The Wall Street Journal April 24 2020 PDF
The Wall Street Journal April 24 2020 PDF
The Wall Street Journal April 24 2020 PDF
00
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12%
Where new applications have risen
March 22 to April 4 April 5 to April 18
4
BY SARAH CHANEY
A bout 4.4 million people
in the U.S. sought job-
less benefits last week as
AND GWYNN GUILFORD
0
the pandemic continued to About 4.4 million people in W.Va. Conn. Fla. Colo. Ga. S.C. Miss. Pa. Ohio Calif. Maine Vt. Hawaii Mich.
hurt the labor market, the U.S. sought unemployment Note: Labor Force size is based on February data. Source: Labor Department
though the pace of layoffs benefits last week as the coro-
appeared to be easing. A1 navirus pandemic continued to weeks to more than 26 million, “There was an immediate data came as surveys of pur- in services activity that were
hurt the labor market, though the Labor Department said on wave of layoffs as a result of chasing managers showed unprecedented in the history
U.S. grocers are struggling
the rapid pace of layoffs ap- Thursday. Jobless claims, which the crisis,” said Daniel Zhao, business activity in the U.S., of the reports. Manufacturing
to secure meat, looking for
peared to be easing. are laid-off workers’ applica- senior economist at Glassdoor. Europe and Japan collapsed in activity is also contracting,
new suppliers and selling dif-
The millions of workers who tions for unemployment-insur- “Even though people may have April during global restric- though not quite as severely.
ferent cuts, as the pandemic
sought unemployment benefits ance payments, had reached been laid off weeks ago, we tions on movement and social Please turn to page A2
cuts into domestic output and
last week continued a historic nearly seven million at the end might only be seeing the im- interaction aimed at limiting
raises fears of shortages. A1
labor-market decline, bringing of March as the coronavirus led pact now in the numbers.” the spread of the virus. Greg Ip: Low interest rates
Amazon employees have the total claims for the past five to widespread business closures. The U.S. unemployment The surveys showed drops take sting out of deficit...... A2
used data about independent
sellers on the company’s
platform to develop compet-
ing products, a practice at
odds with stated policies. A1
Live From the Commissioner’s Basement, the NFL Draft U.S. Urges
J.C. Penney is in ad-
vanced talks for bankruptcy Public
Companies
funding with a group of lend-
ers, a sign the troubled re-
tailer is about to succumb
To Repay
to the economic crisis. B1
Intel reported a jump in
first-quarter earnings,
buoyed by sales in its data-
center business, but the firm
pulled full-year guidance. B1
SBA Loans
Crude-oil prices jumped,
The Treasury Department
extending a string of wild
asked publicly traded compa-
moves that are ricocheting
nies to repay loans they re-
around financial markets and
ceived from a federal program
roiling the energy industry. B1
intended to aid small busi-
The Dow gave up most of nesses, as public scrutiny of the
a 400-point rally to end 0.2% coronavirus rescue intensifies.
higher. The S&P 500 and
Nasdaq slipped 1.51 points and By Peter Rudegeair,
0.63 point, respectively. B11 Heather Haddon
More than half of a record and Ruth Simon
$1 trillion deposited in U.S.
Ruth’s Hospitality Group
banks in the first quarter
Inc., the owner of the Ruth’s
amid pandemic fears went to
Chris Steak House chain, said
the four largest lenders. B1
Thursday it would refund $20
NFL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. NEWS
CAPITAL ACCOUNT | By Greg Ip
B
relief package, this one worth when the pandemic is over. based on flimsy evidence: ut with debt so high,
$484 billion, passing the Private investment relative to There’s little precedent of an 8 that would dramatically
–
House on Thursday, this saving was weak prior to the advanced economy that con- boost the cost of ser-
year’s budget deficit should pandemic, and that imbal- trols its own currency being – vicing the debt. The White
hit $3.8 trillion, or 18.6% of ance could worsen. Five years unable to borrow (eurozone House could pressure the Fed
gross domestic product, the from now, markets expect the members like Greece don’t –8 to keep rates low. There’s
highest since 1945, according fed-funds rate will be just 1%, control their currency). ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ precedent. Beginning in 1942
to the Committee for a Re- half of what it expected in So long as the Fed can the Fed put a ceiling on Trea-
sponsible Federal Budget, a early 2019, according to Cor- print dollars, it can lend as ...but rates are lower... ...holding down debt service sury yields to help finance
nonpartisan watchdog group. nerstone Macro, an invest- many of them as it needs, en- Future path of federal-funds rate Interest on federal debt as the war. It took nine years to
It predicts the federal debt, ment firm. suring the federal govern- implied by bond market percentage of GDP exit the arrangement. Then,
the net total of previous defi- This doesn’t mean all that ment can always borrow. So from 1966 to 1973, it was
Jan. 1, 2019 Feb. 14, 2020 2000-2019 Current forecast
cits, will hit 106% of GDP in added debt is necessary or far this year, the Fed has slow to raise rates in part be-
2022, matching the record being put to its best possible bought about $1.6 trillion in April 21, 2020 Forecast before pandemic cause of opposition from
set in 1946. use. It does mean it’s not do- Treasury debt to tamp down Presidents Johnson and
2.5 %
That’s starting to worry ing much harm. “Interest stress in the markets, in the Nixon, and inflation took off.
some in Washington. The rates have been trending process effectively financing 2.0 Could it happen again?
added debt could “threaten down for 30 years,” said 40% of this year’s deficit. (It “As long as people like
1.5
the future of the country,” Doug Elmendorf, a former di- doesn’t pay for this with pa- 1.0 [current Fed Chairman] Jay
Senate Majority Leader Mitch rector of the Congressional per money; it pays by issuing Powell are in charge, I don’t
0.5
McConnell said Wednesday. Budget Office who is now reserves—electronic money— worry too much,” said Olivier
dean of the Harvard Kennedy to commercial banks.) 0.0 Blanchard, former chief econ-
T
he usual fear is that School. “That doesn’t just This delights some on the 36 1 2 3 5 7 10 ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ omist at the International
high government debt make it manageable to have left who think the Fed should months years Monetary Fund. “But suppose
leads to a crisis or ex- more debt. It’s a signal that finance all deficits this way, Sources: Congressional Budget Office (historical and pre-pandemic projections), Committee for a [President] Trump is re-
cessive inflation. But there’s the economic costs of that obviating the need for higher Responsible Federal Budget (current projection), Cornerstone Macro (expected federal-funds rate) elected and he puts someone
little risk of the first, and debt, in terms of crowding taxes. It horrifies some on in charge at the Fed who is
nothing inevitable about the out private borrowers, is par- the right who think it elimi- spending and investment to rently suggest inflation will more inclined to yield to
second. It depends on choices ticularly low.” nates any restraint on gov- reach the point that the be just 1.5% in five to 10 pressure. You could see how
to be made by the Federal In early March, the CBO ernment spending and will economy overheats, sending years. But it can’t be ruled the Fed does not increase in-
Reserve and, indirectly, Mr. predicted the debt would be lead to inflation. prices and wages up. Or the out. Businesses need to alter terest rates enough, we get
McConnell, since he has some 89% of GDP in 2025 and in- Both attach too much sig- public has to expect higher domestic operations to re- overheating, inflation, de-an-
say in who sits on the Fed. terest on that debt would nificance to Fed bond buying. inflation, which can be self- duce Covid-19 risk and recon- choring of inflation expecta-
In a debt crisis, investors cost about 2% of GDP. The It doesn’t save the Treasury fulfilling. figure supply chains over tions. The probability of all
worry the debt reaches levels Committee for a Responsible much money. And printing Right now, there’s not concerns the U.S. depends these things happening is
the country may be unable to Federal Budget now projects money by itself doesn’t cause much evidence of it. Infla- too much on foreigners for very small. But it’s not quite
repay. They refuse to buy its the debt will be 107%, yet in- inflation. That requires tion-protected securities cur- vital supplies. That reduces zero.”
while, approved the next infu- 2.5 April as governments tight- a record low, from 36.0 in
sion of aid for small busi- ened restrictions on movement March. Japan’s composite
nesses and hospitals grappling and social interaction aimed at measure also hit a record low
with the outbreak’s toll, a limiting the spread of the new of 27.8.
$484 billion bill the Senate ap- coronavirus, according to sur- The declines were larger than
proved on Tuesday. veys of purchasing managers. expected, suggesting economic
Forty-three states reported 0 The surveys, out Thursday, contractions in the second quar-
jobless claims declined from a 2019 ’20 suggest governments have ef- ter of 2020 might be larger than
week earlier, though they re- fectively closed parts of the economists had expected.
Note: Seasonally adjusted, latest figure
mained at high levels. While People waited outside a job center in Pearl, Miss., on Tuesday, where is preliminary economy where face-to-face “While we knew lockdowns
California continued to see the staff provided paper unemployment-benefits applications to clients. Source: Labor Department interaction is unavoidable— were shutting down large
most claims, with 530,000, that such as restaurants and bar- parts of the economy and ex-
marked a 19% decline from the self-employed individuals. she was able to get in,” he said. was designed to blunt the eco- bers—and activity has tum- pected the PMIs to decline
previous week. New claims in “These unbelievable num- The couple’s biggest immedi- nomic damage from the corona- bled in parts of the economy from March, the scale of the
New York and Missouri fell 50% bers are masking a lot of the ate concern is losing his health virus. Labor Secretary Eugene less directly affected. falls in today’s release was
compared with the week earlier. true demand, and that’s what insurance at the end of April—a Scalia said on Thursday 44 The drop in services-sector staggering,” said Rosie Colt-
A few states that had earlier we’re going to continue to see worry made even more acute by states were paying recipients an activity is unprecedented in horpe, an economist at Oxford
reported smaller filing rates play out over the next month,” the fact that his 14-year-old additional $600 a week in en- the history of the surveys, Economics.
noted sharp rises last week. Ini- said Maria Flynn, president of daughter suffers from a rare, in- hanced unemployment benefits even after the global financial J.P. Morgan sees GDP in the
tial claims in West Virginia and Jobs for the Future, a work- curable disease. “I mostly on top of usual state payments. crisis. Manufacturing activity U.S. falling at an annualized
Connecticut more than tripled. force-development nonprofit. worked for the love of the job. It The extra $600 could lead is also contracting though not rate of 40% in the three
Florida’s volume increased 180% The number of workers re- wasn’t for the great money, so to a larger weekly paycheck quite as severely. months through June, the eu-
as more than 500,000 workers ceiving unemployment insur- we’ve always budgeted. But just than many lower-wage workers According to data firm IHS rozone tumbling 45%, with the
filed for unemployment. ance continues to rise as looking at the summer ahead, would typically earn. For oth- Markit, the composite pur- U.K. economy expected to con-
U.S. stocks wavered on states process applications. In the health insurance—that’s go- ers, like Joshua Price, of Syra- chasing managers index for tract by 59.3%, and Japan by
Thursday after the data showed the week ended April 11, a re- ing to get really pricey,” he said. cuse, N.Y., it amounts to much the U.S.—a measure of activity 35%. Some forecasts are for a
weekly unemployment claims cord 16 million people received The steepest employment less than they were making. in the private sector—fell to relatively quick rebound,
had eased slightly. The Dow unemployment payments, up losses appeared to occur be- Mr. Price, 46, began receiv- 27.4 in April from 40.9 in though the outlook depends on
Jones Industrial Average added from 12 million the prior week. tween mid- and late March, ing unemployment benefits in March. A reading below 50 in- how quickly and thoroughly the
39 points, or less than 0.2%, The data date back to 1967. So- when the economy shed about late March after he lost his dicates that activity has fallen, coronavirus can be contained.
paring gains of more than 400 called continuing claims are 13 million jobs, largely in lei- homebound math teaching job and the lower the figure, the The surveys suggest it is al-
points earlier in the session. reported with a one-week lag. sure and hospitality, according because of government-man- larger the fall. most certain the global econ-
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Com- Dennis Fithian, 49 years old, to Federal Reserve research. By dated public school closures. The April reading was the omy has entered a recession,
posite ended little changed. of Detroit, was able to register comparison, about nine million He gets a total of $1,104 in lowest in data dating back to with figures for the first three
Some economists expect a for unemployment insurance jobs were lost over the course weekly benefits, including the October 2009. months of the year pointing to
fresh surge of claims in future benefits relatively quickly after of the 2007-09 recession. extra $600 a week, which works “The scale of the fall in the widespread drops in economic
weeks as workers who were he was laid off from his job at Oxford Economics estimates out to 56% of his previous in- PMI adds to signs that the sec- output.
previously unable to file be- sports-radio station 97.1 The that the pandemic will result come. Mr. Price said he nor- ond quarter will see an histor- The U.S. and the eurozone
cause of backlogged state sys- Ticket in early April. in 27.9 million lost jobs, in- mally tries to save $750 a week, ically dramatic contraction of will release estimates for the
tems are counted, and as Despite high claims volume cluding between eight million but with tax bills and insurance the economy,” said Chris Wil- first quarter next week that
states begin to accept applica- in Michigan, Mr. Fithian said his and 10 million in industries bills, he is now saving very lit- liamson, chief business econo- are expected to show larger
tions from people who are wife was persistent in helping such as manufacturing and tle. “I don’t believe I should mist at IHS Markit. falls, but they will likely be
newly eligible under a $2 tril- him apply online. “She would construction that most states have to go into my savings to In the eurozone, the index modest compared with the
lion stimulus package, such as get up at 2 or 3 in the morning haven’t ordered to close. pay bills when it’s a govern- dropped to 13.5 in April from contractions predicted for the
independent contractors and and keep hitting ‘refresh’ until The federal stimulus package ment-mandated work stoppage.” 29.7 in March, a low for data April-June period.
U.S. NEWS
WAS H I N GT O N — M o s t
Americans have received their
stimulus money but millions
are still waiting as an under-
staffed IRS contends with
electronic payments bouncing
back and taxpayers griping
about difficulties using the
agency’s website.
students alleging that the stay-at-home orders in their may be next to get sick, and
city’s worst-performing public states, as officials look to min- services are needed to help
schools had deprived them of imize economic damage. Older them self-isolate voluntarily,
a minimum education, violat- people and others at greater said Tom Frieden, president
ing their constitutional right risk of serious illness should and CEO of Resolve to Save
to literacy. remain sheltered even after Lives.
The suit, filed in 2016 restrictions start to ease, ac- Exposed or infected people
against the state of Michigan, cording to the administration. may need temporary housing
alleges that students were Stay-at-home orders have so they don’t risk infecting
subject to inadequate teaching had a huge impact, helping flat- Covid-19 testing in the parking lot of Pinn Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia this week. others, Dr. Frieden said.
and unsafe buildings with in-
festations of mice and cock-
ishes two depleted small- eral government, almost all The cuts are deep and
business relief programs, offers states are required to balance swift—and taking effect imme-
additional assistance to hospi- their budgets. That means that diately, not next fiscal year.
tals and funds an expansion of any new spending has to come They will hit student programs
testing capacity nationwide. from tax revenue or federal aid, as well as capital projects and
States are hemorrhaging rather than from borrowing. staff salaries, university ad-
money responding to the pub- Allowing states to file for ministrators said.
lic-heath crisis at the same bankruptcy would require con- Montclair State University, in
time tax revenue is cratering gressional action and would New Jersey, said it has been
because of widespread stay-at- almost certainly face legal told not to expect $12.3 million
home orders and business clo- A restaurant sat closed in Provincetown, Mass., on Wednesday. Lockdowns have taken a toll on state budgets. challenges, said David Skeel, a of state funding it had been
sures. Some governors have University of Pennsylvania law counting on for the rest of the
already frozen or cut billions ing more federal aid. any desire on the Republican $150 billion for state and local professor. For one thing, it current fiscal year, after Gov.
of dollars in spending. Aid to state and local gov- side to bail out state pensions governments, but the money could be seen as violating a Phil Murphy slashed funding in
The nation’s governors are ernments will likely be a hotly by borrowing money from fu- can be used only for coronavi- constitutional provision bar- light of the coronavirus’s toll on
pushing Congress to give debated aspect of the next ture generations,” he said. rus-related expenses. States ring states from interfering in the local economy. That is about
states $500 billion to make up round of coronavirus legislation State officials called the idea say they need additional fund- contracts. It could also run 25% of the university’s annual
for lost revenue. The biparti- on Capitol Hill. House Speaker of filing for bankruptcy a non- ing to plug budget holes, and afoul of provisions protecting state appropriations for the fis-
san National Governors Asso- Nancy Pelosi said Democrats starter. “You want to see the some want greater flexibility state sovereignty, he said. cal year that ends in June.
ciation is also asking Congress will push to include money for market fall through the cellar?” when it comes to spending the David Adkins, executive di- The state’s office of man-
to help with health-care costs, local governments when law- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo $150 billion already approved. rector of the Council of State agement and budget has de-
unemployment-insurance pay- makers return in early May. said during his daily briefing The National Association of Governments, said he thought tailed nearly $138 million that
ments and access to test kits Mr. McConnell said he on Thursday. “Let New York State Budget Officers says a Mr. McConnell’s comments was earmarked for commu-
and protective equipment. didn’t want to subsidize the state declare bankruptcy. Let cash influx would help the na- were a posturing tactic in con- nity-college and public-univer-
Senate Majority Leader high state pension obligations Michigan declare bankruptcy. tional economy rebound and tinuing negotiations with Cap- sity operations and now has
Mitch McConnell poured cold that predate the coronavirus Let Illinois declare bankruptcy. warns states might have to cut itol Hill Democrats. Sooner or been put back into reserves.
water on the pleas this week. crisis. In many cases, those Let California declare bank- essential services if Congress later, he said, Congress is go- The New Jersey Treasury De-
The Kentucky Republican said obligations were negotiated ruptcy. You will see a collapse doesn’t approve more aid. ing to have to direct signifi- partment didn’t respond to a
he supports letting states use years ago by governors and of this national economy.” “States are currently facing cant funds to state and local request for comment.
bankruptcy protection to cut state-employee unions. Congress previously passed revenue impacts that could governments to prevent a “This is not a small number
their debts rather than provid- “There’s not going to be a $2 trillion aid package with dwarf what was observed in wave of public-sector layoffs. for us. And coming when it
did, exactly when we have so
many unanticipated and very
Fed Turns Focus to Lending Programs The central bank’s assets have
sharply expanded as it ramps
up bond purchases and lending
programs.
substantial expenditures, is re-
ally difficult,” said Montclair
State President Susan Cole.
Montclair State, with more
BY NICK TIMIRAOS be unveiled Wednesday, at the “The principal focus now is Officials are also likely to than 21,000 students, has an
Federal Reserve asset portfolio
conclusion of their two-day not on adjusting what we see expand the Fed’s $600 billion operating budget of $437 mil-
After several frenzied policy meeting. is quite an appropriate stance Main Street Lending Pro- Securities holdings lion. To make up for the unex-
of monetary policy, at least for gram—in which it will extend Lending programs pected loss of funds, the univer-
weeks creating a raft of emer- But big questions loom that
Other
gency lending programs, Fed- will dominate deliberations the next few months,” Fed loans of up to four years to sity instituted a hiring freeze,
eral Reserve officials turn next next week and in the weeks to Chairman Jerome Powell said small and midsize busi- $6 trillion eliminated temporary and con-
week to planning and imple- follow, including how to man- during a moderated discussion nesses—to allow nonprofits, RECESSION tingent positions including non-
5
mentation rather than an- age the central bank’s bond- earlier this month. “The prin- including hospitals and univer- tenure-track instructors, de-
nouncing new initiatives. buying efforts and how long to cipal focus is on these lending sities, to participate. 4 ferred capital projects and is
Fed leaders have suggested extend those easy-money poli- programs and making sure The program is designed to planning to offer fewer, larger
they are comfortable with their cies, with announcements still that credit does flow in the reach firms too small to access 3 classes come fall, she said.
current policy stance, meaning likely several weeks away. economy.” corporate debt markets on The Nevada System of
major changes are unlikely to One step the Fed could take One of those programs will Wall Street but too large to re- 2 Higher Education’s board of re-
in the days ahead is expanding buy cities’ and states’ debts of ceive assistance from the gents recently proposed an
the scope of its support for up to two years and is likely to Small Business Administration. 1 across-the-board cut of 4% to
municipal bond markets. be expanded to include more Recessions have typically university budgets in fiscal
0
Order by The central bank cut rates municipalities, according to been caused by a sharp rise in 2020, and offered options of
May 6th for 2008 ’10 ’12 ’14 ’16 ’18 ’20
Mother’s to near zero at two unsched- people familiar with the matter. oil prices or economic and fi- 6%, 10% and 14% cuts for next
Day! uled meetings last month as When the Fed first an- nancial imbalances that trig- Source: Federal Reserve fiscal year, at the governor’s
the coronavirus pandemic nounced the Municipal Lending ger an abrupt increase in in- request. They are still awaiting
spread rapidly in the U.S. It Facility two weeks ago, it said terest rates. Fed leaders have indicated word on which levels of cuts
also announced open-ended such loans would be open to 76 The current downturn is in recent remarks they see lit- will be implemented.
purchases of Treasury and borrowers, including the 50 different, and its unusual tle chance of a swift economic State funding covers about
mortgage securities after core states, the District of Columbia, cause—forced shutdowns of rebound because, even after 70% of the $1 billion total bud-
financial markets seized up in counties of at least two million commercial activity to slow infection rates subside and get for Nevada’s public univer-
mid-March amid a flight to residents and cities of at least the spread of a highly conta- states and cities lift stay-at- sities, which include the Uni-
Your Children’s Names hand-crafted in cash by investors stunned by one million. Lawmakers have gious virus—has upended the home orders, consumer behav- versity of Nevada campuses in
sterling silver with brilliant Swarovski crystals
set in solid gold - $390 the mounting uncertainty and encouraged the Fed to include traditional recession-fighting ior could change in ways that Las Vegas and Reno and the
JOHN-CHRISTIAN.COM 888.646.6466 deteriorating outlook. smaller cities and counties. playbook. hold down spending. College of Southern Nevada.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | A5
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A6 | Friday, April 24, 2020 * **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Respects are paid at a Denver nursing home for George Trefren, a 90-year-old veteran who died of Covid-19. In suburban Detroit, workers produce masks at a GM plant where transmissions used to be made.
Urged to $6 million.
When Shake Shack applied
for the loan, it wasn’t clear the
Of Meat tions. Those industries
inherently have less room for
closures or surges in sales in
Chaos in Japan
Supply Challenges
Market Olympic
Continued from Page One
erything up front, with Chi-
Expenses
nese manufacturers demand-
ing as much as 50% upon BY ALASTAIR GALE
signing the contract and the
other 50% before the goods TOKYO—Japan and the In-
are handed over, buyers and ternational Olympic Commit-
sellers said. tee need further discussion
In the red-hot ventilator about the financial burden of
market, where some models the postponement of the Tokyo
can cost more than $50,000, a Olympics, a senior Japanese
Western medical institution official said, highlighting ten-
was asked to wire transfer a sion over who shoulders sev-
40% deposit before even see- eral hundred million dollars in
ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
ing the product. Another pro- expected costs from the delay.
spective buyer, a U.S. state, re- Signs of disagreement be-
counts being asked to put tween the local organizers of
down 100,000 yuan ($14,120) the Games, which have been
before being provided with an delayed until summer 2021 be-
address for a factory where cause of the pandemic, and
the vendor said it was holding the IOC surfaced this week
the ventilators for inspection, when the Japanese demanded
people familiar with these a change to an IOC statement.
transactions said. The IOC said in an online
Typically, institutional buy- Transporting medical supplies from China is challenging. Passenger seats held boxes on an All Nippon Airways flight from Shanghai to Tokyo. Q&A about the Tokyo Olym-
ers conduct extensive vetting pics published on Tuesday
and pay suppliers about a PPE from China was sent an This month, China introduced ing—described by one middle- ume has produced even more that Prime Minister Shinzo
month after receiving the official-looking certification tighter customs regulations af- man as the “Louis Vuitton” of headaches. China began limit- Abe had agreed to cover the
goods. But in the current health purporting to be from the U.S. ter complaints about low-qual- masks for the company’s high ing foreign airlines to one in- costs of the Games next year
crisis, many are having to bal- Food and Drug Administration, ity Chinese PPE exports to product-quality standards—told bound flight a week last month, under the existing Games
ance their traditional standards with the words “Insert Num- some European countries. prospective customers this significantly reducing the agreement, suggesting Japan
with the need to act quickly. ber here” on the document, by Private-sector buyers have month that it couldn’t supply amount of cargo that can be would be responsible for any
State governments, used to a prospective supplier. also had to find creative work- masks until October. flown out of China in passenger new costs related to hosting
a bidding process that can The certification was fabri- arounds. Mr. Bernstein’s Uni- Even so, a Journal visit to the planes. Bulk freight prices have the Olympics, such as fees to
take months, have been espe- cated and the supplier had for- versity of Pittsburgh China facility one recent April after- also risen dramatically. rebook venues and rehire staff.
cially hamstrung by the race gotten to replace the words team has connected via Zoom noon found a nearby tree-lined The scramble has highlighted Japanese officials said Mr.
to navigate China’s opaque, with numbers, said John Ev- for video inspections of Chi- side street bustling with dozens the West’s reliance on China for Abe had made no deal and sent
complex and fast-changing ans, the Bangkok-based man- nese suppliers’ plants. To se- of men doing a brisk trade in critical medical supplies. a complaint that asked the IOC
supply-chain network. aging director of management- cure one urgent order of masks they said were from “Americans are learning not to publicly detail talks about
“You are often dealing with consulting company Tractus masks late on a Sunday, his Dasheng’s production lines. from the crisis of our overde- costs. The IOC deleted the claim
middlemen or a shell [com- Asia Ltd. employees reached out to a Two men claimed to have pendence on China,” said Wil- from its website the same day.
pany] within a shell within a In another case, Mr. Evans Chinese hospital group part- five million masks secured liam Buckley, chairman of the On Thursday, Tokyo 2020
shell,” said Illinois Deputy Gov. recounted, Chinese suppliers ner. The hospital group sent a through a contact inside the local government board in Mil- Chief Executive Officer Toshiro
Christian Mitchell, who has turned over addresses of doctor out to the factory plant, which they offered to ford, Mass., which ordered Muto said the question of how
approved the purchase of warehouses that suppliers said around 10 p.m.; the doctor resell at 18.50 yuan ($2.62) 30,000 isolation gowns in new costs would be handled
more than 10 million pieces of were filled with masks avail- sent back a video of himself per mask. Their cut: 2 yuan March from a Chinese supplier would require more debate.
PPE from China for the state. able for sale. Upon further in- donning the Chinese equiva- per mask. Dasheng couldn’t be he said canceled the shipment IOC officials have said they
To grab hold of critical face spection, the facilities turned lent of a coveted N95 filtered reached for comment. days later. expect costs to rise by several
masks, the U.S. government has out to be empty. mask—with two thumbs up. Landing the products “Hopefully, there will be a hundred million dollars, while
committed itself to $110 million A Chinese government Further complicating the doesn’t guarantee that they day of reckoning…and [we] re- indicating their responsibility is
in orders at high prices and spokesman said this week that process is a sprawling and un- will make it across the Pacific. align the supply chain,” Mr. to support struggling interna-
with unproven vendors, The the country provides urgently ruly black market. Regulatory hurdles in both Buckley said. “That’s what ev- tional sporting federations and
Wall Street Journal reported. needed medical supplies to Sales staff at a Shanghai area countries have made the prod- ery country should do.” local Olympic committees. Some
One adviser to U.S. state more than 150 countries and factory operated by Dasheng ucts’ export a minefield. —Trefor Moss and Yin Yijun federations depend heavily on
governments trying to procure international organizations. Health Products Manufactur- A reduction in airfreight vol- contributed to this article. financial support from the IOC.
a skeleton crew works in the In offices, staffers are quickly, while the other bat-
Ben Davidowitz moved to office, most of his 1,200 em- seated far apart, and the tled the illness for weeks be-
the Philippines in 2010 to ployees set up makeshift call company rented housing units fore recently recovering.
open call centers that al- centers at home. and hotel rooms near the call Mr. Davidowitz thought
lowed global companies to Open Access BPO’s reve- Ben Davidowitz is now taking full-time care of his son, Harry centers where they can stay. about flying home, but most
move their customer-support nue is down 12% since the Davidowitz, who has autism, while keeping his business running. Food is provided to those commercial flights to and
services offshore. The coro- start of the pandemic. And working from the office. from the Philippines have
navirus pandemic has forced the new staff procedures net connections. He dis- than quality equipment. A Once every two weeks, Mr. been canceled. He looked
the American entrepreneur to come with additional costs. patched technicians to each quiet environment also is es- Davidowitz stops by his Ma- into chartering a private
find a way for his workers to Many members of Mr. Da- of the homes where employ- sential. This is where Mr. Da- nila call centers and makes flight to see his brothers, but
serve global customers from vidowitz’s young workforce ees needed support. vidowitz faces a problem. sure employees are following was concerned that if he got
their metro-Manila homes. live in small apartments Answering customer que- Roosters are abundant in social-distancing procedures. sick, there would be no one
Mr. Davidowitz runs Open without desks or even inter- ries, however, requires more the areas a few hours’ drive The complexity the 57- to take care of Harry.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | A9
BELLA DREIZLER
As museum tours, zoos, lan- “The following week, we didn’t you see your face and your in- gree of an ability to switch off.”
guage schools, choirs and yoga do the mute thing and it was terlocutor’s, says Rhiannon Ev- How to switch off video
courses migrate online, at-home frigging chaos.” ans, a social scientist at Cardiff gatherings is proving tough for
idleness has become virtually Her 4-year-old grandson University in Wales. There is a Mr. Ioannou, the IT consultant.
impossible. “I don’t feel I have Leon Schinske has become a Bella Dreizler has a Zoom happy hour with friends each Friday. ‘It lot of performance involved, Work calls can go on, and no
the capacity to even read all of video-call refusenik. “No, I was frigging chaos’ one day when people didn’t mute, she says. says Dr. Evans, 35, who now one wants to be the one to
the suggested brilliant things don’t want to be on Zoom, my does around seven hours of con- close them. “Everyone’s looking
we can do with our kids,” says friends interrupt me, and they his bedroom. Even those with evening during the first lock- ference calls a day, then virtual at each other, like, uh it’s a bit
Sonya Dreizler, 40, a consultant don’t go on mute,” he told his busy social calendars normally, down week and back-to-back- coffees and cocktails. “All day, I awkward.”
living in San Francisco with her mother, Sonya Dreizler, when like Mr. Ioannou, are finding to-back drinks Friday night. “At see myself interacting with peo- Then there’s the excruciating
husband and sons aged 9 and 4. she asked if he wanted to join the demands of lockdown first, I was anxious to get ple,” she says. “It definitely con- seconds while the host finds
“I say this from a very privi- story time with his class for the drinks overwhelming. “You plans,” says Ms. Witczyk, a sumes a lot more energy.” the button to adjourn. That si-
leged place where we’re not third day in a row. wouldn’t socialize that much on manager at a digital-marketing For some like Will Ricketts lence needs a name, says Rob
worried about putting food on Old ways of flaking have a normal week,” he says. agency, “then I was anxious who still work outside, access Ralston, a career development
the table,” she says. evaporated, says Mark Ioannou, Natalia Witczyk, 29, worried about those plans.” to social contact and culture fellow at the School of Social
The family’s initial excite- 27, an IT consultant in North her social life living in Barce- Mitch Adams, 40, who works online hasn’t palled. Dr. Rick- and Political Science at the Uni-
ment about video chat is fad- London. “No excuses, are lona would suffer during lock- for a beer importer, knows from etts, 40, a consultant chest phy- versity of Edinburgh. “Every-
ing, she says. “Zoom fatigue is there?” All that’s left, he says: “I down. Instead, it went berserk. bitter experience the transition sician at St. Bartholomew’s one’s desperately looking for
real,” she says. Before Califor- just don’t want to talk to you.” “I had to run an online calendar has created a social minefield. Hospital in London working on the leave-meeting button,” says
nia’s shelter-in-place order, Ms. He moved his work-leaving with all the meetings because I “The difficult thing,” he says, a coronavirus ward, spent a re- Mr. Ralston, 34. “There’s a mad
Dreizler used Zoom frequently drinks from a bar to a Micro- was losing track.” “is that we are trying to put our cent weekend with supporters scramble not to be the last per-
with clients. Now encounters soft Teams meeting hosted in She had events almost every normal social cues and how we of his local soccer team. “One of son on the call with the host.”
55
not enough. residents at some nursing for staff. Daniel Arbeeny, who Cobble Hill Health Center re- among the high-priority groups.
On Thursday, Mayor Bill de homes have accused the facili- said he brought his 89-year-old stricted visitors before authori- Many nursing home leaders
Blasio said he would send addi- ties of withholding information father, Norman, home from ties on March 13 suspended vis- expressed frustration with a
tional supplies and staff to 169 about infections and deaths. Cobble Hill this month, said he its; organized family visits by March 25 state directive aimed
nursing homes citywide this The state’s list of nursing- Presumed deaths from the virus donated masks for its ex- videoconference; and intensi- at boosting hospital capacity
week. He said this would in- home fatalities says Cobble at Cobble Hill Health Center hausted workers. “I’m sympa- fied disinfection efforts, accord- to handle a predicted surge of
crease the city’s weekly ship- Hill Health Center has had 55 thetic because I know what ing to Mr. Tuchman. He said he patients. The directive said
ment by at least 50%, adding to presumed deaths from the cor- they’ve been through,” he said. believes the first cases emerged nursing homes must take back
the more than 40,000 N95 res- onavirus. Mr. Tuchman says Leaders of nursing homes in his facility in March. residents medically stable
pirator masks, 40,000 face that tally is inaccurate and un- out of five, an average score. across the New York City area Many employees began call- enough to return from hospi-
shields, 1.5 million gloves and at fair because his center used a Some families of patients say health authorities have put ing in sick as the outbreak tals, and couldn’t deny admis-
least 105,000 gowns or cover- low threshold for presuming say Cobble Hill didn’t tell them a far higher priority on sup- spread. At times, about one- sion solely due to a patient
alls that went to nursing homes residents had the virus. He the full extent of the virus plying hospitals. “What is hap- third of the roughly 350 staff- having Covid-19.
across the city last week. said 49 deaths were presumed problem. That includes Joey pening in our nursing homes ers were out, he said. Some Mr. Tuchman said that
Cobble Hill Health Center by the center to be tied to Gutierrez, who said his 88-year- is not the result of shortcom- workers resigned. Efforts by didn’t make sense. “We’ve
and other nursing homes have Covid-19, and another patient old father died there on Sunday ings in our facilities,” says Ste- the Journal to reach staff inde- been fighting for weeks to keep
been under scrutiny as deaths who died was confirmed by after suffering from a respira- phen Hanse, president of the pendently were unsuccessful. this out of our building,” he
at the facilities have mounted testing to have it. tory infection. “They didn’t tell New York State Health Facili- Mr. Tuchman said he tried said he told staff. “Now we’re
during the pandemic. By Cobble Hill Health Center’s me Covid was rampant,” he ties Association, an Albany- to isolate suspected Covid-19 rolling out the red carpet.”
New York and New Jersey, said The authority budgeted for In total, the three states have tem’s website and call centers
Thursday that without federal annual gross revenues this paid out more than $3.4 billion as it struggles to process the
assistance the agency may sig- year of $5.8 billion. The big- in unemployment benefits since crush of claims. The depart-
nificantly scale back its 10-year, gest profit makers are its air- mid-March, when businesses ment now has 3,100 represen-
$37 billion spending plans. ports and six toll bridges and began shedding workers as tatives answering the phones
Mr. Cotton, speaking during tunnels, which generated an- fears over the virus grew. The seven days a week, up from
and after a virtual board meet- nual income from operations unprecedented surge in demand 400 before the pandemic.
ing, didn’t specify which proj- last year of $525 million and is straining labor departments, Also this week, New York
ects are threatened. He said $915 million, respectively. where officials are struggling to Residents gather outside a food pantry in the South Bronx. released a new application
that renovations at LaGuardia Ms. McCarthy said that by answer the phones and process that officials hope will make it
Airport, which began several the end of March, in the wake claims using decades-old com- benefits for the first time last Jersey Department of Labor easier for freelance and con-
years ago, remain on schedule. of shutdowns, average weekday puter systems. month. After receiving checks and Workforce Development tract workers to apply for un-
The Port Authority is mid- traffic at vehicular crossings In New Jersey, where about for two weeks in early April, Ms. said about half of new claims employment benefits.
way through renovations at was down 60%, while passenger 19% of the workforce has filed Lince received a notification that are filed go through with- In Connecticut, more than
Newark Liberty International numbers at the airports and on for unemployment benefits that there was a problem with out issue. For applications that 100,000 initial claims were
Airport and is still in the early Path were down about 95%. since mid-March, residents her claim. She has emailed and require an agent’s review, the filed last week compared with
stages of a massive overhaul Last month, ahead of the continue to report problems called every day but hasn’t been department is adding phone about 34,000 the prior week.
of John F. Kennedy Interna- first federal coronavirus bailout, filing claims. About 140,000 able to get through. capacity and staff. In total, more than 400,000
tional Airport. the Port Authority requested people applied for first-time “You either get a busy sig- In New York, more than applications have been sub-
The Port Authority’s spend- $1.9 billion from the govern- benefits in the week ended nal or you get transferred or 200,000 people filed first-time mitted to the state Depart-
ing plan also includes a com- ment. Mr. Cotton said the April 18, roughly the same the calls get dropped,” said unemployment claims last ment of Labor since March 13,
plete overhaul of its Midtown agency received $450 million, number as the prior week. Ms. Lince, 58 years old, who week, down from nearly about 81% of which have been
Manhattan bus terminal and which was earmarked by the Anita Lince has worked in At- lives in Ocean City, N.J. “Mean- 400,000 the week before. Res- processed, said Commissioner
an expansion of capacity on Federal Aviation Administration lantic City casinos for 30 years while, my bills are mounting.” taurants and hospitality, retail Kurt Westby, who described it
the Path rail system. Both nor- to cover losses at its airports. and filed for unemployment A spokeswoman for the New trade and health care and social as a “tsunami of claims.”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. * * NY Friday, April 24, 2020 | A9B
Funds Not
Available
To Cremate
Victims
BY KATIE HONAN
could have used any financial noted, was the work’s timeli- nies in exploring streaming
help as they struggled to pro- ness because it speaks to the possibilities. A few across the
vide a respectful way to say continuing immigration debate. country are trying similar ini-
goodbye to Mr. Pena-Lopez, a The play, set from 2008 to tiatives during the pandemic.
former chef at an IHOP restau- 2016, tells the story of a family The Roundabout Theatre’s ‘72 Miles to Go’ tells the story of a family split by the U.S. southern border. In New York, off-Broadway
rant in Queens. The neighbors split by the U.S. southern bor- theaters are staying busy online.
in their hard-hit community der, with the deported mother production, via its website, chival and marketing purposes. has had restrictions on the The Atlantic Theater Company
could use the aid, too. living in Mexico and the father free to those who already had Mr. Haimes said the record- streaming of shows, new tem- has master classes and other
“We live in East Elmhurst, a and children in Arizona. purchased tickets. Other the- ing wasn’t necessarily the porary deals were made with training opportunities through
neighborhood of immigrants,” So, instead of writing off the atergoers can access it for a most ideal, particularly be- theatrical producers nation- its Atlantic Acting School. MCC
he said. “There’s not a lot of production as a lost opportu- one-time price of $20. It began cause the drama was still being wide that allowed for the pos- Theater is hosting virtual events,
people with $2,000, $3,000 in nity, the Roundabout team streaming earlier this month tweaked in previews. But the sibility during the crisis. including a coming reading of
savings right now, and they’re quickly regrouped and figured and ends Friday. company was nevertheless able Roundabout also had to Alan Bowne’s play “Beirut” with
out of work.” out a way to make “72 Miles to Bringing the show to life on- to quickly edit a version that tweak its approach with Marisa Tomei and Oscar Isaac.
Assemblywoman Catalina Go” available through a stream- line was another matter because worked for a digital audience. schools. Typically, the com- Ultimately, nothing can re-
Cruz, who represents neigh- ing platform. “This is a play the shutdown was announced Other issues were resolved pany brings theater profes- place live theater, said Mr.
borhoods in Queens, plans to that should be seen,” said Todd on short notice. Roundabout in different ways. While Ac- sionals into classrooms in ad- Haimes, but he sees streaming
introduce a bill that would ad- Haimes, Roundabout’s artistic was fortunate in that it had tors’ Equity Association, the vance of students attending a productions and other digital
dress eligibility for funds and director and chief executive. taped the production during labor union that represents performance. Now, it has efforts potentially continuing
increase the amount of money. Roundabout is offering the previews, though strictly for ar- actors and stage managers, switched to doing so as part of after the crisis.
A10 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
LIFE&ARTS
HBO (2)
TELEVISION REVIEW | JOHN ANDERSON
T
he rise and fall of quite the im- Hugh Jackman the girl when Rachel starts asking
Frank Tassone as told pression on and Rafael questions that let Pam know she’s
in HBO’s blackly co- screenwriter Casal, above; about to be found out. Frank
medic “Bad Educa- Mike Ma- Mr. Jackman doesn’t threaten Rachel, he just
tion” is mostly about kowsky, who with Allison lets her know how wrong these
his fall and hinges, was a student Janney, left kinds of things can go when inno-
ever so Greekly, on his own hubris. in Roslyn when cent people are smeared—her own
Early on, Frank, the wildly popu- Frank was in- name, every- dad has been unjustly accused, and
lar, handsome and successful su- dicted in 2004. one’s child, fired, as part of an insider-trading
perintendent of the Roslyn, N.Y., Mr. Makowsky’s even people he prosecution. But she plugs away, in
school system on Long Island, is storytelling hasn’t had as a virtual vacuum.
interviewed about an overly ambi- isn’t just true- students for 15 “Bad Education,” which got lau-
tious building project by a student crime. It’s true- years—like datory reviews when it played last
journalist, who gets her quote and human. Kyle (Rafael year at the Toronto Film Festival,
prepares to go. “It’s just a puff Corruption Casal), the doesn’t feel like a theatrical film.
piece,” explains Rachel Bhargava is, among dancer/bar- It feels perfect for a Saturday
(Geraldine Viswanathan), but Frank other things, tender he takes night on the couch (which works
stops her in her tracks. “It’s only a inconvenient. up with during out well). There’s a scene late in
puff piece if you let it be a puff When Bob a boondoggle the story when Frank goes on a
piece,” he admonishes. “A real jour- Spicer (Ray Ro- in Las Vegas. rant before one of Roslyn’s clue-
nalist can turn any assignment into mano) and the No one pays lessly privileged parents about the
a story.” What you feel then is just rest of the attention to unappreciated educator and the
a tremor, but the foundation of Roslyn board the price of his ungrateful taxpayer, but it’s diffi-
Frank’s meticulously fabricated life of education suits or his cult to tell exactly what’s up—is
is beginning to turn to sand. start losing surgeries, be- Frank trying to convince himself?
Which it famously did. Frank their minds cause Frank, It’s a delicate and memorable per-
Tassone and his assistant, Pam over the outra- like a human formance by Mr. Jackman. Ms.
Gluckin—played with an actorly geous intramural pilfering—it’s are soaring compared with other pyramid scheme, just keeps paying Janney does the whole Long Island
joy by Hugh Jackman and Allison discovered that Pam has been towns on the North Shore of Nas- off. Until he doesn’t. And the re- thing as well as anyone ever has.
Janney, directed by Cory Finley— putting thousands in personal ex- sau County. Pam’s exposure might sourceful Rachel—inspired by The most resonant character,
were eventually indicted and con- penses on her school-district well undo it all—would Harvard Frank—starts digging into the though, might be Rachel, whom
victed in an $11.2-million embez- credit card—the board immedi- think twice about accepting kids school system’s accounts. Ms. Viswanathan imbues with the
zlement scheme that involved ately wants to call the cops. But from a scandal-plagued school “Bad Education,” like the film indignation of youth—something
houses in the Hamptons, vaca- Frank—so sage, so political—reins system? No one wants to find out. “Spotlight,” is a journalism story: the rest of the characters have
tions, plastic surgery, more vaca- them in: The high school has just But no one knows the extent of No one really wants Rachel’s ex- long outgrown, but which the
tions and Frank’s Park Avenue been rated No. 4 in the country; the thievery either, and as por- posé, no one wants the dirty laun- story was always going to need.
apartment. It was certainly the the rate of Ivy League acceptances trayed by Mr. Jackman, Frank is a dry aired—not even the school pa-
biggest crime of its kind that is phenomenal and, most impor- tightrope walker. He has political per that she’s writing for. Ms. Bad Education
Roslyn had ever seen and made tant, property values in Roslyn gifts, remembering everyone’s Janney looks like she might eat Saturday, 8 p.m., HBO
tion on the “Mean Girls”/“Heathers” “School Girls” at home is a com- duction of Eugene O’Neill’s “The Ice-
movie genre, it struck me at the pletely convincing experience in its man Cometh,” which I saw at the
time as a fabulous premise for sa- own right. Goodman in 2012. “All he has to do,”
tirical playmaking, and I’ve been At first glance, “School Girls” Adia Alli, Katherine Lee Bourne, Ashley Crowe, Ciera Dawn and Tiffany Renee I wrote, “is stare into space, his face
waiting ever since to catch a re- plays like something similar to a Johnson in Jocelyn Bioh’s ‘School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play’ a skull-like mask of anguish, and
gional staging. Indeed, Berkeley rewrite of “Mean Girls” moved to your eyes flick to him like flies to a
Repertory Theatre’s production was Ghana’s Aburi Girls’ Boarding actually…I am a little pale—really, cent snobbery into something far corpse.” No one privileged to have
one of the first shows closed by the School circa 1986. Therein lies the I’ve been missing some of that tougher and more hurtful. Ms. seen Mr. Dennehy, whether in the
coronavirus outbreak to resurface source of the top layer of humor good African sun.” Bioh manages this transition with- theater or on screen, will soon for-
as a theatrical webcast, and I’d have in the show, which is initially As that last line indicates, much out so much as a hint of heavy- get him.
reviewed it had I heard about it dominated by Paulina (Ciera of the satire in “School Girls” handedness, and Ms. Brown’s stag-
soon enough. Dawn), queen bee of the popular- arises from the once-unmention- ing is identically light in touch.
Fortunately, a preview of the girl clique. When not bossing able subject of intra-racial preju- “School Girls” takes place on a School Girls; Or, the African Mean
Goodman Theatre’s Chicago pre- around her acolytes, Paulina brags dice: In Ghana as in so many other unit set attractively designed by Girls Play
miere of “School Girls,” which also about her American cousins, who dark-skinned communities, the Yu Shibagaki. A small audience Goodman Theatre, Chicago (viewable
fell victim to the pandemic, was shop at such “trendy American lighter your skin tone, the higher was present for the preview, and it online only, $15 and up). For elec-
taped just in time to be turned boutiques” as Walmart and eat at your social status in certain cir- is clearly audible, which always tronic “tickets,” go to goodmanthe-
into a webcast. The difference is “high-class” restaurants like cles. That ugly reality is made enhances the effect of a theatrical atre.org or call 239-332-4488. Tickets
that the Goodman plans to put its White Castle (“A castle with even more brutally clear when a webcast, though I wish it had been must be purchased by the end of Fri-
production onstage when Chicago’s food!”). Then Paulina’s reign is hoity-toity organizer from the mixed a bit more loudly. That, day and the show can be viewed
theaters reopen. In the meantime, threatened by the arrival of Er- Miss Ghana pageant (Lanise An- however, is my sole quibble: This through Sunday
the video version has been given icka (Kyrie Courter), who has toine Shelley) comes to the Aburi is a first-class production of a
an online run that ends this week- moved to Ghana from the U.S. and Girls’ Boarding School in search of first-class play, one that I expect
end, and I recommend it very whose explanation of her past and a possible contestant. It is at this will continue to be staged all over Mr. Teachout, the Journal’s drama
strongly. Not only is “School Girls” present is a mortal threat to the point that the play’s emotional the country after the pandemic re- critic, is the author of “Satchmo at
a stiletto-sharp piece of social dark-skinned Paulina: “Oh, my dad stakes soar, turning “School Girls” laxes its hold on American theater, the Waldorf.” Write to him at
commentary disguised as a com- has a company—a cocoa factory, from an ingenious spoof of adoles- as well it should be. Ms. Bioh is a tteachout@wsj.com.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | A11
NETFLIX (3)
otherwise conventional parents
who owned the store—especially
Karen, a person with an excep-
tional gift for living with contra-
diction, and for resolving it. Justin Andrew Honard, above; Karen Mason, one of the owners of the store,
“I would never call myself a below; the historic Stonewall Inn as seen in the film, right
soccer mom,” she says cheerfully.
No, but no one would ever have
taken her to be a pornographer.
On one level the film, directed by
Rachel Mason, the Masons’ daugh-
ter, is a tale of professional drift
and accidental entrepreneurship.
Barry had studied film at UCLA,
and Karen had been a newspaper
reporter—she got her start, she
says, with The Wall Street Journal
in Chicago, then went to the Cin-
cinnati Inquirer. But she burned
out as a journalist and he wasn’t
setting the world on fire as an in-
ventor of medical devices that he
developed caring for his father, a
kidney patient with a dialysis ma-
chine at home. Until something
better came along they decided to
take over a foundering porn shop
called Book Circus, modified the
sign to read Circus of Books and,
starting in 1982, built a business
that established a second location film’s vital center has no connec- was accepting, but Karen was not, only disapproved, but saw it, she be censors; Karen was, in her
in Los Angeles, expanded into tion with history or politics, and to say the least. A devout Jew suddenly realized, as God’s judg- heart of hearts, one of them.
adult-film production and became everything to do with anti-gay throughout her life, she’d been ment against her for trafficking in If this were the end of her
the country’s largest distributor of prejudice visited on the younger taught in Hebrew school that ho- porn. story, the documentary would
gay porn. Mason son, Josh, by—astonish- mosexuality was an abomination, Viewed dispassionately, this is a qualify as a cautionary tale with a
In its leisurely, episodic fash- ment of astonishments—his and believed it. How she recon- study of someone living success- dismal outcome, and there would
ion, “Circus of Books” functions as mother. ciled that conviction with her fully, up to a point, with two irrec- be no compelling reason to watch
a history of the LGBTQ movement, The circumstances, as the fam- working life seems to have in- oncilable attitudes. That’s not so it. But Karen’s realization was the
Western division, and of the im- ily recalls them for Rachel’s cam- volved her own kind of repression; remarkable; people do it all the beginning of a new era in her life,
pact of the AIDS epidemic on the era—and sometimes with Rachel the bookstore with its many off- time. In the context of the film, a dramatic if belated turnabout
store’s loyal staff. It’s equally an joining them, since it’s her story shoots was simply a business, one though, it’s a startling demonstra- that makes “Circus of Books” an
account of censorship efforts, dur- too—were anguishingly familiar. to which she brought no moral tion of how irrational and seem- unlikely source of inspiration. Peo-
ing the Reagan administration, Josh, who had long felt himself to judgments, and she was fine with ingly intractable prejudice can be. ple can indeed live at war with
that threatened to put Barry in be gay and struggled to repress gay people in general, or so she Never mind that Karen and Barry themselves and not know it.
prison and relented only after Bill his feelings, came out on a visit believed. Yet when her own child Mason were constantly beset by Here’s a case of great things hap-
Clinton came to office. Yet the home from college in 2000. Barry revealed himself to be gay, she not moralizing politicians and would- pening once peace is declared.
SPORTS
The NFL’s Almost Perfect Prospect
The best way to understand the hype around the Bengals’ Joe Burrow is by looking at his flaws. There aren’t many.
BY ANDREW BEATON “I think it’s a non-factor,” Burrow
T
said when he had to face the music
here wasn’t a technical and publicly address the size of his
glitch or unforeseen mittens.
stunner that threw the In all likelihood, despite most
start of this year’s NFL NFL quarterbacks having larger
draft into chaos. The hands than him, he’s right: it won’t
Cincinnati Bengals began this un- be a problem. But the moment he
precedented, remote draft day by coughs up his first professional
selecting the player who has spent fumble, it will surely be raised.
months anointed as the No. 1 pick The first reason NFL teams
in waiting: Joe Burrow. sometimes obsess over this particu-
The Bengals had the No. 1 pick lar piece of minutia is because they
because they were a terrible team pride themselves on whipping
last season, and teams that stink at themselves into a tizzy over every
football tend to need a new quar- piece of minutia. The second reason
terback. Burrow, most experts say, is that they believe smaller hands
is the best one available. He’s a can lead to decreased ball security.
transcendent talent with the poten- Bigger hands make it easier to grip
tial to resurrect a moribund fran- the ball firmly.
chise that hasn’t won a playoff Burrow, though, has never had a
game since before he was born. problem with that: He fumbled only
But the immense intrigue around four times during his last season at
Burrow is that some believe he’s LSU.
even more than simply the top guy
available in this year’s class. They The Arm Strength
say he’s the most flawless quarter- It doesn’t take long to realize
back prospect in recent memory. Burrow can make every type of
“It’s the cleanest film I’ve ever throw. He threw seven touchdowns
seen from a college quarterback,” in the College Football Playoff semi-
former NFL quarterback and NBC final against Oklahoma. And then
Sports analyst Chris Simms said re- the teams took their break for half-
cently. time. He hits receivers on slants,
It isn’t hard to understand why crosses, outs and bombs.
people feel this way: Burrow just Joe Burrow had But when evaluators have com-
had arguably the greatest college one of the pared the sheer strength of his arm
season ever. He led LSU to a na- greatest seasons to other young quarterbacks, some
tional championship. He won the in college history. believe it leaves a bit to be desired.
Heisman Trophy. He put up unfath- “He does not have a huge arm,”
omable numbers—60 touchdowns said NFL Network analyst Daniel
with only six interceptions—while room like he’s been endowed with petitors in college. It’s the same finished his second season. Lamar Jeremiah.
playing in the best league in college the bravado of Joe Namath. reason why college basketball play- Jackson showed just how much a Jeremiah watched him throw in a
football. He made the best defend- So perhaps the best way to un- ers may perform better as seniors players’ performance can leap at workout with Darnold and Buffalo
ers in the SEC look like the worst derstand the breadth of his abilities but the freshmen are still the top such a young age when he won the Bills quarterback Josh Allen, two
defenders in the Big 12. is by looking for the minute holes in picks in the draft. Teams see more MVP and led the Ravens to an NFL- young quarterbacks who are around
But the funny thing about the his résumé—the ones that will be growth potential in someone who’s best record. And Jackson is a his age, and he said Burrow came
NFL draft is that even can’t-miss revisited if he somehow doesn’t younger. month younger than Burrow. up a tick short. He said Burrow
prospects sometimes do just that. find his way to stardom. There are a couple of ways of doesn’t have the same sort of natu-
They miss. Players, including and viewing Burrow’s age. One is by Those Hands ral cannon that others like Patrick
perhaps especially quarterbacks, are The Age Factor comparing him to the player who’s The most dramatic moment at Mahomes and Carson Wentz pos-
praised as sublime talents and Burrow is an outlier in many re- projected to be taken second: Ohio this year’s NFL combine occurred sess.
eventually get labeled as the nasti- spects. One of those is when he was State defensive end Chase Young when Joe Burrow had his hands But none of these things mat-
est four-letter word in sports: a born: He’s already 23 years old. And turned 21 last week. The other is by measured. They came in at 9 tered for the Cincinnati Bengals.
bust. the reason that could be important looking at current NFL players. Jets inches—from pinkie to thumb— They had the chance to take the
Burrow seemingly has the ability is that this places him further along quarterback Sam Darnold has been which is seen as slightly less than closest thing in the draft to the per-
to escape that fate. He can throw a developmental curve than other in the NFL for two years—and he’s optimal for an NFL quarterback. Fi- fect quarterback prospect. So did
short passes and long passes. He players. The logic would go that his six months younger than Burrow. nally, scouts found a flaw with Joe just that and took Joe Burrow.
can run. He can even get away with performance was boosted because A more telling example may be Burrow: his hands were fractions of —Joe Flint
smoking a cigar inside the locker he was older than most of his com- another NFL quarterback who just an inch too small. contributed to this article.
to work, their offices will be unrec- the referees. widespread testing or a vaccine. In most soccer matches, their man. But his final college sea-
ognizable. The next time there are The study’s authors noticed that There is reason to believe that study found, home-field advantage son ended with a gruesome hip
games to watch, they will almost in stadiums without fans, the be- these events will have dramatic im- holds true. The referees call fewer injury. In the eyes of some, he
certainly be played in empty arenas, havior of the games’ supposedly plications on the games themselves. fouls and give fewer yellow and red went from a sure thing to a
a reality that went from unrealistic neutral arbiters shifted dramati- This is the first time in the modern cards to the home team. But not in question mark.
to optimistic over the course of the cally. And only by playing games in history of sports that they won’t the Italy sample. Home teams were The draft, which took place
silence could the researchers deter- have drunk fans calling them blind, penalized so much more and road amid unprecedented conditions
By Joshua Robinson, mine how officiating calls were in- telling them how to do their jobs teams were penalized so much less because of the coronavirus, be-
Ben Cohen herently biased by the mere pres- and generally trying to influence that it created a swing of 3.96 fouls gan much as planned on Thurs-
and Andrew Beaton ence of other human beings. their decision-making. per match. day night.
But even after they published For decades the question of Subsequent papers on this effect Burrow led things off. Defen-
most disruptive six weeks in sports their results, they wished they had home-court advantage has pulled at in soccer were able to get even sive end Chase Young went to
history. But it turns out this kind of more data. It would take a pan- researchers, but only recently have more granular. One study of the the Redskins at No. 2 and he
workplace disturbance happened demic for them to get what they they discovered that it’s largely a German Bundesliga found that was followed by cornerback
once before. wanted. “Our little study is becom- function of psychology. In their 2011 home-field effects were most pro- Jeff Okudah to the Lions. Then
It all started with another mor- ing relevant again,” said Mikael book “Scorecasting,” Toby Moskow- nounced in stadiums that didn’t the Giants took offensive tackle
bid event, a 2007 soccer riot in Sic- Priks, who wrote the paper with Per itz and L. Jon Wertheim presented have a running track between the Andrew Thomas at No. 4.
ily, where hundreds of supporters Pettersson-Lidbom, his University compelling evidence that it’s mostly field and the stands. The closer fans After that, the Dolphins
were injured and Italian authorities of Stockholm colleague. a matter of referee bias. In a world were to the action, the more likely made Tagovailoa the face of
took the extraordinary step of ban- Now sports leagues around the without fans, that bias might de- they were to sway their calls. their rebuild. The Chargers fol-
ning fans from matches. But two world are confronting the bleak re- crease. “I suspect they will make Crawford said this theory didn’t lowed at No. 6 with the quar-
Swedish economists spotted oppor- ality of playing behind closed doors much fairer decisions,” said match his reality. “You don’t even terback some believed could
tunity in disaster. This was a rare to come out of hibernation. Major Moskowitz, a Yale economist. hear the fans,” he said. But in the leapfrog Tagovailoa, Oregon’s
chance to answer a question of hu- League Baseball is considering a This makes sense. Imagine you spirit of scientific exploration, he Justin Herbert.
man behavior that is now being plan that would put teams in a bub- worked for a company that invited offered a hypothesis of his own: The early run on quarter-
asked in the dystopian sports land- ble to play games in Arizona. The thousands of strangers to heckle He’s guessing that NBA players and backs made sense: in a league
scape of the coronavirus pandemic. NBA and NHL are weighing similar you relentlessly all day every day, coaches might not lobby for so increasingly dominated by
What changes at major sporting proposals to stage their postsea- so much that it became part of your many calls in a silent, empty arena. passing, it was the third time in
events when there are no crowds? sons. German soccer is hoping to routine. But then one day, the office Why? the common draft era that
The answer is that one popula- resume play in empty stadiums in bans them. Would you get better or “Because everybody can hear three quarterbacks went in the
tion gets closer to perfection in do- early May. A future without fans is worse at your job? you,” he said. top six picks.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | A13
OPINION
Congress’s Coronavirus Mess BOOKSHELF | By Colman Andrews
“There is al-
ways a well-
ised this week’s legisla-
tion was merely an “in-
Rep. Warren Davidson
proposes to turn at
Now Serving
Number One
known solu- terim measure” and least some of those
tion to every declared that “in the dollars from grants
SHAWN THEW/SHUTTERSTOCK
human prob- weeks ahead Congress into loans—as the gov-
lem—neat, must prepare another ernment is doing with
POTOMAC plausible, and major bill in similar other businesses. This
wrong,” H.L. size and ambition to makes sense, especially
WATCH
Mencken ob- the Cares Act”—last as hospitals will among
How to Feed a Dictator
By Kimberley
served. Con- month’s $2.2 trillion the first industries to By Witold Szabłowski
A. Strassel
gress has law. Joining him—un- reopen and are well- (Penguin, 267 pages, $17)
‘I
found its own fortunately—is the positioned to recover.
neat and plausible answer to White House, which Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer Other Republicans call t has always seemed curious to me,” Ford Madox Ford
the Covid-19 pandemic: spend, senses an opportunity for a closer look at all once wrote, “that the four fiercest of all animals, the
spend some more. Thankfully, to realize long-stalled priori- even in financial distress to the dollars Congress threw in bull, the stallion that is more terrible than the bull,
a few elected leaders are start- ties. President Trump seems tap the fund, which is helping its panic, wondering if it isn’t the rhinoceros that is a charging castle, and Mr. Hitler,
ing to realize it’s wrong. unaware that Speaker Nancy to run it dry—a problem now prudent to claw back some of should all be vegetarians.”
The world’s least delibera- Pelosi will see his plans for in- being flagged by Sen. Ron the more wasteful or unneces- In fact, Hitler was not a vegetarian, at least not consis-
tive body was at it again this frastructure spending and Johnson of Wisconsin. Yet sary handouts. tently. Various accounts mention the Führer’s fondness for
week, as the Senate waved raise him a bailout for every those same rules bar smaller, Congress has an obligation Bavarian sausages, liver dumplings and stuffed pigeon, and
through by unanimous con- mismanaged blue state, a U.S. more desperate businesses at least to ensure the money he banned vegetarian organizations. Why does that matter?
sent another $484 billion for Postal Service rescue, a com- from obtaining loan forgive- it is shoveling out—whether Why should we care what Hitler did or didn’t eat—or, for
loan programs, hospitals and plete revamp of voting rules ness if they use even 26% of in grants or loans—remains that matter, what music he listened to, what he hung on his
testing. The House at least in time for November, and ex- the money on expenses be- with those for whom it is in- living-room walls, or what his favorite color was?
bothered to gather and hold panded unemployment bene- yond payroll. Texas Rep. Chip tended. Its failure to include But people obviously do care about the ephemera of
an actual vote Thursday, fits for everyone, forever. Roy, a member of the Free- any meaningful liability pro- autocracy. Countless articles have been written about dictators’
though it forswore amend- On the other side are Re- dom Caucus, put together an tection in its legislation en- cars and the quirks of dictator fashion. There’s even a whole
ments. This was the fourth publican lawmakers realizing amendment to loosen the sures that a huge chunk of aid book dedicated to the interior decor of tyrants’ homes.
aid package Congress has Democrats are using each of 75%-on-payroll requirement, money is destined for the And then there’s food. Polish journalist and author Witold
whipped along since March. these bills to take them—and but Democrats barred him trial bar, which is already ac- Szabłowski’s lively “How to Feed a Dictator,” rendered into
the country—for a ride. Sen- from offering it to this week’s tively soliciting plaintiffs for English by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, isn’t the first volume to
ate Majority Leader Mitch legislation. cases against hand-sanitizer address the subject. Victoria Clark and Melissa Scott’s
A pandemic doesn’t McConnell indicated an end to Then there are the Demo- manufacturers, hospitals, vac- “Dictators’ Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining
any more unanimous-consent crats’ “turbocharged” unem- cine makers, nursing-home Tyrants” draws on secondary sources to reveal the eating
excuse lawmakers spending and voiced his oppo- ployment benefits from the operators—you name it. Dem- habits of some 25 despots (Hitler included) and includes
from performing their sition to Democratic schemes Cares Act. Four Republican ocrats are fine with this, since recipes for some of their favorite dishes. Mr. Szabłowski, in
to bail out badly managed senators—South Carolina’s the trial bar’s profits help contrast, devoted three years to tracking down and person-
most basic duties. state pensions. He wants a Lindsey Graham and Tim elect Democrats. But conser- ally interviewing the cooks for just five former leaders—
pause, thank the Lord. Scott, Nebraska’s Ben Sasse vative groups are pushing for Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Uganda’s Idi Amin, Albania’s Enver
Republicans are also realiz- and Florida’s Rick Scott— Republicans to take a hard, if Hoxha, Cuba’s Fidel Castro and
By some estimates, law- ing the virus has not caused warned at the time that bene- belated stance. Cambodia’s Pol Pot. He doesn’t
makers have already pushed voters to abandon basic prin- fits so generous would dis- How about any stance? bother with recipes, but with
this year’s budget deficit to ciples. Their constituents ex- courage able-bodied people The Beltway story of the help of locals he meets, he
$4 trillion—quadruple the pect conservatives to care from returning from work. Covid-19 has been one of does provide historical context
previrus estimate. The only about debt and the size of They were generally treated Democrats holding hostage for the worlds in which these
good news is that this number government, as well as to ad- like the skunks at the spend- every aid bill to pet priori- tyrants operated and makes
is finally pinging a few alarm dress the ballooning list of ing party, but we now know ties, and the GOP caving in. sure we remember how evil they
bells. So cue the next itera- mistakes and unintended con- they were right, and the pro- Republicans need to make were, even as we read about
tion of Congress’s virus de- sequences in all these pack- visions could contribute to clear—to Democrats and the their fondness for grilled cheese
bate—a battle between those ages. There’s a growing Re- yet more bankruptcies. See White House alike—that not with honey or refusal to eat
intent on more mindless publican consensus that this the Journal piece this week another dime will leave the dried elephant meat.
blowouts and those belatedly must now be the priority. from ChefStable owner Kurt government’s coffers until He also warns us—though only
determined to clean up the That includes changes to Huffman, who can’t get his Congress better accounts for at the end of the book, after we’ve
messes Congress has already the Paycheck Protection Pro- employees back on the job. the programs it has already ingested what his chefs have
made. gram, the Small Business Ad- This week’s bill throws $75 enacted. A global pandemic served—that he wasn’t able to verify
On the mindless side, we ministration’s new lending fa- billion more at hospitals on doesn’t excuse lawmakers much of what he has been told. “We simply have
find Senate Minority Leader cility. The current rules allow top of the more than $100 bil- from their basic duties. to trust the cooks,” he proposes, a bit ingenuously, “just as
Chuck Schumer, who prom- bigger businesses that aren’t lion in the Cares Act. Ohio Write to kim@wsj.com. we would trust them if we met them and they cooked for us.”
Those cooks, it turns out, have modest origins. Unlike,
say, Russia’s Nicholas II, who imported renowned French
Dying Gives Us a Chance to Confront Truth chefs to prepare his meals, Mr. Szabłowski’s despots aimed low.
None of the five men and one woman he talks to (he finds
two of Castro’s cooks) were polished professionals when they
HOUSES OF Years ago I moriendi holds the opposite “He lifted me out of the deso- Covid-19 is not a blessing. were recruited to serve. Hoxha’s chef—identified here only
WORSHIP preached a view: It’s a good thing to see late pit, out of the mire and It is one more obvious, terri- as “Mr. K”—had been working in a construction-site kitchen
By C. Kavin sermon on death coming and to have clay”; “Taste and see that the ble instance of a broken when “the party” sent him to cook at the Albanian leader’s
Rowe death to a time to prepare. Time and Lord is good.” And in the world. But amid all the rea- holiday villa. Yong Moeun, who served Pol Pot, was a scout
relatively habit provide the chance to words of Jesus: “Let not your sonable concern, we shouldn’t in a jungle encampment when she was enlisted to make a
young con- live fully and—even at the last heart be troubled; and do not lose sight of the deeper cause sweet-and-sour soup, thereby launching her cooking career.
gregation. As I greeted con- hour—become a mature hu- be afraid”; “I am the resurrec- of our anxiety—our mortal Otonde Odera, Idi Amin’s chef, seems to be the most
gregants after the service, man being, one who tells the tion and the life.” And, when fear—and the unprecedented passionate of the lot about his métier. Born in a tribal village
many smiled the Southern truth. my wife has breath enough, chance within this life to be- in Kenya, he crossed the border into Uganda as a young man
smile that means, “We know I know this firsthand be- we also sing the Kyrie eleison. come fuller, richer and more and ended up working as a gardener for an English couple
our manners but don’t like cause my dying wife tells the Lord, have mercy. joyful human beings. in Kampala, the capital. One day he was asked to help pre-
what you said.” Yet one el- truth. When she was referred When we accept the truth pare a meal. “Right from the start,” he tells Mr. Szabłowski,
derly couple stopped to talk. to hospice some time ago, af- about our mortality, we can “I felt as if I were born in the kitchen. . . . I had found some-
“We’ve never heard a sermon ter a long and painful decline, Since my wife entered also experience remarkable thing God wanted me to do.” After Uganda declared indepen-
on death here,” I recall the she simply noted, “I don’t freedom: to take the time to dence in 1962, Mr. Odera got a job cooking for Milton Obote,
wife saying. “We needed one. want to die. I want to finish hospice, we’ve grown say “I love you”; to stop nurs- who was Uganda’s prime minister and then president. When
We’re old and we know what’s raising our son.” closer together and ing resentments, thinking that Obote was deposed by Idi Amin in 1971, Mr. Odera stayed on.
coming.” Through attentive care, forgiveness can always wait
The Covid-19 pandemic has hospice has extended her deeper in our faith. for another day; to cease pre-
swept away the illusions that life—and with it the chance to tending that little annoying A Polish journalist tracks down and talks to
led the congregation—and talk about our successes, fail- things matter so much; to pick the chefs of five despots who ate well despite
much of the world—to ignore ures, hopes, sorrows, beliefs, And he has had mercy: Je- up our heads and look at the
death. The virus will kill only and doubts. The demand to sus teaches that the way to a beauty of the world; to exam- the privations faced by their citizenry.
a small minority of the world. face death created a new full life is through facing ine our beliefs about what re-
Yet its prevalence has re- chance to grow closer to- death. That teaching holds up. ally, really counts in life; to
minded people everywhere gether and deeper in our faith. My wife has not been healed mend relationships; and, for What do we learn from these chefs, by way of Mr.
that if Covid-19 doesn’t kill We don’t have time to argue and will never get better. But those who’ve never tried it be- Szabłowski, about the dictators they served? Probably not
them, something else will. about what a “messy kitchen” somehow we are on the path fore, even to pray. much we didn’t already suspect. They ate well, regardless of
This realization recalls a truth means when we’re focused on of life. Telling the truth and No sane person would the privations faced by their citizenry. They were paranoid
central to the Christian tradi- sharing the truths we need to training for death is agoniz- ever give thanks for a pan- (Hoxha’s secret-police agents not only dogged his chef’s
tion: No one will get out of life hear: I love you. I wish we ing, but it also has provided demic. But if we take the footsteps but stood by while farmers milked the cows and
alive. could grow old together. I consolation. Death no longer chance it gives us to become fishermen landed their catch for the Albanian dictator’s
Over time Christians devel- wanted to know our son’s wife seems far away; training for it truth-tellers, lovers and rec- meals). And they were capricious.
oped a set of practices to help and our grandchildren. I will and experiencing its closeness oncilers, we may well wind If Saddam didn’t like a dish one night, he would make
us tell this truth and to pre- be with you until the end. has brought certain gifts. up giving thanks for what we his cooks pay for the cost of the ingredients. A few days
pare for death. In the Middle We have long read the Bi- These gifts of clarity of pur- have become. later, if he was better pleased, he would give the money
Ages this was called the ars ble. But facing death has pose and love are what human back twofold. Amin spontaneously almost tripled Mr.
moriendi, the art of dying. To- brought it near, and its words beings spend much of their Mr. Rowe is a professor at Odera’s salary one day after a couple of British officers
day, a quick death often is now speak directly to us. We lives longing for and failing to Duke University Divinity praised a steak-and-kidney pie he’d prepared—but on
seen as ideal. Yet the ars find comfort in the Psalms: find. School. another occasion, he raged against the kitchen staff and
threatened to kill them when his 13-year-old son got
indigestion and Amin was convinced he’d been poisoned.
Coronavirus as a Sequel to ‘Jaws’ Mr. Odera is certain that, contrary to rumor, Amin never
dined on human flesh. “I never saw any meat of unfamiliar
origin, or that I hadn’t bought myself,” he assures us.
By Lee Siegel out there. You knew it was ticularly dislikes Hooper, accus- tin, my kids were on that How do these chefs feel today about having nourished men
I
dangerous. But you let people ing him of exaggerating the beach, too,” he says, racked who are now so widely reviled? Yong Moeun, who cooked for
nspired by current events, go swimming anyway.” shark’s size to “get your name with guilt and fear. He hires an Pol Pot, expresses a kind of admiration for him that suggests
many people are streaming The camera closes in on the into the National Geographic.” eccentric seaman, Quint, to a schoolgirl crush, calling him “a beautiful man” and “pure
old pandemic movies like face of Matt Hooper, the “It’s all psychological,” find and kill the shark. goodness.” His nickname was Brother Mattress, she reports,
“Panic in the Streets” (1950), oceanographer, as he reacts to Vaughn tells Brody. “You yell “The summer’s over,” Brody “because he always did his best to calm things down. He was
“Outbreak” (1995) and “Conta- this scene of rage and grief. It ‘Barracuda,’ everybody says tells Vaughn, implying that the soft.” (He also conducted a campaign of mass genocide that
gion” (2011). Another relevant is an unforgettable moment. ‘Huh? What?’ You yell ‘Shark!’ beaches will be locked down as exterminated a quarter of Cambodia’s population.) One of
classic is the 1975 summer But it wasn’t Brody who had and we’ve got a panic on our the frightened townspeople take Castro’s chefs tells Mr. Szabłowski: “I have no reason to be
blockbuster “Jaws.” kept the beaches open. It was hands on the Fourth of July.” shelter and wait for the chief, ashamed. No one ever did as much good for Cuba as Fidel.”
The mayor of a fictional Eventually the men reach a the scientist and the hunter to Castro’s other chef, who, Mr. Szabłowski is told, “has lost his
New England resort town, Am- compromise. The beaches stay eradicate the menace that has wits,” says of the late Cuban leader: “He’s everything to me.
ity Island, has to decide A deadly threat forces open but with heavy police transformed their lives. He’s my entire life.”
whether to follow the advice of presence, posted warnings “Jaws” is a only a movie, Hoxha’s chef is obviously less proud of his service. He
his police chief and an ocean- reluctant politicians about the shark, and aerial ob- and today’s real-life trade-offs insists on keeping his real name secret, says Mr. Szabłowski,
ographer and close the town’s to order a shutdown servation. But Vaughn gets in aren’t as simple as a fictional because “he doesn’t want to keep explaining on a daily basis
beaches after a great white his own way and thwarts this plot. Americans have an unpre- what he was doing for a living while most Albanians were
shark kills two swimmers—a of the economy. precarious plan when he im- dictable political leader who is starving.” As for Mr. Odera, while he doesn’t defend his
decision that would devastate pulsively circulates among far more complicated than former boss Idi Amin, he gives himself a pass: “You ask how
the town’s economy. anxious beachgoers, hinting Larry Vaughn, and whose op- I could cook for such a monster. Well, I had four wives and
The mother of a young boy Mayor Larry Vaughn, who that the shark has been caught ponents, including a substan- five children.”
who has gone missing after from the beginning plays down and urging them to enjoy a tial segment of the press, seem
last being seen playing in the the threat for fear of driving swim. The splashing attracts determined to demoralize the Mr. Andrews is a senior editor at 24/7 Wall St. and the
surf—the audience knows he away people who flock to the the shark, which claims an- public to bring him down. Still, author of nine books on food.
was the shark’s second vic- town every Fourth of July, now other victim in an unguarded the scene of a grieving
tim—confronts the police a day or two off. part of the water. mother’s rage against the offi-
chief, Martin Brody, and slaps “Look,” Vaughn says at one Brody’s teenage son, who cials who failed to protect her Coming in BOOKS this weekend
him in the face. point, as he tries to dissuade was swimming nearby, is taken son resonates 45 years later. Lucy S. Dawidowicz & the politics of Jewish history •
“I just found out,” she says, Brody and Hooper from publicly to the hospital in a state of Odetta: A life in music & protest • The other ‘Miss Austen’
“that the girl got killed here announcing the danger, “we de- shock. The mayor realizes his Mr. Siegel is author, most • Epidemics & society: From the Black Death to today •
last week, and you knew it! pend on the summer people error as he waits with the po- recently, of “The Draw: A Children’s verse: A celebration • Fiction, mysteries & more
You knew there was a shark here for our very lives.” He par- lice chief at the hospital. “Mar- Memoir.”
A14 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
OPINION
REVIEW & OUTLOOK LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
M
illions of Americans will lose their jobs governors, including New York’s Andrew Cuomo, William Galston’s “Trump Flunks icy—governors who have blamed
and tens of thousands will die from Illinois’s J.B. Pritzker and Michigan’s Gretchen Federalism 101” (Politics & Ideas, Washington for a lack of supplies,
April 15) is excellent as far as it goes. equipment and testing, and who have
Covid-19. Leave it to the plaintiff bar to Whitmer, for using emergency executive powers
He notes that Supreme Court deci- wildly overstated the numbers of ven-
make money off the misery. to protect providers in their sions construing the Constitution’s tilators and hospital beds they need.
“The WHO is telling health Trial lawyers are states from trial lawyers. Spending Clause permit the federal Few beds are occupied in New York
care facilities to take all nec-
essary steps in dealing with
massing to loot medical Other same.
governors should do the government to offer states grants for
purposes that are the exclusive re-
City’s Javits Center or aboard the
USNS Comfort sitting in its harbor. It
patients to detect, isolate and providers and employers Those actions by Democrats sponsibility of the states, so long as it seems all patients who needed venti-
limit the spread of Coronavi- are also an opening for Repub- doesn’t coerce them into accepting lators have been able to get them.
rus,” says the law firm Cogan
in response to Covid-19. licans to press liability reform them and all their attendant baggage. Now those same governors are saying
& Power, P.C. Advises per- in Congress. Nebraska Sen. Experience has demonstrated that the to the president: “We’re good; we’ve
sonal injury attorney Steven Ben Sasse has introduced leg- states find it enormously difficult to got this.”
Heisler: “If you or a family member has become islation shielding health-care workers for test- decline them, whatever their condi- With a few honorable exceptions,
tions. That is true even though 14 most of those governors appealed to
seriously ill or someone has died from corona- ing or treating coronavirus patients. Congress
states refused to participate in Washington for a national policy and
virus due to someone else’s negligence or fault, last month legislated liability protection for N95 ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid decried its “lack of leadership” be-
you should seek legal advice to see if you have mask manufacturers that feared lawsuits if coverage, but that is an exception that cause they didn’t want to make the
a coronavirus malpractice lawsuit.” health-care workers wearing masks got sick. Li- proves the rule. Having experienced hard decisions that Mr. Trump has, in
Most businesses are advertising less, but trial ability concerns discouraged manufacturers the very substantial collateral costs of fact, made. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s
lawyers are taking advantage of America’s home who don’t usually make masks from assisting their existing Medicaid programs, daily fireside chats have made him a
confinement to recruit clients on TV. Consumer against the coronavirus. those states declined to compound celebrity. But I have trouble recalling
Attorney Marketing Group notes that “media It will get worse. Plaintiff firms are also tar- them. Thus the practical effect of the one really hard decision the avuncular
consumption in the U.S. is already at historical geting employers if they reopen for business and court’s Spending Clause decision has governor has made over the past
highs” and “staying put in our homes can lead workers or customers get sick. Cruise companies been to empower Congress to induce month.
to almost a 60% increase in the amount of con- have been sued for negligence, and the American the states into adopting Washington’s JAMES DAMRON
approach to matters that remain the North Potomac, Md.
tent we watch in some cases.” Legal finance Federation of Government Employees has filed states’ exclusive responsibility.
firms are also capitalizing by lending money for a class action against the federal government for These programs, which are laden Mr. Galston utterly ignores the
virus lawsuits on condition they receive a divi- not providing enough protective equipment in with the most detailed instructions, Constitution’s Compact Clause (Arti-
dend from the eventual payout. prisons and veterans hospitals. now provide federal subsidies for vir- cle I, Section 10, Clause 3), which pro-
Most health-care providers have malpractice All of this will hamper the recovery. The virus tually every activity in which states hibits states from reaching agree-
insurance, and insurers are directing them to can spread easily among workers in confined are engaged. They distort state priori- ments among themselves without the
establish explicit treatment protocols as a pro- spaces, and infections have forced some meat- ties, impose ponderous regulations on consent of Congress. The governors of
phylactic. But it’s unclear whether insurers will packing plants and food facilities to close. Most myriad state and local activities and New York and California recently an-
cover some coronavirus legal claims. Hospitals employers are adopting practices recommended deprive their citizens of effective con- nounced a compact negotiated by
were inundated with lawsuits after Hurricane by public health including keeping workers at trol over how their own taxes are to each of them with other states to end
be used. In sum, they have converted the shutdowns previously ordered by
Katrina, so now most are prepared for natural least six feet apart and are regularly sanitizing
the states in too many ways into mere the governors involved. Congress
disasters. their facilities. States need to grant them legal administrators of programs created in hasn’t consented to those compacts.
But a pandemic like the coronavirus hasn’t protection if they do. Washington and overseen by bureau- Mr. Galston gives the president no
occurred in a century. Hospitals and workers Employers are also worried about wage-and- crats who are the furthest removed credit, however, for refusing to order
are managing a surge of patients that nobody hour lawsuits by workers who may claim they from where the money is to be spent. a nationwide shutdown at a time
could have predicted. They aren’t responsible weren’t allowed to take rest breaks or weren’t As one former Democratic governor when the president’s opponents were
for a lack of protective equipment. Health-care paid overtime while working remotely. Small put it: “I honestly wondered if I was complaining that the president pro-
providers have to make treatment decisions businesses also say new federal paid sick and actually elected governor or just duced a “patchwork” by allowing indi-
against a disease we still know too little about, family leave mandates could leave them vulnera- branch manager of Nebraska for the vidual governors to decide how each
and they shouldn’t be sued unless they are ble to worker lawsuits. federal government.” state would respond to the Covid-19
grossly negligent. If Congress wants America to recover with In practical effect, these grants pandemic. That is precisely the sys-
have effectively nullified the Constitu- tem that the Constitution establishes.
Congress last month provided liability pro- any speed from this pandemic recession, we
tion’s federalism—its reservation to PATRICK MCSWEENEY
tection for health-care volunteers but should ex- can’t have a lawsuit epidemic too. Employers op- the states of all powers not assigned Powhatan, Va.
tend them to all providers. Credit Democratic erating in good faith need a safe harbor. by it to the federal government.
JAMES L. BUCKLEY By Mr. Galston’s logic, the presi-
Bethesda, Md. dent has the authority under the Com-
Big Oil to the Rescue merce Clause to shut down interstate
A
I think that President Trump’s as- commerce, but lacks the authority to
nti-carbon activists don’t sleep even climate impact, which finally ended last Decem- sertion of “total” authority over the open it back up. That is a non sequi-
during a pandemic, and earlier this ber when a state judge tossed the state lawsuit states likely reflects his irritation at tur, particularly since the purpose of
week New York City Council members as entirely without merit. governors who have for weeks com- the Commerce Clause is to facilitate,
introduced a resolution to di- Exxon is also increasing plained about the “lack of leadership” not hinder, interstate commerce.
Look whose products production of a specialized coming from Washington and the RICK MILLER
vest from banks invested in need for a uniform nationwide pol- Wallingford, Pa.
fossil fuels. Perhaps they don’t
know that hand sanitizer and
are crucial for fighting polypropylene that is used in
medical masks and gowns by
personal protective equip- off the coronavirus. about 1,000 tons per month,
ment come from hydrocar-
bons synthesized by their
which is enough to manufac-
ture up to 200 million medical
Med School, Social Awareness and Good Care
arch-villain Exxon Mobil. masks or 20 million gowns. At the same time, In “Med School Needs an Over- cerns that physicians are faced with,
Exxon’s predecessor Standard Oil invented it is applying its expertise in material science haul” (op-ed, April 14), Dr. Stanley including Covid-19. Emerging data
isopropyl alcohol (IPA), the key ingredient in to develop new face shields that utilize a filtra- Goldfarb bemoans the present focus demonstrates that mortality associ-
disinfectants and hand sanitizer, in 1920. Its Ba- tion fabric. in the curriculum for educating future ated with Covid-19 is disproportion-
doctors. Fifty years ago, when I was a ately higher in socially vulnerable
ton Rouge chemical plant is now the world’s Working with Boeing, Exxon plans to manu-
medical student, we were exposed to populations. The same can be said for
largest producer of IPA. While refineries have facture as many as 40,000 masks an hour. Ac- public-health issues, epidemiology, a slew of other conditions, including
been throttled back, Exxon has ramped up IPA cording to an Exxon engineer, this new design biostatistics and community health. heart disease, cancer, asthma, diabe-
production by 3,000 tons per month, which is and production method won’t be vulnerable to The most productive day of my medi- tes, pregnancy, obesity and even os-
enough to produce 50 million four-ounce bot- the supply-chain hiccups that have led to wide- cal education was the one I spent teoarthritis. Adequately treating our
tles of sanitizer. spread mask shortages. No Defense Production with a visiting nurse as she made patients requires that physicians un-
The oil giant recently noted in a press re- Act coercion necessary. rounds in poor areas of the South derstand the context in which those
lease that the state of New York has turned to As for the cries to divest from fossil fuels, oil Bronx. It taught me that all of the ad- patients live. They cannot do that
the Baton Rouge plant for critical supplies. Gov. and gas generate energy but are also the feed- vances in the science of medicine will without being taught about the im-
Andrew Cuomo should be grateful Exxon isn’t stock for an inestimable number of essential be of no avail if our patients don’t fol- pact of these social issues on medi-
holding a grudge after the state’s four-year in- products. Do liberals want to divest from using low our recommended treatments. If cine. The best place for this is medical
doctors understand how our patients school—where all physicians are given
quisition for allegedly deceiving itself about its those to fight off the coronavirus?
live, we can improve their medical a broad education on the fundamen-
outcomes. In my four years of medical tals of medicine.
Watch Out in the South China Sea school, the hours we medical students
devoted to our studies far exceeded
Along those same lines, undergrad-
uate medical education only provides
W
the demands on the time of friends the foundation for a career in medi-
ith the world preoccupied by the the coronavirus crisis. Chinese propaganda who were studying for M.B.A.s or cine. It is the basis for further training
coronavirus pandemic, China has has also amplified the virus troubles aboard other graduate degrees. Given that and not intended to be the endpoint
been looking to exert more military the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, time is finite, if we add an item to the of our learning.
control in the South China a premier American naval as- curriculum, something else will have Preparation for major public-health
Sea. This week three war- As U.S.-China tensions set in the Pacific, to suggest to be reduced. crises is important, but not at the ex-
As physicians, we not only know pense of learning about the social de-
ships from the U.S. Seventh
Fleet, joined by an Australian
increase, the chance of U.S.Another vulnerability.
potential flash-
what we know, we also know how terminants of health that impact our
much we don’t know. My medical edu- patients every single day. Students
frigate, responded by sailing a miscalculation grows. point is Taiwan, which has cation has prepared me for under- should enter the field of medicine
into the disputed waters in a won deserved international standing items that may be out of my with a clear understanding that they
show of force. The danger is recognition for its handling field. But understanding is a far way not only may face a public-health ca-
that Chinese naval officers misread America’s of the coronavirus. That’s also infuriated from expertise. I am neither a statisti- tastrophe like the one that we are cur-
public mood and think they can embarrass the China, which has increased military flyovers cian nor am I an epidemiologist. When rently in (as Dr. Goldfarb says), but
U.S. without escalation. close to the island. needed, they can be found at the also that the work they do may be
The South China Sea is a critical waterway U.S.-Chinese tensions are also increasing, nearby university medical complex. greatly limited by the social chal-
in the Western Pacific, bordered by Taiwan, as Americans blame China for its deceptions ELLIOT DAVIDOFF, M.D. lenges that our patients face in their
Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia about the coronavirus in an election year. Chi- Granville, Ohio daily lives. We need socially conscious
physicians who can do both.
and Brunei. Beijing has long claimed control nese propagandists have claimed the U.S. may
Social determinants of health are MUYIBAT A. ADELANO, M.D.
over it, and during the Obama Administration have created the virus. critical to understand because they Washington University
it moved on its claim by militarizing islands Under these circumstances the chance of are the undercurrent of most, if not School of Medicine
despite international protests. a military miscalculation increases. Even all, individual and public health con- St. Louis
This month Vietnam said a Chinese ship something like the Hainan Island incident,
deliberately rammed and sunk a Vietnamese when a U.S. and Chinese plane collided in
fishing boat. Indonesia’s fishermen are also 2001, would require careful de-escalation. Should Gender, Race Rules Pepper ...
reporting escalating harassment, and in re- The coronavirus is consuming most of Amer- Apply to the Vice President? And Salt
cent weeks Chinese government and militia ica’s political oxygen, but Chinese military
ships have been tailing Malaysian oil-explo- commanders should not think this is a mo- Regarding the letters of April 21 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
ration boats. ment to tangle with the U.S. if they encounter about Democratic presidential nomi-
nee Joe Biden saying he would choose
U.S. freedom of navigation exercises are in- each other at sea. China’s geopolitical oppor-
a woman for vice president. Why is it
tended to affirm that Beijing cannot unilaterally tunism amid the pandemic has turned opinion that political jobs can be filled by sex
seize control of the waterway. Some waters of against Beijing. or race while jobs in the private sec-
the South China Sea are claimed by multiple Freedom of navigation exercises are impor- tor cannot? Isn’t it time to apply the
neighboring countries, but China is the stron- tant but not enough to secure the Western Pa- same rules to the politicians who
gest power in the region and last week it an- cific from Chinese domination. The U.S. has re- make the laws as those followed by
nounced its sovereignty over more islands over mained neutral on territorial claims, but it may the people who live under them?
objections from Vietnam and the Philippines. need to start recognizing claims of countries BRIAN GREIG
China wants to assert its dominance, chasing like Vietnam to make China pay a price for fur- Austin, Texas
other countries’ commercial maritime traffic out ther expansion. The U.S. should also try to main-
of waters even near their own coasts. tain its defense pact with the Philippines under Letters intended for publication should
It’s widely believed that Chinese military mercurial President Rodrigo Duterte. be addressed to: The Editor, 1211 Avenue
of the Americas, New York, NY 10036,
officers are more hawkish and anti-American China’s recent behavior has badly damaged or emailed to wsj.ltrs@wsj.com. Please
than Beijing officialdom claims to be. While its claims to be a global stakeholder that plays include your city and state. All letters
the military has historically been reined in, by the rules. The U.S. is right to make clear are subject to editing, and unpublished “Helen, Don, you’re probably wonder-
President Xi Jinping has been doubling down that it remains a Pacific power and that the letters can be neither acknowledged nor ing why I called you. The answer is
returned.
on nationalism to consolidate his control amid coronavirus hasn’t lessened its resolve. achingly simple—I can’t get down.”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | A15
OPINION
T
much, but they’re wrong. After all, certainly likely to hit $3 trillion. To
he economists Milton the 2007-09 recession showed that a large extent the gaps will be fi-
Friedman and Anna Ja- the ever-changing fortunes of the nanced by the banking system, with
cobson Schwartz demon- banking system have a significant such monetary financing of the
strated in “A Monetary effect on demand, output and em- budget deficit adding to the amount
History of the United ployment. From 2010-18, growth of money in the economy.
States” that a collapse in the quan- rates of the quantity of money and It’s reasonable to assume that by
tity of money was the main cause nominal gross domestic product spring 2021 the quantity of money
of the Great Depression. Hoping to were virtually identical at 4% a will have increased by 15% and pos-
avoid a repeat, the Federal Reserve year. sibly by as much as 20%. That
in recent weeks has poured money The Fed publishes weekly data wouldn’t quite match the peak rates
into the economy at the fastest rate on the U.S. commercial banking sys- of expansion seen during and im-
in the past 200 years. Unfortu- tem’s balance sheet, allowing what mediately after the two world wars
nately, this overreaction could turn amounts to real-time diagnosis and of the 20th century, but it could
out just as poorly; history suggests prognosis of the money supply. surpass peacetime records, outpac-
the U.S. will soon see an inflation Even in late February the Fed ing the previous peaks in the infla-
boom. wasn’t making major new decisions tionary 1970s.
CHAD CROWE
in response to the coronavirus’s Policy makers have repeatedly
spread, but that changed suddenly called the battle against the novel
Fed actions have increased with President Trump’s announce- coronavirus a war. As in wartime,
ment of a national emergency on federal expenditures are rising
the quantity of money in March 13. Over the next two weeks, hyperactivity, when the quantity of in U.S. history. The Fed might de- sharply while tax revenues are be-
the U.S. economy at a the central bank introduced a range money has climbed by nearly 2% in fend itself by saying that its “shock ing hit by the lockdown. Both World
of radical and unprecedented new a single week, could hardly be and awe” tactics have given finan- War I and World War II—and, in-
blistering rate. policies intended to ease the pain of greater. If the recent rate of in- cial markets confidence that the cor- deed, the Vietnam War—were fol-
the lockdown measures. crease continued for a year, com- onavirus won’t cause a long and lowed by nasty bouts of inflation. If
From March 11-18, deposits at pound interest would cause bank deep recession. And its massive that happens again, policy makers
Friedman and Schwartz used a U.S. banks rose by 2.2%. In the next deposits to swell by 175%. Since bond purchases—more than $500 today being cheered for their swift,
broad definition of the quantity of seven days they rose 2.5%. And in bank deposits dominate the measure billion between March 11 and April decisive action will instead have to
money that included all bank de- following week they rose 1%. In of money described by Friedman 1—surely won’t continue at the same answer for their grave lack of fore-
posits, and found that U.S. money other words, in a mere three-week and Schwarz, the quantity of money rate for the rest of the year. sight.
stock shrank by 38% between Octo- period they increased by almost 6%. would soar at a similar rate. Nevertheless, the problem now
ber 1929 and April 1933. Some The contrast between the Fed’s pas- Excluding the years immediately becomes financing the much-en- Mr. Congdon CBE is chairman of
prominent economists—including sive response to the Great Depres- after the Revolutionary War, the larged budget deficit. Some com- the Institute of International Mone-
Princeton’s Paul Krugman and Co- sion, when the quantity of money past few weeks have seen by far the mentators have speculated that tary Research at the University of
lumbia’s Joseph Stiglitz—claim that fell by 1% a month, and its recent highest rate of monetary expansion over the next year or so the federal Buckingham, England.
Maybe the Experts Were Right About Covid-19 the First Time
It’s time to con- about the pandemic that remains po- focus on the question of health-sys- they are reopening in stages. The vi- ate much more enforcement. Rule-
front an awful pos- litically impossible to say. The trou- tem capacity. rus’s second surges in China, Singa- loving Germans comply less and less
sibility about the ble started in mid-March when “herd Sweden’s fans are perhaps too pore and Hong Kong serve as a warn- with social distancing, to judge by a
lockdowns in which immunity,” previously the tacit or ac- quick to overlook the human tragedy ing. The original conventional University of Mannheim tracker poll
many of the world’s knowledged endgame for most of the of the resulting higher death toll. wisdom acknowledged the reality that found that more than 50% of re-
economies now world, became a toxic phrase. Critics But its critics should be more curi- that draconian lockdowns merely de- spondents had violated rules against
find themselves: pointed out that allowing the virus ous about whether, if permanent layed the inevitable spread and that visiting friends at least once in the
POLITICAL
ECONOMICS The experts might to spread in a controlled manner suppression of the virus is impossi- sheltering populations rather than week ending April 21, up from
have been right the would cost lives. They presented a ble, this approach might stave off slowly cultivating herd immunity around 30% in the last week of
By Joseph C.
first time. stark alternative of total lockdown or subsequent disaster by moderating would lead to quickly rising infection March. Protests have erupted in the
Sternberg
“The first time” the disaster of Italian hospitals, with future peaks of the virus—with rates once countries reopened. U.S., and near-riots in some of Paris’s
was not so long no middle ground. fewer of the human costs associated • We can’t ask the public to lock volatile suburbs.
ago—February to mid-March—when But if those experts have a more with a lockdown. down indefinitely. This was articu- Leaders are asking us to do the
official opinion on how best to grap- plausible plan than taking a con- lated most forcefully in the U.K., impossible—cut off almost all so-
ple with the new coronavirus pan- trolled path to herd immunity, the where Prime Minister Boris Johnson cial contact indefinitely—at often
demic was very different. The distin- world is waiting to hear it. Experts They originally wanted took merciless flak for trying to de- incalculable individual cost, and
guishing characteristic was modesty. propose instead either that we await lay the sternest pandemic-mitigation then belittling those who object as
The stated goal was not to van- the arrival of a vaccine or that we herd immunity, realizing efforts on the grounds that the pub- antiscience rubes. At the start of
quish the virus but merely to try to ramp up testing and contact tracing lockdowns would incur the lic would find it hard to comply for this pandemic some leaders seem-
control its spread so as not to over- of the infected. Good luck. A vaccine long. ingly understood how destructive
whelm health-care systems. Officials is a year or more in the future, if one disasters we’re seeing. Mr. Johnson’s critics promptly fell the resulting loss of trust between
also understood public patience with ever emerges. An effective mass test- down the rabbit-hole of investigating rulers and citizenry would be. They
draconian measures would wear thin and-trace regime would require a the scientific basis for that insight abandoned that insight at their, and
quickly and demanded politicians ex- level of competence and focus that We’d better hope Sweden’s ap- within the field of behavioral studies our, peril.
ercise caution when asking the pub- typically eludes modern govern- proach works, because the alterna- (turns out there isn’t a lot) while i i i
lic to take on burdens. ments—not to mention an invasion tive gives little cause for optimism. overlooking its obvious truth in ob- We’ve all placed our bets now and
Those opinions now are widely of privacy that, at least in the U.S., We can’t lock down our economies served human nature. Sustained, se- can only hope for the best. But it will
derided, often in insulting terms. Yet might be unconstitutional. waiting for a vaccine that may never vere curtailment of daily liberties be well worth it for voters and stu-
subsequent events suggest they’re Events will provide two tests of arrive. And as Germany, Denmark, has only ever been enforceable at the dents of public policy alike to ask in
mainly correct. Let’s take each in whether the experts were right the Austria and other European coun- point of a spear or a gun. coming years whether policy makers’
turn. first time. Sweden is conspicuous tries emerge from their lockdowns, Sure enough, nearly five weeks first instincts were their best—and,
• We can’t stop the virus, we can not only for its lack of a formal lock- officials all but admit the virus will into Britain’s lockdown, its police if so, why we made it so difficult for
only slow it. This is the biggest fact down but also for its leaders’ laser start spreading again. That’s why forces worry the public won’t toler- them to follow those intuitions.
T
more than half the infections and trous oil-price war Russia entered in sian observers—“the destruction of accomplish much, Mr. Putin left Mos-
he path of the coronavirus deaths have occurred. “We are at the early March with the Saudis. Neither the system,” or even the “greatest cow. This is bound to deepen the peo-
pandemic in Russia has been foothills of the peak, not even in the the economy nor the ruble is likely to shake-up since 1917”—are still not ple’s sense of abandonment and re-
similar to that of other coun- middle.” recover soon. In 2009, after the fi- likely, at least in the short run. There sentment. His chosen refuge—Stalin’s
tries: Denial gives way to fear, even Russia entered the crisis in a nancial crisis, Russia’s gross domes- is enough resilience in the Russian former dacha outside the town of
despair. Covid-19 has exacerbated weakened state. Its longest stagna- tic product shrank by almost 8%—the political system, and people are too Valdai—evokes the Soviet dictator’s
tensions and exposed political and tion in modern history—an average largest contraction among Group of preoccupied with surviving to take to escape to a different dacha after the
economic inadequacies, testing the of about 1% growth between 2009 20 economies—and the country is the streets. There is little doubt, Nazi invasion on June 22, 1941.
strength and legitimacy of institu- and 2019—has eroded incomes. In likely to bear the brunt of the coming though, that this is going to be the The tools that have served Mr. Pu-
tions as well as confidence in na- the third quarter of 2019, by official global recession too. So far the gov- toughest challenge President Vladi- tin so well in previous crises—televi-
tional leadership. In this regard, the ernment has promised to give those mir Putin has faced in his 20 years in sion propaganda, bribes to opinion
pandemic could hardly have come at “who abide by the self-isolation re- power. leaders and politicians, selective re-
a worse time for the Kremlin. Russia entered the crisis gime” a one-time payment of 4,000 In 2019 his approval ratings pression and, most of all, the people’s
The days when an overconfident rubles ($53): half now, and half after dipped close to the lowest in his trust in his luck—are not likely to be
Russia dispatched planeloads of med- with a stagnant economy, the quarantine is lifted. reign, according to the independent as effective this time. Only about half
ical supplies to Italy, Serbia and the and its oil-price war with In the next few months, the coro- Levada Center. In March his popular- of Russians now believe the state-
U.S. now seem like ancient history. navirus dislocation may bring in- ity was only a couple of points above controlled television, down from al-
As of Thursday there have been more the Saudis isn’t helping. comes down as much as an average the November 2013 nadir of 61%— most 80% in 2009. Even if Mr. Putin
than 57,999 confirmed cases, up more of 18%, and up to eight million Rus- three months before the invasion and dropped his longstanding reluctance
than 5,000 from Wednesday, and 57 sians could lose their jobs. Though occupation of Crimea. His brazen to dip into Russia’s foreign-exchange
more deaths for a total of 513. Those estimates, almost 18 million Rus- the highest unemployment benefit March 10 self-coronation speech to reserves and Welfare Fund, there may
numbers are proportionate to about sians, or 12%, were below the sub- has been raised, it’s still only 12,130 the Duma, in which he endorsed the not be enough gold, dollars, euros
131,731 infected and roughly 1,165 sistence minimum—which this year rubles, or $161. The smallest payout proposal to “zero out” his previous and yuan in the Treasury to support
dead in the U.S.—numbers America the government defines as about is 1,500 rubles, or a little under $20. four presidential terms and allow Russians through the crisis and pre-
hit before the end of March. 11,000 rubles a month, or $146. Most Even these beggarly sums are out of him to run again in 2024, was imme- vent the economy from sliding into a
The independent Russian medical of the impoverished were working. reach for an estimated 25% to 40% of diately seen for what it was by al- deep recession. Most important, only
union Alliance of Doctors charges The Russian State Statistical Russians, especially in small towns most half of the nationally surveyed 35% of Russians trust Mr. Putin the
that the government is covering up Agency, Rosstat, reported last year and the countryside, who are em- Russians. Forty-six percent told poll- most out of their national leaders, ac-
the actual number of infections, so that 80% of families were regularly ployed full- or part-time in the sters they didn’t want to see him in cording to a survey the Levada Cen-
worse may be coming. Even officials unable to buy a “minimal assort- shadow economy, and thus not enti- the Kremlin after his current term ter conducted in January.
are saying it. “I can tell you for sure ment of goods,” and 35% couldn’t af- tled to any assistance. In all, accord- expires in 2024. Repression remains available, but
that there has been no peak [in Covid ford two pairs of shoes for each ing to a Russian expert, tens of mil- After telling provincial governors for the first time core supporters
cases] yet whatsoever,” said Mayor family member. lions of people will need support. to do the best they can, and ceding to could turn on Mr. Putin. In the words
of leading political economist Evgeny
Gontmakher, they may “soon be
driven to desperation” by the lack of
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Chief Executive Officer, News Corp
Notable Quotable: Texas money even for the bare necessities.
Violent incidents could lead to na-
Matt Murray William Lewis
From “ ‘Paycheck Protection’ Is clients. Without capital to stay in tional crisis, and even the 340,000-
Editor in Chief Chief Executive Officer and Publisher Killing Restaurants” by Rep. Chip business, owners are left to choose strong National Guard, which Mr. Pu-
Neal Lipschutz Karen Miller Pensiero DOW JONES MANAGEMENT: Roy (R., Texas) and Emily Williams between firing their employees and tin cobbled together four years ago
Deputy Editor in Chief Managing Editor Ramin Beheshti, Chief Technology Officer; Knight, CEO of the Texas Restau- furloughing them. from the police and the Internal Af-
Natalie Cerny, Chief Communications Officer;
Jason Anders, Chief News Editor; Louise Story, Chief
Kamilah Mitchell-Thomas, Chief People Officer; rant Association, on the Journal’s If you terminate workers, you fairs Ministry’s troops, may have
News Strategist, Product & Technology Officer
Edward Roussel, Chief Innovation Officer; website, April 23: cut expenses. But to qualify for trouble restoring order.
Thorold Barker, Europe; Elena Cherney, News Christina Van Tassell, Chief Financial Officer loan forgiveness, PPP requires that Mr. Putin is likely to save himself
Features & Special Projects; Andrew Dowell, OPERATING EXECUTIVES:
Asia; Anthony Galloway, Video & Audio; Kenneth Breen, Commercial; Last week funding for the Payroll you hire them back. Owners have and his regime. Yet anger will linger
Alex Martin, Print & Writing; Michael W. Miller, Jason P. Conti, General Counsel; Protection Program dried up. Our es- no idea, however, when they’ll be and likely resurface in 2024 when the
Features & Weekend; Emma Moody, Standards; Tracy Corrigan, Chief Strategy Officer; timate is that 50% of restaurants in allowed to reopen. They also won- Russians will have to participate in
Shazna Nessa, Visuals; Matthew Rose, Enterprise; Frank Filippo, Print Products & Services;
Michael Siconolfi, Investigations; Nikki Waller, Live Kristin Heitmann, Chief Commercial Officer; Texas weren’t able to get capital. der if customers will be eager to an election charade to lend him legit-
Journalism; Stephen Wisnefski, Professional News Nancy McNeill, Corporate Sales; One reason is that many small come back. That means most res- imacy. Covid-19 may not destroy Mr.
Thomas San Filippo, Customer Service; restaurants don’t have relationships taurants can’t gamble on staffing Putin’s presidency, but it has placed
Gerard Baker, Editor at Large Josh Stinchcomb, Advertising Sales;
Paul A. Gigot, Editor of the Editorial Page; Suzi Watford, Chief Marketing Officer; with big banks, in part because res- back up to prepandemic levels. . . . a time bomb under it.
Daniel Henninger, Deputy Editor, Editorial Page Jonathan Wright, International taurants aren’t a high-receivables There are other hurdles. The PPP
Barron’s Group: Almar Latour, Publisher industry. This makes it more diffi- requirement that 75% of the forgiv- Mr. Aron is director of Russian
WALL STREET JOURNAL MANAGEMENT: Professional Information Business:
Joseph B. Vincent, Operations; Christopher Lloyd, Head;
cult to obtain funding. Many small able loan be spent on payroll puts studies at the American Enterprise
Larry L. Hoffman, Production Ingrid Verschuren, Deputy Head banks were hesitant to get in- restaurants with expensive rent in Institute and author of “Roads to the
EDITORIAL AND CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS: volved, fearing they’d be left hold- an untenable position. That re- Temple: Truth, Memory, Ideas and
1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y., 10036 ing the bag when funding ran out quirement doesn’t account for dif- Ideals in the Making of the Russian
Telephone 1-800-DOWJONES
and large lenders prioritized their ferences in business structures. Revolution 1987-1991.”
A16 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
DIMITRIS TOSIDIS/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
of its bookings for this sum- For Greece, the hit to one of
mer. Director Massiel Garcia its most important industries
has furloughed 32 of her 40 comes just as the country’s
employees. Those still working economy had begun to im-
are painting the hotel and prove. The country has con-
making preparations for what tained its coronavirus out-
she hopes will be an uptick in break better than many other
reservations as Spain and countries in Europe, with 123
other countries begin to roll deaths recorded up to Thurs-
back their lockdown measures day, compared with more than
in the coming weeks. Lockdowns in southern Europe, including in Thessaloniki, Greece, above, have taken a toll on the region’s economy, especially in tourism. 20,000 in Italy and Spain.
“This year will be a catas- Elena Athanasiadou has had
trophe,” said Ms. Garcia. restrictions will continue, in- Travel and tourism as a share of GDP, 2018 jobs, according to the WTTC. all reservations canceled
Hotels, restaurants, souvenir cluding rules affecting travel. The blow to the sector could through July for the eight
shops, ferry services and myr- Consumers aren’t expected to Greece help push Spain’s unemploy- apartments she rents through
iad other tourism-linked busi- return to their previous vaca- ment rate even higher than the Booking.com and Airbnb in
nesses across southern Europe tion habits for some time. Portugal 27% mark recorded during the Thessaloniki, a normally lively
face a similar fate as summer “Fear of traveling will prob- eurozone debt crisis if the gov- city in northern Greece. She
approaches and the coronavi- ably last longer than the pan- Spain ernment doesn’t step in with hasn’t had a single guest or
rus pandemic continues. demic itself. It’s difficult to ex- support, said Antonio Garcia new booking since mid-March,
Tourism will fall across the pect an immediate recovery of Italy Pascual, a visiting professor at even for public holidays.
world this summer, and south- tourism once the lockdown the Johns Hopkins School of “It’s a disaster,” she said.
ern Europe will be among the measures are lifted,” said Ste- France Advanced International Studies. “We missed March 25, a na-
hardest-hit regions. Travel and ven Trypsteen, an economist International arrivals to Eu- tional holiday in Greece, Eas-
tourism account for a relatively at Dutch bank ING. Germany ropean countries will fall by ter, and now May 1.”
large portion of the economy: Parts of southern Europe 40% this year, according to a At Valencia’s Hotel Neptuno,
15% of gross domestic product are also starting from a weak U.S. forecast from consulting firm Ms. Garcia is hoping more do-
in Spain, 13% in Italy and 21% economic position. The Italian Tourism Economics published mestic tourism can make up
0% 5 10 15 20
in Greece, according to the and Greek economies still ha- this month. Italy will take the for the drop in international
World Travel and Tourism ven’t recovered to where they Source: World Travel and Tourism Council largest hit with international tourists, who normally account
Council, while also providing a were before the 2008 global arrivals falling 49%. for about 80% of her guests.
high percentage of jobs. financial crisis. The Interna- In an optimistic scenario, search at the European Travel Across Italy, which has been Reliance on international trav-
Although most lockdowns tional Monetary Fund is fore- nearly one-third of jobs in the Commission, an association of under a nationwide lockdown elers is typical across Spain,
are expected to end in Europe casting GDP drops this year of European tourism sector will be national tourism organizations. since March 10, more than 95% where they accounted for 56%
and other continents by sum- 9.1% for Italy, 10% for Greece lost, at least in the short term, Spain’s tourism industry of hotels are closed, with the of spending last year, accord-
mer, many social-distancing and 8% for Spain. said Jennifer Iduh, head of re- generates close to three million sector incurring a loss of €300 ing to the WTTC.
fight against the pandemic, Ms. German outbreak has allowed teleconference on Thursday,
Merkel warned on Thursday. the country to impose a European Union leaders com-
The phasing out of lock- lighter lockdown than else- mitted to doing what it takes
down measures in Germany where in Europe. This week, to rebuild the region’s econ-
and harder-hit European coun- most states began loosening omy. However, differences re-
tries is being closely watched the measures, gradually letting main over the scale, funding
in the U.S. as an indicator of stores and schools reopen, and focus of initiatives needed
how quickly life—and business while keeping restaurants, to lift Europe from the eco- French President Emmanuel Macron said a package must include budgetary transfers to hard-hit nations.
activity—can go back to nor- bars and large public venues nomic crisis brought on by the
mal as the pace of infections closed and making face masks coronavirus. Some leaders gotiated by eurozone finance next few years and is seen as iar with the talks said.
slackens and the economic mandatory in some settings. warned it could take months ministers to help hard-hit eu- responding to southern coun- European Commission Presi-
cost of confinement rockets. The federal government led to agree on a package. rozone countries. Leaders tries’ concerns by locking in dent Ursula von der Leyen said
“Nobody wants to hear it but by Ms. Merkel, who has played German Chancellor Angela committed to start implement- common EU funding for the re- the size of the recovery fund
we are still at the beginning of largely a coordinating role in Merkel has sought to allay fears ing the package of credit lines, covery stage, allowing them to would need to be upward of a
this pandemic,” Ms. Merkel told fighting the crisis, is con- of a deep split within the EU. loans and unemployment sup- increase spending now to ad- trillion euros and that the EU’s
parliament. “We will have to cerned that a push by some After the talks, she acknowl- port by June 1. dress immediate costs. executive body would present a
live with it for a long time.” states to accelerate what was edged that leaders had different A second pillar of the re- On the call, European Cen- formal proposal by May 6.
Germany had 150,729 con- conceived as a gradual loosen- views on a package but agreed sponse is envisaged as entailing tral Bank President Christine French President Emmanuel
firmed cases by Thursday ing could undermine the fight that common action is needed. huge investments and spending Lagarde said the eurozone Macron said a package must
morning, according to figures against the virus and pave the The leaders signed off on a for the worst-hit economies af- economy could shrink as much include budgetary transfers to
compiled by Johns Hopkins way for a deadly second wave €500 billion ($542 billion) cor- ter the virus is contained. It as 15% this year in a worst- the worst-affected economies,
University and 5,315 deaths, of infections this summer. onavirus response already ne- would be rolled out during the case scenario, a person famil- and “not only loans.”
DJ TRANS À 1.42%
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Virus Outbreak More Cooking, Less Shampooing sessions, oil now trades at a
fraction of where it started the
year and is well below levels
Year-over-year sales growth for the latest four weeks* that make it profitable for com-
Alters American
Selection of U.S. in-store items panies to produce. The longer
most of the world practices so-
cial distancing due to the coro-
Baking yeast 410% navirus, the bigger the global
Shopping Lists
glut of crude grows.
Spiral hams 409 Many analysts are skeptical
that the large percentage re-
Oat milk 356 bound from the past few days
will persist, noting that such
BY SAABIRA CHAUDHURI the pandemic is affecting con- Fresh meat big gains tend to cluster around
AND SHARON TERLEP sumers around the world as alternatives 272 long-term declines. Traders are
they are told to stay home and bracing for more gyrations in
Consumers are cooking and work remotely if possible. Baking powder 180 the coming weeks.
cleaning more while spending Chief Financial Officer U.S. crude-oil futures for de-
Aerosol
less time and money on Graeme Pitkethly said people
disinfectants 155 livery in June rose to $16.50 a
grooming and makeup, con- are using personal-care prod- barrel. The benchmark started
sumer-products companies ucts such as shampoo and de- the year above $60 and is still
say, as a picture emerges of odorant less, estimating 11
Powdered milk 155 Quarterly organic sales growth, quarterly
near its lowest level in more
how the coronavirus is reshap- fewer uses in a typical week. than two decades. Brent crude
ing lifestyles. Makeup giant L’Oréal last Canned meat 135 Kimberly-Clark
futures, used to set prices for
The question now is which week said the global cosmetics Professional Consumer Personal oil throughout global energy
behaviors will stick and which market was down 8% in the Hand sanitizer 129 15% Tissue Care markets, rose 4.7% to $21.33.
will fade when restrictions to first quarter as consumers pull Helping prices regain some
fight the pandemic are lifted. back on skin care and beauty Chickpeas/ lost ground: signs of a recovery
“People we know will con- products. garbanzos 109 10 in demand for oil in China,
tinue to wash their hands On the flip side, people are which is emerging from corona-
more. Probably they’ll have cooking more at home, buoy- Rice 106 5 virus lockdowns, and tensions
more concern for surface hy- ing demand for brands such as between the U.S. and Iran. The
giene in homes,” said Unilever Knorr soup cubes, Hellmann’s Pasta 104 0
two nations engaged in a new
PLC Chief Executive Alan Jope mayonnaise and Pot Noodle round of antagonism Wednes-
on Thursday. “That whole hy- instant noodles, Unilever said. 2Q 1Q day, when Tehran said it had
giene thing will carry on.” “We underestimated ini-
Soup 100 2019 2020
launched its first military satel-
Procter & Gamble Co. last tially the positive impact this lite into space.
Multi-purpose
week said Americans were do- would have on our business cleaners 94 Procter & Gamble Earlier in the day, President
ing more laundry loads every for at-home cooking,” said Mr. Fabric & Health Beauty Trump threatened to destroy
week, washing garments after Jope. “Those center-of-the- Frozen pizza 84 10% Home Care care Please turn to page B11
each wearing. The company grocery-store businesses that
also reported higher demand have been a bit flat for many
83
Banks Gain
Potatoes 5
for disposable cleaning prod- years, all of those are seeing a
ucts like paper towels and rejuvenation.”
plastic wipes rather than Spending time at home has Chicken eggs 65 0
sponges or cloths.
P&G Chief Financial Officer
Jon R. Moeller flagged what
driven up demand for toilet pa-
per, propelling Cottonelle
owner Kimberly-Clark Corp. to
Toilet paper 65
2Q
2019
1Q
2020 A Record
he said “will likely become a
forever altered health, hygiene
and cleaning focus” for shop-
start repurposing its manufac-
turing capacity to make more
of the softer, thicker toilet pa-
Paper towels 59
Unilever
Foods &
Refreshment
Home
Care
Beauty &
Personal
$1 Trillion
pers in the U.S. “There may be
an increased focus on home,
more time at home, more
per used at home versus what
is typically used in offices.
One change seen as likely to
Meat
Frozen
59
54
10% Care
In Deposits
meals at home, more cleaning be long-lasting is the shift to 5
at homes.” online shopping. Online BY DAVID BENOIT
Unilever, the maker of Dove sales—which make up about
Cow's milk 28 0
soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice 6% to 7% of Unilever’s busi- Call it a reverse run on the
cream, offered a broad look in ness—grew 36% in the quarter, *ending April 11 2Q 1Q bank.
its results Thursday at how Please turn to page B2 Sources: Nielsen (in-store items); organic sales (the companies) 2019 2020 Companies and consumers
flooded U.S. banks with a re-
cord $1 trillion of deposits in
Work-at-Home Economy Helps Intel INSIDE the first quarter, when mar-
kets went haywire and Amer-
ica went dark to stop the
spread of the new coronavirus.
BY ASA FITCH “We see some of those dy- boosted the first-quarter fig- in the first quarter, and is More than half of it went to
namics continuing in the sec- ures. While Intel’s results likely to affect sales of chips the four largest banks in
Chip maker Intel Corp. re- ond half as well,” he said. topped Wall Street forecasts, to the automotive industry, America—JPMorgan Chase &
ported a jump in first-quarter Sales in the company’s di- its decision to withdraw pre- where car sales are expected Co., Bank of America Corp.,
earnings, buoyed by sales in vision that includes chips viously issued full-year guid- to drop this year. PC demand, Wells Fargo & Co. and Citi-
its data-center business as the powering personal computers ance signaled it isn’t insulated while strong in the first quar- group Inc. The $590 billion in
work-from-home economy came in ahead of Intel’s ex- from the uncertainty affecting ter, may fall off as consumers’ deposits they gained in the
spurs demand for computing pectations, rising 14% as con- many companies across the buying power sinks in tandem first quarter is nearly double
power, but it joined many sumers bought machines to U.S. with global economies. the previous quarterly record
companies in pulling full-year work remotely. The coronavirus slump is “We’re not entirely immune of $313 billion for the entire
guidance because of business A sharp jump in sales of already hitting Intel’s inter- from these sorts of effects,” U.S. banking industry, accord-
uncertainty. memory chips, also used net-of-things division, which Mr. Davis said. ing to Federal Deposit Insur-
The Santa Clara, Calif., heavily in data centers, reported a 3% fall in revenue Intel’s stock fell more than ance Corp. data.
company, the U.S.’s largest 5% in after-hours trading. BUSINESS The biggest bank in Amer-
chip maker, reported sales of The company said it ex- Domino’s U.S. sales ica, JPMorgan, took in $273
$19.83 billion for the March pected gross margins in the billion in the first quarter.
quarter, a 23% increase over current quarter to fall by
accelerated in April as That is akin to swallowing an-
the same period last year. more than 5 percentage points consumers stayed other top-10 bank, said Bar-
Earnings per share rose 51% to 53%—lower than analysts at home. B3 clays PLC analyst Jason Gold-
to $1.31. had forecast—on increased berg. “It’s taken some of those
With the pandemic forcing production of new, high-end banks 100 years to get into the
millions of people to work processors that come with top 10,” he said.
from home, Intel said its data- lower margins. Much of the $1 trillion
ROSS D. FRANKLIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
center division, already grow- Intel, like others, faces un- flowed into the banks in a
ing before the health crisis, certainty over whether the two-week span in March, ac-
saw sales increase 43%. Pro- data-center buying that cording to a Wall Street Jour-
viders of data centers, the pushed results higher in the nal analysis of Federal Reserve
huge server farms that store first quarter will be sustained data. During that time, compa-
data and power the internet, through the rest of the year. nies were frantically drawing
have been accelerating up- Those sales are cyclical even down on their credit lines and
grades and adding hardware, in normal times and could fal- stockpiling cash in preparation
DAVID BECKER/GETTY IMAGES
including Intel processors, to ter later this year if custom- for a severe recession.
cope with growing demand. ers decide they don’t need ex- The growth in deposits
Intel Chief Financial Officer tra hardware. Intel is most shows how different this crisis
George Davis said the cloud- anxious about a potential TECHNOLOGY is from the last one. In 2008,
computing giants that rent waning in demand from com- Google to require America’s biggest banks were
out computing power aren’t panies and governments in the bad guys that nearly de-
the only ones showing in- the latter part of the year,
advertisers to identify stroyed the economy. Now,
creased appetite for its data- Chief Executive Bob Swan told themselves to combat they are a refuge for jittery
center chips, but also govern- Chief Executive Officer Bob Swan is most anxious about a potential analysts. misinformation. B4 consumers and businesses
ment and corporate buyers. waning in demand from companies and governments later this year. Please turn to page B4 Please turn to page B10
B2 | Friday, April 24, 2020 * *** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
A Facebook................B2,B4 P
AbCellera Biologics.....B4 G Pfizer...........................B4
Advanced Micro Devices Gap.......................B3,B11 Procter & Gamble.......B2
.....................................B4 Gilead Sciences.........B11 R
Alphabet......................B4
H-I Regeneron
Altaf Kassam............B11
Hershey.......................B5 Pharmaceuticals.......B4
Amazon.com...A1,B2,B12
Hilton.........................B10 Renault........................B5
Apollo Global
Management.............B3 Inphi ............................ B4 S
B Intel.............................B1 Sears ........................... B1
Bank of America.........B1 J Slack Technologies ... B12
BioNTech.....................B4 J.C. Penney..................B1 Sycamore Partners.....B3
Blackstone Group ..... B10 Johnson & Johnson....B4 T
C JPMorgan Chase.........B1
Target...................B2,B11
Juul Labs.....................B4
China XD Electric......B12 Texas Instruments ..... B4
Citigroup......................B1 K Tractor Supply ............ B2
Citrix Systems..........B12 Kohl’s...........................B1 Twitter ........................ B2
Clorox .......................... B2 Kraft Heinz ................. B5 21Vianet Group.........B12
Coca-Cola.....................B5 Kroger........................B12 Tyson Foods .......... A1,A6
Conagra Brands...........B5 L U-V
INDEX TO PEOPLE
A
Allen, Todd..................A6
Allison, Richard .......... B3
Grove, Chris ................ B3
H
Hart, Eric.....................B3
N-P
Neman, Jonathan.......A6
Neugarten, Jesse........R2
In Stores Falls, Digital Sales Leap
B Henry, Cheryl..............A6 Pentecost, Mark.........A6
Bancel, Stephanie.......B4 Henshall, David.........B12 Pitkethly, Graeme.......B1 BY SARAH NASSAUER 20%, the company said last said it would suspend share heating fuel up more than
Belles, Misty...............R1 J-K Pontis, Victor..............R2 month. So far in April compa- repurchases. At the time, Tar- 20%, offsetting declines in
Bergstein, Joey...........B2 Jones, Handel ............. B4 R Target Corp. said sales rable sales are up more than get said it expected to spend other categories such as
Blanchette, Ray..........B3 Jope, Alan...................B1 Ricks, David ................ B4 from stores weakened signifi- 5%, the company said. Digital an additional $300 million clothing and footwear.
C-D Kern, Peter..................B3 Roberts, Wyman.........B3 cantly in late March and early comparable sales have risen during the current quarter on Walmart Inc., the country’s
Canfield, John.............B4 Kirsch, Jason...............B2 Robins, Jason..............B3 April, while online sales more than 275% during that virus-related changes to labor, largest retailer by revenue,
Cornell, Brian..............B2 L S surged, squeezing profits as period. cleaning routines and supply- has about 150,000 of its 1.5
Davis, George..............B1 LaFrieda, Pat...............A6 Sacks, Adam...............R1 shoppers grew increasingly re- Throughout, Target has ex- chain demands. million U.S. workers out on
Delbos, Clotilde...........B5 Loew, David ................ B4 Sawyer, Will ............... A6 luctant to venture outside perienced a surge in sales of Some trends, especially the leave due to coronavirus-re-
Diller, Barry.................B3 Lyons, Jeff..................A1 Schleifer, Leonard.......B4 amid the coronavirus pan- food, household goods and, shift toward digital fulfill- lated issues, The Wall Street
G M Shamra, Samrat..........B2 demic. more recently, office supplies ment, are likely to be long- Journal reported last week.
Garutti, Randy............A6 Metselaar, Paul...........R1 Sloan, Harry................B3 Consumers flocked to and cooking appliances, while lasting, Mr. Cornell said on Other sectors have seen
Gray, Jonathan..........B10 Moeller, Jon................B1 Swan, Bob...................B1 stores to stock up in late Feb- sales of higher-margin goods the call. Longer-term, shop- parts of their business grow
ruary and early March, but such as apparel and accesso- pers will “embrace routines and other parts hurt by the
traffic slowed considerably ries have fallen. That dynamic, developed during these weeks broader impact of the pan-
during these weeks at home paper and other essentials in and online amid the coronavi-
with their families,” said Tar- the U.S. more than offset a rus pandemic, leading shop-
get Chief Executive Brian Cor- slump in China. pers to seek alternatives such
nell. Target’s model of using What companies sell and as the green brands they once
stores as online delivery and where they sell it explains passed over, retailers and ana-
pickup hubs “will continue to some of that diversion in per- lysts say.
serve us well,” he said. formance. Unilever sells food, “There are no mainstream
Domino’s Pizza Inc. on while the others don’t. It also products available, so as a re-
Thursday reported a rise in makes most of its sales from tailer you look to satisfy con-
U.S. sales in recent weeks as emerging markets where con- sumers’ needs with whatever
consumers ordered pizza to sumers haven’t stockpiled like products you can find,” said
eat at home rather than go they have in the West. Jason Kirsch, who operates
out. Last month, it said it Unilever reported strong the Corner Market & Phar- U.S. sales of eco-friendly cleaners jumped 71% for the four-week period ended April 4 from a year ago.
would hire more than 10,000 sales in North America, with macy, outside Washington,
workers to meet rising de- underlying growth of 4.8%, D.C. still-small slice of the market, brand are buying out of neces- to laundry soap, in recent
mand amid the pandemic. driven by stockpiling. For weeks, he said, he has had a 71% bump in the same sity, many people are seeking years. They have been slower
Lockdowns have forced res- “People have got bigger been unable to secure main- period. out natural products as home to make the shift when it
taurants to close in many houses, bigger pantries, every- stream cleaning products, so Chemists and brands say cleaning becomes a bigger pri- comes to household cleaners.
countries. That has hurt sales thing’s bigger in the States, he began to order any brands products made with milder or ority. “The volume of calls we Eco cleaners are a niche
for Unilever’s food-services and they certainly went for that had products available, natural ingredients are just as get from people asking where market in the U.S., comprising
arm, which sells ingredients to household stocking in the big- such as Seventh Generation, effective as traditional prod- to buy our products is through roughly 4% of sales in the cat-
restaurants, and executives at gest way around the world,” an eco brand. “Typically, there ucts in fighting coronavirus. the roof, so that’s not just peo- egory, according to Nielsen.
the company signaled they said Mr. Pitkethly. is available supply of these al- Many customers feel more ple looking for anything,” he Americans spent more than
think sales could be slow to “There is no such thing yet ternative products,” he said. comfortable with a familiar said. “People are cleaning so $200 million on mainstream
return. as a new normal,” said Mr. Store shelves with a hand- brand right now because of much now, they are trying to cleaning brands during the
In China, 70% of closed res- Jope. “Businesses and com- ful of green cleaning products the perception they are tried- make good choices.” week ended April 4, and just
taurants have reopened but mentators who have professed sitting next to empty shelves and-tested or include more po- Procter & Gamble Co., over $7 million on green alter-
are running at between 50% too much wisdom and insight that once held big-brand wipes tent chemicals, analysts say. maker of Tide detergent and natives.
and 70% capacity because of on what the world will look and sprays have become an in- For home cleaning, the Cen- Pampers diapers, has lost con- Roughly half of consumers
social-distancing protocols, like on the other side of coro- creasingly common sight. ters for Disease Control and sumers to rival brands in are trying new brands, accord-
said Mr. Pitkethly. He signaled navirus have come to eat hum- On Amazon.com Inc. and Prevention recommends clean- ing to a PricewaterhouseCoo-
some form of social distancing ble pie.” Target Corp.’s website, Clorox ing frequently touched sur- pers LLP survey of 1,600 adult
and Lysol products are rarely faces, such as doorknobs and consumers conducted March
available. While even alterna- light switches, throughout the
Sales of mainstream 27 to April 1. In many cases,
tive brands have limited sup- day with products that meet cleaning brands were they are switching because
ply, items from brands such as the Environmental Protection their typical product isn’t
Mrs. Meyer’s and BabyGanics Agency’s criteria for use
$200 million for the available or because they are
are often in stock. against SARS-CoV-2, the virus week ended April 4. buying from a different re-
Some businesses that have that causes Covid-19. tailer which has different of-
used green products are “We are seeing unprece- ferings, but more than 60% of
switching to traditional clean- dented demand in our prod- those surveyed said they plan
ers, as well, cutting into sup- ucts, I wish it were under dif- cases where its products are in to stick with a new brand,
plies. Last month, Santander ferent circumstances,” said short supply, said Jon Moeller, PwC partner Samrat Sharma
BEN & JERRY’S/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bank, in an email to custom- Seventh Generation Chief Ex- the company’s finance chief. said.
ers, said it was “reverting ecutive Joey Bergstein. “There are consumers that are Mr. Kirsch, the market
back to traditional disinfectant The brand, owned by Uni- trying products that they ha- owner, said in recent weeks
cleaning products.” lever PLC, has a line of house- ven’t tried before but they even many smaller and natural
U.S. sales of mainstream hold cleaners, baby and per- aren’t necessarily ours,” he brands aren’t available. His
household cleaners jumped sonal-care products. Its said, referring to the unit that advice to customers: “I’ve
77% for the four-week period disinfectant products meet the makes Charmin toilet paper tried to steer people to
ended April 4 compared with a EPA’s criteria, the company and Bounty paper towels. bleach,” he said. “It’s still
year ago, according to Nielsen. says on its website. Consumers have increas- readily available and, when
Unilever, owner of Ben & Jerry’s, is ramping up partnerships to Sales of cleaners branded as Mr. Bergstein said that ingly demanded more natural used properly, it’s very effec-
allow consumers to order ice cream along with their takeout. environmentally friendly, a while some newcomers to the products, from food to makeup tive.”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. * * * * Friday, April 24, 2020 | B3
BUSINESS NEWS
Expedia
Taps CEO,
Gap’s Cash Pile Is Dangerously Low
BY SUZANNE KAPNER
AND MICHAEL DABAIE
Clinches Gap Inc. warned it had
READY, SET,
pay dividends at a steep fixed
rate of 9.5% and warrants to
purchase common stock.
Expedia stock rose 3.2%
Thursday.
WASH!
Vote Clears
The Way for
TED S. WARREN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
DraftKings
To Be Listed
BY KATHERINE SAYRE
Make car washing a breeze with our WeatherTech® all-
DraftKings Inc. is set to be- in-one Ready to Wash™ Bucket System. With a five gallon
gin public trading Friday after Same-store sales rose 7.1% since mid-March compared with last year.
shareholders of a special-pur- wash bucket, rolling dolly, vented lid seat, GritGrate™ and
MittSaver™, it’s so easy to use even your kids will help!
pose acquisition company
voted to approve its takeover of
the sports-betting operator.
Shareholders of Diamond
Wide Lockdowns Give
Eagle Acquisition Corp., which
trades on the Nasdaq, on
Thursday approved the merger
Domino’s Sales a Lift
with DraftKings, the online BY MATT GROSSMAN Same-store sales grew by
sports wagering and daily fan- 1.6% in the U.S. in the first
tasy sports operator. Diamond Domino’s Pizza Inc. said its quarter.
Eagle, backed by former MGM U.S. sales accelerated in April Last month, Domino’s said
Holdings Inc. movie studio as consumers stay at home be- it would hire more than 10,000
Chief Executive Harry Sloan, is cause of the coronavirus pan- workers to meet demand for
known as a blank-check com- demic. its pizza during the pandemic.
pany that is formed to find The pizza chain, based in Domino’s hiring plans con-
other companies to merge with Ann Arbor, Mich., said U.S. trasted with broad layoffs in
or acquire. same-store sales increased the service sector during the
The new DraftKings will 7.1% compared with last year coronavirus pandemic, which
trade on the Nasdaq Global Se- between March 23 and April helped push U.S. jobless claims
lect Market under the ticker 19. to record highs since mid-
symbol DKNG. The company’s Overall U.S. retail sales March.
trading debut comes even as were 10.7% higher during that Domino’s first-quarter
the sports-betting industry is period, the company reported. profit grew to $121.6 million,
upended by most sports being Order sizes also grew dur- or $3.07 a share, compared
called off in response to the ing the period, possibly re- with $92.7 million, or $2.20 a
coronavirus pandemic. flecting a higher desire for share, a year ago. Wall Street
DraftKings, a dominant leftovers at home, Chief Exec- was expecting an adjusted
player in the U.S. sports-betting utive Richard Allison said on a profit of $2.32 a share.
market, expected the combined call with analysts on Thursday. Domino’s U.S. stores are
company to have a market He said the higher sales nearly all open, though their
value of $3.3 billion at closing. could also be tied to consum- dining rooms are closed to
The agreement also includes a ers’ receipt of federal stimulus promote social distancing dur-
merger with gambling-technol- checks and their desire for a ing the pandemic, the com- Ready to Wash™
ogy provider SBTech Global
Limited, which provides online
change of pace as stay-at-
home directives in some parts
pany said. World-wide, about
1,750 Domino’s locations are
Bucket System
betting platforms and odds- of the country entered their temporarily closed.
making services. second month. Domino’s has more than
Sports betting has been ex- “As time goes forward, peo- 17,000 global locations, includ-
panding in the U.S. after the Su- ple start to get a bit tired of ing a mix of company-owned
preme Court in 2018 cleared the cooking and eating the same restaurants and franchises.
way for states beyond Nevada thing,” Mr. Allison said. In China, where the Auto. Home. Pet. Find your fit.
to legalize sports wagering. For the quarter ended Covid-19 outbreak began,
Before the coronavirus pan- March 22, Domino’s revenue Domino’s stores faced pressure 1-800-441-6287 or 1-630-769-1500
demic shut down virtually all rose 4% to $873.1 million, earlier in the year, but began
organized sports, DraftKings es- compared with $836 million in to see improvements over the MADE IN THE USA © 2020 MacNeil IP LLC
timated that the market for on- the year-earlier period. past several weeks, Mr. Allison
line sports-betting and casino Analysts polled by FactSet said.
games could reach about $40 had expected revenue of $869 Domino’s shares fell 3.7% to
billion in the U.S. million. $369.64 in trading Thursday.
B4 | Friday, April 24, 2020 * **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
TECHNOLOGY WSJ.com/Tech
Intel Profits
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will likely be pushed further Like other tech companies, sales globally for the full
out, he said, adding the com- Intel has been juggling a mix- year. Chip revenue will most
The Marketplace pany remains committed to ture of costs and benefits likely decline by around 10%
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From Work spending on its engineering
goals.
Intel is also dealing with
from the pandemic but has
held up well relative to many
corporate peers.
this year, said Handel Jones,
CEO of consulting firm Inter-
national Business Strategies
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
At Home stiff competition from rival
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
and lingering manufacturing
Intel’s results provide the
latest indication of how the
virus could hit the bottom
Inc.
Chip makers are dealing
with slowed manufacturing in
THE Continued from page B1
issues that have prevented it
from taking full advantage of
lines of high-tech American
manufacturers.
Asia in the early part of the
year, which set back testing
MARKETPLACE Another effect of the virus demand spikes for its per- On Tuesday, Texas Instru- and assembly operations. And
is likely lower capital spend- sonal computer chips. Intel ments Inc., a diversified semi- with consumers paring back
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"# $
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(800) 366-3975 $17 billion the company pro- Although the chip-making forecast results and said it phones and automobiles that
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12 3*(4"(% construction projects. in above the $17.79 billion an- subsides. ter than many other compa-
© 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
"56 7
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All Rights Reserved. The impact would be six to alysts surveyed by FactSet Nevertheless, analysts have nies, though, given its domi-
eight weeks of spending that were expecting. a dim view of semiconductor nant position in data centers.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. NY Friday, April 24, 2020 | B5
BUSINESS NEWS
BUSINESS NEWS
shipping volumes, which have longed slump, CSX could wait Both railroads withdrew
been roiled by factory clo- to figure out when it would most of their forecasts for the
sures, declines in business ac- need more workers to run year, as the duration of the
tivity and another sharp slump trains. downturn remains unclear.
in coal shipments due to the “I don’t have the luxury of “Our collective belief at this
oil-price rout. worrying about that in 12 point is it’s sharp and deep,”
CSX Corp. and Union Pa- months,” Mr. Foote said in an Mr. Fritz said. “It’s going to
cific Corp. have taken hun- interview Wednesday. “I have last for a while, and recovery
dreds of locomotives offline in to be thinking that it can turn is going to be some kind of
recent weeks, reduced the around in two months.” Union Pacific locomotives and railcars in Kansas City, Mo. Companies prepare for a recovery in demand. ramp but probably not terribly
number of trains being run to Union Pacific has set up a steep.”
better align with plunging de- similar work status in lieu of back on and put them out to tions quickly during the pan- “We have for a long time Mr. Fritz said Union Pacific
mand and sent workers home. furloughs so that the railroad the fleet if we need to,” Union demic and set them up for a thought and worried about has a lot of extra shipping ca-
That could reverse quickly. can call back workers quickly. Pacific Chief Operating Officer rebound. CSX, Union Pacific trying to build agility into our pacity that can be filled if the
Instead of laying off or fur- Locomotives are also being Jim Vena said on an earnings and other railroads have all decision making and reaction economy were to rebound
loughing its transportation parked but maintained so that call Thursday. been focused on running fewer time,” Union Pacific CEO faster.
workers, CSX has worked with they can get back to hauling Railroad executives say that and longer trains that stick to Lance Fritz said in an inter- “If the economy were to
its unions to allow employees more freight quickly. “They an overhaul of operating strat- tight schedules while cutting view Thursday. “We are way snap back, we can respond to
to take unpaid time off or are in a state where within egies in the past few years has costs and jobs to improve better at that today.” that pretty darn quickly,” he
switch to a schedule where hours, we could turn them helped them contract opera- profitability. As the pandemic hit the said.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | B7
MARKETS DIGEST
EQUITIES
Dow Jones Industrial Average S&P 500 Index Nasdaq Composite Index
Last Year ago Last Year ago Last Year ago
23515.26 s 39.44, or 0.17% Trailing P/E ratio 18.55 18.41 2797.80 t 1.51, or 0.05% Trailing P/E ratio * 22.10 21.78 8494.75 t 0.63, or 0.01% Trailing P/E ratio *† 26.86 23.75
High, low, open and close for each P/E estimate * 20.61 16.67 High, low, open and close for each P/E estimate * 20.75 17.62 High, low, open and close for each P/E estimate *† 25.77 21.34
trading day of the past three months. Dividend yield 2.81 2.17 trading day of the past three months. Dividend yield * 2.13 1.91 trading day of the past three months. Dividend yield *† 1.00 1.01
All-time high 29551.42, 02/12/20 All-time high 3386.15, 02/19/20 All-time high: 9817.18, 02/19/20
Session high
22500 2825 8250
DOWN UP
t
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B8 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
COMMODITIES WSJ.com/commodities
Metal & Petroleum Futures July 2,365 2,387 2,352 2,363 –12 78,988 June .9289 .9324 .9262 .9301 .0008 129,401
Agriculture Futures Coffee (ICE-US)-37,500 lbs.; cents per lb. Canadian Dollar (CME)-CAD 100,000; $ per CAD
Contract Open
May 112.00 113.60 110.65 111.05 .45 910 May .7044 .7144 .7044 .7121 .0071 1,343
Open High hi lo Low Settle Chg interest Corn (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. July 112.50 114.85 111.75 112.40 .35 76,469 June .7061 .7146 .7044 .7122 .0070 112,973
Copper-High (CMX)-25,000 lbs.; $ per lb. May 317.00 323.50 315.00 319.25 1.75 172,075 Sugar-World (ICE-US)-112,000 lbs.; cents per lb. British Pound (CME)-£62,500; $ per £
April 2.3210 2.3210 2.3130 2.3240 0.0065 818 July 324.50 331.00 322.25 326.00 1.25 600,171 May 9.93 10.00 9.75 9.84 .01 92,360 May 1.2326 1.2414 1.2310 1.2355 .0036 1,562
July 2.3010 2.3495 2.2895 2.3180 0.0090 83,147 Oats (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. July 10.10 10.18 9.93 10.01 … 344,162 June 1.2337 1.2419 1.2311 1.2358 .0036 157,083
Gold (CMX)-100 troy oz.; $ per troy oz. May 302.00 305.00 292.25 295.00 –8.25 815 Sugar-Domestic (ICE-US)-112,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Swiss Franc (CME)-CHF 125,000; $ per CHF
April 1734.00 1745.10 1734.00 1733.30 4.60 546 July 276.75 283.00 274.00 281.50 4.75 1,634 July 25.90 t25.9025.90 25.95 .05 1,836 June 1.0303 1.0320 1.0248 1.0259 –.0044 35,005
June 1736.50 1764.20 1730.60 1745.40 7.10 338,973 Soybeans (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. Sept 26.00 t26.0026.00 26.00 … 2,996 Sept 1.0351 1.0341 1.0285 1.0289 –.0045 68
Aug 1738.00 1767.40 1734.80 1748.80 7.40 72,807 May 834.75 848.75 833.75 839.25 4.50 116,146 Cotton (ICE-US)-50,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Australian Dollar (CME)-AUD 100,000; $ per AUD
Oct 1745.20 1765.00 1739.20 1750.60 7.60 12,876 July 842.50 856.75 841.75 846.75 4.25 297,579 May 56.54 57.95 56.01 56.88 .60 1,865 May .6292 .6404 .6285 .6387 .0065 649
Dec 1741.40 1769.20 1736.00 1751.00 7.50 49,603 Soybean Meal (CBT)-100 tons; $ per ton. July 56.40 57.65 55.65 56.37 .23 104,802 June .6323 .6407 .6283 .6388 .0065 124,942
Feb'21 1741.10 1765.00 1741.10 1751.70 7.60 8,043 May 288.60 290.90 286.10 288.70 .40 34,960 Orange Juice (ICE-US)-15,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Mexican Peso (CME)-MXN 500,000; $ per MXN
Palladium (NYM) - 50 troy oz.; $ per troy oz. July 293.00 295.40 t 290.30 293.10 .20 163,834 May 110.00 111.95 109.50 111.00 .95 2,276 May .04067 .04093 .04011 .04037 –.00014 1,022
April 2029.50 108.80 4 Soybean Oil (CBT)-60,000 lbs.; cents per lb. July 107.85 110.00 106.75 107.75 .50 6,538 June .04054 .04078 .03988 .04020 –.00014 103,673
June 1852.10 2046.80 1852.10 2001.00 108.80 6,362 May 25.58 26.29 25.57 25.61 .04 46,113 Euro (CME)-€125,000; $ per €
Sept 1906.80 1990.00 1895.50 1992.60 109.60 813 July 26.00 26.70 25.98 26.04 .05 166,086 Interest Rate Futures May 1.0824 1.0852 1.0762 1.0791 –.0035 1,955
Platinum (NYM)-50 troy oz.; $ per troy oz. Rough Rice (CBT)-2,000 cwt.; $ per cwt. June 1.0836 1.0860 1.0768 1.0798 –.0035 541,232
April 787.60 22.70 1 May 1575.00 1667.50 s 1575.00 1667.50 85.00 2,504
Ultra Treasury Bonds (CBT) - $100,000; pts 32nds of 100%
June 227-000 229-110 226-150 227-160 14.0 1,041,403
July 773.70 814.30 766.70 788.00 22.70 41,876 July 1489.50 1548.00 t 1482.00 1536.50 47.00 6,269
Treasury Bonds (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100% Index Futures
Silver (CMX)-5,000 troy oz.; $ per troy oz. Wheat (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. 181-010 182-000 180-180 181-130 14.0 988,325
June Mini DJ Industrial Average (CBT)-$5 x index
April 15.430 15.665 15.360 15.348 0.071 23 May 542.00 551.50 538.50 547.00 4.00 35,017 Sept 179-110 180-120 179-080 180-000 14.0 167 June 23375 23772 23231 23337 –19 61,379
July 15.450 15.885 15.355 15.526 0.023 80,674 July 542.50 552.00 539.00 544.75 1.00 173,075 Treasury Notes (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100% Sept 23295 23690 23163 23262 –15 696
Crude Oil, Light Sweet (NYM)-1,000 bbls.; $ per bbl. Wheat (KC)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. June 139-010 139-055 138-275 139-005 –1.0 3,186,843 S&P 500 Index (CME)-$250 x index
June 14.20 18.26 13.35 16.50 2.72 379,358 May 490.00 495.00 482.75 485.50 –4.50 23,256 Sept 138-280 138-300 138-215 138-260 –1.0 51,282 June 2786.40 2806.20 2773.30 2780.80 –7.60 97,998
July 20.99 23.40 20.32 21.44 0.75 376,595 July 497.75 502.75 490.25 493.25 –4.50 126,164 5 Yr. Treasury Notes (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100% Sept … … … 2773.10 –8.00 11
Aug 23.99 26.12 23.42 24.12 0.36 156,007 Cattle-Feeder (CME)-50,000 lbs.; cents per lb. June 125-127 125-140 125-090 125-115 –1.2 3,632,463 Mini S&P 500 (CME)-$50 x index
Sept 25.96 27.92 25.44 25.89 0.12 180,866 April 118.250 121.200 118.050 119.425 .950 1,238 Sept 125-057 125-095 125-047 125-072 –1.2 31,255 June 2790.50 2836.75 2772.75 2780.75 –7.75 3,349,174
Dec 29.30 31.02 28.54 28.66 –0.32 286,686 Aug 126.675 127.100 124.650 126.375 –.825 15,416 2 Yr. Treasury Notes (CBT)-$200,000; pts 32nds of 100% Sept 2781.00 2828.25 2766.00 2773.00 –8.00 28,350
Dec'21 34.14 35.60 33.63 33.71 –0.54 104,470 Cattle-Live (CME)-40,000 lbs.; cents per lb. June 110-061 110-064 110-052 110-056 –.5 2,546,154 Mini S&P Midcap 400 (CME)-$100 x index
NY Harbor ULSD (NYM)-42,000 gal.; $ per gal. April 88.750 88.750 85.950 85.950 –3.000 2,250 Sept 110-107 110-110 110-097 110-100 –.5 13,842 June 1508.30 1548.10 1496.60 1523.10 16.50 74,881
May .7370 .8144 .7225 .7345 .0034 28,220 June 83.075 83.875 82.100 82.925 –1.000 118,077 30 Day Federal Funds (CBT)-$5,000,000; 100 - daily avg. Sept 1434.70 1540.40 1505.10 1530.50 16.50 1
April 99.9500 99.9525 s 99.9475 99.9475 –.0025 225,528 Mini Nasdaq 100 (CME)-$20 x index
June .7920 .8632 .7794 .7910 .0077 86,516 Hogs-Lean (CME)-40,000 lbs.; cents per lb.
May 99.9200 99.9250 99.9200 99.9200 .0000 266,230 June 8636.25 8786.50 8580.50 8598.75 –39.25 174,796
Gasoline-NY RBOB (NYM)-42,000 gal.; $ per gal. May 47.975 50.975 47.975 50.975 3.750 2,523
10 Yr. Del. Int. Rate Swaps (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100% Sept 8608.00 8773.00 8574.00 8587.25 –39.75 1,787
May .6660 .7455 .6340 .6436 .0052 35,139 June 48.700 51.650 48.475 51.625 3.725 80,550
June 105-260 106-055 105-235 106-010 9.5 68,487 Mini Russell 2000 (CME)-$50 x index
June .7150 .7798 .6723 .6821 –.0054 102,794 Lumber (CME)-110,000 bd. ft., $ per 1,000 bd. ft. Eurodollar (CME)-$1,000,000; pts of 100%
329.20 333.30 324.70 325.20 –4.20 554 June 1197.10 1233.10 1185.40 1204.80 9.90 551,395
Natural Gas (NYM)-10,000 MMBtu.; $ per MMBtu. May May 99.3825 99.4100 99.3825 99.3975 .0150 462,816 Sept 1189.80 1230.40 1185.60 1203.00 9.40 3,051
May 1.910 1.953 1.806 1.815 –.124 36,563 July 323.00 323.40 315.60 317.00 –6.00 1,352 June 99.5500 99.5650 99.5400 99.5550 .0150 1,567,038
Milk (CME)-200,000 lbs., cents per lb. Mini Russell 1000 (CME)-$50 x index
June 2.041 2.071 1.931 1.942 –.111 252,808 Sept 99.6550 99.6650 99.6450 99.6500 … 1,542,306 June 1551.30 1555.30 1527.80 1530.40 .70 7,820
July 2.231 2.262 2.148 2.155 –.081 166,509 April 13.18 13.21 t 13.18 13.19 –.22 3,096 Dec 99.6450 99.6550 99.6350 99.6350 –.0050 1,064,115
U.S. Dollar Index (ICE-US)-$1,000 x index
Sept 2.361 2.386 2.285 2.292 –.062 114,714 June 10.98 11.59 10.87 11.32 .27 4,787
June 100.60 100.85 100.12 100.54 .01 31,218
Oct 2.426 2.450 2.353 2.363 –.056 100,458 Cocoa (ICE-US)-10 metric tons; $ per ton. Currency Futures Sept 100.58 100.77 100.18 100.53 .02 672
Jan'21 3.085 3.110 3.034 3.039 –.054 75,382 May 2,343 2,343 2,343 2,343 –12 6
Japanese Yen (CME)-¥12,500,000; $ per 100¥
May .9283 .9319 .9260 .9296 .0008 490 Source: FactSet
DuPont DD 41.20 1.33 HollyFrontier HFC 28.57 1.69 MartinMarietta MLM 177.74 0.69 Procter&Gamble PG 119.40 0.79
AmerAirlines AAL 10.25 -0.02 s CadenceDesign CDNS 79.83 0.03
Dynatrace DT 27.55 0.26 Hologic HOLX 45.38 2.50 MarvellTech MRVL 26.42 -0.23 Progressive PGR 81.61 -0.88
AmCampus ACC 30.01 -1.09 CaesarsEnt CZR 8.07 0.01
ENI E 18.25 0.04 HomeDepot HD 202.32 -1.85 Masco MAS 39.68 0.43 Prologis PLD 86.75 -1.12 The following explanations apply to the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE American
AEP AEP 83.02 -1.98 CamdenProperty CPT 83.04 -1.22
e
EOG Rscs EOG 44.22 1.07 HondaMotor HMC 22.48 0.62 Masimo MASI 204.05 3.10 Proofpoint PFPT 118.76 -1.13 and Nasdaq Stock Market stocks that hit a new 52-week intraday high or low in the latest
AmerExpress AXP 82.46 -0.08 CampbellSoup CPB 50.54 -0.26 session. % CHG-Daily percentage change from the previous trading session.
EPAM Systems EPAM 204.75 3.94 Honeywell HON 134.68 1.65 Mastercard MA 255.86 -1.05 ProsperityBcshs PB 49.34 0.99
AmericanFin AFG 60.97 -1.31 CIBC CM 55.47 -0.18
E*TRADE ETFC 38.22 -0.41 HorizonTherap HZNP 33.52 -0.33 MatchGroup MTCH 80.38 0.35 PrudentialFin PRU 53.24 -0.37
AmHomes4Rent AMH 22.97 -0.43 CanNtlRlwy CNI 77.24 0.38 Thursday, April 23, 2020
EastmanChem EMN 56.00 2.13 HormelFoods HRL 47.20 -1.20 MaximIntProducts MXIM 52.44 0.08 Prudential PUK 25.29 0.07
AIG AIG 22.66 0.40 CanNaturalRes CNQ 13.79 0.47 52-Wk % 52-Wk % 52-Wk %
DR Horton DHI 39.18 0.29 McCormickVtg MKC.V 150.89 -1.03 PublicServiceEnt PEG 50.37 -0.73
AmerTowerREIT AMT 248.60 -4.38 CanPacRlwy CP 226.96 1.63 Eaton ETN 78.15 0.50
Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg Stock Sym Hi/Lo Chg
eBay EBAY 37.91 -0.34 HostHotels HST 10.81 0.19 McCormick MKC 151.62 -1.75 PublicStorage PSA 187.50 -5.51
AmerWaterWorks AWK 124.68 -3.21 Canon CAJ 19.63 -0.43 NordicAmTankers NAT 5.88 4.4 CementosPacasm CPAC 6.36 -4.4
HowmetAerospace HWM 11.00 0.17 McDonalds MCD 182.04 -4.44 PulteGroup PHM 23.87 -0.20
AmericoldRealty COLD 31.81 -1.57 CanopyGrowth CGC 14.82 -0.20 Ecolab ECL 175.04 0.28
Highs
ci o
IronMountain IRM 24.43 -0.07 NY CmntyBcp NYCB 9.61 -0.24 SAP Northern Trust Pfd. E NTRSO 4.7 .2937 /.11913 Q Jul01 /Jun15
BP BP 23.38 0.05 Cloudflare NET 23.73 -0.88 FairIsaac FICO 302.26 -1.62 SAP 115.15 -1.95
IsraelChemicals ICL 3.46 -0.02 NYTimes A NYT 30.19 0.79 S&P Global SPGI 279.56 Qualcomm QCOM 3.5 .65 /.62 Q Jun25 /Jun04
s B2Gold BTG 5.19 0.18 Coca-Cola KO 45.07 -0.61 Farfetch FTCH 12.21 -0.34 3.55
ItauUnibanco ITUB 4.00 -0.12 NewellBrands NWL 12.60 0.54 SBA Comm SBAC 306.67 RiverNorth Spec Pfd. A RMPLp 6.4 .3672 /.36719 Q May15 /May01
BWX Tech BWXT 51.92 0.62 Coca-Cola Euro CCEP 39.28 -1.01 Fastenal FAST 34.92 0.08 0.11
NewMarket NEU 412.17 15.86 SEI Investments SEIC 48.40
UGI UGI 4.7 .33 /.325 Q Jul01 /Jun15
Baidu BIDU 99.85 -1.90 CogentComm CCOI 89.88 -0.80 FederalRealty FRT 70.19 2.24 -0.70
CGNX 47.77 -1.29 FedEx FDX 120.88 2.34
J K L s Newmont NEM 62.44 0.71 SK Telecom SKM 19.34 0.02
BakerHughes BKR 13.57 0.58 Cognex Reduced
Ball BLL 64.90 -1.72 CognizantTech CTSH 52.65 0.39 Ferrari RACE 157.02 -1.00 JBG SMITH Prop JBGS 31.97 0.53 NewsCorp B NWS 8.82 0.17 SS&C Tech SSNC 50.58 -0.48
Anworth Mortgage Asset ANH 25.5 .05 /.09 Q May29 /May12
BancoBilbaoViz BBVA 2.83 0.07 ColgatePalm CL 71.23 0.02 FiatChrysler FCAU 7.94 0.13 JD.com JD 44.94 -0.05 NewsCorp A NWSA 8.68 0.24 SVB Fin SIVB 171.00 3.50
DCP Midstream DCP 18.3 .39 /.78 Q May15 /May01
BancoBradesco BBDO 3.25 -0.16 ColumbiaSportswr COLM 67.29 -1.18 FidNatlFin FNF 25.85 0.48 JPMorganChase JPM 89.39 0.05 NextEraEnergy NEE 241.14 -6.03 Salesforce.com CRM 151.72 -2.42
FR STRATSs 2006-2 GS Grp GJS 3.4 .0247 /.027 M May15 /May14
BancodeChile BCH 16.07 -0.08 Comcast A CMCSA 36.09 0.36 FidNatlInfo FIS 121.18 -1.37 JackHenry JKHY 156.20 -3.44 NielsenHoldings NLSN 12.36 0.50 Sanofi SNY 48.37 0.18
BancSanBrasil BSBR 4.52 -0.14 CommerceBcshrs CBSH 55.54 0.74 FifthThirdBncp FITB 16.86 0.36 JacobsEngg J 79.75 0.24 Nike NKE 87.35 -1.42 SantanderCons SC 12.73 0.36 Stocks
BcoSantChile BSAC 14.40 -0.15 SABESP SBS 7.61 -0.36 58.com WUBA 51.13 -0.81 JamesHardie JHX 11.78 0.07 NiSource NI 25.85 -0.16 SareptaTherap SRPT 115.31 0.97 United States Oil Fund USO 1:8 /Apr29
BancoSantander SAN 2.08 0.03 ConagraBrands CAG 33.98 -0.32 51job JOBS 66.76 -0.57 JazzPharma JAZZ 104.74 2.30 Nokia NOK 3.39 0.01 Schlumberger SLB 16.52 1.18
BankofAmerica BAC 21.87 0.07 ConchoRscs CXO 53.98 0.85 FirstAmerFin FAF 42.26 1.65 s J&J JNJ 155.51 2.52 NomadFoods NOMD 20.75 -0.07 SchwabC SCHW 35.64 -0.23 Foreign
BankofMontreal BMO 47.57 0.12 ConocoPhillips COP 36.18 1.20 FirstIndRlty FR 35.01 0.88 JohnsonControls JCI 27.85 0.10 NomuraHoldings NMR 4.01 0.01 ScienceApplicat SAIC 81.98 1.79 ASML Holding ASML 0.8 1.27177 A May06 /Apr27
BankNY Mellon BK 35.32 -0.20 ConEd ED 81.78 -2.34 FirstRepBank FRC 99.08 0.96 JonesLang JLL 101.55 3.18 Nordson NDSN 155.41 2.58 ScottsMiracleGro SMG 122.04 1.87 Cango ADR CANG .23 May18 /May04
BkNovaScotia BNS 37.54 0.12 ConstBrands A STZ 153.05 -2.17 FirstSolar FSLR 42.29 2.06 JuniperNetworks JNPR 23.13 -0.07 NorfolkSouthern NSC 155.86 2.08 Sea SE 53.63 -0.41 Eaton Corp. PLC ETN 3.7 .73 Q May29 /May14
Barclays BCS 4.39 0.12 ContinentalRscs CLR 13.23 0.82 FirstEnergy FE 43.03 -1.19 KB Fin KB 24.66 -0.81 NorthernTrust NTRS 75.61 -0.56 Seagate STX 47.89 -2.85 Rogers Commun RCI 3.5 .3519 Q Jul02 /Jun10
s BarrickGold GOLD 26.74 0.26 Cooper COO 290.27 -3.83 Fiserv FISV 94.61 -0.79 KKR KKR 23.10 0.93 NorthropGrum NOC 335.83 -6.18 SealedAir SEE 28.18 -0.05
BauschHealth BHC 16.32 -0.04 Copart CPRT 68.84 0.76 FiveBelow FIVE 78.42 -3.35 KLA KLAC 159.45 0.77 NortonLifeLock NLOK 20.21 0.30 s SeattleGenetics SGEN 140.88 1.86 KEY: A: annual; M: monthly; Q: quarterly; r: revised; SA: semiannual; S2:1: stock split and ratio; SO:
BaxterIntl BAX 91.32 0.78 Coresite COR 119.91 1.11 s Five9 FIVN 96.06 0.42 KT KT 9.43 0.09 Novartis NVS 88.10 -0.20 SempraEnergy SRE 125.50 1.84 spin-off.
Big Banks U.S. banks added a record $1 trillion in deposits in the first quarter.
More than half of that went to the four biggest banks, Fintech Yieldstreet
Got Even whose loan books also grew.
$1.0 Fields Complaints
Bigger Total deposits
JPMorgan Chase
4Q 2019
1Q 2020
From Customers
Continued from page B1 Bank of America
waiting out the shutdown. BY DAWN LIM successful but was then faced
Wells Fargo
“We believe companies with the market environment
viewed us as a safe haven in Citigroup 0.8 A fintech firm that pitches caused by Covid-19.” The fund,
this period of stress,” Bank of individuals access to invest- known as the Yieldstreet Prism
America Chief Financial Offi- TRILLION ments normally limited to Fund, was announced in Febru-
cer Paul Donofrio said on a large institutions is under fire ary. “We are going to look at a
conference call with analysts Total loans *Surpassed $1 trillion in loans Commercial, from dozens of customers. different sub-advisor strategy
last week. for the first time. industrial loans The customers are calling and will be transitioning out of
The FDIC had assured com- 4Q 2019 on digital-wealth management our relationship with Black-
panies and businesses that the JPMorgan Chase* 1Q 2020 platform Yieldstreet Inc. for a Rock in an orderly fashion.”
banking system is a safe place 0.6 full explanation on why their BlackRock has never man-
to park money during the cri- Bank of America* investments haven’t paid out aged any assets on behalf of
sis, and Congress added more as expected. Yieldstreet, said a person fa-
protection for bank accounts Wells Fargo* Launched in 2015 with back- miliar with the matter.
in its $2 trillion stimulus. The Citigroup ing from billionaire George So- Yieldstreet, one of a wave of
FDIC insures accounts up to ros and venture-capital firms, startups fueled by looser
$250,000, but the new law TRILLION T Yieldstreet has built an online crowdfunding regulations, now
temporarily expands what superstore by packaging manages roughly $500 million
types of accounts qualify. 0.4 loans—backed by everything in assets. Buyers are typically
Typically, a little over half Deposits at U.S. commercial banks, $590 billion in deposits went from ships to artwork to legal given a few days to think over
of all deposits fall into insured change from previous quarter to the four largest banks settlements—and allowing cus- potential investments. Some
accounts, according to FDIC tomers to buy in through what deals were snapped up in just
data. But the vast majority of it calls “borrower payment de- seconds when opened on the
deposits in the first quarter pendent notes.” Yieldstreet firm’s website.
flowed into corporate ac- sells those notes to accredited The firm’s customer griev-
counts, many of which exceed investors whose payments are ances center around invest-
the FDIC cap. $0.2 trillion tied to complex loan pools. ments linked to five pools of
Banks’ loan books grew It is rare for individual in- loans for ship breaking, the
sharply in March, largely a re- vestors to make collective de- business of taking older vessels
$590 billion
sult of companies draining their mands against investment apart to sell scrap metal.
credit lines. Commercial loans firms. Now more than 30 cus- Yieldstreet told investors
at Bank of America, Citigroup, tomers have signed a letter that a dozen ships across inter-
JPMorgan and Wells Fargo in- that asks Yieldstreet for details national waters that backed
creased by an aggregate $235 0 on how the company insured loans essentially disappeared,
0
billion in the first quarter, more against losses and monitored according to a March call with
than the industry’s median an- $100 million across five ship- investors.
nual gain since 1984, according ping-loan investments and an The firm is now trying to
to the FDIC. JPMorgan, Bank of oil-and-gas deal. Those invest- recover collateral for about
America and Wells Fargo all ments either haven’t delivered $90 million worth of maritime
surpassed $1 trillion in loans 2010 ’12 ’14 ’16 ’18 ’20 interest payments or returned loan portfolios. Yieldstreet al-
for the first time. Sources: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (deposits); WSJ calculations of Federal Reserve weekly data (1Q 2020 deposits); the banks (banks’ total principal by Yieldstreet’s target leges in court that the loans
The banks also helped the deposits, loans, commercial and industrial loans) due dates, according to docu- went to companies, tied to a
biggest investment-grade com- ments and people familiar with prominent shipping family,
panies raise hundreds of bil- lines in the first quarter. The their credit lines ended up in nies have never stockpiled the matter. that defrauded its investment
lions of dollars in corporate- corresponding rise in deposits deposit accounts at the bank. cash quite like this before, “The nature and cause of
bond sales. accounted for roughly a third JPMorgan credited its de- banks aren’t sure how long the these defaults along with the
Much of the borrowed of the $92 billion in corporate posit surge to the $55 billion money will stick around. lack of forthrightness and
funds ended up in deposit ac- deposits the bank added in in credit draws its customers Banks make money on the equivocation by Yieldstreet
Grievances center
counts at the same banks, ex- March, said Chief Financial Of- made and the $380 billion in spread between what they can calls into question the quality around investments
ecutives said last week when ficer Mark Mason. investment-grade bonds it pay depositors and what they of the due diligence behind
the banks reported first-quar- Bank of America Chief Ex- helped sell in the quarter. can charge lenders. If the de- these offerings,” according to
linked to five pools
ter earnings. ecutive Brian Moynihan said Figuring out what to do posits aren’t stable, they can’t the letter sent Monday to of loans.
Citigroup borrowers drew 75% of the $67 billion corpo- with all the new deposits is lend them out for fear of get- Yieldstreet executives and
down $32 billion on credit rate borrowers drew down on the problem. Because compa- ting squeezed. company advisers, which was
reviewed by The Wall Street
Journal. vehicles.
MARKETS
10%
Add to 5
Tally 0
S&P 500
BY SAM GOLDFARB
-5
NICK OXFORD/REUTERS
Gilead Sciences
A rush to raise cash in the
high-yield bond market picked
up momentum, with US Foods -10
Holding Corp., Gap Inc. and
MGM Resorts International 9:30 a.m. noon 4:00 p.m.
among the latest companies to Trading in Gilead Sciences shares was briefly halted after reports cast doubt on a Covid-19 drug. Source: FactSet
complete new bond sales.
HEARD STREET ON
THE
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY
–10
stores rose nearly 20% in March. Leading up to its first-quarter re-
That is reflected in share prices sults Thursday morning, Citrix was
as investors flock to what they see Kroger
the hottest tech stock on the S&P
as pandemic-proof companies. 500 benefiting from the stay-home
Walmart
Kroger, Costco and Walmart shares –20 trade. Its shares were up 37% for
are up 13.4%, 3.9% and 10.7% this Costco the year, compared with 34% for
year, respectively. S&P 500 Netflix. The company’s Workspace
The double-digit leaps in sales service helps businesses enable re-
aren’t likely to last beyond the –30 mote working for employees and
panic-stockpiling period that was Jan. Feb. March April
was already popular enough to be
March. But analysts do believe distributed by all the major cloud
sales growth is likely to hover Kroger’s same-store sales increase roughly 30% in March. Source: FactSet service providers, including Ama-
above normal levels. Oppenheimer zon.com, Microsoft and Google.
analysts forecast that Kroger’s an- 2007-09 recession. But it also to new and durable habits of thrift. services practically didn’t exist a de- The coronavirus pandemic gave
nual sales growth will be 5.2% this shows that changes in consumer Additionally, it isn’t just people cade ago. A survey conducted by Citrix a major shot in the arm.
year, and Evercore ISI pegs that habits can be “sticky” and persist with reduced incomes who are eat- Evercore ISI showed that in 2018, First-quarter revenue jumped 20%
number at 7%, above last year’s 2% well after an initial shock. ing at home, but virtually the entire consumers reported buying 16% of from a year earlier to nearly $861
and the previous year’s 1.8%. This time around, the recovery population. This includes many peo- their groceries online. That number million—blowing past Wall Street’s
A look back at Americans’ behav- could well come sooner, depending ple who are being forced to learn to grew to 22% in 2019 and this year target of $734 million. That is the
ior during and after the recession on how quickly the virus is brought cook for the first time. These skills, was expected to climb to 30%—and strongest growth the company has
that followed the financial crisis under control and how effective gov- once learned, will last a lifetime. that forecast is from before the pan- logged in eight years. It was also
shows why the bump could last. ernment programs prove to be in re- In the week ended March 21, al- demic hit. Once new customers dis- the first time since 2004 that first-
Spending on food away from storing confidence. But other as- most 80% of kitchen electric cate- cover the convenience of home de- quarter revenue grew sequentially.
home declined by 18%, or $47 bil- pects of the disruption could gories that research firm NPD livery and relatively low prices from Citrix, like most other enterprise
lion, from 2006 to 2010, according generate lingering impacts. Just as Group tracks showed year-over- the likes of Amazon.com and Wal- software companies, typically closes
to a study from the U.S. Department households learned about the haz- year growth, with more than two- mart, they are likely to stick around. the largest portion of its business
of Agriculture. Even more strikingly, ards of excessive mortgage debt in thirds—including hot plates, coffee Consumers won’t be stockpiling at the end of its fiscal year.
this spending didn’t fully recover to the last crisis, many are getting a makers and waffle irons—growing canned beans forever, but it is a fair But also like Netflix, Citrix faces
its 2005 levels until 2016. painful reminder now why it is im- by double-digit percentages. bet they will be spending more time the question of just how much of its
That is partly due to the weak portant to have cash saved up for Another key difference is that on- in the kitchen for quite a while. current growth has been pulled for-
and slow recovery from the emergencies. That could lend itself line grocery shopping and pickup —Jinjoo Lee ward from future periods. The com-
pany’s forecasts for the second
quarter and full year were modest
in that regard—projecting only a
China’s New Europe’s Banks Risk Being Too Optimistic small upside to analysts’ current
projections. Citrix shares fell 6.7%
Thursday following the results.
A sober outlook is the right ap-
Spending European banks were too opti-
mistic during the last crisis, setting
were relatively quick to take big
write-downs and clean up their bal-
proach. In an interview, Chief Exec-
utive David Henshall correctly
noted that “nobody really knows
quarter results, there is a risk that profitability. European banks were months to come.
HOMES | MARKETS | PEOPLE | REDOS | SALES THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | M1
FROM LEFT: JENNIFER PAVELKA; WAYNE C. MOORE/BACK RIVER PHOTOGRAPHY; PEGI LEONARD
Hampton Lake, Bluffton, S.C.
$1.4 million, four-bedroom, 3,800 square feet
The home of John and Pegi Leonard, inset, is on a freshwater lake. The couple’s new community was planned as a golf club but was redesigned. At left, the shared boathouse.
BY CELILIE ROHWEDDER something different,” says Mr. Dill, 69 years old tion of 22,000 that grows in the winter months—
and a retired corporate attorney. With his wife, 66, had enough golf courses, according to Heather
Jim and Wanda Dill had lived in a a CPA, he divides his time between the 2,100- Thompson, marketing director at Naples Reserve.
golf-course community in Naples, Fla., square-foot house in Naples and a summer home Instead, their research showed many home buy-
for 14 years when they decided on Lake Geneva, Wis., near his native Chicago area. ers preferred water and a casual, community-
to move nearby to a different Real-estate developers have long lured home geared lifestyle over the formal, exclusive feel of a
master-planned community, buyers with houses along the rolling greens of golf golf- or country-club setting. In 2015, the first res-
where the main draw is water. courses, and some still do. But as golf slips in pop- idents moved in.
Their current home, Naples ularity, many are replacing golf with attractions Ms. Thompson says the community, which pro-
Reserve, is built around a 125- such as lakes and farms, biking and hiking trails, motes sustainable living, saves more than one mil-
acre lake and woos home buyers trendy amenities like microbreweries, food-truck lion gallons of water a day with a sophisticated
with waterfront living, boating, courts, and lifestyle directors who plan mixology water-management system that includes using wa-
fishing and a tiki bar. The $500,000, classes and pickleball leagues. ter from the lake rather than from the city, to irri-
three-bedroom house the Dills bought Naples Reserve, a 688-acre, $70 million project, gate green spaces.
in 2015 overlooks the lake and a na- was originally zoned as a golf community when In 2019, 90% of the 50 bestselling master-planned
ture preserve. From there, they go iStar, a New York-based real-estate investment, fi- communities in the U.S. included significant water-
kayaking, bike on lakeside paths nancing and development firm, changed course. based amenities, according to Irvine, Calif.-based
and take their Goldendoodle, Chelsea, to the dog The company took the land in 2012 as collateral on John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Along with re-
park. a defaulted loan but concluded that Naples—an af- sort-style pools, they offer lazy rivers, fishing ponds,
“I play golf. I love golf, but we were ready for fluent city on Florida’s gulf coast with a popula- Please turn to page M6
BY CANDACE TAYLOR
On Call
continuous, on-site pouring
to avoid any breaks. The
walls took seven months
The sunken tub in the
and cost around $720,000.
With WSJ
master bathroom.
“We had a lot of conver-
WSJ.COM/ONCALL
PRIVATE PROPERTIES
The home’s facade has cedar The property listed for $70 million in 2017.
DAVID DUNCAN LIVINGSTON (3); AURORA ROSE/PATRICK MCMULLAN AGENCY (BARRY AND LIZANNE ROSENSTEIN)
N E W C O N S T R U C T I O N | 521 N E A P O L I TA N L A N E , N A P L E S , F L
A U C T I O N A P R I L 25, 11A M , O N S I T E
844.94.ELITE | EliteAuctions.com
WWW.WELLMANFARMVT.COM
Call: 802-365-1964
This property is listed for sale by licensed real estate agents Kyle Ciampa (LIC # SL3265987) of MVP Realty (LIC # BK3055055), PH: 781-910-2760 and Vincent Napoleon (LIC # BK3034926)
of Compass Real Estate (LIC # BL1049215), PH: 239.919.2742 Elite Auctions is a marketing service provider for auctions and is not a licensed real estate broker. The auction services referred to
herein are not available to residents of any state where prohibited by applicable state law. Elite Auctions, its agents and affiliates, broker partners, auctioneer, and sellers do not warrant or guarantee the
accuracy or completeness of any information and shall have no liability for errors or omissions or inaccuracies under any circumstances in this or any other property listings or advertising, promotional
or publicity statements and materials. This is not meant as a solicitation for listings. Brokers are protected and encouraged to participate. All bidders are required to pre-register for each property
auction in accordance with the Terms and Conditions. Equal Housing Opportunity. James Gall, Jr., is a licensed FL auctioneer (#AU-2). Elite Auctions is a licensed Florida auction business AB3687.
M4 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
CALIFORNIA
From it All
Continued from page M1 BIG SUR
who has lived there alone for the
past two years. CA
“I’m probably the poster child
for social distancing,” she said
with a laugh. “It’s the way of life
I’ve chosen.”
A California native, Ms. Dutton
moved to Wyoming 16 years ago BIG SUR RETREAT
with her then-husband. Both avid List Price: $1.298 million
fly-fishermen, the Cost Acquire/ Renovate: $570,000
couple were drawn 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom,
to the trout- outdoor shower
laden Green 25 acres
River, where they Access only via ATV on 1/4-mile trail
bought a piece
of land so raw It took him a year to remodel the
they had to one-bedroom wooden bungalow on
install a well, the island, transporting the lumber
septic system and by boat. He now has a fast boat
driveway. With help that can reach the town of Labasa
from experienced lo- in 1.5 hours, but when he first
cals, they built their bought the island, “it was a two- or
one-bedroom three-day thing to get groceries,”
house mostly by he said. So he’d supplement his diet
hand, felling with the fruit that grew wild on his
lodgepole pine trees with chain property. “I lived many days on co-
saws. “Chain saws are a lot of fun,” conut and pineapple,” he recalled.
Ms. Dutton said. Single at the time, Mr. Claunch
There are no utilities in the Na- divided his time between Oregon
tional Forest, so the property is en- and Fiji, spending months at a
tirely off the grid with a satellite time on the island. He once lived
phone and internet. In winter, a there for an entire year. “It was
snowmobile is required to bring all very peaceful,” he said. “I never
supplies to the house. “I have a lit- got lonely,” he said, in part be-
tle sled that I pull behind me like cause he employs caretakers, two
Santa,” said the now-divorced Ms. Jerel Glassman and Harry Friedman bought this cabin in the woods, above and below, as a retreat for their couples who live full-time on the
Dutton. “I haul all my food, and families. The access trail is only 6-feet-wide in places and crosses a bridge over a 40-foot-high waterfall. island in their own quarters.
whatever else needs to come in As Fiji became more developed,
and out, on the sled.” When the his island has come to feel less re-
couple first moved to the cabin, mote. More roads have been built
they even brought their 400-pound to the villages so getting groceries
wood stove to the house on the is easier. And about six years ago,
sled. She tries to stock up before FROM TOP: CHASE MCCRYSTAL (2); MALCOLM MORELLI (DUTTON); LIVE WATER PROPERTIES (2) cell service came to his little piece
winter to minimize snowmobile of paradise. Before that, he recalls
trips. “You become an amazing list typing emails on his BlackBerry,
maker,” she said. then hopping into his seaplane to
Her mailbox is 6 miles away at fly high enough to send them.
the end of the dirt road, with mail Mr. Claunch planned to make
delivered three days a week. the island his primary home, but
When she visits her daughter and that changed a few years ago
sees mail being delivered to the when he fell in love and got mar-
door daily, she said, “it’s kind of ried. Now that he and his wife
shocking to me.” have a 2-year-old daughter, they
Despite the inconvenience, being have decided to sell the island and
alone “gets addictive once you get relocate to Europe to be closer to
the hang of it,” she said. “I wish his wife’s family.
everyone could experience this. Previously on the market for
Privacy in this day and age is such $4.2 million, the island is slated
a luxury. It’s the biggest luxury.” to be sold at auction by Platinum
In exchange for solitude, the Luxury Auctions. Originally sched-
owners of difficult-to-access prop- uled for May, the auction has been
erties face unique and often expen- delayed by the pandemic and will
sive challenges that deter most likely take place in June, a
buyers in normal times. But agents spokesman for Platinum said.
said the new coronavirus pandemic Having a caretaker is one of the
has lent a new allure to homes that expenses that often come with
allow effortless social distancing, many of these interested buyers Jarry of Live Water Properties, Ms. Dutton isn’t the only home- owning a remote property. Jerel
and real-estate agents said they are will actually pull the trigger on said downloads of brochures for owner who views privacy as a lux- Glassman, who owns a home in a
seeing a spike in inquiries about re- purchases, agents said, at a time her property and other large rural ury. Larry Claunch wanted a se- secluded California canyon reach-
mote properties like Ms. Dutton’s. when economic and social-dis- listings have increased by roughly cluded retirement home when he able only on foot or ATV, said hav-
“Suddenly it’s hip to be private, tancing concerns present obsta- 20% in recent weeks, and he’s started looking about 15 years ing a caretaker live there is neces-
spacious and quiet,” said John cles to home buying. fielding many questions from ago. “I went to Florida, but there sary to keep out the field mice and
Downs, a real-estate agent at Ms. Dutton’s property has been seemingly interested buyers. At were just too many people for “discourage a mountain lion from
Berkshire Hathaway HomeSer- listed at $1.35 million since Au- the same time, however, some in- me,” said Mr. Claunch, 64, who deciding to take up residence.”
vices New England Properties in gust. She said she’s selling be- person showings have been can- lived in Oregon at the time. The 25-acre property is located
rural Woodstock, Conn. Since the cause, at an elevation of 7,000 celed. “We’ve had a spike in inter- When he found a private island on a rugged stretch of coastline in
pandemic hit, he said, he’s noticed feet, the property doesn’t allow est because everybody’s for sale in Fiji, “it just took my Big Sur. A 68-year-old San Fran-
a significant uptick in calls from much gardening, and she wants to quarantined at home—they’re breath away,” said Mr. Claunch, a cisco doctor, Dr. Glassman bought
city dwellers looking for proper- return to California where she can dreaming from their couches,” he retired real-estate developer. He the property with longtime friend
ties with lots of land. do more of that. said. “Will that translate into a bought the roughly 32-acre island Harry Friedman in 1991 for about
It remains to be seen how Her real-estate agent, Tate sale? I don’t know.” for about $1.5 million. $270,000, and the two have used
it over the years as a retreat with
their families.
The quarter-mile trail to the
property crosses a bridge over a
40-foot-high waterfall and winds
WYOMING through a narrow rock opening into
the canyon. “It’s like walking into
your own private Yosemite,” Dr.
Glassman said. Old-growth redwood
CORA trees surround the house, which
they gut-renovated using fallen red-
wood. The house has two bedrooms
and one bathroom, plus an outdoor
WY
shower. They have put
about $300,000 into
the property, he said.
GREEN RIVER HIDEAWAY All supplies
List Price: $1.35 million for the home
Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyo. 1 bed, 1 bath main house, have to be
2 bed, 1 bath barn driven into
18 acres the property
One hour by car to nearest town by ATV and can’t
Access by snowmobile in the winter be too wide for
the trail, which
narrows to 6 feet
in places, Dr.
Glassman
said. The
house has a
landline phone but no internet,
cell, or electric service, so it has
JASON LEE (MAPS); SYD WEILER (BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATIONS)
Visit wsj.com/coronavirus
© 2020 Dow Jones & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. 6DJ7857
M6 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Judi and Elvin Knight bought in a once-struggling golf area that the developers and local
government worked to convert to part private development and part public green space.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | M7
MANSION
HOUSE CALL | VAL KILMER
A Wild-West Hideout
For the Good and Bad
The actor recalls his cowboy exploits, Roy Rogers and the Manson ranch
and, at a young age, wrote and di- role at the Colorado Shakespeare
rected plays and 8mm films. Festival. It was a creative break-
We had five cousins, all girls. through for me.
One time when they were over, we Today, I live in the Hollywood
all walked over to the ranch Hills, near the Hollywood Bowl.
where Roy Rogers lived with his My house has a Mediterranean
wife, Dale Evans. I was elected to feel and dates back to 1923.
knock on the front door. Dale an- My throat cancer has healed.
swered. She had a pronounced As you can hear, a procedure in
Southern accent, which was sur- 2015 left my voice raspy.
prising since you didn’t hear it on Val Kilmer, left, at his Hollywood Growing up, I was shy and
their TV show. Hills, Calif., home in March, and, more introverted than Wes. To
I asked Dale if Roy could come above, with brothers Mark, on left, help me overcome that, he’d grab
out and play. Dale laughed. She and Wesley, right, at their home in me to be in his little plays and
said, “Well, honey, he might be a Chatsworth around 1965. movies. I still miss him.
little busy.” —As told to Marc Myers
I noticed Trigger, his horse on
their old TV show, was stuffed and theater company. I loved acting. Val Kilmer, 60, is an actor who has
up on his hind legs. I worried Roy After eighth grade, I went to starred in “The Doors,” “Top Gun”
would stuff Dale that way when Chatsworth High School. Their and “Batman Forever.” He is the
she died. She outlived him. My fa- drama department was second author of the memoir “I’m Your
ther later bought his ranch. only to that of Beverly Hills High. Huckleberry” (Simon & Schuster).
We never saw Manson, but be- In my last year, I went to the Hol-
H
ollywood shot hun- all the time, living the life of a fore that ranch’s notoriety, we lywood Professional School for a
dreds of Westerns cowboy. rented horses up there for trail year. Then I wanted to study act-
where I grew up. But for all its cinematic charm, rides. Shorty, the guy who put me ing in New York. VAL ON HOLLYWOOD
The scenery was Chatsworth was isolated. We lived on my horse, was later murdered Juilliard was on my list, so in
Favorite film of yours? “Tomb-
right outside our in what seemed to be the witness by Manson’s followers. September 1977, Mom, my stepdad,
stone” (1993)
front door. protection program of culture. As devout Christian Scientists, Bill, and I drove to New York to
We lived in Chatsworth, Calif., What my father, Eugene, did we were encouraged to turn from look at schools. We stopped Favorite actor?
in the northwestern corner of the for a living was a mystery to me. the material to the spiritual. As over at Bill’s house in Marlon Brando.
San Fernando Valley. I didn’t have When I was little, I asked my kids, we were discouraged from Pittsburgh. Early the next His artistic courage
to go far to see rattlesnakes, ta- mother. She said he was an engi- thinking about or celebrating our morning, the phone rang. was unmatched.
rantulas and wild peacocks. Our neer. I asked on which train. birthdays. Still, our family spent Everyone was asleep so I
faux-Tudor house looked some- Everyone laughed, and a come- most weekends at Disneyland. answered it. Brando lesson?
what out of place. dian was born. I eventually found When I was 8, in 1968, my par- It was Mark. Wes suf- He told me the
Roy Rogers’s ranch was next out he worked in aerospace and in ents divorced. I was relieved. They fered an epileptic seizure only thing an actor
door, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band real estate. My mother, Gladys, argued and hated each other with in the Jacuzzi and drowned. is obligated to do is
lived nearby, and Charles Manson was a homemaker. a passion. My father wound up Mom was beside herself. I was not bore an audience.
and his “family” were up the road Dad was highly driven. Mom, by with custody. But in all fairness, strangely calm. I knew Wes was in Big challenge as Jim Morrison in
at the Spahn Ranch. contrast, was often distracted and we spent equal amounts of time good hands. “The Doors”? I did my own singing.
The sandstone bluffs and brush detached. She didn’t keep track of with both of them. We returned home, and I decided
that dominated the landscape be- me or my two brothers much. I attended Berkeley Hall, a to apply to Juilliard. I went there How did you pull that off? I
came part of me. I was a hard- The three of us were born Christian Science private school in but found the school confining. spent nine months listening to
charging kid. In that terrain, you within four years of each other. Beverly Hills, until eighth grade. Early in my career, I favored Doors albums and working with a
had to be fearless. I was outside Mark was older and Wesley was The best part about school was its the stage over the movies and voice coach.
BY ADRIENNE GAFFNEY
When a Min-
7 1
netonka, Minn., 4
couple wanted to
garden all year
long, they con-
sidered adding a
conservatory to
their home. They
reached out to
2
Conservatory
Craftsmen, a
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M10 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
PRIVATE PROPERTIES
$17
the cooperative ured as two bedrooms and a home of Central Park, Ms. Iscol said.
955 Fifth Ave- office, but could be converted to Ms. Iscol said she fell in love
nue. The 1930s- three bedrooms, according to the with the views when she first vis-
MILLION era building listing agent, Kathy Sloane of ited the main unit and submitted
Central Park was designed Brown Harris Stevens. The smaller an in-person offer on the spot, con-
views, library, by Rosario apartment, which the Iscols use as tingent on the owners turning away
2 wood-burning Candela, a cele- a guest suite, is approximately another couple who were waiting
fireplaces brated archi- 1,700 square feet with two bed- to see the apartment downstairs.
tect known for rooms. The units could be physi- “The views are our Picassos,”
designing some of New York City’s cally combined pursuant to co-op she said. “You can watch things
The two units total roughly 4,500 square feet.
priciest prewar buildings. board approval, but they are also bloom and the leaves turn red.”
When they are in the city, Ms. available separately, asking $14.7 Ms. Iscol has been an adviser
million and Florida. She said she’s not con- lives,” said Ms. Sloane. “A lot of to Mrs. Clinton since 1999 and
$3.3 million. cerned about the coronavirus pan- people feel that from now on they served on the campaign finance
Ms. Iscol demic affecting overall demand are going to be working remotely committee for Mrs. Clinton’s
said she is sell- for New York homes. a great deal of the time. If the failed 2008 run for the White
ing because “New York is New York,” she space you’re working in is insuffi- House. Mr. Iscol was an early pio-
she and her said. “It will be New York again. cient, people are thinking of how neer in the cellular telephone
husband plan People from all over the world they could live and work more business, she said, owning and op-
to spend more still want to be here.” comfortably.” erating systems in New York City
ANASTASSIOS MENTIS (2)
time traveling Indeed, Ms. Sloane said the vi- Ms. Sloane said Ms. Iscol’s two and Texas.
and at their rus has prompted a number of her apartments could provide the per- —Katherine Clarke
homes in wealthy clients to evaluate their fect combination for living and
Pound Ridge, real-estate holdings and start eye- working from home. See more photos of notable
N.Y., Martha’s ing new homes online. Ms. Iscol bought the first homes at WSJ.com/RealEstate.
Vineyard and “People are redefining their apartment in the building around Email: privateproperties@wsj.com
ADVERTISEMENT
Distinctive Properties
To advertise: email sales.realestate@wsj.com or WSJ.com/classifieds
CONNECT
# # WITH A POWERFUL AUDIENCE OF
1 MILLION READERS
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M12 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
MIDTOWN, NEW YORK CITY SUTTON PLACE, NEW YORK CITY UPPER WEST SIDE, NEW YORK CITY BATTERY PARK, NEW YORK CITY GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK CITY
Breathtaking views, this sky-high 9,000 Majestic duplex residence with ter- Elegant four-story Renaissance Revival Luxurious penthouse at The Ritz Carlton Beautifully designed newly renovated
sq ft penthouse duplex towers over the race high atop the storied River House townhouse. 5,000 sq ft brownstone with Residences with floor-to-ceiling windows four-bed duplex sky-high 13 ft ceilings.
city. $34M. Erin Boisson Aries +1 212 974 with panoramic river views. $15.75M. a rear garden and rooftop terrace. $7.4M. lining every room with waterfront views. $7.25M. Geoffrey Gottlieb +1 212 641
4551. Nic Bottero +1 212 636 2638. Erin Boisson Aries +1 212 974 4551. Edward F. Joseph. $7.2M. Herbert Chou +1 212 468 7118. 3738. Brian Meier +1 212 641 3732.
Dustin Crouse +1 212 468 7139. Nic Bottero +1 212 636 2638. +1 212 974 4434. Natalya Bowen +1 212 974 4411. Kate Meier +1 212 641 3736.
Christie’s International Real Estate Group Christie’s International Real Estate Group Christie’s International Real Estate Group Christie’s International Real Estate Group Christie’s International Real Estate Group
WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK MAHWAH, NEW JERSEY JACKSON, WYOMING WATCH HILL, RHODE ISLAND BRIELLE, NEW JERSEY
Westchester’s largest equestrian estate, 43+ acres within 30 mins of NYC. The ul- This highly desirable 4-bed estate home in Walk from stairs onto the beach. This turn- Opulent waterfront estate on 2.9 acres.
Stonewall Farm sits on 740 acres, eques- timate lifestyle offering for equestrians, car The Club at 3 Creek is the gateway to the key compound is sited on 1.78 private www.818linden.com. $10.9M.
trian facilities, breathtaking owner’s com- collectors & sports enthusiasts. $18.9M. Jackson Hole lifestyle. Private amenities. acres in the heart of town. $10.9M. Lori Brian Church +1 732 449 0671
pound, 1 hr from NYC. Kathleen Coumou. Vicki Gaily +1 201 934 7111. $11.75M. Carol Linton. Web ID: 20-1 Joyal. Web ID: 1248647
+1 212 468 7140 vgaily@specialproperties.com carollinton@jhrea.com +1 401 742 1225
Christie’s International Real Estate Special Properties div. of Brook Hollow Group, Inc. Jackson Hole Real Estate Associates Lila Delman Real Estate BHHS Fox and Roach Realtors®
NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND WATCH HILL, RHODE ISLAND NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND SPRING LAKE, NEW JERSEY MOORESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
Beacon Hill House, an 8,364 sq ft home, Sited on its own peninsula, this sprawl- Custom-built new construction. This mod- Dramatic transformation. Ocean views Gated Mediterranean-style estate featuring
sits on the highest hill in Newport. Sited ing 6,000+ sq ft estate offers 360-degree ern, 5,000+ sq ft shingle-style estate over- throughout. www.9tuttle.com $7.139M. panoramic views of Lake Norman with in-
on the original Arthur Curtis James Estate. water views on over 4.71 private acres. looks Newport’s vibrant harbor. $8.25M. Brian Church. finity pool & private beach. $6.995M. Lori
$9.75M. Kim Doherty. Web ID: 1250605 $9.2M. Lori Joyal. Web ID: 1251133 Cynthia Moretti. Web ID: 1229305 +1 732 449 0671 Ivester Jackson. Web ID: CXN3472208
+1 401 862 3956 +1 401 742 1225 +1 401 374 3444 +1 704 996 5686
Lila Delman Real Estate Lila Delman Real Estate Lila Delman Real Estate BHHS Fox and Roach Realtors® Ivester Jackson Distinctive Properties
NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA BRIELLE, NEW JERSEY SPRING LAKE, NEW JERSEY NARRAGANSETT, RHODE ISLAND
8,900 AC sq ft unique Seminole Landing Private tropical escape, 6 beds, 7 full & 1 A private enclave is the perfect setting Meticulously designed 8,500+ sq ft w/ Oceanfront property located on famed
estate. 1.15 acres, 5 beds, 5 full & 2 half half baths on 1+ acre lot in Seminole Land- for this elegant, 8,650 sq ft waterfront ocean and lake views. 5 bedrooms, 7.5 Ocean Road presents a rare opportunity
baths, new roof, private beach access. ing. Coastal community with private beach estate. www.1015forrest.com $5.85M. baths. www.18pitney.com. $5.295M. to own a 4+ acre private estate. $5.25M.
$6.5M. Denice Sexton. access. $5.85M. Denice Sexton. Brian Church. Brian Church. Stella Fitzsimmons. Web ID: 1229897
+1 561 662 8344 +1 561 662 8344 +1 732 449 0671 +1 732 449 0671 +1 401 639 4455
Lost Tree Realty Lost Tree Realty BHHS Fox and Roach Realtors® BHHS Fox and Roach Realtors® Lila Delman Real Estate
WALL, NEW JERSEY CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA RIDGEFIELD, CONNECTICUT HUAHIN, THAILAND RIDGEFIELD, CONNECTICUT
Luxurious 8-acre estate with every ameni- Georgian Revival-style home situated on a Architectural masterpiece 1hr to NYC. 5.7 Brand new 6-bedroom modern-tropical Jackie Kennedy summered at this 6-bed
ty. www.2827williamsburg.com $4.995M. double lot in premier downtown location. bucolic acres at Westchester border w/ villa with private pool in a gated communi- vintage gem as a child. Meticulously ren-
Brian Church. Radiates classic Southern charm with im- great scale & exceptional finishes + guest ty overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. $2.5M. ovated, spectacular kitchen, pool. Walk to
+1 732 449 0671 peccable finishes. $3.45M. Helen Geer. quarters, lap pool & spa. $4.195M. info@richmonts.com everything in the village. 1hr to NY $2.3M.
helengeer@williammeans.com Karla Murtaugh +1 203 856 5534 Karla Murtaugh +1 203 856 5534
BHHS Fox and Roach Realtors® William Means Real Estate Neumann Real Estate Richmont’s Luxury Real Estate Neumann Real Estate
RIDGEFIELD, CONNECTICUT RIDGEFIELD, CONNECTICUT RIDGEFIELD, CONNECTICUT BRIELLE, NEW JERSEY BANGKOK, THAILAND
Walk to town from one of Main Street’s Fabulous 5-bed in-town home w/ gourmet Custom, shingle-style, 5-bed home. Fabu- This estate offers a luxurious lifestyle at one Newly completed luxurious city-center
most admired in-town properties. 6 beds, kitchen, master suite w/ exquisite bath, lous open concept design for entertaining. of the highest points on the East Coast. condominiums at The Bangkok Thonglor
beautifully appointed, gorgeous 1.13 acres gym, theater + spacious au pair suite. Outdoor kitchen, pool & spa, lovely setting www.917hilltop.com. $1.617M. with stunning views. 2-bedrooms from
w/ pool. 1 hr to NYC. Turnkey. $2.2M. Stunning setting. 1hr to NYC. $1.795M. close to town. 1 hr to NYC. $1.68M. Brian Church +1 732 449 0671 $1.1M. info@richmonts.com.
Karla Murtaugh +1 203 856 5534 Karla Murtaugh +1 203 856 5534 Karla Murtaugh +1 203 856 5534
Neumann Real Estate Neumann Real Estate Neumann Real Estate BHHS Fox and Roach Realtors® Richmont’s Luxury Real Estate
London
+44 20 3826 8908
Hong Kong
+852 5808 5310
New York
+1 877 727 1810
Los Angeles
+1 877 726 4304
Palm Beach
+1 877 726 2380
Moscow
+7 495 937 6364
christiesrealestate.com
A SPECIAL SECTION OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
4/24
R1
Who Is This Person? All By Yourself Back to Work Antibody Answers
Couples who are both There’s a high physical As states start to reopen Separating fact from
working at home get to and psychological price for business, here’s what myth when it comes to
see their partner in a for extended social your boss can—and can’t antibody tests for the
whole new light. R3 isolation. R4 —make you do. R6 coronavirus. R8 2020
Navigating
ISSUE No. 6
WSJ
The
Coronavirus EXTRA
Q&A
MORTGAGE HELP
What is
forbearance?
A: Forbearance allows
homeowners to suspend
their monthly payments
when they experience a
hardship or interruption in
their ability to make pay-
ments.
It is not payment for-
giveness or even deferment.
Instead, all the missed pay-
ments, plus interest, are of-
ten due when the forbear-
ance period ends.
As part of the $2 trillion
stimulus package passed
by Congress and signed by
President Trump, lawmak-
ers provided more guid-
ance for mortgage compa-
nies granting forbearance
to those affected by the
crisis. If the loan is feder-
ally backed—and about
70% of mortgages in the
U.S. are backed or insured
by a federal agency—then
the mortgage servicer is
supposed to grant it.
Is it only for
those who have
tested positive
for coronavirus?
A: Borrowers qualify if
they are experiencing finan-
cial hardship caused directly
or indirectly by the Covid-19
emergency, according to the
stimulus package.
This definition is inten-
tionally broad, says John
Hastings, a senior loan offi-
cer at Movement Mortgage
in Minneapolis. It is causing
some confusion among
lenders and borrowers.
“There are a lot of un-
knowns,” he says. “Don’t
What I Might Do
make any assumptions
about what your options
are.”
Fannie Mae and Freddie
On My Summer Vacation
Mac have said this applies
“whether you’re facing job
loss, reduced income, ill-
ness or other issues that
impact your ability to
make your monthly mort-
gage payment.”
Bob Broeksmit, CEO of
With so much uncertainty, people are struggling to figure out what to do. So for now, the Mortgage Bankers As-
they aren’t making any firm plans at all. sociation, says it should
S
also apply if a hardship
BY NANCY KEATES with a co-borrower or fam-
ily member has similarly
different this summer, says Adam Sacks, affected someone’s ability
uzanne Harman was aiming to go to the Tour de France president of consulting firm Tourism to make payments.
this summer. Now she’s more likely to go on a Tour de Economics. He expects people will travel Even those who lose
Her Neighborhood. domestically much more than interna- work hours or are consid-
The international cycling event hasn’t been canceled, tionally, choose places they can drive to ered underemployed may
instead of flying, take shorter, less expen- qualify, says Mr. Hastings.
just moved to a late-August start. But the 55-year-old “If the loan is federally
psychotherapist from Minneapolis says she wouldn’t feel sive trips, and opt for second homes and
backed, those mortgages
rental properties over hotels. Popular
right traveling internationally this summer, both for her are going to have some
among those who can afford it will be
safety and others’. private jets, villas, yachts and islands.
protection, and the ser-
Assuming quarantines have lifted by July, Ms. Harman vicers will have more lee-
Rachel Hiles and Adam Rieger did an
way,” he says. “But the pri-
might drive to a house owned by her in-laws on a lake in about-face in February, even before the vately held mortgages, the
Danbury, Wis. No one else would have been there for months, so she implications of the novel coronavirus brokered-out loans, the type
wouldn’t have to wipe everything down. “It feels like a safe space,” she says. became clear. Now they’re glad they of mortgages where people
“As long as we don’t stop for gas.” Plan B: Pitch a tent in her backyard. did, but they still worry about their had the stated income or
travel plans. bank-statement-type loan
Instead of paying for a large wedding programs to show incomes,
ILLUSTRATION BY JUSTIN METZ; ICONS: ISTOCK
It is gearing up to be a Summer of has seen almost no booking for this in July and then heading on a honey- those servicers are scram-
Wait and See. With the timing of re- summer. Misty Belles, head of public moon somewhere in Asia or South Amer- bling, trying to figure out
opening the economy uncertain and a relations for luxury-travel network Vir- ica, the couple decided to buy a camper what they’re going to do.”
wariness about safety top of mind, it is tuoso, agrees. “No one knows what will van. Their plan now is to travel in the
hard to know when or where to go. happen come June. There’s a ton of van this summer from their home in
“People are still shellshocked,” says pent-up demand.” Oakland, Calif., to Oregon, Montana and
Paul Metselaar, chairman and chief ex- One thing that is certain is that the Colorado, visiting friends and family
ecutive of Ovation Travel Group, which types of trips Americans take will be very along the way.
Please turn to the next page
R2 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Check In,
Disinfect
How to clean a hotel room
MORTGAGE HELP
To Do on Vacation travel restrictions in the U.S., most states
have ordered residents to stay at home, ex-
tel rooms for cleanliness found high
levels of contamination in the bath-
cept for necessities, and many have closed room sink, the floor and toilet basin.
Continued from the prior page nonessential businesses, which includes mu- They also looked at mops and sponges
Should I try for a Such a trip might be safe, they reason, be- seums, as well as monuments and many on housekeepers’ cleaning carts and
forbearance? cause they would cook and sleep in their van other tourist attractions. found bacterial levels that were “too
A: It depends. Forbear- and spend most of their time outdoors. They But just because travel isn’t safe now numerous to count.”
ances are usually granted could stay at campgrounds, or, in the worst- doesn’t mean people aren’t planning excur- In addition to cleaning the sink area,
after personal hardship case scenario, park in their friends’ drive- sions. According to a survey by Tripadvisor, toilet seat and flush handle with your
such as death, divorce or a ways. The couple is working hard to fix up the 63% of 1,180 respondents spent time during disinfectant wipes, use the wipes on
natural disaster. They are van with a platform bed, solar panels and a the second week of April planning their next your personal items, such as a comb,
expected to be used widely kitchenette—and they’ve asked for wedding trip. When online travel- and entertainment- that may have been touched by house-
as millions of Americans gifts like blankets and travel wine glasses. deals company Travelzoo asked its custom- keeping. (Optional: Soak your tooth-
lose their jobs and struggle Still, Ms. Hiles, a 33-year-old book editor, ers last week if they wanted to keep receiv- brush in an antiseptic mouthwash, such
to cover living costs. says they don’t know if their trip will be fea- ing travel deals despite the current as Listerine, for up to 15 minutes.)
“I always stress: If you’re sible, and they will only consider going if lockdowns, 92% of the roughly 2,500 who re- Wearing slippers should protect you
not affected and able to shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted, the sponded said yes, and 55% said they were from any pathogens on the floor.
make your payments, country opens up and their friends are com- likely to book a trip immediately if the deal Though sheets, pillowcases and tow-
please keep doing so,” says fortable with having visitors. “We are in was either fully refundable or changeable els are laundered between guests, the
Mr. Broeksmit of the Mort-
limbo,” she says. without fees. bedspreads or comforters may not be.
gage Bankers Association.
For Chris Chandor, a looming switch to do- Whether the trips being planned will actu- But it’s unclear if a bedspread would
mestic travel isn’t his choice. He is still all set ally happen remains to be seen. U.S. travel pose a significant risk. Research pub-
to leave on May 24 for a fishing trip in the experts are looking at Asia and Europe to get lished in the New England Journal of
How can I do it? Bahamas with a group of men. He says he a sense of how summer will look. There are Medicine earlier this month looked at
A: Many mortgage compa- spoke with the owner of the lodge on Andros some positive signs: Walt Disney reopened a the lifespan of the new coronavirus on
nies have posted options Island where he is booked, and she is happy portion of its Shanghai Disney Resort last various surfaces but didn’t include fabric.
available to customers who for them to arrive. “I’m an adventurer. I want month, albeit requiring masks and tempera-
have been affected by the ture checks. But preliminary reports from It-
coronavirus pandemic. If aly and France indicate that travel restric- Liquid soap Personal
you can’t find the informa- tions will be in place until at least August. in pump water bottle
tion you’re looking for Despite unprecedented low airfares dispenser or coffee mug
there, try calling your com- Summer Travel Tips (flight-deals service Dollar Flight Club esti-
pany directly. But be mates fares are down 35% from a year ago),
warned: You likely won’t be Areas that saw overcrowding last new bookings are going slowly. At booking Slippers
the only one trying to get year, like theme parks, might have platform Qtrip, the majority of customers
through. limitations, while anything exclusive, are canceling right now. The website’s total
“We’ve been hearing like villas and yachts, will be more searches for travel from June through Sep-
from our members who popular, says Jeff Willner, CEO of tember were down 79% in the first two
service mortgages that the Toronto-based travel firm Travel Disinfectant Antiseptic
call volume has gone up weeks of April from the year-earlier period.
Edge. wipes mouthwash
exponentially, and the hold A survey by market-research and consult-
times are 45 minutes or an ing firm Longwoods International released
If you’ve booked a flight, wait to
hour in a lot of cases,” says see if the airline cancels it before you last week showed that 85% of travelers plan-
Mr. Broeksmit. cancel your trip; that gives you a ning to go away in the next six months intend
greater chance of getting a refund to change their plans, with 48% saying they
instead of a voucher, says Jesse will cancel completely, 43% reducing their
Neugarten, CEO of Dollar Flight Club. trip, 19% changing to destinations where they
could drive instead of fly and 11% changing Most important, however, is diligent
Airlines are offering free changes from international travel to domestic. handwashing throughout your stay.
on flights bought by a certain date, Things like hotel handrails, elevator
but that doesn’t mean travelers won’t buttons and even the handle to the ice
have to pay more if they change Winging it machine can be a home for pathogens.
flights and the new fare is higher. One person flying against the wind is Victor
Do I have to get Rather than rely on just the compli-
in touch with my Pontis, a 27-year-old entrepreneur in San mentary itty-bitty bars of soap, bring
Make sure the hotel or rental Francisco, who just bought a round-trip along some liquid soap with a pump
company by a cer- company is transparent about ticket to Honolulu for August for $300. He’s dispenser. It also serves as a visual re-
tain date? cleanliness and safety, says Jan going for his friend’s wedding, but he says minder to keep your hands clean.
Freitag, senior vice president for
A: Mr. Broeksmit says that even if the wedding is canceled he will still If you want to bypass the drinking
lodging insights with STR.
while many people may make the trip. He figures by then there will glasses or coffee mugs typically found in
stress about putting in a re- be enough coronavirus testing and plenty of hotel rooms, bring a personal bottle or
Go by RV. According to RVshare
quest before their payment masks. mug from home—one per guest. And,
booking data, rentals for July are in
date, they should take ad- Caroline Simon says she is waiting eagerly alas, don’t raid the room’s minibar for
line with last year.
vantage of the grace period to go to her second home in France this sum- cleaning products. The alcohol content of
if needed. mer. The 79-year-old lawyer from Philadel- most liquors falls far below the 60% min-
Look for hotel freebies. Instead of
Though many mortgage phia bought an air ticket to Toulouse for late imum recommended by the Centers for
cutting rates, the Dewberry in
payments are due on the Charleston, S.C., is offering meal May, but it was canceled due to France’s ban Disease Control and Prevention for sani-
first of the month, there’s credits, free parking and other on tourists. “It’s not enough for me to decide. tizing.
often a grace period of a amenities. They have to let me in,” she says. A number of hotel brands are devel-
few weeks, so the loan isn’t —Nancy Keates She is now aiming for the end of June but oping new measures to address coro-
delinquent right away. Peo- expects she might only get there in August. navirus fears. Marriott International
ple shouldn’t think there
She says she will feel safe going when four Inc., for example, plans to deploy elec-
will be a negative conse-
rational people tell her it is fine. Meanwhile, trostatic sprayers, which deliver an
quence if they don’t get in
to be out,” says the 78-year-old commercial- she says “my children just want me to hide electric charge to a disinfectant to help
touch with their servicer by
real-estate investor from Pineville, Pa. in my living room.” it adhere to surfaces. Hotels of pri-
the first.
But Wall Street Journal But the trip will almost certainly be can- This past Easter, Matthew Gordon, his wife vately held Four Seasons Holdings Inc.
reporting shows some ser- celed, based on the tone of the emails among and his 5-year-old son dressed up at their are currently testing ozone air purifiers
vicers are taking days or the group. As a result, Mr. Chandor’s sole sum- home in Greenwich, Conn., and pretended and germicidal ultraviolet-light technol-
weeks to respond to for- mer getaway this year is likely to be taking his they were at Ocean House, the hotel in West- ogy in several properties. Executives at
bearance requests. These son, his son-in-law and his four grandsons erly, R.I., where they usually spend the holi- Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. are con-
long wait times could mean fishing in Maine in July. day. Pretending just didn’t cut it, he says. sidering temporarily removing dispos-
some borrowers might not That’s fine with his son, Chris Chandor Jr., They plan to go for real on July Fourth able pens, notepads, menus and other
be approved until their pay- 51, who says he is much more comfortable go- weekend, as long as it’s safe. Mr. Gordon, a paper items from rooms because they
JENN ACKERMAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; ICON: ISTOCK
ment date and grace period ing to Maine than to Italy, which his family 56-year-old entrepreneur, says part of his are handled by multiple people.
have both passed. was considering. “We will be in a part of the yearning is wanting to be around other peo- For their part, guests shouldn’t hesi-
world where social distancing is pretty easy, ple again. “You want an escape from the ev- tate to approach hotel management
out in the middle of the woods,” he says. eryday. A different world.” about its cleaning regimens.
“Start to ask questions proactively:
Ms. Keates is a Wall Street Journal reporter ‘What can I expect when I stay here?’ ”
Still planning in Portland, Ore. She can be reached at
?
says Phil Cordell, Hilton’s global head of
At the moment, there is nowhere safe to nancy.keates@wsj.com. brand development. —Beth DeCarbo
For more questions and answers on the coronavirus, and continuing coverage, go to wsj.com and click on Testing and Treatment
or Live Updates. >> Order copies of this special print section at wsjshop.com. For large quantity reprints of articles, visit djreprints.com.
Download a free digital copy of this special report at WSJplus.com/coronavirus.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | R3
Authors’
Picks
If Not Now,
When?
WSJ. Magazine asked some of
the world’s top authors what
they’re reading under quaran-
tine—particularly the best
challenging reads. See some
of their selections here and on
page R6, and in future reports.
Anthony Doerr
(‘All the Light We Cannot
See’)
“In my latest restlessness-sup-
pression effort, I’ve roped off a
square yard of the backyard,
and I’m trying to spend a few
minutes every day paying at-
tention to it. My guiding light in
this endeavor is the biologist
Bernd Heinrich, whose ‘Sum-
mer World: A Season of
Bounty’ details his work paying
F
from home. Because she never had the partners resentful. At home, we’re more
opportunity to work remotely until ear- likely to “show our more unpleasant ing more about the living
awn and Keith Weaver spent lier this spring, she didn’t realize the sides,” Ms. Eaton says. Instead, she ad- things just outside his door.”
months building a custom intensity of his day. After witnessing his vises couples to “save some of that work
double-sided partners desk back-to-back virtual meetings, she has energy” for their partner.
for their office, thinking it promised never to ask him to do the But others may benefit from seeing Elizabeth Gilbert
would be fun to sit across dishes during the workday or make their partner in action. “There can be (‘Eat, Pray, Love: One
from each other on the occa- jokes about a midday workout. “I was this sense of novelty that can ultimately Woman’s Search for Every-
sional days they worked from home very jealous” that he could work from feed back into the relationship,” she says. thing Across Italy, India and
together. Then the quarantine hit. home when I couldn’t, she says. “Now I A newfound curiosity about the other Indonesia’)
Ms. Weaver’s tendency to pace, realize he’s just as active.” person’s work can create feelings that “I am currently reading
gesture with her hands and speak Mr. Bailyn, a financial adviser, says are reminiscent of dating, she says. ‘The Mirror & the
loudly when taking calls became a he is relieved she can take it all in, al- Light’—the third and fi-
distraction for the 48-year-old Mr. beit under different circumstances. nal installment in Hilary
Weaver, a film executive. He quickly “When I’d tell her I’m having lunch Unsolicited feedback Mantel’s brilliant ‘Wolf
realized it was her preferred way to with a client, it just sounded luxurious,” As partners learn about loved ones’ work Hall’ series of novels
communicate. The couple decided to he says. styles, many can’t help but step in to about Thomas Crom-
split up into two rooms—with doors. Others are caught off guard by their provide some unsolicited feedback. After well and Henry VIII. The
“The desk and office is officially partner’s work personality. overhearing Claire Holland deal with a book is dense, deep,
mine,” says Ms. Weaver, 43, chief ex- When Steven Meyers, an executive at a recent work emergency, her husband, suspenseful, chewy,
ecutive of a whiskey distillery in language-learning company in Brooklyn, Ben Holland, spoke up and told her she complex and utterly transport-
Lynchburg, Tenn. “There’s absolutely overheard his wife, Lauren Reynolds, on a “sounded so negative” in addressing the ing—truly a full banquet. Most
no way we are able to share.” videoconference call, he was taken aback problem. “My initial reaction was, ‘I miraculously of all, it’s every bit
With couples suddenly turning by what he now refers to as her work didn’t ask for your commentary,’ ” says as good as the first two books—
into co-workers, many are getting a voice. Mr. Meyers noticed that Ms. Reyn- Ms. Holland, a 33-year-old public-rela- both of which won the Booker
glimpse of their loved ones in action. olds, 33, seems more measured and tions executive in Chicago. Prize. Imagine if the third ‘Godfa-
Anything from amped-up leadership overly polite when talking to colleagues. Mr. Holland, a 34-year-old financial ther’ movie had been just as
skills to prolific hand gesturing is on “It’s hard to describe,” says Mr. Meyers. adviser, says any potential criticism is magnificent as the first two: It’s
display in makeshift office setups. “It’s a voice that, as husband, I’ve never coming from a good place. “Seeing her like that. A perfectly executed
And even longtime partners are sur- heard before.” take charge of working through these masterpiece.”
prised at the personality shift that Ms. Reynolds, who leads customer tough times has been something I’m
can occur between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. service at a health-care startup, doesn’t proud of her for,” he says.
It isn’t always a good thing. deny changing the tone of her voice Ms. Holland says she has learned to
On one hand, witnessing each when she is working, but says she is appreciate her husband’s honesty and
other’s career strengths can bring seeing her spouse in a different light, now seeks out his take on select work is-
about feelings of mutual admiration too. He is often unresponsive to any re- sues. “It’s kind of nice because your co-
and creates “a great opportunity for quests or interruptions during the work- workers may not give you that feedback,”
them to build a stronger relationship day. But Ms. Reynolds also realized she she says. “It’s been so eye-opening.”
or fall more deeply in love,” says Pat- doesn’t have to worry about clanking
rick Shrout, a psychology professor dishes or making other noises in the Ms. Dizik is a writer in Chicago. She can
at New York University. But feelings kitchen when her husband is working. be reached at reports@wsj.com.
of competitiveness and inequality
that emerge from working side by
side can also “lead to some serious
conflict,” he says.
Renegotiating chores
A shared office setup in Brooklyn
made Elana Friedman realize she
could delegate more household tasks
to her husband, Andy Friedman, a
footwear-company executive. Since
Mr. Friedman is always laughing and
joking at home, she hadn’t seen him Running I’ve been using the bread for breakfast,
taking issues seriously before the I love exercising, so I’m trying to con- grilled-cheese sandwiches and anything else
quarantine. “I never thought my tinue with that, whatever time I fin- I can think of.
funny-not-super-serious guy has ish at the hospital. I’m currently al-
these moments of pinpoint laser fo- ternating between 12-hour day and Saying ‘hello’ to people
cus,” says Ms. Friedman, chief mar- night shifts, where I treat the usual in the street
keting officer at a hotel residence emergency patients as well as people One of the most important things I’m doing
company. who may or may not have Covid-19. I to bring happiness to my life right now is ac-
FROM TOP: RAMI NIEMI; JAMES YANG; KELLY WONG; BOOK COVERS: PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
She recently asked Mr. Friedman was training for a marathon, but it got knowledging people whenever I leave the
to take over the most serious of all canceled, so I’m having to work harder than house. With social distancing, it’s easy to put
quarantine tasks: lunch for their fam- usual to motivate myself to get outside. But your head down and shuffle along. Saying
ily, including two children. “I don’t once I do, it’s always worth it. hello to someone is a way of telling them, “I
mind being the lunch man,” he says. see you and I’m not afraid of you.” We may
“Foodwise, we’ve taken it up a Time away from my phone have to stay 6 feet away from each other, but
notch.” Every day, I take some time to put my that doesn’t mean we have to be strangers.
As couples continue to work from How an ER Physician Is phone down and switch off from the news
home, renegotiating what needs to be so that I’m not constantly going down Twit- Reconnecting with friends
done to keep their lives running can Coping With Stress ter rabbit holes. I have to be on my phone a A highlight of recent weeks has been get-
potentially upend traditional gender
roles for heterosexual couples, says Al- Amid the Pandemic lot to keep up with the latest updates on pa-
tient numbers and treatments, but 24 hours
ting messages from friends I haven’t seen in
years saying how much they appreciate ev-
yson Byrne, assistant professor of or- of Covid-19 coverage with no break is too eryone working in health care. It’s the fuel I
ganizational behavior at Memorial much. I’ve started using a meditation app, need to go back to work for the next 12-hour
University of Newfoundland in Canada In a series called How I Cope, we speak and I try to find 10 to 15 minutes to sit and shift. There has also been such an outpour-
who researches job status and female to people across the country about the not let myself think about what is going on ing of food and mask donations for hospital
breadwinners. Today’s work setups things they are doing to relieve stress in the world. workers. I’ve had my mom’s friends buy res-
create a greater sense of understand- amid the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s our pirators and ship them to me overnight so
ing and respect for what the other conversation with Kelly Wong, 28, years old, Baking bread that I can use them at work. It’s incredible
person is doing, which can make it a resident physician in emergency medicine I’ve been wanting to teach myself for years, how people have stepped up to help in this
easier to assign tasks related to child- at the Alpert Medical School of Brown Uni- and now that I’m not eating out, it’s the per- moment of crisis.
rearing or taking care of elderly rela- versity in Providence, R.I. fect time, as nothing I bake will go to waste. —Ellie Austin
R4 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | R5
.
challenge servicers’ capabili- the spread of Covid-19, some assumed social Extroverts: Fresh Air and Stimulation
ties, including the suspension distancing was a dream come true for intro- “For many extroverts, this new situation has gen-
of negative credit reporting. verts. In fact, introverts still seek social erated strong feelings of boredom that can lead
Homeowners who accept a contact, even if they often prefer a to anxiety,” says Allison Baker, a perinatal and
forbearance plan should regu-
Intro
smaller number of people and different child psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hos-
larly check their credit reports settings than extroverts—such as an in- pital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School.
to make sure they haven’t
timate meeting place rather than a For anyone who thrives on the sensory and psy-
been reported past due.
noisy bar. Consequently, the lockdown chological stimulation of a teeming public square
The Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau has said it
would give lenders more time
to respond to credit-reporting
The Physical and Mental Price studying the impact on immune function-
ing, cellular aging and sleep disruptions.
“Humans are a social species,” vulnerable
Now, though, her three young children
and her husband, who teaches at Harvard
University, are confined at home with her.
Now that they’re may mean that introverts lose beloved
feeling the loss of traditions like a weekly coffee date with
their physical space, a close friend, leaving them feeling dis-
or a loud rock concert, they are “mourning the
loss of that experience,” she says.
When burdened with stress about spending
complaints from consumers
during the pandemic. That
means homeowners might
Of Extended Social Isolation at birth and safer in a group, Dr. Holt-Lun-
stad says. “If we lack proximity to others,
our bodies will respond,” she says. “Our
She has lost her space. Her husband has
moved into her office because there is not
room for another.
introverts should
connected.
Introverts also get energy from being
adjust their in contemplative places outside the
time alone, it’s important not to sit with “feelings
such as loneliness and isolation for extended pe-
riods of time,” says Dr. Difede. Instead, extroverts
wait longer to have inaccurate brains send signals typically associated with “My husband is trying to help, but he’s re- schedule to create home—such as quiet spots in parks or should identify the negative feelings and com-
information removed from fight or flight. We’re put on heightened ally messy and it stresses me out,” she says. ‘mental space.’ other natural settings—where they have municate about them, and then shift focus to
their credit reports. The stress of social distancing Zoom sessions and drive-by birthdays alert.” She has been working from bed, recovering finding ways to connect with oth-
aside, “the fact that face-to-face interac- No wonder, then, that isolation tests the from what she thinks was Covid-19. ers in a positive and safe way.
mirrors that of polar researchers tion is missing is very stressful,” he says. dynamics of small groups confined to- Some days the whole family fights. At one Options abound for linking up
and astronauts, with possible effects So, too, is confinement with a small group point, one of the kids told her, “ ‘I feel empathy with larger groups, including vir-
of people, even family, he says. The relent- across the nation. for you and Dad, and I feel scared,’ ” she says. tual happy hours, Netflix parties
on mood, memory and heart health less proximity often turns minor annoy- “It’s important to self-monitor, to defuse “I’ve never tried to pull out so many (where people watch movies with
ances into major ones. feelings,” says Nick Kanas, an emeritus psy- tricks,” says Ms. Aarons-Mele. “A lot of au- friends remotely) and a slew of
Prolonged social isolation takes physical chiatry professor at the University of Cali- dio meditations, and I’ve taken a Xanax here other activities, from remote
W
BY BETSY MORRIS and psychological tolls that are well-docu- fornia, San Francisco. His 2015 book on psy- and there.” cooking competitions to “quaran-
mented. Numerous studies link isolation chological challenges in space made special Productivity is a big concern for people theme” costume dinners.
and loneliness to depression, dementia, note of cupolas built into NASA’s interna- working from home, especially with the econ- But when selecting activities
hen Newton, Mass., heart attacks and strokes. The health risk tional space station that allow astronauts to omy in a tailspin. online, it’s important to remember
Will this affect the closed its schools in mid- of isolation is equal to smoking 15 ciga- get away from peers and observe the Earth. Alison Ledgerwood, psychology professor that extroverts need more stimu-
life of my loan? March to help stop the rettes a day, says Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a There is no equivalent escape hatch for at the University of California, Davis, says, lation overall, not just more social
What happens to in- spread of coronavirus, Na- psychology and neuroscience professor at Morra Aarons-Mele in her home in subur- “My friends ask, ‘What is going on? I don’t contact, says Ms. Cain. “The ner-
terest during the taly Kogan was thrilled. Brigham Young University. It shortens ban Boston. Ms. Aarons-Mele is an expert at know why I can’t focus.’ ” After several vous system is in a sweet spot
No more rushing to get lives. working from home. There, she started a weeks, Dr. Ledgerwood says she has accepted with more stimulation,” she says.
time I’m not paying? breakfast. Her 15-year-old But isolation takes a toll whether the business, wrote a book and started a pod- that “if I write one sentence of a paper a If an extrovert were considering a
A: Most of the time, borrow- daughter, Mia, could sleep duration is short or long. In lab studies, cast with the Harvard Business Review day—good for me.” virtual exercise class with friends,
ers won’t know how they will in. “we can see changes in blood pressure, in- called “The Anxious Achiever.” She has Social isolation can undermine productiv- for instance, it could be better to
be allowed to catch up on the The two did puzzles creases in stress hormones and inflamma- been a speaker at South by Southwest, the ity for reasons that have nothing to do with do one with loud, pumping music
missed payments until the for- and made videos to post on TikTok. Ms. Kogan thought tion” linked to short-term isolation, Dr. arts and conferences festival held in Austin, disrupted routines or family friction. Circa- and vigorous movement than a
bearance ends. she would paint. Holt-Lunstad says. Other researchers are Texas. dian rhythms are regulated mostly by expo- slow yoga class.
Many servicers allow bor- “It was bliss,” she recalls. “Full-on denial. Those sure to light. But they are also affected by Fresh air, which can improve
rowers to apply for repayment were two of the best weeks of my life.” social cues, scientists say. Staying confined everyone’s mood, might be par-
plans, in which the missed
The third week, reality hit. School closures would ex- at home greatly limits external stimuli and ticularly helpful for extroverts.
payments are spread over a
tend indefinitely. Mia’s summer program at Johns Hop- can trigger a physiological and psychologi-
Extro
Even though they can’t get up
n
tional documentation is typi- the subject of her speeches, her books and her com- South Pole and in space—are apt to slow lockdown is barring access to to, extroverts can still get a
cally required for these op- pany, Happier Inc. But at the end of her third week in down, sleep more and get more forgetful, many of those favorite places, leav- It’s important to charge from talking with a neigh-
tions, and being approved isn’t isolation, worried about her work and her child, she scientists say. ing introverts feeling out of sorts. remember that bor from a safe distance or wav-
guaranteed. lost it. She yelled at both daughter and husband, “They go through a period of physical and “Introverts are not necessarily ing to someone farther away.
extroverts need
Borrowers with loans in- slammed a door and ran out of the house. psychological torpor,” says USC’s Dr. Palinkas. breaking all relationships with the “A walk with the opportunity
“The feeling of hopelessness is paralyzing,” she says. It’s a problem NASA is grappling with as it outside world,” says Elias Abou- more stimulation to see others is potentially twice
sured by the Federal Housing
Administration can resume The changing mood in the Kogan-Spivack household lays the groundwork for a trip to Mars. jaoude, a clinical professor of psy- overall, not just as reinforcing for someone more
their normal mortgage pay- mirrors changes scientists have observed in studies of The polar scientists generally were seen to chiatry at Stanford. In reality, in- more social contact. extroverted” during the lockdown
ments when the forbearance how polar researchers and astronauts adapt to isolation regain their energy when they knew an expe- troverts’ focus may be more on than in ordinary times, says Dr.
ends, according to recent guid- in situations more extreme than what most people are dition would soon end. Nobody knows when observation and reflection. “Some Baker, who walks daily herself. “I
ance from the Department of currently experiencing. In the studies, subjects fre- social distancing will end. Since lockdowns be- now are also cut off from the source of their notice that people are more likely to smile, say
Housing and Urban Develop- quently are gung-ho at the outset, but spirits and en- gan, Ms. Kogan has been giving virtual talks to material for reflection,” he says. hello and make the effort to connect, even non-
ment. But these loans repre- ergy tend to dip about halfway through an expedition. hospital workers from Boston to Rochester, For introverts, a good first step for manag- verbally. These nonverbal communications are so
sent just a fraction of all ac- Days and weeks blur. Productivity often slows and rela- N.Y., on themes of happiness and gratitude. At ing the crisis is to identify which activities they supportive. They signal, ‘I see you there. Hello!
tive mortgages. tionships fray in what some researchers refer to as the each, she says, audience members inevitably miss most and search for virtual alternatives. We are in this together.’ ”
third-quarter slump. That happens, in part, because our ask: Do you think something good will come Many cultural institutions, for instance, are of- Finally, this crisis may be a good prompt for
MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; MORRA AARONS-MELE; ILLUSTRATION BY ADAM MCCAULEY; ICONS: ISTOCK; YOGA POSES: ISTOCK
circadian rhythms depend not only on light but on so- out of this? fering more live-stream options than ever be- extroverts to try something new: move inward.
cial cues. Moods lift again as the isolation nears an end. “People are looking for a goal post,” Ms. fore. Italian singer Andrea Bocelli livestreamed It may serve as a chance for extroverts “to
Social distancing is different, of course. But “some Kogan says. “The bad-case scenarios are so a concert in front of the Duomo cathedral in try out techniques like mindfulness that might
of the lessons apply,” says Lawrence Palinkas, a Uni- obvious.” Milan on Easter Sunday. otherwise not come automatically to them,” says
versity of Southern California professor whose re- What’s more, there are a variety of ways to Dr. Aboujaoude.
search has taken him seven times to Antarctica to Top, a quiet neighborhood in San Marcos, Calif., as residents practice social distancing. Ms. Morris is a reporter for The Wall Street join in on these activities, depending on your
learn how people adapt to prolonged periods of isola- Above, isolation tests the dynamics of small groups. Morra Aarons-Mele, with two of her Journal in San Francisco. Email preference. Some galleries, for instance, let you Ms. McConnon is a writer in New York. She
tion and confinement. children, says, ‘I’ve never tried to pull out so many tricks.’ betsy.morris@wsj.com. take virtual-reality-enabled tours of their exhi- can be reached at reports@wsj.com.
To Calm the Mind and Help the Body in Quarantine, Try These Yoga Poses
Humble warrior Camel
Start in warrior one pose, with your right Kneel with hips over
Exercise is especially important in this homebound Cat-cow breath Simple cross- leg forward, knee bent over ankle, and knees and toes tucked Reclined cobbler
time because it boosts us physically and mentally. Start on your hands and knees with legged position left leg straight and strong behind, (flat for more of a chal- Lie on your back. Bend your
Many closed yoga studios are offering free online your wrists directly under your shoul- “This pose teaches us foot turned out to a 45-degree lenge). Place your hands knees, opening your thighs out
classes. San Francisco-based yoga instructor Sarah Ez- ders and your knees directly under to sit calmly in the en- angle. Clasp both hands behind on the small of your to the side and bringing the
rin is a fan of Glo, an app that offers over 4,000 on-de- your hips. On an inhale, lift your heart tirety of the moment, your lower back. As you back and slowly drop soles of your feet together.
mand classes, and Yogis Anonymous, with over 8,000 up to the ceiling, arching the back, even in fear,” she says. bend your chest forward your head and shoulders Place one hand on your heart
classes. A towel or carpet can replace a mat, couch coming into cow pose. On an exhale, Place your hands on inside of your right backward toward the and the other hand onto your
cushions make great bolsters and a belt can double as round the spine into cat pose. the tops of your knee, bring your wall. If comfortable, belly. Breathe here for five to
a strap, she says. thighs for extra arms overhead. reach down to hold the seven minutes.
To calm the mind in these stressful times, Ms. Ezrin grounding. Repeat on the heels of your feet.
suggests these poses. —Jen Murphy opposite side.
R6 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Back to
Work:
A Q&A
What your boss can—
and can’t—make you do
BY LAUREN WEBER
E
mployers and legislators are turn-
ing their attention to the eventual
reopening of workplaces, and in
some places it is already happen-
ing: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is let-
ting salons, tattoo parlors, gyms
and other businesses open as early as today,
while some South Carolina retailers opened
this week with restrictions.
But many employees remain nervous
about their health, and about how they will
make ends meet if they can’t return to work.
Meanwhile, many employers are confused by
an onslaught of guidelines, rules, executive plaint with the Occupational Safety and work. Can I sue my employer?
orders and recommendations from the Health Administration, says Debbie If employees believe their company was
White House, governors and an array of fed- Berkowitz, director of Worker Health and negligent—for example, by not providing
eral and state agencies. Safety at the National Employment Law personal protective equipment even if
To help make sense of fast-changing rules Project and a former OSHA chief of staff. workers were regularly exposed to con-
and norms, The Wall Street Journal con- You can opt to remain anonymous. firmed Covid-19 cases—there are situa-
sulted a panel of employment lawyers and The CDC’s guidelines are recommenda- tions and states where courts might be
other experts. While not all of the policies tions, so employers can’t be sanctioned open to such claims, says Ms. Burke.
and guidelines referred to here are hard-and- just for violating those. But OSHA can
fast requirements, the following answers to determine whether those employers are
some common questions do reflect best violating its general-duty clause. And the
Job Security & Pay
Authors’
practices, the experts say. agency is required to follow up on com-
plaints, Ms. Berkowitz says. If my employer asks for volunteers Picks
to return from furlough and I raise
What if my employer doesn’t my hand, can my employer reject
provide handwashing breaks or me? I’m over 50 and have an under-
enforce social distancing? lying health condition. Viet Thanh Nguyen
Again, raise your concern with your If employers make decisions based on (‘The Sympathizer’)
employer. If nothing changes, file an their perceptions of who is at higher “Natalie Diaz’s ‘Postcolonial
OSHA complaint. Workers also have risk, they are likely engaging in illegal Love Poem.’ David Treuer’s ex-
some protections to refuse to work if discrimination. pansive, insightful ‘The Heart-
there is a reasonable expectation that “Employers might be motivated to beat of Wounded Knee: Native
workplace conditions could cause se- pick the youngest and healthiest people America from 1890
rious physical harm or death. to come back first, but if they do that, to the Present.’ Mira
there would be legal ramifications,” says Jacob’s very funny
My employer follows safety Ms. Walker. While the White House and sexy ‘Good Talk:
guidelines, but I worry about guidelines refer to elderly people as vul- A Memoir in Conver-
exposure on my commute. nerable, they don’t specify at what age sations.’ John Keene’s
If you are able to work from home, someone is “elderly.” ingenious and daring
ask to do so. If you are considered a ‘Counternarratives’—
vulnerable individual or have an My employer called me back, and situated between
ADA-qualifying disability, you have schools are still closed. I’ve used up history and fiction—is the
a better chance of getting permis- my paid leave and the expanded most challenging of the books
sion. Otherwise, you could be required to leave provisions in the Families I’ve selected, about the making
Workplace Safety come to work. First legislation. What do I do if I of the so-called New World
My boss is calling me back to the of- If working from home isn’t an option, have no one to look after my kids? from the moment of first con-
fice soon. I’m healthy, but I don’t feel you may be able to take unpaid leave, but You can ask for an unpaid leave of ab- tact between indigenous peo-
safe and have been working from there is no guarantee your job will be sence, but your employer isn’t obligated ples and European settlers up
home just fine. Do I have to go back? available when you feel it is safe to com- to offer that or to hold your job for you until our recent past.”
Fear isn’t a legal reason for refusing to mute. Meanwhile, some employers are if you do take leave, says Ms. Fay.
work, but there is one exception, says An- considering enhancing transportation ben-
gela Walker, an Ann Arbor, Mich., attorney efits, like reimbursing for car services, or Ann Patchett
who specializes in representing employees offering parking benefits, says Lindsay (‘Bel Canto’)
in Americans With Disabilities Act cases. If Burke, co-chair of the employment prac- Privacy
you have a diagnosed mental-health disabil- tice at Covington & Burling LLP. Can my employer take my “Like so much of life these
ity, such as severe anxiety, and the pan- temperature at work? days, Gish Jen’s dystopian
demic is exacerbating that disability, The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity baseball masterpiece, ‘The Re-
you can ask to work from home as Commission has determined that, given sisters,’ lands somewhere be-
a reasonable accommodation un- the risks associated with Covid-19, this is tween terrifying and hysterical.
der the ADA. permissible, Ms. Peters says. It’s a testament to
Otherwise, you can make the the author’s brilliance
case for continuing to work at Do I have to report any coronavirus that she keeps such
home, but your boss isn’t obli- symptoms to my employer? a messy future under
gated to allow it. Yes. “If an employer asks you if you’re control. Louise
symptomatic, which it should, they can Erdrich is the best of
I have an underlying health require that you report that,” as a work- the best, and her
condition. Can my em- place-safety matter, but only under pan- new novel, ‘The Night
ployer force me to re- demic conditions, says Ms. Fay. She rec- Watchman,’ is, for my money,
turn? ommends that employers require a her finest book to date.”
The White House guidelines simple daily health questionnaire, and
call for a three-phase return that workers proactively report any
to work, with special accom- symptoms. The information should be Jess Walter
modations for vulnerable indi- protected as confidential under the ADA. (‘Beautiful Ruins’)
viduals until the third phase, at “I’m reading an Alice Munro
which time the policy envisions a Can my employer send me home if story each week and then
return to “unrestricted staffing of I’m showing symptoms? talking about them with a
worksites.” Under the guidelines, Legal Protections Yes. Your employer has a duty to protect handful of writer friends over
vulnerable people are the elderly I was fired after telling my boss all of its employees. Zoom cocktails—so
and those “with serious underlying health that the safety measures at work far we’ve read ‘Car-
conditions, including high blood pressure, were insufficient. What can I do? If a Covid-19 vaccine is developed, ried Away,’ ‘A Wilder-
chronic lung disease, diabetes, obesity, What your employer did is illegal, em- can my employer require I get it? ness Station’ and
asthma, and those whose immune system is ployment lawyers say. Whistleblower During a pandemic, employers can re- ‘Friend of My
compromised such as by chemotherapy for laws protect workers who raise concerns quire vaccinations, the EEOC says. An Youth’—marveling at
cancer and other conditions requiring such about workplace health and safety. Re- employee may be entitled to an exemp- the way her stories
therapy.” port the action within 30 days to OSHA, tion if the vaccine would interfere with a can seem so tradi-
These aren’t orders. “There’s no enforce- and consider finding a lawyer. medical condition or violate that per- tional in tone and time and
ment power,” says Jennifer Merrigan Fay, an son’s religious beliefs. yet so unbelievably inventive
ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARTIN TOGNOLA; BOOK COVERS: PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
employment-law partner at Goodwin Procter. If I get Covid-19 because of my job, and elusive. I’ve never read
So if you have asthma, your employer can call am I eligible for workers’ comp? Ms. Weber is a reporter for The Wall ‘Middlemarch’ and was think-
you back. “If you have a disability under the Generally speaking, having an infectious Street Journal in New York. She can be ing I might land that big plane
ADA, you’re better protected,” she says. disease such as the flu hasn’t entitled reached at lauren.weber@wsj.com. next. I just finished reading
workers to compensation because it is ‘War and Peace’ for the sec-
What if I’m pregnant? nearly impossible to determine where ond time, so I’ve also been
Pregnant women aren’t identified as vulnera- someone contracted the illness. tracking the #TolstoyTogether
ble in the White House guidelines. But some But several states have come out with readers and enjoying the re-
states, including Massachusetts, New York rules granting eligibility for health-care sponses. But the most chal-
and California, have laws that obligate em- workers, first responders and in some lenging book by far the last
ployers to consider reasonable accommoda- cases a broader group of essential work- month has been my own, ‘The
tions for pregnant employees, Ms. Fay says. ers who fall ill with Covid-19. Cold Millions,’ which comes
out in October, if there is an
What should I do if my employer Can my employer ask me to waive October.”
isn’t following Centers for Disease my right to workers’ comp? —Cody Delistraty for WSJ.
Control and Prevention guidelines for No. Workers can’t be required to sign Magazine
a coronavirus-safe workplace? away this right, Ms. Burke says.
First, bring up your concerns with your
manager. If nothing changes, file a com- I’m pretty sure I got Covid-19 at
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, April 24, 2020 | R7
10
Financial
Webber, a certified financial planner
in Seattle. “You’ve got to deal with
the problem in front of you.”
is why it happened to us, why it may
happen again, and here’s why it’s im-
portant.”
Moves to Make 4. 8.
Reconsider Your Tap Your
If You Lose Tax Withholdings Emergency Fund
W
rock-bottom cost of living, you can opting for a bigger check now, he where people have bought whole-life
determine where and how much to says. And if you’re filing for unem- insurance policies, which are designed
ith tens of millions cut. This doesn’t mean you have to ployment, Mr. Speciner says to con- to gain cash value over time, such poli-
of Americans losing cut all of your discretionary spend- sider reducing your withholding to cies can be good assets to tap in an
their jobs, the U.S. is ing. For instance, Ms. Mackara says, zero. Most states, and the Internal
approaching Depres- any monthly subscription service Revenue Service, tax unemploy-
sion-era levels of that you’re not using can easily go. ment benefits. It might be better to
unemployment. Mil- have more money today, and to risk
lions of households across the country
are staring at their budgets trying to
figure out how to save money, lower
2. possibly owing a little more when
you file your 2020 taxes, he says.
Cooking in Quarantine:
Mustard Chicken With Crispy Rice
Total time: 2 1/2 hours For the chicken: Simple and satisfying, chicken and rice
(includes marinating 8 boneless, skinless is a combination that shows up around
time) Serves: 4-6 chicken thighs (about the globe and across cultures. In this
1¾ pounds) version, chicken thighs get good oomph
Kosher salt from a sour-cream marinade. With the
For the rice: addition of butter and some warming
2 tablespoons neutral oil 3 tablespoons Dijon turmeric and cumin, leftover rice is put
such as grapeseed or mustard to good use. A final dollop of cooling yo-
canola ¼ cup sour cream, yogurt gurt makes a nice counterpoint.
4 scallions, thinly sliced, or heavy cream
whites separated 1. Season chicken assertively with salt
2 tablespoons extra-vir-
from dark green parts on both sides and transfer to a large
gin olive oil
(optional) bowl or resealable bag. In a medium bowl, whisk together with aluminum foil and let rest 10 minutes.
2 tablespoons rice vine- mustard, sour cream, olive oil, vinegar, sugar and fish
3 cups cooked rice gar or any white vine- sauce, if using. Pour marinade over chicken, tossing to 3. Make the rice: In a medium cast-iron or nonstick skillet,
½ teaspoon turmeric gar coat evenly. Cover and chill 2 hours, tossing halfway heat oil over medium-high heat. Add white parts of scal-
½ teaspoon sugar through. Remove chicken from refrigerator and let come lions, if using, and cook until slightly softened. Add rice,
¼ teaspoon ground
to room temperature, about 1 hour. turmeric and cumin, and stir to combine. Create a well in
cumin ½ teaspoon fish sauce center of rice and add butter. Let butter melt and stir
2 tablespoons butter (optional) 2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large cast-iron or once more to combine. Use a spatula or wooden spoon
Yogurt, any herbs you 3 tablespoons neutral oil other ovenproof skillet, heat 3 tablespoons neutral oil to press down on rice and evenly distribute in pan. Cover
have and/or lime such as grapeseed or over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade, skillet with a lid and continue to cook, undisturbed, until
wedges, for serving canola shaking off excess. Add chicken to skillet and cook, undis- bottom of rice is crisp and lightly browned, 7-9 minutes.
(optional) turbed, 7 minutes. Flip chicken and transfer skillet to
oven. Cook until surface of chicken is caramelized and an 4. Serve chicken and rice with a dollop of yogurt, if you
instant-read thermometer inserted at thickest part of like, scallion greens or other herbs, and/or lime wedges.
thigh reads 160 degrees, about 15 minutes. Cover loosely —Recipe by Eleanore Park
R8 | Friday, April 24, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
About
Do antibody tests have high false
and other factors, including how in- positive or false negative rates?
tense their viral infection was. A: Depending on the test, they can.
some positives. If a
test is very sensitive,
it may pick up a sig-
nal in people not re-
ally infected.
Experts are espe-
cially concerned
about the possibility
of false-positive re-
sults because those
could result in a
false sense of secu-
JOANNA STERN’S
rity. “That could in-
fluence behavior im-
properly,” says Dr.
Tech Tips
Jenkins. “You would Solutions to readers’
hate to think you’re tech problems for working
walking around with from home.
antibodies and
you’re not.”
Dr. Reich warns, Re-create the Office
“There’s this fiction Hallway
out there that people Oh, how I miss the office: the
think we’re going to (relative) peace and quiet,
have this massive the mediocre coffee, the ran-
immune workforce dom chats in the hallway.
that’s able to go back Luckily, you can recreate that
to work. It’s more last one—sorta. An app for
likely that we’ll just Slack called Hallway auto-
have to rethink the matically prompts you and
way the workforce is your chosen colleagues to
designed for the next join a video chat every few
year or year and a hours—you program in the
half until there is specifics. Prefer to stay out
widespread vaccina- of Slack? Put a 10-minute
BY SUMATHI REDDY
E
York. “But this is unknown cur- tion.” phone call on a colleague’s
rently, and we have to study that Another tricky point, Dr. Storch calendar. Rather just send a
veryone has their hopes pinned over time.” says, is that the tests may measure message? Send a GIF or
on antibody or serology tests— antibodies produced for other coro- emoji via email or chat. Did I
blood tests designed to detect naviruses, which don’t reflect infec- just send photos of snacks to
who was previously infected with Gauging quality tion with Covid-19. There are several the people I run into at the
the new coronavirus and has de- Where can I get an antibody test? other very common coronaviruses vending machines? Sure did.
veloped antibodies to it. Busi- A: The priority right now is to de- that are seasonal and cause the
nesses and governments hope the tests velop tests to be used by hospitals common cold.
can help slowly open up the economy. In- on health-care workers and patients, “Often the immune system will Eliminate
dividuals hope the tests can tell them if and as part of clinical trials. So, ex- make antibodies that cover a num- Background Noise
they will be protected from getting perts say it will be a few months or ber of viruses in the same family,” Yes, mic muting is the golden
Covid-19 again. possibly longer before average con- he says. rule of working from home,
In an effort to get the tests out as quickly sumers will be able to access credi- but sometimes you have no
as possible, the Food and Drug Administra- ble tests. Over-the-counter tests, like choice: You must speak—
tion isn’t requiring manufacturers to get ap- pregnancy tests, are under develop- The timeline even when the dog’s barking,
proval from the agency. The result, experts ment and will likely exist some day. How long after infection does the the kid’s crying and the pans
say, is that many tests are of dubious qual- body start producing antibodies? are clanking. Krisp—a Win-
ity and include false claims. How reliable are antibody tests? When do they peak? How long do dows and Mac app that inte-
Even tests that are well-designed and A: There was a huge concern about we have them? grates with Slack, Zoom and
validated aren’t the panacea many think the quality of the first group of anti- A: Dr. Jenkins says studies have other popular chat apps—
they are, as it is still not proved that the body tests that hit the market about shown the body starts producing an- uses AI tricks to reduce that
presence of antibodies results in immunity. a month ago, says Amy Karger, an tibodies about a week after infec- background chatter. It’s
“There’s probably more we don’t know assistant professor in laboratory tion, and nearly everyone has anti- pretty crazy: It removed most
than we do know” about the tests, says medicine and pathology at the Uni- bodies in their blood 10 days after of my son and dog! (They’re
Bala Hota, a professor of medicine in the versity of Minnesota Medical School. symptoms start. “Those levels stay both fine, don’t worry.) The
division of infectious disease at Rush Uni- “We were inundated with a flood of high in those people’s blood for as app’s maker says audio is
versity Medical Center in Chicago. emails and calls from questionable long as we’ve looked at them,” processed on your computer;
For a closer look at all of these issues, companies that we had never heard which is about a month so far, says none is sent to its servers.
we asked experts what we know—and of trying to sell these tests,” she Dr. Jenkins. It is unknown how long Still, it’s good to review its
don’t know—about the tests. says. the antibodies will remain, but one privacy page.
A lot of the rapid tests that could study found that for another deadly
be done with finger pricks were un- coronavirus, severe acute respira-
The basics reliable, she says. tory syndrome, or SARS, the anti- Tweak Your Calendar
What is an antibody test? How is it dif- Now the FDA has made it clear bodies faded after a couple of years, To Balance Your Time
ferent from a diagnostic test? that antibody tests that aren’t ap- he says. Work-life balance. Remember
A: Diagnostic tests tell you whether you proved under the emergency use au- Dr. Reich says that antibodies are that? Change your calendar
are infected with Covid-19. They are mo- thorization, or EUA, need to be inde- present 14 days after diagnosis but to help you set boundaries.
lecular tests that detect the presence of pendently evaluated by a certified are much stronger 21 days after, ac- First, sync your personal and
the genetic material from the virus, says clinical laboratory to show they cording to testing from the National work calendars (in Google or
David Walt, a professor of pathology at work before they are used, says Dr. Covid-19 Convalescent Plasma Proj- between Google and Out-
Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Karger. ect, which collects blood from peo- look). Set your new working
Women’s Hospital in Boston. They typi- Still, experts say the tests will be ple who have recovered from the vi- hours so people can only add
cally use a nasopharyngeal swab that is highly variable. “It’s kind of the rus to donate to those still infected. meetings during those times.
pushed way back into the nose to get a Wild West out there in terms of Antibodies typically peak four to six (In Google Calendar, select
sample of your mucus. tests,” says Dr. Jenkins. weeks after symptoms start, he says. the gear icon > Settings >
Antibody tests take a sample of your Antibody testing is somewhat Working Hours.) Don’t forget
blood to test your immune response to the tricky, says Gregory Storch, a profes- I am young and healthy. Should I to block off time to make
infection to see if your body has produced sor of pediatrics at Washington Uni- just expose myself to the virus if I your daily bologna sandwich,
antibodies. They don’t detect active infec- versity in St. Louis, as there are can so that I can eventually get an too. Lastly, try Clockwise, a
tions but tell you if you were previously many variables. antibody test and resume my nor- Google Calendar extension
infected with the virus. “I am very concerned that anti- mal life? that optimizes your calendar
body tests are being released with- A: Experts recommend against doing to help you find uninter-
What is an antibody? out having undergone adequate reg- this. You never know what kind of re- rupted, focused work time—
A: Any antibody is a protein produced by ulatory scrutiny, and it will be action you may have, and even young not meeting time.
the immune system, designed to bind to difficult for consumers and even and healthy people have ended up
particular proteins on the virus. Once the physicians to distinguish which tests hospitalized and have even died. The Ms. Stern is The Wall Street
antibodies bind with the virus proteins, are reliable,” he says. goal is to take pressure off the health- Journal’s senior personal
they ideally trigger a process to neutralize care system, so exposing yourself in- technology columnist. Email
joanna.stern@wsj.com, and
JOHN G. MABANGLO/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
the virus and remove it from the body. How can I tell if an antibody test is tentionally—and exposing those
reliable? around you—is foolish, they say. see more tech tips at
If I have antibodies to the virus that A: Dr. Karger says to make sure the Exposing yourself is “an unwar- wsj.com/tech.
causes Covid-19, does that mean I’m pro- test is coming from a reputable lab ranted risk given that we still don’t
tected from getting it again? If so, for or diagnostics company. Chances know much about this infection,” Dr.
how long? are, if it is a lab name or company Jenkins says.
A: We don’t know. “Just because people you recognize, it is more likely to be
have an antibody response to this virus reputable. Ms. Reddy writes The Wall Street
does not mean that they are protected Approval by the FDA under the Journal’s Your Health column.
against being reinfected,” says Dr. Walt. EUA is another good indicator, she She can be reached at
Marc Jenkins, director of the Center for says. (There are currently only a sumathi.reddy@wsj.com.