hip-hop above all else.While his work over the past 10years has shown flashes of matu-rity, on the whole it’s as silly andoffensive as his earliest work, iffar less entertaining.

In January, Mr. Mathers re-leased “Music to Be Murdered By,”his 11th full-length LP, and on Fri-day he bookended the year withits surprise-release sequel. “Musicto Be Murdered By—Side B”(Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) is acomplete album with 16 songs ofnew material.CH

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MUSIC REVIEW | MARKRICHARDSON

WordplayThatWearsThin

FAMILY& TECHJULIEJARGON

Mr. Mathers’s appeal can betraced to the catharsis of his an-ger, the humor of his insults andthe virtuosity of his rapping. Occa-sionally, he’ll tackle a longer narra-tive or extended metaphor—his2000 hit “Stan,” about the dangerof obsessive fandom, being themost famous example—but theseforays are hit-or-miss. “Darkness,”a track from the original “Music toBe Murdered By,” tried to get in-side the mind of Stephen Paddockduring his 2017 mass shooting inLas Vegas, but it carried no in-sight. “Side B” is a lower-stakescollection without an ambitiousset-piece. These songs, several ofwhich feature productions by Mr.Mathers, exist to showcase hiswordplay, settle a few scores, andcrack a whole lot of jokes, a sig-nificant percentage of which arecringe-inducing.

Like the record from earlier thisyear, “Side B” features an openingtrack and interludes that sampleAlfred Hitchcock, setting the stagefor a collection of horrorcore rapin which songs unfold with thegrisly imagery of slasher films. It’sthe kind of subject matter 13-year-olds are instinctively drawn to, butfor older listeners it gets dullquickly. Another frequent topic onthe record, which Mr. Mathers hasreturned to often throughout hiscareer, is his annoyance at thosewho dismiss his work.

One thing you can say is that Mr.Mathers understands every com-plaint about his music and lays itout in detail, responding to his crit-ics. On “These Demons,” he says “Iwant you to change, but don’tchange / I want you to grow up, butdon’t age / I want the rage, butdon’t get too angry,” while on “Bookof Rhymes” he adopts the thinkingof his nemeses and wonders “Whathappened to Slim? He was no capwith the pen / He used to rap likethe people his music was for / Hewas exactly like them / The dudewho used to be poor, why can’t hetap into him?” His main point—thathe’s doomed whether he grows andchanges or tries to recapture hisprankster past—is astute but notmuch fun to listen to repeatedly.

There are a few solid jokes hereand there, but the embar-rassing ones are themost memorable.Take “Gnat,” inwhich Mr.

thrilling to hear Mr. Mathers doinghis thing on the microphone, un-spooling intricate rhymes that workthrough every possibility of a vowelsound or the rhythmic variationsfound in specific clusters of words.On tracks like “Tone Deaf” hisverses are like table-sized jigsawpuzzles being solved at high speed,and it’s hard not to marvel at howall the pieces fit together.

Still, finding these pleasurestakes a great deal of work and en-durance. Like so much of Mr.Mathers’s output since his 2009 al-bum, “Relapse,” “Side B” is exhaust-ing. The final song, “Discombobu-lated,” features production from Dr.Dre, the mogul who first signed himin the late 1990s and produced someof his biggest early hits. It’s a delib-erate attempt to recapture the play-fulness of that formative work, butMr. Mathers doesn’t convincinglyconvey joy in his music these days.After running through stories abouthis formative years and then jokingabout an AIDS test, he shouts outhis mentor and 50 Cent over theoutro. Then comes the blissful reliefof silence. It’s not quite right to call“Side B” unnecessary, since it’sabout on par with “Music to BeMurdered By.” Better to say thisone is strictly for fans only.

Mr. Richardson is the Journal’srock and pop music critic. Followhim on Twitter @MarkRichardson.

Mathers compares his rhymes to thecoronavirus, because both can betransmitted “right off the bat.” In“She Loves Me,” a lusty numberabout a woman, he raps “I put themoves on you like a U-Haul,” while“So let’s cut to the chase like OJ / Inhis Bronco goin’ up the roadway” in“These Demons” was already datedby the time of his first major-labelalbum. Given the enormous numberof words found in these songs—

many have over1,000—there aredozens of ex-amples likethese.

Even withall this crudeand tossed-off humor,it’s occa-

sionally

Eminemperforming inFebruary

pressure is really difficult.”One mother in Southern California

said that both of her teenage sons, whohad never cheated in person, did so re-cently in remote school. She said theyattend a highly competitive schoolwhere many students go on to top uni-versities, and both were caught plagia-rizing in different classes.

She said one son’s teacher gave himan F on the assignment, significantly af-fecting his overall grade in the class, andis upholding the school’s zero-tolerancepolicy for cheating despite her efforts todispute the grade. “I don’t think thecheating was justified,” she said, “but Idon’t think his college opportunitiesshould be affected by one moment dur-ing such a challenging time.”

Some parents have told me theirchildren have had to “collaborate” withfriends on assignments and tests be-cause they feel it’s the only way theyare learning much this year.

Jen Norton, of suburban FortWorth, Texas, said the school year hasbeen chaotic, with numerous teachersat her daughter’s school resigning. Shesaid her daughter—a junior taking fiveAdvanced Placement classes—has somegreat teachers but has one who onlyposts assignments online and doesn’tgive any lectures.

“I told her that the teachers whoare giving her their best deserve herrespect and that she should give themeverything she has, and that means notcheating,” she said. But she waivedthat advice for the seemingly less-en-gaged teacher.

“I said, ‘You give to her what she’sgiving to you, and if that means goo-gling an answer on a quiz, I’m finewith that, or if that means asking afriend something over text, I’m finewith that because she’s not giving youher best,’ ” Ms. Norton said. “I didn’tthink I’d ever be OK with telling my kidto use her resources and google things,but that’s where I am right now.”

Ethicists fear that cheating won’tsuddenly stop once students return toin-person classrooms. “The problemwith saying cheating is acceptable hereis it becomes an ethical slippery slope,where cheating on one exam may leadto cheating on other exams or in theworkplace,” said Steven Mintz, a profes-sor emeritus at California PolytechnicState University in San Luis Obispo whowrites an ethics blog. “Cheating can be-come habitual. With kids, you’re tryingto develop good habits so they can ap-ply them to later situations in life.”

Testsmight be done viavideo to combatcheating, withstudents recordingspoken answers

dren to get into top schools.Colleen Morris, an English teacher at

North Allegheny, changed the way sheassesses students this fall to curb cheat-ing. She said cheating was rampant wellbefore the pandemic but was easier tomanage. The usual deterrents, such aswalking around the classroom duringtests, are now gone.

Ms. Morris decided to switch frommultiple-choice exams to written andoral tests. She uses Flipgrid, a video appfor educators, in which she sends stu-dents a question about their reading as-signment and gives them 15 minutes torecord themselves answering it.

Still, nothing can totally preventcheating. Just last week, she caughttwo students plagiarizing on a writtentest. She said they lifted text straightfrom SparkNotes, an online study guidethat states on its website, “We’re here tohelp you learn, not to help you cheat.”

Ms. Morris said she is certain cheat-ing in her classes would be more perva-sive this year if she hadn’t changed herapproach. Under her school’s code ofconduct, the penalty for cheating is azero on the assignment plus detention—but detention isn’t an option anymore,since the school is fully remote.

“Usually the parents fight hard toget their students at least somepoints,” said Ms. Morris. “The parental

With high-school studentsfresh off exams, manyteachers will be eyeingtheir test answers care-fully. Remote school hasmade certain kinds of

cheating easier than ever, leading stu-dents who may never have considered itbefore the pandemic to google answers,text friends or peek at their notes.

The difficult situations studentsface this year raise a question: Is itever OK to cheat? Should the normalrules apply in a year that has beenanything but normal?

“I know a lot of kids who will Face-Time during tests and take them to-gether, or kids who have a Google tabopen during tests,” said Lucie Flagg, ahigh-school senior in Wexford, Pa. “Ithink everyone knows it’s probably notright, but it’s also the easy way out. Alot of kids are just done with remotelearning and have no motivation to putin the work this year.”

Cheating Is the Norm inSome Virtual Classes

She says that teachers have told stu-dents they are aware that cheating ishappening and some have said they feelpowerless to stop it. Some teachers haveimposed time limits on tests, making itharder to cheat. Lucie said it’s easier tohave actually studied the material inthose cases, because looking up answersin books or on Google takes too long.Other teachers, she said, have switchedto open-notes tests.

Lucie said teachers at her schooldon’t require students’ cameras to be onduring tests. Some schools do. Otherdistricts are using sometimes-controver-sial tech to catch or prevent cheating,such as AI-powered online proctoringservices and software that can lockdown browsers. The principal at herschool, North Allegheny Senior HighSchool, declined to comment.

Educators and ethicists say cheatingin high school is driven largely by thecompetitive nature of college admissionsand the pressure parents place on chil-

PERSONAL JOURNAL.NY

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, December 23, 2020 | A13

ARTS IN REVIEW

THE UNIVERSAL critical acclaimthat greeted George C. Wolfe’s su-perlative Netflix screen version ofAugust Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’sBlack Bottom” is rare. First-rateplays, after all, almost never getturned into equally good films,and on occasion the result is aduck-and-cover disaster. What’smore, virtually all such disastersare caused by the same fatal errorin judgment: Somebody in Holly-wood thought he knew betterthan the playwright, and so de-cided to rewrite the very playwhose excellence is the main rea-son people thought it should bemade into a film.

In such fiascoes, the question,then, is not so much what wentwrong as who deserves the blame.Since filmmaking is a collectiveart, it can be tricky to tag theguilty party, but in most of thetruly ignominious cases, you canpin the tail on the donkey withembarrassing ease.

Here are four of the most noto-rious offenders, categorized byculprit:

The screenwriter did it“Design for Living,” Noël Cow-

ard’s suavely funny 1933 stagecomedy about the making of a mé-nage à trois, was ideally suited—on paper—to the talents of ErnstLubitsch, the most sophisticated ofscreen directors. But then Lubitschbrought in Ben Hecht, one of Hol-lywood’s top screenwriters, towork on the film, and gave him li-cense to completely rewrite Cow-ard’s original script. When the filmcame out, Hecht bragged that he’dleft intact only one of Coward’slines and dared him to find it. “Ishall not even bother to find thefilm,” the playwright retorted.

nale, one in which Emily Webb,who in the play dies giving birthto a child, turns out to havedreamed the whole last part of theplay. A happy ending for “OurTown”? Preposterous—which iswhy the film, for all its consider-able virtues, is largely forgotten.

Everybody did itLike Agatha Christie’s “Murder

on the Orient Express,” in whichthe 11 suspects took turns stabbingthe victim, Irving Rapper’s 1950film version of Tennessee Wil-liams’s “The Glass Menagerie,” theoriginal 1944 stage version ofwhich is as great a play as “OurTown,” was serially murdered byeveryone who worked on it. Thecasting is all wrong, especially Ar-thur Kennedy as Tom and KirkDouglas as the Gentleman Caller.As for the script, on which Wil-liams worked briefly but which hesubsequently disowned, it’s a per-version of the play, one in which,among other things, Laura (playedon screen by Jane Wyman) is not apainfully introverted wallflowerwith a pronounced limp but a reg-ular-enough kind of girl who getsasked out on dates frequentlyand—yes—lives happily ever after.Small wonder that Williams him-self called the film “dishonest,”though Bosley Crowther put iteven better in his New York Timesreview: “It is regrettable that Di-rector Irving Rapper was com-pelled, it appears, to kick aroundthe substance of a frail, illusorydrama as though it were plasticand not Venetian glass.”

To be sure, certain kinds ofchanges can actually make afilmed play work better. “MaRainey’s Black Bottom,” for exam-ple, was substantially cut by Ru-ben Santiago-Hudson, the screen-writer, and it actually profits fromthe tightening (Wilson was notori-ously long-winded). But nothingMessrs. Santiago-Hudson andWolfe did to the letter of “MaRainey” was in any way false toits spirit, or to August Wilson’stheatrical genius. That’s Rule No. 1of adapting a play for the screen:Trust the material.

Mr. Teachout, the Journal’s dramacritic, is the author of “Satchmo atthe Waldorf.” Write to him attteachout@wsj.com. N

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SIGHTINGSTERRY TEACHOUT

TurningGreat PlaysInto BadFilms

Lubitsch affected to be de-lighted with the results. “The crit-ics will not like our picture,” heblithely assured the cast and crew.“They will say we have ruinedNoël Coward’s play, and it is truethat our picture will be quite dif-ferent. But the people who do notread reviews or care about themwill love it, and Noël Cowardmeans nothing to most of them.”No such luck: Not only was thefilm version of “Design for Living”a box-office flop, but Coward’splay became a classic of 20th-cen-tury stage comedy that continuesto get done frequently. As a result,anyone who bothers to see thefilm is likely to be familiar withthe original play, and dismayedthat Hecht rewrote every single

word of the dialogue whose spar-kle and fizz are what keeps mod-ern audiences coming back to de-light anew in Coward’s sharp wit.

The director did itWhen Frank Capra got his

hands on “Arsenic and Old Lace,”Joseph Kesselring’s long-running1941 stage comedy, he cast CaryGrant as Mortimer Brewster, thedrama critic whose little oldmaiden aunts are mass murderers.So far, so good—Grant was Holly-wood’s premier farceur—but Caprainstructed Grant to give an exag-gerated performance full of whin-nying, rubber-faced mugging thatkilled the charm of the originalplay. “I was embarrassed doing it,”Grant admitted years later. “I over-

played the part.”

The producer did itSam Wood’s 1940 film version

of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,”one of the two greatest Americanstage plays, is for most of itslength exceptionally successful infinding workable cinematic equiva-lents for Wilder’s non-naturalisticmasterpiece, which is staged with-out sets. It also preserves the cele-brated performance of Frank Cra-ven, who created the role of theStage Manager, the central charac-ter, in 1938, and was scored byAaron Copland, whose gentle mu-sic is ideally suited to its small-town setting. But Sol Lesser, theproducer, decided that Wilder’smasterpiece needed a cheerful fi-

Viola Davis in George C. Wolfe’s first-rate screen version of August Wilson’s ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’

federal authorities, from whom sherecently fled. In other words, anorphan twice over. In Kidd’s gen-tler words, “The little girl is lost.She needs to be home.”

The director was Paul Green-grass; he and Luke Davies adaptedthe screenplay from a novel byPaulette Jiles. An accomplisheddocumentarian early in his career,Mr. Greengrass established himselfas an action-adventure virtuosowith “The Bourne Supremacy” andtwo Jason Bourne sequels. There

isn’t a lot of excitement in “Newsof the World.” In truth there isn’tenough, notwithstanding a gun-fight that constitutes a mini-semi-nar in how to stage, shoot and editan action sequence. (The top-of-the-line cinematographer and edi-tor were, respectively, DariuszWolski and William Goldenberg.James Newton Howard did themusic.)

What makes the film very muchworth seeing—in addition to Mr.Hanks dispensing his special qual-

ity of integrity from what seems tobe an inexhaustible source—isKidd’s steadfast effort to cross thedivide of mistrust between himand the girl, and her opening upafter unimaginable years of shut-down. Or was Johanna shut downduring the time she was Cicada,spoke Kiowa and comprehendedthe life around her as her captorsdid? There’s a wordless exchangewhen she tries to explain her per-spective. A strong-hearted Ameri-can, Kidd thinks of progress as a

Tom Hanks gets the bestlines in “News of theWorld,” playing exclu-sively in theaters. Hedoes them justice, as al-ways, but his co-star, an

extraordinary 12-year-old namedHelena Zengel, gets the best si-lences. They give the film its di-mension of mystery.

The year is 1870, only a fewyears after the Civil War, and theplace is northern Texas, where Mr.Hanks’s Capt. Jefferson Kidd is trav-eling by horse and wagon like a cir-cuit-riding preacher, except that hisgospel consists of news laced withpolitical opinion and racy gossip. Inan era when the word “infotain-ment” would have meant that theperson saying it couldn’t speak Eng-lish, this impoverished widowerekes out a living reading broadsheetnewspapers aloud in meeting hallsfor spectators who have each paid asilver dime to hear him.

Kidd is an affecting characterplying an interesting trade that’smade all the more so by his edu-cated self-awareness; a storytellerwho understands the power of sto-ries, he also tries to be a concilia-tor—can you hear Mr. Hanks’s calm-ing voice?—at a time when thenation is much younger and smallerthan it is now, but no less bitterlydivided. Still, the man’s educationand inherent decency can’t suggesta course of action when, on the trailleaving town, he comes across ablond child with fierce blue eyes,evidently mute and obviously aban-doned, who fights off his efforts tohelp her. (I can’t resist likening herto the central figure of an all-but-forgotten masterpiece, FrançoisTruffaut’s “The Wild Child,” whichis available on Amazon for stream-ing. In that film, based on historicalfact, a physician in 18th-centuryFrance tries to civilize a feral boywho’s been found living alone in aforest.)

It’s not spoiling anything to tellyou that the girl turns out to havetwo names, Johanna and Cicada,and a tortured history laid out insomewhat awkward exposition—taken from her German immigrantparents six years earlier by Kiowakidnappers in retaliation for whitesettlers’ crimes against their tribe;renamed by the Kiowas and livingwith them until her discovery by

straight line, but she makes a ges-ture, which he understands, of all-embracing circularity.

The poetry of that moment is abit forced, but it’s perfectly purein another wordless scene whenshe stands alone at twilight, gaz-ing out at the land that, until re-cently, had been her home. Youknow a movie has you hookedwhen you catch yourself wonder-ing, with sudden intensity, what inthe wide and circular world shemust be thinking.

FILM REVIEW | JOE MORGENSTERN

Quiet Ballad of the Lost and FoundTomHanks stars in Paul Greengrass’s latest, about an impoverishedwidowerwho tries to help a silent, abandoned girl in 1870

Tom Hanks as Capt. Jefferson Kidd and Helena Zengel as Johanna in ‘News of the World’

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A14 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

WeatherShown are today’s noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.

City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W City Hi Lo W Hi Lo WToday Tomorrow Today Tomorrow

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Today Tomorrow

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FLOWPROFILE | By Geoff BrownAcross1 Cut line

5 Involved account

9 One sought foradvice

14 Obsidian,originally

15 “No ___!” (“Don’tsweat it!”)

16 In the lead

17 Work without___ (take risks)

18 Proficient

19 Goes ballistic

20 The chickendance as atouchdowncelebration?

23 Hwys.

24 Slip by

28 Lash out at

31 Felipe, Matty,Jesús or Moisés

33 Voyage segment

34 Pairs-divingpractice?

36 “Jingle Bells”preposition

37 Grooves

38 Before,poetically

39 Remote option

40 401(k) cousin

41 Plane trip whosecarbon emissionsare offset?

45 EMS service

46 Gives a hand

47 Cases fordermatologists

48 Group by size,e.g.

50 Objects

51 Evolution gonewrong?

57 Site of bigdeposits

60 On tenterhooks

61 Largest of agroup of seven

62 Disturbinglydifferent

63 Stick

64 Tillcompartment

65 Whiskey choice

66 They’re capableof swimmingbackward

67 Squeeze past

TheWSJ Daily Crossword | Edited by Mike Shenk

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17 18 19

20 21 22

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Solve this puzzle online and discuss it atWSJ.com/Puzzles.

M E T F E L I Z W H YA Y E N A V I D A D H O EG E L O N E P A G E O L AI D E S T M A C Y S

C U P P A A R U B AP O P C O R N S T R I N G

T A P E S M O K E D I R TS P I R E A L I P E T E RR A E M A N A N A S B E EW R A P P I N G P A P E R

M I T E L IA R O A R A C T M E S S IF A T H E R C H R I S T M A SE V I L A L I E N Y U L EW E S G U T E N G E E

Down1 Belarusian,for one

2 “Prettyplease?”

3 Parisianpreposition

4 Squalidtenements

5 In a thriftymanner

6 Chain withcurly fries

7 Course activity

8 First to die

9 Sound blocker

10 Location ofPotala Palace

11 FavoredLa-Z-Boysetting

12 Absorb, as acost

13 Hwys.

21 Big name inelevators

22 Time withoutend

25 Big Dipper, toBrits

26 Do a slowburn

27 White waders

28 Second-largestof a group ofseven

29 Drinks in amanner thatwould disturbEmily Post

30 Long-neckedinstruments

31 Plot units

32 Property charge

35 Scholarshipbasis

39 Fudge, perhaps

41 Flowery wear

42 Meter maid ofsong

43 Periphery

44 10-Down figure

49 Routinely

50 In a situation ofentanglement

52 Carry on

53 Lingering look

54 Secondhand

55 Super Bowlprize

56 Facilitate

57 Bit of balm

58 Wing

59 Polygraphexciter

BY ANDREW BEATON

No Practice, No Problem for NFLTeamsDisruptions and the canceled preseason stoked fears of a sloppy season. But teams learned they can do more with less.

THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUEhas brought in former U.S. AttorneyGeneral Loretta Lynch to help inves-tigate allegations of misconductamong the owners of the Washing-ton Football Team, people familiarwith the matter said.

The NFL is in the midst of an ar-bitration involving a feud betweenWashington principal owner DanSnyder and the team’s minority

owners, including FedEx Corp. chiefexecutive Fred Smith, Black Dia-mond Capital chairman RobertRothman and Dwight Schar, theboard chairman of NVR Inc.

The minority owners have been

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had one of his best games this season after missing practice.

SPORTS

Pittsburgh Steelers quar-terback Ben Roethlis-berger noticed some-thing surprisinglypleasant after contact

tracing sidelined him in November.He missed a week of practice, andthen stepped onto the field andplayed phenomenally.

After he threw for four touch-downs and more than 300 yards inthat game, Roethlisberger sug-gested something curious. Hedidn’t play so well in spite of miss-ing practice. He played so well pre-cisely because he was forced toloaf all week.

“I didn’t do anything,” he said.It’s an odd takeaway from the

coronavirus pandemic but figuresto last in the NFL long after socialdistancing has been eradicatedfrom casual conversation. Playerspracticed less. It didn’t seem to af-fect their play at all.

It wasn’t long ago that the foot-ball world was fretting about theexact opposite. It was one of thetwo chief fears hanging over theseason before it ever started. Thefirst was whether the season wouldsuccessfully finish. The second wasif the play on the field would provedisastrously ugly because of theavalanche of disruptions that cap-sized the NFL calendar and rav-aged the normal amount of prepa-ration players have.

Now a new consensus hasemerged after an offseason withoutteam workouts, a preseason with-out preseason games and a regularseason in which teams routinelycanceled practices because of thevirus. The play on the field hasn’tsuffered—and has instead thrivedin such a resounding fashion that itwill inevitably influence howcoaches and teams view the simpleidea of practice for years to come.

“It looks strong in spite of all ofthat,” says Dan Quinn, who wasfired as the Atlanta Falcons coachmidway through the season. “I do

Washington FootballTeam owner Dan SnyderLynch Joins

Probe ofWashington

From the moment commissionerRoger Goodell conducted the NFLdraft from his basement in April,however, it was clear that this sea-son would look like nothing before.During the early part of the pan-demic, team workouts and mini-camps were canceled. For months,players weren’t even allowed insideteam facilities.

Even when they returned, it wasremarkably stripped down. Afternegotiations between the leagueand its players union, practiceswith contact were banned at thestart of training camp. Every exhi-bition game was scrapped. Thestart of the regular season was ex-pected to be about as pretty as anormal New York Jets game.

Those planned disruptions werenothing compared with the un-planned ones. Teams routinelyshuttered their facilities in re-

becomes pointless.Somehow, this idea had hardly

crept into the world of football,where practice schedules are asrigid as goal posts.

When Doug Pederson, coach ofthe analytically minded Philadel-phia Eagles, replaced a Wednesdaypractice last year with a light walk-through, he was grilled as if he hadjust besmirched cheesesteaks. “Iwant these guys fresh as possible,”Pederson explained afterward. “I’vegot to think of the big picturehere.”

Tension over this issue had beensimmering for years. NFL coacheshave spent the last decade lament-ing changes to the collective bar-gaining agreement that reducedpractice time across the league.They bemoaned how fundamentalshad deteriorated and tackling hadbecome a lost art.

think you’ll see, moving forward,some tweaks into the weeklyschedule as opposed to, ‘This is theway we’ve always done it.’ ”

In many ways the game hasbeen more aesthetically pleasingthan ever before. Scoring is at anall-time high. Penalties are at theirlowest in more than a decade.More games have been within onescore in the fourth quarter than al-most any season in recent history.

It took this global pandemic toforce NFL teams into a lesson thesmartest teams in other sports hadalready learned.

NBA teams cut back on shoot-arounds. MLB teams cut back onbatting practice. They believed inthe scientific value of rest and theslightly less scientific idea thatthere’s only so much a group ofprofessional athletes can practicesomething over and over before it

tate developer, to publicly dissemi-nate information that would hurt ordefame Snyder, the people familiarwith the matter said. Lynch servedas attorney general from 2015 to2017 and is now a partner at Paul,Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & GarrisonLLP. Lynch could not be reached forcomment.

Lawyers for Snyder, who pur-chased the team in 1999, have ac-cused the minority owners of tryingto force Snyder to sell the team andengaging in a smear campaignagainst him when he refused. TheWall Street Journal previously re-ported their attempts to oust Sny-der, which is seen as potentially en-hancing the value of their minorityshares because the would-be buyercould then have control of the team,people familiar with the mattersaid. TO

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sponse to positive Covid-19 tests,turning practices into Zoom meet-ings. Players like Roethlisberger—and sometimes entire positionunits for teams—were isolated fordays at a time due to contact trac-ing and still played on Sunday any-way.

The football looked like footballanyway, and it was noticeablyclean.

After averaging 6.7 penalties pergame last season, that has fallen to5.7 in 2020. Teams are averaging24.8 points per game, the mostever. And that’s not because de-fenses have forgotten how totackle. Teams averaged 6.7 missedtackles per game in 2019—and 6.5in 2020, according to Stats LLC.

“A little less is more,” said RexRyan, the former Jets and Billscoach who’s an analyst for ESPN.“As soon as you show that youdon’t need X amount of practices,then as soon as it’s lesser, it’s go-ing to be implemented.”

Not every coach felt that way—especially when their teams disap-pointed. After the New England Pa-triots lost to the Denver Broncosfollowing a cluster of cases in Oc-tober, the most successful coach infootball history said they neededmore practice. “We need more timetogether,” Bill Belichick said. “Weneed to practice together.” (The Pa-triots also lost their next twogames after that and were elimi-nated from playoff contention thispast Sunday.)

Other teams were able to man-age. Also in October, the TennesseeTitans suffered the league’s firstwidespread outbreak, which closedtheir facility for more than a week.When they returned after barelyhaving practiced, they thumped theBuffalo Bills.

Roethlisberger, who has strug-gled at times this season includingin Monday night’s loss to Cincin-nati, had perhaps his best game ofthe year against the same Bengalsafter missing that practice timeback in November.

In a recently unsealed court fil-ing, Snyder’s lawyers accuse Scharof working with a former team em-ployee to disparage Snyder in ascheme in which the parties usedburner phones to communicate andplant damaging news stories abouthim. “Schar resorted to conductmore reflective of a gangster thanan NFL owner,” the filing says.

A lawyer representing the lim-ited partners did not immediatelyrespond to request for comment.The minority partners filed the law-suit in the U.S. District Court inMaryland alleging that Snyder hadbreached their shareholder agree-ment when he exercised his right offirst refusal to buy their shares—but only Smith and Rothman’s, notSchar’s.

An NFL spokesman declined tocomment.

attempting to sell theirstakes, worth approxi-mately 40% of the club,but their issues withSnyder have instead pro-duced a firefight be-tween the parties. Thedispute includes a fed-eral-court case that hasincluded numerous alle-gations of misconductagainst both sides. Re-cent court documentsalso indicate that Snyder

settled a sexual harassment claimwith a former female employee, fora sum the Washington Post re-ported to be $1.6 million.

Lynch’s investigation centers onalleged attempts by Schar, a real-es-

BY ANDREW BEATON

P2JW358000-0-A01400-1--------XA

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, December 23, 2020 | A15

How to CarveA CivilizationThe Age of WoodBy Roland Ennos(Scribner, 318 pages, $28)

BOOKSHELF | By Gerard Helferich

H uman history has traditionally been divided intothree “ages,” according to the materials—stone,bronze and finally iron—that our ancient ancestors

used to fashion their tools. But until very recently, RolandEnnos reminds us, mankind’s most versatile resourcegrew on trees. In “The Age of Wood,” he takes a freshlook at the familiar substance, wielding it like a wedgeto pry open our past, examine our present and evenglimpse our future.

Structurally, wood is a marvel. It is pound for pound asstiff, strong and tough as steel yet relatively easy to shape,such as by splitting and carving. No wonder our prehistoricforebears chose wood (not stone) for their first tools andweapons—pointed sticks for digging tubers and huntinggame. The earliest houses, plows, wheels and boats werealso made from this accessible, adaptable material. And-without firewood for warming themselves, cooking food andkeeping predators at bay, Mr. Ennos suggests, our ancestors

may never have come downfrom the trees at all.

Toward the end of theStone Age, people discoveredthat if logs were left for along time in a controlled fire(between 600 and 900degrees Fahrenheit), theywould be reduced to charredchunks that burned hotterthan regular wood. Usingthese lumps of pure carbon—charcoal—artisans were ableto fire clay into harder, morewaterproof pottery and to fusesand and ashes to create thefirst glass. Then, around 5,000

B.C., craftsmen in EasternEurope and the Near East began to purify copper ore byburning it in charcoal fires and pouring it into ceramicmolds to form chisels, ax heads and other tools. Some1,500 years later, they learned that mixing a little tin withthe copper produced a sharper, stronger blade, which couldcut through trees twice as fast as stone. The Bronze Agehad begun.

Far from reducing mankind’s reliance on wood, Mr.Ennos notes, copper and bronze spurred demand bymaking it easier to convert logs into houses, furniture,fences and myriad other items. With new metal tools,carpenters also built the first wheels and plank ships,launching an era of unprecedented trade, travel andcultural exchange. In the Americas, by contrast, metallurgydidn’t develop, the plank ship was unknown, and the onlywheels were made of clay and fitted to children’s toys.“The result,” Mr. Ennos writes, “was to give the people ofthe Old World a massive lead in logistics, one that fivethousand years later was to help them discover the NewWorld and subdue its people.”

Around 1,500 B.C., workers in the Near East began tosmelt a metal much more plentiful than copper or tin—iron. Since its melting point is above 2,200 degreesFahrenheit (some 200 degrees hotter than burningcharcoal), iron couldn’t be poured into molds but had tobe heated, then hammered into shape. But iron tools weremore durable than those of bronze, making it easier thanever to craft all manner of objects from wood. As Mr. Ennosobserves: “It is a testament to our ancestors’ ingenuity,and to the merits of a new metal—iron—that they managedto carve out a whole new wooden world to give themwarm, comfortable lives.”

As these examples show, one of the appealing features of“The Age of Wood” is that it is about much more than itsnominal subject. Wood is so central to human history thatit serves as an entrée to dozens of disparate but relatedtopics, ranging over millennia. And so a discussion of theearly use of fire leads to a passage on the chemistry ofcombustion, and an examination of wooden spears promptsa glimpse at the mechanics of the human arm. We’re alsoreminded that the monumental stone pyramids of Egyptcouldn’t have been constructed without humble woodenwedges to split the blocks and sturdy wooden sleds tohaul them into position.

Even when the focus is exclusively on wood, the authoroffers intriguing insights, such as why tropical woods tendto be more colorful than those from temperate climates(they are loaded with more defense chemicals, such astannins, to protect them from fungus and rot) and whywood is an ideal material for musical instruments (itslightness and stiffness make it an excellent conductor ofsound). Throughout, Mr. Ennos writes with an amiablevoice and a readable style. A visiting professor of biologyat the University of Hull, in England, he knows how toexplain technical subjects for the layperson. Even so, somereaders may have appreciated more definitions of scientificterminology and fewer historical examples from the U.K.

Despite wood’s manifold benefits, it would eventually besuperseded in construction and manufacturing by longer-lived, often cheaper alternatives, such as wrought iron,steel, concrete plastic and aluminum. As a fuel it would bereplaced by more energy-rich sources—first peat and coal,later natural gas and oil. “It was the switch from wood tocoal . . . ,” Mr. Ennos writes, “that was to propel firstBritain, and eventually the rest of the world, into anindustrialized and urban society, and move it out of theAge of Wood, with huge environmental consequences forthe planet.”

In a final chapter, the author considers a few ways thattrees and wood might be used to ameliorate environmentaldegradation and climate change: reforestation; moresustainable forest management; urban green belts; greateruse of high-tech, low-carbon engineered woods in newbuildings. But as much as Mr. Ennos might long to “returnto the more gentle delights of the Age of Wood,” he admitsthat all these solutions are partial and imperfect. In theend, our reliance on coal and oil has brought with itdaunting ecological challenges, and our old benefactorwood, however generous in the past, cannot be countedon to help us meet them.

Mr. Helferich’s most recent book is “An Unlikely Trust:Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the ImprobablePartnership That Remade American Business.”

Each advance in tool makingmade it easier tobuild fromwood and exploit its advantages.Plank ships alone launched a new era of trade.

Facebook’s Censors and the Ingredients List

Facebook has announced apolicy to “remove falseclaims that COVID-19 vac-

cines contain microchips, oranything else that isn’t on theofficial vaccine ingredient list.”This seems reasonable, until youthink through the details.

One difficulty is that ban-ning discussion is a terribleway to counter a conspiracytheory; the censorship is seenas further evidence of a con-spiracy. Better to acknowledgethe facts and test the theory’splausibility. Radio-frequencyidentification chips can be asnarrow as 0.15 millimeter,small enough to fit through the25-gauge needle used for vacci-nations. But objects that sizecan be seen with the nakedeye. Thousands of medical per-sonnel have administered thevaccines, and none have re-

ported little black objectsfloating in the bottles. Further,how could one microchip perperson be extracted from a sin-gle bottle containing multipledoses? And why would anyonebother to tag people now thatwe all carry cellphones withunique identifiers?

The notion that there aremicrochips in vaccines is a ri-diculous conspiracy theory,best dealt with by facts, sci-ence, logic and ridicule, notcensorship. But Facebook’s pol-icy of restricting discussion tosubstances on the “official vac-

cine ingredient list” also hin-ders serious discussion of whatis causing the rare allergic re-actions to the Pfizer vaccine.

That inquiry has centeredon one of the official ingredi-ents, polyethylene glycol,which is very rarely an aller-gen. We should also considerthe possibility of traceamounts of other allergens ac-companying the officiallylisted ingredients. To assessthis, I showed the ingredientlist to a drug-formulation sci-entist, Chris Moreton. He re-sponded that some of the lipidingredients are typically de-rived from plants such asbeans, and traces of proteinsfrom these plants should beconsidered as potential causesof the allergic reactions. Thatis a forbidden thought onFacebook because bean proteinisn’t on the official vaccine in-gredients list.

Mr. Moreton and I are sci-entists, and Facebook’s policieswould suppress our brain-storming. There are ways ofdealing with such controver-sies without censorship. In sci-ence, we have journals, semi-nars and conferences in whichall sorts of hypotheses arefloated and assessed. We havea decentralized process bywhich good ideas can rise tothe top.

Facebook’s protection fromlegal liability under Section230 of the CommunicationsDecency Act is predicated onthe notion that the webdoesn’t have strong centralcontrol. A social network ismore like a newsstand than apublisher. Facebook should actas a marketplace of ideas, notthe Ministry of Truth.

Dr. Segal is a neurologistand neuroscientist.

By Michael Segal

A policy aimed atconspiracy theoriescould hit scientificbrainstorming.

OPINION

The Covid-19relief legisla-tion Congresspassed onMonday post-pones—butdoesn’t re-s o l v e—twoq u e s t i o n s ,which the newCongress andthe Biden ad-

ministration will face early in2021: How much should thefederal government spend tomitigate the suffering Covid-19has produced? And what mustbe done to avoid a double-diprecession and promote eco-nomic recovery?

The economy and societycan’t return to normal untilthe pandemic recedes. Thiswill take time, even with thedevelopment and approval oftwo new vaccines at a recordpace. America is unlikely toreach the necessary level ofimmunization until summer atthe earliest.

Meanwhile, states and lo-calities are coping with re-cord levels of infections andhospitalizations. Many are re-imposing the restrictions theyrelaxed during the summer,dealing a new blow to entireindustries. Restaurants areclosing, travel is declining,and applications for unem-ployment insurance are onthe rise again. After flatteningin October, retail sales fell by1.1% last month. The pace ofjob growth has declined forfive straight months and mayhave ceased in December.

Can Team Biden Prevent a Recession?Many families are facing hun-ger and eviction.

The new relief bill ad-dresses the most urgent prob-lems. Federal unemploymentbenefits have been extendeduntil March 14, at a reducedbut still significant level of$300 a week. In addition, indi-viduals with less than $75,000in annual income and couplesmaking less than $150,000 willreceive checks of $600 a per-son. Families with two chil-dren can receive up to $2,400.

Businesses will get help,mainly through the PaycheckProtection Program, which hasbeen extended at a cost of$285 billion. New restrictionswill ensure that payments goto small businesses as in-tended, and the program’sbenefits will receive more-fa-vorable tax treatment. Airlineswill receive another round ofhelp to limit layoffs.

The bill contains help forthe hardest-hit families, in-cluding a $13 billion expansionof nutrition assistance and $25billion in rental relief. A mora-torium on evictions will be ex-tended, but only until Jan. 31.

Despite the efforts of gover-nors, mayors and county exec-utives, states and localitiesdidn’t receive the funding theyrequested. Still, they didn’tcome away empty-handed.Schools will get additionalhelp, as will the transit sys-tems on which many essentialworkers depend to get to theirjobs. State and local healthagencies will receive aid fortesting, contact tracing and

vaccine distribution. And thedeadline for spending fundsappropriated under the CaresAct passed in March was ex-tended a year, to the end of2021. States can keep tens ofbillions of dollars they wouldotherwise have forfeited onDec. 30.

Yet the eviction crisis willnot end by Jan. 31, and thelevel of long-term unemploy-ment will still be very high inMarch. No doubt the Biden ad-ministration will seek to ex-tend—and perhaps expand—federal assistance in theseareas. We’ll see how SenateRepublicans will respond.

But the country cannot af-ford another slow recoveryfrom a deep recession. This isnot an ordinary downturn. Thepandemic has acceleratedstructural changes long in themaking. Online businesseshave prospered while bricks-and-mortar establishmentshave disappeared. Educatedworkers have been shelteredfrom the worst effects of thepandemic while those withoutdegrees have struggled. Eco-nomic gaps have expanded be-tween white Americans andother groups. Minorities havealso suffered disproportionate

hospitalizations and deathsfrom Covid-19.

The Biden administrationmust respond with a programthat seeks to accelerate eco-nomic growth, provide newopportunities for the victimsof economic change, and nar-row the gaps that the pan-demic has widened.

In a closely divided Con-gress, these measures willneed bipartisan support. Thiswill not be easy, because thepolitical parties have differentviews about the appropriaterole of the federal governmentin the economy. But most peo-ple should agree that a highrate of participation in the la-bor force is good for everyone.If displaced workers stay stuckon the sidelines, everyone willbe worse off. The same is trueif women retreat from the la-bor force because their fami-lies can’t afford child care.Americans can also agree thatthe higher the share of work-ers who earn enough to sup-port themselves and theirfamilies, the lower the burdenwill be on government and pri-vate philanthropy. Similarly,helping formerly incarceratedfelons re-enter the workforcewill rebuild stronger familiesand communities as well as lo-cal economies.

An economic program builton common ground acrosspartisan and ideological lineswould serve the needs of theAmerican people. As impor-tant, it would help heal the di-visions that have disfiguredAmerican politics.

The Covid reliefpackage is welcome,but the new presidentwill have to do more.

POLITICS& IDEASBy WilliamA. Galston

“SolarWindshack ex-plained” is apopular in-ternet searchterm. Sadly,very littlehas yet beenexplained.

The words“inside job”have been

bandied mainly on expert blogsand online forums, not yet inthe mainstream press. But wemight suspect the human fac-tor will turn out to have playeda key role. Edward Snowdenwas the security flaw that ledto a previous government datadisaster. John Podesta was theunwitting flaw that put Demo-cratic campaign emails in thehands of presumptively Rus-sian hackers.

Software code and networksystems may have inherentvulnerabilities but as systemsbecome more complex andharder to penetrate, corrupt-ing or fooling an authorizedhuman will increasingly be thecost-effective avenue of attack.Once upon a time, we couldtell ourselves any holes in ournetwork systems were boundto be discovered and exploited.Not unreasonably, our sottovoce response was: Thanks forletting us know. Praise God thevulnerability was discoveredsooner rather than later.

Industrial-strength corrup-tion and sabotage of networksby state actors is the concernnow. Closing holes is still im-

A Deterrent for the Next Hackersportant but more im-portant will be deter-ring and shaping theincentives of attackers.

A security experttells Reuters he alertedthe Texas company So-larWinds last year to asloppy password vul-nerability, but Reuterswas quick to add thedefect didn’t play arole. The latest attackerlikely had no place inhis plan for serendipity;his goal from the startwas to target and breaka specific company be-cause its software offered ac-cess to the networks of thou-sands of other companies andgovernment agencies.

Russia is the likely culpritaccording to Secretary of StateMike Pompeo and others. Ablog post by Microsoft Presi-dent Brad Smith is widelyquoted in press accounts, urg-ing cooperation between gov-ernment and private firms todetect and fight off intrusions,which is fine but ought to be asecondary concern.

The SolarWinds hackers didnot seek to disable the systemsthey accessed as North Koreadid in its 2014 Sony hack. ToRussia, the cost would haveoutweighed the potential ben-efit, since the U.S. was ex-pected to be able to identifyand retaliate against such anattacker.

Incentive and deterrence,the usual tools of statecraft,are working here even if wedon’t see it. Indeed, only afterit was discovered did the latestattack likely begin to serve itsdeepest purpose for Russia: tointimidate and coerce U.S.elites. On the media hysteriafront Russia may be winningthe spy vs. spy wars. On everyother front Russia has beenlosing. The mysterious “Pan-

ama Papers” and “Paradise Pa-pers” leak of banking docu-ments in 2016 and 2017 wasplainly seen by the Kremlin asa Western attempt to embar-rass Vladimir Putin and his fi-nancial cronies. This month atrove of 16-year-old emailscame into public view showinghow one of Mr. Putin’s cronyscions, Kirill Shamalov, be-came an overnight billionaireafter marrying Mr. Putin’sdaughter.

Russia’s hands behind theMalaysian airliner shootdown,the polonium murder of aRussian émigré in the U.K.,the attempted murder of an-other with a nerve agent,were all exposed with ease inthe world press. Even thenames and photos of individ-ual suspects were published.In the past few days, the pri-vate outfit Bellingcat ex-ploited the corruption of Rus-sia’s domestic data markets toname and persuasively de-scribe the activities of theRussian agents allegedly in-volved in August’s attemptedmurder of opposition politi-cian Alexander Navalny.

Looming over all, the role ofKremlin agents in a 1999 spateof domestic terrorist bombingsthat cemented Mr. Putin’s rise

has been extensively re-vealed in the public do-main. Awaited is only aWestern government’sor intelligence agency’sdecision to out Mr. Pu-tin for the crime.

Let’s use the rightword, with the right as-sociations—not hackerbut attacker. If Russia isthe culprit, the regime’ssecond-greatest sensi-tivity (after its inabilityto keep secrets) is sanc-tions that prevent re-gime favorites fromtraveling in the West

and securing their wealth un-der Western laws. Sanctionswork, contrary to shibboleth:Governments carefully weighthe potential costs of their ac-tions even if those costs don’talways deter them. So maybearrest a few children of Rus-sian oligarchs living in theWest as accessories to moneylaundering. Maybe seize a fewyachts and Fifth Avenue man-sions. Make sure the names ofRussian cybercriminals appearconspicuously on the terroristlists from which names occa-sionally disappear for drone-related reasons.

Matthew Broderick in “War-Games” isn’t the prototype.When the hacker we worriedabout was the random teen-ager we could never identify inadvance, investment in de-fense was the way to go. Theproblem is different now. Rus-sia needs to be kept in itsplace, with a punch in the noseif necessary, not least becausethe real long-term challenge isChina. Russia is stuck with aleader who, with options lim-ited, is focused on regime sur-vival above all, at the expenseeven of Russia’s national inter-ests. The Russian people willbe among the beneficiaries ofsetting limits on his behavior.

Today the attacker isa nation state and notMatthew Broderickin ‘WarGames.’

BUSINESSWORLDBy Holman W.Jenkins, Jr.

‘WarGames’ (1983)

MGM/EVER

ETTCO

LLEC

TION

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A16 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Financial Regulators Versus Climate ChangeIt isn’t clear why addressing cli-

mate change is up to those regula-tors whose mission is to regulate fi-nancial institutions andtransactions, and whose expertisecertainly doesn’t extend to the at-mosphere. “Your New Climate401(k)” (Review & Outlook, Dec. 15)notes that even the Commodity Fu-tures Trading Commission, whichregulates exotic financial transac-tions involving futures and swaps,has gotten into the climate-changebusiness, with a special committeeconvened by one of its Democraticmembers calling for financial firmsto conduct climate-change stresstests. The committee, led by a Gold-man Sachs alumnus no less, con-cluded that “financial markets todayare not pricing climate risk. The fi-nancial markets cannot do that ontheir own. Until this fundamentalflaw is fixed, capital will flow in thewrong direction.”

Does anyone familiar with the fi-nancial markets, especially the fu-tures markets, believe that they areunable to offer financial instrumentsto hedge against and price for cli-mate risks, or that commercial firmssuch as insurers, which have a lot tolose in a climate apocalypse, lacksufficient self-interest to prepare forthe future without being told to bythe government?

It’s bad enough that such regula-tors want to get into an area thatthey really know nothing about. It’sworse that they have so little faithin the ability of the markets theyoversee to address the risks theyprofess to be concerned about.

ROBERT ZWIRBMcLean, Va.

Mr. Zwirb was counsel to thechairman of the CFTC (1988-92,2004-05)

Your editorial and Walter RussellMead’s “Climate Finance May Foulthe Economy” (Global View, Dec. 8)

characterize the push for financialregulators to protect the U.S. econ-omy from climate change as a tro-jan horse for a “green agenda.” Butrisk is risk. Calling for the Trea-sury, Federal Reserve and Securi-ties and Exchange Commission toacknowledge, assess and mitigatethe risks that climate change posesto our financial system isn’t about“social engineering” at the expenseof the U.S. economy. It’s about pro-tecting the economy and the peo-ple who undergird it.

The U.S. has suffered more than$500 billion in direct losses over thepast five years from climate-relatedextreme weather, including $45 bil-lion in 2019 alone. The fossil-fuel in-dustry wrote down $60 billion in re-cent months. These losses willincrease as the climate impact wors-ens.

The banking system is particu-larly vulnerable. A recent reportfound that every major U.S. bank isfar more exposed than it is disclos-ing—and that this risk could triggerhundreds of billions in losses, set-ting up a crisis that could dwarf the2007-09 recession.

While climate change is a socialand environmental issue, thatdoesn’t mean it isn’t also a cleardanger to the U.S. financial system.That’s why investors are advocatingclimate-related financial regulationand financial regulators are startingto act. The U.S. economy will bestronger, more resilient and betterpositioned for growth as a result.

STEVEN M. ROTHSTEINCeres

Boston

Rather than attempting to pricein unknowable political risks, whynot merely price in the knowablepolitical risk of having liberals incharge of government?

DAVE ERCHULLTucson, Ariz.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

“I just paid for my bitcoinwith Beanie Babies.”

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL

Letters intended for publication shouldbe emailed to wsj.ltrs@wsj.com. Pleaseinclude your city, state and telephonenumber. All letters are subject toediting, and unpublished letters cannotbe acknowledged.

Pepper ...And Salt

The Slow-Moving Philanthropic Status QuoI am disappointed by Elise West-

hoff’s op-ed (“The Left Wants aPhilanthropy of the Few,” Dec. 15)in opposition to the Initiative toAccelerate Charitable Giving, a re-form initiative I co-founded. In thisunprecedented time of need, pri-vate foundations and donor-advisedfunds could be helping millions ofpeople. The sad truth is that toomany assets are sitting in ac-counts, accumulating interest. Morethan $1 trillion remains shelteredin these tax-advantaged vehicles,doing little to help anyone. While

those assets grow, the burden forhelp gets shifted onto the taxpayer.

Rather than defending the statusquo, philanthropic advocacy groupsshould be brainstorming ways tomaximize donation of these moniesby reforming out-of-date rules.They should also be working to ex-pand tax deductions for charitablegiving to the 90% of Americanscurrently left out of the system.The Initiative to Accelerate Chari-table Giving aspires to fix these de-fects in our tax code and empowerthe charitable sector to improvelives.

JOHN ARNOLDInitiative to Accelerate Charitable

GivingHouston

WeWere Right to Wait for aDemonstrably Safe Vaccine

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. has done aphenomenal job critiquing the me-dia’s avoidance of Covid-19’s actualmortality rate. And reading his col-umn “Vaccines vs. Lockdowns” (Busi-ness World, Dec. 16), it was refresh-ing to see someone argue that thevaccine development was too slow in-stead of too rushed.

Nevertheless, we should all bethankful that corners weren’t cut inthe making of the vaccine. Mr. Jen-kins states that the vaccine was de-veloped in January. Although thecomposition of the vaccine wasknown by then, the proper dosageand schedule for administrationweren’t determined until Phase Twowas analyzed over the summer.

Patience in waiting for the mostrapidly developed vaccine in historyhas yielded several safe options, moreeffective than many of our currentvaccines, including for measles. I amhappy to recommend it confidently tomy patients, and I am happy that cor-ners weren’t cut—denying anti-vaxx-ers ammunition in their campaignagainst our best weapon to fight in-fectious disease.

PAUL BOWER, M.D.Port St. Lucie, Fla.

More Firms Should FightBogus Government Lawsuits

I had two main takeaways fromyour editorial “Secrets of the OracleProsecution” (Dec. 16): First, it isboth sad and outrageous that re-gional solicitor Janet Herold wasn’tfired outright for being so wrong inher analysis of the case against Ora-cle. When she thinks the case isworth at least $150 million but ajudge dismisses it completely, it’s ob-vious to me that she was taking aflyer and thinking more like a plain-tiff’s lawyer—hoping to strike it bigby threatening a big company withbad press—than a fair enforcer of thelaw. How fortunate she is to havebeen reassigned to another govern-ment job, where hopefully she can doless damage.

Second, this is a helpful example ofhow statistical “proofs” of racism canfall apart under careful judicial scru-tiny of the facts of the case. It’s un-fortunate that these types of casessettle before trial so often. We wouldbe better off if more of them were lit-igated and determined publicly. Thatmight challenge the statistics-basednarrative of systemic racism through-out the U.S.

JASON SCHAUERBoise, Idaho

Local Solutions Are BetterThan Bureaucracy in D.C.

How very refreshing to read Ger-ald Seib’s “Far From Washington,Americans Are Finding Solutions”(Review, Dec. 12). It is preposterousto believe the large, sclerotic, bu-reaucratic government in Washing-ton can understand, let alone solve,the problems of 330 million citizens,50 states and countless counties, cit-ies and towns therein. Many will re-member Ronald Reagan’s rousingdeclaration: “The nine most terrify-ing words in the English languageare: I’m from the government, andI’m here to help.”

JACK LOCHRIEFarmington Hills, Mich.

The State Covid Windfall

N o sooner had Congress passed Covid re-lief and a budget bill totaling $2.3 tril-lion on Monday than Democrats were

already demandingmore. JoeBiden called it a mere “downpayment” and Speaker NancyPelosi said it is “a first step.”They want bailouts for thestates in particular, even asthe latest Census report showsstates are doing far better than they claim.

States are also doing very well in this latestCovid bill. Start with the $26 billion for transitagencies, airports and shovel-readypublicworks.Thiswill helpNewYork’s transit andport author-ities reduce their financial holes.

There’s also $22 billion for the states forCovid testing and contact tracing, though insur-ers and the feds cover the cost of tests. Stateswill use it formore budget backfill. The Los An-geles Times reported last month that 25 LACounty firefighters had made more than$100,000 on average in overtime by ferryingtest supplies, most of whichwas reimbursed byfederal Cares Act funds.

Education will get a whopping $82 billion,about $54 billion of which will go to K-12schools though many are closed and employfewer staff. That’s about asmuch as the federalgovernment spends on K-12 in a normal year.The bill also provides $3.2 billion for broadbandfor low-income families, so public schools don’thave to pay for that.

States will also benefit from the federal en-hanced $300 weekly unemployment benefits,which are taxable income in most states. Thejobless benefit sweetener will especially helpstates with higher unemployment such asNew Jersey (10.2%), Hawaii (10.1%), New York(8.4%), Connecticut (8.2%) and California(8.2%).

NewBureau of Economic Analysis data showhow blue states that shut down more busi-nesses have reaped larger federal payments.Transfer receipts grew significantly more forNew Jersey (67.6%), California (54.6%), Illinois(51.7%), and NewYork (44.7%) than for Arizona(35.4%), Florida (26.5%),Wisconsin (22.5%) andSouth Dakota (20.9%) from the third quarter of

2019 to the third quarter of 2020.At the same time, wages and salaries in-

creased significantlymore in states that allowedmore businesses to reopensuch as Arizona (4.7%), SouthDakota (5.5%), Florida (1.7%)and Wisconsin (2.9%) than instates thatmaintained stricterlockdowns like New York(-1.6%), New Jersey (-1%), Illi-

nois (0.2%) and California (2.3%).Florida took an earnings hit because its hospi-

tality industry was slammed especially hard bythe pandemic. Silicon Valley, on the other hand,has remained buoyant, with California’s profes-sional, scientific and tech service earnings up4.5% year-over-year, though less than in Idaho(7.4%)andUtah (8.5%),whichhavebenefited fromCalifornia’s tech job outsourcing.

The Golden State is also rolling in tax reve-nue amid the stockmarket’s boom and tech ini-tial public offerings. Its November revenueswere 16.4% higher year-over-year and so farthis fiscal year are 20.4% above the state’sspring estimate.

The Census Bureau reported last week thattotal state and local government tax revenuesfor the 12 months ending in September wereup $46.4 billion (3%) year-over-year. Personalincome tax revenue has increased 3.3% andproperty tax revenues 4.7% while sales taxeshave dipped a mere 0.4%.

The Federal Reserve’s interventions havelifted housing prices and stock-market capitalgains. Increased asset values have also pro-duced a “wealth effect,” which in addition togovernment transfer payments has boostedspending. The bottom 20% of households ac-count for 9% of consumer spending comparedto 39% by the top 20%.

Democrats aren’t talking about all this be-cause they want to plead poverty as the BidenAdministration takes power. But state and localgovernments have already received plenty offederal Covid cash. Theywantmore so they canpay off public unions and avoid reforming theirrunaway pensions. The next Congress should dotaxpayers a favor and just say no, we alreadygave at the office.

They plead poverty buttheir revenue and federalaid show otherwise.

A Sincere Government Apology

‘I failed, nobody else failed.” You don’thear that often, or ever, from a gov-ernment official. But that’s what Oper-

ation Warp Speed logistics chief Gen. GustavePerna said Saturday by way of apologizing tostates for shipping fewer Pfizer Covid vaccinedoses than expected. Kudos to Gen. Perna—and all the more so since overall the vaccinerollout is a historic success.

Close collaboration between governmentand private industry has made a vaccine avail-able in record time and now is proving essen-tial to distribution logistics. The military hasbeen charged with coordinating distributionwith states and private companies across along supply chain including drug makers, air-lines, freight companies, pharmacies, hospi-tals and nursing homes.

All of this involves meticulous planning,which has been in the works since earlyspring. Operation Warp Speed acceleratedvaccine development by removing financialrisk for drug makers and helping them line upfacilities to manufacture vaccine candidatesand sites to conduct trials. It has also acceler-ated and facilitated distribution.

Drug makers usually wait until their vac-cines are approved before buying raw materi-als and establishing manufacturing lines andsupply chains. Operation Warp Speed workedwith and provided funding for drug makersto do all of this months ahead of time. So oncevaccines are approved, shipments can beginimmediately.

Pfizer has done most of the logisticalgroundwork for its vaccine, which is espe-cially tricky because it must be transportedand stored at ultra-cold temperatures. There

are multiple steps from manufacturing toinoculation including final-assembly andstorage sites. Pfizer has planned dozens ofcargo flights and hundreds of truck trips ev-ery day.

United Airlines, FedEx, UPS and DHL areamong the companies assisting the massiveoperation. Many liberals believe governmentcan run most things better than private ac-tors. But as Gen. Perna explained this week-end, the vaccine shortfall that many states ex-perienced last week was due to a governmentplanning failure.

Pfizer’s vaccine requires two doses threeor so weeks apart. Operation Warp Speedwon’t release first doses until the second areavailable and thus incorrectly forecast howmany would be sent to each state. “It was myfault. I gave guidance. I am the one that ap-proved the forecast sheets,” Gen. Perna ex-plained. “Execution is where we learn, and weadapted accordingly.”

How refreshing for a government officialto assume responsibility for a mistake, evenwhen it doesn’t involve lapses in personal be-havior like the politicians caught floutingtheir own social-distancing rules. New YorkGov. Andrew Cuomo still hasn’t apologizedfor sending hospitalized Covid patients backto nursing homes this spring despite thedeadly results.

More difficulties no doubt will occur duringvaccine distribution, which will require rapidadaptation. But the rollout so far has beenfaster and better than anyone could have ex-pected. Credit to Gen. Perma and OperationWarp Speed for helping private industry dowhat it does best.

The House Fight Heats Up

H ow bloody-minded will Democrats bewith their precariously thin Housema-jority? We’re about to find out as

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s caucus considers anelection challenge from Iowa’s 2nd Congressio-nal district.

On Nov. 30, Iowa certified Republican candi-date Mariannette Miller-Meeks the winner ofthe district, which extends southeast of DesMoines and is currently held by a Democrat.The margin was six votes.

On Tuesday Democrat Rita Hart submitteda brief asking the House of Representatives tooverturn that outcome. Authored by Demo-cratic election lawyerMarc Elias, it says count-ing 22 mostly absentee ballots would give Ms.Hart a nine-vote lead. The brief asks the Houseto order another recount and use its constitu-tional authority to seat Ms. Hart instead.

Among the reasons the ballots were wronglyexcluded, the brief says, are signature place-ment, envelope seal and timeliness. Ms. Miller-Meeks’s campaign must file a response, whichcould raise other ballot disputes, within 30days. Her campaign said in a statement: “Con-gresswoman-elect Mariannette Miller-Meekswon the vote on election night, won the 24-county audit and official canvas, won the 24-county recount, and was unanimously certifiedby the State of Iowa as the winner of the elec-tion by a bipartisan council.”

One political vulnerability for the Hart cam-paign is that it did not exhaust its Iowa courtchallenges before asking the House to inter-vene. The campaign said there wasn’t time forjudicial relief in the one-week window betweencertification and the Dec. 8 deadline for a five-member state “contest court” ruling. But if only22 ballots are at issue, the complaint could havebeen presented to Iowa judges.

The last time Congress overturned a state-certified House election result was when theDemocratic majority didn’t seat an Indiana Re-publican in 1985. The GOP anger over that deci-sion may have contributed to Newt Gingrich’spopulist success in the House, and overturningan election in 2021 would also guarantee abacklash.

The stakes are also high because Joe Bidenhas appointed three Democratic House Mem-bers to his Administration, meaning that if Re-publicans hold the seats in Iowa’s 2nd and NewYork’s 22nd districts, the Democrats could tem-porarily have amere 219 seats at the start of theterm, with 218 needed for an absolutemajority.

That could create an extra incentive forMrs.Pelosi to abuse House rules for fear of fallingshort in key progressive votes. Alternatively,the GOP’s House success in 2020might remindDemocrats of the public’s wariness of their tac-tics—and the political risks for 2022 of stealinga House seat.

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

OPINION

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O n Christmas Day 1991,Mikhail Gorbachev, presi-dent of the Soviet Union,gave his farewell speechand more than seven de-

cades of Russian revolutionary so-cialism came to an end. A genera-tion later, the spirit of the SovietUnion has re-emerged with masssupport in the U.S.

When I arrived in Moscow in1976 to begin a six-year stint as acorrespondent, I was struck by thered flags flying from governmentbuildings and the somber streets de-void of advertising except for garishposters showing workers withclenched fists demanding an end tothe arms race.

When the Soviet Union fell, itseemed the Soviet attempt to im-pose a deluded version of realityhad died with it. Francis Fukuyama,in his 1989 essay “The End of His-tory,” said that Marxism-Leninismwas doomed as an alternative to lib-eral democracy. I argued at the timethat the drive to make a religion outof politics had not disappeared.

For the past four years, pottedhistories have warned about the riseof fascism in the U.S. But the realdanger is the transformation of “tol-erance” into an ideology with itsown courts, informers and punish-ments, all of them reminiscent ofthe Soviet Union.

One of the pillars of the SovietUnion was a controlled press in

A propagandistic press,the crushing of academicfreedom and the shatteringof family loyalties.

Laws Governing Online Speech Need Reform, Not Repeal

I f you had told me 24 years agothat the internet pornographylaw I was working on would be

the main obstacle to defense spend-ing in 2020, I would have called youcrazy. Yet for the past several weeksPresident Trump has repeatedlywarned that he will veto the $740billion defense appropriation bill ifSection 230 of the CommunicationsDecency Act isn’t repealed.

The congressional committeethat drafted the 1996 act’s final lan-guage knew that Section 230 was acritical law at the dawn of the inter-net, and we passed it for a specificreason: to protect the internet’s roleas a free marketplace of ideas. Whatwent wrong? We succeeded toowell.

In recent years, Section 230 hasbecome a political punching bag,with some saying it allows big techcompanies to censor political views,and others saying it enables thespread of disinformation. Nearly aquarter century ago, we couldn’thave anticipated today’s internet,where one private company, Face-book, controls most of the public fo-rums that Americans use to express

their views, and another, Google,controls most of the informationAmericans receive when they searchthe internet.

We need to re-evaluate Section230 in light of today’s very differentinternet. But there’s one thing weshouldn’t re-evaluate: the provi-sion’s role in supporting and nurtur-ing an open and free marketplace ofideas. Every election cycle, and al-most every news cycle, reminds ushow difficult it is to defend thefree-speech rights of those withwhom we disagree. Our tradition offree expression is threatened everyday, and we must remain vigilantabout preserving it.

Simply repealing Section 230 isthe worst possible solution. If web-site owners are held liable for ev-erything that appears on their plat-forms, they will have to createsystems for reviewing and editingall posted content before it goes up.This is an impossible task. At best itwould create an environment thatallows only the most limited and in-offensive speech. At worst it wouldforce operators to shut down manysocial-media sites and drasticallylimit the ability of private citizensto express views online. We would

end up with a Kafkaesque processgoverned by tort lawyers, politicalcorrectness and hidden agendas.This isn’t the right solution for afree society.

Another option that won’t workis the public-utility model. In thisscenario, once a platform reaches acertain size, it would be subject toregulation by a public commission,

which would decide whether theplatform is allowing a free and fairflow of content. Americans don’twant the government acting as anarbiter of truth, deciding whatspeech is fair or not. This is pre-cisely what the First Amendment isdesigned to prevent.

There are better ways to fix Sec-tion 230. Normally, the FirstAmendment doesn’t protect againstspeech restraints imposed by pri-vate entities, but if two or three

companies own the entire market-place of ideas, they should be heldliable for failing to post speech thatcitizens have a constitutional rightto express. We have lots of experi-ence and case law about whatspeech is protected in public parks,state universities and other publicplaces. We may need to modify therules to a small extent, as we havedone for radio and television broad-casting, but they present a goodframework.

We could also establish a plan forself-regulation by the online indus-try. As we’ve already seen, self-reg-ulation by individual companiesdoesn’t work because one companyacting alone doesn’t have enoughcredibility with the public. But anindustrywide plan, analogous to theGenerally Accepted Accounting Prin-ciples, or the Motion Picture Associ-ation film-rating system, could becredible, flexible and effective.

The right solution will come fromsome combination of these ideas.Assuming that Section 230 survivesthe debate over the defense bill,there’s still a good opportunity tofix it. In a perfect world, the inter-net community would arrive at itsown consensus. For this to happen,

several groups need to step up: theinternet business community, par-ticularly the medium-size andsmaller companies that haveavoided the lawsuits and contro-versy faced by the largest onlinecompanies; the nonprofit internetcommunity, with its long traditionof advocacy for free speech online;and First Amendment advocates ofall political stripes.

If these groups can’t produce aconsensus on their own, Congresswill have to do it. But the countrywould get a much better result ifthe people who understand andwork with these issues every daycan agree among themselves beforesending it through the political pro-cess.

We can rise to the challenge. TheAmerican people deserve an onlinemarketplace of ideas that is consis-tent with our fundamental princi-ples of free speech.

Mr. White, a Republican, servedas a U.S. representative from Wash-ington, 1991-99. He is a member ofthe strategic advisory board at alli-antgroup, a tax-consulting firm, andprincipal at the Woodbay Group, aconsulting firm for startups.

By Rick White

Section 230 has its flaws,but those are nothingcompared with what BigBrother would bring.

Soviet Politics, American Stylewhich all coverage was organized toconfirm a mendacious ideology.

A friend of mine in Moscow,Vladimir Fyodorov, went to work forthe TASS news service, which of-fered readers not news but a “cor-rect” depiction of events, especiallyregarding the U.S. and the “ulcers ofcapitalism”—racism, crime and un-employment.

On his first day at TASS, Vladimirwas handed a United Press Interna-tional story about a U.S. companythat was promoting a high-qualitytire and offered to replace oldertires free of charge. Vladimirwanted to kill the story but his bossrewrote it. The new version read:“In the crafty capitalist market,firms frequently offer low-qualityproducts. This is why a well-knownAmerican firm was forced to replacetires that were of inferior quality.”The headline was “Deception ofBuyer.”

A few weeks later, Vladimir wasgiven a report that prisons in Fijiwere so comfortable that peoplepreferred to stay there than to be atliberty. He produced a report thatlife in Fiji was so unbearable thatpeople preferred to live in prison.His colleagues congratulated him.He told himself: “I’m going to go outof my mind here.”

Soviet practices would have oncebeen unthinkable in the U.S. media.But in August 2016, Jim Rutenberg,media columnist for the New YorkTimes, wrote that if journalists be-lieved that Mr. Trump was a “dema-gogue playing to the nation’s worstracist and nationalist tendencies,” itwas necessary to “throw out thetextbook of American journalism.”The Times started to characterizeMr. Trump’s statements as “lies” innews stories and suppress news thatworked to Mr. Trump’s advantage,such as the Hunter Biden story thisfall.

The Times also advanced an ideo-logical account of U.S. history, ac-cording to which the American Rev-olution was undertaken to defendslavery, and promoted it over theobjections of historians and the pa-per’s own fact-checkers.

The Soviet system also relied onthe complete liquidation of aca-demic freedom. Marxism-Leninismwas treated as a perfect science.But the ideology raised obviousquestions: In a “classless society,”why were there special stores forofficials? If socialism ended war,why did the Soviet Union and Chinago to war in 1969 over DamanskyIsland?

If a student tried to raise thesequestions, he was expelled from theKomsomol, the communist youthleague. That ended any hope of a ca-reer. I knew a young man in Moscowwho refused to be intimidated andcontinued to ask questions. He wascommitted to a mental hospital.

The Soviet style has become a re-ality in the U.S. Speakers are rou-tinely canceled on ideologicalgrounds: In July the College of theAtlantic in Bar Harbour, Maine, can-celed a virtual talk with LeonardLeo of the Federalist Society be-cause of “the moment of reckoningour society is going through.” At myalma mater, the University of Chi-cago, the English department an-nounced that it would “only acceptapplicants interested in working inand with Black Studies.”

The Soviet Union finally countedon the readiness of people to betrayeven family and friends. The regimeheld up Pavel Morozov (1918-32) asa martyr. He lived in a village in theUrals when the regime was collec-tivizing agriculture. When Pavellearned that his father was helpingpeasants hide grain, he walked 35miles to the nearest town to reporthim to the secret police. His fatherwas arrested and Pavel was stabbed

to death by relatives.I thought of Pavel Morozov when

I read a June op-ed in the New YorkTimes by Chad Sanders, a blackwriter. He told his white friends thathe didn’t need their “love texts” andsuggested that instead they cut offcontact with family members untilthey sent money to Black Lives Mat-ter or joined their protests.

When Mr. Gorbachev began thereforms that destroyed the SovietUnion, he said, referring to the U.S.:“We’re going to do something terri-ble to you. We’re going to depriveyou of an enemy.” Twenty-nine yearslater, it’s clear he was right. Withoutthe ideological challenge of the So-viet Union, we have become im-mersed in internal conflicts and havemade an ideology out of them.

It is true that Marxism is a morecoherent system of thought than“wokeism.” But even an intellectualhodgepodge can engender totali-tarian habits if it fulfills an emo-tional need and becomes a deviceof interpretation.

The antidote is fidelity to highervalues. But that requires a moral se-riousness that a world at peace andin thrall to superficialities does notinspire. “The West does not knowand does not want to know whatshaped it,” writes Cardinal RobertSarah, a Guinean prelate. “This self-asphyxiation leads to new barbariccivilizations.”

The Soviet Union is dead, but itsghost wanders an unsettled world.Finding a lodestar for society’smoral development is the most im-portant challenge facing the U.S.today.

Mr. Satter is author of “Age ofDelirium: the Decline and Fall of theSoviet Union” and a member of theacademic advisory board of theVictims of Communism MemorialFoundation.

By David Satter

HULTONARC

HIVE/GET

TYIM

AGES

Young Communists march past Lenin’s tomb in Moscow, 1924.

OPINION

PUBLISHED SINCE 1889 BY DOW JONES & COMPANYRupert Murdoch

Executive Chairman, News CorpMatt MurrayEditor in Chief

Robert ThomsonChief Executive Officer, News Corp

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Will Biden’s Education Nominee Stand for Students or for Unions?

J oe Biden has chosen an educa-tion secretary who may beopen to reforms that enhance

student achievement, even at thecost of ruffling feathers in the edu-cation bureaucracy. Miguel Car-dona, Connecticut’s education com-missioner, pressed to get childrenback in school while teachersunions wanted them closed. Ratherthan follow the “college or bust”monomania, he has urged equalsupport for children “who needhands-on experiences, who want tobuild things, who want to manufac-ture.”

Dacia Toll, CEO of the Achieve-ment First charter-school network

that operates in Connecticut, saysof Mr. Cardona: “I haven’t foundhim to be driven by ideology andpolitics. He is more focused onmaking sure every kid gets an ex-cellent education than the type ofschool they go to.”

Let’s hope he can maintain thatevenhandedness, taste for excel-lence, and openness to reform. Forif Mr. Cardona ends up running theEducation Department, he will faceheavy pressure to focus less onchildren and more on what is polit-ically expedient. Advocates sur-rounding him will demand lotsmore money for the status quo andan end to disruption of existingK-12 systems.

If a Secretary Cardona does

choose to resist, he’ll have evi-dence on his side. People who de-mand more spending on social pro-grams love to chatter about“evidence based” policy making.Follow the science! goes the famil-iar cry. Alas, this sloganeering isoften lip service.

One sad reality about “evidence-based social policy” is that aston-ishingly few interventions show anyproof that they work. Beginning in2001, some very smart economistsand social scientists worked formore than a decade to build theCoalition for Evidence-Based Policy.These careful investigators re-viewed many hundreds of academicassessments, and commissionedsome original ones of their own. Inthe end, they were able to identifyonly 12 domestic programs thatclearly helped the population theywere aimed at. Another 16 pro-grams showed partial signs of ef-fectiveness, and 31 more had out-comes that were somewhatencouraging though indefinite. Thatwas it. After decades of interven-tions consuming billions of dollars,a grand total of 59 programs coulddemonstrate any positive effect.

But one social invention of thepast generation stands out in rigor-ous evaluations as a clear success:charter schools and educationalchoice. In randomized-control trialssimilar to those used to test newdrugs, charters produce hard proofof their effectiveness. For instance:KIPP—the largest charter-schoolprovider in the U.S., whose stu-dents are roughly 90% black or His-panic—was shown to lift achieve-ment in both reading and math.

The ability of charter schools to

lift up millions of at-risk childreninitially elated political progres-sives. Not long ago, Democrats likeCory Booker and Barack Obamapraised charters for closing racialachievement gaps. But as poor par-ents eagerly shifted their childrenand charters grew to serve morethan 3.3 million pupils at 7,500schools (many of them so popularthey have long waiting lists), theeducational empire struck back.

Public schools are a $750 billion ayear bureaucracy, and their eightmillion government employeesprovide the most important volun-teers and funding for liberal activ-ism today.

Under pressure from teachersunions and district administrators,politicians put caps on the numberof charter schools allowed. Thus inBoston, where charter schools pro-duce impressive results for childrenill-served by conventional schools,charter operators are preventedfrom expanding. New York MayorBill de Blasio has resisted chartersuccess and growth by denyingthem access to buildings. In manyother cities, public officials refuseto allow charter-school students toride public school buses.

Most recently, the educationalestablishment has crimped chartersin an even more threatening way:

by squeezing off payments for eachchild they educate. A new studyfrom the University of Arkansascalled “Charter School Funding: In-equity Surges in the Cities” showsthat, over the past 15 years, the gapbetween how much a typical char-ter school is reimbursed for eachpupil and what conventionalschools get has doubled. In the pasttwo years, the shortchanging ofstudents in charters widened by28%.

In Chicago in 2018, a conven-tional school was reimbursed$27,859 for each student, while acharter school received only$14,600. In the District of Colum-bia, conventional schools received$36,266 a head while charters werepaid $24,896. In Atlanta, districtschools got twice what chartersdid: $20,861 versus $10,020.

This is discrimination. It hasnothing to do with results or evi-dence. It is political protection pro-vided by progressive politicians totheir powerful allies in the public-employee unions.

Systematic bias against chartersis creating a two-tiered system ofpublic schooling, separate and un-equal. That is grossly unfair toyoungsters without other options.Urban mayors, blue-state gover-nors, President-elect Biden, Secre-tary-designate Cardona: Does dis-crimination against vulnerablechildren bother you?

Mr. Zinsmeister, author of “FromPromising to Proven: A Wise Giver’sGuide to Expanding on the Successof Charter Schools,” was an aide toSen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan andPresident George W. Bush.

By Karl Zinsmeister

Cardona will face pressureto abandon charter schools,one of the few governmentinnovations that work.

P2JW358000-0-A01700-1--------XA

A18 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

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P2JW358000-0-A01800-1--------XA

© 2020 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, December 23, 2020 | B1

Demand for newly listedtech stocks is booming—and so,too, is the power of founders ofthe Silicon Valley companies.

In the run-up to thismonth’s listing of DoorDashInc., the delivery company’sboard gave co-founders 20votes per share, up from onevote in the most recent invest-ment round. At Airbnb Inc.,the company’s co-founders’votes per share doubled to 20in recent months, according tosecurities filings. And the

TECHNOLOGY: BLACKLISTING OF CHINESE CHIP MAKER COMES WITH EXCEPTIONS B4

S&P 3687.26 g 0.21% S&PFIN g 0.96% S&P IT À 0.86% DJTRANS g 0.21% WSJ$ IDX À 0.54% LIBOR3M 0.238 NIKKEI (Midday) 26470.94 À0.13% Seemore atWSJ.com/Markets

BUSINESS&FINANCE

BUSINESSNetflix aims for a hit inAfrica but is challengedby slow internet,

piracy and poverty. B3

PROPERTY REPORTLondon developmentto test design whereeverything one needs iswithin a short walk. B6

board of Palantir Technolo-gies Inc., formerly of SiliconValley, geared up for its publiclisting this fall by bestowingthe data-analysis company’sthree founders with enoughspecial shares that one ofthem can exert control with aslittle as 0.5% of the stock.

More than a decade ago,such share structures—inwhich leaders get more votingpotency than other sharehold-ers—were largely reserved fora tiny number of startups, typ-ically the ones most coveted

PleaseturntopageB5

BY ELIOT BROWN

IPO Demand Tilts Power to Tech Founders

News Media Alliance, a news-publisher trade group. The suitshowed “they also controlledeverything about the market,and that has had really bad andprofound effects on publish-ers,” he said.

Several publishers cooper-ated with the states to build acase, people familiar with thesituation said, and much of thesuit lines up with the com-plaints publishers have madeabout Google for several years.

Publishing executives saythey were surprised by the vol-ume of internal Google docu-mentation included in the suit.Communications betweenGoogle employees, much of itredacted, suggest the employ-

ees were aware Google adver-tising tools didn’t always helppublisher clients make moremoney than other ad tools, ac-cording to the suit.

Last week’s lawsuit said“Google employees agreedthat, in the future, they shouldnot directly lie to publishers,”citing Google employees’largely redacted expressions ofworry over the way ad toolshad been positioned to pub-lishers.

According to a section of anunredacted draft version of thesuit viewed by The Wall StreetJournal, one senior Google em-ployee fretted that one ofGoogle’s tools “generates sub-optimal yields for publishers

and serious risks of negativemedia coverage” if it were “ex-posed externally.” The filedsuit redacts this employee’scomment.

Google has called the suitmeritless. A Google spokes-woman on Monday said thesuit was drafted from the pointof view of Google’s critics andtheir consultants, adding thatthe ad-tech industry iscrowded and competitive.

Wall Street Journal pub-lisher News Corp, an outspo-ken Google critic, was amongthe companies contacted byantitrust investigators, alongwith New York Times Co., Gan-nett Co., Nexstar Media GroupInc., Condé Nast and others,

people familiar with the mattersaid.

Most publishers depend onGoogle’s ad products to gener-ate revenue. Google controlsmore than 90% of the marketfor the tools that large publish-ers use to put their ad spaceup for sale and dominates ev-ery link in the chain that con-nects publishers to online ad-vertisers.

Some publishers, includingNews Corp, are in talks to li-cense content to Google for aproduct called Google NewsShowcase, people familiar withthe situation said.

Matthew Schruers, presi-dent of the Computer & Com-

PleaseturntopageB2

For more than a decade,Google assured publishers itsonline advertising tools weredesigned to help them makemore money. Many were skep-tical.

Last week, an antitrust law-suit by Texas and nine otherstates against Google gavepublishers’ frustrations a legalvoice, alleging that the tech gi-ant runs a digital advertisingmonopoly and rigs the marketin its favor.

“One of the messages newspublishers always get is, ‘Stopcomplaining. Google just hasbetter ad products,’” said DavidChavern, the president of the

BY KEACH HAGEY

Publishers Laud Google Antitrust Suit

investment officers over thepast two decades. Its most re-cent investment chief, BenMeng, lasted just 19 months.His tenure ended this summerin the midst of questionsabout whether his personal in-vestments created a conflict ofinterest.

Elsewhere, investmentchiefs stay for six to seven

years on average at the 25largest U.S. pension systems,according to 2018 research byFunston Advisory Services, agovernance consultant.

Calpers is hoping to find areplacement by early next yearand is trying to get on a lon-ger-term footing.

The need for stability isacute: Calpers has only about

70% of the assets needed topay future pension benefits formore than two million policeofficers, firefighters and otherpublic workers and retirees.Annual pension bills for Cali-fornia towns are rising soquickly that some have re-sorted to borrowing and mari-juana legalization to helpcover the cost.

The role of Calpers invest-ment chief is marked by itsprestige and its difficulty.

The next CIO will manage aroughly $440 billion globalportfolio of assets rangingfrom skyscrapers to forests,will command the attention ofhigh-profile investors world-wide and will build a résumé

PleaseturntopageB2

The nation’s largest publicpension fund has a retentionproblem, an especially press-ing issue given the deep holeit and other retirement plansare in.

The California Public Em-ployees’ Retirement Systemhas burned through six chief

BY HEATHER GILLERS

Calpers Seeks Investment Chief Who Will Stay

Super Saturday wasn’t sosuper for bricks-and-mortarstores, and the U.S. Postal Ser-vice is starting to buckle un-der the flood of holiday ordersthat shifted online.

The Saturday before Christ-mas is usually one of the busi-est of the holiday season, aslast-minute shoppers rush tostores. But with Covid-19 casesmounting and several statestightening restrictions, manypeople chose to stay home andshop online as they did onBlack Friday.

Foot traffic to physicalstores fell 39.1% on Super Sat-urday and was down nearly40% for the entire weekend,compared with the same dayslast year, according to Sensor-matic Solutions, which hascameras and software used totrack visits to thousands ofmalls and shopping centers.

“Super Saturday weekendwas perceived to be the begin-ning of a return to brick-and-mortar due to concerns overonline shipping cutoffs,” saidBrian Field, senior director ofSensormatic’s global retailconsulting practice. “However,many consumers elected tostay home.”

Sensormatic lowered itsholiday foot-traffic forecast toa decline of 34% to 36% for thesix weeks ending Jan. 2, froma previous estimate of down22% to 25%. It still expectsbricks-and-mortar stores to bebusy in the final days beforeChristmas.

The online shift is testingthe ability of merchants anddelivery giants FedEx Corp.and United Parcel Service Inc.to handle a record volume ofpackages. The delivery compa-nies have experienced chal-lenges more recently with on-time rates after handling thepost-Thanksgiving surge well.

For parcels expected to ar-PleaseturntopageB2

BY SUZANNE KAPNERAND PAUL ZIOBRO

Store Traffic Plunges Ahead of Christmas

−50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300%

Oct. Nov. Dec.Oct. Nov. Dec. Oct. Nov. Dec. Oct. Nov. Dec. Oct. Nov. Dec. Oct. Nov. Dec. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Wholesaleclubs

Sportinggoods

Homesupply

Grocerystores

ElectronicsDiscountstores

Dept.stores

Clothingstores

Oct. Nov. Dec.

Newdata show the Christmas shopping season got off to amuted start this year.Americans reined in spending in November as they faced a surge in Covid-19 infectionsand new business restrictions in some states.—ByKatherine Riley

Black Friday

Entertainmentand hobby

Oct. Nov. Dec.

Generalretail

Oct. Nov. Dec.

Beauty andgrooming

Oct. Nov. Dec.

Clothing andaccessories

Change in U.S. daily foot traffic from previous year

Black Friday0

%

−75

−100

−50

−25

Oct. Nov. Dec.

Change in spending fromprevious year Online In-store

Sources: Facteus (Spending); Unacast (foot traffic); Numerator (discounts) Erik Brynildsen and Todd Lindeman/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Averageweekly discount

Data not yet available

Oct.4–10

Black FridayWeek

Apparel and footwear

Crafts

Electronics

Sporting goods

Toys and games

Nov.1–7

ChristmasWeek

10% 20 25 30 35 40 50

INSIDE

Airlines are preparing tocall back tens of thousands ofworkers they let go in Octobernow that Congress has ap-proved government assistanceto cover carriers’ payrollthrough the end of March. Thequestion is how long employ-ees will be able to keep theirjobs.

The $900 billion reliefpackage for households andbusinesses battered by thecoronavirus pandemic in-cludes $15 billion for airlinesto pay all their workers.

Carriers are hoping—forthe second time—that thegovernment assistance willserve as a bridge through arocky period.

Many travel executives be-lieve there is pent-up demandfor travel that could be un-leashed next summer. If theyare right, airlines will need asmany pilots, flight attendants,mechanics, and baggage han-dlers as they can get in orderto keep up. Airlines fur-loughed over 32,000 workersin October when the govern-ment aid they received lastspring ran out.

But a new strain of corona-virus in the U.K. has illus-trated how quickly prospectsfor a recovery in travel couldchange. The strain hasprompted a wave of travel re-strictions in Europe and else-where, raising fresh questionsabout when borders will re-open and when people will becomfortable traveling again.

The funding bill covers air-line employees’ wages andbenefits retroactively fromDec. 1 through the end ofMarch, and bars airlines fromfurloughing or laying peopleoff again during that period.

United Airlines HoldingsInc. said that it plans to bringits workers back but cau-tioned that it may be onlytemporary.

“The truth is, we just don’tsee anything in the data thatshows a huge difference inbookings over the next fewmonths,” Chief ExecutiveScott Kirby and PresidentBrett Hart wrote in a messageshared with employees andthe media on Monday.

Airlines received $25 bil-lion under the pandemic-reliefCares Act last spring to coverworkers’ pay and benefits. Inexchange, they agreed not tolay off or furlough employeesuntil Oct. 1.

But travel didn’t reboundover the summer. Airlineswarned that job cuts would becoming and pleaded for an-other round of aid.

When it didn’t arrive intime, they furloughed tens ofthousands of workers, includ-ing 19,000 at American Air-lines Group Inc. and over13,000 at United.

“At least it will get me toMarch,” said Alex Whitney, aUnited flight attendant whowas furloughed.

Doug Parker, American Air-lines’ chief executive, andRobert Isom, its president,said Tuesday that the airline

PleaseturntopageB5

BY ALISON SIDER

Aid LetsAirlinesRehireWorkers

The percentage of tech companies thathave gone public with dual-class sharestructures has jumped in recent years.

Note: 2020 data through Dec. 17Source: Jay Ritter, University of Florida

40

0

10

20

30

%

20001995 ’10 ’15’05 ’20

P2JW358000-4-B00100-1--------XA

B2 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

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

AAecon Group...............A8Airbnb..........................B1Albertsons ................A10Alibaba Group.............B4Alphabet......................A2Amazon.com..........A1,A2American Airlines GroupB1

Amer Sports ...............B3Anta Sports ProductsB12

Apple............A1,B11,B12B

Big Lots.......................B6BioNTech..............A7,B11

CC3.ai.............................B5California PublicEmployees' RetirementSystem......................B1

CarMax......................B12Carvana .....................B12CCCC InternationalHolding......................A8

Chevron.....................B11CVS Health .................A1

DDelta Air Lines ...........B5Didi Chuxing TechnologyB4

DoorDash.............B1,B12F

Facebook......................B5

GGannett.......................B1General Motors...........A1Goldman Sachs GroupB6

HHuawei Technologies..B4Hy-Vee.........................A7

IIAC/InterActiveCorp...B3

JJD.com.........................B4

KKairos InvestmentManagement.............B6

Koninklijke AholdDelhaize ...................A7

MMeituan.......................B4Multichoice Group ......B3

NNetflix .........................B3News Corp...................B1Norwegian Cruise LineHoldings..................B11

OOak Street Real EstateCapital.......................B6

Opendoor...................B12

P

Palantir Technologies.B1Peloton Interactive...B12Pfizer ...................A7,B11Pinduoduo ...................B4Precor............B3,B11,B12

RRelated Companies.....B6Rite Aid.......................A7

SSemiconductorManufacturingInternational.............B4

Slate AssetManagement.............B6

SoftBank Group........B12Southwest Airlines ....B5SVF Investment........B12

TTencent Holdings ..A8,B4Tesla.....................A1,B11TMAC Resources........A8

UUnited Airlines.....A7, B1

VVivo Living..................B6Volkswagen.................A1

WWalgreens BootsAlliance................A1,B6

Walmart......................A1Westbrook Partners...B6WeWork ....................B12

INDEX TO PEOPLE

BUSINESS & FINANCE

munications Industry Associa-tion, a trade association thatincludes Google, said that thedigital-advertising marketplacehas gained ground over moretraditional forms of advertisingin recent years because adver-tisers find it is often the bestreturn on their investment.

“The price of digital ads hasfallen dramatically over thepast decade,” he said.

This trend had been goodfor advertisers but less so forpublishers, he said.

Much of the states’ suit fo-cuses on Google’s ad server, atool that helps publishers putad space up for sale, and howit interacts with the other keyelements of Google’s empire:its ad exchange, the market-place where ad deals are struckin real time; and the buyingtools used by advertisers. Akey advantage that Google hasover rivals is that it can keeptrack of internet users with asingle identifier in all theseproducts.

The suit highlighted “dy-namic allocation,” a feature ofGoogle’s ad server that allowedadvertisers using Google’s adexchange to bid in real time forad space on publishers’ web-sites, armed with informationabout prices publishers had setfor other exchanges, ensuringthat bids through Google couldalways win. Publishers hadlong complained this featurehurt competition that drovedown their ad prices.

The suit said internalGoogle discussions showedthat “Google knew that dy-namic allocation preventedcompetition among exchangesand did not maximize pub-lisher revenue.”

The Google spokeswomansaid the dynamic-allocationfeature was built by Double-Click, the ad-tech companythat Google acquired in 2008and used as the foundation forits business of tools for buyingand selling ads.

The bulk of the suit dealswith how Google reacted whenthe industry tried to sidestepthe company with a technologyknown as “header bidding.” Inautomated online advertising,when a user clicks on a web-page, the publisher puts adspace up for sale on an ex-change. For years, Google’s adserver sent publishers’ adspace to one exchange at atime, meaning exchangescouldn’t compete against oneanother.

Header bidding, which re-quired inserting a bit of codeinto websites, allowed publish-ers to hold simultaneous auc-tions across multiple ex-

ContinuedfrompageB1

A

Ahmed, Salman........B11

Allaway, Spenser........B6

B

Bezos, Jeff..................A1

C

Cook, Tim....................A1

G

Garnry, Peter ............B11

Gordon, Elan ...............B6

H

Halpenny, Derek........B11

I

Isom, Robert...............B5

K

Kinahan, JJ................B11

Knoer, Scott................A7

L

Levitt, Brian..............B11

M

McGrath, John............A7

Meng, Ben...................B1

Musk, Elon..................A1

N

Needell, Jonathan.......B6

Norville, Dan...............B6

Ntintili, Busisiwe........B3

S

Sahin, Ugur...............B11

Vogel, Jim.................B11

W

Wiese, Aaron..............A7

Y

Yruma, Edward .........B12

Z

Zahr, Marc...................B6

changes when users clicked,thereby boosting their adprices.

Publishing executives saythey were aware Google wasworking against header bid-ding but were surprised at thedeception alleged in the suit.

Google kept its own ex-change, AdX, out of theheader-bidding auctions. In-stead, publishers held an auc-tion involving everyone butGoogle, and then Google hadthe option to top the highestbid, getting what industry ex-ecutives refer to as a last look.Google said in 2017 it would nolonger get a last look, but ac-cording to the suit, the com-pany secretly maintained a dif-ferent version of the last-lookfeature.

In an alternative to headerbidding, Google began to allowcompetition between multiplead exchanges through a pro-gram called Exchange Bidding,which occurred insideGoogle’s ad server. Google col-lected a fee of at least 5% forad space publishers sold on anon-Google exchange, accord-ing to the suit, and added afeature “that made it soGoogle’s AdX exchange wonpublishers’ inventory evenover another exchange’s muchhigher bid.”

Exchange Bidding is theGoogle feature that the seniorGoogle employee was refer-ring to in the unredacted draftcomplaint as generating “sub-optimal yields for publishers.”The unredacted complaint saidGoogle executives referred totheir attempts to undermineheader bidding and force pub-lishers back onto their adserver as the “Holy Grail.”This phrase is redacted fromthe filed complaint.

This same dispute overheader bidding led to Google’sdeal with Facebook, which thesuit alleges involved Facebookagreeing to forgo header bid-ding in exchange for secret ad-vantages in Google’s auction.On Tuesday, The Wall StreetJournal reported that an unre-dacted draft of the lawsuit saidthat Google and Facebookagreed to “cooperate and assistone another” on antitrust mat-ters as part of their agreement.

“The idea that we’re riggingad auctions in Facebook’s favoris nonsense,” said the Googlespokeswoman. She said thesuit’s characterization of whyGoogle built Exchange Bidding,later called Open Bidding, isuntrue, arguing that it was at-tempting to offer clients afaster-loading product.

A Facebook spokesman said:“Our processes and agreementsfor bidding on advertising pro-mote choice and create clearbenefits for advertisers, pub-lishers, and small businesses—any allegation that this harmscompetition or any suggestionof misconduct on the part ofFacebook is baseless.”

—Lukas I. Alpert,Jeff Horwitz and Ryan Tracy

contributed to this article.

PublishersCheer SuitVs. Google

members have earned.”At Calpers, past investment

chiefs have swung between in-vestment pros and savvy poli-ticians.

Investment-focused CIOs attimes clashed with the boardbefore the 2008-09 financialcrisis over issues ranging fromchoosing certain investmentpartners to avoiding invest-ments in controversial areas,such as tobacco. Then, from2009 to 2018, the fund re-tained two successive CIOswho had held multiple posi-tions in state government butnone investing money on WallStreet. But in eight of those 10years, Calpers’s performancefell short of medians for publicpensions of $5 billion or moreas tracked by Wilshire TrustUniverse Comparison Service.

Under Mr. Meng, a veteranof Barclays Global Investorsand Morgan Stanley, Calpers’sreturns beat peer pension per-formance by 2 percentagepoints. He arrived in the CIOpost from a job at China’s for-eign-exchange regulator andimmediately began streamlin-ing Calpers’s portfolio and in-vestment staff.

Being a public official wasmore difficult for him. He hadto spend more time dealingwith board members and pen-sion beneficiaries than he hadexpected and was personallyhurt by an Indiana congress-

Socially distanced shoppers lined up outside a Sephora in Skokie, Ill., on Saturday. Many people are avoiding stores in the pandemic.

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jumpers because they“jumped” across the Sacra-mento River from one pensionheadquarters to the other,people familiar with the mat-ter said.

Calpers officials have saidin internal discussions thatthey are looking first and fore-most for another investmentprofessional to serve as thenext CIO, according to a per-son familiar with the matter.But the new investment chiefshould also be accustomed tothe public eye, board memberMargaret Brown said at an Oc-

tober meeting, and a recruitersaid the job will likely includeappearing on national mediaoutlets.

“The Calpers CIO holds apublic job in the public spot-light, and all the candidateswe’re talking with know that,”Ms. Frost said. “They alsoknow that we’re focused onhiring an expert investor whocan skillfully guide our globalportfolio and help us deliverthe retirement security our

The board isweighing a bonus ofup to $850,000 foran investment chief.

worked throughout the week-end to move packages. “Weare accepting all volume thatis presented to us, which isadding to our challenges,” hesaid.

FedEx said the carrier is ex-ecuting seven-day delivery andimplementing contingenciesfor weather. UPS said becauseit is operating a faster ground-delivery network, some orderscan still be placed using thatoption.

Payments firm Klarna sur-veyed more than 40,000 U.S.shoppers in mid-December.More than three-quartershadn’t finished their holidayshopping yet. With the win-dow for shipping deadlines forguaranteed Christmas deliveryclosing, shoppers have feweroptions to ensure their giftsarrive on time.

“I’m arranging backup op-tions for my backup optionsbecause of the difficulties I’veexperienced with online order-ing,” said Becky Olson, a 38-year-old public-relations con-sultant.

Insulated mugs she orderedonline the Friday afterThanksgiving hadn’t arrivedby last week, so the GrandRapids, Mich., resident dashedto Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc.to hunt for an alternative set.

“I know that the post officeand other carriers areslammed, so I’m trying to visitstores during off-peak hours,either early in the morning orlate in the evening, when theywon’t be so crowded,” Ms. Ol-son said.

Retailers are rolling outnew services intended to makelast-minute shopping easier.

Since the pandemic promptedtemporary closures in thespring, most have offeredcurbside or contactless pickupfor shoppers who don’t feelcomfortable browsing insidestores.

Macy’s Inc. lowered theprice of its DoorDash same-day delivery service to $5from $10 for Dec. 15 throughDec. 23. It is also offering con-tactless curbside pickupthrough Christmas Eve, whereitems are placed directly incar trunks.

Gap Inc. customers whomissed the Dec. 20 free-ship-ping deadline for orders over$50 can still get their gifts de-livered by Christmas Eve ifthey order by noon PacificTime on Dec. 22 for a $22 fee.Orders for curbside pickup canbe placed through 2 p.m. localtime on Dec. 24.

Walmart Inc. lists items onits website that it says can bepicked up from local stores onChristmas Eve, if the order isplaced online by 4 p.m. localtime on Dec. 23. T.J. Maxx,which has a small online busi-ness, sent an email to custom-ers on Dec. 13 urging them tovisit its stores for “take homeready-to-give gifts.”

Few traditional chains cancompete with Amazon.comInc., which has spent heavilyto build its own delivery net-work, making it less reliant onUPS and other carriers.

Amazon is still promising toship millions of items in timefor Christmas. Prime memberscan get free shipping on itemseligible for one-day delivery ifthey order by Dec. 23. Theycan get free same-day delivery

on orders over $35 placed byDec. 24 in certain areas.

Despite a slowdown in con-sumer spending in November,the National Retail Federationstill expects holiday sales torise 3.6% to 5.2% comparedwith last year.

“Sales are still much higherrelative to 2019,” said MatthewShay, the trade group’s CEO.“Mid- and higher-incomehouseholds are still spending.And consumers are repurposingspending into retail that wouldnormally flow to travel, enter-tainment and restaurants.”

According to the NPD GroupInc., which tracks point-of-salereceipts, retail sales increased3% in the week ending Dec. 12,compared with the same weeklast year. Including the nineprior weeks, holiday sales areup 2% year-over-year.

In-store purchases continueto lag, down 7% in the secondweek of December comparedwith a year ago. But onlinesales for that week were up33% compared with last year,according to NPD.

Lauren Levy is still lookingfor last-minute gifts but saysshe didn’t shop in physicalstores over the weekend be-cause she was afraid theywould be too crowded. TheSan Francisco resident plansto visit T.J. Maxx, Marshallsand other stores during theweek, when she hopes thecrowds will be thinner.

“I have a strict rule,” the38-year-old said. “If it lookslike there are lots of peopleand it’s not possible to keep areasonable distance, I leavewhatever is in my cart andwalk out of the store.”

rive between Dec. 13 and Dec.17, on-time scores were 92.1%at FedEx, 94.9% at UPS and86.1% at the Postal Service, ac-cording to ShipMatrix, a soft-ware provider that analyzesshipping data. All scores havedeclined in the previous twoweeks.

Cutoff times for lower-priced ground-shipping ser-vice have mostly passed, andshippers are now turning tothe higher-price air networksfor last-minute deliveries thatcould still reach homes beforeChristmas.

The Postal Service is beingtaxed as UPS and FedEx limitthe volume of packages theyaccept into their systems. Ship-Matrix estimated that about sixmillion extra packages a daywere being added to the PostalService because of the restric-tions imposed by the large pri-vate carriers.

Truckers are waiting up to48 hours outside some PostalService facilities to drop offpackages, Postal Service em-ployees said on a conferencecall Monday.

A Postal Service spokesmansaid record shipping volumecombined with employeeshortages due to Covid-19 ill-nesses or exposures is causingthe delays and that employees

ContinuedfrompageB1

Foot TrafficIn StoresPlummets

man’s remarks questioning histies to China and Calpers’sholdings of Chinese companies.Mr. Meng is from China andbecame a U.S. citizen. No for-mal allegations were ever filed.

In an unrelated incidentthis year, Calpers began an in-ternal probe into Mr. Meng’spersonal holdings of Black-stone Group Inc. shares duringa period when Calpers com-mitted money to a private-eq-uity fund managed by thefirm. A California panel thatfines public officials for con-flicts of interests said in mid-August that it would look intothe matter.

There is no evidence thatMr. Meng expected to benefitfrom the private-equity com-mitment. He had disclosed hisownership of the Blackstoneshares upon taking the CIOjob, and no one at Calpers hadflagged it as a potential issueat the time, according to peo-ple familiar with the matter.Mr. Meng resigned Aug. 5 af-ter the blog Naked Capitalismcalled attention to the invest-ments, saying in a Calpersstatement he wanted “to focuson my health and on my fam-ily and move on to the nextchapter in my life.”

At an investment-commit-tee meeting the followingmonth, Theresa Taylor, thechair, credited him with posi-tioning Calpers’s investmentsto excel. “It’s a shame thatwe’ve lost Mr. Meng,” she said.

After six years of the Calp-ers CIO reporting only to theCEO, who reports to the board,the board voted in Septemberto again play a formal role inhiring and firing the invest-ment chief.

The CIO-to-CEO reportingstructure created a buffer, atleast on paper, between theboard and the CIO. But someboard members felt shut outwhen they learned of the inves-tigation of Mr. Meng only afterhis resignation, according topeople familiar with the matter.

—Dawn Limand Vipal Monga

contributed to this article.

that can be parlayed into a lu-crative future on Wall Street.

The CIO will also face theunyielding glare of the na-tional spotlight and answer todemanding groups with some-times conflicting interests: vo-cal pension beneficiaries and afractured board of elected of-ficeholders, union officials andpolitical appointees.

“There is no effective bar-rier between board politicsand the investment staff,” saidCharles Skorina, a recruiterfor institutional investors. “It’sa political stew and not a verytasty one.”

Calpers lost several high-ranking investment-office ex-ecutives in 2020 and 2019, in-cluding its head of real assets,its head of sustainable invest-ments and its No. 2 invest-ment official, who lasted a lit-tle more than six months.Calpers went more than twoyears without a permanentprivate-equity head despitepinning high hopes on the $30billion portfolio’s returns.

Now Calpers’s board is dis-cussing a bonus of up to$850,000 for a new CIO basedon long-term investment per-formance, a move that couldencourage longer tenures. Thefund is looking for a minimumfive-year commitment, CalpersChief Executive Officer MarcieFrost said at a virtual meetingof the Toronto Global Forumthis fall.

The California State Teach-ers’ Retirement System, thenation’s second-biggest publicpension fund, has held on toits CIO for more than 18 years.Some staffers at the teachers’fund refer to former Calpersinvestment-office employeeswho come to work there as

ContinuedfrompageB1

CalpersPlagued byTurnover

Public pension returns for years ended June 30

Sources: Calpers; Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service (medians)

20

–25

–20

–15

–10

–5

0

5

10

15

%

2009 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20

Calpers Median for pensions of $5 billion ormoreCalpers

outperformspeers for thefirst time insix years

P2JW358000-4-B00200-1--------XA

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, December 23, 2020 | B3

BUSINESS NEWS

Markieff Morris of the Los Angeles Lakers on a Precor bike.

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loon to 13 million by 2025from 3.9 million in 2020.

This month, Netflix ap-pointed Zimbabwean business-man Strive Masiyiwa, thechairman and founder of Afri-can telecom and technologycompany Econet Group, to itsboard.

Netflix said that viewing inSouth Africa, the continent’smost-developed economy, morethan doubled from January toNovember versus the same pe-riod in 2019.

To win African eyeballs andwallets, Netflix is also investingmore in original African pro-gramming; the company de-clined to comment on howmuch it is spending.

Challenges for streamingservices on the continent aremany: piracy, expensive mobiledata and slow internet speedsas well as poverty. Netflix isstill seen as expensive by many

Africans and only accepts dol-lar payments in many markets,which limits it to an elite audi-ence.

Simon Murray, principal an-alyst at Digital TV Research,said that Netflix will need tospend more if it is to dominatethe continent. Netflix has com-missioned some original con-tent in Africa, he said, buthasn’t made a financial com-mitment to open its own studio.

Netflix’s chief rival is home-grown streaming championShowmax, part of Johannesburg-listed MultiChoice Group Ltd.,which has led the way on thecontinent with original Africancontent that makes up around40% of Showmax viewing.

Showmax was launched be-fore Netflix was available onthe continent and was the firstof the two streaming servicesto offer downloads for offlineviewing as well as downloads

in varying qualities.Netflix leads Africa, with

just shy of two million sub-scribers, according to DigitalTV Research.

Showmax comes in secondwith 688,000 direct subscrib-ers, but that figure doesn’t takeinto account subscribers toMultiChoice’s pay-TV service,DStv, for whom Showmax is of-fered as a free or discountedadd-on to certain subscribers.MultiChoice, which was spunoff last year from internet andmedia giant Naspers Ltd., Af-rica’s largest company, saidShowmax and sister brandsGOtv and DStv have 20.1 mil-lion subscribers combined.

Other international competi-tors are lagging. Amazon PrimeVideo has about 100,000 sub-scribers, according to DigitalTV Research. Disney+ isn’t yetavailable on the continent.

Most of Netflix’s Europe,Middle East and Africa mar-kets, including sub-Saharan Af-rica, are managed from Am-sterdam, but the company isstepping up its local fare.

The company launched itsfirst original African series ear-lier this year, a spy dramacalled “Queen Sono,” whichmade Netflix’s top 10 lists inmultiple countries.

After initially renewing theshow for a second season, Net-flix canceled the series, withthe creator indicating pan-demic-related logistical issues.

Netflix said it scours thecontinent for the greatest Afri-can stories and storytellers,then equips them with the re-sources to make the best ver-sions of their series or films.

On stage in a marine parkstadium, a director yells “Ac-tion!” and the cameras roll as ayoung woman in a turquoisewetsuit starts to dance and asea lion leaps from a cobalt-blue tank and twirls in front ofher.

It is one of the final scenesbeing filmed for “JIVA!,” a Net-flix Inc. original series about atalented dancer who realizesher moves could be her ticketout of a working-class neigh-borhood in coastal Durban,South Africa. It is one of sev-eral new series the globalstreaming giant hopes willscore millions of new subscrib-ers across the world’s youngestand fastest-growing continent.

“I pitched the story, theyloved it and then they greenlitit. It was like one, two, three,”said Busisiwe Ntintili, creator,showrunner and executive pro-ducer of the show, slated to de-but world-wide on the stream-ing service in 2021. “It showsthat Netflix really knows whatthey want.”

Sub-Saharan Africa is one ofthe final frontiers in Netflix’sbid for world domination of the$100 billion video-streamingmarket. Its 1.1 billion citizensrepresent a vast untapped op-portunity for the company. InJanuary, Netflix said it had sur-passed 100 million subscribersoutside the U.S. for the firsttime.

Streaming in Africa is ex-pected to grow rapidly. DigitalTV Research, a London-basedindustry forecaster, estimatessubscriptions in Africa will bal-

BY ALEXANDRA WEXLER

Netflix Targets Africa GrowthBut Faces Several Challenges

Dance drama ‘JIVA!’ is slated to debut on Netflix in 2021. It is one of several new series Netflix hopes will score new subscribers in Africa.

NET

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0 61 2 3 4 5

Netflix

Disney+

Showmax

iRoko

Amazon

AppleTV+

Others

Africans are forecast to flock to streamingvideo-on-demand services.

Subscribers in Africa, inmillions

Source: Digital TV Research

2025*2020

*Forecasts

Pacific region.Peloton said the deal will

also help it expand its re-search-and-development capa-bilities, as well as advance itspenetration in commercialmarkets such as in hotels,multifamily residences, andcollege and corporate cam-puses.

When the deal closes, Pelo-ton’s products will be madeavailable to Precor’s commer-cial customers in Peloton’s ex-isting markets, the companysaid.

Peloton also plans to makeseveral connected fitnessproducts in the U.S. next year.

“By combining our talentedand committed R&D and sup-ply-chain teams with the in-credibly capable Precor teamand their decades of experi-ence, we believe we will beable to lead the global con-nected fitness market in bothinnovation and scale,” saidPeloton President WilliamLynch.

Precor, of Woodinville,Wash., will run as a businessunit within Peloton, the com-pany said. Precor PresidentRob Barker will hold the titlesof chief executive officer atPrecor and general manager atPeloton Commercial. He willreport to Mr. Lynch.

Precor is a unit of Finnishsporting goods company AmerSports Corp., which is ownedby an investor consortium thatincludes Tencent HoldingsLtd., ANTA Sports ProductsLtd., FountainVest Partners,and Anamered InvestmentsInc.

The deal is slated to closein early 2021.

Peloton Interactive Inc.has agreed to acquire commer-cial fitness-equipment pro-vider Precor Inc. for $420million in cash, in a move thatwill help it break into com-mercial markets and boost itsmanufacturing capacity at atime when the company is rac-ing to meet demand.

Months into the pandemic,Peloton, known for selling$2,000-plus stationary bikesequipped with screens thatshow subscription workoutclasses, has struggled bothwith reducing delivery delaysand long wait times for cus-tomer-service support as thepandemic drives a surge in de-mand for its connected sta-tionary bikes and treadmills.

Peloton has attributed thedelays to shipping logjams,particularly at ports as thebikes are transported to theU.S. from manufacturers thatare overseas.

The deal with Precor willhelp bring some of that manu-facturing home. Precor hastwo U.S.-based manufacturingfacilities, which will join Pelo-ton’s network of third-partymanufacturers and its Tonicfacilities in Taiwan, the com-pany said.

“By making fitness equip-ment closer to U.S. consumers,Peloton will be able to deliverconnected fitness products tomembers sooner,” the com-pany said.

Peloton’s shares, whichhave surged 475% this year,rose 12% to $161.21 on Tues-day.

In addition to its offices inthe Americas, Precor has of-fices in Europe, the MiddleEast and Africa, and the Asia-

BY KIMBERLY CHIN

Peloton Buys Precor,A Fitness-Gear Firm

million operating loss in theyear-ago period.

Founded in 2004, Vimeo isrooted in hosting videos. LikeAlphabet Inc.’s YouTube, it al-lows people and businesses toupload digital clips for stream-ing and sharing.

But diverging from You-Tube, Vimeo has steered awayfrom an advertising-basedmodel, focusing on selling sub-scriptions for a suite of video-creation and editing toolspitched at helping businessesand other content creatorsbuild an online presence.

Vimeo would become the11th company to be spun offfrom IAC and its predecessors,IAC said.

Two years ago, IAC agreedto fully separate from MatchGroup Inc., which runs datingservices. Expedia Group Inc., atravel-booking provider, wasspun off from IAC in 2005.

IAC last month said it wasexploring a spinoff of Vimeoand announced the platformhad raised $150 million in eq-uity from technology-invest-ment firm Thrive Capital andSingapore sovereign-wealthfund GIC.

The fundraising round val-ued the business at $2.75 bil-lion.

Vimeo, an online-video plat-form that has seen a surge ofrevenue as businesses relymore on the internet to reachcustomers during the pan-demic, will be spun off fromIAC/InterActive Corp. as anindependent public company.

The conglomerate saidTuesday the spinoff wouldlikely be completed in the sec-ond quarter of 2021, with IACshareholders receiving a pro-portionate amount of Vimeostock.

Shares of IAC rose 14% to$183.73 Tuesday.

Vimeo’s subscriber baseand revenue have grown thisyear as businesses haveboosted efforts to build theirweb presence during the pan-demic.

In every month from Aprilthrough November, Vimeo’srevenue was at least 40%higher from the same monthof 2019. Its third-quarter reve-nue was $75.1 million.

At the end of September,Vimeo had 1.46 million sub-scribers, up 21% from a yearearlier.

The business recorded athird-quarter operating loss of$3.3 million, from an $11.2

BY MATT GROSSMAN

IAC to Spin OffVideo PlatformVimeo Next Year

Heard on the Street: Pelotonpays to gain speed............... B12

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TECHNOLOGY WSJ.com/Tech

ing the most advanced chipsin the world with transistors10 nanometers or smaller, thedepartment said, using a mea-surement loosely referring tosemiconductor size.

But the chips SMIC cur-rently sells generally are largerand not covered by that rule.And, industry officials said, thetougher U.S. restrictions don’tcover more versatile tools that

can be used to produce botholder technology and more cut-ting-edge chips. Some toolsthat can handle more ordinary14-nanometer designs can alsobe used to build high-end, 7-nanometer chips, said HandelJones, chief executive of re-search firm International Busi-ness Strategies Inc.

Republican Sen. Marco Ru-bio of Florida and the ranking

Republican on the House For-eign Affairs Committee, Mi-chael McCaul of Texas, onMonday asked Commerce Sec-retary Wilbur Ross to rewritethe SMIC restrictions to close“dangerous loopholes” thatwould allow the Chinese com-pany to continue operatingwithout any interruption. Thelawmakers in a letter said theywere deeply concerned the

listing “was done for show andparochial commercial interestsat the expense of U.S. nationalsecurity.”

The Commerce Departmentsaid it could revisit the SMICrestrictions to further protectU.S. national security. “We areprepared to take such actionand amend the entity listing,”it said.

The spat over export limitscomes as the U.S. and Chinaare in an intensifying technol-ogy cold war that has chiptechnology as one of its prin-cipal battlefields. “The U.S.has again used its nationalpower to suppress Chinesecompanies,” the Chinese Min-istry of Commerce said in astatement after the U.S. addedSMIC and others to the entitylist. “China is firmly opposedto this, and will take necessarymeasures to resolutely safe-guard the legitimate rightsand interests of Chinese com-panies,” it added.

SMIC said in a regulatoryfiling Sunday that the entitylisting would have “no mate-rial adverse effect” on itsshort-term operations or fi-nances. However, it said thelisting would damage its workon the more advanced 10-nanometer chips—efforts it

needs to keep pace with rivals.The company said it opposesthe blacklisting and said it hasnever been involved in mili-tary activities.

It isn’t unusual for the U.S.to revise export rules. The U.S.last year placed China’s tele-com giant Huawei Technolo-gies Co. on an export blacklist.It subsequently tightened therestrictions.

The limits aren’t the firsttime the Trump administrationhas targeted SMIC over allega-tions it supplies China’s mili-tary. The Pentagon this monthadded SMIC to a list of militarycompanies, restricting U.S. in-vestment in the chip company.In September, the CommerceDepartment applied a new li-censing standard on SMIC andwarned its suppliers that ex-ports to the company risked be-ing used for military activities.

The implementation of ex-port limits on SMIC willlargely fall to the Biden ad-ministration. Representativesfor the president-elect didn’trespond to a request for com-ment. Biden policy adviserspreviously have said they ex-pect to confront China on sev-eral technology issues.

—Bob Daviscontributed to this article.

The U.S. government’s moveto deny China’s leading chipmaker access to advancedmanufacturing technologycomes with exceptions thatmean its impact may bemainly political and have lim-ited effect on the company’sbusiness.

Under the restriction theCommerce Department im-posed last week on Semicon-ductor Manufacturing Inter-national Corp., or SMIC, overthe company’s alleged links tothe Chinese military, suppliersneed an export license to selltechnology originating in theU.S. to the Shanghai-based chipmaker. The move to put SMICon the so-called entity list ef-fectively gives Washington thepower to block equipment crit-ical for manufacturing.

The regulation applies thetoughest licensing standard—apresumption of denial—toequipment dedicated to mak-

BY ASA FITCHAND DAN STRUMPF

Loophole Seen in China Chip-Firm BanShanghai giant’sbiggest-selling itemsunaffected by U.S.curb on export tech

Semiconductor Manufacturing International said the U.S. listing won’t hurt in the short term.

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munity group buying andwarned the companies againstillegal actions such as preda-tory pricing, abusing con-sumer data for profit and sell-ing fraudulent products.

Representatives from food-delivery app operatorMeituan, e-commerce compa-nies JD.com Inc. and Pin-duoduo Inc. and ride-hailingplatform Didi Chuxing Tech-nology Co. also attended themeeting.

The session marks Beijing’slatest salvo as it increasespressure on China’s majorconsumer internet companies.Many of them enjoyed rela-tively unchecked growth overthe past decade as China

sought to develop its ownglobal technology champions.But as the companies havegrown powerful, armed withmassive consumer data, au-thorities are increasing scru-tiny to keep them in check.

In early November, Chinasuspended Ant Group Co.’sblockbuster initial public of-fering after Jack Ma, the fi-nancial technology giant’s bil-lionaire co-founder, angeredBeijing by criticizing Presi-dent Xi Jinping’s signaturecampaign to control financialrisks.

Shortly after, authoritiesunveiled guidelines to tightenoversight of a burgeoninglive-streaming sector. The

government subsequentlydrafted new antitrust rulesfor technology companies toprotect consumer interestsand prevent monopolistic be-havior. China’s leaders alsohave publicly called forstrengthened antitrust ef-forts.

Community group buyinginvolves a group leader ap-pointed by e-commerce plat-forms, typically a resident inan apartment complex or agrocery store owner. Theseleaders are incentivized tocreate large social-media chatgroups with as many as hun-dreds of participants, usuallypeople living nearby. Links arefrequently shared within the

chat group enabling membersto buy products at cheaperprices.

This bulk-buying modelshot up in popularity afterChina locked down cities asthe coronavirus hit in the firstquarter of the year. Many resi-dents couldn’t leave home andrelied on such chat groups ande-commerce sites to buy gro-ceries.

Such purchasing also offerslow prices. On one group-buy-ing platform Tuesday, 500grams, or about 1.1 pounds, oforanges were selling for 1.4yuan, or about 21 cents, and30 eggs for 10.9 yuan.

In its statement Tuesday,the regulator banned compa-

nies from pricing products be-low cost for group buying tosqueeze out competitors.

Last week, Chinese regula-tors fined both Alibaba andTencent 500,000 yuan, equiva-lent to about $76,400, for fail-ing to properly report past ac-quisitions. While the fineswere relatively small, observ-ers said regulators were en-forcing these rules on foreign-listed Chinese companies forthe first time, indicating anew determination tostrengthen control over techfirms listed overseas—like Ali-baba, from which Ant Groupsprang.

—Raffaele Huangcontributed to this article.

China’s market regulatorhas ordered the country’s techgiants to tighten oversight ofan emerging e-commerce pur-chasing model, the latest in astring of moves by authoritiesto rein in the powerful inter-net sector.

The State Administrationfor Market Regulation sum-moned six of China’s largestconsumer internet businesses,including Alibaba GroupHolding Ltd. and TencentHoldings Ltd., to a meetingTuesday, according to a state-ment on its website. The regu-lator said it would moreclosely monitor so-called com-

BY LIZA LIN

Beijing Warns Internet Companies on Pricing Tactics

PURCHASE ORIGINAL APPAREL AT WSJSHOP.COM

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BUSINESS NEWS

went public with a structurethat gives the founder 20votes per share.

So far this year, 41.5% ofthe 41 tech companies thathave gone public had dual-class shares, with one classholding higher voting potencythan the other, said Jay Ritter,a University of Florida busi-ness professor who tracksIPOs. That figure is just shy ofthe record 43.3% seen in 2017and well above the 7.2% over-all seen since 1980.

Both the CEO of DoorDash,Tony Xu, and the CEO of Wish,Peter Szulczewski, said in in-

terviews that they didn’t re-ceive any questions abouttheir high-voting stock duringmeetings with investors beforetheir IPOs.

Backers of founder controlsay it is appropriate to givesome visionary CEOs room toexperiment and take risks thatWall Street might not alwaysappreciate. Alfred Lin, a part-ner at Sequoia Capital whosits on the boards of bothAirbnb and DoorDash, said inan interview this month thatthose firms’ CEOs have proventhey are responsible afteryears of expansion.

“They have earned the rightto have that control,” he said.Smart, strong-willed foundersshould be able to focus on“building an enduring busi-ness,” he said.

DoorDash’s three co-found-ers control 75% of the com-pany’s votes, according to se-curities filings. Airbnb’s co-founders control 43%,although that amount is ex-pected to grow as early inves-tors sell their own high-po-tency shares. Palantir’s threeco-founders control 49.99% ofthe votes in a complex struc-ture that increases their sharepotency as they sell stock inthe company, which decampedto Denver this year.

Many adherents of strongcorporate governance questionthe shift. Some marquee stockindexes like the S&P 500 won’tinclude new companies thathave multiple classes ofshares, while shareholdergroups such as the Council ofInstitutional Investors advo-cate against it because it hin-ders accountability for corpo-rate leadership.

The rise in founder controlcuts against the general trendelsewhere in corporate Amer-ica, where shareholders in re-cent decades have been gain-ing a bigger say, said NellMinow, vice chair at Value-Edge Advisors and a longtimeadvocate for shareholderrights.

—Maureen Farrelland Heather Somerville

contributed to this article.

by investors, like Google andFacebook Inc. Airbnb, Door-Dash, Palantir and a string ofother recent listings show howso-called founder control haseffectively become the norm.

The moves by the largenewly listed companies arestirring concern among propo-nents of strong corporate gov-ernance, particularly as theycome just over a year after thefailed IPO of WeWork Cos.

WeWork co-founder AdamNeumann had full control overthe business—so much so thatpotential investors jettisonedthe offering after beingspooked by his managementstyle and mounting losses,among other issues.

The high-profile debacle ledmany investors in Silicon Val-ley to question the wisdom ofgranting founders so muchpower early on. They worriedthat a measure once reservedfor a handful of standouts wasbeing shared too widely andwithout discernment. For in-stance, few of the large start-ups going public had ever pro-duced an annual profit.

Now, the mood has shiftedamid a sizzling market forIPOs—one where Airbnb’sshares more than doubled ontheir first day of trading. In-vestors say the strong markethelps strengthen the hands ofco-founders of hot tech com-panies that are going public,giving them greater leverageover those who push for moredemocratic structures whereevery shareholder has thesame voting power.

The founder of artificial in-telligence company C3.ai Inc.,which went public this month,has 50 votes per share com-pared with the more standard10 votes. That is down fromthe 100 votes per share listedin early drafts of the com-pany’s prospectus filed withthe Securities and ExchangeCommission. Last week, e-commerce site Wish’s parent

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Tony Xu, co-founder and CEO of DoorDash. Three co-founders control 75% of the company’s votes.

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Pilots at Delta and Unitedhad agreed to accept cuts inorder to prevent furloughs.Provisions in those agree-ments will be paused so pi-lots’ pay will be restoredthrough March, unions havesaid.

The legislation may haltcontentious negotiations be-tween Southwest Airlines Co.and several of its laborunions: The company had toldworkers that furloughs in2021 would be unavoidableunless the unions agreed toconcessions or the govern-ment provided more aid.

A Southwest spokesmansaid the airline is “very en-couraged” but needs to exam-ine the final terms surround-ing the payroll funding. Hedeclined to say Tuesdaywhether the airline will calloff its planned job cuts nextyear.

Airlines had asked for theCares Act funding to be ex-tended with no changes to theterms, and the new legislationclosely tracks the previousagreement.

Airlines must agree not tobuy back shares or pay divi-dends, and to limit executivecompensation. The Treasurypreviously required that air-lines repay about 30% of thejob support funding.

The package once again re-quires airlines to maintainservice levels to ensure thatrural areas don’t lose air ser-vice, which could mean thatcarriers have to restore flightsthat have been cut in recentmonths.

American Airlines, which furloughed 19,000 workers in the fall,said it should be able to start paying them again on Thursday.

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would be able to cut checks tofurloughed workers by Christ-mas Eve on Thursday. Whilepay and benefits will be re-stored immediately, employ-ees will return to work inphases.

Tracking down all the fur-loughed workers could be adaunting task.

The employees have relin-quished their corporate emailaddresses and mailed backcompany-provided phones andID badges. Some may havemoved. In many cases, work-ers will need training beforethey can return to their posi-tions.

Not all airlines cut staffonce aid ran out in the fall.Delta Air Lines Inc. didn’tfurlough any workers, thoughmany have been working re-duced hours.

Delta said earlier thismonth that it planned to bringall its workers back to fullschedules by Jan. 1, though italso sought more volunteersto take unpaid leaves of ab-sence.

“We know the recoverycontinues to be choppy,” ChiefExecutive Ed Bastian wrote ina Dec. 9 message to employ-ees.

ContinuedfrompageB1

AidWillLet AirlinesRehire Staff

Risk Posed to RuleBy Shareholders

Founder control—where in-vestors effectively hand overthe keys of giant companiesto a single person or smallgroup—brings large new risksfor shareholders.

Even a competent foundercan tire of their job, yet share-holders of companies wherefounders have outsize controlwouldn’t have any real abilityto unseat the CEO, said NellMinow, vice chair at Val-ueEdge Advisors and a long-time advocate for shareholderrights.

“I want them to be ontheir toes all the time,” shesaid, rather than mimicking amonarchy. “For all its faults,

democracy is a better way.”Founder control took off as

startups were deluged withmoney from private investorshoping to find the next Face-book or Alphabet Inc. Besiegedwith demand from investors,founders were able to dictateterms of funding rounds, saidRenee Jones, an associatedean at Boston College LawSchool who has researchedgovernance at large startups.

“There’s more money thanthere are good deals,” shesaid, leading to persuasive orcompelling founders havingthe upper hand in negotiationsand leverage over how muchcontrol they want. Such struc-tures, she said, are precarious,and have led to a series ofhigh-profile missteps like We-Work, given the lack of over-sight.

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2020 - 2021

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B6 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Mr. Stuart was particularlybudget-conscious this springwhen he was apartment hunt-ing because he was furloughedearly in the pandemic. The$700 rent is much cheaperthan the typical apartment inhis neighborhood.

His plan is to use his sav-ings from the lower rent tobuy his own place eventually.“If I do this for a year ortwo…I could go buy a two-bed-room apartment or condo,” hesaid.

rent of about $1,500 a month,according to data from YardiMatrix, a level that makes itdifficult for many young pro-fessionals to have places oftheir own.

“The whole millennial thingof spending 40% or 50% ofyour income on rent, it justdoesn’t make any sense,” saidLee Stuart, a 32-year-old con-cert promoter who lives in a300-square-foot studio at theHedge, a former hotel north ofdowntown Austin.

ernments that his apartmentswould be among the most af-fordable in the market.

In many cases, hotel roomsare just large enough to qual-ify as the smallest housingunits allowable under zoninglaw, said Jonathan Needell,president of real-estate invest-ment firm Kairos InvestmentManagement Co., which haslent money to converters.

Austin has been a particu-larly hot market for convert-ers. The city has an average

Among several properties that Vivo Living has converted is a former Ramada Inn in Mesa, Ariz.

VIVOLIVING

Related Companies is building Brent Cross Town (artist renderings), with parks, office buildings, stores and other urban amenities.

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fortably work from home, andif people are going into the of-fice in the middle of town lessoften, they also want some ofthat infrastructure—the gyms,restaurants, bars—closer tohome.”

Buyers are willing to pay apremium of at least 30% tolive close to these amenities,Mr. Grace said.

The Brent Cross Town blue-print isn’t completely new,said Ken Wong, Related’s chiefoperating officer and directorof international development.Modern satellite towns aroundmost U.S. cities already offeran amenity-packed lifestyle.

The main difference isBrent Cross Town’s proximityand connectivity to centralLondon, which Mr. Wong saidwill particularly appeal tobusinesses looking to relocateto modern and less expensiveenvironments than the citycenter.

Other 15-minute style proj-ects include the 200-acre Me-diaCityUK, 3 miles from Man-chester. The British

Broadcasting Corp. and othermajor television companiesare among the tenants.

Kop van Zuid, an aban-doned 309-acre port 3 milesfrom central Rotterdam, is be-ing transformed into one ofthe largest 15-minute cities inWestern Europe. The formerhead office of the Holland-Amerika Lijn, a shipping com-pany, is now a four-star hotel.Other buildings there havebeen designed by top Euro-pean architects like Renzo Pi-ano, Norman Foster and RemKoolhaas.

The phrase “15-minute city”was coined by Prof. CarlosMoreno of the Sorbonne Busi-ness School in Paris. He advo-cates reorganizing the city’sarrondissements into a net-work of self-sufficient neigh-borhoods.

The concept has been em-braced by Paris Mayor AnneHidalgo. Her first step was tosacrifice on-street parking toinstall cycle paths on everystreet and bridge, to help Pari-sians reach local amenities

without getting into their cars.But it wasn’t until the turn

of the 21st century that devel-opers began to invest in creat-ing brand-new urban villagesin central London locationslike King’s Cross and Padding-ton, both previously neglectedneighborhoods blighted byproximity to major transportinterchanges.

Brent Cross Town doeshave challenges to overcome,including the financial uncer-tainty caused by Britain’s tur-bulent exit from the EuropeanUnion.

Even before the coronavi-rus pandemic, HammersonPLC and Aberdeen StandardInvestments, owners of thedated 1970s Brent Cross Shop-ping Centre just north ofBrent Cross Town, hadshelved plans to expand andrenovate the indoor mall. Thatproject was originally seen asan integral part of the plan,and its loss illustrates justhow hard it can be to coordi-nate redevelopment on such agrand scale.

The hot new trend for Euro-pean development is neighbor-hoods where everything a res-ident needs is within a shortwalk. Now, a prominent U.S.developer is building one ofLondon’s largest versions ofthis type of megaproject.

Related Companies is lead-ing a development costing £5billion, equivalent to $6.7 bil-lion, to transform 180 acresinto what it calls a model ur-ban neighborhood, where resi-dents would be able to work,rest and play all within a 15-minute stroll from their frontdoors.

Work began earlier thisyear on Brent Cross Town, ajoint venture between Relatedand the U.K. developer Argent.The first of 6,700 homes areslated to be ready in 2024. Anew train station with serviceto central London taking just12 minutes should be com-pleted in 2022.

But Brent Cross residentsmight not choose to travel tothe city center that often. Theproject would include 3 mil-lion square feet of office spaceand about 50 acres of parksand playing fields. Plans alsocall for stores, restaurants, amovie theater and threeschools.

Taken together, they repre-sent what Europeans call a 15-minute city.

These projects have beentaking off in recent years be-cause it has become clear thatsuburban and outer-cityhomeowners want the sameaccess to amenities as thosewho live in city centers, saidDominic Grace, head of Lon-don residential developmentat real-estate firm Savills.

“Covid-19 has acceleratedthat realization,” he said.“People want to live some-where where they can com-

BY RUTH BLOOMFIELD

London Development Built onIdeal of Being Fully Walkable

studios in new buildings hascrept over the $1,000 a monthmark.

Hotel-room-size studios cancompete with those apart-ments with a 20% discount onrents.

“We are working within themarket circumstances to kindof solve an affordable-housingproblem, even though it’s notour business plan to create af-fordable housing,” Mr. Gordonsaid.

Extended-stay hotels areideal for creating the cheaperapartments, Mr. Gordon said,because while they typicallymeasure smaller than the av-erage apartment, they alreadyhave bathrooms and kitchen-ettes built into them.

More conventional hotelsneed a more expensive re-build, but even that oftentakes less than a year and ismuch faster than buildingfrom the ground up, investorssay. Since the pandemic began,Mr. Gordon is in contract toconvert a conventional hotelin Austin, Texas, into apart-ments, having previously fin-ished three others.

These conversions some-times require zoning changesthat can be time intensive. Mr.Gordon said he has accom-plished this in some locationsby demonstrating to local gov-

building recycling company,”said Dan Norville, president ofVivo Living. The companyconverted its first hotel intoapartments in late 2019 withthe former Bigelow hotel inOgden, Utah, a property origi-nally built in 1927 with about112 rooms.

Since the start of the pan-demic, Vivo has added threemore hotel conversion projectsin Mesa, Ariz., South Bend,Ind., and Winston-Salem, N.C.The company is in contract tobuy a fourth hotel, outside SanAntonio early next year.

Many of the properties Vivois looking at are older motelswith open-air corridors andstaircases shunned by big ho-tel brands. “There are so manyof these exterior-corridor mo-tels throughout the U.S., andit’s a functionally obsoleteproduct type for the hotel in-dustry,” Mr. Norville said. “Butwhen you look at them, andyou look at a garden-stylemultifamily right next to it,they’re almost the exact sameproperty footprint and type.”

Elan Gordon, principal ofreal-estate investment com-pany SHIR Capital, which hasconverted hotels into hun-dreds of apartments in SouthCarolina and Texas, said thebusiness plan works best inmarkets where the price of

Investors are buying hotelsand turning them into rentalapartments, in the latest signof how the Covid-19 pandemicis changing the American real-estate market.

These buyers are trying totake advantage of the hospital-ity industry’s crisis by takingover struggling or foreclosedproperties at bargain prices.They are also looking to profitfrom rising demand for cheaphousing from householdsforced to downsize during therecession.

The small but growingnumber of hotel conversions—some properties are also beingturned into offices—is asymptom of the turmoil thepandemic has caused in thehotel sector. Many propertiesare shut down or runningsteep losses because of a dropin travel.

The share of hotels with se-curitized mortgages that weredelinquent on their loans was19.66% as of November, upfrom 1.52% a year earlier, ac-cording to Trepp LLC. Evenbefore the pandemic, a surgeof hotel construction over thepast decade had left some cit-ies with a room glut.

“We consider ourselves a

BY WILL PARKERAND KONRAD PUTZIER

Empty Hotels Get a New LifeRecast as Rental Apartments

strategy for raising cash whileretaining control of propertythey need for stores, officebuildings and warehouses.Since 2014, over $6 billion innet lease real estate has beenacquired per year alone bypublic companies tracked byGreen Street, a commercialreal-estate analytics firm.These companies include W.P.Carey Inc., Vereit Inc., RealtyIncome Corp. and National Re-tail Properties Inc.

Some of these companiestook their lumps during thecoronavirus pandemic whentenants stopped paying rent.In April, only 75% of tenants,on average, paid rent at thepublic companies followed byGreen Street.

Many of these eventuallypaid what they owed but thetenants “were being a littlecautious” early in the pan-demic, said Spenser Allaway, aGreen Street analyst. “Theysaid, ‘Hey, I want to keep myliquidity. Can you provide mea deferral to help me sleep atnight for the summer?’”

Rent collections for the sec-tor have since bounced back toover 90%, according to GreenStreet. Shares of the sale-leaseback real-estate invest-ment trusts, which are about80% invested in single-tenantstores, restaurants and otherretail on average are now

down 20% since the beginningof the pandemic, comparedwith 35% for malls and 23%for strip centers, Green Streetsaid.

Sale-leaseback firms tend todo better than other retail be-cause they are more conve-nient and cater to immediateneeds. “If you’re driving homefrom work you might want tostop at a convenience storeand get something you needright now,” Ms. Allaway said.“You’re not going to order thaton Amazon.”

Oak Street’s portfolio isabout 35% retail, 50% indus-trial and 15% office. The firmalso focuses on buying andleasing back property frombusinesses with investment-grade credit ratings.

Since the pandemic started,Mr. Zahr said, Oak Street hascollected 100 cents on the dol-lar on rents. “That’s the valueof having an investment-gradetenant. A default on a leasecan and will affect the com-pany’s credit rating.”

THE PROPERTY REPORT

A Goldman Sachs GroupInc. unit that buys stakes inalternative investment manag-ers has made its latest pushinto the real-estate industryby investing in a firm that ac-quires stores, warehouses andother properties from bigcompanies and then leasesthem back.

The unit, Petershill, in No-vember purchased a minoritystake in Oak Street Real Es-tate Capital LLC, which hasraised over $6.5 billion sincelaunching in 2009. OakStreet’s funds have purchasedhundreds of stores, ware-houses and office buildingssold and leased back by com-panies such as WalgreensBoots Alliance Inc. and BigLots Inc.

The size of the stake andthe price paid by Goldmanweren’t disclosed, but the dealvalued Oak Street at $2 bil-lion, according to people fa-miliar with the matter.

Since Petershill wasfounded in 2007, it has in-vested over $8 billion forstakes in more than 32 invest-ment managers. Other real-es-tate firms in Petershill’s port-folio include WestbrookPartners and Slate AssetManagement.

Joining with Goldman has arange of benefits for invest-ment firms. Fundraising be-comes easier because theyhave access to Goldman’sglobal network of investors.

Goldman’s contacts alsomay prove useful whensearching for new invest-ments. Oak Street currentlylimits its property purchasesto the U.S. and Canada.

But with Goldman at itsside, Oak Street is now con-sidering reaching out to drug-store chains, retailers, logis-tics firms and otherbusinesses globally thatmight be interested in sale-leasebacks, said Marc Zahr,Oak Street’s co-founder andchief executive. “If you havethe right partner, you cantake a business like ours andturbocharge it,” Mr. Zahrsaid.

Mr. Zahr estimated that in-vestment-grade businesses inthe U.S. and Canada aloneown commercial propertyworth $8.3 trillion that couldbe sold and leased back. Glob-ally the figure is $24 trillion,he said.

“There’s a massive opportu-nity to unlock value and shiftreal estate from the balancesheet of companies that arenot in the business of owningreal estate to our balancesheet,” Mr. Zahr said.

Corporations have longused sale-leasebacks as a

BY PETER GRANT

Goldman DivisionInvests in Buying,Leasing Back Sites

$2BValue of Oak Street RealEstate Capital, under deal

P2JW358000-0-B00600-1--------XA

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, December 23, 2020 | B7

Tuesday

Aluminum, LME, $ permetric ton *2012.5Copper,Comex spot 3.5180IronOre, 62%FeCFRChina-s 167.0ShreddedScrap, USMidwest-s,m 371Steel, HRCUSA, FOBMidwestMill-s 996

Fibers andTextiles

Burlap,10-oz,40-inchNYyd-n,w 0.6400Cotton,1 1/16 std lw-mdMphs-u 0.7207Cotlook 'A' Index-t *83.85Hides,hvy native steers piece fob-u n.a.Wool,64s,staple,Terr del-u,w n.a.

Grains andFeedsBarley,top-qualityMnpls-u n.a.Bran,wheatmiddlings, KC-u n.a.Corn,No. 2 yellow,Cent IL-bp,u 4.3750Corn gluten feed,Midwest-u,w n.a.Corn glutenmeal,Midwest-u,w n.a.Cottonseedmeal-u,w n.a.Hominy feed,Cent IL-u,w 122Meat-bonemeal,50%proMnpls-u,w n.a.Oats,No.2milling,Mnpls-u 3.6025Rice, LongGrainMilled, No. 2AR-u,w n.a.Sorghum,(Milo)No.2Gulf-u 6.5350SoybeanMeal,Cent IL,rail,ton48%-u 412.50Soybeans,No.1 yllw IL-bp,u 12.3750Wheat,Spring14%-proMnpls-u 6.7650Wheat,No.2 soft red,St.Louis-u 6.4450Wheat -Hard - KC (USDA) $ per bu-u 6.0425

Tuesday

Wheat,No.1softwhite,Portld,OR-u 6.4000

FoodBeef,carcass equiv. indexchoice 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 178.20select 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 164.35Broilers, National compwtd. avg.-u,w 0.8178Butter,AAChicago 1.5200Cheddar cheese,bbl,Chicago 162.50Cheddar cheese,blk,Chicago 167.50Milk,Nonfat dry,Chicago lb. 114.75Coffee,Brazilian,Comp 1.1680Coffee,Colombian, NY 1.7223Eggs,largewhite,Chicago-u 0.7050Flour,hardwinter KC 15.90Hams,17-20 lbs,Mid-US fob-u n.a.Hogs,Iowa-So.Minnesota-u 61.49Pork bellies,12-14 lbMidUS-u n.a.Pork loins,13-19 lbMidUS-u 0.8031Steers,Tex.-Okla. Choice-u n.a.Steers,feeder,Okla. City-u,w 152.06

Fats andOilsCorn oil,crudewet/drymill wtd. avg.-u,w 41.0000Grease,choicewhite,Chicago-h 0.3200Lard,Chicago-u n.a.Soybean oil,crude;Centl IL-u 0.4155Tallow,bleach;Chicago-h 0.3775Tallow,edible,Chicago-u n.a.

KEY TO CODES: A=ask; B=bid; BP=country elevator bids to producers; C=corrected; E=Manfra,Tordella & Brookes; H=American Commodities Brokerage Co;M=monthly; N=nominal; n.a.=not quoted or not available; R=SNL Energy; S=Platts-TSI; T=Cotlook Limited; U=USDA;W=weekly; Z=not quoted. *Data as of 12/21

Source: Dow JonesMarket Data

CashPrices Tuesday, December 22, 2020These prices reflect buying and selling of a variety of actual or “physical” commodities in themarketplace—separate from the futures price on an exchange,which reflectswhat the commoditymight beworth in futuremonths.

Tuesday

EnergyCoal,C.Aplc.,12500Btu,1.2SO2-r,w 54.350Coal,PwdrRvrBsn,8800Btu,0.8SO2-r,w 11.550

Metals

Gold, per troy ozEngelhard industrial 1880.00Handy&Harmanbase 1877.10Handy&Harman fabricated 2083.58LBMAGold PriceAM *1869.25LBMAGold Price PM *1880.00Krugerrand,wholesale-e 1938.87Maple Leaf-e 1957.52AmericanEagle-e 1957.52Mexican peso-e 2255.79Austria crown-e 1830.39Austria phil-e 1957.52Silver, troy oz.Engelhard industrial 26.0000Handy&Harmanbase 25.2960Handy&Harman fabricated 31.6200LBMAspot price *£19.7100(U.S.$ equivalent) *26.1550Coins,wholesale $1,000 face-a 18857OthermetalsLBMAPlatinumPrice PM *989.0Platinum,Engelhard industrial 1022.0Palladium,Engelhard industrial 2370.0

| wsj.com/market-data/commodities

Borrowing Benchmarkswsj.com/market-data/bonds/benchmarks

MoneyRates December 22, 2020

Key annual interest rates paid to borrowor lendmoney inU.S. andinternationalmarkets. Rates beloware a guide to general levels butdon’t always represent actual transactions.

InflationNov. index ChgFrom (%)

level Oct. '20 Nov. '19

U.S. consumer price indexAll items 260.229 –0.06 1.2Core 269.473 0.05 1.6

International rates

Week 52-WeekLatest ago High Low

Prime ratesU.S. 3.25 3.25 4.75 3.25Canada 2.45 2.45 3.95 2.45Japan 1.475 1.475 1.475 1.475

PolicyRatesEuro zone 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00Switzerland 0.00 0.00 0.50 0.00Britain 0.10 0.10 0.75 0.10Australia 0.10 0.10 0.75 0.10

Overnight repurchaseU.S. 0.05 0.09 1.65 -0.07

U.S. government rates

Discount0.25 0.25 2.25 0.25

Federal fundsEffective rate 0.0900 0.0900 1.6200 0.0600High 0.1000 0.1000 1.6500 0.1000Low 0.0500 0.0500 1.5800 0.0100Bid 0.0800 0.0800 1.6000 0.0100Offer 0.0900 0.1100 1.6300 0.0500

Treasury bill auction4weeks 0.075 0.065 1.575 0.00013weeks 0.090 0.075 1.555 0.00026weeks 0.090 0.085 1.570 0.080

Secondarymarket

FannieMae30-yearmortgage yields

30days 1.928 1.891 3.342 1.75160days 1.951 1.919 3.353 1.804

Notes ondata:U.S. prime rate is the base rate on corporateloans posted by at least 70%of the 10 largestU.S. banks, and is effectiveMarch 16, 2020.Other prime rates aren’t directly comparable;lending practices varywidely by location;Discount rate is effectiveMarch 16, 2020.SecuredOvernight FinancingRate is as ofDecember 21, 2020. DTCCGCFRepo Index isDepository Trust&Clearing Corp.'sweightedaverage for overnight trades in applicableCUSIPs. Value traded is in billions ofU.S. dollars.Federal-funds rates are Tullett Prebon rates asof 5:30 p.m. ET.Sources: Federal Reserve; Bureau of LaborStatistics; DTCC; FactSet;Tullett Prebon Information, Ltd.

Other short-term rates

Week 52-WeekLatest ago high low

Callmoney2.00 2.00 3.50 2.00

Commercial paper (AA financial)90days n.a. 0.22 2.53 0.04

LiborOnemonth 0.14325 0.15250 1.80475 0.12663Threemonth 0.23813 0.22875 1.96050 0.20488Sixmonth 0.26275 0.25175 1.92125 0.23375One year 0.33725 0.33125 2.01200 0.32763

Euro LiborOnemonth -0.595 -0.586 -0.360 -0.621Threemonth -0.573 -0.568 -0.142 -0.573Sixmonth -0.533 -0.533 -0.052 -0.540One year -0.486 -0.497 0.008 -0.501

SecuredOvernight FinancingRate0.09 0.08 1.64 0.01

Value 52-WeekLatest Traded High Low

DTCCGCFRepo IndexTreasury 0.074 65.026 1.720 0.002MBS 0.091 48.950 1.763 0.011

Week —52-WEEK—Latest ago High Low

NetStock SymClose Chg

A B CABB ABB 27.08 -0.32AcadiaPharm ACAD 55.59 -1.10AECOM ACM 47.93 -0.05

s AES AES 22.82 0.20Aflac AFL 43.03 -0.56AGCO AGCO 103.10 -0.17AGNC Invt AGNC 15.43 ...

s Ansys ANSS 362.31 6.36ASETech ASX 5.53 -0.11ASML ASML 476.18 3.92AT&T T 28.40 -0.61AbbottLabs ABT 108.28 0.19AbbVie ABBV 102.80 -0.91AbCelleraBio ABCL 47.12 1.82Abiomed ABMD 302.33 6.52AcceleronPharma XLRN 132.50 -1.21Accenture ACN 259.47 -1.95ActivisionBliz ATVI 89.42 0.61

s AdaptiveBiotechADPT 65.39 3.04Adobe ADBE 504.17 5.78AdvanceAuto AAP 159.40 -1.09AdvMicroDevicesAMD 93.16 -0.07Aegon AEG 3.66 0.01AgilentTechs A 117.37 -0.41AgnicoEagle AEM 70.16 -1.54AirProducts APD 264.01 -0.48

s Airbnb ABNB 163.19 0.17AkamaiTech AKAM 106.64 0.66

s Albemarle ALB 146.27 4.25Albertsons ACI 15.81 0.46Alcon ALC 64.46 0.42AlexandriaRlEstARE 175.89 1.27AlexionPharm ALXN 153.81 -1.02Alibaba BABA 255.83 -4.60

s AlignTech ALGN 536.59 5.88s Allakos ALLK 144.01 0.01Alleghany Y 582.90 -9.99Allegion ALLE 112.39 -0.40AlliantEnergy LNT 50.18 -0.17Allstate ALL 106.19 0.02AllyFinancial ALLY 34.20 -0.53AlnylamPharmALNY 138.31 -1.12Alphabet C GOOG 1723.50 -15.87Alphabet A GOOGL 1720.22 -14.34Alteryx AYX 132.40 3.59

s AlticeUSA ATUS 36.20 0.89Altria MO 42.55 -0.39AlumofChina ACH 8.52 -0.43Amazon.com AMZN 3206.52 0.34Ambev ABEV 3.03 -0.01Amcor AMCR 11.50 0.03Amdocs DOX 69.16 -0.08Amedisys AMED 288.91 2.22

s Amerco UHAL 453.02 7.16Ameren AEE 76.55 -0.53AmericaMovil AMX 13.85 -0.22AmericaMovil A AMOV 13.50 -0.64AmerAirlines AAL 15.48 -0.62AEP AEP 81.40 -0.72AmerExpress AXP 114.55 -1.86AmericanFin AFG 84.64 -0.25AmHomes4RentAMH 29.84 0.34AIG AIG 36.80 -0.57

AmerTowerREITAMT 220.49 0.71AmerWaterWorksAWK 148.06 -1.05AmericoldRealty COLD 36.75 0.62Ameriprise AMP 185.06 -1.70AmerisourceBrgnABC 96.72 -0.95Ametek AME 117.66 -0.45Amgen AMGN 220.99 -6.32Amphenol APH 128.87 -0.49AnalogDevicesADI 144.28 1.69

s Anaplan PLAN 73.66 2.36AngloGoldAshAU 22.53 -0.63AB InBev BUD 69.65 -0.36AnnalyCap NLY 8.33 -0.01Anthem ANTM 303.30 -3.08Aon AON 209.23 0.08ApolloGlbMgmtAPO 47.93 1.17Appian APPN 159.38 1.09Apple AAPL 131.88 3.65ApplMaterials AMAT 85.64 -0.77

s Aptargroup ATR 134.50 -0.39s Aptiv APTV 125.04 1.72Aramark ARMK 37.06 -0.08ArcelorMittal MT 23.05 0.05ArchCapital ACGL 34.58 0.21ArcherDaniels ADM 48.73 -0.64AresMgmt ARES 49.22 -0.29arGEN-X ARGX 306.37 -1.24AristaNetworksANET 290.82 3.56ArrowElec ARW 95.86 -0.89

s ArrowheadPharm ARWR 82.83 0.80AscendisPharma ASND 178.75 1.75AspenTech AZPN 131.95 0.94Assurant AIZ 131.49 0.67AstraZeneca AZN 48.73 -0.95Athene ATH 41.08 -0.55Atlassian TEAM 247.01 -1.18AtmosEnergy ATO 92.33 0.31Autodesk ADSK 303.86 2.98Autohome ATHM 97.11 -1.02Autoliv ALV 92.07 0.56ADP ADP 176.34 -1.15AutoZone AZO 1190.19 -2.72

s Avalara AVLR 183.79 3.80Avalonbay AVB 158.56 0.60Avangrid AGR 44.43 -0.34Avantor AVTR 27.26 -0.02AveryDennisonAVY 151.76 -0.32

s AxonEnterprise AAXN 128.50 0.63BCE BCE 42.33 -0.31BHP Group BHP 64.63 -0.95BHP Group BBL 52.32 -0.91BP BP 20.48 -0.20Baidu BIDU 191.26 -1.82BakerHughes BKR 21.19 -0.06Ball BLL 92.49 -0.24BancoBilbaoViz BBVA 4.77 ...BancoBradesco BBDO 4.75 0.14BancodeChile BCH 20.60 0.26BancSanBrasil BSBR 8.54 0.09BcoSantChile BSAC 19.62 0.04BancoSantander SAN 3.04 0.03BanColombia CIB 40.08 0.37BankofAmerica BAC 29.21 -0.53BankofMontreal BMO 74.87 -0.43BankNY Mellon BK 40.28 -1.14BkNovaScotia BNS 52.65 -0.17Barclays BCS 7.73 0.09

BarrickGold GOLD 22.52 -0.50BauschHealth BHC 19.98 -0.71BaxterIntl BAX 78.66 -0.39BectonDicknsn BDX 245.90 -1.96BeiGene BGNE 261.44 0.02BentleySystems BSY 38.86 1.39Berkley WRB 65.38 -0.07BerkHathwy B BRK.B 221.88 -1.61BerkHathwy A BRK.A 335779-2640.00BestBuy BBY 104.13 0.83BeyondMeat BYND 138.68 0.11

s Bilibili BILI 85.88 -1.73s Bill.com BILL 153.80 5.76s Bio-Techne TECH 320.56 -1.31Bio-RadLab A BIO 583.48 -7.38Biogen BIIB 247.87 -0.45BioMarinPharm BMRN 88.35 0.84BioNTech BNTX 100.56 -5.90BlackKnight BKI 88.77 -1.40

s BlackLine BL 140.28 4.64BlackRock BLK 693.52 -5.31Blackstone BX 64.84 0.39Boeing BA 218.78 -0.53BookingHldgs BKNG 2052.82 -15.38BoozAllen BAH 87.20 -0.47BorgWarner BWA 39.11 0.57BostonBeer SAM 1023.06 58.28BostonProps BXP 92.89 -1.16BostonSci BSX 34.36 -0.46

s BridgeBioPharma BBIO 67.91 2.16BrightHorizons BFAM 161.94 -5.23BristolMyers BMY 61.43 -0.58BritishAmTob BTI 36.54 -0.42Broadcom AVGO 433.10 4.22BroadridgeFinl BR 148.48 -0.88BrookfieldMgt BAM 39.56 -0.12BrookfieldInfr BIP 49.54 -0.41BrookfieldPropREIT BPYU 14.91 -0.10

s BrookfieldRenew BEPC 57.65 4.20Brown&Brown BRO 45.69 -0.31Brown-Forman B BF.B 77.76 -0.96Brown-Forman A BF.A 72.62 -1.29Bruker BRKR 54.00 -0.46Bunge BG 64.09 -0.73BurlingtonStrs BURL 245.88 5.11CBRE Group CBRE 62.57 0.18CDW CDW 130.75 -0.24CF Industries CF 36.22 -1.32CGI GIB 78.37 -0.22CH Robinson CHRW 94.39 0.91CME Group CME 181.00 -0.77CMS Energy CMS 57.60 -0.40CNA Fin CNA 37.95 -0.49

s CNH Indl CNHI 12.30 0.14CNOOC CEO 92.69 0.60CRH CRH 42.02 0.36CRISPR Therap CRSP170.08 3.24CSX CSX 89.55 -0.14

s C3.ai AI 177.47 16.58CVS Health CVS 67.22 -1.49

s CableOne CABO 2245.43 32.02s CadenceDesign CDNS 134.37 2.64CaesarsEnt CZR 74.31 0.48CamdenProperty CPT 98.10 0.90CampbellSoup CPB 47.76 -0.56CIBC CM 86.29 -0.66

NetStock SymClose Chg

NetStock SymClose Chg

CanNtlRlwy CNI 108.87 -0.32CanNaturalRes CNQ 23.06 -0.43CanPacRlwy CP 339.44 -0.38Canon CAJ 19.65 -0.15CanopyGrowth CGC 25.86 0.32CapitalOne COF 94.99 -0.30CardinalHealth CAH 53.63 -0.39Carlisle CSL 156.28 -2.23Carlyle CG 30.98 0.14CarMax KMX 92.33 -8.13Carnival CCL 19.81 -1.25Carnival CUK 17.10 -0.86CarrierGlobal CARR 38.03 -0.37

s Carvana CVNA 291.52 12.92Catalent CTLT 104.89 1.22Caterpillar CAT 176.58 -3.58Celanese CE 130.21 -0.55Cemex CX 5.01 -0.12Centene CNC 58.07 -0.62CenterPointEner CNP 20.82 -0.23CentraisElBras EBR 6.92 -0.08

s CeridianHCM CDAY 108.42 9.60Cerner CERN 77.38 0.79CharlesRiverLabs CRL 252.62 1.90CharterComms CHTR 641.10 -13.59

s CheckPoint CHKP 133.42 6.45s Chegg CHGG 93.89 3.28Chemed CHE 532.01 8.42CheniereEnergy LNG 57.58 -0.19CheniereEnerPtrs CQP 34.01 0.03Chevron CVX 84.36 -1.73

s Chewy CHWY 106.69 -0.80ChinaEastrnAir CEA 21.49 -0.45ChinaLifeIns LFC 10.72 -0.14ChinaMobile CHL 28.21 0.04ChinaPetrol SNP 43.31 -0.51ChinaSoAirlines ZNH 29.31 -0.88ChinaTelecom CHA 27.90 -0.16ChinaUnicom CHU 5.70 0.04

s Chipotle CMG 1426.30 8.31Chubb CB 150.17 -1.58ChunghwaTel CHT 38.74 -0.13Church&Dwight CHD 86.56 0.02ChurchillDowns CHDN 203.13 1.50Ciena CIEN 52.19 0.80Cigna CI 194.97 -2.41CincinnatiFin CINF 83.96 -0.09Cintas CTAS 348.00 1.87CiscoSystems CSCO 44.69 -0.19Citigroup C 59.26 -1.97CitizensFin CFG 34.24 -0.52CitrixSystems CTXS 132.72 1.61Clarivate CCC 30.49 0.49Clorox CLX 201.39 -1.06

s Cloudflare NET 86.56 0.35Coca-Cola KO 52.76 -0.05Coca-Cola Euro CCEP 45.98 -0.42

s Cognex CGNX 80.51 -0.30CognizantTech CTSH 81.02 0.55ColgatePalm CL 84.40 -0.91Comcast A CMCSA 50.02 -0.35Comerica CMA 54.15 0.21CommerceBcshrs CBSH 64.97 0.86CiaSiderurgica SID 5.82 -0.15ConagraBrands CAG 35.99 0.02ConchoRscs CXO 56.77 -1.80ConocoPhillips COP 39.03 -1.21ConEd ED 69.65 -0.30ConstBrands A STZ 212.95 -1.51ConstBrands B STZ.B 213.75 -0.46ContextLogic WISH 22.19 -0.96Cooper COO 352.69 4.13Copart CPRT 123.04 0.86Corning GLW 36.07 0.12Corteva CTVA 38.98 -0.57CoStar CSGP 905.33 -10.53Costco COST 362.03 -2.94CoupaSoftware COUP 361.15 6.53Credicorp BAP 161.90 3.60CreditSuisse CS 12.17 -0.15Cree CREE 103.41 4.06

s CrowdStrike CRWD 224.90 14.25CrownCastle CCI 153.49 0.23CrownHoldings CCK 97.35 -0.34Cummins CMI 223.54 -1.18CureVac CVAC 108.84 -2.46CyrusOne CONE 74.60 3.77

D E FDISH Network DISH 28.88 -0.89DTE Energy DTE 118.92 0.58DadaNexus DADA 37.00 -0.83Danaher DHR 222.93 -3.23Darden DRI 119.64 2.72DarlingIngred DAR 55.44 -0.08Datadog DDOG 111.07 4.61

s DaVita DVA 115.18 -0.57DeckersOutdoorDECK 293.96 -6.06Deere DE 269.26 1.51DellTechC DELL 72.73 -0.33DeltaAir DAL 38.94 -1.20

s DenaliTherap DNLI 93.56 3.08DentsplySirona XRAY 51.81 -0.63DeutscheBankDB 10.62 -0.03DexCom DXCM 354.23 5.38Diageo DEO 157.92 -0.03DigitalRealty DLR 138.54 3.89DiscoverFinSvcsDFS 86.84 -0.19DiscoveryB DISCB 31.01 0.49DiscoveryA DISCA 27.21 -0.16DiscoveryC DISCK 23.86 -0.16Disney DIS 170.45 -0.24DocuSign DOCU 251.60 3.60

s DolbyLab DLB 92.73 -0.29DollarGeneral DG 213.07 2.11DollarTree DLTR 108.98 -2.54DominionEner D 73.50 -1.02Domino's DPZ 398.72 1.54DoorDash DASH 156.79 -3.44Dover DOV 123.44 -0.43Dow DOW 54.67 -0.41DrReddy'sLab RDY 69.31 1.13DraftKings DKNG 52.40 -0.94

s Dropbox DBX 24.87 1.32DukeEnergy DUK 89.53 0.43DukeRealty DRE 39.41 0.42Dun&BradstreetDNB 26.96 -0.30DuPont DD 70.42 -0.03Dynatrace DT 44.51 0.42ENI E 20.24 -0.02EOG Rscs EOG 48.85 -1.23EPAM Systems EPAM355.46 14.83EastmanChem EMN 100.97 -1.61Eaton ETN 116.61 -0.37EatonVance EV 66.81 -0.75eBay EBAY 51.62 0.05Ecolab ECL 215.21 -0.60Ecopetrol EC 13.01 -0.02EdisonInt EIX 61.32 -0.56

s EdwardsLife EW 88.00 2.36ElancoAnimal ELAN 30.21 0.68

s Elastic ESTC 159.08 2.87ElectronicArts EA 139.43 -1.58EmersonElec EMR 79.33 -1.24Enbridge ENB 31.90 -0.43EncompassHealth EHC 82.36 0.24EnelAmericas ENIA 8.12 0.07EnergyTransfer ET 6.46 -0.14

s EnphaseEnergy ENPH 177.27 6.49Entegris ENTG 97.60 -0.30Entergy ETR 96.01 -1.01EnterpriseProd EPD 20.18 -0.04Equifax EFX 194.03 -0.52Equinix EQIX 713.44 9.04Equinor EQNR 15.89 -0.33Equitable EQH 24.84 -0.01EquityLife ELS 61.82 0.91EquityResdntl EQR 57.85 -0.01

s ErieIndemnity A ERIE 250.04 1.57EssentialUtil WTRG 45.24 -0.03EssexProp ESS 234.73 0.90EsteeLauder EL 257.46 2.94

s Etsy ETSY 197.38 8.18EverestRe RE 228.14 -1.00Evergy EVRG 52.65 -0.13

NetStock SymClose Chg

EversourceEner ES 83.57 -0.14s ExactSciences EXAS 142.12 1.08Exelon EXC 41.76 0.25Expedia EXPE 123.15 -0.21ExpeditorsIntl EXPD 94.70 0.32ExtraSpaceSt EXR 115.19 0.97ExxonMobil XOM 41.24 -0.71

s F5Networks FFIV 175.64 1.35FMC FMC 113.67 -1.65Facebook FB 267.09 -5.70FactSet FDS 331.00 -1.65FairIsaac FICO 515.62 -0.61

s Farfetch FTCH 64.84 0.44Fastenal FAST 49.47 -0.14Fastly FSLY 104.77 3.56FateTherap FATE 100.95 6.89FedEx FDX 273.28 1.34

s Ferrari RACE 227.54 2.90s FiatChrysler FCAU 17.79 0.25FidNatlFin FNF 38.42 0.08FidNatlInfo FIS 134.81 -5.10FifthThirdBncp FITB 26.93 -0.23FirstRepBank FRC 136.65 0.90

s FirstSolar FSLR 105.16 8.75FirstEnergy FE 29.95 -0.04Fiserv FISV 110.52 -1.97FiveBelow FIVE 156.70 0.33

s Five9 FIVN 186.65 7.22s FiverrIntl FVRR 223.38 1.51FleetCorTech FLT 269.46 -2.39

s Flex FLEX 18.00 0.19Floor&Decor FND 100.78 1.84FomentoEconMex FMX 73.17 -0.90FordMotor F 8.79 -0.14

s Fortinet FTNT 152.15 6.19Fortis FTS 40.39 -0.14Fortive FTV 68.46 -1.35FortBrandsHome FBHS 87.78 -0.89FoxA FOXA 27.27 -0.45FoxB FOX 26.98 -0.41Franco-Nevada FNV 128.17 -3.02FranklinRscs BEN 24.55 -0.27FreeportMcM FCX 24.25 -0.61FreseniusMed FMS 41.22 -0.19

G H IGDS Holdings GDS 93.50 0.10GFLEnvironmentalGFL 27.42 0.62GSXTechedu GSX 53.06 -2.14Gallagher AJG 123.81 -1.19Gaming&LeisureGLPI 42.76 0.73Gap GPS 20.07 -0.33Garmin GRMN 119.14 0.96Gartner IT 156.43 -0.07Generac GNRC 227.31 -2.98GeneralDynamicsGD 146.50 -3.17GeneralElec GE 10.61 -0.16GeneralMills GIS 58.60 -0.39GeneralMotorsGM 40.90 -0.31Genmab GMAB 39.99 0.06Genpact G 41.80 -0.18Gentex GNTX 33.81 0.30GenuineParts GPC 98.64 1.28Gerdau GGB 4.66 -0.08

t GileadSciencesGILD 57.00 -1.54GSK GSK 36.09 -0.13GlobalPaymentsGPN 197.83 -2.59

s Globant GLOB 222.70 6.21GlobeLife GL 91.75 -0.50GoDaddy GDDY 85.30 1.11GoldFields GFI 9.26 -0.31GoldmanSachsGS 250.09 -6.89GoodRx GDRX 48.32 1.63

s Graco GGG 72.47 0.48Grainger GWW 410.33 -1.45Grifols GRFS 18.93 -0.19

s GuardantHealthGH 135.93 5.93Guidewire GWRE 126.99 1.56HCA HealthcareHCA 163.27 0.18HDFC Bank HDB 68.42 0.07HD Supply HDS 55.87 -0.02HP HPQ 24.16 0.16HSBC HSBC 25.53 -0.05Halliburton HAL 19.12 -0.23HartfordFinl HIG 47.64 0.14Hasbro HAS 92.38 -1.22HealthcareAmerHTA 27.70 0.45HealthpeakProp PEAK 29.67 0.29Heico A HEI.A 117.10 -0.75Heico HEI 129.09 -2.58HenrySchein HSIC 66.10 -0.36Hershey HSY 148.62 -1.04Hess HES 52.09 -2.20HewlettPackardHPE 11.61 -0.06HighwoodsPropHIW 39.14 0.18Hilton HLT 102.95 -1.04Hologic HOLX 74.67 -0.56HomeDepot HD 270.04 -0.95HondaMotor HMC 28.81 -0.19Honeywell HON 207.94 -2.72HorizonTherap HZNP 68.14 1.14HormelFoods HRL 47.03 -0.61DR Horton DHI 72.32 -0.19HostHotels HST 13.62 -0.15HowmetAerospace HWM 26.46 ...HuanengPowerHNP 13.80 -0.15Huazhu HTHT 44.69 -1.87Hubbell HUBB 157.88 0.88

s HubSpot HUBS 418.22 8.01Humana HUM 388.44 -0.57JBHunt JBHT 139.86 -0.92HuntingtonBcshs HBAN 12.13 -0.13HyattHotels H 71.32 -1.03IAA IAA 64.42 0.13ICICI Bank IBN 13.66 -0.02

s IdexxLab IDXX 499.15 9.47IHS Markit INFO 86.87 -0.32

s II-VI IIVI 78.11 3.51ING Groep ING 9.17 0.03Invesco IVZ 16.98 -0.44

s IPG Photonics IPGP 218.76 2.43IQVIA IQV 176.98 0.23IcahnEnterprises IEP 50.66 -0.26Icon ICLR 194.39 0.86IDEX IEX 196.39 -1.94IllinoisToolWks ITW 202.39 -1.47Illumina ILMN 370.96 8.33ImperialOil IMO 18.26 -0.29Incyte INCY 87.99 1.02

s Infosys INFY 16.58 0.65s IngersollRand IR 45.56 -0.10Inphi IPHI 158.47 -0.15Insulet PODD 254.46 17.05Intel INTC 46.17 -0.19

s InteractiveBrkrs IBKR 60.44 1.52ICE ICE 113.16 0.62InterContinentl IHG 61.37 -0.44IBM IBM 123.61 0.22IntlFlavors IFF 114.96 0.67IntlPaper IP 49.40 -0.08Interpublic IPG 23.06 -0.36Intuit INTU 379.97 4.04

s IntuitiveSurgical ISRG 815.25 25.98Invitae NVTA 53.08 3.08InvitatHomes INVH 29.02 0.33IonisPharma IONS 58.59 3.25iQIYI IQ 16.97 -0.04IronMountain IRM 29.59 0.44ItauUnibanco ITUB 6.06 -0.02

J K LJD.com JD 82.79 2.15JPMorganChase JPM 121.67 -1.88JackHenry JKHY 154.72 -3.49JacobsEngg J 106.11 -0.55JamesHardie JHX 28.59 -0.17JazzPharma JAZZ 151.51 1.38J&J JNJ 152.72 -0.30JohnsonControls JCI 45.64 -0.31JonesLang JLL 149.07 2.42JuniperNetworks JNPR 22.37 -0.12KB Fin KB 39.83 -0.91KE Holdings BEKE 67.66 0.84KKR KKR 39.49 -0.21

NetStock SymClose Chg

KLA KLAC 257.59 -3.18KSCitySouthernKSU 195.97 -1.87Kellogg K 61.19 -0.34KeurigDrPepperKDP 31.07 0.30KeyCorp KEY 15.74 -0.01

s KeysightTechs KEYS128.69 1.72KimberlyClark KMB 132.67 -1.57KinderMorganKMI 13.78 -0.21KingsoftCloud KC 42.16 -3.77KinrossGold KGC 7.20 -0.29KirklandLakeGoldKL 41.08 -0.34

s KodiakSciencesKOD 151.71 2.24KoninklijkePhil PHG 53.52 0.32KoreaElcPwr KEP 11.85 -0.73KraftHeinz KHC 34.39 -0.18Kroger KR 30.89 0.09L Brands LB 38.00 -0.66Line LN 51.67 -0.31LKQ LKQ 35.98 0.06LPL Financial LPLA 103.61 0.45L3HarrisTech LHX 184.11 -0.93LabCpAm LH 203.39 -1.53LamResearch LRCX 476.95 -6.28LamarAdv LAMR 82.18 0.49LambWeston LW 77.34 -0.13LasVegasSands LVS 56.25 -0.63Lear LEA 158.83 0.30Leidos LDOS 102.35 -0.78Lennar B LEN.B 64.47 0.69Lennar A LEN 80.34 0.83LennoxIntl LII 272.82 -4.54LeviStrauss LEVI 21.12 -0.41LiAuto LI 31.29 -1.57LibertyBroadbandC LBRDK154.66 -4.35LibertyBroadbandA LBRDA152.07 -4.19LibertyGlobal A LBTYA 23.78 -0.08LibertyGlobal C LBTYK 23.22 0.09LibertyFormOne C FWONK 40.13 -0.75LibertyFormOne A FWONA 36.46 -0.64LibertyBraves A BATRA 25.16 0.40LibertyBraves C BATRK 24.98 0.38LibertySirius C LSXMK 42.45 0.13LibertySirius A LSXMA 42.28 -0.10EliLilly LLY 166.72 -2.06LincolnNational LNC 47.97 -0.46Linde LIN 253.46 -0.71LithiaMotors LAD 279.28 -7.01LiveNationEnt LYV 72.01 -0.17LloydsBanking LYG 1.81 0.01LockheedMartin LMT 347.92 -1.43Loews L 43.05 -0.72

s LogitechIntl LOGI 95.02 -0.04Lowe's LOW 164.61 0.28LufaxHolding LU 13.85 -0.91lululemon LULU 360.07 -13.33LumenTech LUMN 9.78 -0.14LuminarTech LAZR 37.37 2.22Lyft LYFT 49.51 -0.40LyondellBasell LYB 89.81 -0.58

M NM&T Bank MTB 121.14 -2.90MGMGrowthPropMGP 31.71 0.04MGM ResortsMGM 30.35 -0.14MinisoGroup MNSO 27.74 -0.11MKS Instrum MKSI 148.38 -1.14MPLX MPLX 21.92 -0.20MSCI MSCI 437.58 2.54MagellanMid MMP 43.12 -0.13

s MagnaIntl MGA 66.36 2.62ManulifeFin MFC 17.20 -0.10MarathonPetrolMPC 39.67 -0.08MaravaiLifeSciMRVI 30.86 1.33Markel MKL 980.80 -7.70MarketAxess MKTX 590.32 11.88Marriott MAR 126.26 -1.06Marsh&McLenMMC 114.40 -0.65MartinMariettaMLM 273.30 -2.37MarvellTech MRVL 47.15 -0.04Masco MAS 56.63 0.86Masimo MASI 266.59 1.29Mastercard MA 332.24 -2.13MaximIntProductsMXIM 86.41 1.21McCormick MKC 92.96 -0.73McCormickVtgMKC.V 92.55 -0.20McDonalds MCD 211.92 0.25McKesson MCK 170.01 -1.41MedicalProp MPW 21.57 0.62Medtronic MDT 114.63 0.18MelcoResorts MLCO 18.27 -0.22

s MercadoLibre MELI 1732.39 34.50Merck MRK 79.42 0.13MetLife MET 45.21 -0.25MettlerToledo MTD 1125.53 -9.80MicrochipTechMCHP 136.95 -1.05MicronTech MU 70.44 -1.03Microsoft MSFT 223.94 1.35MidAmApt MAA 125.28 0.68Middleby MIDD 128.49 -2.74MiratiTherap MRTX 238.13 10.16MitsubishiUFJ MUFG 4.33 -0.05MizuhoFin MFG 2.54 ...MobileTeleSysMBT 8.75 -0.01Moderna MRNA 125.88 -12.42MohawkInds MHK 135.67 -0.93MolinaHealthcareMOH 205.73 3.57MolsonCoorsB TAP 44.42 -0.16Mondelez MDLZ 57.16 -0.52

s MongoDB MDB 396.00 12.71MonolithicPowerMPWR 354.06 7.49MonsterBev MNST 88.27 -0.70Moody's MCO 281.27 2.41MorganStanleyMS 66.64 -1.19Morningstar MORN 220.52 -0.10Mosaic MOS 21.87 -1.27MotorolaSol MSI 167.45 2.23

s NICE NICE 276.60 5.01NIO NIO 47.58 -1.37NRG Energy NRG 34.55 0.85NVR NVR 4202.30 -22.34NXP Semi NXPI 156.38 -0.65Nasdaq NDAQ 129.90 1.85

s Natera NTRA 111.32 5.71NationalGrid NGG 56.79 -0.35Natura&Co NTCO 19.36 0.03NatWest NWG 4.19 0.09nCino NCNO 82.66 3.26

s NetApp NTAP 66.18 1.64NetEase NTES 92.50 -0.43Netflix NFLX 527.33 -1.58Neurocrine NBIX 98.67 -1.62NewFortressEnerNFE 53.54 1.52NewOrientalEduc EDU 170.00 0.47NYTimes A NYT 49.32 0.80NewellBrands NWL 21.08 0.40Newmont NEM 59.41 -1.31NewsCorp A NWSA 17.64 -0.01NewsCorp B NWS 17.52 0.01NextEraEnergyNEE 74.71 0.31Nike NKE 142.45 -1.57NiSource NI 21.71 0.18Nokia NOK 3.88 -0.02NomuraHoldingsNMR 5.11 -0.02Nordson NDSN 198.64 2.82NorfolkSouthernNSC 230.50 0.36NorthernTrustNTRS 90.60 -0.45NorthropGrumNOC 296.32 -1.29NortonLifeLockNLOK 21.34 0.36NorwegCruise NCLH 23.08 -1.70Novartis NVS 88.18 -0.28Novavax NVAX 115.37 -8.69NovoNordisk NVO 70.62 -1.28Novocure NVCR 171.00 1.54

s NuanceComms NUAN 43.99 -0.40Nucor NUE 53.09 -1.05Nutrien NTR 46.51 -1.17NVIDIA NVDA 531.13 -2.16

O P QONEOK OKE 38.63 -0.76OReillyAuto ORLY 453.39 0.80

s OakStreetHealthOSH 63.70 0.61OccidentalPetrolOXY 16.92 -0.55

s Okta OKTA 285.60 10.06

NetStock SymClose Chg

OldDomFreightODFL 198.66 0.84OmegaHealthcareOHI 37.12 0.02Omnicom OMC 59.79 -0.75ON Semi ON 31.85 0.27OneConnectFinTechOCFT 22.33 -0.63OpenText OTEX 45.42 0.54

s Oracle ORCL 65.15 0.67Orange ORAN 11.73 -0.07Orix IX 74.96 -1.08OtisWorldwideOTIS 65.41 -0.74

s OwensCorningOC 77.45 -0.10OzonHoldings OZON 42.32 -1.52PG&E PCG 12.44 0.18PNC Fin PNC 143.73 -0.87POSCO PKX 60.31 -1.85PPD PPD 35.99 0.63PPG Ind PPG 144.70 -1.40PPL PPL 26.33 -0.38PRA HealthSci PRAH 122.03 1.19

s PTC PTC 120.02 -0.12Paccar PCAR 84.87 -0.98PackagingCpAm PKG 133.81 0.04PagSeguroDig PAGS 54.80 0.73PalantirTech PLTR 28.04 -0.47

s PaloAltoNtwks PANW 372.06 16.04ParkerHannifin PH 267.58 -5.21

s Paychex PAYX 96.63 0.04s PaycomSoftware PAYC 465.13 19.54s Paylocity PCTY 212.80 8.68s PayPal PYPL 243.49 5.77s Pegasystems PEGA 137.07 3.23s Peloton PTON 161.21 16.82PembinaPipeline PBA 23.94 -0.63

s PennNational PENN 95.72 3.00Pentair PNR 52.60 0.16PepsiCo PEP 144.02 -1.38PerkinElmer PKI 139.86 -0.76PetroChina PTR 29.92 -0.58PetroleoBrasil PBR 10.83 0.07PetroleoBrasilA PBR.A 10.57 0.04Pfizer PFE 36.74 -0.64PhilipMorris PM 82.19 -0.78Phillips66 PSX 67.51 1.02Pinduoduo PDD 139.02 -7.85PinnacleWest PNW 77.78 0.49Pinterest PINS 72.35 2.50PioneerNatRscs PXD 108.44 -2.45PlainsAllAmPipe PAA 8.78 0.21

s PlugPower PLUG 35.69 3.32Pool POOL 369.73 7.72PrincipalFin PFG 47.40 -0.10Procter&Gamble PG 136.55 -0.97Progressive PGR 97.99 0.05Prologis PLD 97.65 0.40

s Proofpoint PFPT 136.87 6.47PrudentialFin PRU 75.00 -1.20Prudential PUK 35.44 0.13PublicServiceEnt PEG 56.39 -0.08PublicStorage PSA 232.19 3.48PulteGroup PHM 45.41 0.66Qiagen QGEN 52.23 -0.97Qorvo QRVO 163.26 2.15Qualcomm QCOM 146.34 -0.46QuantaServices PWR 69.13 0.55QuestDiag DGX 121.20 0.36Quidel QDEL 203.60 -1.85

R SRELX RELX 24.02 -0.07RH RH 464.59 5.26RPM RPM 89.12 0.79RalphLauren RL 98.84 -2.49RaymondJamesRJF 93.74 -0.21RaytheonTechRTX 69.25 -0.42RealPage RP 87.53 0.20RealtyIncome O 60.93 1.16

s Redfin RDFN 82.11 3.58RegencyCtrs REG 45.24 ...RegenPharm REGN 490.06 -6.68RegionsFin RF 15.43 -0.11ReinsGrp RGA 111.59 -1.65RelianceSteel RS 117.51 -1.16RenaissanceReRNR 160.44 -1.31Repligen RGEN 194.11 1.01RepublicSvcs RSG 95.82 0.58ResMed RMD 211.67 -1.80RestaurantBrandsQSR 60.61 -0.95

s RingCentral RNG 402.51 9.26RioTinto RIO 75.29 -0.99RitchieBros RBA 70.09 0.73RocketCos. RKT 21.70 0.10Rockwell ROK 247.64 -1.72RogersComm BRCI 45.71 -0.40

s Roku ROKU 354.71 0.71Rollins ROL 40.85 1.08RoperTech ROP 412.92 -9.46RossStores ROST 116.74 -0.05RoyalBkCanadaRY 80.13 -0.61RoyalCaribbeanRCL 69.69 -2.13RoyalDutchA RDS.A 34.94 -0.60RoyalDutchB RDS.B 33.51 -0.44RoyalGold RGLD 109.15 -1.26RoyaltyPharma RPRX 48.32 2.33Ryanair RYAAY 104.20 0.02SAP SAP 125.93 0.61S&P Global SPGI 318.93 -0.65SBA Comm SBAC 275.92 1.00SEI Investments SEIC 55.89 -0.22SK Telecom SKM 24.44 -0.32

NetStock SymClose Chg

SS&C Tech SSNC 71.46 0.15StoreCapital STOR 33.13 0.64

s SVB Fin SIVB 368.20 0.70Salesforce.com CRM 231.17 4.70Sanofi SNY 47.81 0.79

s SareptaTherap SRPT 178.74 1.72Schlumberger SLB 21.36 -0.42SchwabC SCHW 51.64 -0.11ScottsMiracleGro SMG 199.93 1.35Sea SE 200.65 3.75Seagate STX 63.71 -0.67Seagen SGEN 196.91 -0.93SempraEnergy SRE 126.27 -0.44SensataTechs ST 50.74 -0.04ServiceCorp SCI 48.50 -0.24ServiceNow NOW 561.72 10.90ShawComm B SJR 17.31 -0.11SherwinWilliams SHW 737.07 7.90ShinhanFin SHG 29.74 -0.54

s Shopify SHOP 1277.08 79.82Sibanye-Stillwater SBSW 15.32 -0.47SignatureBank SBNY 132.16 -0.41SimonProperty SPG 83.72 0.07SiriusXM SIRI 6.27 -0.04Skyworks SWKS 149.43 1.72SlackTech WORK 42.88 0.31Smartsheet SMAR 73.86 1.89SmithAO AOS 55.36 -0.46Smith&Nephew SNN 41.78 0.20Smucker SJM 114.73 0.35Snap SNAP 52.09 -0.27SnapOn SNA 167.54 -2.17Snowflake SNOW 341.16 -8.69

s SOQUIMICH SQM 49.74 2.06s SolarEdgeTech SEDG 322.52 3.90Sony SNE 97.46 -1.94SoteraHealth SHC 27.36 0.87Southern SO 59.72 -0.28SoCopper SCCO 63.10 -0.69SouthwestAir LUV 45.32 -0.48Splunk SPLK 177.00 2.63Spotify SPOT 321.96 -3.61

s Square SQ 241.58 8.08StanleyBlackDck SWK 179.02 -2.25Starbucks SBUX 102.41 -0.53StateStreet STT 70.19 -0.15SteelDynamics STLD 36.34 -0.61Steris STE 182.59 -1.53

s StitchFix SFIX 71.65 0.80STMicroelec STM 36.81 0.91

s StoneCo STNE 85.54 0.57Stryker SYK 235.29 0.43SumitomoMits SMFG 5.96 -0.10SunComms SUI 147.18 3.28SunLifeFinancial SLF 42.87 -0.44SuncorEnergy SU 16.44 -0.46SunRun RUN 69.27 3.09Suzano SUZ 11.22 0.50SynchronyFin SYF 33.26 -0.12

s Synopsys SNPS 258.05 3.81Sysco SYY 71.92 -0.55

T U VTAL Education TAL 68.89 -0.78TC Energy TRP 40.74 -0.50TE Connectivity TEL 116.79 -0.26Telus TU 19.68 -0.02

s TG Therap TGTX 54.41 -0.49TJX TJX 66.97 -0.27T-MobileUS TMUS 132.25 2.03TRowePrice TROW 147.42 -1.24TaiwanSemi TSM 103.94 -0.89TakeTwoSoftware TTWO 201.86 0.09TakedaPharm TAK 18.46 -0.14Tapestry TPR 30.17 0.80Target TGT 172.35 0.59TataMotors TTM 11.06 -0.13TeckRscsB TECK 17.34 -0.59TeladocHealth TDOC 206.04 6.29TeledyneTech TDY 378.83 0.48Teleflex TFX 396.84 -2.18Ericsson ERIC 11.78 0.06TelefonicaBrasVIV 8.77 -0.06Telefonica TEF 3.93 ...TelekmIndonesia TLK 23.70 -0.9210xGenomics TXG 149.64 -0.27Tenaris TS 15.88 -0.12TencentMusic TME 18.88 0.08Teradyne TER 118.57 -1.16Tesla TSLA 640.34 -9.52TevaPharm TEVA 9.60 -0.19TexasInstruments TXN 162.52 0.09Textron TXT 46.82 -0.30ThermoFisherSci TMO 465.20 2.32ThomsonReuters TRI 79.53 -0.523M MMM 174.78 -0.88Tiffany TIF 131.15 0.02Toro TTC 94.23 0.08TorontoDomBk TD 55.00 -0.63Total TOT 42.19 -0.35ToyotaMotor TM 150.77 -1.00TractorSupply TSCO 149.77 1.10

s TradeDesk TTD 971.12 35.59Tradeweb TW 65.41 -0.77TraneTech TT 143.00 0.85TransDigm TDG 596.23 -4.48TransUnion TRU 98.78 -0.35Travelers TRV 136.48 -1.67

s Trex TREX 86.03 1.22

NetStock SymClose Chg

s Trimble TRMB 66.18 -0.45Trip.com TCOM 32.95 -0.65TruistFinl TFC 46.03 -0.29

s Twilio TWLO 370.75 5.93s TwistBiosci TWST 167.89 15.89Twitter TWTR 54.91 0.27TylerTech TYL 438.52 4.53TysonFoods TSN 62.48 -1.37UBS Group UBS 13.68 -0.12UDR UDR 37.37 0.43US Foods USFD 32.84 -0.40Uber UBER 53.78 1.98

s Ubiquiti UI 281.31 7.14UltaBeauty ULTA 265.09 -3.05

s UltragenyxPharm RARE 173.00 5.60UnderArmour CUA 14.68 -0.41UnderArmour AUAA 16.88 -0.47Unilever UL 58.02 -0.05UnionPacific UNP 201.52 -0.97UnitedAirlines UAL 42.97 -1.09UnitedMicro UMC 8.16 -0.26UPS B UPS 174.56 1.97UnitedRentalsURI 227.39 -2.16US Bancorp USB 45.59 0.26UnitedHealth UNH 335.01 -1.07

s UnitySoftwareU 172.29 6.92UnivDisplay OLED 238.19 -2.28UniversalHealthBUHS 135.80 -0.01VEREIT VER 37.02 1.03VF VFC 82.88 -2.05VICI Prop VICI 25.93 0.56VailResorts MTN 271.39 0.67Vale VALE 16.80 -0.20ValeroEnergy VLO 53.70 -0.35VarianMed VAR 174.52 -0.09VeevaSystems VEEV 286.44 15.61Ventas VTR 49.24 0.41VeriSign VRSN 216.34 1.45VeriskAnalytics VRSK 201.93 -0.84Verizon VZ 58.99 -0.50VertxPharm VRTX 234.90 0.35ViacomCBS B VIAC 34.89 0.04ViacomCBS A VIACA 35.95 0.21Viatris VTRS 17.74 0.35Vipshop VIPS 25.73 0.23Visa V 205.84 -3.17Vistra VST 18.13 0.57VMware VMW 140.54 -1.69Vodafone VOD 16.26 -0.14VornadoRealtyVNO 35.41 -0.77VulcanMatls VMC 143.27 -1.27

W X Y ZWEC Energy WEC 89.47 -0.59WEX WEX 199.94 0.17W.P.Carey WPC 70.30 0.83WPP WPP 53.18 0.33Wabtec WAB 72.21 -0.79WalgreensBootsWBA 39.27 -1.40Walmart WMT 144.20 -1.77WarnerMusic WMG 37.60 0.08WasteConnectionsWCN 102.72 1.08WasteMgt WM 117.92 1.41Waters WAT 246.29 -1.10Watsco WSO 232.95 2.64Watsco B WSOB230.62 0.50Wayfair W 284.84 1.84Weibo WB 45.94 0.19WellsFargo WFC 28.96 -0.59Welltower WELL 62.67 0.02WestPharmSvcsWST 282.91 6.82WesternDigitalWDC 49.72 -2.49WesternUnionWU 21.80 -0.25WestlakeChemWLK 81.14 -1.39WestpacBankingWBK 14.73 -0.23WestRock WRK 43.83 -0.19WeyerhaeuserWY 33.35 0.02WheatonPrecMetWPM 41.32 -1.27Whirlpool WHR 187.79 1.17Williams WMB 20.61 -0.09Williams-SonomaWSM 107.84 -1.12WillisTowers WLTW209.62 1.91Wipro WIT 5.48 0.22Wix.com WIX 272.19 2.56Woodward WWD 119.27 1.27

s Workday WDAY 257.71 15.39WynnResorts WYNN 112.61 0.07XP XP 40.31 -0.42XPO Logistics XPO 117.85 -0.51XcelEnergy XEL 64.83 -0.13Xilinx XLNX 144.16 -1.12XPeng XPEV 45.05 -1.92Xylem XYL 99.40 -1.32Yandex YNDX 67.11 0.02YatsenHolding YSG 16.69 -0.38YumBrands YUM 107.40 -1.23YumChina YUMC 57.21 -0.40ZTO Express ZTO 28.00 -0.10

s ZaiLab ZLAB 130.50 1.78ZebraTech ZBRA 379.96 4.05

s Zendesk ZEN 143.49 2.92s Zillow C Z 140.66 4.26s Zillow A ZG 146.69 5.33ZimmerBiomet ZBH 150.83 2.23Zoetis ZTS 161.83 0.99ZoomVideo ZM 409.00 0.03ZoomInfoTech ZI 46.51 2.31

s Zscaler ZS 206.78 7.16Zynga ZNGA 9.99 0.12

NetStock SymClose Chg

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

How to Read the Stock TablesThe following explanations apply to NYSE, NYSEArca, NYSE American and Nasdaq Stock Marketlisted securities. Prices are composite quotationsthat include primary market trades as well astrades reported by Nasdaq BX (formerly Boston),Chicago Stock Exchange, Cboe, NYSE National andNasdaq ISE.The list comprises the 1,000 largest companiesbased on market capitalization.Underlined quotations are those stocks withlarge changes in volume compared with theissue’s average trading volume.Boldfaced quotations highlight those issueswhose price changed by 5% or more if theirprevious closing price was $2 or higher.

Footnotes:s-New 52-week high.t-New 52-week low.dd-Indicates loss in the most recent fourquarters.FD-First day of trading.h-Does not meet continued listingstandardslf-Late filingq-Temporary exemption from Nasdaqrequirements.t-NYSE bankruptcyv-Trading halted on primary market.vj-In bankruptcy or receivership or beingreorganized under the Bankruptcy Code,or securities assumed by such companies.

Wall Street Journal stock tables reflect composite regular trading as of 4 p.m. andchanges in the closing prices from 4 p.m. the previous day.

BIGGEST 1,000 STOCKS

NOTABLECOMMERCIALPROPERTIESEVERYWEDNESDAY

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B8 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Metal &PetroleumFuturesContract Open

Open High hi lo Low Settle Chg interest

Copper-High (CMX)-25,000 lbs.; $ per lb.Dec 3.5760 3.5760 3.5100 3.5180 –0.0550 1,656March'21 3.5805 3.5925 3.5050 3.5200 –0.0575 161,732Gold (CMX)-100 troy oz.; $ per troy oz.Dec 1882.20 1882.20 1861.00 1866.60 –12.60 609Jan'21 1883.70 1885.40 1861.60 1867.70 –12.60 2,079Feb 1883.00 1889.40 1863.70 1870.30 –12.50 415,098April 1886.90 1893.30 1868.00 1874.50 –12.50 80,499June 1889.90 1895.90 1871.20 1877.20 –12.50 34,321Aug 1891.10 1897.20 1875.20 1880.00 –12.20 12,075Palladium (NYM) - 50 troy oz.; $ per troy oz.Dec ... ... ... 2311.10 6.70 9March'21 2323.00 2356.00 2307.50 2323.10 6.70 8,950Platinum (NYM)-50 troy oz.; $ per troy oz.Dec ... ... ... 1008.50 –6.50 22April'21 1018.40 1029.10 995.80 1015.80 –5.90 43,032Silver (CMX)-5,000 troy oz.; $ per troy oz.Dec 26.475 26.670 25.275 25.434 –0.844 542March'21 26.420 26.815 25.225 25.535 –0.844 145,533CrudeOil, Light Sweet (NYM)-1,000bbls.; $ per bbl.Feb 47.93 47.96 46.60 47.02 –0.95 389,343March 48.00 48.07 46.72 47.16 –0.93 263,082April 48.08 48.17 46.81 47.26 –0.91 117,870May 48.14 48.19 46.84 47.32 –0.88 98,117June 48.13 48.16 46.82 47.32 –0.84 218,026Dec 47.29 47.36 46.11 46.66 –0.71 268,997NYHarborULSD (NYM)-42,000gal.; $ per gal.Jan 1.4769 1.4779 1.4459 1.4616 –.0158 35,063Feb 1.4780 1.4787 1.4467 1.4630 –.0152 85,319Gasoline-NYRBOB (NYM)-42,000gal.; $ per gal.Jan 1.3584 1.3602 1.3216 1.3395 –.0209 43,381Feb 1.3524 1.3546 1.3167 1.3355 –.0193 112,304Natural Gas (NYM)-10,000MMBtu.; $ perMMBtu.Jan 2.703 2.806 2.690 2.780 .075 48,079Feb 2.688 2.775 2.672 2.749 .060 201,276March 2.670 2.750 2.655 2.726 .056 248,293April 2.691 2.752 2.673 2.725 .040 103,920May 2.701 2.756 2.687 2.732 .035 61,357Oct 2.848 2.897 2.832 2.875 .032 99,157

Agriculture FuturesCorn (CBT)-5,000bu.; cents per bu.March 440.00 444.25 s 437.25 443.50 3.50 845,125May 441.75 445.25 s 438.75 444.50 2.50 251,932Oats (CBT)-5,000bu.; cents per bu.March 337.50 338.50 335.00 336.75 –1.00 4,020May 334.25 334.75 332.00 334.25 –.25 447Soybeans (CBT)-5,000bu.; cents per bu.Jan 1244.50 1252.25 s 1236.75 1247.25 4.00 118,882March 1248.50 1256.25 s 1241.00 1250.00 2.50 389,479SoybeanMeal (CBT)-100 tons; $ per ton.Jan 412.30 416.90 s 408.60 415.00 2.70 42,861March 412.70 416.30 s 408.40 414.30 2.20 180,838SoybeanOil (CBT)-60,000 lbs.; cents per lb.Jan ... ... ... 40.55 .59 49,261

FuturesContracts Contract OpenOpen High hi lo Low Settle Chg interest

Contract OpenOpen High hi lo Low Settle Chg interest

Contract OpenOpen High hi lo Low Settle Chg interest

March 39.60 40.10 s 39.23 39.96 .41 200,346RoughRice (CBT)-2,000 cwt.; $ per cwt.Jan 12.36 12.44 12.33 12.37 .01 2,509March 12.54 12.58 12.46 12.51 .00 7,778Wheat (CBT)-5,000bu.; cents per bu.March 615.50 619.75 603.00 617.00 5.75 182,639July 610.00 611.00 598.50 609.50 3.50 77,980Wheat (KC)-5,000bu.; cents per bu.March 574.50 581.50 563.00 579.25 4.75 120,871May 579.25 584.50 567.00 582.50 4.25 36,420Cattle-Feeder (CME)-50,000 lbs.; cents per lb.Jan 140.750 141.025 139.650 139.900 –.725 10,704March 143.425 143.425 141.550 141.875 –1.250 20,502Cattle-Live (CME)-40,000 lbs.; cents per lb.Dec 110.450 110.500 110.200 110.325 –.275 2,987Feb'21 114.450 114.575 113.300 113.450 –1.200 112,983Hogs-Lean (CME)-40,000 lbs.; cents per lb.Feb 66.375 66.600 65.725 66.025 .100 78,805April 70.200 70.350 69.650 70.025 .025 41,388Lumber (CME)-110,000bd. ft., $ per 1,000bd. ft.Jan 892.30 900.50 s 871.00 884.60 2.30 950March 782.40 806.80 s 774.40 783.80 17.60 1,455Milk (CME)-200,000 lbs., cents per lb.Dec 15.68 15.72 15.68 15.70 .01 4,058Jan'21 15.75 16.38 15.70 16.38 .75 3,970Cocoa (ICE-US)-10metric tons; $ per ton.March 2,579 2,579 2,504 2,535 –20 98,560May 2,527 2,527 2,450 2,470 –27 54,568Coffee (ICE-US)-37,500 lbs.; cents per lb.March 123.90 126.60 122.90 124.20 –.10 111,674May 125.45 128.50 124.85 126.15 –.05 45,767Sugar-World (ICE-US)-112,000 lbs.; cents per lb.March 14.55 14.64 14.40 14.54 .01 380,820May 13.90 13.94 13.76 13.85 –.04 215,091Sugar-Domestic (ICE-US)-112,000 lbs.; cents per lb.March 28.35 28.35 28.35 28.35 .10 3,004Cotton (ICE-US)-50,000 lbs.; cents per lb.March 74.76 75.22 74.28 74.82 .06 128,367May 75.45 75.93 75.02 75.43 –.05 42,217Orange Juice (ICE-US)-15,000 lbs.; cents per lb.Jan 118.80 120.00 118.00 118.90 1.00 2,316March 120.70 122.60 120.70 121.55 .85 7,650

InterestRate FuturesUltraTreasuryBonds (CBT) - $100,000; pts 32nds of 100%March 212-090 213-110 212-000 213-060 1-10.0 1,020,413TreasuryBonds (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100%March 172-190 173-030 172-140 173-010 21.0 1,133,861TreasuryNotes (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100%March 137-255 138-000 137-245 137-315 7.0 3,119,4415Yr. TreasuryNotes (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100%Dec ... ... ... 125-245 2.7 53,055March'21 125-312 126-025 125-310 126-020 2.7 3,125,4362Yr. TreasuryNotes (CBT)-$200,000; pts 32nds of 100%Dec ... ... ... 110-152 .2 23,139March'21 110-150 110-155 110-150 110-153 .4 1,869,19430DayFederal Funds (CBT)-$5,000,000; 100 - daily avg.Dec 99.9075 99.9100 99.9075 99.9100 .0025 119,420Jan'21 99.9100 99.9150 99.9100 99.9100 154,13810Yr. Del. Int. RateSwaps (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100%March ... ... ... 97-290 6.0 101,795

Eurodollar (CME)-$1,000,000; pts of 100%Jan 99.7900 99.7975 99.7875 99.7925 –.0025 215,651March 99.8250 99.8250 99.8200 99.8200 –.0050 1,100,167June 99.8300 99.8300 99.8250 99.8250 –.0050 946,651Sept 99.8250 99.8250 99.8200 99.8200 –.0050 791,526

CurrencyFuturesJapaneseYen (CME)-¥12,500,000; $ per 100¥Jan .9683 .9692 .9651 .9656 –.0030 1,057March .9691 .9699 .9656 .9662 –.0031 194,910CanadianDollar (CME)-CAD 100,000; $ per CADJan .7772 .7790 .7738 .7757 –.0044 1,290March .7783 .7792 .7739 .7758 –.0043 150,534BritishPound (CME)-£62,500; $ per£Jan 1.3429 1.3479 1.3317 1.3366 –.0105 419March 1.3469 1.3485 1.3319 1.3370 –.0105 142,180Swiss Franc (CME)-CHF 125,000; $ per CHFMarch 1.1320 1.1341 1.1266 1.1271 –.0069 53,139June 1.1391 1.1370 1.1299 1.1302 –.0069 80AustralianDollar (CME)-AUD 100,000; $ perAUDJan .7594 .7596 .7526 .7539 –.0062 725March .7593 .7601 .7529 .7543 –.0062 134,467MexicanPeso (CME)-MXN500,000; $ perMXNJan .04922 .05002 .04944 .04952 –.00058 100March .04963 .04968 .04908 .04920 –.00057 142,680Euro (CME)-€125,000; $ per €Jan 1.2258 1.2275 1.2171 1.2179 –.0086 1,871

March 1.2271 1.2291 1.2185 1.2194 –.0086 652,063

IndexFuturesMiniDJ Industrial Average (CBT)-$5 x indexMarch 30100 30150 29879 29912 –201 81,464June 29915 30018 29764 29790 –200 72S&P500 Index (CME)-$250 x indexMarch 3694.70 3694.70 3664.80 3677.30 –8.50 3,908Mini S&P500 (CME)-$50 x indexMarch 3685.00 3695.00 3663.75 3677.25 –8.50 2,471,841June 3676.50 3684.75 3654.00 3666.75 –8.75 3,984Mini S&PMidcap400 (CME)-$100 x indexMarch 2278.10 2293.10 2255.70 2288.00 10.90 54,398June … 2290.00 2278.40 2301.60 11.30 n.a.MiniNasdaq 100 (CME)-$20 x indexMarch 12698.25 12760.00 12593.50 12710.00 26.50 211,698June ... ... ... 12694.75 26.00 999Mini Russell 2000 (CME)-$50 x indexMarch 1964.10 1989.00 1944.90 1985.00 18.90 524,676June 1940.20 1980.10 1940.20 1981.90 21.10 9Mini Russell 1000 (CME)-$50 x indexMarch 2085.70 2091.60 2078.80 2086.30 –.20 7,974U.S. Dollar Index (ICE-US)-$1,000 x indexMarch 90.10 90.62 89.95 90.55 .60 34,217June 90.06 90.55 90.06 90.51 .60 528

Source: FactSet

Global GovernmentBonds:MappingYieldsYields and spreads over or underU.S. Treasurys on benchmark two-year and 10-year government bonds inselected other countries; arrows indicatewhether the yield rose(s) or fell (t) in the latest session

Country/ Yield (%) Spread Under/Over U.S. Treasurys, in basis pointsCoupon (%) Maturity, in years Latest(l)-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 Previous Month ago Year ago Latest Prev Year ago

0.125 U.S. 2 0.119 t l 0.123 0.161 1.6270.875 10 0.917t l 0.941 0.828 1.916

2.250 Australia 2 0.095 t l 0.098 0.105 0.886 -2.6 -2.7 -75.01.000 10 0.965 t l 0.973 0.875 1.296 4.4 3.7 -62.3

0.000 France 2 -0.703 t l -0.693 -0.682 -0.625 -82.4 -81.8 -226.10.000 10 -0.353 t l -0.338 -0.346 0.057 -127.4 -127.4 -186.1

0.000 Germany 2 -0.736 t l -0.731 -0.752 -0.629 -85.7 -85.6 -226.40.000 10 -0.594 t l -0.579 -0.580 -0.250 -151.5 -151.5 -216.8

0.050 Italy 2 -0.410 t l -0.398 -0.393 -0.170 -53.1 -52.3 -180.60.900 10 0.554 t l 0.575 0.633 1.412 -36.8 -36.1 -50.6

0.100 Japan 2 -0.137 t l -0.130 -0.147 -0.090 -25.8 -25.5 -172.50.100 10 0.010 t l 0.014 0.017 0.011 -91.1 -92.2 -190.7

0.400 Spain 2 -0.611 s l -0.622 -0.585 -0.399 -73.2 -74.7 -203.51.250 10 0.050 t l 0.059 0.070 0.445 -87.1 -87.8 -147.3

0.125 U.K. 2 -0.147 t l -0.105 -0.040 0.550 -26.8 -23.0 -108.54.750 10 0.184 t l 0.207 0.305 0.785 -73.7 -72.9 -113.4

Source: Tullett Prebon, Tradeweb ICE U.S. Treasury Close

CorporateDebtPrices of firms' bonds reflect factors including investors' economic, sectoral and company-specificexpectationsInvestment-grade spreads that tightened themost…

Spread*, in basis pointsIssuer Symbol Coupon (%) Yield (%) Maturity Current One-day change Lastweek

Paypal Holdings PYPL 1.350 0.26 June 1, ’23 10 –14 19

EatonVance EV 3.625 0.49 June 15, ’23 32 –10 n.a.

GlaxoSmithKline Capital … 3.375 0.36 May15, ’23 20 –8 21

BNPParibas BNP 3.500 0.53 March 1, ’23 36 –7 39

Chubb INAHoldings … 2.700 0.35 March 13, ’23 18 –7 n.a.

LloydsBanking LLOYDS 4.582 1.52 Dec. 10, ’25 116 –7 118

MorganStanley MS 3.700 0.75 Oct. 23, ’24 38 –7 49

Toronto–DominionBank TD 3.500 0.23 July 19, ’23 6 –7 14

…Andspreads thatwidened themostMarathonOil MRO 6.600 4.75 Oct. 1, ’37 309 22 307

DuPont deNemours DD 2.169 1.49 May1, ’23 132 8 132

VerizonCommunications VZ 4.522 2.93 Sept. 15, ’48 127 7 126

Enel Finance International ENELIM 3.625 1.42 May25, ’27 50 6 52

BMWUSCapital … 3.800 0.52 April 6, ’23 35 5 35

Georgia–Pacific … 0.625 0.60 May15, ’24 23 5 n.a.

MorganStanley MS 3.750 0.45 Feb. 25, ’23 28 4 36

HSBCHoldings HSBC 4.250 1.44 Aug. 18, ’25 107 3 104

High-yield issueswith thebiggest price increases…BondPrice as%of face value

Issuer Symbol Coupon (%) Yield (%) Maturity Current One-day change Lastweek

HCA HCA 5.875 1.43 May1, ’23 110.250 0.60 109.750

Continental Resources CLR 5.750 4.42 Jan. 15, ’31 110.250 0.51 110.250

AmericanAirlines AAL 5.000 14.12 June 1, ’22 88.500 0.50 88.500

Sprint S 7.125 2.24 June 15, ’24 116.250 0.50 117.010

Navient NAVI 6.625 2.32 July 26, ’21 102.500 0.46 102.500

DishDBS … 5.875 4.32 Nov. 15, ’24 105.500 0.44 106.500

FordMotor Credit … 5.875 1.57 Aug. 2, ’21 102.580 0.33 102.125

Netflix NFLX 5.875 3.08 Nov. 15, ’28 119.430 0.31 119.400

…Andwith thebiggest price decreasesDishDBS … 7.750 5.27 July 1, ’26 111.750 –0.50 114.249

UnitedAirlinesHoldings UAL 4.875 5.86 Jan. 15, ’25 96.500 –0.50 99.604

PrimeSecurity ServicesBorrower PRSESE 5.750 3.93 April 15, ’26 108.625 –0.41 109.500

Dell DELL 7.100 2.42 April 15, ’28 131.162 –0.34 131.000

FordMotor Credit … 3.350 2.57 Nov. 1, ’22 101.399 –0.30 101.622

Sprint S 6.000 1.89 Nov. 15, ’22 107.595 –0.28 107.871

AmericanAirlines AAL 3.750 11.43 March 1, ’25 75.000 –0.25 75.625

GrafTechFinance … 4.625 4.53 Dec. 15, ’28 100.625 –0.25 100.537

*Estimated spread over 2-year, 3-year, 5-year, 10-year or 30-year hot-runTreasury; 100basis points=one percentage pt.; change in spread shown is for Z-spread.Note: Data are for themost active issue of bondswithmaturities of two years ormore

Source:MarketAxess

BroadMarketBloombergBarclays

2287.10 7.3 U.S. Aggregate 1.160 1.020 2.350

U.S. Corporate IndexesBloombergBarclays

3442.46 9.3 U.S. Corporate 1.800 1.800 4.580

3103.11 7.1 Intermediate 1.150 1.150 4.400

5152.34 13.1 Long term 2.830 2.730 4.930

699.90 8.5 Double-A-rated 1.440 1.300 3.360

917.45 9.3 Triple-B-rated 2.060 2.060 5.350

HighYieldBonds ICEBofA

491.68 5.3 HighYield Constrained 4.526 4.439 11.400

452.05 3.3 Triple-C-rated 8.754 8.649 19.071

3303.99 3.5 HighYield 100 3.893 3.589 10.740

444.82 5.5 Global HighYield Constrained 4.439 4.369 11.310

337.12 2.6 EuropeHighYield Constrained 2.881 2.464 8.183

U.SAgencyBloombergBarclays

1866.44 5.4 U.SAgency 0.490 0.460 1.920

1626.81 4.1 10-20 years 0.370 0.340 1.810

4267.80 11.8 20-plus years 1.640 1.170 2.450

2926.36 7.0 Yankee 1.400 1.400 3.500

Bonds | wsj.com/market-data/bonds/benchmarks

TrackingBondBenchmarksReturn on investment and spreads over Treasurys and/or yields paid to investors comparedwith 52-weekhighs and lows for different types of bondsTotalreturn YTD total Yield (%)close return (%) Index Latest Low High

*Constrained indexes limit individual issuer concentrations to 2%; theHighYield 100 are the 100 largest bonds † In local currency §Euro-zone bonds

** EMBIGlobal Index Sources: ICEDataServices; BloombergBarclays; J.P.Morgan

Totalreturn YTD total Yield (%)close return (%) Index Latest Low High

Mortgage-BackedBloombergBarclays

2229.27 3.8 Mortgage-Backed 1.300 0.930 2.690

2176.25 3.6 GinnieMae (GNMA) 0.780 0.290 2.660

1316.61 3.9 Fanniemae (FNMA) 1.480 1.110 2.690

2020.69 3.8 FreddieMac (FHLMC) 1.460 1.080 2.710

595.35 5.2 MuniMaster 0.871 0.838 3.441

421.30 5.6 7-12 year 0.859 0.771 3.447

481.94 6.4 12-22 year 1.270 1.224 3.690

468.20 6.2 22-plus year 1.899 1.765 4.123

Global Government J.P.Morgan†

615.41 5.6 Global Government 0.550 0.390 1.060

861.47 7.2 Canada 0.850 0.590 1.740

420.89 5.2 EMU§ 0.043 0.010 0.794

793.59 4.6 France -0.120 -0.160 0.430

553.08 3.2 Germany -0.490 -0.740 -0.050

295.76 -0.8 Japan 0.280 0.040 0.320

619.24 3.9 Netherlands -0.410 -0.540 0.080

1097.38 9.2 U.K. 0.530 0.390 1.180

929.53 5.4 EmergingMarkets ** 4.365 4.351 7.480

DividendChangesDividend announcements fromDecember 22.

Amount Payable /Company Symbol Yld% New/Old Frq Record

Amount Payable /Company Symbol Yld% New/Old Frq Record

IncreasedPennyMacMortgage Inv Tr PMT 10.5 .47 /.40 Q Jan29 /Dec31

ForeignCerveceriasUnidasADR CCU 2.4 .08636 SA Dec22 /

Amount Payable /Company Symbol Yld% New/Old Frq Record

Amount Payable /Company Symbol Yld% New/Old Frq RecordDianaShip 8.875PfdB DSXpB 8.8 .55469 Q Jan15 /Jan14GerdauADR GGB 0.5 .02671 Dec22 /

SpecialAerojet Rocketdyne AJRD ... 5.00 Mar24 /Mar10Granite PointMtgTrust GPMT 12.6 .25 Jan22 /Dec31

KEY:A: annual;M:monthly; Q: quarterly; r: revised; SA: semiannual; S2:1: stock split and ratio; SO: spin-off.

COMMODITIES wsj.com/market-data/commodities

ShowroomADVERTISEMENT

To advertise: 800-366-3975 orWSJ.com/classifieds

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52-Wk %Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg

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52-Wk %Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg

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52-Wk %Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg

JawsSpitfire SPFR.U 11.28 0.4JohnsonOutdoors JOUT 109.24 4.4JPMorganPfdGG JPMpJ 27.82 -0.3JumiaTech JMIA 48.16 14.2JuniperIndlA JIH 11.14 6.3JuniperIndlWt JIH.WS 2.13 1.2JupiterWellnessWt JUPWW 0.99 13.0KinsTech KINZU 10.30 1.0KenonHoldings KEN 27.48 3.2KeysightTechs KEYS 129.74 1.4KingswoodAcqn KWAC.U 10.34 0.5Kirkland's KIRK 20.88 1.5KodiakSciences KOD 153.58 1.5Kopin KOPN 3.00 5.0KornitDigital KRNT 91.33 1.2KymeraTherap KYMR 79.32 3.5LGLSysAcqnWt DFNS.WS 1.78 7.0LandcadiaII LCAHU 29.40 17.7LefterisAcqnA LFTR 10.87 3.4Lemonade LMND 119.50 9.2Leslie's LESL 25.93 9.8LightpathTech LPTH 4.98 39.9LightspeedPos LSPD 68.05 10.6Limbach LMB 13.86 0.5Lindsay LNN 126.64 -0.3LiveOakAcqnWt LOAK.WS 8.10 7.1LiveOakAcqnUn LOAK.U 26.12 11.3LiveOakAcqn LOAK 21.37 9.6Livent LTHM 19.80 7.3LivePerson LPSN 67.98 4.5LogitechIntl LOGI 95.94 ...LongevityAcqnWt LOACW 0.94 18.4LongviewAcqn LGVW.U 20.80 15.8LongviewAcqnA LGVW 18.70 15.5LongviewAcqnWt LGVW.WS 5.50 26.9Lovesac LOVE 45.85 6.6LumberLiqu LL 34.87 4.0Lumentum LITE 98.41 9.0Macom Tech MTSI 53.96 3.2MP Materials MP 40.74 9.6MP Matls Wt MP.WS 20.51 5.4MTS Systems MTSC 58.84 0.3MagnaIntl MGA 66.87 4.1Magnite MGNI 28.86 4.1MalaccaStraits MLACU 10.58 1.4MalaccaStraitsAcqn MLAC 10.34 2.0MalibuBoats MBUU 68.48 3.2MallardAcqn MACUU 11.23 0.8MallardAcqnWt MACUW 0.85 18.1MammothEnergy TUSK 4.72 -0.2ManhattanAssoc MANH 106.82 2.6MarathonPatent MARA 14.08 21.5MarineMax HZO 37.44 4.0MasterCraftBoat MCFT 27.73 5.1Materialise MTLS 59.52 19.4MaxLinear MXL 35.61 2.6MercadoLibre MELI 1735.75 2.0MersanaTherap MRSN 27.67 3.0MesabiTrust MSB 29.36 0.9MetLifePfdF METpF 27.48 -0.4MicroVision MVIS 9.74 60.7Mimecast MIME 58.45 6.7MiMedx MDXG 10.38 1.4MitekSystems MITK 19.88 3.7Moelis MC 46.80 2.3MohawkGroup MWK 16.92 14.4MongoDB MDB 397.39 3.3MonocleAcqnWt MNCLW 1.47 27.6MontesArchimedes MAACU 11.15 2.8MorganStanleyPfdA MSpA 25.12 -0.5MorganStanleyPfdE MSpE 30.09 -0.2MotionAcqnWt MOTNW 2.00 32.1MudrickCapII MUDSU 10.23 0.4

52-Wk %Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg

NICE NICE 277.28 1.8NanoDimension NNDM 9.54 8.0NanoStringTech NSTG 74.10 4.2NantKwest NK 19.37 9.9Natera NTRA 111.73 5.4NatlGeneralPfdB NGHCO 25.68 0.3NatrlOrderAcqn NOACU 11.85 1.7NatureSunshine NATR 15.20 0.5NeoGames NGMS 31.71 6.0NeoGenomics NEO 56.66 4.5Net1UEPS UEPS 4.70 8.2NetApp NTAP 66.68 2.5Network1Techs NTIP 3.50 -0.7Neuronetics STIM 10.05 4.9Nevro NVRO 185.71 1.8NewBeginnings NBA.U 10.90 0.9NewBeginningsWt NBA.WS 0.95 12.5NewProvidenceA NPA 12.47 4.2NewProvidenceWt NPAWW 3.79 12.1NewProvidenceAcqn NPAUU 14.17 7.7NewHoldInvt NHIC 10.19 2.4NoahHoldings NOAH 42.80 1.7NorthernGenesisAcqnWt NGA.WS 4.33 6.3NorthernStar STIC.U 15.60 10.1NorthernStarAcqnWt STIC.WS 5.47 12.1NorthernStarAcqn STIC 17.51 10.3NovusCapitalWt NOVSW 5.74 1.9NuanceComms NUAN 44.93 -0.9OTR Acqn OTRAU 11.11 1.2OakStreetHealth OSH 64.39 1.0OaktreeAcqn OAC.U 14.70 8.6OaktreeAcqn OAC 13.90 7.8OaktreeAcqnII A OACB 11.62 4.1OaktreeAcqnIIWt OACB.WS 2.12 23.0OaktreeAcqnII OACB.U 11.64 4.1OcwenFinancial OCN 32.11 14.6Okta OKTA 285.91 3.7Olin OLN 26.19 -0.5OncoSecMedical ONCS 6.92 8.1OptimizeRx OPRX 34.22 11.6Oracle ORCL 66.00 1.0Organogenesis ORGO 6.50 5.5OrionEnergySys OESX 10.89 3.7Orphazyme ORPH 12.20 8.0OspreyTechWt SFTW.WS 1.81 8.8OspreyTechA SFTW 10.90 -1.4Otonomy OTIC 6.65 -5.7Owens&Minor OMI 30.90 0.2OwensCorning OC 78.18 -0.1OxfordImmunotec OXFD 18.17 -2.8PJT Partners PJT 79.39 -0.3PTC PTC 121.55 -0.1PTK Acqn Un PTK.U 11.23 1.7PTK Acqn Wt PTK.WS 1.04 17.6PacBiosciCA PACB 27.29 17.0PagerDuty PD 48.29 3.6PaloAltoNtwks PANW 372.50 4.5PartyCity PRTY 6.82 4.2PayaWt PAYAW 3.76 1.7Paychex PAYX 97.19 ...PaycomSoftware PAYC 466.54 4.4Paylocity PCTY 213.30 4.3PayPal PYPL 243.68 2.4Pegasystems PEGA 138.41 2.4Peloton PTON 166.23 11.6PennNational PENN 96.59 3.2PennyMacFin PFSI 69.82 5.1PeridotAcqn PDAC.U 11.20 1.3Personalis PSNL 45.12 7.3PlugPower PLUG 36.74 10.3PLxPharma PLXP 6.90 3.2PraxisPrecision PRAX 54.56 5.8

52-Wk %Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg

Precigen PGEN 10.63 5.4PreludeTherap PRLD 83.39 6.3ProfoundMed PROF 22.91 12.0Proofpoint PFPT 136.97 5.0PropertySolns PSACU 11.05 ...PropTechAcqnWt PTACW 3.34 14.6PropTechAcqnA PTAC 15.24 18.2PropTechAcqnUn PTACU 15.50 11.9ProtagonistTherap PTGX 25.65 7.0ProtoLabs PRLB 186.63 12.1PrudentialNt58 PRS 28.50 -0.1PrudentialNts2060 PFH 26.12 -0.1PrudentialPfd PUKpA 28.69 -0.1PublicStoragePfM PSApM 26.81 -0.5Pulmonx LUNG 60.65 8.4PureStorage PSTG 23.82 2.9Q2Holdings QTWO 129.40 2.5QellAcqnWt QELLW 3.97 4.6Qualys QLYS 125.92 8.1QuantumScape QS 132.73 38.7QuantumScapeWt QS.WS 43.48 57.6QuinStreet QNST 22.42 2.0Qumu QUMU 7.06 1.3RMG Acqn RMG.U 30.90 6.7RMGAcqn RMG 27.10 6.2RMG Acqn Wt RMG.WS 9.70 14.5RMGAcqnII RMGBU 10.70 ...R1RCM RCM 23.47 2.5RadaElectronic RADA 10.05 6.5RadiusGlbInfr RADI 14.20 7.8Radware RDWR 27.18 3.9Rapid7 RPD 94.60 4.5RealReal REAL 22.03 10.3RechargeAcqn RCHGU 10.60 ...Redfin RDFN 83.71 4.6ReinventTechWt RTP.WS 3.72 13.1ReinventTechPtrs RTP.U 12.45 2.3ReinventTechZ RTPZ.U 11.85 ...RekorSystems REKR 8.85 9.0ReneSola SOL 12.00 26.3RenewableEnergy REGI 80.99 1.9Rent-A-Center RCII 41.42 1.1Repay RPAY 28.42 3.1ReplayAcqnWt RPLA.WS 1.79 -3.2ResideoTech REZI 21.46 8.5Revolve RVLV 32.40 2.9RiceAcqnWt RICE.WS 3.30 8.8RingCentral RNG 403.58 2.4RiotBlockchain RIOT 15.70 32.7RodgersSilicVal RSVAU 13.97 -0.1Roku ROKU 361.68 0.2RothCHAcquisitionI ROCHU 18.92 2.9RyderSystem R 64.37 -0.1SC Health Wt SCPE.WS 1.47 -1.4SCVX Wt SCVX.WS 1.95 -0.5SMTC SMTX 5.05 0.8SPS Commerce SPSC 110.42 3.6SVB Fin SIVB 372.55 0.2SageTherap SAGE 88.00 4.5SailPointTechs SAIL 58.91 3.7SanaraMedTech SMTI 53.85 -0.6SandbridgeAcqnWt SBG.WS 1.50 18.0SandbridgeAcqn SBG.U 10.60 1.4SangamoTherap SGMO 18.64 18.9SareptaTherap SRPT 181.83 1.0ScholarRock SRRK 53.72 2.5ScIONTechGrowthI SCOAU 10.40 0.8SeaSpine SPNE 18.98 3.1SeelosTherap SEEL 1.84 1.1SempraEnNts79 SREA 28.13 0.3SevenOaksAcqnUn SVOKU 10.35 0.3ShattuckLabs STTK 53.91 16.7Shift4Paymts FOUR 73.75 4.3

52-Wk %Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg

ShockwaveMed SWAV 105.09 2.2Shopify SHOP 1285.19 6.7SigilonTherap SGTX 54.32 9.2SilvergateCapital SI 68.38 20.9SimplyGoodFoods SMPL 29.49 10.9SiriusIntlIns SG 12.60 0.8SiteOneLandscape SITE 159.22 1.0SiyataMobileWt SYTAW 5.75 5.7Smith-Midland SMID 9.36 -1.3SocialCapHedV Wt IPOE.WS 3.50 12.5SocialCapHedII IPOC.U 15.49 ...SocialCapHedIII IPOC 14.17 1.5SocialCapHedIV IPOD.U 15.39 0.8SocialCapHedIV A IPOD 14.77 1.5SocialCapHedosIVWt IPOD.WS 4.84 -2.9SocialCapHedV IPOE.U 13.20 2.1SocialCapHedV A IPOE 12.14 1.9SocialCapHedVI IPOF.U 12.85 0.8SocialCapHedVI A IPOF 12.05 1.1SocialCapHedVI Wt IPOF.WS 3.58 3.6SOQUIMICH SQM 50.28 4.3SoftwareAcqnGrpII SAIIU 10.45 0.5SolarEdgeTech SEDG 335.80 1.2Sonos SONO 25.29 2.5SouthMtnWt SMMCW 4.45 2.0SouthernNt2016A SOJB 26.93 0.6SouthernNts2020C SOJE 26.39 -0.4SpartacusAcqnWt TMTSW 1.20 8.9SpartacusAcqnUn TMTSU 11.14 1.7SperoTherap SPRO 23.45 14.5SpringValleyA SV 10.82 4.2SpringWorks SWTX 79.33 1.8Square SQ 243.38 3.5St.Joe JOE 45.41 5.5StableRoadAcqn SRAC 18.25 7.6StrPeakEnerA STPK 20.75 8.6StrPeakEnerWt STPK.WS 5.23 4.4StarPeakEner STPK.U 22.65 8.6StepStone STEP 36.66 4.1StifelFinlPfdC SFpC 27.93 -0.3StitchFix SFIX 72.24 1.1StoneCo STNE 86.74 0.7StoneMor STON 2.45 12.4Stratasys SSYS 22.79 6.8Strattec STRT 52.91 -0.3SummitTherap SMMT 6.10 1.0SumoLogic SUMO 35.70 -1.3SunnovaEnergy NOVA 48.74 1.9SunOpta STKL 10.69 4.4SunPower SPWR 32.19 11.4SurfaceOncol SURF 11.68 7.8SustOppsAcqnA SOAC 10.80 0.1SwitchbackEner SBE.U 52.67 12.7SwitchbackEnerA SBE 46.58 16.0SwitchbackEnerWt SBE.WS 18.10 26.2Synopsys SNPS 258.48 1.5SyrosPharm SYRS 15.65 9.0TG Therap TGTX 56.11 -0.9TPGPaceBenFin TPGY.U 31.22 10.8TPGPaceBenA TPGY 29.85 15.9TPGPaceBenWt TPGY.WS 9.25 9.2TPGPaceTechOpps PACE.U 12.67 -0.9TPIComposites TPIC 58.87 8.8TWC Tech II A TWCT 10.80 0.7TailwindAcqnA TWND 10.88 2.1TailwindAcqnWt TWND.WS 1.80 8.2TailwindAcqn TWND.U 11.32 1.7TattooedChefWt TTCFW 15.15 3.2Telos TLS 30.00 3.5Tenable TENB 55.66 5.7ThayerVentures TVACU 10.50 -0.1ThunderBridgeII THBRU 13.30 6.6

52-Wk %Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg

ThunderBridgeIIA THBR 11.70 2.3ThunderBridgeIIWt THBRW 3.10 8.0TortoiseAcqnII SNPR.U 12.15 1.3TottenhamAcqnIRt TOTAR 0.68 28.0TradeDesk TTD 972.80 3.8TravelCenters TA 35.99 1.8TrebiaAcqn TREB.U 11.60 -0.4TrebiaAcquisition TREB 10.93 0.2Trex TREX 86.48 1.4Trimble TRMB 67.48 -0.7TrinityIndustries TRN 26.69 1.1Trinseo TSE 48.75 2.3Trupanion TRUP 122.34 4.2TurningPoint TPB 44.99 1.2TurningPtTherap TPTX 134.92 -0.6Tuscan THCB 18.73 22.9TuscanWt THCBW 4.96 45.721 Vianet VNET 34.47 3.4Twilio TWLO 374.49 1.6TwistBiosci TWST 168.49 10.5USA Tech USAT 11.40 -0.3Ubiquiti UI 282.11 2.6UltragenyxPharm RARE 175.58 3.3Unisys UIS 18.66 1.1UnitySoftware U 173.59 4.2UpFintech TIGR 8.32 33.6Upwork UPWK 41.42 -1.5UtzBrands UTZ 22.94 5.1UtzBrandsWt UTZ.WS 11.37 10.4VPC Impact VIHAU 10.55 ...VaronisSystems VRNS 176.25 5.0VascularBiogenics VBLT 2.05 -2.1VeecoInstr VECO 19.34 2.8VelodyneLidarWt VLDRW 14.41 20.0Vericel VCEL 28.51 2.4VerintSystems VRNT 64.06 3.2Vertex VERX 36.59 5.3Vicor VICR 96.64 1.7VisionMarineTech VMAR 17.90 -1.3VistaOutdoor VSTO 26.63 22.0VistaGenTherap VTGN 1.55 2.9Vuzix VUZI 10.87 19.4WestportFuelSys WPRT 5.50 4.3Willdan WLDN 42.87 5.2Workday WDAY 258.37 6.4Workiva WK 93.69 3.9XPEL XPEL 54.96 -1.6Yeti YETI 74.82 2.9ZaiLab ZLAB 130.93 1.4ZaniteAcqn ZNTEU 10.35 0.1Zendesk ZEN 144.19 2.1Zillow C Z 144.30 3.1Zillow A ZG 149.44 3.8Zscaler ZS 208.07 3.6

LowsAciesAcqnA ACAC 10.15 -0.4GileadSciences GILD 56.81 -2.6Histogen HSTO 1.07 -3.5Immunome IMNM 9.90 -9.6LuxHlthTechAcqn LUXA 10.30 -4.4NewYorkCityReit NYC 7.65 -6.7Q&K Intl QK 2.80 -4.2Qutoutiao QTT 1.90 -6.4SFL SFL 5.85 -1.7Soligenix SNGX 1.21 -49.3TidewaterWt TDW.WS 0.14 -9.9TimberPharm TMBR 0.67 4.0USCellular5.5%SrNt UZE 24.91 -0.7VenusConcept VERO 1.84 -25.6ViriosTherapeutics VIRI 8.70 -9.2VistraWt VST.WS.A 0.24 3.7

52-Wk %Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

The following explanations apply to the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE Americanand Nasdaq Stock Market stocks that hit a new 52-week intraday high or low in the latestsession. % CHG-Daily percentage change from the previous trading session.

BANKRATE.COM®MMA,Savings andCDsAverageYields ofMajorBanks Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Type MMA 1-MO 2-MO 3-MO 6-MO 1-YR 2-YR 2.5YR 5YR

National averageSavings 0.08 0.06 0.06 0.09 0.12 0.17 0.20 0.17 0.31Jumbos 0.17 0.07 0.06 0.09 0.13 0.18 0.22 0.18 0.32Weekly changeSavings -0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00Jumbos 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00

ConsumerSavingsRatesBelow are the top federally insured offers available nationwide according to Bankrate.com'sweeklysurveyofhighestyields.For latestoffersandreviewsofthesefinancial institutions,pleasevisit bankrate.com/banking/reviews. Information is believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed.

Highyield savingsBank Yield Bank YieldPhone number Minimum (%) Phone number Minimum (%)

Moneymarket and savings account Six-monthCDVioBank $100 0.66 TABBank $1,000 0.50(888) 999-9170 (800) 355-3063TABBank $0 0.65 Presidential Bank, FSB $1,000 0.50(800) 355-3063 (800) 799-1424CFGCommunityBank $1,000 0.62 Goldwater Bank $5,000 0.50(888) 205-8388 (480) 281-8200

One-monthCD One-year CDLoneStar Bank $1,000 0.20 ConnexusCredit Union $5,000 0.71(713) 358-9400 (800) 845-5025StateBank of India California $1,000 0.15 CFGCommunityBank $500 0.67(877) 707-1995 (888) 205-8388WashingtonSavingsBank $500 0.10 BrioDirect $500 0.65(978) 458-7999 (877) 369-2746

Two-monthCD Two-year CDLoneStar Bank $1,000 0.20 ConnexusCredit Union $5,000 0.81(713) 358-9400 (800) 845-5025StateBank of India California $1,000 0.15 Goldwater Bank $5,000 0.80(877) 707-1995 (480) 281-8200VirtualBank $10,000 0.15 ComenityDirect $1,500 0.75(877) 998-2265 (833) 755-4354

Three-monthCD Five-year CDBrioDirect $500 0.50 ConnexusCredit Union $5,000 1.01(877) 369-2746 (800) 845-5025Goldwater Bank $5,000 0.35 Goldwater Bank $5,000 0.95(480) 281-8200 (480) 281-8200LoneStar Bank $1,000 0.25 ComenityDirect $1,500 0.90(713) 358-9400 (833) 755-4354

Highyield jumbos -Minimum is $100,000

Moneymarket and savings account Six-monthCDCFGCommunityBank 0.72 MerrickBank 0.50(888) 205-8388 (866) 638-6851LuanaSavingsBank 0.60 TABBank 0.50(800) 666-2012 (800) 355-3063BankDirect 0.60 BankDirect 0.50(877) 839-2737 (877) 839-2737

One-monthCD One-year CDLoneStar Bank 0.20 ConnexusCredit Union 0.71(713) 358-9400 (800) 845-5025StateBank of India California 0.15 CFGCommunityBank 0.67(877) 707-1995 (888) 205-8388VirtualBank 0.10 LiveOakBank 0.65(877) 998-2265 (866) 518-0286

Two-monthCD Two-year CDLoneStar Bank 0.20 ConnexusCredit Union 0.81(713) 358-9400 (800) 845-5025StateBank of India California 0.15 Goldwater Bank 0.80(877) 707-1995 (480) 281-8200VirtualBank 0.15 ComenityDirect 0.75(877) 998-2265 (833) 755-4354

Three-monthCD Five-year CDBrioDirect 0.50 ConnexusCredit Union 1.01(877) 369-2746 (800) 845-5025Goldwater Bank 0.35 Goldwater Bank 0.95(480) 281-8200 (480) 281-8200LoneStar Bank 0.25 ComenityDirect 0.90(713) 358-9400 (833) 755-4354

Notes: Accounts are federally insured up to $250,000per person. Yields are based onmethod ofcompounding and rate stated for the lowest required opening deposit to earn interest. CDfigures are for fixed rates only.MMA:Allows six (6) third-party transfers permonth, three (3) ofwhichmay be checks. Rates are subject to change.

Source: Bankrate.com, a publication of Bankrate, Inc., PalmBeachGardens, FL 33410Internet:www.bankrate.com

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52-Wk %Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg

NEW HIGHS AND LOWS WSJ.com/newhighs

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P2JW358000-0-B00900-1--------NS

B10 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Get real-time U.S. stock quotes and track most-active stocks, newhighs/lows and mutual funds. Available free at WSJMarkets.com

ConsumerRates andReturns to InvestorU.S. consumer ratesA consumer rate against itsbenchmark over the past year

0.00

0.40

0.80

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1.60%

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F M A M J J A S O N D

t

Money marketaccount yields

t Federal-fundstarget rate

Selected ratesMoneyMarket/SavingsAccts

Bankrate.comavg†: 0.20%ableBanking, a division ofNortheastBank 0.50%Lewiston,ME 877-505-1933

ColoradoFederal SavingsBank 0.50%GreenwoodVillage, CO 877-484-2372

First InternetBankof Indiana 0.50%Indianapolis, IN 888-873-3424

LoneStarBank 0.50%Houston, TX 713-358-9400

SallieMaeBank 0.55%Salt LakeCity, UT 877-346-2756

Yield/Rate (%) 52-WeekRange (%) 3-yr chgInterest rate Last (l)Week ago Low 0 2 4 6 8 High (pct pts)

Federal-funds rate target 0.00-0.25 0.00-0.25 0.00 l 1.50 -1.25Prime rate* 3.25 3.25 3.25 l 4.75 -1.25Libor, 3-month 0.24 0.23 0.20 l 1.96 -1.45Moneymarket, annual yield 0.20 0.20 0.19 l 0.58 -0.14Five-year CD, annual yield 0.58 0.58 0.58 l 1.41 -0.9230-yearmortgage, fixed† 2.89 2.86 2.86 l 4.22 -1.0815-yearmortgage, fixed† 2.38 2.41 2.37 l 3.57 -1.01Jumbomortgages, $510,400-plus† 2.89 2.87 2.87 l 4.36 -1.46Five-year adjmortgage (ARM)† 3.19 3.19 2.85 l 4.59 -0.81New-car loan, 48-month 4.02 4.02 4.02 l 4.50 0.69Bankrate.com rates based on survey of over 4,800 online banks. *Base rate posted by 70% of the nation's largestbanks.† Excludes closing costs.

Sources: FactSet; Dow JonesMarket Data; Bankrate.com

BenchmarkYieldsandRatesTreasury yield curveYield to maturity of current bills,notes and bonds

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50%

1

month(s)3 6 1

years2 3 5 7 10 20 30

maturity

t

Tradeweb ICETuesday Close

tOne year ago

Forex RaceYen, euro vs. dollar; dollar vs.major U.S. trading partners

–10

–5

0

5

10%

2020

Euro

s

Yens

WSJ Dollar indexs

Sources: Tradeweb ICEU.S. Treasury Close; Tullett Prebon; DowJonesMarketData

WklyPctChgLatest YTD

Region/Country Index Close Net chg % chg % chg

World MSCIACWI 633.65 –0.95 –0.15 12.1MSCIACWI ex-USA 317.75 –0.83 –0.26 5.3MSCIWorld 2643.07 –1.90 –0.07 12.1MSCIEmergingMarkets 1248.70 –8.31 –0.66 12.0

Americas MSCIACAmericas 1447.46 –0.86 –0.06 15.9Canada S&P/TSXComp 17552.46 51.57 0.29 2.9LatinAmer. MSCIEMLatinAmerica 2412.01 12.20 0.51 –17.3Brazil SaoPauloBovespa 116636.18 813.61 0.70 0.9Chile Santiago IPSA 2867.09 18.52 0.65 –14.1Mexico S&P/BMV IPC 42601.71 –644.53 –1.49 –2.2

EMEA StoxxEurope600 391.25 4.56 1.18 –5.9Eurozone EuroStoxx 391.44 5.36 1.39 –3.1Belgium Bel-20 3607.72 37.56 1.05 –8.8Denmark OMXCopenhagen20 1452.58 10.59 0.73 27.9France CAC40 5466.86 73.52 1.36 –8.6Germany DAX 13418.11 171.81 1.30 1.3Israel TelAviv 1441.64 17.80 1.25 –14.4Italy FTSEMIB 21844.33 433.82 2.03 –7.1Netherlands AEX 617.50 8.11 1.33 2.1Russia RTS Index 1351.43 15.50 1.16 –12.8SouthAfrica FTSE/JSEAll-Share 58619.75 –95.12 –0.16 2.7Spain IBEX35 7934.17 144.41 1.85 –16.9Sweden OMXStockholm 755.95 7.42 0.99 11.0Switzerland SwissMarket 10403.37 97.85 0.95 –2.0Turkey BIST 100 1404.97 20.54 1.48 22.8U.K. FTSE 100 6453.16 36.84 0.57 –14.4U.K. FTSE250 19950.72 258.61 1.31 –8.8

Asia-Pacific MSCIACAsiaPacific 193.25 –2.42 –1.23 13.2Australia S&P/ASX200 6599.60 –70.29 –1.05 –1.3China Shanghai Composite 3356.78 –63.79 –1.86 10.1HongKong HangSeng 26119.25 –187.43 –0.71 –7.3India S&PBSESensex 46006.69 452.73 0.99 11.5Japan Nikkei StockAvg 26436.39 –278.03 –1.04 11.8Singapore Straits Times 2827.32 –19.20 –0.67 –12.3SouthKorea Kospi 2733.68 –44.97 –1.62 24.4Taiwan TAIEX 14177.46 –207.50 –1.44 18.2Thailand SET 1424.39 22.61 1.61 –9.8Sources: FactSet; DowJonesMarketData

MajorU.S. Stock-Market IndexesLatest 52-Week % chg

High Low Close Net chg % chg High Low %chg YTD 3-yr. ann.

DowJones

Industrial Average 30200.20 29992.89 30015.51 -200.94 -0.67 30303.37 18591.93 5.3 5.2 6.6TransportationAvg 12506.79 12416.13 12459.81 -25.72 -0.21 12803.02 6703.63 14.1 14.3 5.3UtilityAverage 846.25 840.22 842.22 -2.74 -0.32 960.89 610.89 -3.4 -4.2 5.3Total StockMarket 38843.04 38594.07 38750.10 8.69 0.02 38947.55 22462.76 17.5 17.3 11.7Barron's 400 848.39 843.58 846.08 1.08 0.13 848.18 455.11 15.2 15.5 5.8

NasdaqStockMarketNasdaqComposite 12840.57 12695.31 12807.92 65.40 0.51 12807.92 6860.67 43.1 42.7 22.5Nasdaq 100 12761.23 12606.42 12717.56 27.30 0.22 12752.06 6994.29 46.2 45.6 25.3

S&P500 Index 3698.26 3676.16 3687.26 -7.66 -0.21 3722.48 2237.40 14.4 14.1 11.2MidCap400 2296.66 2279.89 2292.19 10.01 0.44 2297.91 1218.55 11.2 11.1 6.4SmallCap600 1111.85 1102.00 1109.45 4.85 0.44 1116.74 595.67 8.3 8.6 5.7

Other IndexesRussell 2000 1992.50 1971.18 1989.88 19.55 0.99 1989.88 991.16 18.6 19.3 8.8NYSEComposite 14368.99 14305.62 14321.34 -57.51 -0.40 14516.73 8777.38 3.1 2.9 3.8Value Line 563.70 560.71 562.30 0.28 0.05 568.70 305.71 1.7 1.8 -0.1NYSEArcaBiotech 5980.81 5917.92 5940.43 2.34 0.04 6142.96 3855.67 13.3 17.2 12.2NYSEArcaPharma 676.53 670.76 673.27 -3.31 -0.49 691.70 494.36 2.8 3.0 7.4KBWBank 95.48 94.08 94.11 -1.06 -1.12 114.12 56.19 -16.9 -17.0 -4.5PHLX§Gold/Silver 145.66 139.84 140.53 -4.81 -3.31 161.14 70.12 34.3 31.4 18.7PHLX§Oil Service 44.03 43.23 43.34 -0.42 -0.96 80.99 21.47 -45.6 -44.6 -33.4PHLX§Semiconductor 2750.96 2722.68 2743.97 -3.32 -0.12 2816.27 1286.84 47.4 48.4 29.2CboeVolatility 25.56 23.53 24.23 -0.93 -3.70 82.69 12.10 91.2 75.8 34.8

§NasdaqPHLX Sources: FactSet; DowJonesMarketData

LateTradingMost-activeandbiggestmoversamongNYSE,NYSEArca,NYSEAmer.andNasdaq issues from4p.m. to6p.m.ETas reportedbyelectronictradingservices, securitiesdealers and regional exchanges.Minimumsharepriceof$2andminimumafter-hoursvolumeof50,000shares.

Most-active issues in late tradingVolume AfterHours

Company Symbol (000) Last Net chg % chg High Low

General Electric GE 7,043.8 10.60 -0.01 -0.09 10.65 10.58AT&T T 6,882.9 28.38 -0.02 -0.07 28.54 28.35SPDRS&P500 SPY 5,278.8 366.93 -0.31 -0.08 367.30 366.84iSharesMSCI Brazil ETF EWZ 5,056.1 36.60 ... unch. 36.72 36.43

ZoomInfoTech ZI 4,833.3 46.50 -0.01 -0.02 46.62 45.98VanEckVectorsGoldMiner GDX 4,498.3 35.27 -0.02 -0.06 35.36 35.26Cincinnati Financial CINF 4,401.5 83.96 ... unch. 83.96 83.96Schlumberger SLB 4,317.0 21.36 ... unch. 21.55 21.20

Percentage gainers…Magnite MGNI 2,556.6 31.36 4.22 15.55 33.28 27.11CleanEnergy Fuels CLNE 1,143.6 9.18 0.98 11.95 9.55 8.20AgEagleAerial Systems UAVS 522.2 7.17 0.38 5.60 7.21 6.55LongviewAcquisitionClA LGVW 199.3 18.15 0.89 5.16 18.20 17.20ColonnadeAcqnClA CLA 192.6 14.50 0.67 4.84 14.64 13.70

...And loserscbdMD YCBD 508.5 2.50 -0.38 -13.19 3.06 2.33SpectrumPharmaceuticals SPPI 1,158.4 3.85 -0.40 -9.41 5.50 3.45AbCelleraBiologics ABCL 82.9 44.00 -3.12 -6.62 47.12 42.50AshfordHospitality Trust AHT 504.8 2.29 -0.15 -6.15 2.45 2.15MicroVision MVIS 3,171.3 8.72 -0.55 -5.93 9.45 8.50

TradingDiaryVolume,Advancers, Decliners

NYSE NYSEAmer.

Total volume* 909,070,552 21,530,069Adv. volume* 333,073,464 11,326,947Decl. volume* 566,257,474 9,590,539Issues traded 3,247 281Advances 1,335 123Declines 1,812 145Unchanged 100 13Newhighs 296 14New lows 4 2ClosingArms† 1.30 0.48Block trades* 5,055 208

Nasdaq NYSEArca

Total volume*5,682,590,404 188,407,713Adv. volume*3,792,776,914 48,454,938Decl. volume*1,861,707,174 139,676,222Issues traded 3,842 1,439Advances 2,052 624Declines 1,701 793Unchanged 89 22Newhighs 433 134New lows 12 4ClosingArms† 0.59 1.97Block trades* 41,713 922

* PrimarymarketNYSE, NYSEAmerican NYSEArca only.†(TRIN)A comparison of the number of advancing and decliningissueswith the volumeof shares rising and falling. AnArmsof less than 1 indicates buying demand; above 1indicates selling pressure.

PercentageGainers... Percentage Losers

Volume %chg from Latest Session 52-WeekCompany Symbol (000) 65-day avg Close % chg High Low

Ocugen OCGN 668,376 7811.7 0.81 173.88 0.96 0.17Sundial Growers SNDL 195,125 -9.4 0.48 -5.04 3.88 0.14Apple AAPL 168,093 39.8 131.88 2.85 137.98 53.15MicroVision MVIS 157,038 1953.4 9.27 60.66 9.74 0.15NIOADR NIO 116,915 -31.0 47.58 -2.80 57.20 2.11

JaguarHealth JAGX 98,773 484.5 0.40 16.04 1.08 0.19FuelCell Energy FCEL 93,550 84.2 10.75 14.55 11.50 0.81General Electric GE 88,884 -16.9 10.61 -1.49 13.26 5.48AmericanAirlinesGroup AAL 74,235 -2.1 15.48 -3.85 30.78 8.25Riot Blockchain RIOT 69,835 364.5 14.65 32.65 15.70 0.51* Volumes of 100,000 shares ormore are rounded to the nearest thousand

Volume %chg from Latest Session 52-WeekCompany Symbol (000) 65-day avg Close % chg High Low

ColonnadeAcqnCl A CLA 15,048 16952 13.83 37.20 15.25 9.54Steel PartnersHoldings SPLP 3,052 16318 9.27 1.91 12.54 4.31BigRockPtrsAcqn BRPA 2,532 11215 38.36 55.93 76.99 9.80GlXEmgMktsBd EMBD 402 6885 27.97 0.25 28.04 25.50Juniper Indl Cl A JIH 8,007 4861 11.00 6.28 11.14 9.10

ChinaCustomerRelations CCRC 5,882 3399 3.38 -45.66 10.99 3.32TottenhamAcquisition I TOTA 488 3250 10.97 0.09 11.50 10.30AmerCentQual Divrs Intl QINT 231 3183 47.13 -0.35 47.89 28.11Invsc Financial Preferred PGF 15,092 2029 19.11 -0.57 19.33 12.30MicroVision MVIS 157,038 1953 9.27 60.66 9.74 0.15* Common stocks priced at $2 a share ormorewith an average volumeover 65 trading days of at least5,000 shares =Has traded fewer than 65 days

Nasdaq Composite Index12807.92 s 65.40, or 0.51%

High, low, open and close for eachtrading day of the past three months.

Year agoLast

Trailing P/E ratio *†

P/E estimate *†

Dividend yield *†

All-time high:

39.27 27.12

32.85 23.75

0.72 0.98

12807.92, 12/22/20

10400

10800

11200

11600

12000

12400

12800

Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

65-day moving average

EQUITIES

CREDIT MARKETS

CommoditiesPricing trends on some rawmaterials, or commodities

Tuesday 52-Week YTDClose Net chg %Chg High Low %Chg % chg

DJCommodity 714.96 -4.66 -0.65 725.56 433.70 11.57 11.31TR/CCCRB Index 163.61 -1.21 -0.74 187.39 106.29 -11.82 -11.94Crude oil,$per barrel 47.02 -0.95 -1.98 63.27 -37.63 -23.06 -22.99Natural gas,$/MMBtu 2.780 0.075 2.77 3.354 1.482 27.99 27.00Gold,$per troy oz. 1866.60 -12.60 -0.67 2051.50 1477.30 24.51 22.84

CorporateBorrowingRates andYieldsYield (%) 52-Week Total Return (%)

Bond total return index Close Last Week ago High Low 52-wk 3-yr

U.S. Treasury, Barclays 2457.710 0.580 0.590 1.840 0.400 8.038 5.349

U.S. Treasury Long, Barclays4715.810 1.520 1.530 2.340 0.980 16.991 10.476

Aggregate, Barclays 2287.100 1.160 1.170 2.350 1.020 7.456 5.447

Fixed-RateMBS, Barclays 2229.270 1.300 1.320 2.690 0.930 4.007 3.807

HighYield 100, ICEBofA 3303.991 3.893 3.840 10.740 3.589 3.530 4.985

MuniMaster, ICEBofA 595.353 0.871 0.880 3.441 0.838 5.309 4.646

EMBIGlobal, J.P.Morgan 929.534 4.365 4.398 7.480 4.351 5.642 4.898

Sources: J.P.Morgan; S&PDowJones Indices; BloombergBarclays; ICEDataServices

Latest Session 52-WeekCompany Symbol Close Net chg % chg High Low %chg

MicroVision MVIS 9.27 3.50 60.66 9.74 0.15 1187.5BigRockPtrsAcqn BRPA 38.36 13.76 55.93 76.99 9.80 260.2AuroraMobileADR JG 4.79 1.60 50.16 6.06 1.40 125.9Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals CYCC 6.40 2.12 49.53 19.60 3.12 -40.7LightpathTechsA LPTH 4.80 1.37 39.94 4.98 0.62 576.1

Sportsman'sWarehouse SPWH 17.66 5.01 39.60 18.46 4.08 112.8QuantumScape QS 131.67 36.77 38.75 132.73 9.74 ...CleanEnergy Fuels CLNE 8.20 2.26 38.05 8.35 1.05 248.9SecondSightMedical Prod EYES 2.81 0.77 37.75 6.40 0.69 -53.2ColonnadeAcqnCl A CLA 13.83 3.75 37.20 15.25 9.54 ...

Aemetis AMTX 3.19 0.83 35.17 5.10 0.37 246.8UpFintechHoldingADR TIGR 7.88 1.98 33.56 8.32 2.03 120.7Riot Blockchain RIOT 14.65 3.61 32.65 15.70 0.51 1017.9GraybugVision GRAY 33.16 7.87 31.12 37.88 12.50 ...AgEagleAerial Systems UAVS 6.79 1.59 30.58 7.30 0.19 1556.1

MostActiveStocks

Latest Session 52-WeekCompany Symbol Close Net chg % chg High Low %chg

Soligenix SNGX 1.39 -1.35 -49.27 3.54 1.21 ...ChinaCustomerRelations CCRC 3.38 -2.84 -45.66 10.99 3.32 -62.9SOSADR SOS 1.30 -0.83 -38.97 6.00 0.51 -29.0AshfordHospitality Trust AHT 2.44 -1.07 -30.48 29.44 1.27 -91.6VenusConcept VERO 1.89 -0.65 -25.59 9.00 1.84 -59.5

WunongNet Technology WNW 41.06 -11.98 -22.59 160.68 7.31 ...ScopusBioPharma SCPS 13.10 -3.10 -19.14 47.86 5.34 ...RaMedical Systems RMED 7.30 -1.52 -17.23 67.20 4.25 -68.6CNSPharmaceuticals CNSP 2.10 -0.37 -14.98 5.62 1.26 -45.5NiSun Intl EntDevt NISN 18.90 -2.84 -13.06 23.99 5.10 243.6

WashingtonPrimeGroup WPG 7.12 -1.07 -13.06 34.29 4.41 -77.6DAVIDsTEA DTEA 2.82 -0.40 -12.42 3.25 0.32 88.0Kinsale Capital Group KNSL 218.53 -30.58 -12.28 252.70 80.93 119.5MannKind MNKD 3.28 -0.44 -11.83 4.21 0.80 144.8ProcessaPharmaceuticals PCSA 7.26 -0.86 -10.59 18.00 3.40 -51.6

VolumeMovers Ranked by change from65-day average*

Track the MarketsCompare the performance of selectedglobal stock indexes, bond ETFs,currencies and commodities atwsj.com/graphics/track-the-markets

CURRENCIES & COMMODITIES

CurrenciesU.S.-dollar foreign-exchange rates in lateNewYork trading

US$vs,Tues YTDchg

Country/currency inUS$ perUS$ (%)

AmericasArgentina peso .0120 83.2795 39.1Brazil real .1938 5.1587 28.3Canada dollar .7747 1.2908 –0.6Chile peso .001384 722.70 –2.2Colombiapeso .000289 3465.00 5.6EcuadorUSdollar 1 1 unchMexico peso .0496 20.1432 6.4Uruguay peso .02369 42.2100 13.7Asia-PacificAustralian dollar .7525 1.3289 –6.7China yuan .1528 6.5433 –6.0HongKong dollar .1290 7.7527 –0.5India rupee .01352 73.943 3.6Indonesia rupiah .0000704 14205 2.3Japan yen .009649 103.64 –4.6Kazakhstan tenge .002377 420.68 10.2Macau pataca .1251 7.9910 –0.3Malaysia ringgit .2462 4.0610 –0.7NewZealand dollar .7044 1.4196 –4.4Pakistan rupee .00622 160.650 3.6Philippines peso .0208 48.113 –5.1Singapore dollar .7481 1.3367 –0.7SouthKoreawon .0009009 1109.95 –3.9Sri Lanka rupee .0052840 189.25 4.4Taiwan dollar .03552 28.152 –5.9Thailand baht .03307 30.240 1.6

US$vs,Tues YTDchg

Country/currency inUS$ perUS$ (%)

Vietnam dong .00004324 23128 –0.2EuropeCzechRep. koruna .04619 21.650 –4.5Denmark krone .1635 6.1161 –8.2Euro area euro 1.2162 .8223 –7.8Hungary forint .003357 297.85 0.9Iceland krona .007800 128.20 5.9Norway krone .1144 8.7450 –0.4Poland zloty .2699 3.7057 –2.3Russia ruble .01317 75.934 22.3Sweden krona .1199 8.3424 –10.9Switzerland franc 1.1241 .8896 –8.1Turkey lira .1306 7.6562 28.7Ukraine hryvnia .0351 28.4500 20.2UK pound 1.3365 .7482 –0.8Middle East/AfricaBahrain dinar 2.6522 .3770 unchEgypt pound .0638 15.6654 –2.4Israel shekel .3095 3.2310 –6.5Kuwait dinar 3.2798 .3049 0.6Oman sul rial 2.5976 .3850 –0.01Qatar rial .2746 3.642 –0.04SaudiArabia riyal .2665 3.7519 0.02SouthAfrica rand .0681 14.6838 4.9

Close Net Chg %Chg YTD%Chg

WSJDollar Index 85.79 0.46 0.54 –4.22

Sources: Tullett Prebon, DowJonesMarketData

Dow Jones Industrial Average30015.51 t200.94, or 0.67%High, low, open and close for eachtrading day of the past three months.

Year agoLast

Trailing P/E ratioP/E estimate *Dividend yieldAll-time high

29.53 21.21

24.84 18.99

2.01 2.23

30303.37, 12/17/20

25000

26200

27400

28600

29800

31000

32200

Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Current divisor 0.15198707565833

Bars measure the point change from session's open

tt

Session high

Session low

Session open

Close Open

CloseDOWN UP

65-day moving average

S&P 500 Index3687.26 t7.66, or 0.21%High, low, open and close for eachtrading day of the past three months.

Year agoLast

Trailing P/E ratio *

P/E estimate *

Dividend yield *

All-time high

42.08 25.23

26.25 19.58

1.63 1.83

3722.48, 12/17/20

3000

3125

3250

3375

3500

3625

3750

Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

65-day moving average

*Weekly P/E data based on as-reported earnings from Birinyi Associates Inc.; †Based on Nasdaq-100 Index

MARKETS DIGEST

P2JW358000-0-B01000-1--------XA

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. * * * * Wednesday, December 23, 2020 | B11

U.S. government-bondyields fell Tuesday, with in-vestors shrugging off newstimulus measures passedovernight in Congress.

The yield on the bench-mark 10-year Treasury notefinished Tuesday’s session at0.917%, according toTradeweb, down from 0.941%at Monday’s close. The 30-year Treasury bond yield fellto 1.652% from 1.683%.

Yields, which fall whenbond pricesrise, were un-moved over-night after

lawmakers passed a roughly$900 billion Covid-19 stimu-lus package.

The emergency spendingmeasure should help supportthe U.S. economy through adifficult winter and into thenew year, analysts said.

Yields then declined dur-ing the early-morning sessionas more nations curtailedtravel to contain a fast-spreading variant of the coro-navirus.

The U.K. has imposed newrestrictions on social andbusiness activity, raising con-cerns about other countriesfollowing in its steps andpushing some investors intohavens such as Treasurys.

Uncertainty surroundingtrade talks between the U.K.and European Union is alsodriving some investors intothe relative safety of U.S.government bonds, analystssaid. The U.K. will leave theEU’s common market andcustoms union on Jan. 1 un-less Prime Minister BorisJohnson can strike a deal inlittle more than a week.

Many investors expectyields to trade in a relativelytight range in the near term,as immediate challenges arebalanced by hopes for a vac-cine-fueled economic re-bound.

“There’s an element of un-certainty and concern, but wedon’t sense any dread regard-ing next year,” said Jim Vo-gel, interest-rates strategistat FHN Financial.

Actions by the Federal Re-serve are expected to limitthe moves in yields for yearsto come. In an effort to keepU.S. borrowing costs low, thecentral bank cut interestrates to near zero and is buy-ing billions of dollars’ worthof Treasurys, a program thatmany investors expect to con-tinue until the economy getsback to prepandemic levels.

In one positive sign, datafrom the Commerce Depart-ment on Tuesday showed theU.S. economy grew slightlystronger than previously esti-mated during the third quar-ter, with gross domesticproduct increasing at an an-nual rate of 33.4% seasonallyand inflation adjusted, versusthe last estimate of 33.1%.

The positive revision wasspurred by higher-than-esti-mated consumer and businessspending.

Still, consumers’ views ofthe economy have soured inDecember, according to newdata from the ConferenceBoard.

The research group’s con-sumer-confidence index fellto 88.6 in December from92.9 in November and belowthe 97.5 level expected byeconomists surveyed by TheWall Street Journal.

BY SEBASTIAN PELLEJERO

Yields onTreasurysMoveLower

CREDITMARKETS

The presence of Tesla in thecompletion index was a boonfor the ETFs and mutual funds,including the Fidelity ExtendedMarket Index Fund and theVanguard Extended MarketETF, that tracked it. Togetherthose funds account for morethan $100 billion in assets andoffered index investors an op-portunity to profit off Tesla intheir 401(k)s and other ac-counts ahead of its inclusion inthe S&P 500.

The shuffling of Tesla fromthe completion index to theS&P 500 is already having a

noticeable impact, as the elec-tric car maker’s stock hasfallen 7.9% over the last twotrading days. Fidelity’s ex-tended market fund has risen1.2% over that period, whileVanguard’s product added 1.7%.The S&P 500, which nowhouses Tesla, has declined 0.6%over Monday and Tuesday.

Although the funds won’tenjoy any upside from Teslashares going forward, its dele-tion will allow them to missout on any further losses aswell. Some analysts and inves-tors expect Tesla shares to pull

Net YTDFund NAV Chg %Ret

American Century InvUltra 75.25 +0.39 48.4American Funds Cl AAmcpA p 38.57 +0.02 19.7AMutlA p 43.71 -0.22 2.6BalA p 29.79 -0.07 9.4BondA p 14.20 +0.02 10.5CapIBA p 61.91 -0.16 1.5CapWGrA 58.03 -0.17 12.7EupacA p 67.49 +0.02 21.5FdInvA p 68.09 -0.17 13.2GwthA p 66.68 +0.03 36.1HI TrA p 10.12 +0.01 6.1ICAA p 43.60 -0.16 12.4IncoA p 23.23 -0.06 3.5N PerA p 59.19 -0.06 30.5NEcoA p 59.09 +0.30 32.5NwWrldA 86.04 -0.08 22.1SmCpA p 78.95 +0.58 36.4TxExA p 13.64 ... 4.7WshA p 49.06 -0.24 5.4

Net YTDFund NAV Chg %Ret

Baird FundsAggBdInst 11.77 +0.02 8.4CorBdInst 12.14 +0.01 8.5BlackRock FundsHiYBlk 7.74 +0.01 4.8HiYldBd Inst 7.73 ... 4.9BlackRock Funds AGlblAlloc p 21.29 ... 19.4BlackRock Funds IIIiShS&P500IdxK436.01 -0.88 16.2BlackRock Funds InstStratIncOpptyIns 10.36 ... 6.8Bridge Builder TrustCoreBond 10.78 +0.02 8.4CorePlusBond 10.58 +0.01 9.0Intl Eq 13.32 -0.04 11.1LargeCapGrowth 20.56 +0.05 34.0LargeCapValue 14.45 -0.09 7.1ClearBridgeLargeCapGrowthI NA ... NAColumbia Class I

Net YTDFund NAV Chg %Ret

DivIncom I 25.38 -0.08 6.0Dimensional Fds5GlbFxdInc 10.89 ... 1.5EmgMktVa 27.51 -0.26 -1.4EmMktCorEq 23.39 -0.15 9.7IntlCoreEq 14.20 -0.08 5.0IntSmCo 19.68 -0.11 6.0IntSmVa 18.57 -0.14 -2.1LgCo 27.62 -0.06 16.2TAUSCoreEq2 22.63 -0.02 14.0US CoreEq1 29.24 -0.02 14.7US CoreEq2 26.56 -0.02 13.9US Small 38.03 +0.12 10.0US SmCpVal 33.67 -0.10 ...US TgdVal 23.10 -0.07 1.6USLgVa 36.56 -0.35 -3.2Dodge & CoxBalanced 99.95 -0.54 5.9Income 14.61 +0.02 9.2Intl Stk 42.42 -0.13 -0.9Stock 187.58 -1.64 4.4

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Mutual Funds Net YTDFund NAV Chg %Ret

Net YTDFund NAV Chg %Ret

Net YTDFund NAV Chg %Ret

Net YTDFund NAV Chg %Ret

Net YTDFund NAV Chg %Ret

Net YTDFund NAV Chg %Ret

Net YTDFund NAV Chg %Ret

Top 250 mutual-funds listings for Nasdaq-published share classes by net assets.

e-Ex-distribution. f-Previous day’s quotation. g-Footnotes x and s apply. j-Footnotes eand s apply. k-Recalculated by Lipper, using updated data. p-Distribution costs apply,12b-1. r-Redemption charge may apply. s-Stock split or dividend. t-Footnotes p and rapply. v-Footnotes x and e apply. x-Ex-dividend. z-Footnote x, e and s apply. NA-Notavailable due to incomplete price, performance or cost data. NE-Not released by Lipper;data under review. NN-Fund not tracked. NS-Fund didn’t exist at start of period.

DoubleLine FundsCoreFxdIncmI 11.33 +0.01 5.4TotRetBdI 10.73 +0.01 4.1Edgewood Growth InstitutiEdgewoodGrInst 51.62 -2.80 34.0Fidelity500IdxInstPrem127.75 -0.25 16.2Contrafund K6 18.73 +0.01 29.7ExtMktIdxInstPre 84.89 +0.91 34.4FidSerToMarket 12.75 +0.01 19.3IntlIdxInstPrem 44.50 -0.19 5.5MidCpInxInstPrem 26.89 +0.06 16.6SAIUSLgCpIndxFd 19.26 -0.04 16.0SeriesBondFd 10.77 +0.01 7.5SeriesOverseas 12.10 -0.01 13.6SmCpIdxInstPrem 25.16 +0.25 20.9TMktIdxInstPrem106.40 +0.04 19.3USBdIdxInstPrem 12.43 +0.01 7.6Fidelity Advisor INwInsghtI 37.48 +0.01 23.3Fidelity FreedomFF2020 17.66 -0.02 12.3FF2025 15.79 -0.02 13.1FF2030 19.73 -0.02 13.9Freedom2020 K 17.65 -0.02 12.3Freedom2025 K 15.77 -0.02 13.1Freedom2030 K 19.71 -0.03 14.0Freedom2035 K 16.85 -0.03 15.2Freedom2040 K 11.92 -0.02 16.2Fidelity InvestBalanc 27.91 +0.02 20.8BluCh 164.60 +1.66 63.7Contra 16.63 ... 31.5ContraK 16.67 +0.01 31.6

CpInc r 10.66 +0.02 9.2DivIntl 46.37 -0.09 15.6GroCo 36.32 +0.26 70.0GrowCoK 36.41 +0.27 70.2InvGrBd 11.89 +0.01 9.6LowP r 47.27 -0.24 6.3Magin 12.88 +0.02 26.7NASDAQ r 161.80 +0.83 43.6OTC 17.33 +0.07 45.2Puritn 25.81 +0.01 19.6SrsEmrgMkt 24.05 -0.16 20.2SrsGlobal 13.97 -0.07 7.9SrsGroCoRetail 23.09 +0.17 72.1SrsIntlGrw 17.38 -0.02 15.9SrsIntlVal 9.82 -0.04 2.1TotalBond 11.30 +0.01 9.0Fidelity SAITotalBd 10.74 +0.02 8.7Fidelity SelectsSoftwr r 27.18 +0.26 45.7Tech r 26.88 +0.32 63.8First Eagle FundsGlbA 60.06 -0.30 6.2Franklin A1CA TF A1 p 7.82 ... 5.2IncomeA1 p 2.26 -0.01 1.8FrankTemp/Frank AdvIncomeAdv 2.24 -0.01 1.9FrankTemp/Franklin AGrowth A p 134.21 +0.48 29.5RisDv A p 78.82 -0.16 14.3Guggenheim Funds TruTotRtnBdFdClInst 29.57 +0.06 14.6Harbor Funds

CapApInst 105.35 +0.94 56.1Harding LoevnerIntlEq 27.70 +0.01 NAInvesco Funds YDevMktY 51.82 -0.31 13.9JPMorgan I ClassCoreBond 12.28 +0.01 NAEqInc 19.36 -0.12 NAJPMorgan R ClassCoreBond NA ... NALord Abbett AShtDurIncmA p 4.21 ... 2.9Lord Abbett FShtDurIncm 4.21 +0.01 3.0Metropolitan WestTotRetBdI 11.16 +0.02 8.9TRBdPlan 10.46 +0.01 8.8MFS Funds Class IGrowth I 160.97 +0.27 31.0ValueI 44.08 -0.28 1.6MFS Funds InstlIntlEq 29.92 +0.06 8.5Northern FundsStkIdx 41.21 -0.08 16.1Old Westbury FdsLrgCpStr 16.88 ... 13.6Parnassus FdsParnEqFd 52.74 -0.12 19.1PGIM Funds Cl ZTotalReturnBond 15.05 +0.03 NAPIMCO Fds InstlAllAsset NA ... NAInvGrdCrBd NA ... NATotRt 10.59 +0.01 8.7

PIMCO Funds AIncomeFd NA ... NAPIMCO Funds I2Income NA ... NAPIMCO Funds InstlIncomeFd NA ... NAPrice FundsBlChip 164.67 +0.03 34.0DivGro 58.80 -0.20 11.6EqInc 30.53 -0.22 -1.0Growth 96.64 +0.14 36.5HelSci 100.28 +0.80 32.0LgCapGow I 60.84 +0.04 38.7MidCap 113.17 +0.37 24.3NHoriz 84.38 +1.10 61.7R2020 22.52 -2.25 NAR2025 NA ... NAR2030 28.10 -1.58 14.5R2035 20.95 -1.05 15.4R2040 30.00 -1.56 16.4PRIMECAP Odyssey FdsAggGrowth r 53.98 +0.14 29.7Schwab Funds1000 Inv r 82.33 -0.07 18.9S&P Sel 56.35 -0.11 16.2TSM Sel r 65.65 +0.02 19.2TIAA/CREF FundsEqIdxInst 27.44 +0.01 19.3VANGUARD ADMIRAL500Adml 340.12 -0.68 16.2BalAdml 44.54 +0.03 15.5CAITAdml 12.38 ... 4.7CapOpAdml r176.26 -0.90 22.0DivAppIdxAdm 37.60 -0.14 13.2

EMAdmr 40.55 -0.28 12.1EqIncAdml 77.62 -0.53 0.9ExplrAdml 120.98 +1.35 32.9ExtndAdml 127.47 +1.33 34.4GNMAAdml 10.73 ... 3.7GrwthAdml 129.77 +0.47 39.2HlthCareAdml r 89.64 -0.21 11.1HYCorAdml r 5.95 ... 4.7InfProAd 28.22 -0.28 9.4IntlGrAdml 157.26 -0.25 56.7ITBondAdml 12.56 -0.08 8.7ITIGradeAdml 10.71 +0.01 10.0LTGradeAdml 12.11 +0.03 14.9MidCpAdml 256.94 +0.69 18.0MuHYAdml 11.98 ... 5.3MuIntAdml 14.86 ... 5.1MuLTAdml 12.28 ... 6.2MuLtdAdml 11.26 ... 3.3MuShtAdml 15.95 ... 1.9PrmcpAdml r151.18 -0.79 15.3RealEstatAdml120.60 +0.96 -6.0SmCapAdml 93.62 +0.65 19.1SmGthAdml 95.78 +1.46 37.6STBondAdml 10.87 +0.01 4.6STIGradeAdml 11.02 ... 5.1TotBdAdml 11.61 ... 7.4TotIntBdIdxAdm 23.39 -0.04 4.3TotIntlAdmIdx r 31.57 -0.15 8.2TotStAdml 93.95 +0.02 19.5TxMCapAdml195.26 -0.23 19.2TxMIn r 14.81 -0.06 7.2USGroAdml 172.38 +1.44 61.0ValAdml 45.60 -0.33 -0.2WdsrllAdml 67.19 -0.31 12.0WellsIAdml 67.92 -0.14 7.4

WelltnAdml 80.29 -0.13 9.2WndsrAdml 69.75 -0.44 5.0VANGUARD FDSDivdGro 33.29 -0.15 9.9INSTTRF2020 26.76 -0.02 11.0INSTTRF2025 27.71 -0.02 12.1INSTTRF2030 28.30 -0.03 12.7INSTTRF2035 28.86 -0.04 13.2INSTTRF2040 29.42 -0.05 13.7INSTTRF2045 29.91 -0.05 14.2INSTTRF2050 29.99 -0.05 14.4INSTTRF2055 30.11 -0.05 14.4IntlVal 39.05 -0.11 5.7LifeCon 22.95 ... 10.6LifeGro 40.78 -0.06 13.7LifeMod 32.13 -0.03 12.2PrmcpCor 28.47 -0.16 10.1STAR 32.67 -0.01 NATgtRe2015 16.63 ... 9.6TgtRe2020 36.09 -0.02 10.9TgtRe2025 22.22 -0.02 12.0TgtRe2030 41.05 -0.05 12.6TgtRe2035 25.49 -0.03 13.2TgtRe2040 44.49 -0.07 13.7TgtRe2045 28.25 -0.05 14.4TgtRe2050 45.51 -0.08 14.4TgtRet2055 49.40 -0.09 14.4TgtRetInc 15.19 ... 9.3TotIntBdIxInv 11.70 -0.02 4.3USGro 66.56 +0.55 60.8WellsI 28.04 -0.06 7.3Welltn 46.49 -0.08 9.1WndsrII 37.87 -0.18 11.9VANGUARD INDEX FDS

ExtndIstPl 314.56 +3.28 34.5IdxIntl 18.87 -0.10 8.1MdCpGrAdml 92.63 +0.72 36.3SmValAdml 60.51 -0.03 4.2TotBd2 11.54 +0.01 7.1TotIntlInstIdx r126.22 -0.63 8.2TotItlInstPlId r126.25 -0.63 8.2TotSt 93.90 +0.02 19.4VANGUARD INSTL FDSBalInst 44.54 +0.02 15.5DevMktsIndInst 14.83 -0.06 7.2DevMktsInxInst 23.17 -0.10 7.2ExtndInst 127.46 +1.33 34.5GrwthInst 129.78 +0.48 39.2InPrSeIn 11.49 -0.12 9.4InstIdx 330.08 -0.66 16.2InstPlus 330.10 -0.66 16.2InstTStPlus 80.39 +0.02 19.5MidCpInst 56.76 +0.15 18.0MidCpIstPl 279.93 +0.74 18.0SmCapInst 93.62 +0.65 19.1STIGradeInst 11.02 ... 5.1STIPSIxins 25.58 -0.16 4.1TotBdInst 11.61 ... 7.4TotBdInst2 11.54 +0.01 7.2TotBdInstPl 11.61 ... 7.4TotIntBdIdxInst 35.10 -0.05 4.4TotStInst 93.97 +0.02 19.5ValueInst 45.60 -0.33 -0.2WCM Focus FundsWCMFocIntlGrwIns 24.40 +0.10 30.9Western AssetCoreBondI NA ... NACorePlusBdI 12.49 +0.01 NACorePlusBdIS NA ... NA

Data provided by

S&P 500 at the end of Friday’strading session, thereby re-moving the stock from thecompletion index. Trading ofthe reconstituted indexesstarted Monday.

“It was the odd stock out,”said Ben Johnson, director ofglobal ETF research at Morn-ingstar Inc. “It’s a version ofthe 1990s Chicago Bulls havingMichael Jordan sitting on thebench for 40 minutes of agame and has everything to dowith the unique way S&P DowJones Indices manages thatbenchmark [the S&P 500].”

Levitt, global market strategistat Invesco.

Still, Mr. Levitt maintains apositive outlook on equities.

“In my opinion, bettingagainst stocks over the nextyear and beyond is bettingagainst medicine, science andpolicy makers,” he said. “AndI’m not willing to make thosebets.”

In corporate news, Applerose $3.65, or 2.9%, to $131.88after Reuters reported that theiPhone maker intends to moveforward with its own self-driv-ing car technology.

Exercise-equipment makerPeloton Interactive gained$16.82, or 12%, to a record$161.21 after it agreed to buycommercial fitness-equipmentprovider Precor for $420 mil-lion.

Travel stocks and shares ofenergy companies tumbled.

Norwegian Cruise Line Hold-ings slid $1.70, or 6.9%, to$23.08. Chevron fell for aneighth consecutive day, losing$1.73, or 2%, to $84.36. Thatmarks the longest losing streakfor the oil giant since October2013.

Meanwhile, Tesla tumbled$9.52, or 1.5%, to $640.34, ex-tending its losses for the weekto nearly 8%. The electric-carmaker made its S&P 500 debutMonday.

Moves in stocks could bebig and markets may be espe-cially choppy in coming daysbecause fewer people are trad-ing as the holiday periodstarts, said Salman Ahmed,global head of macro at Fidel-ity International.

The final stretch of tradingin December is historicallypositive for the stock market.But this week’s losses may in-

MARKETS

futures, the benchmark in in-ternational energy markets,dropped 1.6% to $50.08 a bar-rel.

Investors are trying togauge whether the new strainof Covid-19 will affect the ef-fectiveness of vaccines that arebeing rolled out this month.

BioNTech Chief ExecutiveUgur Sahin said the vaccinedeveloped by his company, inpartnership with Pfizer, wouldlikely work against the variantand is being tested. If a newmutation would make the cur-rent vaccine ineffective, BioN-Tech can develop another tai-lored to the new variant in sixweeks, he said.

“The big unknown is towhat degree could the newstrain make the efficacy of thevaccine lower,” said Peter Gar-nry, head of equity strategy atSaxo Bank. “If it just turns outto be more infections, and itdoesn’t have an effect on thevaccine, then the market willbe less concerned.”

Late Monday, a fresh $900billion fiscal stimulus packagewas passed by Congress, end-ing weeks of anticipation frominvestors about whether law-makers could end their stale-mate. The bill includes directchecks to households and relieffor small businesses. PresidentTrump critIcized the bill in aTweet after the market closed.

Even so, the bill’s passagewasn’t enough to propel thebroader stock market.

“We’ve had the positivenews on the vaccines and thefiscal deal, so there’s probablynot a catalyst to drive stocksmeaningfully higher in thenext few weeks,” said Brian

dicate that investors are start-ing to take profits after ablockbuster year, especially asthey consider the possibility oftax changes after President-elect Joe Biden takes office,said JJ Kinahan, chief marketstrategist at TD Ameritrade.The S&P 500 is up 14% in2020, and the Nasdaq Compos-ite has catapulted 43%.

Additionally, Mr. Kinahannoted, Tuesday’s worse-than-expected consumer-confidencereport may also be weighingon markets.

The Conference Board, aprivate research group, said itsindex of consumer confidencedropped to 88.6 in the firsttwo weeks of December from arevised 92.9 in November.Economists surveyed by TheWall Street Journal had ex-pected a level of 97.5.

Still, there were small signsof optimism.

Data from the CommerceDepartment showed that U.S.gross domestic product—thevalue of all goods and servicesproduced across the econ-omy—increased at an annual-ized rate of 33.4% in the thirdquarter, slightly stronger thanthe previous estimate issuedlast month.

Overseas, European sharesrebounded after Monday’slosses. The pan-continentalStoxx Europe 600 gained 1.2%.

The WSJ Dollar Index,which measures the dollaragainst 16 rivals, rose 0.5%.

Early Wednesday in Asia,Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.1%,Hong Kong’s Hang Seng wasup 0.1% and South Korea’s Ko-spi was up 0.6%. U.S. stock fu-tures were down 0.4%.

The Dow Jones IndustrialAverage tumbled as concernsabout elevated Covid-19 infec-tion levels and a new strain ofthe virus in Europe overshad-owed Congress’s approval of aCovid-19 relief package.

The blue-chip index fell200.94 points,or 0.7%, to30015.51, itslargest one-day

point and percentage declinein December. The S&P 500 slid7.66 points, or 0.2%, to 3687.26,extending its losing streak tothree sessions.

The tech-heavy NasdaqComposite, in contrast, rose65.40 points, or 0.5%, to a re-cord 12807.92.

Much of the stock markethas lost steam this week assome nations began curtailingtravel to contain the emer-gence of a fast-spreading vari-ant of coronavirus from Eng-land. The U.K. restricted socialand business activity, prompt-ing concern that more coun-tries may also adopt measuresthat would hamper the globaleconomic recovery.

“It would be a brave man tosuggest this will just remain aU.K.-specific issue,” said DerekHalpenny, head of research forglobal markets in the Europeanregion at MUFG Bank. “Are wegoing back into another phaseof more pronounced globallockdowns again?”

Oil prices slipped for a sec-ond day amid worries over thenew restrictions imposed ontravelers from the U.K. toother countries. Brent crude

BY CAITLIN OSTROFFAND CAITLIN MCCABE

Dow Falls as Infection Levels Rise

-10% -5 0 5 10 15

Share-price and index performance, Tuesday

Source: FactSet

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings

AmericanAirlines

Chevron

S&P 500Energy sector

Tesla

S&P 500

S&P 500Technology sector

Apple

Peloton Interactive

TUESDAY’SMARKETS

back following their massiverun-up ahead of inclusion, sim-ilar to Yahoo Inc., whose mar-ket value peaked shortly afterthe tech giant joined the S&P500 in 1999. A pullback inTesla shares could potentiallyhurt the performance of the in-dex investors who track theS&P 500 and missed out on allof Tesla’s gains this year.

Other benchmarks that al-ready included Tesla were ableto ride the shares higher thisyear and will remain subject tothe car maker’s swings goingforward. The MSCI USA index,for example, is similar to theS&P 500 in that it tracks theperformance of big U.S. compa-nies. Tesla has been a memberof that index over the past de-cade, thanks to its less strin-gent rules.

Tesla’s inclusion partly ex-plains why the MSCI USA indexis beating the S&P 500 bymore than 3 percentage pointsin 2020, the widest perfor-mance gap over the course of ayear since the inception of theMSCI index in 1970, accordingto FactSet. ETFs that track theMSCI index have outperformedthose that track the S&P 500,including the iShares MSCIUSA UCITS ETF.

A lesser-known stock indexlost its biggest driver afterTesla Inc. joined the S&P 500,potentially undercutting theperformance of the highflyingbenchmark and several ex-change-traded funds that trackit.

The S&P Completion Indextracks all U.S. stocks exceptthose in the S&P 500. The in-dex is typically associated withmid, small and microcap stocksthat fail to meet certain crite-ria for inclusion in the S&P500. The presence of Tesla, thebiggest stock in the completionindex and the sixth-largestpublicly traded company in theU.S., was something of ananomaly.

The electric car maker’s665% surge this year propelledthe completion index up 33%,more than doubling the gain ofthe S&P 500 over the same pe-riod.

Tesla owed its massiveweighting in the index to itssize and the fact that it tookabout a decade from its public-market debut to meet guide-lines for inclusion in the S&P500. S&P Dow Jones Indicesformally added Tesla to the

BY MICHAEL WURSTHORN

Other S&P Index Thanks Tesla for the Ride

Tesla’s 665% surge helped the completion index to gain 33%.

LEVRA

DIN/ZUMAPR

ESS

S&P Completion Index

S&P 500

Performance, year to date

Source: FactSet

40

–40

–20

0

20

%

Jan. Dec.

iShCoreS&PSC IJR 91.12 0.63 8.7iShS&PTotlUSStkMkt ITOT 85.26 0.02 17.3iShCoreUSAggBd AGG 117.96 0.14 5.0iShSelectDividend DVY 93.72 –0.62 –11.3iShESGAwareUSA ESGU 84.84 –0.05 19.0iShEdgeMSCIMinUSA USMV 66.87 –0.31 1.9iShEdgeMSCIUSAMom MTUM 162.85 0.64 29.7iShEdgeMSCIUSAQual QUAL 113.94 –0.22 12.8iShGoldTr IAU 17.76 –0.73 22.5iShiBoxx$InvGrCpBd LQD 137.27 0.28 7.3iShiBoxx$HYCpBd HYG 86.48 0.13 –1.7iShJPMUSDEmgBd EMB 115.03 0.12 0.4iShMBSETF MBB 110.06 –0.05 1.9iShMSCIACWI ACWI 89.06 –0.17 12.4iShMSCI EAFE EFA 71.56 –0.25 3.1iShMSCIEmgMarkets EEM 49.84 –0.80 11.1iShMSCIJapan EWJ 65.82 –0.05 11.1iShNatlMuniBd MUB 117.12 0.05 2.8

Closing Chg YTDETF Symbol Price (%) (%)

ARKInnovationETF ARKK 135.05 2.82 169.8CommSvsSPDR XLC 65.81 –0.93 22.7CnsmrDiscSelSector XLY 157.21 –0.43 25.3CnsStapleSelSector XLP 66.17 –0.71 5.1EnSelectSectorSPDR XLE 37.49 –1.68 –37.6FinSelSectorSPDR XLF 28.44 –0.97 –7.6HealthCareSelSect XLV 111.07 –0.31 9.0IndSelSectorSPDR XLI 87.53 –0.47 7.4InvscQQQI QQQ 309.76 0.27 45.7InvscS&P500EW RSP 125.11 –0.38 8.1iSh3-7YTreasuryBd IEI 132.90 0.07 5.7iShCoreDivGrowth DGRO 43.91 –0.52 4.4iShCoreMSCIEAFE IEFA 67.78 –0.24 3.9iShCoreMSCIEM IEMG 59.90 –0.71 11.4iShCoreMSCITotInt IXUS 65.59 –0.38 6.0iShCoreS&P500 IVV 368.56 –0.19 14.0iShCoreS&PMC IJH 228.37 0.47 11.0

Closing Chg YTDETF Symbol Price (%) (%)

Tuesday, December 22, 2020iSh1-5YIGCorpBd IGSB 55.06 0.16 2.7iShPfd&Incm PFF 38.06 –0.31 1.3iShRussell1000Gwth IWF 239.72 0.46 36.3iShRussell1000 IWB 209.05 0.02 17.2iShRussell1000Val IWD 133.69 –0.57 –2.0iShRussell2000 IWM 197.46 1.14 19.2iShRussellMid-Cap IWR 68.28 0.29 14.5iShRussellMCValue IWS 95.09 –0.26 0.3iShS&P500Growth IVW 63.01 0.27 30.2iShS&P500Value IVE 124.86 –0.79 –4.0iShShortTreaBd SHV 110.51 –0.01 0.0iShSilver SLV 23.43 –3.90 40.5iShTIPSBondETF TIP 127.14 0.09 9.1iSh1-3YTreasuryBd SHY 86.37 ... 2.1iSh7-10YTreasuryBd IEF 119.88 0.17 8.8iSh20+YTreasuryBd TLT 157.76 0.52 16.4iShRussellMCGrowth IWP 104.78 0.95 37.3iShUSTreasuryBdETF GOVT 27.37 0.11 5.5JPMUltShtIncm JPST 50.81 ... 0.8PIMCOEnhShMaturity MINT 102.05 0.01 0.5SPDRBlmBarcHYBd JNK 107.85 0.13 –1.5SPDRBloomBar1-3MTB BIL 91.52 ... 0.1

Closing Chg YTDETF Symbol Price (%) (%)

SPDRGold GLD 174.49 –0.79 22.1SchwabIntEquity SCHF 35.25 –0.31 4.8SchwabUSBrdMkt SCHB 89.95 0.07 17.0SchwabUSDiv SCHD 63.15 –0.55 9.0SchwabUSLC SCHX 89.77 –0.08 16.9SchwabUSLCGrw SCHG 127.70 0.54 37.4SchwabUSSC SCHA 89.56 0.97 18.4SchwabUSTIPs SCHP 61.80 0.06 9.1SPDRDJIATr DIA 300.07 –0.69 5.3SPDRS&PMdCpTr MDY 417.02 0.46 11.1SPDRS&P500 SPY 367.24 –0.17 14.1SPDRS&PDiv SDY 104.12 –0.31 –3.2TechSelectSector XLK 129.19 0.87 40.9UtilitiesSelSector XLU 60.90 –0.20 –5.8VanEckGoldMiner GDX 35.29 –2.92 20.5VangdInfoTech VGT 353.77 1.08 44.5VangdSCVal VBR 140.73 –0.06 2.7VangdSCGrwth VBK 272.28 1.48 37.0VangdExtMkt VXF 167.91 0.98 33.3VangdDivApp VIG 138.61 –0.32 11.2VangdFTSEDevMk VEA 46.13 –0.32 4.7

Closing Chg YTDETF Symbol Price (%) (%)

VangdFTSEEM VWO 48.70 –0.73 9.5VangdFTSEEurope VGK 59.25 –0.19 1.1VangdFTSEAWxUS VEU 57.03 –0.35 6.1VangdGrowth VUG 252.22 0.42 38.5VangdHlthCr VHT 221.56 0.00 15.6VangdHiDiv VYM 89.51 –0.74 –4.5VangdIntermBd BIV 93.45 0.15 7.1VangdIntrCorpBd VCIT 97.04 0.18 6.3VangdLC VV 173.99 –0.11 17.7VangdMC VO 207.42 0.24 16.4VangdMBS VMBS 54.16 –0.04 1.9VangdRealEst VNQ 85.04 0.70 –8.4VangdS&P500ETF VOO 337.54 –0.20 14.1VangdSTBond BSV 82.91 0.02 2.9VangdSTCpBd VCSH 83.17 0.07 2.6VangdSC VB 195.48 0.84 18.0VangdTotalBd BND 88.25 0.16 5.2VangdTotIntlBd BNDX 58.65 0.09 3.7VangdTotIntlStk VXUS 58.78 –0.29 5.5VangdTotalStk VTI 192.95 0.02 17.9VangdTotlWrld VT 90.96 –0.10 12.3VangdValue VTV 116.86 –0.74 –2.5

Closing Chg YTDETF Symbol Price (%) (%)

Exchange-Traded Portfolios | WSJ.com/ETFresearch

Largest 100 exchange-traded funds, latest session

P2JW358000-4-B01100-1--------XA

B12 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Peloton Primes Its WorkoutPrecor deal gives investors hope for faster delivery times and better growth

HEARD ONTHESTREET

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

Apple Needs OneMore Thing AgainReport on renewed car effort lights up

richly valued stock following busy launch period

It is a testament to the busyyear Apple Inc. has had that inves-tors are now falling back on a fa-miliar playbook.

In just the past few months, Ap-ple has launched its first 5GiPhones, Mac laptops with thecompany’s own processors, a rede-signed smart speaker and its firstset of over-ear headphones underits flagship brand.

They all have different pros-pects; the new iPhones will lead abusiness segment expected to gen-erate more than $165 billion in rev-enue this fiscal year alone, whilethe $550 headphones will likely ap-peal only to more devoted fans. Butall were previously subjects of theever-present rumor mill that con-stantly swirls around the world’slargest consumer electronics com-pany. Apple has supposedly beenworking on headphones since itbought Beats Electronics in 2014.

Hence, Apple’s investors natu-rally wonder what’s next. Thisweek brought a familiar possibility,in the form of a report by Reutersthat the company has revivedplans to get into the car business.Citing unnamed sources, the re-port says Apple is aiming to pro-duce a passenger vehicle by2024—one that will include

“breakthrough battery technology.”This isn’t the first time Apple has

seemed on the threshold of chal-lenging Detroit. The Wall StreetJournal reported in 2015 that thecompany planned to launch an elec-tric car in 2019. A year later, thecompany was laying employees offfrom the project and rethinking itsplans. Automobiles have indeedproved to be a tricky area for techgiants. And Apple investors whotreasure the company’s 38% grossmargins would be in for a roughride; the world’s top-10 auto makersby market value average gross mar-gins of 15%, according to data fromS&P Global Market Intelligence.

Apple certainly has some inter-esting things cooking. The companyspent a record $18.8 billion in re-search and development for the fis-cal year ended September. Thatequates to just under 7% of annualrevenue—the highest portion since2003, when Apple was in the earlydays of developing the first iPhone.

After running up more than 78%this year, Apple shares now trade at33 times forward earnings—morethan triple its multiple in 2015when the first car rumors wereswirling. Which means investors arealready banking on dreams of thenext big thing. —Dan Gallagher

CarMax hinted at a tough De-cember. Its investors seem to haveoverreacted.

The used-car specialist reportedthat revenue grew 8.2% in the quar-ter ended Nov. 30 from a year ear-lier—higher than the 4.6% increaseanalysts polled by FactSet had ex-pected. Net income increased 6.4%,which slightly lagged behind expec-tations, and the shares sold offsharply in response.

It was CarMax’s wholesale salesto dealers—not those sales to retailcustomers—that really shined lastquarter. Wholesale customersseemed more receptive to onlinebuying than retail customers. Al-though all wholesale auctions wereconducted virtually last quarter, thesegment saw sales soar 36% lastquarter from a year earlier. Used-vehicle sales to retail customersgrew by a more modest 4.5%.

CarMax’s wholesale auctions tendto predominantly sell older, higher-mileage vehicles, whereas its com-petitors sell vehicles of all ages. Thatmay have worked in CarMax’s favorlast quarter as used-car prices re-mained elevated, increasing the rela-tive appeal of older vehicles as new-car production is ramping back up.

But retail sales were relativelyweak, despite CarMax’s rollout ofomnichannel selling capabilities, ac-cording to a research note fromScot Ciccarelli, equity analyst atRBC Capital Markets. That alsoseemed to be a concern in the pre-ceding quarter, when CarMax’sshare price plunged even more dra-matically despite better-than-ex-pected results.

Investors were disappointed thatCarMax didn’t measure up to digitalcompetitors such as Carvana, whichlikely increased sales more than40% in the comparable period, ac-cording to a research note fromEvercore ISI. Though that is a fairconcern, CarMax commands a largershare of the market—its annual rev-enue base is five times as high.

An added concern seems to bearound new Covid-related store re-strictions. CarMax noted Tuesday

that demand softened following asurge in Covid cases around thecountry that led to occupancy re-strictions in some stores. Compara-ble-store sales fell year over year inthe early weeks of December.

One bright spot seems to be thatAtlanta, CarMax’s oldest omnichan-nel market, has continuously out-performed the rest of the storefleet. The retailer is betting thatmore awareness of its e-commercecapabilities will lead to better sales.CarMax plans to double down onadvertising in the current quarter todraw attention to its omnichannelplatform. Alternative deliveries—in-cluding home delivery and curbsidepickup—accounted for less than 10%of CarMax’s overall retail sales.

And, despite the latest Covid-re-lated slowdown, there are reasonsto be optimistic. Stimulus checkswill be arriving soon after Congresspassed its $900 billion relief billMonday evening.

Following Tuesday’s selloff, Car-Max shares are only up about 6%year to date. Competitors, such asbricks-and-mortar based Lithia Mo-tors, which has surged 89%, andonline car seller Carvana, up 215%,might make CarMax look like acream puff in the postpandemicworld.

—Jinjoo Lee

CarMax

Carvana

LithiaMotors

Share-price performance,year to date

Source: FactSet

200

–100

0

100

%

Jan. Dec.

Americans are poised to get morestimulus in their pockets. Bank in-vestors will be hoping that this timeconsumers open up their wallets.

The first round of stimulus ap-pears to have bolstered many con-sumers’ balance sheets. A surveyby the Federal Reserve Bank ofNew York found that more thantwo-thirds of the first round ofhouseholds’ stimulus was saved orwent to paying down debt. The up-shot is that even now, months af-ter those checks went out, credit-performance measures continue tobe better than expected at presentlevels of joblessness.

While delinquencies are tickingup slightly, they remain quite lowby historical standards. Across pub-licly reported U.S. credit-card port-folios, the total delinquency raterose 0.05 percentage point from Oc-tober to November, according tofigures tracked by Jefferies ana-lysts. However, that reading is stillmore than 0.75 point below where itwas a year prior. The same trend isevident in auto loans: Delinquencieswere up about 0.4 percentage pointfrom October to November, but arestill down 3 points from a year ago.

Meanwhile, loan growth is fal-tering. Banks and consumers,whose spending has remainedmuted, both play a role here. Nettightening of banks’ credit-cardstandards reached quite elevatedlevels in the second quarter,though there has been less tighten-ing more recently, according to theFederal Reserve’s October survey ofloan officers. Banks’ credit-card

balances are shrinking at about a2% annualized rate this quarter af-ter adjusting for seasonal trends,according to Autonomous Research.

The New York Fed survey foundthat people are more likely to saveand pay down debt if there wasmore stimulus. That may be goodnews for household balance sheetsbut will be little help to banks’ rev-enue growth. —Telis Demos

The purchase will add 625,000 square feet of U.S. manufacturing capacity, which had been limited to Taiwan.

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Home-fitness giant Pelotonwants to be homemade. That couldsignificantly expand the flywheelof a company that already hasgrown at lightning speed this yearamid the pandemic.

Peloton said on Monday it en-tered into an agreement to buy ma-jor fitness-equipment manufacturerPrecor Inc. for $420 million in cash.While that price makes it Peloton’slargest acquisition ever, the differ-ence between the value of 40-year-old commercial-fitness staple andPeloton’s current market value of$47 billion shows just how valuablehome fitness has grown to be incomparison and how frothy today’stechnology market has become.

Peloton has been capitalizing onthe closure of gyms and otherworkout facilities, growing its con-nected-fitness subscriptions by137% year over year in the quarterended Sept. 30. The fact that digitalsubscriptions (which don’t requirePeloton hardware) grew 382% overthe same period suggests the onlything limiting Peloton’s growth inthe pandemic might be supply con-straints. According to Peloton’swebsite, wait times are over 10

weeks for its most expensive bike.The purchase of Precor will add

625,000 square feet of U.S. manufac-turing capacity to Peloton’s armory,which had been limited to third-party manufacturers and facilities inTaiwan. With the new real estate,Peloton says it plans to start manu-facturing its own connected fitnessdevices in the U.S. by the end ofnext year. While the acquisitionwon’t immediately alleviate lengthywait times, it should at least solvethe problem in the longer term.

Peloton has bought its way intocommercial settings just as vaccinesbegin to roll out and the end of thepandemic comes into view. In itsnews release, Peloton said it ex-pects to leverage Precor’s relation-ships with hotels, multifamily resi-dences and college and corporatecampuses to make its own technol-ogy more prevalent. Conspicuouslymissing from this list are healthclubs, but the company says it willcontinue to honor Precor’s existingorders and service agreements.

Peloton, which recently expandedits product offerings to include twotiers of pricing for its hardware, hasbeen working to make its products

more accessible to bolster growth.In addition to helping the companychurn out more of its products to itscurrent well-off demographic, Pelo-ton says it expects Precor’s globalnetwork and expertise to help fur-ther its own international expan-sion. Precor will also add about 100research-and-development employ-ees, which could lead to new Pelo-ton products. KeyBanc analyst Ed-ward Yruma notes Precor’sknowledge in strength equipmentcould lead to a new vertical withinPeloton’s connected-fitness arsenal.

With the commercial-fitnessmarket ravaged by the pandemic,Peloton may have picked up Precoron the cheap. Last year, Precorowner Anta Sports was reportedlylooking to sell the company forabout $500 million.

The question is whether thatbusiness is worth the approximately$5.7 billion in market-value appreci-ation the deal gave Peloton as itsshares rose nearly 12% on the news.Peloton already had rallied morethan 400% in the year to date.

Even with a smart deal, share-holders have reason to sweat.

—Laura Forman

Apple's R&Das a percentage of annual revenue*

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence*Fiscal year ends September

8

0

2

4

6

%

’10FY2000 ’20

Don’t Hit the BrakesOn CarMax

SoftBank Joins the SPAC Bandwagon

Banks Need Spenders to Be Stimulated

SoftBank and the special-pur-pose acquisition company make agreat couple.

The Japanese technology con-glomerate filed Monday to raise upto $604 million for a SPAC. Some-times called blank-check compa-nies, these publicly traded cashshells are formed with the solepurpose of taking over a yet-to-be-named operating company.

The only surprise is that Soft-Bank didn’t move earlier. SPACshave been one of the hottest assetsof 2020, with 234 U.S. initial publicofferings raising $81 billion, accord-ing to Dealogic. There were 59 lastyear. Investors have flocked to thevehicles as a way to access busi-nesses with disruptive potential.

SoftBank’s SPAC, SVF Invest-

ment Corp., is run by the companythat oversees its $100 billion VisionFund. Two executives from the fundwill sit on the SPAC’s board. Thetarget could be anything related totechnology: The company said itwould look to acquire a “disrupter”in sectors including artificial intelli-gence and financial technology.

Launching a SPAC is a no-brainerfor SoftBank, which is renowned formaking bold bets on startups. Theplan could open up a new fundingchannel for some of SoftBank’smore unorthodox investment ideas.SoftBank failed to attract outsideinvestors for the second VisionFund after last year’s WeWork de-bacle. With the pandemic boostingtechnology bets, SoftBank has faredmuch better in 2020. The DoorDash

IPO this month brought windfallsfor SoftBank and its Vision Fund.

SPACs could also be a way forSoftBank’s portfolio companies tocome to the market. House-flippingstartup Opendoor, backed by Soft-Bank, went public through a blank-check company this month. Soft-Bank isn’t prohibited from mergingwith a company with which it is al-ready associated, according to theprospectus, though it doesn’t in-tend to use it that way, accordingto a person familiar with the situa-tion. SoftBank also said its portfo-lio of companies could offer oppor-tunities for cooperation and deals.

The SPAC craze seems likely tocool at some point. SoftBank iswise to strike while it’s still hot.

—Jacky Wong

Net percentage of banks reporting tighter credit-card loan standards,quarterly

Source: Federal ReserveNote: From the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices.

80

–20

0

20

40

60

%

’10 ’15 ’202005

P2JW358000-0-B01200-1--------XA