Pfizer Begins Mass Shipping Of Vaccines - JosePauloEcon

* * * * * * MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXVI NO. 140 WSJ.com HHHH $4 .00

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Tight Christmas Tree SupplyMeans 8-Footer Can Fetch $2,000

i i i

Global shortage drives up prices from

U.S. to Hong Kong; ‘Charlie Brown tree’

This year, people are goingall out for Christmas. There’sjust one problem: finding aChristmas tree.

On the streets of HongKong, 8-foot Noble Firs areselling for as much as $2,167apiece, while in Californiaand New York shoppersare paying more forwhat they say are infe-rior trees. And in theU.K., retailers arescrambling for moretrees.

The pandemicmeans millions are

unable to travel over the holi-day season, and are celebrat-ing at home instead. That’sproduced a spike in demandfor trees.

Carla St. Germain, a 55-year-old business owner inFargo, N.D., doesn’t normallybuy her tree until mid-Decem-ber, but this year unseason-ably warm weather madeher go a week earlier. Itwas a good thing she did.

“When I pulled in onthe side street on theside where I normallyget my tree, it wascompletely empty,”PleaseturntopageA6

BY LUCY CRAYMER

Green gold

service is suspected of beingbehind the hacks of the U.S.government networks—inwhich some internal communi-cations are believed to havebeen stolen—and the operationis related to a breach disclosedlast week of U.S.-based cyber-security firm FireEye, one ofthe people familiar with thematter said.

The hacking operation ex-posed as many as hundreds ofthousands of government and

ulators.“They sure pushed it hard

and fast,” said Ms. Wood, whowouldn’t rule out eventuallygetting the shot. “I’m hopingfor the best for those who takeit.”

The Food and Drug Adminis-tration granted an emergencyauthorization on Friday, allow-ing the companies to begin dis-tributing the vaccine. Initialdoses will mostly go to the na-tion’s health-care workers andresidents of long-term-care fa-cilities—roughly 24 million peo-

PleaseturntopageA11

BY JARED S. HOPKINSAND ARIAN CAMPO-FLORES

One Hurdle on Shot:Convincing Skeptics

Trucks filled with Covid-19vaccine vials pulled out ofPfizer Inc.’s Kalamazoo, Mich.,production plant on Sundaymorning, part of one of thelargest mass mobilizationssince the country’s factorieswere repurposed to help fightWorld War II.

The effort to vaccinate thenation relies on chemists, fac-tory workers, truck drivers, pi-lots, data scientists, bureau-crats, pharmacists and health-care workers. It requiresultracold freezers, dry ice,needles, masks and swabs con-verging simultaneously atthousands of locations across

By Sarah Krouse,Jared S. Hopkins andAnnaWilde Mathews

the country.To work, every one of the

many and complicated links ofthe chain has to hold.

In the trucks that headed toairports and distribution hubs,specially designed containersequipped with sensors moni-tored location, temperature,light exposure and unusualjolting. Inside, dry ice sand-wiched thousands of doses ofBNT162b2, the scientific nameof the Covid-19 vaccine.

“The biggest concern that Ihave is not that we don’tknow what to do. We havecontingency plans in place forjust about everything,” saidShawn Seamans, a senior ex-ecutive in charge of the Covidvaccine distribution programat McKesson Corp., which is

PleaseturntopageA10

Pfizer BeginsMass ShippingOf Vaccines

Now that the first Covid-19vaccine in the U.S. has beencleared by federal regulators,health authorities and re-searchers face the dauntingtask of persuading millions ofpeople such as Kathy Wood totake the shots.

Ms. Wood, a 72-year-old res-ident of Ogallala, Neb., is un-easy about getting the vaccineproduced by Pfizer Inc. andGermany’s BioNTech SE, in partbecause of claims she said sheread online that vaccines couldalter a person’s DNA—a conten-tion scientists say isn’t true. Al-though her husband is willingto take the shot, she is anxiousabout its rapid developmentand swift authorization by reg-

BRUSSELS—U.K. Prime Min-ister Boris Johnson and top Eu-ropean Union officials decidednot to pull the plug on Brexitnegotiations, with officials sig-naling last-minute progress onsome of the issues that havebedeviled the talks.

Officials on both sides onSunday said they were narrow-ing differences over the ques-tion that lies at the center oftheir dispute: How much willthe U.K. be tied in the future toEU norms as the price for atariff-free trade deal with itslargest trading partner? Onthat question hangs tradeworth close to $900 billion ayear. The EU is seeking to makesure it doesn’t have a majorcompetitor on its doorstep thatcan slash regulation and havespecial access to its market.

With time running short—adeal has to be in place by Jan. 1to prevent huge disruption totrade and security coopera-tion—officials said negotiatorsappeared to be finding somecommon ground, though theycautioned much work needed

PleaseturntopageA12

BY LAURENCE NORMANAND STEPHEN FIDLER

U.K., EUIndicateProgressOn Talks

Affirm Holdings Inc. movedits listing to January at theearliest, The Wall Street Jour-nal reported.

What seems to be vexingIPO market participants is theeye-popping recent first-daytrading gains of DoorDash,Airbnb and others. While suchmoves are great news for ex-isting investors and thoselucky enough to get IPO allo-cations, they also mean thecompanies in question haveleft big money on the table.

Roblox and Affirm arestudying potential moves thatwould lessen any initial pop intheir shares, including sellingmore stock and changing themix of shares to be sold by

PleaseturntopageA4

A frenzy in the market fornewly listed tech stocks hit anunexpected speed bump overthe weekend.

After DoorDash Inc.’s stockshot up 86% in its trading de-but Wednesday and AirbnbInc.’s shares more than dou-bled a day later, two compa-nies that were set to jointhem in the public marketsthis month pressed pause ontheir offerings.

Videogame company Rob-lox Corp. postponed its initialpublic offering until earlynext year as it tries to makesense of the market, while fi-nancial-technology company

BY ELIOT BROWNAND MAUREEN FARRELL

Stunning IPO BoomSpurs Some to Pause

Shipments of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine were loaded onto a UPS plane Sunday, top, in Lan-sing, Mich. Bottom, boxes of the vaccine were prepared for transport at the Pfizer manu-facturing plant in Portage, Mich. The vaccine is packed in specially designed containersequipped with sensors to monitor location, temperature, light exposure and unusual jolting.

� Bipartisan group makes newpush for aid package............ A3

� States face vaccine demandson limited resources.............. A8

� Caution chills Europe’sChristmas spirit...................... A12

corporate networks to poten-tial risk and alarmed national-security officials in the Trumpadministration as well as exec-utives at FireEye, some ofwhom view it as far more sig-nificant than a routine case offoreign cyber espionage, peo-ple familiar with the mattersaid.

While those familiar withthe hack couldn’t specify itsscope or the resulting damage,several described it as among

the most potentially worri-some cyberattacks in years, asit may have allowed Russia toaccess sensitive informationfrom government agencies, de-fense contractors and other in-dustries. One person familiarwith the matter said the cam-paign was a “10” on a scale ofone to 10, in terms of its likelyseverity and national-securityimplications.

The Commerce DepartmentPleaseturntopageA6

WASHINGTON—Multiplefederal government agencies,including the Treasury andCommerce departments, havehad some of their computersystems breached as part of aglobal cyber espionage cam-paign believed to be the workof the Russian government, ac-cording to officials and peoplefamiliar with the matter.

Russia’s foreign intelligence

BY DUSTIN VOLZ

U.S. Agencies Hacked, Russia Blamed

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What’sNews

� Pfizer began shippingvials of Covid-19 vaccine,part of one of the largestmass mobilizations sinceAmerican factories wererepurposed to help fightWorld War II. A1, A10-A11� Health authorities andresearchers face the daunt-ing task of persuading mil-lions of people skeptical ofvaccines to take the shots. A1�Multiple U.S. governmentagencies have had some oftheir computer systemsbreached as part of a cyberespionage campaign be-lieved to be the work of theRussian government. A1� The U.K.’s Johnson andtop EU officials decided not topull the plug on Brexit negoti-ations, with officials signalingprogress on some issues thathave bedeviled the talks. A1� A group of lawmakersmade a last-minute push tocraft a bipartisan coronavi-rus aid proposal, as leader-ship in both parties indi-cated they might drop themost contentious issuesand pass a narrower bill. A3� Iran’s execution of a dissi-dent journalist has strainedTehran’s relationship withEurope just when expecta-tions were being raised of adiplomatic opening betweenIran and the West. A12� Died: John le Carré, 89,master spy writer. A14

Valuations of recentIPOs are at their high-

est levels since the dot-combubble, relative to the com-panies’ revenue, sparkingconcerns among investorsabout the level of froth. A1� AstraZeneca agreed tobuy Boston-based Alexionfor $39 billion, a movethat would bolster theBritish drug giant’s foot-print in rare diseases. B1�A small but prominent ros-ter of tech firms and inves-tors is leaving the San Fran-cisco Bay area as the hub hasstrained to absorb the torridgrowth of the tech sector. B1� Elliott has built a signifi-cant stake in Public Storageand privately nominatedsix directors to the self-storage giant’s board. B3� Indian workers brokewindows and overturnedcars at the office of a fac-tory that makes iPhones.Labor leaders said theworkers were upset aboutwages and hours. A20� TV networks feeling thestrains of disappointingNFL ratings are beingforced to restructure dealswith advertisers to make upfor smaller audiences. B2

Business&Finance

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A2 | Monday, December 14, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. NEWS

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how officials weigh the bal-ance of risks: What are theworse-than-expected out-comes? What are the better-than-expected ones? Whichare more likely to material-ize? And how easy or difficultwould it be for policy makersto respond to either?

Since the pandemic hit,the dangers of worse-than-expected outcomes haveloomed very large—for exam-ple, a rerun of the financialcrisis that gripped WallStreet in March. Alternately,the virus could so badly crip-ple the operation of many lei-sure, hospitality and enter-tainment businesses that itdelivers a one-two punch tothe banking system frombusiness bankruptcies anddefaults on commercial-prop-erty debt. Vaccines increasethe likelihood that worst-casescenarios may be avoided.

Pfizer said on Nov. 9 thatits vaccine had proven morethan 90% effective in protect-ing people from Covid-19, amuch-better-than-anticipatedresult. The announcementwas made days after Fed offi-

public-health conditions.Elevated personal saving

rates, an aggressive responsefrom fiscal and monetary pol-icy, and the noneconomicforces that drove the currentdownturn suggest there is a“tightly coiled spring of pent-up demand” that could yield“a sharp rebound as broadvaccine distribution isachieved,” said KristinaHooper, chief global marketstrategist at Invesco.

“I would expect this recov-ery to be far more robust andless anemic than what wesaw in the global financialcrisis,” said Ms. Hooper.

The Fed’s economists al-ready made importantchanges to their outlook atlast month’s meeting. Theyjudged the savings cushionmany households hadamassed would be enough tomaintain overall spendingeven though political grid-lock prompted them to erasepreviously anticipated fed-eral-aid spending from theirforecast.

The Fed slashed its short-term benchmark interest rate

THE OUTLOOK | By Nick Timiraos

Fed Has New Reason for OptimismFederal Re-

serve officialshave some-thing new totalk about attheir policy

meeting this week: goodnews.

This might sound a littleabsurd. Covid-19 infections,hospitalizations and deathsare hitting records. Statesand localities are imposingnew restrictions on diningand other activities. Claimsfor unemployment benefitsare rising, and the joblessrate fell in November for thewrong reasons—more work-ers stopped seeking jobs.

But last week’s emergencyauthorization by the U.S.Food and Drug Administra-tion of a coronavirus vaccinedeveloped by Pfizer Inc. andBioNTech SE, plus a secondcandidate from Moderna Inc.also under review, is a poten-tial economic game-changerbecause it could reduce un-certainty for households,businesses and policy makers.

“There is a bridge to some-where now. You’re no longerjust putting fingers in a dikethat’s about to burst,” saidDiane Swonk, chief economistat accounting firm GrantThornton. “We still have a lotof wounds to dress. But nowyou can see an end date, andit’s likely to happen in 2021.”

F ed officials face an eco-nomic outlook with lit-tle precedent. Economic

growth is at risk of slowingfurther in the next fewmonths and then revving up.How to navigate these devel-opments will be the focus ofthe central bankers’ two-daymeeting that concludesWednesday.

Central-bank policy deci-sions are guided not just by abaseline forecast but also by

to near zero in March and inSeptember officials providedmore assurance they will bein no hurry to raise rates.Since June, the Fed also hasbeen buying $120 billion amonth in Treasury and mort-gage debt to hold down long-term yields.

S ome analysts think Fedofficials will take a stepthis week to provide

more stimulus by increasingthe share of long-term Trea-sury securities they purchase.

No Fed officials have pub-licly advocated doing so atthis meeting. Instead, in re-cent remarks, they have fo-cused on the issue of clarify-ing how long their bondpurchases could continue,just as they provided guid-ance on their rate plans inSeptember. “We need to havean approach that can adaptor change to the economicenvironment,” said New YorkFed President John Williamsin a Nov. 24 interview.

Several officials have saidthey don’t think they needto change the asset-buyingprogram now to delivermore economic stimulus.Vaccines could be an impor-tant reason why.

Serious hardship still loomsfor millions of households,and vaccine delivery is fraughtwith logistical burdens. Fedofficials still have their eyesfirmly on dangers of long-term scarring to the economyfrom extended jobless spellsand business failures.

But increased confidencethat there is light at the endof the tunnel—and that itisn’t an oncoming train—could improve how hiring andpurchasing managers andbank credit officers lookahead to 2021.

For the Fed, that counts asgood news.

Source: Labor Department via St. Louis Fed (payrolls); Diane Swonk, Grant Thornton LLP (GDP)

*Seasonally adjusted †GDP figures are seasonally adjusted annual rates adjusted for inflation.‡Base case assumes herd immunity achieved in Q3 2021. **Delayed scenario assumes immunity achieved in Q4 2021.

RECESSION

2018 ’19 ’20

130

135

140

145

150

155million

Total nonfarmpayrolls*

Employment rebounded strongly this summer, but gains have slowed recently. Thewidespreaddelivery of an effective coronavirus vaccine by the third quarter of 2021 could return U.S. grossdomestic product to its pre-pandemic level by the end of next year, according to one forecast.

2020 ’21 ’22 ’23

17

18

19

20

$21 trillion

Pre-pandemic level

2009-19growthtrend

Actual GDP

Base-casescenario‡

Delayedvaccinationscenario**

U.S. gross domestic product†

ECONOMICCALENDAR

TUESDAY: China’s growth mo-mentum likely remained strong inNovember, with economists ex-pecting gauges of domestic con-sumption and investment to gainsteam. Retail sales, fixed-assetinvestment and industrial outputfigures will all shed more light onthe pace of the country’s rebound.

U.S. industrial production isexpected to increase in Novemberon the back of strong demand forautos. Overall output, however,will likely remain below pre-pan-demic levels, underscoring theeconomy’s incomplete reboundfrom this spring’s downturn.

WEDNESDAY: Surveys of pur-chasing managers are expectedto indicate the eurozone’s econ-omy contracted in the early weeksof December as high rates of cor-onavirus infection curtailed activ-ity in the services sectors, whilepointing to a continued expansionin the U.S., albeit at a slower pacethan in recent months.

U.S. retail sales could rise forthe seventh consecutive month inNovember. Demand for goods hasbeen strong through the pandemicbut new Covid-19 restrictionsmight hold back restaurant sales,the lone measure of service-sectoractivity in the monthly report.

The Federal Reserve releasesa policy statement and economicprojections, and Chairman JeromePowell holds a press conference.Economists aren’t looking for ma-jor policy moves, but Fed officialsare likely to unveil new guidanceabout how long they expect tocontinue their current asset-pur-chase program.

THURSDAY: Jobless claims, aproxy for layoffs, are expected toease slightly in the week endedDec. 12.

cials’ November meeting.“The economy should

come bouncing back prettypowerfully in the second halfof next year. The Fed shouldbe fairly confident about that.That’s different,” said WilliamDudley, former president ofthe New York Fed.

“The risk characterizationhas improved,” said Chicago

Fed President Charles Evanson Dec. 4. “It is possible thatthings are going to change ina meaningful way earlier nextyear than I was previouslyexpecting.”

The current downturn hasbeen like no other. Forecast-ers at the Fed and on WallStreet have been surprised bythe strength of the reboundin the face of deteriorating

Vaccines increasethe likelihood thatworst-case scenariosmay be avoided.

NAVY

Search Ends for SailorWho Fell Overboard

The Navy called off searchand rescue efforts for a 20-year-old sailor who reportedly felloverboard last week from theUSS Theodore Roosevelt.

The Navy said it ended theeffort at sunset Saturday afterit searched more than 607square nautical miles for morethan 55 hours off the coast ofSouthern California. The Navyhas declared the man deceased.

The search started Thursdaymorning after a lookout spottedwhat appeared to be a person inthe water, a statement from theSan Diego-based Third Fleetsaid. Three helicopters and a

boat were launched in response,and one sailor was unaccountedfor during a command-widemuster, the statement said.

—Associated Press

TEXAS

Former El Paso MayorWins the Office Again

El Paso residents have electeda new mayor, handing a defeat toincumbent Mayor Dee Margo infavor of his predecessor, OscarLeeser, in a runoff race.

Mr. Leeser, who was mayorof the West Texas city on theMexican border from 2013through 2017, won with 82% ofthe vote, according to El PasoCounty’s unofficial tally. He fin-ished first among six mayoral

candidates in November, butwith less than 50%, forcing Sat-urday’s runoff.

Mr. Leeser pledged Saturdaynight to bring together the citythat has been battered in recentyears by overcrowded migrantsat the border, a mass shootingat a Walmart and the economicand health crises brought on bythe coronavirus.

Mayoral races in El Paso arenonpartisan, but Mr. Margo, abusinessman and former statelegislator, identifies as a Republi-can. Mr. Leeser, president of acar dealership, is a Democrat.

Mr. Margo said in a conces-sion speech that he believes nomayor has had to deal with thearray of calamity he has faced inthe past two years.

—Associated Press

The first name of Jon Hall,a principal at design firmGGLO, was incorrectly given asJohn in a Future of Everythingarticle on Friday about futurehome designs.

Notice to readersWall Street Journal staff

members are working re-motely during the pandemic.For the foreseeable future,please send reader commentsonly by email or phone, usingthe contacts below, not viaU.S. Mail.

CORRECTIONS�AMPLIFICATIONS

Readers can alert The Wall StreetJournal to any errors in news articlesby emailing [email protected] or

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U.S.WATCH

MASSACHUSETTS

Dedicated Bus LaneSet for Tobin Bridge

The Tobin Bridge is getting adedicated bus lane to see if ithelps ease crowding and speedup commutes, state transporta-tion officials say.

The 1.1-mile southbound buslane on the bridge is expected toopen for use on Monday, accord-ing to a statement from theMassachusetts Bay Transporta-tion Authority and the stateTransportation Department.

The pilot project will last ayear, with the bus lane’s perfor-mance analyzed for travel time,operations, crowding, ridershipand overall traffic safety.

—Associated Press

NEW YORK · 697 FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN 54TH & 55TH STREET · 212 396 1735LAS VEGAS · THE FORUM SHOPS AT CAESARS PALACE · 702 369 1735

COLLECTION

Women


THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. * * * * Monday, December 14, 2020 | A3

Percentage of renters behindon rent payments

Tenantswith high confidencein the ability to pay nextmonth’s rent by race

Sources: Stout Risius Ross LLC; U.S. Census Bureau surveys

Black (not Hispanic) Hispanic Asian White (not Hispanic)

35

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

%

Sept. Oct. Nov.

60

0

10

20

30

40

50

%

June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.

Housing-industry executives said they expect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium, now set to expirein January, to be extended. U.S. tenants will owe as much as $70 billion in back rent by the end of 2020, Moody’s Analytics estimated.

ANDRE

WHARN

IK/A

SSOCIAT

EDPR

ESS

Court Cases ReflectTumultuous Times

The dollar amounts of un-paid rent in eviction cases as-tonish even some veteranjudges.

Justice of the Peace MichaelMissildine of Collin County,Texas, said he was issuing judg-ments against tenants owingmore than $10,000 in rent pay-ments. In the past, a typical rul-ing would be a fraction of thatsum.

“It’s not normal,” Judge Mis-sildine said during a video hear-ing.

Some tenants are strugglingwith videoconferencing applica-tions, attorneys say. Missing acourt hearing often means anautomatic victory for the land-lord.

In St. Louis, a legal-aid in-tern said he had observed sev-eral hearings where judgesgranted landlords evictions be-cause they believed the ten-ants had failed to log into thevideoconference. In fact, theyhad been placed on silentmode, according to his swornaffidavit in October. Thosejudgments were overturned,the affidavit said.

Julie Watts, a Dallas whole-sale worker who has been outof a job since the spring, hasmissed her $1,003 rent billmany times but kept her apart-ment because of the evictionban. She is due to enter thehospital this month for an ailingkidney.

“I’m afraid to leave myapartment because I don’t wantto come home from the hospi-tal and find out my stuff is inthe parking lot,” she said.

modate struggling tenants, butnow have gone months with-out collecting rent. They areblocked from taking control oftheir property by what theyconsider overly restrictive lo-cal and federal laws.

Korvall Li in Seattle said hehasn’t seen a rent check sinceJanuary from a townhousetenant who makes a six-figure

salary. That is a deficit ofabout $30,000. Mr. Li said hehas continued his mortgagepayments and is suing thestate and city over evictionprotections that exceed thefederal moratorium.

“I already decided that I’mnot going to be a landlord inthe future,” Mr. Li said. “It’sreally turned me off the whole

real-estate thing.”Those behind on their rent

during the pandemic are dis-proportionately minorities, ac-cording to recent survey datafrom the Census Bureau.

Nearly a third of Black rentersand 18% of Hispanic renterssaid they were behind on rentlast month. About 12% ofwhite renters said theyweren’t caught up on rent.

U.S. NEWS

in court. Since the CDC evic-tion moratorium went into ef-fect in September, buildingowners in places like Plano,Texas, and Milwaukee havetaken tenants to court throughvideoconferencing.

Landlords have alreadyfiled more than 150,000 evic-tion petitions during the pan-demic in the 27 cities trackedby Princeton University’s Evic-tion Lab. Many of those ten-ants have lost their cases, andare now on the hook for alltheir back rent.

Some failed to qualify forthe moratorium because theydidn’t sign a declaration oftheir inability to pay, or be-cause their landlord chal-lenged their claim to financialhardship. Some renters havethen had to leave their homesdespite the ban being in place.

Evicted renters are still lia-ble for months of unpaid rent.Moody’s Analytics said it esti-mates U.S. tenants owing asmuch as $70 billion in backrent by year-end.

John Pollock, staff attorneyat the Public Justice Center, alegal advocacy nonprofit, saidthat if the moratorium isn’t re-newed, January is expected tobe the worst month for evic-tions in American history. “Idon’t see how it’s possible thatwe’re not going to see moreevictions on Jan. 1 than we’veever seen in a month,” he said.

Evictions stress citieswhere the pandemic has al-ready weakened social-safetynets, housing advocates say.Studies show they also worsenthe health crisis.

New research led by an epi-demiologist at the Universityof California, Los Angelesfound that the expiration of lo-cal eviction moratoria was as-sociated with more than 10,000excess deaths from Covid-19,potentially due to increaseddisease transmission from dis-location or homelessness.

Some landlords say theyhave offered installment plansor taken other steps to accom-

Millions of U.S. renters facethe prospect of eviction inJanuary, unless federal offi-cials extend protections put inplace during the Covid-19 pan-demic.

That month is when theCenters for Disease Controland Prevention’s ban on evic-tions is set to expire. The mor-atorium protects tenants whohave missed monthly rent pay-ments from being thrown outof their homes if they declarefinancial hardship. The CDCordered the halt on evictionsunder the Public Health Ser-vice Act, which allows the fed-eral government to enact reg-ulations that help stop thespread of infectious diseases.

Between 2.4 million and 5million American householdsare at risk of eviction in Janu-ary alone, and millions morewill be vulnerable in themonths after, according to es-timates from the investmentbank and financial-advisoryfirm Stout Risius Ross.

While several states andcities have their own evictionbans with varying rules andexpiration dates, the CDC or-der is the only one that coversthe entire country.

Housing-industry execu-tives said they expect the CDCeviction ban to be extended.Many landlords said they be-lieve they are more likely torecover some rent by workingwith tenants, rather than byevicting them.

While many states have en-acted eviction moratoriums,the CDC order is the only pro-tection for renters in some cit-ies. Attorneys and judges saidthey expect courts to be over-whelmed once moratoriumsend, creating a monthslongbacklog of cases.

In many cities and towns,the legal process is under way.While the CDC order helpskeep renters in their homes, itdoesn’t prevent landlords frombeginning the eviction process

BY WILL PARKER

Many Will FaceEviction UnlessBan Extended

WASHINGTON—A group ofrank-and-file lawmakers madea last-minute push to assemblea bipartisan coronavirus aidproposal, as leadership in bothparties indicated they mightdrop the most contentious is-sues in the talks and pass anarrower bill.

The bipartisan set of law-makers has in recent daysstruggled to finish putting to-gether a $908 billion aid pack-age, tripping up over disagree-ments on creating liabilityprotections for businesses andother entities to help themguard against coronavirus-re-lated suits. Senate MajorityLeader Mitch McConnell (R.,Ky.) last week proposed drop-ping the protections if Demo-crats agreed to forgo state andlocal aid that has drawn Re-publican objections.

House Majority LeaderSteny Hoyer (D., Md.) indicatedSunday that Democrats may beopen to a bill without stateand local aid, which they havelong insisted on in talks with

Republicans.“We need to act,” Mr. Hoyer

said on CNN. “If acting meanswe’re not going to get every-thing we want, we think stateand local is important, and ifwe can get that, we want toget it. But we want to get aidout to the people who are re-ally, really struggling and areat great risk.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi(D., Calif.) and Treasury Secre-tary Steven Mnuchin held a 30-minute phone call Sunday af-

ternoon, a spokesman for Mrs.Pelosi said. Mrs. Pelosi believesin the necessity of state and lo-cal aid and told Mr. Mnuchinduring the call that the twoparties should find a compro-mise on liability protections,the spokesman said. The pairwill speak again Monday.

The bipartisan group oflawmakers is preparing to splittheir proposal into two parts,according to people familiarwith the talks, segmenting$160 billion in state and local

aid and liability protectionsinto their own legislation. Theother $748 billion in aid—cov-ering $300 a week to state un-employment benefits for fourmonths, $300 billion in aid tosmall businesses, and $35 bil-lion for health-care providers,among other measures—wouldbe the second bill.

The proposed $300 billionin small-business aid would bepart of a restart of the Pay-check Protection Program,which closed in August. The

plan would limit loans to busi-nesses that have 300 or feweremployees and can demon-strate that they sustained a30% revenue loss in any quar-ter of 2020.

The bipartisan group’s pro-posal on liability protectionswill call for requiring plaintiffsin coronavirus-related lawsuitsto prove a defendant acted withgross negligence to expose peo-ple to the virus, according to aperson familiar with the plan.Mr. McConnell’s original pro-posal on liability protectionswould have created a grossnegligence standard, a stepDemocrats had been hesitant toaccept earlier in the talks.

Congress faces a series ofdeadlines to pass a new aidpackage. Current governmentfunding lasts through Dec. 18,and lawmakers have aimed toapprove more coronavirus aidin conjunction with a broaderspending package. A number ofcoronavirus relief provisionsapproved in the spring will ex-pire at the end of the year, fur-ther prodding lawmakers toagree soon to more aid.

President Trump has calledfor the next coronavirus aidpackage to include a newround of direct payments toAmericans. “I want to seechecks going for more moneythan they’re talking about go-ing to people,” he said in an

interview with Fox News thataired Sunday.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D.,W.Va.), a member of the infor-mal group of Republicans andDemocrats working on thejoint aid proposal, said Sundayon Fox News that he expects“we’ll have a bill produced forthe American people tomor-row—$908 billion.”

Mr. McConnell indicatedearlier this past week that theliability measures at the centerof the bipartisan talks werelikely to be insufficient to earnGOP support.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.)said Sunday that he didn’tknow if Mr. McConnell wouldallow the full bipartisan mea-sure to come up for a vote.“We’ve got to do somethingfor the American people,” hesaid on CNN. “What LeaderMcConnell decides to do, Idon’t have control over. I onlycan do what I can do.”

Mr. Cassidy said he wishedthe Senate could approve bothstate and local aid and liabilityprotections. But he said talksbetween congressional leadersover such an agreement hadstalled. “It would be great ifwe could pass that. It doesn’tseem that we can,” he said.

—Amara Omeokwe,Nick Timiraos

and Kristina Petersoncontributed to this article.

BY ANDREW DUEHRENAND HARRIET TORRY

Bipartisan GroupMakes New Push on AidLawmakers reach fora deal that splits offcontentious issuesinto a separate bill

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has tied liability protections to state and local aid.

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justice in the U.S. that wassparked by the killing ofGeorge Floyd, an unarmedBlack man, while in Minneapo-lis police custody.

It is unclear at this pointwhat the Cleveland team willcall itself or when it will fullyretire the Indians name. An of-ficial announcement will likelycome this week, but the teamisn’t expected to unveil a newname at that time. During the2019 season, Cleveland elimi-nated Chief Wahoo—a grin-ning, red-faced caricature of aNative American that servedas the team’s logo—from its

uniforms, caps and signs at itspark, Progressive Field.

Cleveland’s AmericanLeague baseball franchise hasbeen known as the Indianssince 1915, when local journal-ists proposed the name as areplacement for the previousone: the Naps, after Hall ofFame star Nap Lajoie. The In-dians name was supposedly away to honor Louis Sockalexis,a member of the Penobscottribe who played outfield foranother professional baseballclub in the city in the late19th century.

The Cleveland baseball club

didn’t immediately respond toa request for a comment. Thedecision to make the changewas earlier reported by theNew York Times.

In July, hours after theWashington Football Team an-nounced that it would conducta “thorough review” of its pre-vious name, Cleveland’s base-ball team revealed that itwould re-examine its name aswell. Though the club playedthe 2020 season as the Indi-ans, it seemed only a matter oftime before it would move onfrom the name.

“The recent social unrest in

our community and our coun-try has only underscored theneed for us to keep improvingas an organization on issues ofsocial justice,” the Indians saidin July.

The Washington FootballTeam has shown this year thatfully replacing a nicknametakes time and requires manylogistical considerations. DanSnyder, Washington’s owner,told The Wall Street Journalearlier this fall that the processis “truly a massive undertak-ing,” involving the manufactur-ing of uniforms, merchandise,stadium signs and more.

Cleveland has played nearly17,000 games as the Indiansover more than 100 years.Their last championship camein 1948, giving them the long-est active drought of any teamin the major leagues.

Native American nicknamesin sports have been the subjectof controversy for decades.Other franchises, includingbaseball’s Atlanta Braves, theNational Football League’sKansas City Chiefs and the Na-tional Hockey League’s Chi-cago Blackhawks, have said re-cently that they have no plansto change their names.

The Cleveland Indians willdrop the team’s longtime nick-name, abandoning a monikerthat has been the subject ofprotest by fans and NativeAmerican groups who criti-cized it as racist, a person fa-miliar with the matter saidSunday.

The decision comes monthsafter the Washington FootballTeam of the NFL dropped aname that had been seen as aracial slur. The changes comein the wake of a broad reckon-ing over racial and social in-

BY JARED DIAMOND

Cleveland’s Baseball Team Will Drop Its Indians Nickname


A4 | Monday, December 14, 2020 P W L C 10 11 12 H T G K R F A M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 O I X X * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Rachel Paule, above, president of the Young Democrats organization in Georgia, said the process could be improved, while Texas collegestudent Tamon Hamlett, a Republican, wants to be a model to fellow students. Alaskan Judy Eledge, bottom, says the system works.

over $83 billion, more thanFedEx Corp. Cloud-softwarecompany Snowflake Inc. isworth over $100 billion, morethan Goldman Sachs GroupInc.

Investors this year havevalued newly public tech com-panies at a median of 23.9times the revenue they re-ported in the 12 months beforegoing public, according to Uni-versity of Florida businessprofessor Jay Ritter, whotracks initial public offerings.That measure is by far thehighest of the past two de-cades.

For most of the 2010s, themedian multiple for a techcompany after its first day oftrading hovered around sixtimes its revenue in the prior12 months.

The same measurement forstocks on the Nasdaq Compos-ite Index is 4.3, according toFactSet.

“I have a great deal of diffi-

culty understanding the valua-tions of some of these compa-nies,” Mr. Ritter said. Thedifference in enthusiasm forthe unprofitable young compa-nies and older corporate gi-ants with consistent profits is“night and day,” he said.

The valuations imply inves-tors are counting on years ofcontinued rapid growth bythese companies, hoping somewill dominate their industriesand churn out large profits,Mr. Ritter said.

Tech enthusiasts and someobservers say there are con-crete reasons for the enthusi-asm, as businesses across thecountry spend more on soft-ware and cloud-computingservices, while more consum-ers are comfortable with or-dering food or rooms onapps.

“Without doubt, there’s amajor transformation,” saidJeffrey Sonnenfeld, a profes-sor at Yale University’s School

of Management.But the ballooning valua-

tions are driven even more,experts say, by surging de-mand from investors forstocks that show growth andhave buzz. Retail stock tradinghas surged in popularity dur-ing the pandemic, tech giants’growing profits have cast ahalo on upstarts, and fallinginterest rates have led moreinvestors to chase returns instocks.

“The valuations are betterin the public markets than pri-vate markets, which was notthe case in ’19 or ’18,” RajeevMisra, who runs SoftBankGroup Corp.’s $100 billion Vi-sion Fund, said in a conversa-tion with an analyst at NewStreet Research LLP lastmonth. “The public marketsare very buoyant.”

SoftBank was by far thelargest investor in startupsduring the past few years,flooding companies including

WeWork, Uber and DoorDashwith cash.

The enthusiasm extendsfurther than buzzy companiesknown well to consumers.Business-software companieshave been in particularly highdemand.

Software company Snow-flake, which went public inSeptember, is worth more than200 times the $489 million inrevenue that it brought in dur-ing the 12 months that endedin October. Data-analysis firmPalantir Technologies Inc.,which went public in Septem-ber at a roughly $21 billionvaluation, is now worth$50 billion, or 50 times itsrevenue.

At least three electric-vehi-cle companies valued at morethan $2 billion have gone pub-lic this year with no revenue,while numerous other tinycompanies with large privatevaluations in the electric-vehi-cle sector are planning public

year’s participants said thesystem could use updating.

“I’m not sure it should beabolished, but the way it isnow it doesn’t uphold the spiritof democracy in America,” saidelector Rachel Paule, a subur-ban Atlanta resident who ispresident of the Young Demo-crats organization in Georgia.“It’s an honor to be part of thisprocess, but I don’t think it’s aperfect process,” she said.

Ms. Paule, who is 27 yearsold, was asked in February byher state party’s chairwoman tobe an elector. She said shewould prefer to see a systemthat avoids the winner-take-allrules used by all but two states.“We are the United States ofAmerica,” she said. “One person,one vote not applying to thepresident is sort of silly to me.”

Alaska elector Judy Eledge, a73-year-old retired elementary-school principal who leads theAnchorage Republican Women’sClub, said she doesn’t think thesystem should be changed. “Ifyou don’t have the ElectoralCollege, you just have the bigcities elect everything,” shesaid. “Our founders were verysmart in designing it this way.”

Ms. Eledge, who was pickedas an elector in early April ather party’s state convention,will take a nearly two-hourflight to cast her ballot for Mr.Trump.

More than 3,000 miles tothe southeast, Tamon Hamlett,19, hopes his 2006 Nissanholds up for the three-hourdrive from Houston to Austin.

Mr. Hamlett, a political-sci-ence student at the Universityof Houston, said he waselected during a July virtualstate GOP convention.

“I’ve heard about it my en-tire life, but now I’m part ofit,” he said. “I want to be amodel for my fellow students.”

U.S. NEWS

person who won their state, arequirement the SupremeCourt said this year is permis-sible. In others, so-calledfaithless electors can breakranks, though that is rare.

The 59th Electoral Collegethat will assemble on Mondaywill be different because of thepandemic. In some states, lim-its are being placed on thenumber of guests electors canbring. Others are moving themeetings to larger spaces toaccommodate social distancing.

In Vermont, electors willconvene at 10 a.m., whilethose in Hawaii won’t assem-ble until nine hours later.

In each state, electors willreview the election results andsign six certificates. The cer-tificates contain two lists, onethat includes the electoralvotes for the president and theother the electoral votes forthe vice president.

They will then pair thosecertificates with paperworkfrom their state’s governorand send the material throughregistered mail to a variety ofplaces, according to the Con-gressional Research Service.Single certificates will be sentto Vice President Mike Penceand to the U.S. district courtfor the area where the electorsmet. Two certificates will besent to both the secretary ofstate, or an equivalent official,and the archivist of the U.S.

The electoral vote won’t beofficial until Jan. 6, when Mr.Pence is expected to open cor-

respondence from each stateduring a joint session of Con-gress and have the totals readaloud. Once a candidate reaches270 electoral votes, he or shewill be declared the winner.

Some well-known peopleare electors. Hillary Clintonwill be among New York Dem-ocrats, as will her husband,former President Bill Clinton.Stacey Abrams, the formerGeorgia House minority leaderwho narrowly lost a 2018 bidfor governor, is also an elector.

South Dakota Gov. KristiNoem is a Republican elector,along with Ken Blackwell, aformer Ohio secretary of stateand treasurer.

Some Democrats havepushed to abolish the ElectoralCollege, and some of this

A few famous names areamong the 538 Americans aboutto cast the votes that mattermost when electing U.S. presi-dents. But many are people likeMary Arnold, a retired socialworker and a first-time memberof the Electoral College.

Ms. Arnold, a Democrat fromColumbus, Wis., will cast one ofher state’s 10 electoral votes forPresident-elect Joe Biden onMonday, when electors nation-wide meet in their states.

“I was blown away to beasked,” she said. “It never oc-curred to me that I might bean elector.”

Ms. Arnold, who is 72 yearsold and leads her county’s partyorganization, said she receiveda phone call in September fromthe state Democratic chairmanasking if she would like to bean elector. She was told shewas selected because she hadbeen a good local leader.

She said the occasion willbe the first time she getsdressed up since the coronavi-rus pandemic hit, and she fig-ures she will stop for takeoutfood to celebrate during her30-minute drive home fromMadison. “I am going to put onmakeup for probably the firsttime in nine months,” she said.

The nation’s founders cre-ated the Electoral College as acompromise between thosewho favored a direct popularvote and those who wantedlawmakers to pick presidents.

Mr. Biden won the nationalpopular vote by more thanseven million ballots, the As-sociated Press reported. Butthe number that counts is hiselectoral-vote total, 306, toPresident Trump’s 232.

Mr. Trump has refused toaccept the election outcomeand pushed dozens of legalchallenges, with losses at alllevels including the U.S. Su-preme Court. His unwilling-ness to concede has put aspotlight on the mechanics ofchoosing the president.

The Constitution doesn’tspecify how electors are to bepicked, and each state has itsown process. Many are electedat state party conventions. Insome cases, they are essen-tially handpicked by partyleaders and then confirmed ata special state meeting.

Electors are legally boundin some states to vote for the

BY JOHN MCCORMICK

It’s a Big Job,Low ProfileFor ElectorsPresident Trump’srefusal to concedeshines a spotlight onstate representatives

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listings.Meeting the high expecta-

tions of stock-market inves-tors could prove difficult.While a few standouts likeAmazon.com Inc. and AlphabetInc.’s Google have shown anability to keep expandingquickly at large scale, mostcompanies are unable to main-tain the soaring growth ratesof their early years as theymature and get bigger.

Airbnb’s annual revenuegrowth slowed from 80% dur-ing 2016 to 31% during 2019.Bookings of shared homestanked early in the pandemicas travel ground to a halt, andrevenue in the first ninemonths of 2020 was down32% from the year-earlier pe-riod.

Still, business has been ro-bust since the lows of thespring, and the company ex-pects to return to growth afterthe pandemic.

Whatever the challenges, ifthe market’s appetite for suchtech companies continues,venture capitalists see asurge of additional IPOs, evenif some pause briefly to re-tool.

“A lot of entrepreneurs nowrealize it’s a very receptiveand attractive public market,”said Rich Wong, a partner atventure-capital firm Accel,which was an early investor inSlack Technologies Inc. andFacebook Inc.

If the rally stays apace,2021 “will definitely be themost active IPO market in thelast 20 years,” he said.

—Cara Lombardocontributed to this article.

the companies themselves,their employees and share-holders, people familiar withthe matter said.

Whatever the outcome, it’sclear the IPO market is in un-charted territory.

This year has been the busi-est ever as measured by dol-lars raised in the U.S., with awave of traditional listings aswell as deals by shell compa-nies known as special-purposeacquisition companies.

Valuations of recent IPOsare at their highest levelssince the dot-com bubble rela-tive to the companies’ reve-nue, sparking concerns amonginvestors about the level offroth.

Multiple investors said theywere puzzled by the extraordi-nary enthusiasm in the mar-ket. Airbnb Chief ExecutiveBrian Chesky was at a loss forwords in a Bloomberg TV ap-pearance when he was told ofthe company’s opening shareprice.

The market capitalizationsof many money-losing upstartshave become larger than giant,highly profitable stalwarts ofcorporate America.

DoorDash is valued at$56 billion, just shy of GeneralMotors Co. Airbnb is worth

ContinuedfromPageOne

StunningIPO BoomSpurs Pause

Valuation by round*

RECESSION

’05 ’10 ’15 '201995 2000

0

10

20

30

40

50 p/s

Median price-to-sales ratiofor IPOs by given year

Sources: Jay Ritter, University of Florida (price-to-sales ratio); PitchBook (valuation)

2010 ’15 '20

billion

0

25

50

75

100

$125

DoorDash$66 billion

Airbnb$99 billion

DECEMBER 11

*2020 valuations are based on fully diluted market capitalizations.

In each state,electors will reviewthe results and signsix certificates.

Private ValuationsCede Advantage

The tech IPO bonanzamarks a change in fortunes be-tween the private and publicmarkets.

For much of the 2010s, thestock market was a check onthe frothy valuations of start-ups heavy on losses that werefunded by venture capitalists.As the roster of multibillion-dollar startups grew and grew,valuations in the private mar-

kets were considered to be sig-nificantly higher than those inthe public markets.

Uber Technologies Inc.,once the country’s most valu-able startup, had a disappoint-ing public debut in 2019. We-Work Cos. ended up pulling itsplanned IPO after potential in-vestors were repelled by de-tails about the company’s fi-nances and corporategovernance that were re-vealed in the lead-up to itsexpected listing. Its privatevaluation fell by $39 billion, to$8 billion.


THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, December 14, 2020 | A5

CollectiveInnovationfor a BrighterTomorrow

“It was mind-blowing, incredible,world-opening. I felt like I

could do anything.”

Discover a younger generation’s approach to human-centered

solutions for tomorrow’s society

That’s how Benjamin Spiegel felt

when he and his teammates from

Brooklyn Technical High School

won the 2016 Samsung Solve for

Tomorrow contest, which asks public

school students from grades 6 to 12 to

solve urgent problems in their community using

STEM—science, technology, engineering and math.

Mr. Spiegel was invited to join

his school’s effort by his English

teacher, who was coordinating

the team. He and his classmates

had recently experienced a

devastating loss of a friend

due to a vehicle collision, and

the students were determined

to use STEM application to

create a safer environment for

themselves and others to ensure

this type of accident would never

reoccur. “I was brought in as the

technical lead,” he says. Together

with his classmates, they developed

a pedestrian safety app to help

hearing- and vision-impaired people

navigate the busy streets of New York

City. It won his team the contest’s

Grand Prize Winner title.

Today, Mr. Spiegel is going into his

fourth year, studying artificial intelligence

at Brown University, where he’s created his

own custom major: a Bachelor of Science in

Computers and Minds. “I’ve been interested

in AI since I was a kid. I grew up reading

lots of science fiction, and I think we’re

now almost at the point where a lot of it

becomes reality,” he says. “I don’t think

most people realize how impactful AI will

be on humankind, but it’s going to become

abundantly clear in the coming decades that

we have to start paying serious attention to

what AI is capable of.”

He is particularly passionate about the

opportunities AI presents for education, given

that everyone learns differently, which makes a

one-size-fits-all approach to education hard to

successfully achieve. “AI could make it possible

for every student to have a better educational

experience by tailoring the education to the

individual,” he says.

That’s one of the reasons he designed his own

program of study, which he describes as being

focused as much on the social implications of AI as its

technical side. “So alongside studying the math and

computer science that underpins modern artificial

intelligence, I’m also studying its implications on

society,” says Mr. Spiegel. “We need more people

thinking about AI from a comprehensive and socially

responsible perspective.”

It’s an approach that goes back to his experience

in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest.

The competition is part of Samsung’s larger

CSR vision, Together for Tomorrow! Enabling

People, which aims to provide the technology to

students and other young talents to tackle real-

world problems. Along with the contest, some of

Samsung’s other projects include two-year web

development training for marginalized youth in

France, smart school programs that help connect

isolated schools with the rest of the world,

and educational

support for children battling serious medical

conditions in hospitals.

It’s a vision based on the human side of technology.

That’s something Mr. Spiegel learned when he

took part in Solve for Tomorrow. “The technical

component of bringing the project idea to reality

was difficult, but that wasn’t really where the

competition ended,” he recalls. “Even after we had

the proof-of-concept working, we still had to figure

out how to present it and explain why our project

was important to the world. It helped me to realize

that in the real world, having the technical ability

is equally as critical as having the ability to explain

your ideas and justify their importance to others.”

A new generation of students are now following in

Mr. Spiegel’s footsteps. This year’s Samsung Solve for

Tomorrow winners are a lesson in forward-thinking

design. For instance, in Florida, a group of middle

school students from Downtown Doral Charter Upper

School created a device that warns against flash

flooding by monitoring sediment build-up in nearby

waterways. At the North Carolina School of Science

and Math in Durham, students tackled the problem

of cross-contamination between recycling and waste

by designing an app that uses image processing and

machine learning algorithms to sort recyclables

from trash. And high school students from Omro,

Wisconsin built a sensor that helps gauge

ice thickness with real-time data sent to

an app—a project that seeks to address

nearly 8,000 needless deaths that occur

nationwide each year from people falling

through thin ice.

If Mr. Spiegel is any indication, those

students are set to make a meaningful

contribution to the world. And he is

doing his best to help students follow

in his footsteps. In 2019 he mentored

a team of students from Deep Creek

Middle School in Chesapeake, Virginia,

helping them refine their presentation

at the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow

pitch event in New York. “I think it’s

absolutely critical to get them into

STEM as soon as possible,” he says.

“After an introduction to STEM, you

start to think different and

see the world differently.

Our society is becoming

increasingly technical

in nature, so it’s really

important that younger

students get into it.”

To his surprise, the middle

schoolers didn’t need much

help with the technical

aspects of their presentation.

“What they really needed was

preparation for presenting

their ideas,” says Mr. Spiegel.

“This, I think, is just as crucial

as the actual technology.” The

Deep Creek Middle School

students went on to become

one of the Grand Prize Winners.

With one year of study left in his degree, Mr.

Spiegel is now beginning to consider his next

move. “I’m still deciding between a masters, a PhD

or going right into industry,” he says. Whatever

he decides, his story will serve as inspiration for

a new generation of young and idealistic social

entrepreneurs, who through Samsung’s Solve for

Tomorrow program are discovering human-centred

tech solutions to global issues.

Special Advertising Feature

TheWall Street Journal news organization was notinvolved in the creation of this content. This contentwas commissioned by Samsung.


A6 | Monday, December 14, 2020 * * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. NEWS

PHOENIX—The Arizona Re-publican Party has been rackedby infighting as elected offi-cials argue over PresidentTrump’s efforts to overturn theelection results and as the GOPgovernor grapples with a wors-ening Covid-19 pandemic. Thepublic spats have some wor-ried about the party’s chancesgoing into the next round ofelections.

The chief disputes are be-tween the party’s establish-ment and its right wing overwhether to keep contestingPresident-elect Joe Biden’s winin the state, despite no evi-dence of widespread fraud, andhow far to go on restrictionsrelated to the pandemic.

After Republican Gov. DougDucey defended Arizona’s elec-tion system in November, thestate GOP chairwoman, KelliWard, tweeted that he should#STHU, shorthand for “shutthe hell up.” (She later said ina radio interview she meant“shut the heck up.”) Mr. Duceytold reporters: “The feeling’smutual to her.”

On Wednesday, the ArizonaGOP Twitter account accusedMr. Ducey of trying to replaceMs. Ward as state party chair-woman. Ms. Ward said in an in-terview she hasn’t decided whatshe will do next, adding thatMr. Trump told her he wouldsupport her remaining the stateGOP party’s leader or runningfor another position. “Theworld is my oyster,” she said.

Both the White House andthe governor’s office declinedto comment for this article.

Separately, U.S. Rep. AndyBiggs, an Arizona Republicanwho has pushed for less inter-vention on the virus, tweetedon Dec. 4 that he worried thegovernor would force vaccina-tions and the Republican legis-lature would allow it, to whichMr. Ducey’s chief of staff re-sponded that Mr. Biggs should

“enjoy your time as a perma-nent resident of Crazytown.”

Unlike some other gover-nors, Mr. Ducey hasn’t issued astay-at-home order, curfew orface-mask mandate, but citiesand counties can impose theirown mask mandates. Mr. Duceyhas put in place some limitedrestrictions on businesses.

Some Republicans say theparty division is here to stayand will play out in primariesfor competitive races in 2022.That concerns center-right Re-publicans who believe estab-lishment candidates will havethe best shot at winning in acompetitive state. Arizona,once seen as a Republicanstronghold, narrowly voted forMr. Biden for president thisyear. It also elected its secondconsecutive Democrat to theU.S. Senate.

In 2022, Mr. Ducey will beterm-limited out of his posi-tion, opening up what is ex-pected to be a competitive racefor his seat. Sen. Mark Kelly, aDemocrat who was sworn in onDec. 2 to fill the remainder ofthe late Sen. John McCain’sterm, will be up for re-electionthat year.

“I’m not naive enough tothink it’s just going to go away.I do think that on the Republi-

can side anyway, the statewideoffices, the Senate seat thatwill be up in two years, therewill be primary fights,” said Ar-izona state Rep. T.J. Shope Jr.

Mr. Shope said he supportedthe president, but added thatRepublicans should start look-ing ahead and try to capitalizeon a midterm election with aDemocratic president, whichgenerally favors the party notin power. He is concerned far-right candidates will pull es-tablishment candidates to theright during a midterm elec-tion and then turn off moder-ate votes in a general election.

U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, a Re-publican, said that ultraconser-

big room and it’s a smalltree.”

In Europe retailers, cau-tious about what lockdownswould mean to sales, reducedtheir Christmas tree orders,and now harvesters are rush-ing to cut more trees to meetdemand, said Claus JerumChristensen, managing direc-tor of the Danish ChristmasTree Association. The U.K. ishaving to rely on trees fromEurope after many of its ownfarms ran low on trees whensales jumped early.

This year, fewer trees havebeen shipped abroad fromgrowers in the U.S. becausethe pandemic has boosted do-mestic sales.

Swedish furniture giantIKEA, a popular destinationfor buying Christmas trees inHong Kong and Singapore,has run out of them in thosecities.

That has shoppers liningup for hours to buy treesfrom nurseries, or turning toonline sellers ordering looka-likes from China. In theflower market in Wanchai,Hong Kong, 6-foot trees aregoing for about $1,500, aboutseven or eight times whatthey sold for a year ago.Knee-high bundles ofbranches shaped like trees aregoing for $100.

Mihir Melwani, a 22-year-old college student in HongKong, said his friends’ strug-gles to find trees spurred himto do something about the

Carla St. Germain persuadedher tree seller to shorten alarger tree to make it fit.

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situation. Using the contactsof his father, who works inthe logistics business, Mr.Melwani said he arranged formore than 25 trees to betrucked into the city fromNorthern China.

After mentioning his up-coming sale of trees for $175each on Facebook, he wascontacted by dozens of inter-ested buyers.

“The demand has beencrazy—I’ve been getting amessage every five minutes,”Mr. Melwani said.

Marie Bernal and her fam-ily have been in Hong Kongfive years. After a year with-out travel and a move to anew residence, she decided itwas time to trade in her plas-tic tree for one like she had inthe Christmases of her child-hood in Mexico City.

“I promised the childrenwe are going to get a beauti-ful tree this year, and we’ll goand we’ll pick it out to-gether,” she said. “It’s goingto smell wonderful and amaz-ing.”

It didn’t turn out quite likethat. Ms. Bernal visited somegarden centers two weeks be-fore Thanksgiving, only tofind that most of the treeswere already sold. In a panic,she purchased the last tree atone venue, a roughly 6-foottree imported from the U.S.,with a $320 price tag.

“Do I think I’ll do it again?Probably not,” she said. Her11-year-old daughter didn’tnotice the tree in their livingroom until days after it ar-rived, and her 5-year-old sonwas nonchalant about it, shesaid. “The joy was in myhead.”

Sean Man, whose familyowns Wah King Garden Arts,in Sai Kung, Hong Kong, im-ports around 700 Noble Firseach year from Oregon thatnormally sell out around mid-December. This year, theywere all sold before the endof November.

Mr. Man said that recentlyaround 40 customers arrivedas early as 6 a.m. at the gar-den center in the hopes ofgetting hold of the last treeswhen it opened at 8:30 a.m.

“I was expecting a brawl,”he said, but the buyers werewell-behaved and lined up insingle file. Not wanting toleave anyone empty handed,Mr. Man is offering to fly inNordmann Firs from Holland.

she said. There were still some8-foot and taller trees left and“some super tiny short onesthat you’d put in the corner ofthe apartment.” Mrs. St. Ger-main said she ended up per-suading the seller to shorten alarger tree for her.

“My husband said it’s themost unusual Christmas treeI’ve ever bought,” Mrs. St.Germain said. There is nocentral trunk to place a treetopper and the branches areall reaching for the ceilinglike they’re performing theVillage People song “YMCA,”she said.

The tree shortage has itsroots in the global recessionof more than a decade ago.During those years, a glut ofChristmas trees caused pricesto tumble, and some farmersplanted fewer or switched toother kinds of crops. Otherfarms just closed. Wildfireson the West Coast also wipedout a number of Christmastree farms.

Casey Grogan, owner ofSilver Bells Tree Farm, a 700-acre Christmas tree farm inSilverton, Ore., said his treestypically take between eightand 12 years to grow. He esti-mates the smaller supply haspushed up prices by about30% over the last four years.

The National ChristmasTree Association says thatthere is not so much a short-age—if people want a treethey can find one—but thatsupply has tightened.

Mikaela O’Brien and herfamily spent half a dayscouring their favoriteChristmas Tree farm lookingfor an 11- or 12-foot Fir thisyear near their home in Ma-ple Valley, Wash. They endedup buying something a fewfeet shorter.

“The taller trees—therejust aren’t any,” she said. “Weended up finding one in thevery back corner. It’s still abeautiful tree, it’s just skin-nier and smaller and shorterthan normal,” she said.“It’sour Charlie Brown tree. It’s a


Yule TreeSupply IsPinched

BY ELIZA COLLINS

FederalAgenciesHacked

vative candidates can winstatewide and that people whobelieved differently were “fullof crap.”

Mr. Gosar, who has beencalling for a forensic audit ofthe state’s election results, saidRepublicans who want to moveon from this year’s electionand accept the results will hurtthemselves with the partyfaithful.

“You let something lie likethis, your base is not going tofollow you. They have ques-tions and they want answers,”Mr. Gosar said. He said heplans to sign a recall petitionto attempt to remove Mr.Ducey from office.

Feuds Tear at Arizona GOPParty leaders tradepersonal insults,fueling worries overthe next elections

State GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward, Reps. Debbie Lesko, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, and then-Sen.Martha McSally greeted President Trump as he arrived in Arizona on Aug. 18. Below, Gov. DougDucey on Nov. 30 handed over documents to certify election results.

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confirmed that one of its bu-reaus had been breached andthat it was working with fed-eral partners, including theFederal Bureau of Investiga-tion, to probe the matter. Thehack of Commerce systems in-cludes the National Telecom-munications and InformationAdministration, a unit thatworks on technology policy is-sues, the person familiar withthe matter said.

Treasury and the FBI didn’trespond to requests for com-ment. The Russian Embassy inWashington denied responsibil-ity and said the allegationswere “unfounded attempts ofthe U.S. media to blame Russia.”

The hackers were able toinfiltrate the systems of gov-ernment agencies as well asFireEye through a malicioussoftware update introduced ina product from SolarWindsInc., a U.S. network manage-ment company, according tothe companies and people fa-miliar with the matter.

The apparent use of a flawin SolarWinds technologycould be problematic, as thecompany says it has over300,000 customers world-wide, including over 400 of theU.S. Fortune 500 companies.

Based in Austin, Texas, So-larWinds Worldwide LLC em-ploys more than 3,200 peopleand counts the National Secu-rity Agency, Secret Service,Defense Department, the Fed-eral Reserve, Booz Allen Ham-ilton, Lockheed Martin Corp.and PricewaterhouseCoopersLLP among its customers, ac-cording to the SolarWindswebsite.

A SolarWinds spokesmansaid that the company wasaware of a potential vulnera-bility related to updates of itsOrion technology managementsoftware released betweenMarch and June. “We believethat this vulnerability is theresult of a highly sophisti-cated, targeted and manual


supply chain attack by a nationstate,” the spokesman said.

In a blog post late Sunday,FireEye said it had identified a“global campaign” using theSolarWinds attack vector thatappeared to have compromisedmultiple customers dating tothe spring.

FireEye didn’t identify Rus-sia as the suspect, but said thehackers were highly sophisti-cated, patiently conducted re-connaissance on their victimsand used difficult-to-attributetools. The company said thateach attempted intrusion re-quired “meticulous planningand manual interaction.”

FireEye has so far seen cus-tomers compromised aroundthe globe, a person familiarwith the company investiga-tion said.

Sophisticated hackers in-creasingly have sought to relyon supply chain attacks wherethey can harness a vulnerabil-ity in a common product orservice used widely across theinternet to rapidly hack scoresof victims before the compro-mises are detected.

Reuters reported earlierSunday that the Treasury andCommerce agencies had beenhacked by a group supportedby a foreign government.

“The United States govern-ment is aware of these reportsand we are taking all neces-sary steps to identify and rem-edy any possible issues relatedto this situation,” National Se-curity Council spokesmanJohn Ullyot said.

FireEye said last week thatit was hacked in what it saidwas a highly sophisticated for-eign-government attack thatcompromised its softwaretools used to test the defensesof its thousands of customers.

Russia’s foreign intelligenceservice was seen as the lead-ing suspect in the FireEyebreach.

—Robert McMillancontributed to this article.

Some internalcommunications arebelieved to havebeen stolen.

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U.S. NEWS

cuses has allowed it to keeppeace with New Hampshire,which fiercely protects itsfirst-in-the-nation primary.

The in-person caucusestend to reward candidates whohave organizing muscle andpassionate followings, butthey are much more compli-cated to administer.

President-elect Joe Bidenfinished fourth in the firstnominating contest of 2020.Former South Bend, Ind.,Mayor Pete Buttigieg narrowlywon the caucuses, but the re-porting delay drew some at-tention away from his victory.

In recent years, the DNChas sought to bring moretransparency to caucuses.

lowing the election so thatDNC staff can remain focusedon winning the general elec-tion,” said David Bergstein, aDNC spokesman. “Every fouryears, the DNC looks back atwhat worked and what didn’twork and the DNC’s Rules andBylaws Committee will con-tinue to evaluate all areas ofour nominating process andmake recommendations forany changes.”

Iowa and Nevada, two ofthe first four states on the2020 nominating calendar,have clung to their caucus tra-ditions as other states haveshifted to primaries, whichtend to have higher voter par-ticipation. Iowa’s use of cau-

bial eleventh hour is likelyalways going to be problem-atic, and it was ultimately thecause of a major problem oncaucus night,” the report said.

The report also blamed theIowa Democratic Party for notbeing better prepared. “TheIDP—not the DNC—is ulti-mately responsible to ensurethat its caucus tools and infra-structure are in place prior tothe caucuses,” it said.

The DNC said it didn’t par-ticipate in interviews for theIowa report, whose lead au-thors are a former Iowa attor-ney general and a former U.S.attorney in Iowa.

“Evaluating the nominatingprocess always happens fol-

there were problems with abackup-telephone system.

The drama prompted someDemocrats to call for an end toIowa’s first-in-the-nation status,which the state has protectedeven as others have movedtheir nominating contests ear-lier. The caucuses generate mil-lions of dollars of revenue andmassive political attention.

The document released onSaturday said the DNC de-manded late changes to the re-porting system Iowa Demo-crats planned to use and thatthose alterations resulted infailure. “Attempting to graftan entirely new software ele-ment onto the back-end re-porting system at the prover-

The Iowa Democratic Partyreleased a report that said latetechnology demands from theDemocratic National Commit-tee contributed to a caucus re-sults-reporting debacle thatmarred the start of the presi-dential-nomination process.

Technical glitches and tabu-lation problems from Iowa’sFeb. 3 Democratic caucusesmeant results were delayed fordays and confusion dominatedthe formal start of the nomi-nation race. An app the stateparty developed to allow vol-unteers from roughly 1,700neighborhood caucus sites toreport vote totals crashed, and

BY JOHN MCCORMICK

DNC Faulted for Issues in Iowa Caucus

House Speaker Nancy Pelosiand all of the nation’s top vet-erans advocacy groups calledfor the dismissal of VeteransAffairs Secretary Robert Wilkieafter the department’s inspec-tor general found he mishan-dled an investigation into sex-ual-assault allegations by afemale veteran.

On Saturday, Mrs. Pelosi (D.,Calif.), the American Legionand Vietnam Veterans of Amer-ica joined a number of thosecalling on Mr. Wilkie to resign.

An inspector general reportreleased Thursday said the sec-retary disparaged a veteranwho said she had been as-saulted at a VA hospital lastyear. Mr. Wilkie and top aidesrefused to fully cooperate withthe probe and a top aide unsuc-cessfully tried to plant a storywith a major newspaper dis-crediting the woman, investiga-tors said in the report.

Investigators said theydidn’t find that Mr. Wilkie ac-tively tried to seek negativeinformation about the woman.But they said they couldn’t re-solve a number of discrepan-cies because of his and otherVA officials’ lack of coopera-tion.

A spokeswoman for Mr.Wilkie said Saturday he wouldcontinue to lead the depart-ment. He said Thursday that hedenied wrongdoing and the in-vestigation was unfounded.

“After nearly a year of inves-tigation, interviews with 65

people and analysis of nearly1.5 million documents, VA’s in-spector general cannot sub-stantiate that I sought to inves-tigate or asked others toinvestigate the veteran,” Mr.Wilkie said. “That’s becausethese allegations are false.”

On Friday four of the na-tion’s most-established veter-ans advocacy groups and theDemocratic chairman of theHouse Committee on Veter-ans’ Affairs said they had lostconfidence in Mr. Wilkie assecretary and called on him toresign or be removed from hispost.

“The accountability, profes-sionalism and respect that ourveterans have earned, and quitefrankly deserve, is completelylost in this current VA leader-ship team,” said B.J. Lawrence,executive director of the Veter-ans of Foreign Wars. “SecretaryWilkie must resign now.”

The American Legion, Veter-ans of Foreign Wars, ParalyzedVeterans of America, DisabledAmerican Veterans, AMVETSand Vietnam Veterans of Amer-ica are known as the Big Six—the half-dozen advocacy groupstraditionally considered the keyvoices that speak on behalf ofveterans.

John Rowan, president ofthe Vietnam Veterans of Amer-ica, said Saturday that hisgroup would join in the call fordismissal, completing the BigSix’s solidarity.

Other influential veteransgroups, including Iraq and Af-ghanistan Veterans of Americaand Modern Military Associa-tion of America, which repre-sents LGBTQ troops and veter-ans, also called for thesecretary’s dismissal.

The White House didn’t re-spond to requests for comment.

Veterans organizations andMr. Wilkie have had disagree-ments throughout his tenureas secretary, according to for-mer officials in the depart-ment and current officials atveterans organizations. Andmany veterans groups, whichthe department typically con-sults on policy, have been leftout of decisions and discus-sions throughout Mr. Wilkie’stenure, those people said.

President-elect Joe Bidenon Thursday named Denis Mc-Donough, a former WhiteHouse chief of staff, to be hisVA secretary. Mr. McDonoughhas contacted top stakehold-ers, including veterans groups,to build relationships, accord-ing to a person familiar withthe matter.

BY BEN KESLING

PressureGrows forOuster ofVA Chief

A spokeswoman forRobertWilkie saidhe would continue tolead the department.

www.prattindustries.com



the expense of other areasthat rely on the $22.5 billiongeneral fund, Mr. Layne said.

State budget officials face adifficult challenge craftingspending plans for the comingfiscal year even without hav-ing to pay for vaccine distribu-tion, said Brian Sigritz, direc-tor of state fiscal studies atthe National Association ofState Budget Officers.

With revenues runningsharply lower because of thepandemic, states will have lessmoney for areas such as edu-cation, health care, transporta-tion and corrections, he said.

cost as much as $120 million.“I think it should be part of

the federal government’s re-sponsibility, but make no mis-take, we’re going to do it,”said Aubrey Layne, the state’sfinance secretary. “We have toput the welfare and health ofour citizens first.”

Virginia has fared better ec-onomically during the pan-demic than many states, partlybecause of its large defense-industry sector, he said. Evenso, state tax revenues are sig-nificantly below pre-pandemiclevels, and covering vaccinedistribution costs will come at

75% of the projected costs arepersonnel-related, includingthe hiring and training of vac-cinators, doctors and supportstaff, he said.

Other expenses will involvelogistics like refrigeration forthe vaccines that must main-tain a certain temperature,warehouse storage and secu-rity, as well as public cam-paigns to encourage people toget the shots.

Finding the money won’t beeasy. “It’s a big concern,” hesaid.

Virginia officials said theyexpect vaccine distribution to

BY DAN FROSCH

Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine are prepared Sunday in Portage, Mich.

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U.S. NEWS

final indicator of a surge in in-fections, following rising casesand hospitalizations.

He said he feared deathswould continue to increase,noting that at this point, peo-ple aren’t likely to dramati-cally change their behavior ifthey haven’t done so already.

Dr. Russo estimated itmight not be until the end ofMarch before the vaccine re-ally starts to flatten the curveof new cases and deaths.“We’re going to be hittingmore milestones,” he said.“It’s a numbers game.”

take this seriously and do ev-erything we can to minimizeinfections and do better. It hasbeen disappointing.”

Dr. Russo said the ubiquityof the virus right now—incomparison with earlier in thepandemic when different partsof the U.S. experiencedsurges—contributed to afaster rise in deaths in recentmonths. More people are sim-ply infected with it, he pointedout. He also noted that it istoo early to assess the full im-pact of the Thanksgiving holi-day. Deaths typically are the

vaccines—as early as Mon-day—public-health expertswarned the death toll wouldcontinue to climb exponen-tially over the next severalmonths until the bulk of Amer-icans could be immunized.

“I thought we could gethere, but I didn’t believe in myheart of hearts we would,”Thomas Russo, head of infec-tious disease at Jacobs Schoolof Medicine and BiomedicalSciences at the University ofBuffalo, said of the 300,000 fa-tality figure. “I thought wewould circle the wagons and

home orders and other factorshave at times temporarilyblunted increases in cases anddeaths counts, fatalities haveactually accelerated in recentmonths, data show.

According to a Wall StreetJournal analysis of Johns Hop-kins data, it took the U.S.roughly four months to reach200,000 deaths on Sept. 21from 100,000 fatalities, but ittook just two and half monthsto reach 300,000 deaths.

Even as hospitals made fi-nal preparations to administerthe first shipment of Covid-19

Hopkins University, 298,465people had died from the virusas of Sunday afternoon andmore fatalities were expected tobe recorded by day’s end.

Last spring, President Trumppredicted the coronaviruswould take the lives of betweenabout 55,000 and 100,000 peo-ple in the U.S. Public-health ex-perts long feared the death tollwould be much higher, particu-larly if Americans refused towear masks and businesseswere permitted to remain openeven as cases soared.

While shutdowns, stay-at-

The U.S. neared 300,000 to-tal deaths on Sunday since thestart of the pandemic, as thedeath rate has accelerated inrecent months despite shut-downs, stay-at-home measuresand other restrictions.

According to data from Johns

ment in the spring. “It wouldbe helpful if the federal gov-ernment coordinated that andwe didn’t have to bid againstour sister states,” she said.

The financial demands arestriking at a time state tax rev-enues have dwindled becauseof the pandemic, leaving somewith looming budget deficits.

The Trump administrationhas been working on OperationWarp Speed to produce anddeliver 300 million doses ofvaccines, with the initial dosesavailable by January. The vac-cines are distributed to states,which decide where they go.

About one-third of statessaid they were “greatly” or“completely” concerned abouthaving sufficient supplies toadminister Covid-19 vaccines,according to a November re-port by the Government Ac-countability Office.

The shortfalls and fundingwoes could slow the rapid paceof inoculations that health of-ficials have said would beneeded to reopen businessesand jump-start the economy.

New York state estimatesits vaccination distribution ef-fort could cost as much as $1billion, said Robert Mujica, thestate’s budget director. About

tential $908 billion coronavi-rus relief package, and aid tostate and local governmentshas been a sticking point.

The Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention hassent more than $300 millionto states to support flu andCovid-19 vaccine planning, ac-cording to a spokeswoman forthe Department of Health andHuman Services.

“Every dose is already paidfor,” a White House senior ad-ministration official said dur-ing a Dec. 7 press call. “Thesyringes and needles andswabs necessary to vaccinatewill be merged with the vac-cines going out, and those arealready paid for. We’re provid-ing the dry ice with the vac-cines for the cold storage.”

Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylva-nia’s health secretary and presi-dent of the Association of Stateand Territorial Health Officers,told a Senate hearing Thursdaythat states need $8.4 billion forthe vaccination program.

“This will not be a short-term operation,” she said, add-ing that states also would facea challenge “in almost compet-ing with each other for re-sources,” as they did in thesearch for protective equip-

State leaders say they areshort billions of dollars infunding needed to successfullyprovide Covid-19 vaccinationsto all Americans who want tobe inoculated by health offi-cials’ June goal.

The federal government isproviding the vaccine, alongwith syringes, needles, facemasks and shields. But stateleaders say they must hiremedical workers, provide com-munity outreach and educa-tion, set up vaccination clinicsand ensure storage capacityfor vaccines. Some states arealso concerned about havingenough supplies, such asgloves and gowns, to protecthealth-care workers as well aspeople getting vaccinated.

Officials in several statessaid they would spend what-ever is needed to get residentsvaccinated. Some said thatmight force spending cuts inareas like education, unlessCongress provides additionalfunding or the federal govern-ment reimburses a large chunkof their rollout costs.

Congressional lawmakershave been wrestling with a po-

BY STEPHANIE ARMOURAND SCOTT CALVERT

States Face New DemandsOn Limited Resources

U.S. Nears 300,000 Covid-19 FatalitiesIt might not be untillate March before theshot starts to flattenthe curve, expert says

Jacob SanchezDiagnosed with autism

Lack of speech is a sign of autism. Learn the others at autismspeaks.org/signs.



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A10 | Monday, December 14, 2020 * * * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. * * * * * * Monday, December 14, 2020 | A11

U.S. NEWS

H

How Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine Will Be Delivered to Millions, From Factory to Front LineByJared S. Hopkins, Peter Loftus, Tonia Cowan, Juanje Gomez andTaylor Umlauf

Pfizer sends rawmaterialsfromSt. Louis, andmRNAfromAndover, Mass., to beformulated into the finalvaccine product at a Pfizerplant in Kalamazoo,Mich.

Each vial contains 5 doses.Theymust stay atminus94 degrees Fahrenheit.Once they begin thawing,they can be kept refriger-ated for only five days.

The vials go in trays

about the size of pizza

boxes that hold up

to 195 vials, or about

1,000 doses.

The containers are then

packedwith dry ice, which

keeps the vaccine ultracold.

At this temperature, they

can remain effective

up to 30 days.

The containers are

then shipped around the

country. However, cargo

is limited as planes can

carry only somuch dry

ice at once.

Real-timeGPS trackers

and temperature sensors

in the containers track any

temperature deviations

along theway.

REFRIGE

RATED

TRUCKSUSED

Within three days of leaving the

lab, the shipments are expected

to arrive at hospitals, and some

local pharmacies.

Sites that don’t have ultracold

storage equipmentmay

have to buy special

freezers.

Once a vial with Pfizer’s

vaccine is opened, it is stable

for six hours. The company

recommends not opening it

more than twice a day, and

closingwithin 1minute.

PRODUCTION SHIPPING

VACCINESHELF LIFE

STORAGE

DISTRIBUTION

USE

15.7”

15.7”

... to be stored temporarily

at so-called freezer farms

— hundreds ofmobile

freezers that can hold up

to 48,000 doses at a time,

that the companies have

built specifically for Covid.

Manywill be delivered

to distribution hubs

operated by FedEx,

UPS andDHL ...

After some 200 companiesworld-wide set

out earlier this year to produce a Covid-19

vaccine, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

authorized Pfizer Inc. to distribute its doses on

an emergency basis in the U.S.—the first

vaccine to be rolled out in the country.

Pfizer has said it would distribute 25million

doses to high-priority groups before year’s end,

with the two-shot vaccine serving about

12.5million people. The challenge is how to get

the doses, whichmust stay at the ultracold

temperature ofminus 94 degrees Fahrenheit,

around the country before they go bad.

Once vial

is opened

In regular freezers

*Not all will need this step

5 days*30 daysIn containerswith dry ice

(–94°F)

6 hours

Payload sleeve

22”

Patientswho get

the first dosewill

then need a

second shot in

about three

weeks.

With aminimum

of 5,000 doses in each

shipment, smaller

facilities worry

demandmight not

match the supply.

Smaller, or rural,

facilitiesmay be unable

to buy special freezers.

In those cases,

vaccines can be

refrigerated for only

up to 5 days in regular

freezers.Sources: Pfizer;staff reports

GPS tracked

many parts that each need towork.

The vaccineThe journey starts in a fac-

tory just outside St. Louis,where Pfizer scientists makethe raw materials that are thebackbone of the vaccine.Those materials move on toAndover, Mass., where re-searchers turn them intomRNA—molecular couriersthat deliver genetic instruc-tions to the body.

The mRNA is dispatched toMichigan, where machines thesize of single-car garages en-velop them with lipid nano-particles, microscopic vesselsused to deliver genetic mate-rial into the body. Makingdoses takes about a week, andbatches sit for about twoweeks before being shipped.

The vaccine is transportedin glass vials strong enoughto withstand transit and thesubarctic temperatures inwhich the liquid must bestored. Trays carrying 195 vi-als are packed with dry ice insuitcase-like boxes weighing80 pounds. Those vaccineseventually are diluted withenough saline solution tomake 975 doses.

Because Pfizer needs dryice to keep its vaccine cold, itbought its own dry-ice-mak-ing equipment. Now it is mak-ing dry ice at both the Kala-mazoo plant, where 650employees worked on distri-bution efforts, and a storagefacility in Pleasant Prairie,Wis., where it has freezerfarms to store the vaccines.

Pfizer bought three tanks tohold the carbon dioxide usedto make dry ice, each the sizeof a three-story grain silo. As-sembly lines end with ma-chines that shoot out the dry-ice pellets used to blanket thevials inside containers, each

holding about 1,000 vials.Inside each box, a device

about the size of a cellphonemeasures temperatures, re-cords GPS and can detect if abox is opened. Pfizer can trackthe boxes until they arrive attheir destinations.

“We actually know everymoment in the journey, andthe temperature, and therewere no deviations,” said MikeMcDermott, the Pfizer global-supply president overseeingthe manufacturing and distri-bution.

Pfizer has been testing theboxes for months, shippingthem empty to places likeDubai and Africa, then con-ducting runs with airlines, lo-gistics companies and certainstates.

Supply chain experts saidproblems could develop giventhe newness of Pfizer’s opera-tion. Raw materials or batchesmight need to be discarded,filled vials could break in tran-sit and the containers could bemishandled by recipients.Pfizer has even institutedsafety measures to preventthe theft of doses.

Vaccinating the nation alsorequires the simultaneousmass distribution of facemasks, needles, syringes andalcohol wipes needed to ad-minister shots, along with sa-line solution to dilute vialsand create doses.

For weeks, workers inMcKesson facilities across theU.S. have been filling boxeswith those supplies, and onWednesday, the company be-gan shipping the containers,each weighing up to 50pounds and holding enoughsupplies for 1,000 doses.

After stopping at a storageand distribution hub in Louis-ville, Ky., the boxes were fer-ried by United Parcel ServiceInc. planes and trucks to hun-dreds of nursing homes, hos-

pitals and pharmacy hubs na-tionwide.

Ensuring the packages ar-rive at the right locations is achallenge. During mock vac-cine distribution exercises,some supply kits arrived twodays after vaccine doses, Dr.Rachel Levine, a Pennsylvaniastate health official, told Con-gress earlier this week. AMcKesson spokeswoman saidthat during its initial test withempty boxes, a data transmis-sion issue was identified andresolved before actual kitswere shipped.

“Having syringes withoutvaccines isn’t very helpful,”said Bruce Gellin, president ofglobal immunization at SabinVaccine Institute, a nonprofitthat promotes vaccine adop-tion and trains immunizationprofessionals. “It all has to goright.”

On the movePfizer is shipping vaccines

from many locations, andsome doses are made abroad.During Thanksgiving week,about 750,000 doses made inEurope arrived at ChicagoO’Hare International Airporton chartered cargo flightsfrom Brussels InternationalAirport. More flights followed.

After landing in the U.S.,the vaccine is trucked toFedEx Corp. and UPS air hubs

in Memphis, Louisville andelsewhere.

FedEx affixes a tracking de-vice to every package it trans-ports, allowing the carrier tomonitor each shipment’s loca-tion. UPS has a similar scan-ning technology. Vaccines ar-riving in Memphis and otherhubs get the fast-lane treat-ment meant for priority pack-ages, with an early deliverycommitment the next day.

Delivery networks havebeen stretched thin by a pan-demic-fueled surge in onlineshopping, leaving little marginfor error. Executives say holi-day gifts will take a back seatto vaccines, and they have re-served enough space in theirnetworks to handle the ex-pected shipments.

“We’ve planned for the ca-pacity,” said Richard Smith,president of the Americas forFedEx Express. “This is some-thing we are confident willnot overwhelm the system.”

Shipments of anything byroad or air can be delayed bysuch vagaries as winterweather or mechanical prob-lems.

Truck fleets that work withpharmaceutical companies un-dergo quality audits and certi-fications to ensure they ad-here to global standards forthe transport of medicine.

“You can’t haul chickennuggets and then transport

oncology drugs,” said AndrewBoyle, co-president of BoyleTransportation, a Billerica,Mass.-based trucking companythat specializes in secure,temperature-controlled trans-port and is involved inCovid-19 vaccine distributionefforts.

U.S. airports have beengearing up for months, includ-ing upgrading freezer storagefacilities and training staff.They are operating on a com-pressed timetable.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG,one of the world’s biggest airtransporters of vaccines, in-cluding measles treatments,usually is notified monthsahead of time about pallets ofvaccines coming its way. It ex-pects five-day notice or lessfor imports or exports of theCovid-19 vaccines, said Bern-hard Kindelbacher, the air-line’s vice president of cargofor the U.S. and Canada. “It’sthe uncertainty,” he said.“What routes, what volumes,what temperatures?”

After doses land at airportsclose to vaccination sites, theyagain are loaded onto trucks.

The process will becomemore complex as distributionmoves from large urban andsuburban areas to more re-mote locations with smallerpopulations, said Susan Beard-slee, principal analyst forfreight transportation and lo-

Boxes containing Covid-19 vaccines were prepared to be shipped across the nation Sunday inside Pfizer’s manufacturing plant in Michigan.

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dispatching syringes and othersupplies for administeringPfizer’s vaccine. “You don’tknow if it’s going to work untilyou get there.”

Pfizer is leading the distri-bution of the vaccine, devel-oped with BioNTech SE ofGermany. That differs fromvaccines developed by otherdrug companies, which will bedistributed by McKesson asthe federal government-ap-pointed partner. Among themost difficult aspects of de-livering the first vaccine togain emergency approval: theneed to keep it at minus 94degrees Fahrenheit as it trav-els and awaits use at vaccina-tion sites.

Despite dry runs and con-tingency planning, a lot can gowrong. Refrigeration problemscould ruin doses, and logisti-cal snafus could delay ship-ments. If hospitals botch thechallenge of scheduling a con-tinuous stream of people toget the shots, defrosting dosesmight go bad. And the pan-demic itself could sidelinesome of the armies of workersinvolved in the effort.

“Everything has to cometogether—the packaging, thedry ice, the vials, the materialitself. It all has to come to-gether to the same place andhave enough of it and exactlythe right people there readyto take it,” said Yossi Sheffi,director of the MIT Center forTransportation & Logistics.“Right now, there’s no con-ductor to the symphony,” just


VaccinesStartShipping

gistics at technology-marketadvisory firm ABI Research.“In a remote area, where areyou going to find those driversthat are available and used tohandling [temperature-sensi-tive] pharmaceutical prod-ucts?” she asked.

States, big cities and U.S.territories are among the 64federally designated placesthat will receive the vaccinesand decide when and wherethey will be administered.Government officials said Sat-urday they expect the initialdoses to arrive at 145 sites onMonday. It will be up to thestates not to mismanage thecomplex task of making surethe right number of doses getto the right places at the righttimes.

When Minnesota gets the46,800 initial doses it expectsin the coming week, they willbe split between health-careworkers and residents andemployees of long-term carefacilities. At first, they will goto 25 hospitals or large phar-macies capable of handling ul-tracold storage. Those placeswill use some and distributethe rest to 118 other locations.

New Mexico will send someof its initial 17,550 doses tofive major hospitals that canhandle ultracold storage, fordistribution to health-careworkers. A state health-de-partment warehouse in Albu-

querque will get the rest ofthe doses, break them up intotruck shipments and sendthem to 32 other sites, wherethey must be administeredwithin five days.

Kentucky has said it woulddistribute most of its 38,000initial doses to long-term carefacilities through CVS HealthCorp. and Walgreens BootsAlliance Inc., which have fed-eral contracts for that job. Theother 12,000 doses will go tohealth-care workers.

Final destinationOnce hospitals get their

doses, they need to make surethe vaccines don’t spoil beforethey go into people’s arms,and that none go to waste.

Before the U.S. Food andDrug Administration autho-rized the vaccine on Friday,hospitals performed vaccina-tion dry runs, checked backuppower and temperature set-tings for freezers and rushedto decide who would get shotsfirst.

To choreograph the vac-cine’s arrival, hospitals haveput employees on notice aboutthe deliveries. Some staffershave hunted down photos ofpackaging to minimize the riskthat boxes could be left unat-tended on loading docks, saidJessica Daley, a pharmacistand executive with PremierInc., which contracts withpharmaceutical and othermedical-supply manufacturerson behalf of hospitals.

“Everyone is very focusedon ensuring that receipt ofthese products goes perfectlyaccording to plan,” she said.

At Mass General Brigham, apharmacist likely will be noti-fied by courier of the vaccine’sarrival, said Paul Biddinger,the Boston-based hospital sys-tem’s medical director foremergency preparedness.Mass General Brigham willstore its allotment in a centrallocation before distributing itto a dozen sites, using barcodes to track deliveries.

There are exacting proce-dures for retrieving the vialsfor vaccinations. Pfizer’s con-tainers can be opened onlytwice a day, and can’t stayopen for more than three min-utes at a time, Dr. Daley said.Smaller boxes with trays of vi-als can be opened for no morethan three minutes, and theycan’t be outside ultracold tem-peratures more than once ev-ery two hours.

People getting vaccinatedmust be moved through theline at a steady clip so the

doses don’t go bad. Hospitalsmust stagger appointments toavoid crowding, and keepthose waiting socially dis-tanced. A missed appointmentcould leave hospitals with un-used doses that must bethrown out, said Dr. Bid-dinger. “We really don’t wantto waste any single dose,” hesaid.

Long-term care facilitiesare expected to get most oftheir vaccines through CVSand Walgreens, though somealso will use smaller pharma-cies. Each chain said it expectsto receive supplies via FedExor UPS in around 1,000 hubs,nearly all at pharmacies.

From those hubs, teams ofpharmacists and other stafferswill fan out to long-term carefacilities, with some takingdoses in small refrigeratedtotes. Walgreens said it is sup-plying about 30,000 facilities,and CVS is working with morethan 40,000, so far.

“We just press ‘go’ andstart running,” said Rina Shah,Walgreens vice president forpharmacy operations and ser-vices.

Pharmacies also are prepar-ing for Covid-19 vaccines be-sides Pfizer’s, including onefrom Moderna Inc. that is un-der consideration for emer-gency authorization and couldbe cleared by the FDA thismonth.

Brad Phillips, director ofoperations for long-term careat Thrifty White Pharmacy, aregional chain based in Plym-outh, Minn., that is supplyingthe vaccine to 240 facilities inNorth Dakota and Minnesota,said he expects to arrive atthe company’s headquarterspharmacy around 6 a.m. onDec. 28, the designated startof the long-term-care rolloutin Minnesota.

If it is authorized, he andabout a half-dozen colleagueswill head to a nursing home inthe Minneapolis area in acompany van with coolers ofthe Moderna vaccine. There,he said, he will don a gown,mask and gloves and enter therooms of residents to injectthem.

After weeks of planning,Mr. Phillips said, he is excitedto start. “As we look at theimpact on people and thehealth-care system,” he said,“it is the biggest and most im-portant thing I’ve been in-volved with.”

—Melanie Evans, PaulZiobro, Joe Barrett, Doug

Cameron, Jennifer Smith andAlison Slider contributed to

this article.

groups and religious leadershave worked for months to ed-ucate people about the benefitsof vaccines to counter misinfor-mation. Many believe the ini-tially vaccinated group, whichincludes doctors and nurses,will be key to the overall vac-cine rollout given how influen-tial they are in their patients’health decisions.

“If you’re not part of thehealth-care system and you seehealth-care workers taking it,you think, ‘Well, maybe theyknow something,’ ” said BruceGellin, president of global im-munization at Sabin Vaccine In-stitute, which promotes vaccineadoption and trains immuniza-tion professionals. “Health-careworkers are often sought,

whether they’re doctors,nurses, pharmacists, people inthe system, for their adviceabout health.”

Vineet Arora, a 47-year-oldhospitalist at University of Chi-cago Medicine who has treatedCovid-19 patients, said she islooking forward to taking thevaccine. “I’ll do it for the safetyof my family and colleaguesand patients,” she said.

Dr. Arora initially was con-cerned because she has an 8-month-old baby, whom she isstill breast-feeding. With preg-nant women excluded fromPfizer’s trial, there is littleknown about the vaccine’s im-pact on nursing.

But even health-care work-ers, who are often required byemployers to get flu shots,aren’t fully on board. An Octo-ber survey of about 13,000 peo-ple by the American NursesFoundation found that 36% of

nurses in the U.S. wouldn’t vol-untarily take a Covid-19 vac-cine, 34% said they would and31% said they were unsure.

The government has said theshots will be free, but it hasn’tbegun a national messagingcampaign about vaccine bene-fits, having scrapped plans forone that would pair celebritiesand physicians. A spokes-woman for the U.S. Departmentof Health and Human Servicessaid a new one is planned butdeclined to say when it wouldstart.

The Ad Council, a public-ser-vice organization that has pro-duced messages on such issuesas fighting AIDS, plans tolaunch a $50 million communi-cations campaign before the

end of the year. Aimed at in-forming people about Covid-19vaccines and overcoming anyhesitancy, it will include TVads, social media and outreachthrough community groups.

“It is the most significantpublic education effort thatwe’ve ever undertaken,” saidChief Executive Lisa Sherman.

Researchers say prominentpeople receiving the vaccine,and urging others to get it,could help overcome skepti-cism. Former Presidents BarackObama, George W. Bush andBill Clinton have pledged to bevaccinated.

But some say hesitancycould persist if the public per-ceives that shots aren’t distrib-uted equally across communi-ties. During the H1N1 pandemic,for example, the vaccine wasgiven early on to Wall Streetfirms, creating the impressionof inequity.

Againstvaccinesin general

Other

Note: Numbers are rounded and may not equal exactly 100%Source: Ipsos poll of 2,000 individuals in the U.S. conducted Oct. 8-13; margin of error +/–3.5 pct.pts

Stronglyagree

Somewhatagree

0% 25 50 75 100%

0% 25 50 75 100%

Somewhatdisagree

Stronglydisagree

Worriedaboutsideeffects

Worth a Shot?Survey respondentswho said theywouldn't get a Covid-19vaccine cited several different reasons.

Worried thevaccine ismovingthrough technicaltrials too fast

Don'tthink itwill beeffective

The risktome ofgettingCOVID-19 is low

Of thosewho disagreewith getting an available vaccine, whatbest describeswhy youwould not take a vaccine for Covid-19?

If a vaccine for Covid-19were available, I would get it

ple combined. Much of the gen-eral public won’t receive shotsuntil spring or summer 2021.

For months, surveys haveshown large percentages ofpeople in the U.S. are reluctant,skeptical or even opposed totaking a Covid-19 vaccine, withconcerns ranging from safety tomistrust of drugmakers and thegovernment. Some prefer wait-ing to see if there are majorproblems or side effects.

Winning over these peoplewill be crucial to stopping thespread of the virus. A vaccine’seffectiveness depends not onlyon how well it works in an indi-vidual but also on how widelyit is adopted.

William Arch, a 41-year-oldcook at a nursing home inPittsburgh, said he is wary andwants to wait for long-termsafety data. He even startedlooking for another job out ofconcern his employer will makethe shot mandatory.

“I don’t want to be the firstone to take it,” he said. “I’mscared of it.”

Overall, 63% of Americanswould be willing to receive anFDA-approved Covid-19 vaccine,according to a Gallup poll re-leased this month that sur-veyed about 3,000 people afterPfizer announced its vaccine-ef-ficacy results in November.That is up from 50% in Septem-ber, but slightly below findingsin a poll from July.

“The idea that everyone isjust going to take it is naive,and so is the idea that we cancome up with a messagingcampaign and everyone will goalong with it,” said EmilyBrunson, a medical anthropolo-gist at Texas State Universitywho studies vaccine hesitancy.“It’s really going to be a lot ofwork and a lot of effort for thenext 12 months to be able toget people vaccinated.”

Those skeptical about receiv-ing a shot include small but vo-cal numbers of people who op-pose all vaccines, which they sayare unsafe despite research prov-ing otherwise. Another obstacleis a deep-rootedmistrust amongminority groups of health-careauthorities after a tainted his-tory of unethical medical experi-mentation on minorities.

Researchers, community


ConvincingSkeptics IsA Hurdle

Trump Says StaffTo Wait for Shots

President Trump walkedback plans for senior WhiteHouse officials to receiveCovid-19 vaccines, declaringthat most staff should receivethe shot later in the vaccinationeffort.

“People working in theWhite House should receive thevaccine somewhat later in theprogram, unless specifically nec-essary,” Mr. Trump wrote onTwitter on Sunday night. “I

have asked that this adjust-ment be made.”

Mr. Trump, who announcedin October that he had testedpositive for Covid-19, said hewasn’t yet scheduled to receivethe vaccine but added that helooks forward to doing so “atthe appropriate time.”

Earlier Sunday, the WhiteHouse said that senior U.S. offi-cials will begin receivingCovid-19 vaccinations as soonas this week, as part of an ef-fort to ensure continuity ofgovernment amid the pandemic.

Senior White House officialswere expected to be among

those who received the vaccine.“The American people

should have confidence thatthey are receiving the samesafe and effective vaccine assenior officials of the UnitedStates government on the ad-vice of public health profession-als and national security leader-ship,” White House NationalSecurity Council spokesmanJohn Ullyot said earlier Sunday.

In addition to the executivebranch, senior officials in Con-gress and the judicial branchwill also be offered the vaccine,Mr. Ullyot said at the time.

—Andrew Restuccia


A12 | Monday, December 14, 2020 * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

worry that such relaxations, bydeferring to people on howmuch Christmas should be al-lowed this year, will pave theway for a new surge in infec-tions.

“The problem won’t be thepeople who will think abouthow to protect their familiesbut those who don’t care aboutall this,” said Alexander Kekulé,a German virologist who thinksthe government should havetightened restrictions weeksago to help push down infec-tions before Christmas.

support since President Trumpwithdrew from it in 2018 andreimposed strict sanctions onTehran.

Amid the fallout over Mr.Zam’s execution, the Europe-Iran Business Forum canceleda three-day virtual conferencescheduled to start on Monday,

which was funded by the EUand convened by the Interna-tional Trade Center and theTrade Promotion Organizationfor Iran.

The French and Germanambassadors who were sum-moned by the Iranian ForeignMinistry were both slated to

WORLD NEWS

as an unacceptable interfer-ence in domestic Iranian af-fairs, the IRNA state newsagency reported.

The rift is the second seri-ous setback in less than twoweeks to diplomacy betweenIran and Europe ahead of anexpected rethink of U.S. sanc-tions policy against Tehran bythe incoming administration ofPresident-elect Joe Biden.

In early December, hard-lineIranian lawmakers pushedthrough a law that orders thecountry to ramp up nuclearenrichment—in what would beits most serious breach of the2015 nuclear deal—and limitaccess to United Nations nu-clear inspectors if sanctionsaren’t lifted by February.

If put into action, the lawwould jeopardize efforts be-tween the EU and IranianPresident Hassan Rouhani’sgovernment, which opposedthe bill, to salvage the 2015agreement, which was de-signed to limit and monitorIran’s nuclear activity in re-turn for sanctions relief.

The accord has been on life-

speak at the conference.The execution of Mr. Zam

showed the willingness of Ira-nian authorities to defy inter-national opposition in its sup-pression of the country’smedia and opposition activists,and demonstrated the reach ofits intelligence services beyondthe country’s borders.

Mr. Zam, who had been liv-ing in France since 2011, ran apopular news channel calledAmad News on the Telegrammessaging platform which heused to share news and logis-tics involving antigovernmentunrest in Iran in 2017, amid ef-forts by government securityforces to suppress it.

Mr. Zam was lured in 2019to Iraq, where he was capturedby the Revolutionary Guard,Iran’s prime security forcetasked with defending thestate against foreign enemiesas well as domestic opposition.

The son of a prominent pro-establishment cleric, Mr. Zamhad his first serious run-inwith Iranian authorities duringthe Green Movement protestsin 2009 when he was arrested.

After his release, he fled thecountry and later settled inFrance.

Mr. Zam was tried this yearin Tehran’s RevolutionaryCourt, accused of “corruptionon earth,” a charge oftenslapped on opposition activistsallegedly working to over-throw the system.

The court sentenced him todeath in June and confirmedhis sentence in December, judi-ciary spokesman Gholamhos-sein Esmaili said on Tuesday.

France on Saturday con-demned the execution of Mr.Zam as a “barbaric and unac-ceptable act.” Germany said itwas horrified by the executionand by the way Mr. Zam hadbeen abducted in Iraq.

Responding to the criticism,Iran’s Revolutionary Court onSunday said Mr. Zam had con-fessed his crime.

Mohammad Ali Zam, the ex-ecuted journalist’s father, saidon Instagram that his son hadbeen led to believe that hewould be released in a pris-oner exchange and that hisconfessions were false.

Iran Dissident’s Execution Strains EU TiesDisagreement issecond significantsetback to diplomacyin less than two weeks

Ruhollah Zam, seized by Iranian agents in Iraq in 2019, was returnedto Tehran and sentenced to death for inciting 2017 protests.

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to be done.The two sides had set Sun-

day as the day to decidewhether it was worth keepingthe negotiations going. Follow-ing a midday phone call be-tween Mr. Johnson and Ursulavon der Leyen, the president ofthe European Commission, thetwo leaders said they would tryto seal a post-Brexit economicand security deal by Dec. 31.

“Despite the exhaustion af-ter almost a year of negotia-tions, despite the fact thatdeadlines have been missedover and over we think it is re-sponsible at this point to gothe extra mile,” they said. “Wehave accordingly mandated ournegotiators to continue thetalks and to see whether an


Germany on Sunday said itwould close nonessential shops,schools and daycares fromWednesday until mid January,moving to a much stricter lock-down as infection numberscreep up.

Mr. Kekulé and his relativesmeeting for Christmas will iso-late for a week before the holi-day and he will test all onChristmas Eve before theymeet, he said, a privilege notavailable to all in Germany,where rapid tests aren’t yetwidely distributed.

A survey from the Universityof the German Armed Forces inMunich published on Tuesdayfound that while more thantwo-thirds of Germans agreewith the country’s current re-strictions to curb the spread ofthe virus, 42% said they mightbreak the rules for Christmas.

The recent steps toward dis-tributing vaccines in manycountries for now isn’t chang-ing many family decisions overChristmas. Some people, likeMs. Martin, say there are stilltoo many uncertainties over

when vaccines will be availableto all to make decisions basedon them.

While planning the holidaymight evoke joyful anticipation,balancing safety and clashingexpectations in the midst of apandemic can do the opposite,piling emotional stress on al-ready strained households, saidChristina Jochim, a psychother-apist in Berlin.

“In the Western world,Christmas is traditionally asso-ciated with closeness, together-ness, family and friends and in

those times of restrictions werealize even more so how wemiss that,” Ms. Jochim said.

Étienne Balmadier, 85, won’tbe able to join the traditionalFrench Christmas dinner withseafood and foie gras hisdaughter usually hosts at herhouse in the suburbs of Bor-deaux, in southwestern France.He isn’t allowed to leave his re-tirement home and visits aretightly regulated.

Anne-Joëlle Balmadier hopesshe will at least be able to bringher father oysters, a chilled bot-tle of white wine and a gift forher mother, who lives in thesame facility and suffers fromAlzheimer’s disease.

“It’s hard not even being al-lowed to hug them,” said Ms.Balmadier, who will celebratewith her two sons this year.

In a year where more peoplewill face loneliness on Christ-mas than in normal times, Se-bastian Fuhrmann, pastor at aProtestant church in Berlin,wanted to give as many peopleas possible an opportunity toattend the church service in asafe way.

Like in many countries,churches in Germany are lim-ited in the number of people al-lowed inside. Father Fuhrmannwill be preaching on the field ofan amateur soccer stadium thatcan fit up to 500 people withplenty of space between them.Trombonists will be performingat least 20 feet apart from eachother.

“To cancel Christmas is a bigsacrifice for many people,” saidMr. Fuhrmann. “I want to offerpeople at least a piece of nor-mality.”

Every year for Christmas,members of Mariachiara Mon-tera’s family converge from allcorners of Italy on her birth-place in the south, where theyshare stories and regional fa-vorites from spaghetti withclams to fried fish and the clas-sic dessert panettone.

This year, Ms. Montera willspend the holiday alone. Hermother, aunts, uncles and cous-ins will stay put, too.

“My mother gets nostalgic,but she knows it’s safer for ev-eryone,” said the 40-year-oldfreelance consultant, who livesin Turin.

Christmas marks the highpoint of the festive calendar formany Christians around theworld. But this year, familiesface a dilemma: whether to re-unite despite the risk posed bythe Covid-19 pandemic or playit safe and scale things down, atthe expense of tradition. Manytry to land somewhere in be-tween, planning smaller festivi-ties and lowering risks.

In the U.S., restrictions ongatherings vary from state tostate. In Europe, many govern-ments have tightened restric-tions on travel and socializingto combat an autumn surge ininfections, ruling out largeChristmas gatherings. Most Al-pine countries have shut ski re-sorts and Italy banned travelbetween regions from Dec. 21 toJan. 6.

But some countries such asFrance, the U.K., Spain and Ger-many are planning to relaxsome of these restrictions justfor the holiday. Some scientists

BY RUTH BENDER

Coronavirus Caution Chills Europe Christmas Spirit

Germany is planning to relax some coronavirus restrictions for Christmas, which could boost sales of trees at a farm on Frankfurt’s outskirts.

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agreement can even at this latestage be reached.”

Failure to compete and ratifyan agreement by Dec. 31 wouldmean that at the start of theyear, the U.K. would apply tariffsfor the first time in almost ahalf-century on some trade withthe EU, to which it sends 43% ofits exports.

Mr. Johnson’s governmentwon an election a year agopromising to use Brexit to freethe U.K. from EU rules, stan-dards and oversight, restoringfull sovereignty to U.K. deci-sion makers.

The EU on its side offered azero-tariff, zero-quota tradeagreement, but made it contin-gent on what European offi-cials describe as fair competi-tion, ensuring the U.K. doesn’tundercut the bloc on social, en-vironmental and labor condi-tions and doesn’t use govern-ment subsidies to generateunfair advantages for its firms.

Some EU member states, in-cluding France and the Nether-lands, have ratcheted up pres-sure on the bloc’s negotiatingteam in recent days to ensureits red lines on this “level play-ing field” are respected.

While the two sides havefixed most of an agreement, of-ficials say, they continue tospar over how far the U.K.must stay broadly in line withEU standards and, separately,over the question of how muchfuture access EU fishing fleetswill have to British waters.

Last week, the two sides ac-knowledged wide gaps on theremaining critical issues, andthe mood turned grim, withthreats of British navy ships

being sent to challenge Frenchfishing vessels in British wa-ters after Jan 1.

Yet with talks on the brinkof failing, people involved inthe negotiations say there hasbeen movement on both sides,which at least opens the possi-bility of a deal. Mr. Johnsontold British media on Sundayhe still thinks a deal is lesslikely than no agreement.

On the level playing field,the U.K. has bowed to EU pres-sure to agree to an indepen-dent domestic regulator tooversee the British govern-

ment’s decisions on govern-ment support for private com-panies, mirroring the EU’scompetition authorities inBrussels, officials on both sidessaid. There are important dis-agreements over the powersthe body would have and howit would enforce its rulings, butif those issues are settled, itwould be a significant step to-ward a deal.

Meanwhile, EU officials havestressed that on other level-play-ing-field issues, it is flexible onthe mechanism for maintainingbroadly equivalent standards, in-cluding ensuring fair arbitrationif the U.K. wants to challenge EUdecisions on the issue. On theBritish side, officials have said

they could live with an agree-ment that allowed the EU to takepunitive action, like imposingsome tariffs, if U.K. standardsfell far below EU ones so long asthese were narrowly targeted.

On fish, the two sides re-main at loggerheads. The EU isdemanding a 10-year transitionperiod to shift to new rules thatwould give British fishermen afar higher quota of stockscaught in U.K. waters. The U.K.has rejected that but said it isopen to a short transition.

French President EmmanuelMacron has insisted his coun-try’s 7,000 fishermen won’t bemade to pay the cost of Brit-ain’s position to exit from thebloc, and officials say Pariscould veto a deal that leaves itsfishing sector worse off. How-ever, many EU countries, in-cluding Germany, have pointedto the tiny economic stakes atplay over the fishing industry,which accounts for a small pro-portion of economic activityfor both sides.

“There is definitely a wayout, it’s just whether there isthe political will on the EU sideto accept that we will not betreated differently from anyself-respecting independenteconomy in the world,” U.K.Foreign Secretary DominicRaab told Sky News.

Spain’s foreign minister,Arancha González, on Sundaysaid she couldn’t see why adeal to manage interdepen-dence couldn’t be settled, say-ing failure to reach a deal dur-ing the pandemic would createa “double whammy” for bothsides, with the U.K. hit thehardest.

DiscussionsInch AheadOn Brexit

The U.K. and EUface a year-enddeadline to reach abroad agreement.

Iran’s execution on Satur-day of a dissident journalisthas strained Tehran’s relation-ship with Europe at a timewhen the presidential transi-tion in the U.S. has raised ex-pectations of a diplomaticopening between Iran and theWest.

The Iranian Foreign Minis-try on Sunday summoned theGerman and French ambassa-dors after the European Unioncondemned the execution ofjournalist Ruhollah Zam, whowas sentenced to death for in-citing antigovernment protestsin 2017.

The foreign ministry criti-cized the European statements

By Sune EngelRasmussen in London

and Aresu Eqbaliin Tehran

JOHN-CHRISTIAN.COM 888.646.6466

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. * * * * * Monday, December 14, 2020 | A12A

BY BEN CHAPMANAND KATIE HONAN

GREATER NEW YORK

ships in communities withhigh numbers of shootings. Hesaid some residents have beenless likely to participate in po-lice investigations amid a risein antipolice sentiment follow-ing the May 25 killing ofGeorge Floyd, a Black man, inMinneapolis police custody.

The chief said both effortswould be key to halting thecity’s deadly increase in shoot-ings that for months has beendescribed as an escalating cri-sis by members of law enforce-ment, elected officials, resi-dents and community leaders.

“The NYPD, we can’t do thisby ourselves,” Chief Harrison

said. “In order for us to havesuccess, we have to work withthe community. We have to dothis hand-in-hand, and there’sgot to be a synergy.”

Police statistics show thatshootings have increased in aparticularly dramatic fashionin some neighborhoods inBrooklyn, the Bronx andQueens that have long strug-gled with gun violence.

Chief Harrison said the cur-rent wave of shootings alsohas spread to other parts ofthe city such as Carnarsie,Brooklyn, where years ofsteady efforts by police andresidents had previously low-

ered incidents of gunfire.Residents said the pro-

nounced increase in shootingshas left hard-hit neighbor-hoods in a state of fear.

“Our children don’t wantguns. Our children don’t wantto be in gangs,” said NeQuanMcLean, a business owner andleader of a local school boardwho lives in the Bedford-Stuy-vesant section of Brooklyn.“But what other resources arewe putting out there?”

Mr. McLean’s 22-year-oldnephew, Shyhiem McLean, wasfatally shot on Oct. 22 in a bo-dega on the block where theyboth lived. Officers have ar-

rested one suspect and an in-vestigation is continuing, po-lice officials said.

The number of shootingshas more than doubled thisyear in the 81st Precinct,where Mr. McLean’s nephewwas killed, rising to 42 suchincidents from Jan. 1 throughDec. 6, up from 20 incidents inthe same period last year.

Members of law enforce-ment, criminologists andelected officials have debatedthe reasons for the surge ofshootings in neighborhoodssuch as Bedford-Stuyvesant.NYPD Commissioner DermotShea has cited reforms to baillaws as one reason for therise, while other city officialshave pointed to a drop in ar-rests and an influx of gunscoming to the city.

Eric Cumberbatch, deputydirector of New York City’s Of-fice of Neighborhood Safety,said the circumstances sur-rounding shootings are mostoften the result of altercationsor personal disputes.

“The truth is that, if we’rewaiting for people to be ingang leadership positions be-fore we address what compelssomeone to pick up a gun anduse it, then we’ve alreadylost,” Mr. Cumberbatch said.

Officers in New York Cityhave struggled to keep pacewith the rise in crimes involv-ing guns amid the coronaviruspandemic, but since AugustNYPD detectives have mademore arrests in shootings.

New York Police Depart-ment detectives will targetgang leaders in a fresh cam-paign against gun violence asNew York City grapples with arise in shootings that is moreintense than any seen in theprevious 20 years, police offi-cials said.

Gun violence in New Yorkhas surged in 2020 to heightsunseen in a decade, accordingto NYPD data. The city has re-corded 1,412 shooting inci-dents in the first 11 months of2020, a nearly 96% rise from721 in the same period lastyear. The number of shootingvictims in the city was 1,730 inthe first 11 months of thisyear, more than double than inthe same period a year earlier.

Police officials believe thatroughly half of this year’sshootings were linked to gangactivity. Many of the conflictsthat led to those shootingswere fueled by personal dis-putes or clashes over the ille-gal-drug trade or control ofgang turf, the officials said.

To stem the rise in shoot-ings, NYPD Chief of DetectivesRodney Harrison said in an in-terview that police would fo-cus their efforts for the com-ing year on leadership of localcrews, with a law-enforcementstrategy known as precisionpolicing.

Chief Harrison also said of-ficers would redouble their ef-forts to strengthen relation-

BY BEN CHAPMAN

NYPD Aims to Curb Soaring Gun Violence

NeQuan McLean outside the Bedford-Stuyvesant bodega where his 22-year-old nephew was killed.

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STATE STREET | Jimmy Vielkind

Democrats Tighten Their Grip on Senate in AlbanyIncoming

Democraticstate senatorsrepresentingupstate NewYork areas say

their victories will bring anew set of issues to the tablewhen state lawmakers recon-vene in January.

Five Democrats won elec-tions last month to representparts of Buffalo, Rochester,Syracuse and the HudsonValley in seats that werepreviously occupied by Re-publicans. The GOP incum-bents in each district de-clined to seek re-election.

The results helped swellthe Democratic conference to43 members, which isenough votes to override agubernatorial veto. It alsomeans there will be eightsenators representing areasnorth and west of Albany—roughly tied together by theold Erie Canal and New YorkState Thruway—in a confer-ence whose leaders havelong been dominated by peo-ple from New York City. Forthe past two years, therehave been only three sena-tors from those areas.

“I think there’s going to

be a regional economic inter-est that will definitely be-come apparent. It’s good tohave many people talkingabout the same issues, andthat’s always helpful. All thepeople from outside of NewYork City—we’re all dealingwith very, very similar eco-nomic problems,” said Sen.-elect Sean Ryan, a Democratfrom Buffalo who now servesin the state Assembly.

Cities not named New Yorkare still grappling with theloss of most of their indus-trial bases over the past 50years, Mr. Ryan said. He saidhe would focus on investingin state-funded colleges,studying high-speed rail andkeeping remote workers—some of whom are doing jobsbased in New York City fromupstate areas where the costof living is lower—in his dis-trict long-term.

Democratic Sen.-elect Mi-chelle Hinchey, whose dis-trict stretches from Kingstonon the Hudson River to Mo-hawk Valley communities,said her constituents’ livesrevolved around a “MainStreet economy” rather thana more globalized “WallStreet economy” that drives

thinking downstate.Both Mr. Ryan and Ms.

Hinchey said state-sponsoredeconomic development pro-grams are important in theirareas. Other downstate Dem-ocrats, including DeputyLeader Mike Gianaris ofQueens, have said those pro-grams are “broken” andshould be reined in.

The sheer size of the con-ference should help MajorityLeader Andrea Stewart-Cous-

ins, a Yonkers Democrat, ironout any differences. Demo-crats have controlled the stateSenate since 2019; when theparty previously controlledthe Senate in 2010, it did sowith a bare 32-seat majorityin a chamber that then had 62senators. As a result, everyDemocratic vote was neededto pass the state budget andother controversial legislation.

Next year there will be 43Democrats in the 63-seatchamber, so Ms. Stewart-Cousins would still have thevotes to pass a bill, even if 11senators in her conferencevoted against it.

And despite their differentperspectives on economicdevelopment, the new Demo-cratic senators said theysupported Ms. Stewart-Cous-ins’ position of raising taxeson the wealthy as the stategrapples with a budget defi-cit. Sen.-elect John Mannion,from the outskirts of Syra-cuse, said such a tax increase“could impact potentiallyzero” constituents but helpavoid layoffs for teachersand nurses in his district.

Republicans have soughtto link upstate Democrats topolicies that were advancedby their downstate col-leagues—even if they didn’tsupport them—with mixedresults.

“These Democrats sharethe same perspective as NewYork City Democrats andsupport radical pro-criminalpolicies, the elimination ofprivate health care andhigher taxes,” Candice Giove,a spokeswoman for Senate

Republicans, said.Ms. Stewart-Cousins said

at a pre-Thanksgiving pressconference that she was ex-cited by the new additions,and every senator wouldhave a seat at the table.

“I think the secret of oursauce is making sure thevoices are heard, and ourconference will only be en-hanced by the additionalvoices and regions that willbe represented in it,” shesaid.

ELECTORAL COLLEGE,IN-PERSON: While membersof the state Legislaturemoved much of their discus-sion and voting to a virtualformat this year, the 29members of the ElectoralCollege from New York willconvene in-person on Mon-day to cast their lots forPresident-elect Joe Biden.

State law specifies thatNew York’s electors mustconvene in person, at theCapitol in Albany. Gov. An-drew Cuomo has used emer-gency powers to suspendother state laws as a resultof the pandemic, but said hedidn’t want to give Republi-cans an opportunity to chal-lenge New York’s electors.

New York Police Depart-ment officers fatally shot aman firing a gun on the stepsof the Cathedral Church of St.John the Divine in Manhattanafter a holiday event Sundayafternoon, police officials said.

The suspect shouted “killme” and fired the gun multipletimes before three officers di-rected 15 shots at him, strik-ing him at least once in thehead, NYPD CommissionerDermot Shea said at a newsbriefing.

The gunman, whose iden-tity wasn’t immediately pro-vided, was taken to a nearbyhospital in critical condition,where he later died, said po-lice officials.

No bystanders were injuredin the incident, authoritiessaid. Several officers were be-ing evaluated for tinnitus, ac-cording to the officials.

Officers recovered twosemi-automatic guns belong-ing to the suspect, as well as abag containing a full can ofgasoline, rope, knives and a bi-ble, Mr. Shea said.

“It is by the grace of God

today that we don’t have any-one struck,” by the shots firedby the suspect, Mr. Shea said.

In a statement posted tothe St. John the Divine web-

site, church officials said thegunman opened fire on the ca-thedral’s front steps followinga caroling event.

The officers responded to

the historic church in theneighborhood of MorningsideHeights at about 3:45 p.m., af-ter several residents made 911calls reporting an active

shooter, the officials said.Manhattan Borough Presi-

dent Gale Brewer and herchief of staff, Jessica Mates,said they were at the holiday

concert when the incident oc-curred.

In an interview, Ms. Matessaid she heard the first shotsas she and other visitors en-tered the church’s gift shopfollowing the event.

Other visitors rushed insidethe church after the shots be-gan, she said, as St. John theDivine staff tried to keep ev-eryone calm.

She said some of the peopleat the church said they sawthe gunman firing shots intothe air and heard him say,“Just kill me.”

“After the conclusion of ourCarols for the Communityevent this afternoon, the gath-ering was interrupted by anarmed individual, who set offa round of gunfire into the airfrom our front steps. Thank-fully, none of the attendeeswere hit,” Cathedral spokes-woman Isadora Wilkenfeldsaid. “It is horrible that ourchoir’s gift to New York City, amuch-needed afternoon ofsong and unity, was cut shortby this shocking act of vio-lence.”

More than 125 years old,the landmark cathedral is oneof the largest churches in theworld, according to its web-site. It is the cathedral churchof the Episcopal Diocese ofNew York.

The church underwent re-pairs and cleanings after a firein 2001 and one in 2019.

Police Fatally Shoot Gunman at CathedralThe suspect shouted‘kill me’ and firedoutside St. John theDivine inManhattan

NYPD officers arrive after a man opened fire outside the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in the Manhattan on Sunday.

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A former economic-devel-opment aide to New York Gov.Andrew Cuomo who is now acandidate for Manhattan bor-ough president accused theDemocratic governor Sundayof sexually harassing her whileshe worked for the state.

Lindsey Boylan, 36 yearsold, said in posts on Twitterthat Mr. Cuomo “harassed mefor years. Many saw it, andwatched. I could never antici-pate what to expect: would Ibe grilled on my work (whichwas very good) or harassedabout my looks. Or would it beboth in the same conversa-tion?”

Ms. Boylan didn’t returnmessages asking her to elabo-rate. She later tweeted thatshe wouldn’t be talking to re-porters about the matter.

Caitlin Girouard, a spokes-woman for the governor, de-nied the allegations. “There issimply no truth to theseclaims,” she said.

A state official said Ms.Boylan didn’t file any formalcomplaints against the gover-nor while she was a state em-ployee.

Ms. Boylan worked at thestate’s economic-developmentauthority, Empire State Devel-opment, from 2015 to 2018, ac-cording to her LinkedIn profile.She then moved into the Exec-utive Chamber—Mr. Cuomo’sdedicated staff—and servedfrom March to October 2018.

Mr. Cuomo’s national pro-file has increased based on hismanagement of the coronavi-rus pandemic in New York. Heis being considered for ap-pointment as U.S. attorneygeneral by President-elect JoeBiden, people familiar with thematter have said.

In the midst of the #MeToomovement, Mr. Cuomo signedlegislation in 2018 that, amongother things, extended stateworkplace harassment protec-tions to contractors, bannedmandatory arbitration for ha-rassment victims and requiredprivate employers to developantiharassment policies.

In a Democratic primarychallenge that year, CynthiaNixon accused Mr. Cuomo ofbeing slow to act on com-plaints of sexual harassmentagainst allies.

Mr. Cuomo’s campaign re-sponded to Ms. Nixon at thetime by pointing to his legisla-tive record.

After leaving state employ-ment, Ms. Boylan mounted anunsuccessful Democratic pri-mary challenge to U.S. Rep.Jerrold Nadler. She declaredher candidacy for boroughpresident in November.

BY JIMMY VIELKIND

Ex-AideTo CuomoCalls HimHarasser

The results helpedswell theDemocraticconference to 43.

NY


A12B | Monday, December 14, 2020 * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

GREATERNEW YORKWATCH

NEW YORK CITY

Max Rose ExploresJoining Mayoral Race

U.S. Rep. Max Rose, a first-term Democrat who lost his re-election bid last month, saidSunday he is exploring a run formayor of New York City.

“The five boroughs are wheredreams are made, underdogs tri-umph, and anyone can build abetter future,” Mr. Rose said inan email to supporters. “Yet thatNew York is slipping away…Withso much at stake, we can’t siton the sidelines.”

Mr. Rose, 34 years old, is acentrist Democrat and Army com-bat veteran who lost a 2020 raceto Republican Nicole Malliotakis, astate Assembly member.

If he joins the 2021 race tosucceed Mayor Bill de Blasio,who is term-limited, Mr. Rosewill have to compete with a fieldthat includes City ComptrollerScott Stringer, Brooklyn BoroughPresident Eric Adams, formerU.S. Housing Secretary ShaunDonovan and former de Blasiocounsel Maya Wiley.

—Associated Press

NEW JERSEY

Health-Care WorkersTo Get Shots Tuesday

Gov. Phil Murphy says health-care workers in New Jersey willbegin receiving vaccinations forthe coronavirus this week at aNewark hospital.

He told ABC’s “This Week”program that he will be at Uni-versity Hospital in Newark onTuesday for the first Covid-19vaccinations. He said the bulk ofthe 76,000 doses constitutingthe first batch of the Pfizer vac-cine will go to health-care work-ers, with some going to resi-dents and staff at long-termcare homes.

The governor said he believesthat by April or May, everyone inthe state will have access to oneof the vaccines. He is urgingpeople not to relax efforts tostem the spread of the virus, es-pecially limiting holiday celebra-tions to immediate family.

—Associated Press

Rahimuzzaman Sumon wasout of work this spring as anUber driver because of thepandemic and relied on unem-ployment to support his wifeand two children. But he stillput money into his daughter’scollege-savings account.

Rukiya Zaman, 6 years old,dreams of being a NASA scien-tist. And with every $10 and$25 deposit, Mr. Sumon saidhis daughter is one step closerto that dream.

“When I came to this country,I had $700 in my hand and oneluggage of clothes and I had tostart a whole new life,” said Mr.Sumon, who moved to Queensfrom Bangladesh 11 years ago. “Idon’t care howmuch hard workI have to do, I want to make sureshe has that chance.”

Rukiya already has an advan-tage. She is a part of NYC KidsRISE, a nonprofit that since2017 has helped more than10,000 students in schools inwestern Queens save for college.

Students in the area—whichincludes a large immigrant pop-ulation and many low-incomehouseholds—are automaticallyenrolled in the program whenthey start kindergarten, receiv-ing $100 in a program-operatedcollege-savings account, knownas a 529, along with opportuni-ties for additional money. Fami-lies also can receive help inopening separate accounts thatprovide tax-free savings andwithdrawals for higher educa-tion. The two savings accountscan be used together.

NYC Kids RISE officialsproject students will have anaverage of $3,000 in their ac-counts by the time they are 18,with additional funds redi-rected based on need. A 529account also has other bene-fits, including tax-free earn-ings on the account.

NYC Kids RISE operates theprogram in partnership withthe city’s Education Depart-ment. The city said it hopes toexpand the program citywide.

“Our goal for every NewYork City student is that theyget on the path to a postsec-ondary education,” said an Edu-

cation Department spokesman.Studies have shown that

lower-income families openedup specific college-savings ac-counts at much lower ratesthan those with higher in-comes. These types of accountsalso don’t count against a stu-dent when applying for mostfinancial aid and for otherscholarships, officials said.

Debra-Ellen Glickstein,founding director of NYC KidsRISE, said the core of the sav-ings program’s success comesfrom community support.

A $10 million donation fromthe Gray Foundation helpedlaunch the program in 2017.

“Our goal is to show thisworks and get others to help usexpand to new communities forchildren across the entire city,”said Jonathan Gray, who startedthe foundation with his wife,Mindy. Mr. Gray is also the pres-ident and chief operating officer

of Blackstone Group Inc.It took NYC Kids RISE a few

years to build out the infra-structure for the program, fig-uring out how to set up col-lege-savings accounts, whilemaintaining privacy for fami-lies. In meetings with parent-teacher associations and ten-ant groups, the nonprofitlearned of other challenges.

For example, New Yorkstate’s 529 plans initially re-quired minimum balances anddeposits, which could be re-strictive for some families. Therules have since been changed.Also, paperwork for the plansused to be only available inEnglish. Now the documentsare also published in Spanish.

And in schools with largeMuslim populations, the organi-zation realized parts of Sharialaw observed by some familiesprohibit participating in bank-ing that accrues interest. NYC

Kids RISE said it worked withAmalgamated Bank to introducea specific account in the futurethat doesn’t have interest.

Residents in the districthave rallied behind the chil-dren, hosting fundraisers suchas concerts and through onlineplatforms, Ms. Glickstein said.Hundreds of thousands of dol-lars have been raised for theprogram beyond the initialphilanthropic investment.Some families also received fi-nancial support during theheight of the pandemic in thespring, when their neighbor-hoods were hit by outbreaks.

“It’s really just gettingstarted, it’s a generationalproject,” Ms. Glickstein said.

Parents like Rosa Mar, theparent-teacher association pres-ident at P.S. 92 in the Queensneighborhood of Corona, haveraised money for the programfor students at different

schools. Her daughter IsabellaZambrano wants to go to veter-inary school and keeps a piggybank at home where she socksaway money for her education.

“She wants to save every ani-mal she can,” said Ms. Mar, whoworks as a restaurant manager.“She knows that every dollarshe saves is going to that goal.”

On Thursday, the tenants as-sociation at the Astoria Houses,a public-housing development inQueens, reached its goal of rais-ing $134,000 for children wholive there and have accounts.

Zhyla Landy, a third-graderat P.S. 234, will be one of therecipients. Her mother, NadiaLandy, said she wants to save$10,000 for her daughter bythe time she goes to college.Zhyla, 8, wants to be an artist,a rapper or a YouTube star.Ms. Landy said the program“taught me to be able to openmy kids to possibilities.”

BY KATIE HONAN

Students Get Boost Saving for College

Nadia Landry says she wants to save $10,000 for her daughter Zhyla by the time the third-grader heads to college. Right, RahimuzzamanSumon’s 6-year-old daughter Rukiya Zaman dreams of being a NASA scientist. They are part of the NYC Kids RISE saving program.

FROM

LEFT

:NADIA

LANDRY

;RAHIM

UZZA

MANSU

MON

All thePowerWithout thePinchHealthcare Starts with Healthy Food.

God’s Love We Deliver is a member of the Food is Medicine Coalition (FIMC).To learn more about FIMC’s work around the country, visit fimcoalition.org

Since 1985, we’ve been cooking and home-delivering nutritious, individually tailored meals

to people living with serious illness in the NYC metropolitan area.

Being sick and hungry is a crisis. You can help.

Donate, volunteer, or just learnmore at glwd.org

godslovewedeliver @godslovenyc

GREATER NEW YORKNY


© 2020 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, December 14, 2020 | A13

PERSONAL JOURNAL.CAREERS & LEADERSHIP

families have landed on: Momquits her job. Some 865,000women dropped out of the laborforce in September, the start ofthe academic year, according to ananalysis of Bureau of Labor Statis-tics data by the National Women’sLaw Center. That’s compared with216,000 men.

Despite nearly half a millionwomen rejoining the workforce inOctober, women held 5.5 millionfewer jobs that month than theydid in February, according to ananalysis by the Institute forWomen’s Policy Research. The un-employment rate is especially highfor Black and Hispanic women.

Employers seem reluctant toprovide much substantive supportfor working parents. Many reportallowing things like flexible hoursbut are far less generous with ben-efits like paid leave. In a U.S.Chamber of Commerce Foundationsurvey, 4% of 790 organizationssurveyed said they’d offered finan-cial assistance for child care, andmost were unwilling or equivocalabout increasing their company’sinvestment in child care.

Remote work foreverFor years, it existed as an after-thought, or even a secret in manycorporate jobs. Remote work wasthe hushed arrangement for a newparent returning from leave, theone-off negotiation for a longtimecollea gue moving to California.

Now, it’s gone mainstream. Thenumber of working days Ameri-cans spend at home has increasedeightfold with the pandemic, ac-cording to an analysis by NicholasBloom, an economist at StanfordUniversity’s Graduate School ofBusiness. Nearly 34% of Americanswere working from home in No-vember, according to a Stanfordsurvey of 2,500 people.

Once the threat of the coronavi-rus has subsided, we may not begoing back—at least not to the waythings were. The average employeewants to work from home twice aweek after the pandemic, accordingto a continuing Stanford survey.Workers and employers have in-vested in the new way of working,from buying furniture to learning touse videoconferencing software.

The stigma once associatedwith remote work is fading. We allsee it’s not just watching Netflixwhile occasionally shooting off anemail. Forced to try somethingnew, we’ve realized some changeisn’t so bad.

WORK& LIFERACHELFEINTZEIG

The detailsThe Internal Revenue Service recog-nized in May that the pandemicwould change expectations for child-care and elder-care costs, and theagency published guidance allowingemployers to let workers make mid-year changes to their FSA elections.Some workers stopped or reducedtheir FSA contributions, but theymay still have remaining balances.And some people didn’t have thatopportunity or simply missed it.Your best option is to find ex-

penses to claim, tax attorneys say.There are strict limits on what ex-penses the IRS considers eligible,and employers and plan administra-tors don’t have flexibility to alterthe rules, said Michael Chittenden, atax attorney with Covington & Burl-ing LLP in Washington. Most impor-tant, you must have incurred theexpenses in order to allow you timeto work. And if you’re married, yourspouse must be working as well orotherwise unable to care for yourdependents while you work.A few expenses you might con-

sider, said Mr. Chittenden: If you paida person or bus service to bring yourchild from school to their after-school program before school clo-sures, the expense is eligible. So arecosts incurred if you brought an el-derly parent home to live with you

because of the pandemic and paid anaide to care for them while you work.During the pandemic, many peo-

ple relied on family members toprovide care. You can claim thosepayments if a relative watched yourchild and was not one of your de-pendents (such as an older child).Also, the relative should report thepayments they received from youas income on their taxes, Mr. Chit-tenden said.If you can’t find enough reim-

bursable expenses, there’s still hope.Employers have the option of ex-tending the reimbursable period to

ask. These plan changes can meanextra administrative costs for em-ployers and the loss of money thatwould otherwise be forfeited tothem, so they may be more likelyto act if employees advocate forthe grace period.The ideal relief would be for the

Internal Revenue Service to extendthe grace period through all of 2021,said Mr. Anderson. That option isincluded in House Democrats’ He-roes Act. Senate Republicans’ pro-posed bill, the Heals Act, allows bal-ances up to $2,750 to be rolled overinto 2021. (Account maximums are$5,000 for 2020.) It’s unclear if anyof the compromise legislation cur-rently under discussion will includeFSA relief. The Treasury Depart-ment, which oversees the IRS, couldalso act on its own, acccording toMr. Anderson.“My hope is that the IRS will

recognize the unprecedented na-ture of Covid-19 and the hand thegovernment has had in preventingpeople from spending this money.If your governor closed day camplast summer, you didn’t have achoice to send your child to camp,”Mr. Anderson said. Ultimately, “it’sa political rather than legal ques-tion as to whether the IRS givesemployers and employees that[rollover] flexibility.”

March 15, 2021. While no oneknows what the next few monthshold in terms of the virus’s impact,having more time to spend FSA bal-ances might help, said Andy Ander-son, a partner at Morgan Lewis &Bockius LLP in Chicago. “If we’re allgetting vaccines in the next halfyear and people stop working athome, then you have a chance ofusing it,” he said. “It’s not the be-alland end-all, but it is a tool employ-ers can adopt.”If your employer hasn’t an-

nounced its intentions about thisgrace period by now, be sure toG

ETTY

IMAGES

865,000Some 865,000 women left the la-bor force in September alone,about four times as many as thenumber of men who dropped out.

8xAmericans have spent eight timesas many working days at homebecause of the pandemic.

40%A survey of companies found that40% reported their employees havebeen suffering from more mentalhealth problems.

We worked from ourkitchen tables, ordonned masks todo our jobs. Ourvocabularychanged: We

learned what PPE was, and thatsome roles were essential. Protests,the racial justice movement and ahistoric election shook the country.We felt stressed, lonely; we lost ourjobs or had to leave them.

It’s been a wild year that’stransformed work. To try to cap-ture the breadth of what’schanged, and understand wherewe might be heading, I turned tothe numbers: surveys, economicdata and research papers.

They tell the story of womendropping out of the workforce indroves, companies catalyzed—atleast on the surface—by the deathof George Floyd, and a countrywhere a quarter of householdshave had someone laid off. Theypoint to a future where those whodon’t have to don’t go into an of-fice, at least not every day. Here’sour year at work, by the numbers.

Productive…at a costWe’re getting our work done, butwe feel pretty miserable. In a Sep-tember survey of 330 human re-sources leaders by the ConferenceBoard, 47% of respondents re-ported an increase in productivityat their companies, while only 13%reported a drop. But 60% saidtheir employees are working morehours and 63% said their employ-ees are spending more time inmeetings. Four out of 10 reportedmore mental health problemsamong workers.

Part of it is surely the work it-self—we’re exhausted from back-to-back video calls, without even acommute as buffer between workand life. We’re scared of losing ourlivelihoods. And then there’s thehealth crisis: 78% of participantsin an American Psychological As-sociation survey of 3,409 adultssaid the pandemic was a signifi-cant source of stress, so it’s nosurprise that’s bleeding into ourwork lives.

Some employers say they’replanning to discount mental healthservices next year. And some em-ployees say it’s time for a change.A November survey by public rela-

tions firm Weber Shandwick findsthat 66% of people polled wereplanning to make a shift likeswitching jobs, moving out of townor cutting their hours to part-timeas the pandemic wears on.

Realizing diversity needsThe Black Lives Matter movementcertainly got corporate executivestalking more about race and in-equality. The share of organizationswhere leaders and employees saydiversity and inclusion is a value orpriority rose to 72% in 2020 from65% in 2019, according to a continu-ing PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.At the same time, a third of respon-dents agree that diversity is a bar-

Center. It stands at 6.7%.Another survey from Pew, of

13,200 Americans in August, foundthat one in four had either beenlaid off or had someone in theirhousehold lose their job. And yetthe Conference Board survey sug-gests that finding workers istough, especially in industries likeconstruction and transportation.

Trials for working parentsRemote school and day-care clo-sures have left parents with aheavy burden. The solution many

rier to progression at their organi-zations, up from 28% in 2019.

Companies have taken stepslike designating Juneteenth a paidholiday in 2021 (10% of those sur-veyed by XpertHR, an online pro-vider of compliance guidance) andcreating formal mentoring pro-grams for underrepresented em-ployee groups (42% of those sur-veyed by human resourcesorganization WorldatWork.) Butthis statistic really stood out tome: More than half of people sur-veyed by Weber Shandwick re-ported that their company “saysall the right things about diversity,equity and inclusion, but does notdo what they say.”

Employees seem hungry forreal action. Three-quarters ofthose participating in the WeberShandwick survey said they wanttheir employer to commit to fightracism, discrimination and uncon-scious bias, and 82% want a com-mitment to fair pay.

Job news, most of it badThe economic crisis continues af-fecting our paychecks. Almost athird of the companies surveyedby the Conference Board had de-ferred pay increases or bonuses toworkers, and another 8% plannedto do so before the end of theyear. A similar number of firmshad conducted permanent layoffs.A quarter had furloughed workersand a fifth had frozen all hiring.

The unemployment rate jumpedmore in three months—from 3.8%in February to 13% in May—than itdid in two years of the last reces-sion, according to an analysis ofgovernment data by Pew Research

Working in 2020MeantOften Painful Change

Percentage of survey respondentssaying they or someone in theirhousehold has been laid off, losta job or had to take a cut in paybecause of Covid.

Source: Pew Research survey of U.S. adults conductedAug. 3-16, 2020

*Asian adults were interviewed in English onlyNote: White, Black and Asian adults include those whoreport being only one race and are not Hispanic.Hispanics are of any race.

By race

White

Black

Asian*

Hispanic

By age

Ages 18-29

30-49

50-64

65+

38%

43

47

53

54%

48

40

21

ALLADULTS:42%

Percentage of respondentswho say, on average, thefollowing areas have shifted for their employees sincethe outbreak of the pandemic

Source: The Conference Board, online September survey of 310 organizations

100%0 20 40 60 80

Time inmeetings

Work hours

Employee burnouts

Employees withmental health problems

Work-life balance

Employeeengagement/morale

Employeeswith highpersonalwell-being

Decreased

No change

Increased

ILLU

STRA

TIONBY

JAMES

STEINBE

RG

I have a dependent-care flexiblespending account, but sincemost after-school programs andsummer camps didn’t take placethis year, I have a big balanceleft in my account for 2020.What are my options?

The bottom lineFlexible spending accounts (FSAs)put aside pretax dollars for certainexpenses—in this case qualified child-care and elder-care costs. These ac-counts are use-it-or-lose-it, so unlessyou find expenses to claim, you’ll for-feit the balance to your employer.However, there may be some relief insight regarding your 2020 dollars:Employers can choose to offer agrace period, allowing employees toclaim expenses incurred in early2021. And the House and SenateCovid-19 stimulus bills currentlystalled in Congress have provisionsallowing workers to roll all or most oftheir 2020 balances into 2021.

PROTECTING YOUR FSA

ASK PERSONALJOURNAL


A14 | Monday, December 14, 2020 * * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

to go back to a settled householdand pretending to have a mother.”

Mr. le Carré’s observant eyeand facility with languages des-tined him for intelligence work.After studying languages at theUniversity of Bern in Switzerland,he joined the Intelligence Corps ofthe British Army, according to astatement from his publisher, Vi-king Penguin, part of Penguin Ran-dom House.

In the interview last year withthe Journal, Mr. le Carré said, spy-ing gives you “an extraordinary in-sight into people. I don’t think weever know very much about oneanother, but it gives you the habitof considering the possibilities ofpeople. Is she this or that? And if

what would be his breakthroughnovel, “The Spy Who Came in fromthe Cold.” The book allowed himto focus full time on fiction andlaunched his nearly six decades asa perennial on bestseller lists.

According to Viking Penguin,Mr. le Carré wrote in a postscriptto the 50th anniversary edition ofhis career-making work: “I wrote‘The Spy who Came in from theCold’ at the age of thirty under in-tense, unshared, personal stress,and in extreme privacy. From theday my novel was published, I re-alised that now and for ever moreI was to be branded as the spyturned writer, rather than as awriter who, like scores of his kind,had done a stint in the secret

world, and written about it. Thenovel’s merit, then—or its offence,depending on where you stood—was not that it was authentic, butthat it was credible.”

Mr. le Carré continued to takeon new subjects in his plots longafter the Cold War concluded. Hepublished “Agent Running in theField” last year and in 2016 pub-lished a memoir, “The Pigeon Tun-nel.” Other than the BBC minise-ries his novels were transformedinto big-screen adaptations star-ring Sean Connery in “The RussiaHouse,” Ralph Fiennes and RachelWeisz in “The Constant Gardener”and Gary Oldman as George Smileyin a movie of “Tinker Tailor Sol-dier Spy.”

you’re acquisitive as an intelli-gence officer, how would I useher? You think of all these way-ward possibilities. It’s a kind of in-side-out thinking that never leavesyou.”

Mr. le Carré turned to fictionwhile at MI5, writing his firstnovel, “Call for the Dead,” in 1961.His childhood and professional lifegave him a wealth of material. Hehad something of a mentor and in-spiration in the spymaster, LordClanmorris, who also was a novel-ist. According to Mr. le Carré’spublisher, the author said he basedone of his most famous charac-ters—George Smiley—in part onLord Clanmorris.

In 1963, Mr. le Carré published

longer than the fair itself. Studentshoping to connect with specific em-ployers could only wait it out. “Itwas kind of confusing,” said Ms.Malaiba, who is 21. “In years past,you’d stand in line, you could seewhere you were in line, if you werenext. We were kind of left in thedark, virtually.” Ms. Malaiba ulti-mately only spoke with one com-pany. A representative of herschool confirmed the career fairbut declined to elaborate.

Other students say the eventsare less intimidating and more ef-ficient than those held in-person.Ricardo Yolas, a senior at StonyBrook University on New York’sLong Island, said the virtual re-cruiter meetings he had at fairsthis fall offered an opportunitysimilar to a job interview, withlower stakes. “It wasn’t official,so it took away that nervousness,”he said.

Recruiters are finding virtual

in advance 10-minute appoint-ments with recruiters at the fair.

Looking ahead, many in the in-dustry expect the post-pandemicworld to include more virtual re-cruiting events, so the currentcrop of online fairs lets youngerstudents practice key skills they’rejust starting to hone. After a pro-fessor told Howard Universityfreshman Corine Houngninou thatit was important to get the atten-tion of recruiters at a virtual ca-reer fair held in September, shepushed herself to pose a questionbefore a screen stacked with facesin Zoom squares.

“I realized the biggest things[were] not being afraid to unmutemyself and ask questions, and mak-ing sure that I look professional,”the 18-year-old computer informa-tion-systems major said. Still, “itwas pretty nerve-wracking.” In No-vember Ms. Houngninou learnedthat, through a virtual fair, she hadsecured a summer internship withsoftware company HubSpot.

Despite the glitches, the virtualevents are leading to real salariesfor many students. The formatsuited students like Anthony Baga-mian, a 21-year-old senior andcomputer-science major at RiceUniversity in Houston, just fine.

“You didn’t have to walkaround and be sweaty or worryabout how you look as much,” saidMr. Bagamian, who neverthelesswore the top half of his interviewsuit to Rice’s virtual career fair inSeptember, where he met a re-cruiter from CapitalOne. He’ll starta business-analyst position withthe company in August of nextyear.

As for Ms. Malaiba, she faredbetter than before at a two-dayevent held virtually in October bythe Society of Asian Scientists andEngineers. There, she met a re-cruiter from Raytheon, whicheventually offered her a mechani-cal engineering job she’ll start af-ter she graduates later this month.

fairs a challenge. Beth Hendler-Grunt, president of Next GreatStep, a Livingston, N.J., firm thatcoaches college students and grad-uates on their careers, said theserecruiters are relying almost solelyon a student’s résumé to deter-mine whether they want to en-gage. Reaching out and introduc-ing oneself in advance torecruiters who will be attendingvirtual events can boost a stu-dent’s chances of a conversationthe day of the fair. “The more youcan insert yourself into the inter-action ahead of time, that’s a greatthing,” said Ms. Hendler-Grunt.

Schools have tried various ap-proaches to make the virtual ca-reer fairs work. This fall, morethan 700 schools turned to collegecareer site Handshake to arrangeover 2,300 fairs. Nearly 18,000employers and more than 260,000students attended events via theplatform, which lets them request

His Books Defined ColdWar Spy ThrillerBY BRENDA CRONIN

and Employers found that 85% hadnot conducted a virtual career fairin previous years but 80% plannedone for this autumn. The same pollsurveyed attendance in fairs thatoccurred earlier this season andfound that 72% of the schools said

fewer employershad participatedcompared within-person events,while 81% of theschools reportedfewer students aswell.

Many studentssay they can waithours to exchange

chat messages with a recruiter, af-ter dressing in business conserva-tive on the chance the interactionmight move to a video conference.At a virtual career fair put on byher university, Ms. Malaiba saysdigital queues for some recruitersstretched on for four or five hours,

J eanavic Malaiba had her rou-tine for campus career fairsdown cold. As she approached

each recruiter, she would offer afirm handshake and pull a copy ofher resume from an embossedleather portfolio she had saved upfor, in order to appear more pro-fessional at interviews.

Then she’d take a deep breathand launch into a tight pitch aboutthe engineering classes she wastaking at California State Univer-sity, Long Beach and her hopes todevelop a career in the aerospaceindustry.

But this fall, Ms. Malaiba beganattending career fairs virtually andtweaked her strategy: She’d breakthe ice with recruiters jokingabout how both she and they werestruggling with the event’s soft-ware, then quickly provide her fullcontact information in case theywere disconnected.

Along with college classes,commencementsand club meet-ings, the pan-demic has pushedcampus careerfairs online thisyear. Instead ofwalking table totable, charmingrecruiters and el-bowing class-mates out of the way, job- and in-ternship-hunting college studentsnow log into virtual events wherethey may struggle to make an im-pression.

A poll of more than 500 schoolsconducted earlier this fall by theNational Association of CollegesLO

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Instead of impressivelyfirm handshakes, jokesabout event software.

The Fall Career Expo at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va.—back when it was in person, in October 2017.

John le Carré, the British spy-turned-writer whose novelsbrought the Cold War to life forreaders around the world, diedSaturday, in a hospital in Cornwall,England. He was 89 years old andhad pneumonia, according to astatement from his family.

His bestselling books, including“The Spy Who Came In from the

Cold” portrayedshadowy worldsof double agentsand Cold Wartradecraft,brought to life by

Mr. le Carré’s sharply etched char-acters and his fluid, empatheticprose. A number were adapted forthe screen. The British Broadcast-ing Corp. series based on his nov-els, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”and “Smiley’s People,” starringAlec Guinness in the title role ofthe dour spymaster George Smiley,left an indelible image with view-ers of the grim and risky businessof espionage.

John le Carré was the penname of David John Moore Corn-well, a veteran of the British intel-ligence services, whose spy workrequired that he publish under apseudonym. Born in Poole, Dorset,Mr. le Carré attributed some of hisgifts in spycraft to his unsettledfamily life as a boy. His motherleft when he was 5 years old andMr. le Carré, in his 2016 memoir,described his father as a con manand “occasional jailbird.” In an ef-fort to find his equilibriumthrough school, he later wrote in amemoir, he adopted the manner-isms and habits of friends frommore stable homes.

“From an early age, I was pre-tending to be who I wasn’t,” Mr. leCarré told The Wall Street Journallast year. “I was pretending to bea normal kid like all the other kidsin the boarding school, pretendingPI

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the day, W. Eugene Smith, andwanted to portray Black communi-ties with the same emotional scopefound in the work of Smith, GordonParks and Roy DeCarava brought totheir subjects.

Sarah L. Eckhardt, associate cu-rator of modern and contemporaryart at the Virginia Museum of FineArts in Richmond, organized theshow there earlier this year andalso edited the substantial catalog.(The VMFA selection has beenlightly trimmed for its trip to theWhitney.) She concentrates on Ka-moinge’s first 20 years, a periodthat encompasses the Civil Rightsand Black Arts movements.

One common theme uniting thegroup was a determination to coun-ter media depictions of African-American life as consumed bydrugs, crime and violence. An in-structive vitrine in the first roomdescribes the frustrations of DeCar-ava, who tried in vain to prevent hiseditors at Newsweek from caption-ing his 1964 cover photograph ofthree Black men in Harlem with thewords: “Hatred in the Streets.”

Other vitrines—containing self-published annuals and portfolios,group photographs of reunions, an-nouncements of exhibitions andworkshops—indicate the necessityfor members to go outside the nor-mal artistic channels to make namesfor themselves. Their camaraderie inthe face of indifference is inspiring.

A number of celebrities are onthe walls: Malcolm X, James Bald-win, Amiri Baraka, Mahalia Jack-son, Miles Davis, John Coltrane.The highlight in this regard may

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are offering holiday pops concertsonline, more intriguing fare awaitsfrom Grammy Award-winningApollo’s Fire, an early music ensem-ble in Cleveland. Beginning Dec. 18,ticket purchasers can watch avideo of its distinctive 2018 con-cert “Christmas on SugarloafMountain—An Irish-AppalachianCelebration,” available for 30 days.Led by conductor-harpsichordistJeannette Sorrell, and includingthe Apollo Singers, the programreflects the heritage of Irish andScottish immigrants. Carols, reels,wassails, barn dances and shape-note hymns are accompanied byfiddles, bagpipes, dulcimer andmore. A short excerpt on YouTubeprovides a sense of the fun.

Due to the pandemic, perfor-mances of the normally ubiquitousHandel’s “Messiah” will be cur-tailed in many cities. From Dec. 20to the end of the holidays, theHandel & Haydn Society in Boston,which gave the complete work’sU.S. premiere in 1818, will streamPart I of the “Messiah” and theHallelujah Chorus on its Facebookand YouTube channels. On Dec. 21,Kent Tritle will lead the OratorioSociety of New York in a similarlytruncated, free version of the“Messiah,” filmed in a barn andavailable through Jan. 10, 2021.

For a complete online “Mes-siah,” we must look again to Lon-don, where the Academy of An-cient Music will oblige on Dec. 19with its first webcast of this an-nual event, available to purchasersfor 48 hours as part of the “LiveFrom the Barbican” series. This iscause for rejoicing—with a chorusof hallelujahs.

Ms. Jepson reviews classical al-bums and concerts for the Journal.

Although many Christmas con-certs have been canceled thisyear due to the resurgence of

Covid-19, filmed performances hereand abroad offer the opportunity towatch an array of impressive, holi-day-themed music-making online.Many of the best programs comefrom England, with its centuries-oldtradition of fine choral singing nur-tured in its cathedrals and colleges.

Among the more notable, onDec. 15, is the first global broad-cast of the annual Christmas con-cert from historic Westminster Ab-bey by its eponymous choir. Andbeginning Dec. 25, the GabrieliConsort & Players led by Paul Mc-Creesh will perform Bach’s Christ-mas Oratorio, one cantata per pro-gram. Both events are part of themultinational “Live From Lon-don—Christmas” series presentedby the VOCES8 Foundation, a mu-sic-education charity whose artist-teachers include the choral ensem-ble VOCES8. (Purchased events airat 2 p.m. EST and remain availablefor viewing on the VOCES8 web-site through Jan. 15, 2021.)

Not surprisingly, VOCES8 (pro-nounced Vah-chez 8) figuredprominently in the two openingprograms, filmed by candlelight atits Centre in the lovely St. Anneand St. Agnes Church. The first, onDec. 1, featured Baroque violinistLI

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ConcertsFor a CovidChristmasBY BARBARA JEPSON

WestminsterAbbey Choirsinging ‘TheSussex Carol’

Rachel Podger as guest artist in anintelligently chosen program thatspanned Medieval chant to recentworks. She was a sensitive accom-panist when called for, and dis-played nimble fingers in her virtu-osic solos, as in the rapid fillips of64th notes that periodically en-liven Heinrich von Biber’s “Passa-caglia ‘Guardian Angel.’”

Some mixed choral groups strivefor the purer, “whiter” sound of boysopranos; the men and women ofVOCES8 possess a fuller-bodied butwell-balanced tonal palette. Theyare invariably expressive and versa-tile, qualities that were evident inrefined renderings of the GermanAdvent carol “Mary Walks Amid theThorns,” Benjamin Britten’s “AHymn to the Virgin” and OwainPark’s inventive “Antiphon for theAngels,” which was written in 2018for VOCES8 and Ms. Podger. Open-ing and closing with hymn-like

prayer, the work’s frequent charac-ter shifts are underlined by tum-bling or soaring riffs for the violin.

The second concert, on Dec. 5,included the Aeolians of OakwoodUniversity—an African-Americanchoral group whose segment wasfilmed in Alabama—in carols, spir-ituals and more. The sight of 42“distanced” singers, wearingmasks in compliance with govern-ment regulations, added specialpoignancy to “Silent Night,” thefirst work heard.

Despite these hindrances, con-ductor Jason Max Ferdinand andhis choral forces, accompanied byguest pianists and members of theAlabama Symphony, excelled inbringing out musical nuances,changes in tonal color and textualcontent. Standouts included “Inthe Bleak Midwinter” and CarlosOliver Simon’s finger-snappingconflation of two spirituals with

original music in“He Is,” ren-dered with styl-ish aplomb andsincerity.

Although itwas interestingto meet some ofthe choir mem-bers via videoclips betweennumbers, otherprerecordedstatementsproved intru-sive. That wasespecially trueof the one that

followed the Aeolians’ glowingperformance of the bluesy gospelsong “Mary Had a Baby,” with Tif-fany Richter as the rousing guestsoloist.

Also on the Dec. 5 program,VOCES8 presented six world pre-mieres, each distinguished by vividtexts and compositional polish. In“Solstice” by Taylor Scott Davis,dreamy vocal lines overlap and in-tensify to stunning effect midwaythrough the piece. VOCES8 con-veyed the sense of longing thaterupts in the text that follows—“oh, that we had a ladder”—andsang everything with pinpoint ac-curacy. Opera singer Roderick Wil-liams lent his burnished, lyric bari-tone to works by Paul Smith andKen Burton. His own piece, “NowWinter Nights,” wrapped words byRenaissance poet Thomas Campionin silken harmonies.

While many American orchestras

New York

Visitors to “Working To-gether: The Photogra-phers of the KamoingeWorkshop” at the Whit-ney Museum of Ameri-can Art are likely to

have two immediate reactions.The first will be to wonder why

this group of African-Americanphotographers is not betterknown. What took so long for ma-jor museums to take note of theircontributions?

A second reaction should thenoverride the first. Walking throughthe galleries on the eighth floor,which feature some 140 black-and-white photographs and relevantephemera by 14 artists, people maybegin to forget that most of thenames are unfamiliar and insteadbask in the sheer luminosity of theprints. This was a group of men(and one woman) that cared deeplyabout exploring the nuances anddepths possible with monochromefilm and paper. (If you can’t see theshow in person, the Whitney has adigital feature on its website wherevisitors can see nearly all of thephotos in the show and learn moreabout each artist.)

“Kamoinge” is a word borrowedfrom the Kikuyu language of Kenyaand translates as “a group of peopleacting and working together.” Thephotographer and teacher LouisDraper (1935-2002) chose the namein 1963 when he founded the collec-tive in New York. He had studiedwith the leading photojournalist of

BY RICHARD B. WOODWARD

ARTS IN REVIEW

cool, repetitive practices of Mini-malism. Earnest humanism wasout of step with the political dis-engagement of Lee Friedlanderand Diane Arbus. Fine printingwasn’t a concern to Conceptual se-rialists like Edward Ruscha. Youn-ger photographers were then doc-umenting their own performances,going back to large-format cam-eras, dipping their toes into color.

Every picture here is black-and-white and none are shocking. Thatthe art world largely excluded theKamoinge artists—and is at lastredressing the neglect—does notnegate the fact that, unlike thejazz musicians in their pictures,they were more stylistically con-ventional than avant-garde.

Art historical questions aside,these were—and are—serious art-ists who have earned their re-nown, however belated. It will be ashame if Covid-19 shortens theshow’s stay at the Whitney, as itdid at the VMFA. In which case,try to catch it at the J. Paul GettyMuseum next summer, or the Cin-cinnati Art Museum in 2022.

Working Together: The Photogra-phers of the Kamoinge WorkshopWhitney Museum of American Art,through March 28, 2021

Mr. Woodward is an arts critic inNew York.

ket that serves as abasketball hoop,and of a boy whowatches from be-hind a barred win-dow in the shad-ows.

W. EugeneSmith’s sumptuousprinting—describedby member RayFrancis as “blackblacks, black onblack”—dominatedthe group’s stylethrough Draper’steaching. Adger

Cowans’s overhead view of a Mal-colm X rally (c. 1960-65) exemplifieshow the group pushed black-and-white toward pure abstraction.

The Kamoinge photographerswere not totally ignored by NewYork. They exhibited at the StudioMuseum in 1972 and at the Interna-tional Center for Photography in1975. Anthony Barboza had steadysuccess. This year Draper and MingSmith have had shows in New Yorkgalleries; Herb Robinson, BeufordSmith, Mr. Cowans and Mr. Walkerare likewise deserving.

Lack of recognition in the 1960sand ’70s can’t entirely be attri-buted to racism, as one catalog es-say suggests. The New York artworld at that time was embracingthe sarcasm of Pop art and the

be Draper’s 1971 portrait of theMississippi activist Fannie LouHamer, her wide face glowing likea silvery moon in the frame. Else-where, though, in keeping with theethos of street documentary, mostof the people are unnamed.

There are so many marvelousphotographs here evincing a tenderregard for human transience andstruggle that it seems unfair to sin-gle out only a few. Nonetheless, Her-bert Randall’s snapshot of two menscrambling through the door of atruck on the Lower East Side ofNew York (c. 1970s) is perfect.Fraught with mystery, it captures anunpredictable action as only thecamera can. Shawn Walker’s “Har-lem, 117th Street” (c. 1960) is a dualportrait: of a shredded produce bas-

Anthony Barboza’s ‘Kamoinge Members’ (1973), left;Louis Draper’s ‘Untitled (Santos)’ (1968), above; Draper’s‘Fannie Lou Hamer, Mississippi’ (c. 1960), top left



On Thanksgiving morning, Re-becca Vasquez told her boyfriend tosleep in. She wanted to try to bagher first deer by herself.

Soon after she hiked to a perfectspot, an 8-point whitetail buck wan-dered within range and she droppedhim clean with her .270 Browningrifle. Her boyfriend heard the shotand came running down to thefield.

“He said it was the biggest buckhe’d ever seen on the property,”said the 27-year-old, who’s new tohunting this year. When he told herhe was proud–and jealous–she wasofficially hooked on hunting.

The coronavirus pandemic hasshut down Manhattan office build-ings, small-town diners and manyother aspects of normal life, but it’sbeen a boon to hunting. It’s an ac-tivity seemingly designed for a pan-demic: outdoors, thriving in smallgroups and featuring built-in socialdistancing.

Following decades of declinebrought on by demographic andlifestyle changes, hunting re-bounded this year thanks to sea-soned hunters spending more timein the woods, rekindled interestamong lapsed hunters and a waveof first-timers like Vasquez. Thepandemic has given more peoplethe time to try the sport, the urgeto escape long days at home andthe opportunity to explore the out-doors while many vacation optionsare closed off.

Vasquez, a forester for the Stateof Wisconsin, had long wanted totake up hunting but never foundthe time to learn to shoot or sit inthe woods for days. Her boyfriendno longer had his yearly huntingcompanions but he wanted to getback out. Lockdown meant therewasn’t anybody else to go with soVasquez got a new rifle as an earlyChristmas present and stepped in.

“All the ducks were in a row this

year,” she said.Hunting licence sales are up more

than 12% nationwide from last year,according to the National ShootingSports Foundation, a firearms tradegroup. If the trend continues throughthe end of the year, those licensesales translate to 1 million more hunt-ers this year than last, according toJim Curcuruto, director of researchwith the foundation.

Fishing has also seen greater in-terest, with 3 million more licensessold nationwide this year than last,a 14% increase, said Stephanie Vata-laro, spokeswoman for the Recre-ational Boating and Fishing Foun-dation.

Hunting is tougher for newcom-ers to try because it requires pricierequipment and, often, completionof a hunter-education course to buya license. It also typically requires amentor to guide someone on a firsthunt. The pandemic has helped top-ple some of those barriers.

Jonathon Nguyen of Victoria,Texas, grew up a city kid who be-came interested as an adult in fire-arms for personal safety. Friendshad talked about hunting, so hesigned up for a mentored huntworkshop with the Texas Parks and

Wildlife Department. The programteaches the basics to adults whodidn’t grow up in the sport, andthis year brought more than twiceas many applicants as there wereslots for the workshops, which in-clude a guided hunt.

After a day of safety instructionand equipment-testing at a riflerange, Nguyen and the rest of hisgroup headed out Wednesdaymorning to a state park outsideAustin.

“Whenever the sun comes outand you put your phone down andyou look around, you get to see howeverything works and how the birdstalk to each other,” said Nguyen, a26-year-old electrician. His awegave way to adrenaline when aplump doe appeared and Nguyen’smentor gave the go-ahead.

“I was shaking a little bit, so Icalmed down and took the shot,” hesaid. He dropped the deer with oneshot. Nguyen emerged from themorning with 30 pounds of meatthat he and his wife plan to grind itinto patties and sausage–and a newlove of hunting.

Backcountry Hunters and An-glers, a nonprofit advocacy group,recently hosted a Zoom event on

Sunday began disastrously forKansas City Chiefs quarterback Pat-rick Mahomes. The Miami Dolphinsintercepted him. They sacked himfor 30 yards on one play. Then theyintercepted him again.

But the problem for the Dolphinswas that football games don’t lastone quarter. They have four quar-ters. And since Mahomes enteredthe NFL, nobody has really stoppedhim for four quarters.

Mahomes finished with 393 pass-ing yards and two touchdowns.There was also a Tyreek Hill run fora touchdown, a Mecole Hardmanpunt return for a score and a safetyby the defense. By the time thegame was over, the Chiefs hadturned a 10-0 deficit into a 30-10lead that ended in a 33-27 win. Ma-homes finished with more intercep-tions (three), than he had previ-ously thrown all season (two), andthey still won with ease.

It was a remarkable display ofwhat has defined the Kansas Cityoffense ever since Mahomes tookover. Opponents can force incom-pletions, sack him and even inter-cept him. They can’t contain himfor an entire game.

The swift turnaround was oddlyfamiliar to anyone who rememberedMahomes’s last game in Miami.That was in a game called the Su-per Bowl—when Mahomes also ral-lied from 10 points down to win.

Mahomes has started 49 gamesin the NFL, including the playoffs.The Chiefs have been held under 20points in just one of those—and inthat game Mahomes still threw for300 yards.

Against the Dolphins, in the sec-ond and third quarters alone, theChiefs put up 30 points and racedout to a huge lead until rookie quar-terback Tua Tagovailoa took Miamiback within six. There was a briefmoment when it looked entirelyplausible the Dolphins had managedto stymie Mahomes just enough.

Then Mahomes marched theKansas City offense down field oncemore to ice the game.

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BY ANDREW BEATON

Mahomes,Chiefs KeepOn Rolling

Above, Rebecca Vasquez, right, and Brian Zweifel in Verona, Wis. Hunters like Jonathon Nguyen, below, help control Texas’s population of feral hogs.

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New OrleansHouston

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Los Angeles

LasVegas

Seattle

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St. Louis

Chicago

Washington D.C.

Boston

Charleston

Milwaukee Hartford

Wichita

IndianapolisCleveland

Buffalo

Austin

Helena Bismarck

Albuquerque

Omaha

Oklahoma City

San Antonio

Des Moines

Sioux Falls

Jackson Birmingham

PhiladelphiaCheyenneReno

Santa Fe

ColoradoSprings

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Richmond

Raleigh

Tucson

Albany

Topeka

Columbia

Augusta

Ft. Worth

Eugene

Springfield

Mobile

Toronto

Ottawa Montreal

Winnipeg

VancouverCalgary

Edmonton

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NOTHINGLEFT | By Drew SchmennerAcross1 Count at the gym5 Watchful one9 They have a

prominentHouse in London

14 Misbehavingminor

15 Learning method16 Ward off17 Cause for Harvey

Milk and LarryKramer

19 Big name in grills20 Used the pool21 There are three

per side perinning

23 Traveled by bike24 Flooded26 Grizzled sailors28 It merged with

Time Warner in2001

30 Composes acelebrity memoir,say

32 Block and tacklecomponent

34 Muscularly fit35 Leaning Tower

location36 Dot on a die37 Discussion point

on an agenda41 Former name of

the DemocraticRepublic of theCongo

44 Thick soup46 They may be

responsible forsome long lines

50 Great weight51 Legume in a

Louisiana ricedish

52 “I know! I know!”

54 Classic gasstation brand

55 NYPD figures57 Group for

seniors59 Strategy that’s

deployed first61 Priest’s duty,

and a fitting finalanswer after17-, 30- and46-Across

64 Heaps65 Jazz legend

Fitzgerald66 ___ out (fall

asleep)67 “Holy cow!”68 Bit of

watermelonwaste

69 Online artsand craftsmarketplace

TheWSJ Daily Crossword | Edited by Mike Shenk

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

Down1 Late “Notorious”Supreme Courtjustice

2 Historic spans3 Content

barriers tononsubscribers

4 WhatRumpelstiltskinspun

5 Unit of work6 Start of a pirate

chant7 “___, Brute?”8 Where to stretch

your legsbetween exits

9 Court focus10 Burned the

candle at bothends, say

11 Series revival inHollywood

12 Clean a canal,say

13 Emphasize18 Mirror reflection22 Stitched25 Bashful27 “We ___ the

Champions”28 iPad download29 Parisian

affirmative

31 “The Girl Withthe DragonTattoo” authorLarsson

33 Sluggard36 Chips-in-a-can

brand38 Ore-Ida morsel39 Sense of self40 Fellows42 Wonder43 Income sources

for retirees, forshort

44 Scoreboard units:Abbr.

45 Schindler of“Schindler’s List”

46 Like amonogrammedpolo shirt

47 “SupermarketSweep” hostJones

48 Revenue sourcefor a magazine

49 Major bother53 Corn, in Britain56 Story58 Farm enclosures60 Baseball bat

wood62 Smidgen63 The limit,

metaphorically

Previous Puzzle’s Solution

The contest answer is LIVE ONBORROWEDTIME.As suggested by the answer SUBPRIME LENDING,the letters in the squares below the squares thatcontain prime numbers spell the contest answer.

C A M P A E G I S A F R OO L I O V N E C K C O I NB I L L M E D L E Y R O L LB E E O N U S W O O L L Y

S O U P E R R SA T O N E M A I L S O F F

A R I A A I R T O R I OS U B P R I M E L E N D I N GA B E O W E N S I O N SP A R A G O N S L I E N S

D E N S S A T SS T U A R T S T U B N O TT A N G A U T O R E P A I RE R I E S M I L E I S L EM A T S K A R E N E A S Y

how to field-dress a rabbit thatbrought 400 viewers, far more thanexpected, said Land Tawney, thegroup’s CEO. In Pennsylvania, Tra-vis Lau of the state’s Game Com-mission said he’s even gotten inqui-ries on how to dress and cook agroundhog.

The National Rifle Association, inrecent years best known for its po-litical fights about concealed hand-guns and assault-style rifles, hasseen an uptick in membership be-cause of the renewed interest inhunting, according to EricaTergeson, director of hunting policyfor the group. The resurgence isgiving the NRA a chance to broadenits base.

Shooting advocacy groups lob-bied hard last spring for govern-ment officials to deem gun storesessential businesses in order toavoid Covid-related shutdowns,which helped keep sales up.

Hunters play a critical role insupporting wildlife and conserva-tion, something outsiders might notrealize. California generated $26.5million last year from the sale ofhunting licenses, various tags andother required validations, a sumthat goes to support things likewildlife-habitat improvement andland acquisition.

Greg Kazmierski, owner of BuckRub Outfitters in Pewaukee, Wis.,knows all about the industry’strends after 42 years dealing withbows and arrows, and hopes thisyear will signal a shift in fortunes.

At his shop, he’s low on broad-heads and some other supplies thathave become hard to get. He’s alsolow on used bows, which new hunt-ers have been snapping up. In be-tween fittings of compound bowsfor two brand-new archers, Ka-zmierski talked about welcomingthe business, and the new interestof young people.

“We’ve been wondering wherethese people were for the past de-cade,” he said with a gruff laugh.

BY BEN KESLING AND RACHEL BACHMAN

HuntingBoomsDuringPandemicLicense sales, in long decline, jumped this year as newcomers ventured into the wild

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ROBE

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SPA

RKSANDWILDLIFE

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Gray Matter:AUser’s ManualSeven and a Half Lessons About the BrainBy Lisa Feldman Barrett(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 180 pages, $24)

BOOKSHELF | By Emily Bobrow

A re you doing something rash and unwise? Blame your“lizard brain.” Our reptilian instincts, which date fromwhen we were all cold-blooded creatures around 300

million years ago, supposedly guide all of our primal urges,from throwing a punch to having an affair. Scientists havelong posited that time and evolution stratified the humanbrain, with the oldest and crudest lizard layer lurking at thebottom, followed by the mammalian limbic system, whichcontrols emotion, and topped by the uniquely human neo-cortex, which guides rational thought. This theory not onlysuggests that humans are the most evolved creatures, givenour deluxe add-ons, but also explains the tug of war betweenour animal impulses and logical ambitions—an inner strugglePlato observed more than 2,000 years ago.

But according to Lisa Feldman Barrett, a professor atNortheastern University, the idea that the human braindeveloped a way to rein in our inner lizard is one of the mostpersistent and widespread errors in all of science.

In her slim but potent “Sevenand a Half Lessons About theBrain,” Ms. Barrett eagerly dis-pels this and other myths aboutthe gray matter between ourears. She writes that the notionthat the human brain has threediscrete layers emerged in themid-20th century, when the besttechnology available was a micro-scope. Based on visual inspection,the human brain does indeed looklike it has parts that are not inthe brains of other animals. Butwhen scientists began examiningthe molecular makeup of braincells in the 1990s, they discovered

that neurons from various animal species may look differentbut often have the same genes, suggesting they share anevolutionary origin.

More dramatically, Ms. Barrett writes that scientists haverecently discovered that the brains of all mammals—and mostlikely all vertebrates—follow a single manufacturing plan.This means every brain has the same essential ingredients butwith species-specific mutations to aid survival in differentenvironments. This, argues Ms. Barrett, undermines the ideathat the human brain stands apart as the pinnacle of naturalselection. Sure, our brain seems impressive, but we aresimply one animal among many with a noodle adapted to thetask of survival. “Other animals are not inferior to humans,”Ms. Barrett writes. “Your brain is not more evolved than arat or lizard brain, just differently evolved.”

Ms. Barrett is not afraid of picking arguments. In her 2017book “How Emotions Are Made,” she used research from herlab and others to contest decades of conventional wisdomabout emotions. (Her basic argument is that emotions are notinnate, universal experiences, but cultural concepts rooted innuanced physical sensations that may differ from person toperson.) With this book, she compellingly explains that muchof what we thought we knew about the brain is wrong.

Perhaps the biggest misconception, Ms. Barrett writes, isthat our brains evolved for thinking. Sure, our fancy brainsare responsible for everything from suspension bridges to“Infinite Jest,” but these are byproducts of its main purpose:to regulate our physical resources to ensure our survival.Every brain essentially manages what Ms. Barrett calls a“body budget,” tracking resources like water, salt and glucose.“Every action you take (or don’t take) is an economic choice,”she explains, and our brains are engaged in constant guess-work about when it’s best to eat or flee.

As animals evolved larger bodies with more sophisticatedsystems for pumping blood and oxygen, the work of keepingthese bodies running smoothly demanded a more advanced

command center. If the earliest brains were like a single bankaccount, the brains for more complex creatures were like theaccounting departments of big companies. The human brain,a product of hundreds of millions of years of evolution, nowsupervises over 600 muscles, balances dozens of hormonesand regulates the energy of billions of brain cells, among otherunconscious feats. But for all of its complexity, our brain’s“most important job” is to invest our energy in ways thatpay off in terms of food, shelter, affection or whatever elsewe might need to pass our genes to the next generation.

These instincts are unconscious, but we can witness themat play. Writing this review, for example, cost me some sleep.In exchange for this short-term body-budget deficit, I amhoping to receive all sorts of things to help ensure mysurvival: money, attention, a relationship with an editor whomay offer future work. But if I kept this schedule every day,the overdraft on my body budget would probably get me sick.

In breezy language, Ms. Barrett covers a daunting amountof territory. It turns out that it is wrong to believe that partsof the brain have exclusive functions, or that the left and righthemispheres have contrasting properties. No neuron, appar-ently, has a single job, and different groups of neurons canproduce the same result. As for whether our personalities arethe product of nature or nurture, Ms. Barrett argues that therelationship between our genes and our environment is “sodeeply entwined that it’s unhelpful to call them separate names.”

The human brain is essentially “under construction” forthe first 25 years, Ms. Barrett writes. Babies are born withmany more neural connections than they need, and it is thejob of caregivers to help strengthen necessary connectionsand remove unnecessary ones—a process Ms. Barrett calls“tuning and pruning.” Our impressively adaptable brain iswhat allows humans to thrive in places as diverse as thedesert and the Arctic, but it comes at a cost. Caregiver neglector inadequate nutrition can seriously harm a nascent brain,with lasting consequences.

This book’s brevity leaves plenty of room for questions:As Ms. Barrett admits, “there are still many more lessons tolearn.” Why, I wondered, are our brains so much morecomplex than those of other animals? Does survival aloneexplain human ingenuity? And what is the use of thosebrain-based experiences that tax our body budget withlittle upside, such as anxiety and depression? “Our kind ofbrain isn’t the biggest in the animal kingdom, and it’s notthe best in any objective sense,” Ms. Barrett concludes.“But it’s ours. It’s the source of our strengths and ourfoibles . . . It makes us simply, imperfectly, gloriously human.”

Ms. Bobrow writes the Journal’s Weekend Confidential column.

The human brain did not evolve for thinking.Its main purpose is to regulate ourphysical resources and ensure our survival.

On the One Hand, There’s a Pandemic . . .

S taring at my rigid anddeformed left thumband the apple I wish I

could slice, I remind myself tobe patient. Slicing, openingjars, and buttoning clotheswill have to wait, like dinnerparties, live theater and mydaughter’s field-hockeygames. If all goes well, myfunctional left thumb and theCovid vaccine will be availableby summer.

One morning in January2019, after dropping mydaughter at school in NewYork City, I was struck by alarge SUV and sent flyingonto the pavement. The resultwas a severely broken leftforearm, cuts, bruises and adamaged left thumb joint.

The driver hit the brakeson impact. I try not to thinkabout the injuries I mighthave suffered otherwise. Butthe trauma still flashes in mybrain every time I step off acurb or see a speeding car.

After months of unsuccess-ful physical therapy and thestrain of the pandemic, thisfall my husband, our daughterand I moved to a Washingtonsuburb. Stable enough at last,I scheduled surgery for mythumb.

It was logical. The perfecttime to repair my thumb wasnow while we’re isolated withnowhere to go. Thankfully, myhusband and daughter havebeen at home with me. Other-wise, they’d be at work orschool and I’d be stuck aloneelevating my immobilized lefthand as I watched cookingand craft shows and vicari-ously lived my old life.

“Can you open that sodacan, unscrew the toothpastecap, zip up my coat, drive me

to the doctor?” My needsseem endless. They have beenincredibly helpful but matchedwith Covid fatigue, our healthyfamily has struggled.

When I went ahead withthe surgery, I didn’t fullygrasp how completely losingthe use of my left hand wouldhinder my life and take a tollon my emotional well-being.

Compared with the emer-gency surgery right after theaccident, in which a longmetal plate was screwed in toset my left forearm, this pro-cedure was remarkably moreinconvenient. A fully oppos-able thumb is uniquely hu-man. I now realize I took forgranted washing my hair, get-ting dressed, using the bath-room, typing on my laptop.

One of my coping strate-gies had been to get dressedevery day in something casualbut stylish enough that I’dfeel comfortable going to acafe or happy hour. Now I canforget about buttoning up myfavorite jeans and wearing

shoes with laces or pull-onboots. Thank God for blackspandex leggings and Velcrotennis shoes.

I rewatched Daniel Day-Lewis’s Oscar-winning perfor-mance as Christy Brown in“My Left Foot” for a realitycheck on my annoying but in-comparably minuscule handi-cap. Six weeks postsurgeryand finally brace-free, I re-cently dropped a jar of sweetpickles while struggling toopen it.

Like my thumb, our worldwill never be as it was. But,along with the pandemic, mythumb impairment has ex-panded my humility andgratitude.

I’m deeply grateful the ac-cident didn’t leave me para-lyzed, that I have a stablehome, that I have family andfriends, and that I’m right-handed so I can still sign aCovid liability waiver.

Ms. Baiss is a writer andvoice-over artist.

By Bridget Baiss

On the other, I’m allthumbs because I canuse only one of them.

OPINION

Years ago Ivisited afriend at JPL,the Jet Pro-pulsion Labo-ratory inSouthern Cal-ifornia, andhe asked if Iwanted tomeet the cap-tain of the

Voyager 2, the space probelaunched in 1977, then headedtoward Neptune. “Abso-lutely!” In the middle of amessy room sat a youngwoman drinking coffee andsmoking a cigarette—the cap-tain!—next to a toaster-sizegray box with a white dim-mer-like knob on top of it.Radio signals take hours toreach the Voyager, and be-tween long stretches of bore-dom, the captain could usethe knob to adjust its an-tenna. My friend was captainthe previous week, and nowit was her turn.

As we recalled during the50th anniversary of the lunarlanding last year, space travelis a great challenge, a destinyjust out of reach—until itisn’t. It’s aspirational and in-spirational. Even so, wiseguys (like me) note that afterbillions poured into the spaceprogram, all we got wereTang and Velcro. Earthwise,that’s not so far off. It’s calledspace because, let’s face it,there’s not much in it.

Yes, communication satel-lites are important, as is GPS,which helps Uber steer a cartoward you. But note thatGPS first got off the groundin 1973 because it was fundedfor Nudet, or nuclear detona-

Dear NASA: What’s in It for Me?tion detection—military tech,not space exploration. To befair, NASA was an early cus-tomer of Silicon Valley, butquickly abandoned state-of-the-art chips in favor ofhighly reliable older ones.

Still, progress marchesalong. We now have a SpaceForce, founded a year agothis week. Boldly go! Lastmonth, a privately fundedSpaceX rocket and capsulesafely ferried four astronautsto the International SpaceStation, an amazing accom-plishment for all anti-big-government types. Astro-nauts will conductexperiments of unknownvalue to earthly pursuits.There have been 3,000 suchexperiments in 20 years,though nothing earth-shatter-ing. Can spiders build websin space? Not quite the rightstuff. Last week Chuck Yeagerdied. Oh, and an Israeli for-mer space officer says theEarth has been contacted bya “Galactic Federation.” Uhhuh.

Don’t get me wrong, I’mfascinated by fiery launchesand rocket stages that landon floating platforms for re-use. But I’m more in the“What’s in it for me?” camp.Communications, imagingand even travel benefit all ofus. Going to Mars? I’m not sosure.

How about we mine aster-oids for metals and even wa-ter? Amazon’s Jeff Bezos andGoogle’s Eric Schmidt werebig proponents. But thatfunding spreadsheet neverworked because, upon landingon Earth, the prices of thosecommodities would quickly

drop through the floor. Goodfor earthlings, but not sogood for return on invest-ment, which is probably whyit hasn’t been attempted.

China’s robotic Chang’e-5spacecraft went to the moonto collect rocks (no they’reminerals—Jesus, Marie). Uh,couldn’t we just lend themsome of ours from 50 yearsago? No one has yet found“Space Odyssey” monoliths

on the moon, but one justshowed up in Utah. Weird. InOctober, using infrared imag-ing, NASA actually did findwater on the moon’s sunlitside. This after the Europe-ans’ 2004 discovery of ice onthe south pole of Mars. Rock-ets need hydrogen and oxy-gen for fuel, so maybe inter-planetary travel will actuallybe a possibility someday.

Or so dreams Elon Musk,who envisions a million-pop-ulation city on Mars by 2050.He thinks he’ll send cargoships to Mars in 2024 andthen humans will follow inFebruary 2027 when Earthand Mars are closer to eachother. Watch the Netflix se-ries “Away” for a taste. I’mskeptical. Mr. Musk often hasa fantastical relationship withschedules, so maybe pad afew years, or decades, on.

Tinfoil-hat toppers, andmany in Silicon Valley, fear

Armageddon is coming andsee Mars as our safety valve.Mr. Musk wants “enough of aseed of human civilizationsomewhere else” (perhapsenough to keep buying Tes-las). Let’s hurry up and colo-nize Mars so humans can es-cape World War III or Covid-30. Maybe he watches toomuch sci-fi. On his ownnickel, though, go for it.

On Wednesday Mr. Musk’sSpaceX tested a new StarshipSN8 rocket prototype. De-signed for Mars, the 8-miletest flight was a success butits return ended in a fireball—what Mr. Musk called a “rapidunscheduled disassembly.”Gotta stick the landing!

Meanwhile, back on thethird rock from the sun,maybe there is utility to allthis. Mr. Musk also intendsthe Starship to make 39-min-ute suborbital flights betweenNew York and Shanghai, com-pared with 15 hours today forthe 7,000-mile journey. Take aboat to a floating platform,launch into the lower strato-sphere, reach a peak of 16,000miles an hour (Mach 20) andthen re-enter and carefullyland on another floatinglaunchpad offshore.

If all goes well, and I meanall, SpaceX thinks they’ll runcommercial flights by the endof the decade at a cost of $2million. That’s $20,000 a pas-senger—no meal. I’ll believeit when I see it, but whenthey say seat backs in theirfull, upright position and seatbelts securely fastened, Ithink I’ll listen. Hopefully, thecaptain has more than a dim-mer knob.

Write to [email protected].

Space explorationcould provide bigtechnological benefits,but we’re still waiting.

INSIDEVIEWBy AndyKessler

O n Monday a member ofAbu Dhabi’s ruling fam-ily, Sheikh Hamad bin

Khalifa al Nahyan, bought a50% stake in an Israeli soccerteam, Beitar Jerusalem, for$92 million. “Go Beitar!” thesheikh said. Actually, that’s atranslation from—well, whichlanguage? The chant, using anArabic word long incorpo-rated into Hebrew, is “YallaBeitar, yalla!”

Regrettably, that isn’t theonly chant used by the team’sfans in the Israeli capital.Sometime in the 1990s I tookmy nephew to a Beitar soccergame at Teddy, its stadiumnamed after Teddy Kollek, Je-rusalem’s legendary mayor(1965-93). The chant “Deathto the Arabs” started in thestands as soon as the gamebegan. This was before Israelitelevision did documentarieson a Beitar fan group of hoo-ligans calling itself “La Fa-milia,” so it was completelynew, and shocking, to me.

By then I was living in NewYork and following the Yan-kees more closely than any Is-raeli team, so I asked mynephew, a soccer maven, if theopposing team, Hapoel Haifa,had any Arab players. Nope.The chant was directed at noparticular person. More like:Arabs are bad, so anyoneplaying against us is an Arab,and therefore death-worthy.

Beitar fans didn’t inventsoccer hooliganism. Totten-ham, a North London teamidentified with the Jews, has

Coexistence Comes to an Israeli Soccer Fieldlong been subject to anti-Se-mitic chants. Anti-Muslim andanti-African chants are sungat stadiums across Europe.Violence often ensues. Yet inIsrael, where almost anythingcan be made into a referen-dum on political and nationalcharacter, Beitar fans came tosymbolize the worst in right-wing behavior.

Like all Israeli sportsteams, Beitar Jerusalem hasits origin in politics. BeforeIsrael’s creation in 1948, ath-letic teams from major citieswere party-affiliated. Maccabi

represented the urban politi-cal center; Hapoel (“theworker”), the socialist Zion-ists; and Beitar, the “revision-ist” right-wing faction fromwhich Israel’s current rulingparty, Likud, was born.

Beitar is the Hebrew acro-nym of the Joseph Trumpel-dor Alliance, named after oneof Zionism’s military heroes.The movement was foundedby Ze’ev Jabotinsky, a fighterand prolific writer who wasan early proponent of Jewishcontrol over the entire landof Israel. His most famous es-say, “Iron Wall” (1923), haslong been cited by detractorsas proof of anti-Arabism onthe right.

But Jabotinsky and his re-visionist movement weren’tanti-Arab, and the racistchants at Teddy would haveangered him. In “What the Zi-onist-Revisionists Want”(1926), Jabotinsky wrote:“Our attitude toward the Pal-estinian Arabs is determinedby the full recognition of oneobjective fact: Even after theformation of a Jewish major-ity a considerable Arab popu-lation will always remain inPalestine. If things fare badlyfor this group of inhabitantsthen things will fare badly forthe entire country. The politi-cal, economic and culturalwelfare of the Arabs will thusalways remain one of themain conditions for the well-being of the land of Israel.”

Nor was his most famousessay an Arab-bashing tract.Jabotinsky argued that Jewsmust create their state andface the belligerence of Arableadership head on. Once thestate was secure behind an“iron wall,” he wrote, the Ar-abs will “drop their extrem-ist leaders, whose watch-word is ‘never!’ and pass theleadership to the moderategroups, who will approach uswith a proposal that weshould both agree to mutualconcessions.”

Is that prediction, made in1923, feasible a century later?“No. No, no and no,” JohnKerry said in December 2016,when he was secretary ofstate. “There will be no ad-vance and separate peacewith the Arab world withoutthe Palestinian process and

Palestinian peace.” He calledthis a “hard reality.”

The founder of the Beitarmovement was a much betterreader of world affairs thanMr. Kerry, a Bostonian whoin 2004 said his favorite RedSox player was “Manny Or-tez” (the team’s stars in-cluded Manny Ramirez andDavid Ortiz). It took a while,but every Arab normalizationdeal with Israel—and pur-chase of an Israeli soccerteam—now proves Jabotin-sky right and Mr. Kerrywrong.

I’m no Beitar Jerusalemfan. Like my late father, I rootfor Hapoel Tel Aviv, whichhas ugly fans of its own. Butback at Teddy, extremist sup-porters must be confused.They have long demandedthat Beitar never sign anArab player. Now the team’sfuture hinges on a co-ownerfrom the United Arab Emir-ates. “We see before our eyesthe phenomenal results of thefruits of peace and brother-hood among the people andwe are mapping a new pathtoward bringing the hearts ofpeople together throughsports,” said Sheikh HamadMonday.

Can “Yalla Arabs, Yalla!” befar behind as a cheer atTeddy? Isn’t the Mideast aconfusing place?

Mr. Avni is a New York-based foreign-policy columnist.

Beitar Jerusalem fansonce shouted, ‘Deathto the Arabs!’ Now oneowns half the team.

By Benny Avni

Mary Anastasia O’Grady isaway.



The ‘Dr.’ Is in—the Next First Lady Earned ItJoseph Epstein’s op-ed (“Is There a

Doctor in the White House? Not ifYou Need an M.D.,” Dec. 12) reeks ofsour grapes. He tells readers about allhe has accomplished without any typeof advanced degree, including that hewas an educator for 30 years. So wasI, and I admire Dr. Jill Biden for hav-ing obtained her Ed.D. She has a rightto be proud of her personal achieve-ments and use “Dr.” in front of hername. She is also a role model whowas able to take on family responsi-bilities as well as advanced academicresponsibilities. In this day and age,Mr. Epstein’s article comes across asa put-down, an attempt to diminishthe achievements of a woman who isto be respected and admired.

RENEE FISHMANPalm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Most of Mr. Epstein’s complaintsabout higher education seem to liewith the silly practice of bestowinghonorary doctorates, which is entirelybeside the point. What Mr. Epsteindoes have to say about academics hasfar more to do with self-seriousnessthan the value of the research theyare producing. If he takes issue withthe quality of Dr. Biden’s dissertation,let him make that argument on thesubstance rather than belittling herfield, dissertation topic and degree-granting institution.

There are many great researchersat universities other than Mr. Ep-stein’s own. There are many impor-tant research topics that don’t re-quire knowledge of Latin and Greek.A doctoral thesis on increasing stu-dent retention in community collegesmay strike Mr. Epstein as “unpromis-ing,” but it is an important questionfor the millions of U.S. undergradu-ates enrolled in community colleges.

SAMUEL HIGBEEChicago

Mr. Epstein fails to realize that ac-ademic women are almost always dis-missed and their titles ignored. Stu-dents routinely call their maleinstructors—with or without a doc-torate—“Dr.” and their female ones“Mrs.” or even their first name. Fe-male professors who speak outagainst this are classified as preten-tious, difficult or vain. Students rolltheir eyes when corrected and eventhe best male colleagues don’t alwayscorrect students when they makethese kinds of assumptions.

While titles are merely titles, thelarger issue is the persistent notionthat women’s work and accomplish-ments are secondary to their maritalstatus. Female professors are rou-tinely paid less for more work andcontinually have to prove themselvesto be equal to their male colleagues.

PROF. JENNIFER WALTON-HANLEYWestern Kentucky University

Bowling Green, Ky.

Someone call a doctor: Mr. Ep-stein has a chip on his shoulder.While I share some of his concernsabout the degradation of standardsin education, a brilliant gentlemanlike Mr. Epstein should considerearning that extra degree himselfrather than stripping an important

person of her credentials.His article is also patronizing. Con-

test the honorific, fine. But is it re-spectful to replace “Dr. Jill” with“kiddo”?

CHANDLER SIMS CHANG, PH.DLos Angeles

We, the undersigned, wish to ex-press significant concern that a na-tional spotlight has been given to theoutrageously sexist and uninformedopinions penned by Mr. Epstein.Women, including those with ad-vanced degrees, already suffer behindsystems that prioritize men, neglecttheir contributions and undervaluetheir accomplishments. In the piece,Mr. Epstein intimates that one suchaccomplished woman, Dr. Biden, inacquiring her Ed.D and thus being re-ferred to as “Dr.,” has not only used atitle that should be reserved for med-ical doctors, but that the degree hasless value than Ph.Ds in other fieldsbecause of when it was awarded.

Mr. Epstein implies that Dr. Biden’sachievements were only possible be-cause academia has become, in hisopinion, too easy. Mr. Epstein, the re-cipient only of a B.A., attempts to dis-qualify a dedicated, talented womanfrom using the title she has earned.

Lending a platform to this kind ofignorance is damaging not only towomen but to everyone. It is trulyironic that you would choose to pub-lish a poorly written piece by an un-derqualified lecturer attacking anoted leader who is on the brink ofhelping to transform education in thiscountry away from the entitlementand toxicity that Mr. Epstein seems toworship. Unfortunately, that is all toooften the lived experience of educatedwomen. One can only surmise that“the relaxation of standards in uni-versity education generally” must beresponsible for the employment ofMr. Epstein in the first place.

PROF. BRITNEY E. SCHMIDTGeorgia Institute of Technology

AtlantaThis letter carries 330 signatures.

Having read Mr. Epstein’s enter-taining and compelling article, I mustnow add another regret to my longlist: I never took a class from him asan undergraduate at Northwestern. Iagree that we shouldn’t address as“Dr.” those whose only claim to fameis an advanced academic degree. Evenmy fellow lawyers understand this,and they are arguably the most self-important people of our age. “JurisDoctors” all, we are prohibited byconvention—and in many places bystate bars—from using the title “Dr.”

SCOTT HOYNELong Grove, Ill.

Mr. Epstein thinks Dr. Bidenshouldn’t use the title she earned, butduring his time as the editor of theAmerican Scholar, he wrote under thepseudonym “Aristides,” a statesmanthe historian Herodotus called “thebest and most honorable man in Ath-ens.” Perhaps Mr. Epstein isn’t thebest person to write against preten-tiousness.

STEVE CHIVERSLos Angeles

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

“Career goal? Not to have to work.”

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL

Letters intended for publicationshould be emailed to [email protected] include your city, state andtelephone number. All letters are sub-ject to editing, and unpublished letterscannot be acknowledged.

Pepper ...And Salt

Pope Francis’s Silence on China’s PersecutionWilliam McGurn is disturbed by

“The Silence of Pope Francis” (MainStreet, Dec. 8) with regard to China’sarrest of Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong’smost well-known Catholic laymanand champion of democracy.

Pragmatism may account for PopeFrancis rendering unto China someauthority over the church that tradi-tionally is rendered unto God, buthis approach fits a pattern. It maybe that you can take a pope out ofArgentina, but you can’t take Argen-tina out of a pope. Argentina hasbeen infatuated with populist poli-tics, democratic socialism and socialjustice for a century. A serial de-faulter, Argentina periodicallyblames greedy capitalist lenders forthe nation’s borrowing addiction andinforms them that they don’t de-serve to be repaid in full.

China’s communism was neverperceived as a serious threat to Ar-gentina, but greedy capitalists in theWest were. Supposedly they weresucking the lifeblood out of thecountry. In this view, social justice

is more important than one HongKong media mogul thrown in jail fortrying to preserve Western-stylefreedoms.

CHRIS DAVISJacksonville, Fla.

With St. Ignatius in mind, we needto consider that there might be goodreasons behind Pope Francis’ silenceon Jimmy Lai’s arrest. The Popecould believe that any public con-demnation would only add fuel tothe fire in the cold war betweenChina and the West. Those under re-ligious persecution in China have themight of the U.S. and most of theWest to petition for their rights. I’mnot sure what good it would do forthe Vatican to condemn China, too.It could, however, result in the ex-pulsion of the Catholic Church fromChina and the deprivation of theBlessed Sacrament from millions ofChinese Catholics.

ERIC LEISSouth Bend, Ind.

Trump’s Challenge Is Over

T he Electoral College meets Monday tocast its votes for President, officiallymarking Joe Biden as the election win-

ner. President Trump’s legalchallenges have run theircourse, and he and the rest ofthe Republican Party can helpthe country and themselves byacknowledging the result andmoving on.

Mr. Trump’s last legal gasp came Friday eve-ning when the Supreme Court declined to hearthe Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the elec-tion results in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michiganand Pennsylvania. As we predicted, the Courtcited Texas’s lack of legal standing to challengehow another state manages its elections.

Some on the right claim that Justices SamuelAlito and Clarence Thomas dissented, but thisis wrong. The Justices said they would havetaken the Texas case as a “bill of complaint”when states sue other states.

This is a technical point that concerns theCourt’s casemanagement, and the two Justiceshave a long-time view that the Court shouldhearmore of these direct state appeals.We hap-pen to agree, but in this case the Texas claimwas outside constitutional bounds. Justice Alito(joined by Justice Thomas) added that hewould“not grant other relief.” This was not a dissenton the merits of the Texas claim.

Mr. Trump and his camp are attacking theCourt, and the President is deriding the “stand-ing” point as a dodge. It ismuchmore than that.Limits on standing are fundamental to a conser-vative understanding of the proper judicial roleunder Article III of the Constitution. If anyonecan sue without a cognizable injury and thepossibility of remedy, the courts would be over-whelmed with frivolous claims.

The Court made the right call, and it wouldbe refreshing if the political left that has relent-lessly attackedMr. Trump’s judicial appointeesas partisans admitted howwrong they’ve been.We’ve lost track of the many claims by Demo-crats and the press that Mr. Trump appointedAmy Coney Barrett to steal the election. Sheand Mr. Trump’s other two Court appointeesdid not dissent in the Texas case.

Mr. Trump’s nominees have performed admi-rably in the post-election controversies acrossthe federal bench. The judges have examinedthe facts in light of the law and dismissedclaims not backed by evidence. In some casesthe opinions have been withering. The contrastis striking with the Pennsylvania SupremeCourt, which is highly partisan and rules consis-tently for Democrats in political cases.

i i i

This is onemore example inwhich the claimsthat Mr. Trumpwould somehow hijack Ameri-can democracy have been proven false. ThePresident huffs and tweets but he never blowsthe country’s core institutions down. Thechecks and balances have held.

The spectacle of somany House Republicans

endorsing the Texas suit is depressing, and theyaren’t profiles in courage. But their criticswould havemore credibility if they hadn’t pro-

moted the Russia “collusion”lies for four years and in-dulged Hillary Clinton’s claimsto this day that the Russianselected Mr. Trump in 2016.This is one reason that tens ofmillions of Americans are in-

clined to believe Mr. Trump’s election claimsdespite the losses in court.

They have seen that Democrats and the pressnever accepted the legitimacy of Mr. Trump’svictory in 2016. Recall that in January 2017 noless a Democratic authority than the celebratedRep. John Lewis, since deceased, said “I don’tsee this President-elect as a legitimate Presi-dent” because the Russians elected him. He andother Democrats made a show of skipping theinauguration in protest. Was that an attack ondemocracy?

None of this excuses Mr. Trump’s attemptsto delegitimize Mr. Biden’s victory on Nov. 3.There is no doubt that mass mail-in ballotingled to more election problems, such as varyingrules for signature verification in differentPennsylvania counties. Improving ballot integ-rity for mailed ballots should be a legislativepriority in the states in the next two years.

But these irregularities do not add up to astolen election inmultiple states. Even if Mr. Bi-den’s narrow victory was overturned in one ofthe closely contested states, he would havemore than 270 electoral votes. John Kerry andAl Gore bothwould havewon had they not narr-rowly lost Ohio and Florida, respectively, butthey both conceded (Mr. Gore after a long legalfight). Richard Nixon conceded in 1960 despiteevidence that he was cheated out of Illinois. Alldid so at least in part to avoid tipping the U.S.into irreparable political division.

i i i

There’s no predicting how Mr. Trump willbehave. He rarely takes our advice—we said inJanuary 2017 that he should fire James Comeyupon taking office—and perhaps he will con-tinue his “stolen” election claims past Jan. 20.Perhaps he can’t admit to himself that he lost.Perhaps he hopes to nurture resentment to runagain in 2024.

But bitterness as a political strategy rarelywears well. If Republicans lose the Georgia Sen-ate runoffs on Jan. 5, Mr. Trump will deservemuch of the blame. If election protests turn toviolence in the streets, as they did on the week-end inWashington, he will be blamed whetherhe deserves it or not. Mrs. Clinton’s example ofstill claiming she was cheated, four years later,hasn’t enhanced her reputation.

There’s a time to fight, and a time to con-cede. Mr. Trump has had his innumerable daysin court and lost. He would do far better nowto tout his accomplishments in office, which aremany, and accept his not so horrible fate as oneof 45 former American Presidents.

After losing at theSupreme Court, he hasno legal alternatives.

Religious Freedom and the FBI

P rogressives often caricature the Reli-gious Freedom Restoration Act as aspecial legal protection for intolerant

Christians. But the SupremeCourt delivered another refu-tation of that distortion lastweek, ruling unanimouslythat three Muslim men cansue federal agents underRFRA for alleged unfair treat-ment by the FBI.

The men say they were put on the no-flylist as retaliation after they refused to act asinformants inside Muslim communities. UnderRFRA, a federal law passed in 1993 and signedby President Clinton, if the government un-lawfully burdens religious exercise, Americansmay sue to “obtain appropriate relief.”

Although the Muslim men were eventuallytaken off the no-fly list, they also sued as-sorted federal agents for damages. The leadplaintiff, Muhammad Tanvir, told a lowercourt that he was forced to “quit his job as atruck driver, in part because he was unable tofly back to New York after completing long-distance, one-way deliveries.” The restrictionalso “prevented him from visiting his sickmother in Pakistan.”

But does RFRA even allow plaintiffs to suegovernment officials in their personal capaci-ties like this, and for monetary damages? Adistrict judge said no, dismissing the claims.

But the Supreme Court now says yes in its 8-0ruling in Tanzin v. Tanvir, with Justice AmyConey Barrett not taking part. “A ‘govern-

ment,’ under RFRA, extendsbeyond the term’s plainmeaning to include officials,”Justice Clarence Thomaswrote for the Court.

He added: “A damagesremedy is not just ‘appropri-

ate’ relief as viewed through the lens of suitsagainst Government employees. It is also theonly form of relief that can remedy someRFRA violations.” As an example, JusticeThomas cited the Muslim men’s “wasted planetickets.”

The case isn’t over. Now that the men havevindicated their right to make these claimsunder RFRA, they’ll go back to the lowercourts for redress. The federal defendantsmight raise other defenses, such as the quali-fied immunity that often shields governmentofficials from liability, even when the allegedconduct is egregious.

The attacks on RFRA by progressives latelybear little resemblance to reality. Muslims citethe law when saying they were mistreated bythe FBI. Native Americans cite it when theywant to use legally protected eagle feathersin their ceremonies. And, yes, Catholic nunscite it, too. This is the spirit of the FirstAmendment.

Three Muslim menwin at the SupremeCourt under RFRA.

Goodbye, Summer of Love

J enny Durkan isn’t running for re-electionin November 2021, and the world doesn’tmourn. Seattle’s mayor says in a video

that she had to choose be-tween spending “the nextyear campaigning to keepthis job” or focusing “all myenergy on doing the job.”More likely, Ms. Durkan real-ized that if she ran, she’dprobably lose.

The mayor will go down in history for al-lowing protesters to create a police-freeCapitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in hercity. She famously went on CNN to heraldthe event as a “summer of love.” Occupierstook over a police precinct inside the zonebut Ms. Durkan did nothing. Violence fol-lowed—and now continues, with Seattle al-ready having 55 murders this year, nearly

double the number for 2019.It says something about Seattle’s progres-

sives that their answer to rising crime hasbeen to cut the police budgetby 18%, which the mayorsigned last week. Theywanted to cut it by 50%,which helped push the city’sfirst African-American policechief, Carmen Best, to resign.

Mayor Durkan fought the activists and drovethe cuts down to 18%, which in Seattle makesher a moderate. At one point the CHAZ protes-tors marched to the mayor’s home to showtheir dissatisfaction.

With her announcement, the political land-scape has opened up. But the progressive real-ity of Seattle means that the next mayor willmore than likely be to her left. Get ready formore love and anarchy.

Jenny Durkan, Seattle’smayor, says she won’trun for re-election.

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

OPINION

CORRECTIONS

“When They See Us” is a dramatiza-tion that Netflix describes as “based onthe true story.” The series’s genre wasmisstated in the Dec. 12 article “Netflix’sTrue-Crime Character Assassination.”

Seth Meyers received an honorarydoctorate from Northwestern. He wasmisidentified in the Dec. 12 op-ed “IsThere a Doctor in the White House? Notif You Need an M.D.”



J oe Biden says it is “time toheal” America’s divisions af-ter the Trump presidency,and The Wall Street Journalhas praised him for saying

so. Presumably he intends less ran-cor with the press as part of thismandate, but on that score my run-in with the Biden team this weekendwas very Trumpian.

The catalyst was our Saturday op-ed by Joseph Epstein, “Is There aDoctor in the White House? Not ifYou Need an M.D.” Mr. Epstein, alongtime contributor, criticized thehabit of people with Ph.D.s or otherdoctorates calling themselves “Dr.” ashighfalutin, using Jill Biden as Ex-hibit A. Mr. Epstein can be acerbic,and his piece began: “Madame FirstLady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo: a bitof advice on what may seem like asmall but I think is a not unimportantmatter. Any chance you might dropthe ‘Dr.’ before your name?”

This has triggered a flood of mediaand Twitter criticism, including de-mands that I retract the piece, apolo-gize personally to Mrs. Biden, banMr. Epstein for all time, and resignand think upon my sins. The com-plaints began as a trickle but becamea torrent after the Biden media teamelevated Mr. Epstein’s work in whatwas clearly a political strategy.

Mrs. Biden’s press spokesperson,Michael LaRosa, issued a tweet inearly afternoon: “@jamestaranto, youand the @WSJ should be embar-rassed to print the disgusting and sex-ist attack on @DrBiden running onthe @WSJopinion page. If you hadany respect for women at all youwould remove this repugnant displayof chauvinism from your paper andapologize to her.” James Taranto isthe Journal’s op-ed editor, but I amresponsible for the opinion pages.

Elizabeth Alexander, the soon-to-be first lady’s communications direc-tor, also chimed in: “Sexist andshameful. Be better @wsj.” Ms. Alex-ander called me after her tweet toregister her disapproval personally,which is fine. Her job is to flack for

Tear Down This Judicial Paywall

I t’s been a season of federallawsuits. There have been mul-tiple actions by the Trump

campaign and his allies to contestthe election results. Google andFacebook are the subject of Jus-tice Department antitrust actions.If you follow this stuff, you mightbe interested in reading the courtrecords themselves—but it’ll costyou. Ten cents a page, accordingto the federal judiciary, even ifyou read them online.

That’s crazy. These are publicrecords sitting in the public do-main, and the judiciary is the onlybranch of the federal governmentthat charges for online access. Thelatest White House press briefingwill run you precisely zero dollars.Food and Drug Administration re-ports? Congressional roll callvotes? All free.

The law authorizing judicialfees is a relic of a time before theinternet, when accessing court re-cords meant physically going tothe courthouse and asking a clerkto copy them page by page. Itshould have been repealed de-

cades ago when the records wentonline.

Last week the House passed theOpen Courts Act, a bipartisan billthat would eliminate access feesand align the judiciary with therest of the federal government.The Senate should follow suit andthe president should sign this intolaw. Sadly, the chances of it hap-pening soon are slim.

The benefits of making publicrecords free are obvious. A corefunction of government is to as-semble and disseminate informa-tion for the benefit of the public.The federal government, for all itsshortcomings, is astonishinglygood at this. Just ask the thou-sands of analysts on Wall Streetwho use Securities and ExchangeCommission filings to price secu-rities accurately. Or the legions oflawyers, journalists, scholars andmembers of the public who usefederal records to anticipate andstudy new regulations, craft legalstrategies for businesses big andsmall, and hold the governmentaccountable.

Access fees account for only 2%of the judiciary’s budget, or $145million in FY2019. To cover the

shortfall, Congress should increasejudicial appropriations accordingly.

Transparency would bring eco-nomic benefits that vastly out-weigh the costs. But more impor-tant, a well-functioning democracyrequires transparency. The peoplecan’t hold government account-able if they don’t know what it’sdoing.

Curiously, the judiciary itselfhas found creative ways to ignorethe case for accountability and ar-gue against access to public courtrecords. In a letter to the HouseJudiciary Committee, the JudicialConference of the United Statesproclaims that it “adamantly op-poses” the bill. Its principal objec-tion is that Congress has failed toappreciate “the enormous cost im-plications” of making public re-cords free.

Nonsense. The judicial paywallis inefficient and shields an entirebranch of government from scru-tiny. Tear it down.

Messrs. Sanga and Schwartzare professors at NorthwesternPritzker School of Law and co-founders of SCALES Open Knowl-edge Network.

By Sarath SangaAnd David Schwartz

The Biden Team Strikes Back

her boss, and part of my job is to lis-ten to complaints. We had a frankexchange of views, as the diplomatssay, and I invited her to send in aletter for publication.

Meanwhile, Team Biden continuedto push the sexist theme. Doug Em-hoff, husband of Kamala Harris,tweeted: “Dr. Biden earned her de-grees through hard work and puregrit. She is an inspiration to me, to

her students, and to Americansacross this country. This story wouldnever have been written about aman.”

Pete Buttigieg’s husband, ChastenButtigieg, tweeted: “The authorcould’ve used fewer words to justsay ‘ya know in my day we didn’thave to respect women.’ ”

Why go to such lengths to high-light a single op-ed on a relativelyminor issue? My guess is that theBiden team concluded it was achance to use the big gun of identity

politics to send a message to criticsas it prepares to take power. There’snothing like playing the race or gen-der card to stifle criticism. It’s theleft’s version of Donald Trump’s “en-emy of the people” tweets.

The difference is that when Mr.Trump rants against the press, thepress mobilizes in opposition. In thiscase the Biden team was able to mo-bilize almost all of the press to joinin denouncing Mr. Epstein and theJournal. Nearly every publicationwrote about the Biden response, re-inforcing the Biden-New York Timesline: “An Opinion Writer Argued JillBiden Should Drop the ‘Dr.’ (FewWere Swayed.)”

This strategy worked to protectJoe and Hunter Biden during thecampaign, so it’s no surprise thatthey’re keeping it up as they head tothe White House. Northwestern Uni-versity, where Mr. Epstein taught formany years, did its part by denounc-ing him in a statement and appear-ing to purge his emeritus listingfrom its website. This is how cancelculture works.

The outrage is overwrought be-cause, whether you agree or dis-agree, Mr. Epstein’s piece was faircomment. The issue of Jill Biden’seducational honorific isn’t new. Aslong ago as 2009, the Los Angeles

Times devoted a story to the subject.From the piece by Robin Abcarian:“Joe Biden, on the campaign trail,explained that his wife’s desire forthe highest degree was in responseto what she perceived as her second-class status on their mail. ‘She said,“I was so sick of the mail coming toSen. and Mrs. Biden. I wanted to getmail addressed to Dr. and Sen. Bi-den.” That’s the real reason she gother doctorate,’ he said.”

Many readers said Mr. Epstein’suse of “kiddo” is demeaning, butthen Joe Biden is also fond of thatlocution. In his 2012 Democraticconvention speech he even used itto refer to his wife in the context ofhis many proposals of marriage: “Idon’t know what I would have done,kiddo, had you on that fifth timesaid no.” You can buy a T-shirt onthe internet with Mr. Biden’s imagepointing a finger saying “That’swhere you’re wrong, kiddo!”

Mr. Epstein also infuriated dozensof educators defending their doctor-ates. (See the nearby letters.) Butthat status isn’t sacrosanct or out-of-bounds for debate. Mr. Epstein’spoint applies to men and women andhis piece also mocked men for theirhonorary degrees. Mrs. Biden is nowAmerica’s most prominent doctorateholder and is taking a leading role ineducation policy. She can’t be off-limits for commentary.

By the way, the Journal editorialpage’s longtime style is to use “Dr.”only when referring to medical doc-tors. Henry Kissinger gets a “Mr.”Lynne Cheney, wife of Dick Cheney,is Mrs. Cheney despite her Ph.D.

If you disagree with Mr. Epstein,fair enough. Write a letter or shoutyour objections on Twitter. Butthese pages aren’t going to stoppublishing provocative essaysmerely because they offend the newadministration or the political cen-sors in the media and academe. Andsince it’s a time to heal, we’ll givethe Biden crowd a mulligan for theirattacks on us.

Mr. Gigot is the Journal’s editorialpage editor.

By Paul A. Gigot

THEWASH

INGTO

NPO

STVIA

GET

TYIM

AGES

Its strategists promote anidentity politics campaignagainst an op-ed on JillBiden’s use of ‘Dr.’

Jill and Joe Biden after his speech at the 2012 Democratic convention.

OPINION

AntibodiesAs CovidInsurance

By Scott Gottlieb

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George Shultz Helped Democracy Flourish in Asia

H elping to forge the relation-ship between President Ron-ald Reagan and Soviet leader

Mikhail Gorbachev made GeorgeShultz—who turned 100 on Sunday—one of the most consequential secre-taries of state of the 20th century.His expert diplomacy led to a peace-ful end of the Cold War, bringingfreedom to some 400 million Sovietsubjects—something that seemed animpossible dream when Reagan tookoffice in 1981. But the triumph of theReagan-Shultz working relationshipwent beyond management of the So-viet challenge. The two men helpedinitiate a democratic wave that sweptthrough Asia and Latin America inthe 1980s and ’90s.

Working directly for Mr. Shultz onAsia in the 1980s, I saw how he andReagan righted a U.S.-China relation-ship that had become unbalanced. Aprogression of American officials hadforgotten that Beijing needed us farmore than we needed them to dealwith the Soviets. “I am not here toplay cards. I am here to build our bi-lateral relationship” based on our mu-tual interests, Mr. Shultz announcedduring his first visit to China in Febru-ary 1983. His statement conveyed toChina’s leaders that he valued the re-lationship for the benefits it couldbring to our two countries, not be-cause of Chinese hints that they mightmove closer to the Soviets.

Mr. Shultz also restored balance tothe U.S.-China relationship by demon-strating through words and deeds thatU.S. allies—particularly Japan—camefirst, and that he would prefer no dealto a bad one. An incident during thatsame visit demonstrated his readinessto walk away if pushed too far. At alarge luncheon with American busi-nessmen in Beijing, Mr. Shultz’s tem-per slowly rose as his hosts pressedhim with the official Chinese positionon issue after issue. Finally, someone

asked why American companiesweren’t allowed to sell nuclear reac-tors to China while their Europeancompetitors faced no such restrictions.Mr. Shultz replied calmly, and with de-cided coolness, that the limits werenecessary because of “legitimate con-cern about nuclear proliferation. Yourquestion suggests in rather cavalierfashion that you brush it off. I don’tbrush it off.”

Then he walked out, commenting aswe left that Chinese intelligence ser-vices would report all the pressure hewas under from American business-men. Unspoken was the thought thatthey would also have to report: GeorgeShultz has steel in his backbone.

A few months ago on these pagesMr. Shultz reflected on how Xi Jin-ping is turning the clock back to theMaoist economic model while“wrecking Hong Kong” and in theprocess losing “international trust.”He acknowledged with some obviouspain that “today’s China is differentfrom the one I once worked with con-structively.”

By forging a stable relationshipwith Beijing’s leaders during a better

time, Reagan and Mr. Shultz createdan opening that allowed for somepositive developments. Among themost important was the politicaltransformation of Taiwan from aharshly authoritarian government tohistory’s first successful Chinese de-mocracy. If the mainland one day re-turns to the path of reform, Taiwanoffers an invaluable example of whatpeople from a Chinese culture can do.

Taiwan is one of those rare in-stances—Spain under FranciscoFranco is arguably another—in whichan authoritarian ruler deliberatelypaved the way for a democratic suc-cessor regime. In 1988 Taiwan’sleader Chiang Ching-kuo announcedto his inner circle that the “tide ischanging” and Taiwan would have toget on the path of reform. He likelyhad in mind the Soviet Union and twodemocratic success stories in Asiaduring Mr. Shultz’s tenure at theState Department.

Following the murder of Philippineopposition leader Benigno Aquino bygovernment agents as he returnedhome from exile in 1983, Americandiplomatic strategy focused on theneed for institutional reform—politi-cal, economic and military—whichencouraged Filipinos to believe theycould take charge of their own future.And take charge they did. In February1986, a “people power” revolution ledby Aquino’s widow, Corazon, oustedthe corrupt and brutal dictatorship ofFerdinand Marcos. The following yearSouth Korea also began to follow a

democratic path, also with Americanencouragement.

Dean Acheson once said he neverforgot that Harry Truman, who hadno college degree, was the presidentwhile he, a distinguished lawyer anda Yale and Harvard Law graduate,was a “mere mandarin.” Mr. Shultzsimilarly gives Reagan the lion’sshare of the credit for their extraor-dinary successes together, disputingthe critics who “hammered away” atReagan’s faults while ignoring his“great achievements.” Mr. Shultz at-tributes that success to challenging“conventional wisdom” and changing“the national and internationalagenda on issue after issue.”

In Mr. Shultz’s view, vision andforeign policy must come from thepresident; the secretary of state’s jobis to help shape and then implementthat policy. The considerable influ-ence of American diplomacy can’t bebrought to bear effectively withoutthat understanding between a presi-dent and his secretary of state. Hope-fully we’ll have the benefit of GeorgeShultz’s wisdom for many moreyears. Thankfully, we will alwayshave his example.

Mr. Wolfowitz, a visiting scholarat the American Enterprise Institute,served as assistant secretary of statefor East Asia & Pacific Affairs(1982-86), ambassador to Indonesia(1986-89), undersecretary of defensefor policy (1989-93) and deputy de-fense secretary (2001-05).

By Paul Wolfowitz

Reagan’s secretary of statealso worked to restorebalance to the Americanrelationship with China.

T he U.S. can buy a Covid insur-ance policy for next year. Thefederal government should

scale up production of antibodydrugs to make as many doses as pos-sible. The Food and Drug Adminis-tration has cleared two such drugs,from Regeneron and Eli Lilly, foremergency use. For newly diagnosedpatients, they reduce the risk of se-vere disease.

Making them is relatively straight-forward, but supply is limited be-cause the government didn’t findenough manufacturing space in thespring. Regeneron and Lilly took ex-traordinary steps to increase theirown production. They knew they hadto make these drugs in the U.S., lestother nations try to nationalize pro-duction and pocket the medicines.

Each company freed up much of itsdomestic manufacturing capacity byshifting production of other drugs toplaces like Europe. Each companyalso joined forces with another largemanufacturer to secure additionalproduction capacity—Amgen teamedup with Eli Lilly, and Roche workedwith Regeneron. The federal govern-ment relaxed certain rules to enablethese collaborations. This will pro-duce a combined supply of six millionto seven million doses next year.

But that isn’t enough. Most bio-tech companies prepare for disrup-tions in manufacturing by freezingand stockpiling enough of their mostprofitable drugs to last about twoyears. Why not pay these plants touse their capacity for antibody pro-duction? Companies can dip into re-serves to avoid creating a shortageof other important medicines.

A manufacturer can’t flip to mak-ing antibodies overnight. It’d takeabout six months to convert a facilityto the Covid drug and another sixmonths to return it to its originalpurpose. But a big facility that makesthe Covid antibodies at full throttlefor about eight months could rack upsome 2.5 million doses.

The government can help back-stop the risks to any manufacturerwilling to become a contract manu-facturer for the Covid medication.The government can agree to buythe antibody and stockpile it at aprice that makes it worthwhile. Re-generon and Lilly would be paid tolicense their drugs for such anarrangement.

The government can freeze someof the active pharmaceutical ingredi-ent and store it away as a hedgeagainst another tough Covid winternext year. The raw ingredient canstay frozen for at least three years.And making the active ingredient isthe hard part. Thawing it and turn-ing it into finished drug would takeless than a month.

I’ve written about the antibodydrugs several times on these pages.They were always the best bet forreducing the death and sufferingfrom Covid this fall. Yet supply isseverely constrained, and the twoavailable drugs must be rationed,somewhat arbitrarily, because thegovernment didn’t do everythingpossible last spring to ramp upmanufacturing.

There is still an opportunity to in-vest in making more antibodies. Noteveryone will be able to get vacci-nated, and some will choose not to.There will be many patients whoneed these medicines.

Dr. Gottlieb is a resident fellow atthe American Enterprise Instituteand was commissioner of the Foodand Drug Administration, 2017-19.He serves on the boards of Pfizerand Illumina.

A stockpile of medicationsfrom Regeneron and EliLilly to prepare in casevaccines aren’t enough.


A20 | Monday, December 14, 2020 * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

WORLD NEWSWORLD WATCH

AFGHAN

Security Forces KillDozens of Taliban

Afghan security forces killedat least 51 Taliban fighters in thesouthern province of Kandahar, ina flare-up in violence as the twopursue peace talks in Qatar whilesimultaneously competing for ter-ritory at home.

The defense ministry said thestrikes against Taliban positionsin five districts on Saturday night,a mixture of ground and air as-saults which also destroyed fourTaliban ammunition depots, werein response to insurgent attacks.

A delegation comprising thearmy, provincial police and theKandahar governor was investi-gating allegations from local resi-dents that government airstrikeshad killed civilians in Arghandabdistrict, the ministry said.

The Taliban said 13 civilianshad been killed in an airstrike,while a spokesman for the pro-vincial governor said seven civil-ians had died after the Talibandetonated explosives carried in aHumvee.

Col. Sonny Leggett, spokes-man for U.S. forces in Afghani-stan, said the U.S. had conducteda strike against the Taliban insupport of Afghan forces in a dif-ferent district, adding that theTaliban claim of civilian casualtieswas false.

A video filmed by a local resi-dent in Arghandab, and reviewedby The Wall Street Journal,showed the bodies of 11 people,including at least seven children.

—Sune Engel Rasmussen

NIGERIA

Hundreds of StudentsMissing After Attack

Hundreds of students aremissing after gunmen attacked asecondary school in northwest-ern Nigeria, police said.

The Government Science Sec-ondary School in the town ofKankara was attacked Fridaynight by a large group of armedbandits, Katsina State policespokesman Gambo Isah said.

Police engaged the attackers“in a gun duel which gave (someof) the students the opportunity

to scale the fence of the schooland run for safety,” Mr. Isahsaid. About 400 students aremissing, while 200 are ac-counted for, Mr. Isah said. Theschool is believed to have morethan 600 students.

It is the latest attack on aschool by gunmen in Nigeria.The attack is believed to havebeen carried out by one of sev-eral groups of bandits that areactive in northwestern and kid-nap for ransom.

The most serious incident oc-curred in 2014, when the jihadistgroup Boko Haram kidnapped276 girls from their school dor-mitory in Chibok. About 100 ofthe girls are still missing.

—Associated Press

RUSSIA

Sub Fires MissilesIn Nuclear-War Test

A Russian nuclear submarinesuccessfully test-fired four inter-continental ballistic missiles in ashow of readiness of Moscow’snuclear forces amid tension withthe U.S.

The Defense Ministry saidthat the Vladimir Monomakhsubmarine of the Pacific Fleetlaunched four Bulava missiles inquick succession from an under-water position in the Sea of Ok-hotsk. Their dummy warheads hittheir designated targets on theChiza shooting range in theArkhangelsk region in northwest-ern Russia more than 3,400 milesaway, the ministry said.

The Vladimir Monomakh is oneof the new Borei-class nuclearsubmarines that carry 16 Bulavamissiles each and are intended toserve as the core of the navalcomponent of the nation’s nuclearforces for decades to come. An-other submarine of the sametype performed a similar launchof four Bulava missiles in 2018—acostly demonstration of the effi-ciency of the country’s nuclear de-terrent mimicking the conditionsof a major nuclear conflict.

In a report to President Vladi-mir Putin, Defense Minister Ser-gei Shoigu said that Saturday’slaunch wrapped up large-scaledrills of Russia’s strategic nuclearforces that began Wednesday.

—Associated Press

ANNIVERSARY MARCH: Protesters marched in Warsaw on the anniversary of the 1981 martial-law crackdown by Poland’s communistregime. The rally was organized by Women Strike, a movement formed in response to an Oct. 22 court ruling curtailing abortions. Thewomen’s protests have morphed into the largest antigovernment movement since communism fell three decades ago.

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and open regulatory regime, asimpler corporate tax structureand incentives for targeted in-dustries.

This year, India made it eas-ier for some types of compa-nies to fire workers as part ofits effort to deregulate theeconomy and boost growth. Ithas also made it harder forworkers to unionize and strike.At the same time, it expandedsocial-security programs to in-clude many contract workers.

India has also eased rulesaround commerce in agricul-tural products, leading to pro-tests by farmers. Thousandshave camped around the capi-tal, New Delhi, blocking trafficand demanding a reversal ofnew laws that farmers in someregions worry will weaken thesafety net they depend on.

India is one of the largest

phone markets in the world, somanufacturers have an incen-tive to be closer to their cus-tomers to avoid the cost of im-porting handsets and parts aswell as tariffs.

Samsung Electronics Inc. isbuilding one of its biggestplants in the world near NewDelhi. And Foxconn Technol-ogy Group has gone from afew hundred employees insouthern India to more than30,000 in recent years.

Wistron’s plant, which hasbeen making iPhones for a fewyears, was one of the firsthigh-profile victories of theModi government’s efforts andwas often pointed to as proofthat India could make evensome of the most sophisticatedphones.

NEW DELHI—Angry Indianworkers broke windows andoverturned cars at the office ofa factory that makes iPhonesand has often been touted bythe government as an exampleof India’s efforts to boost man-ufacturing and lure companieslooking to diversify away fromChina.

Indian television showedworkers throwing stones, toss-ing office furniture and settingfire to a sign at WistronCorp.’s operations near Banga-lore. Labor leaders said work-ers at the Taiwanese-ownedcompany that is a contractmanufacturer for Apple Inc.were upset about wages andworking hours.

Police said Sunday they haddetained 100 people and wereinvestigating the incident, aswell as claims by workers thatthey hadn’t been paid.

A Wistron spokeswoman,Joyce Chou, said: “We followthe law and are supporting theauthorities with their investi-gation.” She said the companywas “deeply shocked” by theunrest.

An Apple spokesman in theU.S. said it has launched an in-vestigation. “Apple is dedicatedto ensuring everyone in oursupply chain is treated withdignity and respect,” he said.

A top Indian union official,M.D. Harigovind, general secre-tary of the All India TradeUnion Congress, blamed theunrest on what he called “thebrutal exploitation of workersand sweatshop-like conditions”at the company.

Intent on wooing businesseslooking to diversify away fromChina and to offset the impactof Covid-19 on growth, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hasaccelerated efforts to trans-form India’s image as a diffi-cult place to do business,promising a more predictable

BY VIBHUTI AGARWALAND ERIC BELLMAN

Disgruntled IndianWorkers AttackAn iPhone Factory

Protest about wagesand hours adds torising labor unrestin the country.

Theneedhasalwaysbeenthere.

This year,

ithappensto

begreater.

With more people hurting and fewer Red Kettles to help them, your $25 monthly gift helpsrescue Christmas for the most vulnerable. Enlist in Love’s Army at SalvationArmyUSA.org.


© 2020 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved. * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, December 14, 2020 | B1

LONDON—AstraZeneca PLCsaid it agreed to buy Boston-based Alexion Pharmaceuti-cals Inc. for $39 billion in cashand stock, a move that wouldbolster the British drug giant’sfootprint in rare diseases.

The deal comes at a pivotaltime for AstraZeneca, which isin late-stage development of aleading Covid-19 vaccine devel-oped in partnership with theUniversity of Oxford. The vac-cine is being reviewed by U.K.and European drug regulators,and could be authorized foremergency use in the U.K.within weeks, scientists in-volved in it have said.

The company has embarkedon one of the most ambitiousefforts to manufacture and dis-tribute the vaccine among ahandful of Western pharmaceu-tical giants, assuming it getsthe green light for its shot.

TECHNOLOGY: REMOTE WORK CHALLENGES MERGER PROCESS B5

LastWeek: S&P 3663.46 g 0.96% S&PFIN g 1.77% S&P IT g 1.43% DJTRANS g 0.55% WSJ$ IDX À 0.12% LIBOR3M 0.217 NIKKEI 26652.52 g 0.37% Seemore atWSJ.com/Markets

BUSINESS&FINANCE

BY KAREN LANGLEY

MEDIACNNmakes big

viewership gains whilethe fate of its boss is

uncertain. B4

BY ELIOT BROWNAND AARON TILLEY

Tech-FirmDeparturesTake SomeShine OffBay Area

more stock. The outflows con-trast with the roughly $250billion investors poured intobond mutual funds this yearthrough September, accordingto data from the InvestmentCompany Institute.The losing

people said. Besides risking in-furiating India’s ruling Hindunationalist politicians, banningBajrang Dal might precipitatephysical attacks against Face-book personnel or facilities, thereport warned.

Facebook Inc. balked at re-moving the group followingwarnings in a report from its se-curity team that cracking downon Bajrang Dal might endangerthe company’s business pros-pects and its staff in India, the

With the Alexion deal, it willalso be trying to orchestrate agiant corporate merger at thesame time.

AstraZeneca said Alexionwould give it a foothold in thelucrative field of rare-diseasedrugs and help fuel revenueand cash flow in the comingyears. The bulk of Alexion’s $6billion in annual sales comesfrom Soliris, which treats a rareblood disorder. It is among themost expensive drugs in theworld.

AstraZeneca executives saidthe deal would help expandAlexion’s drug sales in newmarkets, particularly China. Itwould also improve profit mar-gins by eliminating expensesover three years, by reducinginfrastructure costs such as of-fice space and distribution cen-ters.

PleaseturntopageB2

BY JENNY STRASBURGAND JOSEPH WALKER

AstraZeneca to BuyAlexion for $39 Billion

*2020 performance through Friday†Next-12-months price-to-earnings ratio of Russell 2000 divided by next-12-months price-to-earnings ratio of Russell 1000.Sources: FactSet (share-price and index performance); Dow Jones Market Data (annual index performance);BofA US Equity & Quant Strategy, Russell Investment Group, I/B/E/S, Compustat (relative valuations)

Index performance: this year

Share-price performancesince the end of November

Relative valuation:Small-cap vs. large-cap†

Annually*

S&P 500

Russell 2000

1.4

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2015 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20

Denny's

Spirit Airlines

Macy's

Microsoft

Amazon.com

19.5%

15.9

8.5

–0.4

–1.6

cussion as part of the standardprocess.” He declined to saywhether Facebook ultimatelydetermined the group didn’tqualify as being dangerous.

Adherents of Bajrang Dal,which was deemed a militantreligious organization by theU.S. Central Intelligence Agency,have been convicted of hatecrimes and religiously moti-vated killings, and some Face-book communities devoted to itcelebrate images of peoplebeaten or killed for their allegedoffenses against Hinduism.There were more than 5.5 mil-lion interactions this year froma handful of groups and pagesdevoted to Bajrang Dal, accord-ing to data from CrowdTangle, aFacebook-owned analytics tool.

Facebook policy doesn’t al-low groups that participate inviolence to have a presence onits platform.

PleaseturntopageB5

Such conflicting concerns un-derscore the struggle Facebookfaces in policing hate speechthat exists in the sea of contentposted to its platform. The cal-culus is especially complicatedin India, Facebook’s largest mar-ket by users. Facebook has staffon the ground, recently invested$5.7 billion in a new retail ven-ture and interacts with a gov-ernment whose politicians haveties to Hindu nationalist groups.

“We enforce our DangerousIndividuals and Organizationspolicy globally without regardto political position or party af-filiation,” said Facebook spokes-man Andy Stone, calling its pro-cess for determining whatentities to ban careful, rigorousand multidisciplinary.

Mr. Stone said the securityteam’s warning that banningBajrang Dal could endangerFacebook’s interests and em-ployees was “a subject for dis-

Dozens of religious extrem-ists burst into a Pentecostalchurch outside New Delhi inJune, claiming it was builtatop a Hindu temple. Thegroup installed a Hindu idol inprotest, and a pastor says hewas punched in the head byattackers.

Members of a Hindu nation-alist organization known as Ba-jrang Dal claimed responsibilityin a video describing the incur-sion that has been viewed al-most 250,000 times on Face-book. The social-mediacompany’s safety team earlierthis year concluded Bajrang Dalsupported violence against mi-norities across India and likelyqualified as a “dangerous organ-ization” that should be bannedfrom the platform, according topeople familiar with the matter.

BY JEFF HORWITZAND NEWLEY PURNELL

Facebook Fears Hate-Group Fallout in India

Shares of small U.S. compa-nies have surged past theirlarger peers for 2020 afterlast month’s furious rally car-ried into December.

Fueled by improving expec-tations for the economy,thanks to promising Covid-19vaccine trials, the Russell2000 small-cap index notchedits best-ever month in Novem-ber. Then it kept rising. So farin December, it has advanced5%, well ahead of the 1.2% risein the S&P 500 large-capbenchmark. Many investorsexpect small-cap stocks tocontinue leading the way.

Among the stocks liftingthe small-cap index: Macy’sInc., up 8.5% in December;Spirit Airlines Inc., up 16%;Denny’s Corp., up 20%; and,U.S. Steel Corp., up 29%.

The Russell 2000’s gain forthe year surpassed that of theS&P 500 on Tuesday for thefirst time in 2020, accordingto Dow Jones Market Data.The small-cap gauge is now up15% this year, compared with a13% gain for the large-cap in-dex. If the Russell 2000 main-tains its edge, it would outper-form the S&P 500 for the firsttime since 2016, according toDow Jones Market Data. Bothindexes still trail the technol-ogy-focused Nasdaq Compos-

ite, which is up 38%.The Russell 2000’s come-

back is a dramatic turnaroundfrom earlier in the year. Theindex plummeted 42% from itsJanuary high to its Marchlow—a deeper plunge thanthat of the S&P 500—as thecoronavirus hampered activityand reshaped economic expec-tations. Small-caps spent thefollowing months recoveringmuch of that loss, but only inrecent weeks made their dra-matic run.

“November was frankly un-believable,” said Lamar Villere,portfolio manager at invest-ment firm Villere & Co., whichmanages $2 billion. “We’dbeen shouting ‘til we wereblue in the face that small-caps were getting left behindin the recovery, and as soon asthe vaccines came out, thesmall-caps had just a stunningrun.”

Investors this week willparse weekly jobless claimsdata for insights into the la-bor-market recovery and scru-tinize earnings reports fromcompanies including DardenRestaurants Inc. and Nike Inc.for signs of consumer behav-ior.

Small-caps typically do wellduring economic recoveries,and the encouraging reportsabout vaccine candidates havecontributed to an expectationthat hard-hit industries willbounce back next year. Econo-mists project the rollout ofvaccines to boost growth innext year’s second quarter,and data Friday showed U.S.consumers grew more confi-

dent about the economy inlate November and early De-cember.

Expectations for an improv-ing economy are also evidentin investors’ recent prefer-ences among large-cap stocks.The energy sector is leadingthe S&P 500 in December witha 12% advance, and the finan-cials group is also outperform-ing. Those sectors are still byfar the biggest losers in theindex this year, off 33% and7.8%, respectively.

The long-dominant infor-PleaseturntopageB2

Small StocksLeadMarketChargeAheadShares have surgedpast their larger peersfor 2020 as rallycarries into December

streak has drawn unwanted at-tention to Mr. Coombs, whostrives to avoid the limelight.“He’s not your typical billion-aire jetting around and buyingmegayachts,” one former col-league said. “He hates havingpictures taken of him and isincredibly, fiercely private.”

Mr. Coombs built Ashmoreover the past two decadeswith a signature mix of radicalfrugality—from his wardrobeto staff salaries—and contrar-ian trades in risky countries.He has weathered previousrough patches and is respond-ing to the current one in simi-lar fashion—by buying morebonds.

“We’ve done our thing,we’ve bought assets where wesaw…cheap prices,” he said ona video call with analysts inSeptember.

Ashmore’s European totalreturn fund, for example,boosted the face amount ofEcuadorian bonds it held to$323 million in June from

PleaseturntopageB9

British billionaire MarkCoombs made his fortune win-ning outsize bond wagers inemerging markets like Braziland Russia. Recently, his luckhas soured.

Big trades he made in Ar-gentina, Ecuador and Lebanonall backfired simultaneously in2020. Ensuing losses ham-mered shares of his invest-ment firm, Ashmore Group,and cost the reclusive traderaround $325 million in per-sonal paper losses, accordingto data from S&P Global Mar-ket Intelligence.

Once an approximately $100billion powerhouse, Ashmore’sassets under management hadfallen to $85.5 billion by Sep-tember through a combinationof withdrawals and investmentlosses. Clients including theConnecticut state retirementplan have pulled billions ofdollars from the company, andcompeting money managershave placed bets against Ash-

BY MATT WIRZ

Investor’s Bond Bets BackfireINSIDE

Spirit Airlines shares are up 16% in December so far.

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For much of the past decade,the San Francisco Bay Area hasstrained to absorb the torridgrowth of the tech sector. Ashead counts of highly paid en-gineers swelled, housing costssoared, traffic gridlock roseand homeless tents spread oncity streets.

Now a small but prominentroster of tech companies andinvestors are doing somethingabout it: leaving.

The region’s latest emigrantis database giant Oracle Corp.,a fixture of Silicon Valley fordecades that last year signed a20-year deal to put its name onthe San Francisco Giants’ sta-dium, Oracle Park. The $180billion tech giant on Friday saidit had changed its headquarterslocation to Austin, Texas, fromRedwood City, Calif.

Oracle provided few details,saying it is implementing moreflexible remote-work policiesbut wouldn’t move staff. It fol-lows an announcement earlierthis month by Hewlett Pack-ard Enterprise Co., anotherbusiness-technology companywith deep roots in Silicon Val-ley, that it is moving its head-quarters to Houston—as well assimilar moves by a number ofwell-known venture capitalistsannounced in recent months.Elon Musk, who had long livedin Los Angeles and commutedto Tesla Inc.’s operations nearSan Francisco, last week saidhe had moved to Texas. And hecriticized the policies of thestate as restrictive—echoingthe arguments of many ofthose leaving the Bay Area.

These high-profile depar-tures are causing some soulsearching in Silicon Valley—taking some sheen off thearea’s reputation as the unpar-alleled tech capital. While rea-sons vary, many moves appearto have been sparked by theCovid-19 pandemic that has re-shaped notions of where andhow we work, and companies,investors and employees aregenerally moving to places thatare warmer, with lower taxesand cost of living.

“Covid basically encouragedpeople to work remotely andexperiment with other placesto live,” said Keith Rabois, awell-known San Francisco-based venture capitalist mov-ing to Miami.

Mr. Rabois, a Republican of-ten at odds with policies en-acted by San Francisco’s liberalgovernment, said he was frus-trated with declining quality-of-life issues like homelessnessand the state’s relatively high

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B2 | Monday, December 14, 2020 * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

sify a portfolio that had be-come heavily focused on cancerdrugs and into one of the phar-maceutical industry’s most dy-namic areas—the market fortherapies for rare diseases.

Rare-disease drugs are at-tractive to drugmakers becausethey don’t need large salesforces and can charge highprices that health insurers aretypically willing to pay becausethey only have one or two mem-bers requiring the treatment.

Other big drugmakers havepaid up to enter the rare-dis-ease drugs market. Most re-cently, in 2018, Takeda Pharma-ceutical Co. agreed to buy Shirefor $62 billion. In 2017, Johnson& Johnson agreed to buy Acte-lion for $30 billion.

Still, Soliris’s patent protec-tion is waning, and the drugfaces potential competition thatcould undercut sales. In June,Alexion reached a legal settle-ment with Amgen Inc. to delayits launch of a copycat drug un-

$1.4 billion.The companies have been

talking for several months, saidAstraZeneca Chief ExecutivePascal Soriot. Dr. Soriot saidthat the disruption should beminimal for AstraZeneca’s workrolling out a global Covid-19vaccine, adding that for a dealthis attractive, “You do it whenthe opportunity arises.”

He and Mr. Dunoyer told re-porters on a call Saturday thatAstraZeneca and Alexion don’toverlap a great deal geographi-cally, and Alexion’s roughly3,000 employees will be fairlysimple to integrate.

AstraZeneca expects to haveregulatory approvals by thethird quarter, possibly sooner,by which time they will be wellinto the vaccine rollout, the ex-ecutives said. “Our belief is thatby Q3 the world won’t have re-turned to total normalcy, butclose enough,” Dr. Soriot said.

By agreeing to buy Alexion,AstraZeneca is aiming to diver-

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

A - CAbbVie.......................B10Adobe..........................B5Affirm Holdings..........A1Airbnb..........................A1Alexion PharmaceuticalsB1,B10

Alphabet....B4,B10,R1,R5Amazon.comB2,B10,R1,R2,R5

Apple..............A20,R1,R5Arconic ........................B3Ashmore Group.....B1,B9AstraZeneca.........B1,B10athenahealth...............B3AT&T............................B4BioNTech ...............A1,A2BlackRock....................B9Box...............................B4Carnival .......................B3Cboe Global MarketsB10Charles Schwab..........B9Clorox ..........................R2CoinDesk ...................B10Colgate-PalmoliveB3,B10

CryptoCompare .........B10CubeSmart ..................B3CVS Health ...............A11

D - GDarden Restaurants ...B1Denny's........................B1Deutsche Lufthansa.A10DoorDash ....................A1Eaton Vance................B9Elliott Management...B3Extra Space Storage...B3Exxon Mobil ..............B10FacebookB1,B2,B4,B5,B10,R2,R4,R5

FedEx.................A4, A10,

Ferrellgas Partners.....B9

Fidelity Investments..B9

Foxconn Technology .A20

GGeneral Electric.....R4,R5

General Motors...........A4

Goldman Sachs......A4,B9

H - JHewlett PackardEnterprise.................B1

Huntington BancsharesB3

IHS Markit ..................B5

Johnson & Johnson....B3

MMacy's.........................B1

McKesson....................A1

Messari......................B10

Microsoft..........B2,R1,R5

Moderna......................A2

Molson Coors..............R5

NNetflix .......................B10

News Corp...................B4

Nike.............................B1

Norwegian Cruise LineHoldings....................B3

Nvidia..........................B5

OOccidental Petroleum.R5

Oracle ..........................B1

Owens Corning ...........R5

PPark Place TechnologiesB5

Pfizer.....................A1,A2

Philip Morris

International......R4, R5Pluralsight...................B3Procter & GambleB3,R4,R5

Public Storage.............B3

RRobinhood Financial ...B9Roblox .........................A1Royal Caribbean GroupB3

SSalesforce.com......B4,B5Samsung ElectronicsA20Slack Technologies .....B5Snowflake...................A4Social Finance.............B9Spirit Airlines.............B1Stripe...........................B4

TTCF Financial...............B3Tesla.....................B1,B103M.............................B10

UUnilever.......................B3United Parcel ServiceA10

U.S. Steel....................B1

VVerizon CommunicationsR5

Vista Equity................B3

WWalgreens BootsAlliance...................A11

Walt Disney..............B10Webull Financial.......B10Wellington Management.................................. B9

Wistron.....................A20

INDEX TO PEOPLE

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Macy’s shares are up 8.5% in this month.

MARYALTAFF

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mation technology sector, bycontrast, is lagging behind thismonth, while highflying mega-cap stocks Amazon.com Inc.,Microsoft Corp. and FacebookInc. have suffered losses. Thetech sector continues to leadthe way in 2020 with a 35%gain.

Small-cap companies oftenhave a less diversified range ofbusiness and more volatileearnings than larger corpora-tions, making them more likelyto falter during an economicdownturn. The average marketcapitalization of stocks in theRussell 2000 is just under $3billion, compared with $62.5billion for constituents of theS&P 500, according to datafrom the index providers atthe end of November.

Many small stocks areclosely tied to the health ofthe domestic economy. An-other small-cap gauge, theS&P Small Cap 600, derives79% of its revenue from theU.S., versus 60% for the S&P500, according to FactSet esti-mates. This exposure canmake smaller firms quick tobenefit as the economy accel-erates.

“Small-cap stocks have his-tory on their side at this point.Generally coming out of reces-sions they tend to outperformlarge cap,” said DukeLaflamme, chief investmentofficer at Eaton Vance Wa-terOak Advisors. “I don’t thinkit’s any different this timearound.”

Adding to the appeal, small-

ContinuedfrompageB1

B

Birx, Deborah............R18

Brennan, David ...........B2

C

Campagna, Anthony...R5

Cleary, Rich.................R5

Coombs, Mark.............B1

Cotton, Tom..............R16

D

Dunoyer, Marc.............B2

F

Ferrell, James.............B9

First, Zachary..............R4

Fuhrmann, SebastianA12

G

Gopinath, Gita ..........R18

H

Hantson, Ludwig.........B2

Harris, Larry................B9

J

Jochim, Christina......A12

K

Kekul , Alexander....A12

Kotha, Suresh.............R4

L

Laflamme, Duke..........B2

Lam, Carrie................R14

M

Montera, MariachiaraA12

Musk, Elon................R16

Muthukumar, Madhu..B9

N

Nadella, Satya ............R4

P

Prial, Nancy.................B2

S

Smith, Greg.................R5

Soriot, Pascal..............B2

Sullivan, Jake............R14

Sweet, Julie................R1

V

VanAmburg, David......R5

Vermillion, Michael.....R5

Villere, Lamar.............B1

W

Wartzman, Rick.....R1,R5

Z

Zucker, Jeff.................B4

cap stocks are looking inex-pensive—at least comparedwith their counterparts. ABofA Global Research analysiscomparing valuations of theRussell 2000 with those of thelarge-cap Russell 1000 indexfound the relative discount forsmall-caps in recent monthswas the largest since 2001.

That’s even though stocksoverall have grown pricier rel-ative to their earnings. TheRussell 2000 traded at the endof November at 18.1 times itsprojected earnings over thenext 12 months, above an av-erage since 1985 of 15.3, ac-cording to BofA.

Some money managers saythey believe the relative dis-count will help focus attentionon smaller companies, particu-larly as an accelerating econ-omy primes a wider range ofbusinesses for growth.

Nancy Prial, co-CEO and se-nior portfolio manager at Es-sex Investment Management,said her firm has boughtshares of industrial and finan-cial companies in the micro-,small- and midcap categoriesin recent months, while trim-ming positions in work-from-home stocks.

“We think that we are atthe beginning of a small-capcycle,” she said. “They’re un-derowned, we believe they’reunderloved and as that valua-tion discount narrows, thatwill be an opportunity forthese sectors to really showsome strong outperfor-mance.”

SmallStocksSurge

‘November wasfranklyunbelievable,’ saysLamar Villere.

Directors of both companieshave approved the acquisition,which they expect to close inthe third quarter of 2021. TheAlexion deal will be AstraZen-eca’s last large acquisition forthe near term, said Chief Finan-cial Officer Marc Dunoyer.

AstraZeneca has reinventeditself in recent years as a can-cer-drug powerhouse. It hadsuffered years of shrinking rev-enue as blockbusters in itsportfolio were hit by genericcompetition when patents ex-pired.

AstraZeneca said its cash-and-stock agreement amountsto $175 an Alexion share, basedon the one-month averagevalue of AstraZeneca’s U.S.-traded American depositary re-ceipts. The offer is split be-tween $60 in cash and 2.1243American depositary shares.That represents a 40% pre-mium to Alexion’s one-monthshare-price average, AstraZen-eca said. Alexion’s sharesclosed Friday at $120.98.

The acquisition terms pro-vide that Alexion will be liableto pay a breakup fee of as muchas $1.2 billion to AstraZeneca incertain instances that lead tothe deal not being completed.AstraZeneca will be required topay Alexion a breakup fee of

ContinuedfrompageB1

til 2025.The delay gives Alexion cru-

cial breathing room to per-suade doctors to switch theirpatients onto a new drug calledUltomiris that is protected fromU.S. competition until at least2030. The company says theadvantages of Ultomiris overSoliris include less frequentshots and a lower price. The av-erage annual cost of Soliris isabout $600,000, and $458,000for Ultomiris, an Alexionspokeswoman said.

Soliris sales are expected tobe $4.2 billion globally thisyear, according to FactSet; Ul-tomiris sales are projected tobe $1.1 billion.

In 2016, Alexion’s chief exec-utive and chief financial officerwere forced to step down dur-ing a company investigationinto improper sale and account-ing practices. David Brennan, aformer AstraZeneca chief exec-utive on Alexion’s board, tookover on an interim basis.

Ludwig Hantson took thehelm of Alexion in 2017, prom-ising to revamp the company’sbusiness culture and soon be-gan cutting costs throughworkforce reductions and par-ing down its R&D pipeline.

The deal comes as AstraZen-eca has suffered setbacks in itsCovid-19 vaccine development.It has faced criticism over dis-closures around an early clini-cal-trial dosing mistake and arange of recent vaccine-effec-tiveness results that confusedoutside researchers, some ofwhom called for more data be-fore authorization of the shot.

—Jonathan D. Rockoffcontributed to this article.

AstraZenecaTo AcquireAlexion

A pro football game on aWednesday afternoon is rare.Advertisers getting a pricingdiscount for NFL games is alsousually unheard of.

But it’s happening.TV networks are feeling the

strains of disappointing NFLratings, as they are forced torestructure deals with adver-tisers to make up for thesmaller audience, and theiropportunity to make moneyoff remaining games duringthe lucrative holiday seasonnarrows.

NBC made the unusualmove of lowering the price itcharged advertisers that al-ready had committed to run ina Baltimore Ravens vs. Pitts-burgh Steelers game plannedfor Thanksgiving night after aCovid-19 outbreak on the Ra-vens forced the game’s post-ponement to the followingWednesday.

Some networks also haveconsidered letting advertiserspay less for commercials dur-ing NFL games and other pro-gramming than they originallypledged.

Meanwhile, a large amountof the remaining commercialtime available in games is be-ing given to marketers as com-pensation for the underperfor-mance so far, leaving little adtime that can be sold in the fi-nal quarter of the season. Suchso-called make-good commer-cials are given if a network un-derdelivers on the audience itpromised an advertiser.

NFL games provide TV’s

most in-demand and expensivead inventory, because they reg-ularly gather the largest liveaudiences at a time of increas-ing audience fragmentation.

But this year, NFL ratingshave taken a hit as pandemic-related postponements havepushed some games to less de-sirable times and the corona-virus has sidelined some starplayers. Unexpected competi-tion from other sports leagueswhose seasons were delayedfrom earlier in the year alsohas taken a toll on ratings.

Last NFL season, not in-cluding the playoffs, networksthat broadcast the games gen-erated $3.6 billion in TV adrevenue, according to Kantar.

NBC was perhaps the hard-est-hit this Thanksgiving, typi-cally a big day for NFL viewer-ship. The Ravens-Steelersgame, which originally costadvertisers an average of $1million for 30 seconds of com-mercial time, drew only 11 mil-lion viewers, almost a 50% de-cline from the audience forlast year’s Thanksgiving gameon NBC.

Some Thanksgiving adver-tisers that appeared in theNBC game on Wednesdaydidn’t pay at all, instead ac-cepting the commercial timeas a make-good for games ear-lier in the season that deliv-ered disappointing ratings, ac-cording to people familiarwith the matter.

“We’ve worked with everyone of our partners individu-ally to find what works bestfor them,” an NBC Sportsspokesman said in an email.“We will have delivery solu-tions for all of our NFL adver-tisers this season.”

CBS said it isn’t adjustingad pricing for its NFL broad-casts and continues to trans-act selectively in the scattermarket.

Networks tend to over-promise and underdeliverwhen they sell advertising,since they can usually easilymake up for any ratings short-falls with make-goods. Evenwith make-goods factored in,there typically is still plentyof valuable inventory avail-able for last-minute buyers inwhat is known as the scattermarket.

This year, that is harder todo with sports advertising be-cause so many events andgames have been canceled orpostponed. The end result isthat there isn’t enough com-mercial inventory to cover

make-good requirements andavoid a pileup of IOUs, accord-ing to ad and media execu-tives.

Adding to the challenge isthat while sports ratings aredown, entertainment program-ming is experiencing fargreater declines, which meansnetworks often can’t make upfor the sports shortfalls byputting advertisers into theirprime-time schedules.

Through the first 13 weeksof the season, TV and digitalNFL ratings were down 7%across the broadcast and cablenetworks that carry games, ac-cording to Nielsen data. View-ership among men in the18-49 and 25-54 age categoriesthat advertisers target duringgames was more significantlyaffected.

While NFL ratings aredown, the games are still at-

tracting millions of viewersand providing a bright spot inan otherwise gloomy TV admarket.

And the demand is therefrom marketers. This year,since much of the remaininginventory is being used formake-goods, some brands vy-ing for an available NFL com-mercial spot are being askedto pay premiums as much as50% over what they would paybefore the season, when theytend to get better rates, saidone ad buyer. It is a significantincrease over past years’ scat-ter-market premiums.

Much of the ratings drop isattributed to the 2020 presi-dential election coverage si-phoning away viewers andthe pandemic’s wreakinghavoc on the league. Asidefrom reschedulings and somesidelined stars, the league hasfaced a backlash from somefans over its social justice ef-forts, including its embrace ofBlack Lives Matter. These fac-tors are compounded by thesecular decline of traditionalTV viewing, in which ratingshave been eroded by the up-tick in ad-free streaming ser-vices.

In one more wrinkle, thenetworks would have liked theoption to use NFL inventoryfor make-goods after othersports’ own ratings struggles.

But NFL ratings would havehad to be up 15% to make upfor underdelivery in othersports, including baseball andcollege football, said MichaelLaw, president of Dentsu’s me-dia-buying group Amplifi.

Since that didn’t happen,networks have been more cre-ative with make-goods, insome cases considering pric-ing adjustments often referredto as cash back, as well as dig-ital inventory and sponsorshipopportunities, he said.

BY ALEXANDRA BRUELLAND JOE FLINT

NFL Ad Deals ScrambledRatings drop promptsnetworks to give backtime as compensationto commercial buyers

The planned Thanksgiving night game between the Ravens and Steelers was postponed to a less desirable Wednesday time slot.

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Alexion would give AstraZeneca a foothold in rare-disease drugs.

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. * * * * * Monday, December 14, 2020 | B3

and development for oral care.Early in the pandemic, scien-

tists from Cardiff University inWales and other institutionscalled for more research intothe potential role of mouthwashin fighting Covid-19. Previousstudies, they said, had shownthat ingredients commonlyfound in mouthwashes could de-

The coronavirus pandemichas halted cruises in much ofthe world and idled the fleetsof Carnival Corp., Royal Ca-ribbean Group and NorwegianCruise Line Holdings Ltd.

The operators are promis-ing to resume sailing in theU.S. in 2021, but health offi-cials want them to clear cer-tain requirements first. Here iswhat to know:

When will cruise ships sailagain in the U.S.?

Major cruise lines keeppushing back their restartdates as coronavirus casescontinue rising in the U.S.

Carnival’s flagship line, Car-nival Cruise Line, has pausedall cruises through the end ofFebruary. In November, it saidit planned to restart sailingfirst in Miami and Port Canav-eral, Fla., to be followed byGalveston, Texas. The com-pany also owns Aida, Costa,Cunard, Holland America, P&O,Princess and Seabourn lines.Sailing suspensions vary byline and ship, with some idledas far back as 2022.

Royal Caribbean has sus-pended U.S. and most globalsailings through Feb. 28. Cer-tain sailings have been pushedfurther into 2021.

The company operates itsnamesake line, CelebrityCruises, Silversea, Azamara,TUI Cruises and Hapag-LloydCruises.

Norwegian has paused all

voyages through Feb. 28 on itsnamesake line and throughMarch 31 on Oceania Cruisesand Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Is it safe to go on a cruise?The Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention dis-courages cruise travel, includ-ing river cruises, around theworld. In November, theagency raised its assessmentof the risk of cruise travel to“very high” as the U.S. andother parts of the world saw aresurgence in Covid-19 cases.

Some in the cruise industrydisagree. Norwegian Chief Ex-ecutive Frank Del Rio told TheWall Street Journal in Septem-ber that protocols proposed bythe industry would result in asafer environment “than ifyou’re sitting 4 inches awayfrom someone on a crowdedairplane on a four-hour flight.”

What happened when cruiseoperators restarted sailingoutside the U.S.?

In early December, RoyalCaribbean’s pilot “cruise to no-where” sailing out of Singaporeturned back after a few days atsea after an 83-year-old pas-senger initially tested positivefor Covid-19. The result turnedout to be a false positive.

In November, seven passen-gers and two crew memberstested positive on a SeaDreamYacht Club vessel during a tripthat set sail from Barbados,leading the Norwegian opera-tor to scrap sailings for therest of the year.

BY DAVE SEBASTIAN

Conditions to Be MetBefore Cruises Restart

BUSINESS NEWS

Major cruise lines have been pushing back their restart dates.

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Huntington, TCF Set Deal

washes dissolve the outer pro-tective layer of virus particles,preventing them from attachingto cells and infecting them.

But based on tests so farthey can’t definitively say howlong the benefit would last orwhat impact coughing wouldhave. That makes it hard tojudge how useful oral-hygieneproducts could be in curbingtransmission.

Unilever said an Octoberlab-based study it commis-sioned found mouthwash con-taining cetylpyridinium chlo-ride, or CPC—an ingredientused by dentists for its anti-bacterial properties—reducedSARS-CoV-2 particles by 99.9%after 30 seconds of rinsing.

“While we are clear that thisis not a cure or proven way toprevent the transmission ofcoronavirus, the results arevery promising,” said Glyn Rob-erts, Unilever’s head of research

activate other viruses. Mouth-wash makers say sales haverisen this year amid broader de-mand for hygiene products.

Angela Rasmussen, an asso-ciate research scientist at Co-lumbia University’s Center ofInfection and Immunity whoreviewed the results of thestudy commissioned by Uni-lever, said the findings werepromising but results from hu-man trials are needed.

Meanwhile, Unilever islaunching mouthwash withCPC in a string of new mar-kets, from Italy and France toIndia and Indonesia.

Colgate, the world’s largesttoothpaste maker, said its labtests, conducted by RutgersNew Jersey Medical School,also showed some kinds oftoothpaste, mouthwash andmouth spray can virtuallyeliminate the virus that causesCovid-19.

Wash your hands, wear amask and don’t forget to gar-gle with mouthwash.

That is the message Uni-lever PLC and Colgate-Pal-molive Co. are carefully start-ing to push after research theycommissioned showed thatcertain types of mouthwashand toothpaste could poten-tially help deactivate the virusthat causes Covid-19.

Now, Unilever is launchingmouthwash brands in newmarkets, while Colgate hasshared the results of its studywith dentists.

Reducing virus particles inthe mouth could help fightagainst the pandemic, the com-panies said, because Covid-19can be spread through dropletsgenerated when an infected per-son coughs, sneezes or speaks.Both companies said the mouth-

BY SAABIRA CHAUDHURI

Mouthwash Touted as a Virus Killer

Colgate and Unilever researchsuggested the health benefit.

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Huntington Bancshares Inc.agreed to merge with TCF Fi-nancial Corp. in the latest in arecent string of regional-banktie-ups.

The companies on Sundayannounced an all-stock deal. Itwould be one of the larger re-cent bank combinations, valu-ing Detroit-based TCF at nearly$6 billion, or about an 11% pre-mium. Columbus, Ohio-basedHuntington has a market valueof $13 billion.

Together, the banks wouldhave about $170 billion in as-sets, with a network ofbranches that stretches fromPennsylvania to Arizona and isespecially concentrated in Mid-western states such as Illinoisand Michigan.

The deal, if completed,would vault Huntington closerto its fiercest in-state competi-tors, Fifth Third Bancorp andKey Corp., which have about$200 billion and $170 billion inassets, respectively.

TCF’s nine-state networkwould add about 475 newbranches and five states whereHuntington lacks a physicalpresence. Huntington’s 839branches are spread acrossseven states.

The combined company willhave two headquarters——onefor its larger commercial seg-ment in Detroit, and one for itsconsumer business in Colum-bus, Huntington Chief Execu-tive Steve Steinour said. He willremain CEO while TFC’s execu-tive chairman, Gary Torgow,will remain chairman. Talks be-tween the men, who haveknown each other for decades,began in October and pro-gressed quickly, Mr. Steinoursaid.

Huntington has a reputationas an acquisition hound. Itbought fellow Ohio bank First-

Merit Corp. in 2016 in a dealthat significantly strengthenedits Midwestern presence. TCFis no stranger to deal makingeither.

The merger comes less thantwo years after it closed on adeal with Chemical FinancialCorp. that roughly doubled itssize.

Bank deals have picked uppace this year, especiallyamong regional banks thathave been seeking scale to bet-ter compete with larger com-petitors such as JPMorganChase & Co. and Bank of Amer-ica Corp.

With larger budgets to de-velop flashy apps and support awide network of branches, bignational banks have been add-ing customers and expandinginto regions that were oncedominated by regional banks.Consolidating allows banks toeliminate overlapping costs forthings like regulatory compli-ance and digital investmentthat often weigh on earnings.

Low interest rates are par-ticularly tough on regional

banks, which rely more onlending profits than their largercounterparts. Net interest mar-gin, or the difference betweenwhat a bank pays its depositorsand earns from lending, hit arecord low for commercialbanks in the third quarter.

First Citizens BancsharesInc. agreed to buy CIT GroupInc. in October in a deal thatwould create a bank with about$100 billion in assets. In No-vember, PNC Financial ServicesGroup Inc. agreed to buy theU.S. arm of Spain’s BBVA for$11.6 billion, a combination thatwould create the fifth-largestU.S. retail bank, with more than$550 billion in assets.

Two larger regional banks,BB&T and SunTrust, mergedlast year to become Truist Fi-nancial Corp., the largest bankdeal since the financial crisisushered in stricter regulations.

“This merger is an ideal op-portunity; it bolsters both ofus,” Mr. Steinour said in an in-terview. “We’ll be able to dothings together that neither ofus could do independently.”

BY CARA LOMBARDOAND ORLA MCCAFFREY

Ohio bank to acquireDetroit lender fornearly $6 billion inlatest regional merger

after TheWall Street Journal re-ported on the talks. Public Stor-age also announced the retire-ments of three of its longest-serving board members andnamed three new members.

Public Storage, recognizableby its bright orange logo, is aGlendale, Calif., real-estate in-vestment trust that specializesin developing, owning and oper-ating self-storage units. Foundedin 1972, it was one of the earliestmajor self-storage companiesbut has been under pressure ascompetition from the likes ofExtra Space Storage Inc. andCubeSmart heats up.

Elliott submitted its nomina-tions to Public Storage withinthe past few weeks, ahead of theDec. 12 close of the four-weekwindow to do so, the peoplesaid. Elliott’s six nominations ac-count for a minority of PublicStorage’s 13-person board.

Elliott has shied away fromproxy fights in recent years afterbruising public clashes withcompanies

ElliottManagementCorp. hasbuilt a significant stake inPublicStorage andprivately nominatedsixdirectors to the self-storagegi-ant’s board, according to peoplefamiliar with thematter.

Representatives of Elliott andPublic Storage, which has a mar-ket value of $38 billion, havehad multiple discussions in re-cent weeks about changes thatcould be made at the company,the people said.

It couldn’t be learned exactlywhat Elliott is pushing for PublicStorage’s management to do toboost its stock price, which hasstumbled in the past few yearsafter a decadeslong march up-ward. The company’s shares areup around 3% this year, com-pared with a roughly 13% rise inthe S&P 500.

Public Storage on Sundayconfirmed that Elliott Manage-ment had submitted the namesof six nominees and had been indiscussions with the company

BY CARA LOMBARDO

Elliott Takes StakeIn Public Storage

to reach employees and stu-dents remotely.

In March, Vista rival ThomaBravo LP took education-soft-ware company Instructure Inc.private in a roughly $2 billiondeal. Based in Austin, Texas,Vista is a pioneer in softwareinvesting and manages morethan $73 billion in assets acrossmultiple strategies.

A deal for Pluralsight wouldbe the latest evidence that thefirm is plowing ahead afterChief Executive Robert Smithadmitted to criminal tax eva-sion in October and agreed topay $139 million as part of anonprosecution agreement.

Brian Sheth, Vista’s co-founder, president and leaddeal-maker, left the firm in thewake of the settlement lastmonth.

Private-equity firm VistaEquity Partners agreed to buyeducational-software makerPluralsight Inc., according topeople familiar with the matter.

The deal values Pluralsightat $20.26 a share, or $3.5 bil-lion including debt, the compa-nies said.

Farmington, Utah-based Plu-ralsight is a cloud-based online-education platform for softwaredevelopers that sells to bothbusinesses and individuals.

Private-equity firms likeVista were already focused onbusiness-software providers,with their recurring-revenuemodels, before the pandemicincreased interest in companieswhose offerings make it easier

BY CARA LOMBARDOAND MIRIAM GOTTFRIED

Vista Equity to BuySoftware Company



BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY WSJ.com/Tech

taxes, among other issues, andhe realized he could do his jobwell from afar.

“It became clear there weremuch better places to live,” hesaid.

Despite the moves, SiliconValley’s place in global technol-ogy is still unrivaled. Five ofthe eight most valuable U.S.companies are based in the re-gion. Major employers likeFacebook Inc. and Google par-ent Alphabet Inc. have addedoffice space in the region evenduring the pandemic. And theBay Area has continued tochurn out major new compa-nies that captivate investors.The week of Oracle’s announce-ment, delivery-company Door-Dash Inc. and home-sharingcompany Airbnb Inc. went pub-lic with soaring valuations.

Venture-capital funding thisyear has continued to go to BayArea startups at disproportion-ate levels, even though thepandemic has made in-personmeetings with investors thereuncommon.

Once offices reopen, even ifa large chunk of workers stayremote, many investors and ex-ecutives say the value of prox-imity is so high that they ex-pect the region’s prominence tocontinue.

Patrick Eggen, co-founder ofthe venture-capital firm Coun-terpart Ventures, says hisfirm’s location in San Fran-cisco’s South Park neighbor-hood has been critical to itssuccess—and will be after thepandemic.

“My business is all relation-ship-oriented. In-person meet-ings are the artery of that exis-tence,” he said. “It gives me anedge being here.”

Even if the Bay Area’s domi-nance is reduced, “you stillhave the highest concentrationof talent, companies and capi-tal,” he said. “The cluster isstill here.”

That clustering is consid-ered a major reason for SiliconValley’s dominance. Large com-panies grow off each other,with engineers leaving estab-lished companies to create

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DeparturesDim SiliconValley Aura

their own startups, and rivalsconstantly poaching from oneanother. Investors often saythey are more comfortablefunding companies in theirbackyards.

Still, as the tech sector hasgone from a niche to America’sdominant industry, the regionhas strained to keep up, lead-ing to growing discomfort.

Between 2005 and 2019, em-ployment in the five countiesthat make up the bulk of theBay Area grew by 29%, adding674,000 jobs, according to Cali-fornia’s Employment Develop-ment Department.

Yet construction permitswere issued for just 211,000units, according to the U.S.Census Bureau. Planners saythe ratio of new jobs to newhousing units should be around1.5 to one.

The result has been soaringprices for housing and cost ofliving, which in turn fuel everhigher costs for paying employ-ees.

Well before the pandemic,tech companies began addingoffices in places like Seattle,

Nashville and Austin. Sales-force.com Inc., whose Sales-force Tower headquarters dom-inates San Francisco’s skyline,has in recent years put thesame name on buildings in In-dianapolis, New York and Chi-cago. Financial-tech companyStripe Inc., which had beenhiring engineers to work re-motely before the pandemic,this year offered employees$20,000 to move elsewhere—and accept a reduced salarybased on the location.

“There’s a finite space in theValley, and there’s a need toscale and continue to expand,”said Aaron Levie, CEO of BoxInc., a Redwood City, Calif.-based cloud company.

Six years ago, Mr. Levieopened up a small office inAustin. Now, it is Box’s largestoutside of Silicon Valley, withseveral hundred employees.Given the growing size of thetech sector, he said, it will need“to attract talent wherever itcan.”

The soaring cost ofBay Area living hasfrustrated someemployers.

CNN is riding a ratings highin the aftermath of the elec-tion. Whether the networkboss who oversaw those gainswill stick around is an openquestion.

CNN averaged more total-day viewers than Fox Newssince Election Day throughDec. 8, a 35-day span, the firsttime it has won such a longstretch in that category in 19years. CNN also bested thecompetition over that periodamong viewers ages 25 to 54,a demographic advertisers tar-get on news channels. FoxNews retained the No. 1 spotin total prime-time ratings.

As CNN tries to maintainmomentum, network parentWarnerMedia, a unit of AT&TInc., is in talks with CNN Pres-ident Jeff Zucker on whetherto renew his contract, withthose discussions expected toheat up in coming weeks, peo-ple close to the situation say.Mr. Zucker had signaled to as-sociates internally that hewasn’t sure whether he

BY BENJAMIN MULLIN

Dec. 8, CNN averaged about 1.7million viewers for the totalday, compared with roughly1.56 million for Fox News. CNNwas also first in prime-timeamong viewers 25 to 54, aver-aging about 818,000, but FoxNews was tops in total prime-time viewers.

Like its competitors in thecable news sector, Fox News ison track to deliver its highest-rated year ever. For the fullyear, Fox News is pacing to-ward first place among cable

news networks in several keyratings categories, includingtotal day viewership, total dayviewership in the key news de-mographic, prime-time view-ership and prime-time viewer-ship in the demographic.

Fox News, which has beenthe king of cable news ratingsfor nearly two decades, has re-cently faced stepped-up com-petition from pro-Trump net-works Newsmax and OneAmerica News Network, whichwon over viewers loyal to

wanted to stay on, and wouldweigh his options after theelection.

The contract negotiationsare happening at the sametime CNN has become a targetof takeover interest in the pri-vate-equity world. Recently,Mr. Zucker was made aware ofinvestor interest in taking thenetwork private, according topeople familiar with the mat-ter. One scenario floated was amanagement buyout thatwould see Mr. Zucker lead thenetwork under new ownership,some of the people said. Mr.Zucker has indicated thatwould-be suitors should con-tact AT&T.

WarnerMedia Chief Execu-tive Jason Kilar said at a re-cent company town hall thatCNN wasn’t for sale. Peopleclose to Mr. Kilar say he ishopeful Mr. Zucker will staywith the company.

Cable-news viewership hasdeclined across the boardfrom the peaks networksreached during the week ofthe election. CNN scored thebiggest gains in key categoriesduring the run-up to the elec-tion and its immediate after-math, and has retained enoughof that audience to vaultahead of longtime leader FoxNews in key categories.

Since the election through

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President Trump by playing uphis unsubstantiated claims ofwidespread fraud in the elec-tion.

Newsmax has seen its rat-ings in the key news demo-graphic surge around the elec-tion, according to Nielsen. Thenetwork has averaged about372,000 prime-time viewerssince Election Day throughDec. 8, a more than 500% in-crease compared with itsprime-time audience duringthe week before the election.

Still, Newsmax is far smallerthan Fox News, which aver-aged about 3.1 million prime-time viewers during that pe-riod.

Fox News and Wall StreetJournal parent News Corpshare common ownership.

MSNBC is in third place inseveral key ratings categoriessince the election. The net-work has had some brightspots, drawing more totalviewers than its competitorson weekdays since the electionwas called on Nov. 7, accordingto a spokeswoman. MSNBCsaid “The Rachel MaddowShow” has drawn more view-ers in its time slot than com-peting shows in December.NBCUniversal News GroupChairman Cesar Conde re-cently tapped network execu-tive Rashida Jones to be thenews channel’s next president.

CNN’s ratings victoriescould be temporary. The net-work occasionally gainsground on its competitors inthe short run as casual view-ers tune into CNN during in-tense periods of breakingnews. CNN eclipsed Fox Newsamong prime-time viewers inthe key demographic in Au-gust 2019, but Fox News wonthe most prime-time viewersthat month and ultimatelywon the quarter.

CNN Soars With Boss’s Fate UncertainCable network holdsleads in key ratingscategories amidZucker contract talks

CNN scored the biggest viewership gains during the run-up to the election and its immediate aftermath.

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, December 14, 2020 | B5

India 310 million

U.S. 190

Indonesia 140

Brazil 130

Mexico 92

U.S. 140million

India 120

Brazil 95

Indonesia 78

Russia 54

Top five Facebook markets,by users*

Top five Instagram markets,by users*

Source: DataReportalNote: Figures as of October, based on extrapolations of data from Facebook's self-service ad tools.*Users who can be reached by advertisers

and-acquisition deals sinceMarch 1, roughly when the pan-demic led to remote work, Dea-logic said. More such deal clos-ings are in the pipeline,including S&P Global Inc.’s planto buy IHS Markit Ltd. for anestimated $44.4 billion.

Some of the technical as-

pects of an integration, such asplanning or merging systems,can be done as or more effec-tively in a remote environment,executives say. But connectingwith people, developing a com-mon language and sharing a vi-sion can be much harder.

At S&P Global and IHS

Markit, executives from bothcompanies will be leading theintegration after the transac-tion closes, said finance chiefEwout Steenbergen. He metwith key executives at IHSMarkit, following Covid-19guidelines, but the negotiationscontinued remotely after that.

Adobe, which held a 2019 in-person event, used a newly acquired platform to connect workers remotely.

STANSH

OLIK/

ZUMAPR

ESS

cades before his landslide elec-tion victory in 2014. A spokes-man for the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh referredqueries to the Bajrang Dal. Aspokesman for the prime minis-ter’s office didn’t respond to arequest for comment.

At Facebook, the review ofthe group had been listed as“blocked” for most of the yearin its internal project manage-ment system, a label that usu-ally meant that work hadstopped, people familiar withthe matter said. A note from anemployee in Facebook’s internaltask management system, de-scribed to the Journal by peoplewho saw it, recommended thata ban not occur “due to com-plexities” arising from BajrangDal’s political affiliations.

Facebook’s Mr. Stone said theemployee’s comments didn’t re-flect the views of the relevantteams and was made outside ofthe formal dangerous-organiza-tions review process. He saidthe labeling of the review as“blocked” didn’t mean the topicwas off-limits, but instead thatthe actions in the task weren’tbeing actively pursued.

“The Bajrang Dal has a vio-lent history, and the link be-tween content linked to thatgroup and offline violence is in-disputable,” said Dia Kayyali ofWitness.org, part of a coalitionof human-rights groups thathave been talking to Facebookstaff about religious violence inIndia. If Facebook “can’t bothhave offices in India and pushback on organizations that arecausing real world violence,there should be a conversationabout the implications of that.”

The video from the Pentecos-tal church was posted to Face-book by Jeet Vashisth, who saidin an interview that he is a dis-trict president for Bajrang Dal.Filmed some time after the in-trusion occurred, it shows sev-eral men standing before amonkey-headed idol of theHindu god Hanuman and march-ing through the neighborhoodchanting “Bajrang Dal.”

“I and other Hindu brotherscame here and forcefully re-es-tablished the temple,” Mr. Vash-isth, 21 years old, said in thevideo, which garnered thou-sands of likes and comments.

Mr. Vashisth denied churchrepresentatives were assaulted.“Our organization only worksfor the service and protection ofthe Hindu society,” he said.

Facebook took the videodown following Journal que-ries about it.

Pastor Varun Malik said hewas punched in the head by oneof the invaders. “I was reallyafraid,” he said. Church officialssaid they reported the incidentto police but no action has beentaken against the men.

Minakshi Singh, general sec-retary at Unity in Christ, agroup of churches that includesthe Pentecostal church, accusedFacebook of “spreading poison.”

“They’re not taking materialoff the service that is inflamma-tory,” she said. “We’re not safein India.”

A Bajrang Dal spokesmansaid its members don’t take partin illegal activities and it doesn’thave conflicts with other reli-gious groups.

Facebook’s security team is-sued warnings about risks frombanishing two other right-wingHindu nationalist groups activeon the platform: Sanatan San-stha and Sri Ram Sena, accord-ing to people familiar with thematter. A Sanatan Sansthaspokesman said the group isn’tdangerous and doesn’t engagein hate speech on Facebook. ASri Ram Sena representativedidn’t respond to requests forcomment.

Facebook’s human-rightsstaff internally designated Indiaa “Tier One” country, meaning itis at the highest risk of societalviolence and therefore requiresheightened efforts by the com-pany to protect vulnerable pop-ulations, according to people fa-miliar with the matter. Thisranks it alongside Myanmar, SriLanka and Pakistan. Facebookstaff’s designation of Indiahasn’t previously been reported.

Facebook has a significantpresence in India, with five of-fices including in New Delhi andMumbai. Those facilities andtheir people are what the com-pany’s security team zeroed inon as potential risks of retalia-tion from extremists.

Hindus make up more than75% of the population in India,while Muslims are about 14%and Christians, 2%.

The Wall Street Journal re-ported in August that Face-book’s top public-policy execu-tive in India, Ankhi Das,opposed efforts to apply hate-speech rules to some Hindu na-tionalist politicians and groups.Bajrang Dal was among thoseentities that was flagged inter-nally for promoting or partici-pating in violence.

Ms. Das left Facebook in Oc-tober, saying in an internal postshe was stepping down to pur-sue her interest in public ser-vice. Ms. Das didn’t respond torequests for comment.

A group of Facebook employ-ees said in an internal letter andposts on Facebook discussiongroups that the presence of Ba-jrang Dal on its platform, amongother organizations, casts doubton Facebook’s commitment totackle hate speech in India.

Bajrang Dal has more than2,000 offices across India andsome of its members have un-dertaken violence against Chris-tians, Muslims and secularists.The group is a militant youthwing of a group affiliated withthe Hindu nationalist RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh organiza-tion, for which Prime MinisterNarendra Modi worked for de-

ContinuedfrompageB1

FacebookFears IndiaFallout

the computer or the phone,”said Brian Salsberg, head ofthe integration practice atErnst & Young LLP, the profes-sional services firm.

Park Place TechnologiesLLC, a Cleveland-based pro-vider of data-center services,in November purchased Curva-ture Inc., another information-technology support business.To keep all employees in-formed of the changes at thecompany, Park Place now isproducing a weekly podcastand hosting virtual town-hallmeetings, Chief Executive ChrisAdams said.

“The most challenging aspectis assimilating all of our newemployees into the Park Placeculture when we can’t physicallybe together,” Mr. Adams said.

Sending little welcome gifts,such as T-shirts, mugs and post-ers, to remote employees helpscreate excitement, said EY’s Mr.Salsberg. Others recommend re-mote dinners or cocktail hoursto bridge the gap.

Adobe Inc. employees cansign up to become buddies oftheir new colleagues at Work-front, a work-managementplatform that the softwarecompany recently acquired, ina deal that was completed thismonth. “We are still trying tofigure out how to create thatconnection,” said Amit Ahuja, avice president at Adobe, add-ing that “people love” theBuddy program.

U.S. companies have securedapprovals and transferred own-ership in over 6,450 merger-

Integrating two businessesafter a merger or an acquisi-tion is becoming even more ofa challenge as the pandemiccontinues to disrupt how busi-nesses operate. The missingpiece: personal interaction.

Nine months into the pan-demic, as business travel re-mains restricted and many em-ployees continue to work fromhome, chances for executivesand key employees to meetface-to-face are limited. Even asdeals are being struck at a hec-tic pace, executives say they arestriving to figure out how to in-tegrate companies and teamswithout face-to-face contact.

“Building relationships andculture is very difficult over

BY NINA TRENTMANN

Distancing ChallengesFirms’ Merger Process

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UPS IDE DOWN?

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Derivatives are not suitable for all investors and involve the risk of losing more than the amount originally deposited and any profit you might have made.This communication is not a recommendation or offer to buy, sell or retain any specific investment or service. Copyright © 2020 CME Group Inc. All rights reserved.

TECHNOLOGYNY


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New to the Market More on Page B8

PublicOfferings of Stock

IPOs in theU.S.MarketInitial public offerings of stock expected thisweek;might include someofferings, U.S. and foreign, open to institutional investors only via theRule 144amarket; deal amounts are for theU.S.market only

Symbol/ Pricing

Expected primary Shares Range($)pricing date Filed Issuer/business exchange (mil.) Low/High Bookrunner(s)

12/15 11/4 UpstartHoldings Inc UPST 12.0 20.00/ GS, BofASecurities, Citi,

Software-FinancialTechnology companyengagedwith leading acloud-basedAI lendingplatform

Nq 22.00 Jefferies, Barclays

12/15 11/13 BioAtla Inc BCAB 9.4 15.00/ JPM, Jefferies, Credit SuisseClinical-stagebiopharmaceuticalcompany developing ournovel class of highlyspecific and selectiveantibody-basedtherapeutics for thetreatment of solid tumorcancer.

Nq 17.00

12/15 11/20 Wish WISH 46.0 22.00/ GS, JPM, BofASecurities, Citi, DB,Software-E-Commercecompany engagedwithoperating an onlineplatform for a variety ofproducts.

Nq 24.00 UBS, RBCCptlMkts, CreditSuisse

LockupExpirationsBelow, companieswhose officers and other insiderswill becomeeligibleto sell shares in their newly public companies for the first time. Suchsales canmove the stock’s price.

Lockup Offer Offer amt Through Lockupexpiration Issue date Issuer Symbol price($) ($mil.) Friday (%) provision

Dec. 16 June 19, ’20 GenetronHoldings GTH 16.00 200.0 –18.8 180 days

June 16, ’20 Royalty Pharma RPRX 28.00 1855.0 51.5 180 days

June 19, ’20 Progenity PROG 15.00 100.0 –68.5 180 days

June 18, ’20 FormaTherapeuticsHoldings FMTX 20.00 200.0 130.9 180 days

June 19, ’20 Repare Therapeutics RPTX 20.00 125.0 81.9 180 days

Sources: Dealogic; DowJonesMarketData

Treasury yield curveYield to maturity of current bills,notes and bonds

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50%

1month(s)

3 6 1years

2 3 5 7 10 20 30

maturity

t

Tradeweb ICEFriday Close

t

One year ago

Forex RaceYen, euro vs. dollar; dollar vs.major U.S. trading partners

–10

–5

0

5

10%

2020 2

Euro

s

Yen

s

WSJ Dollar indexs

Sources: Tradeweb ICEU.S. Treasury Close; Tullett Prebon; DowJonesMarketData

CorporateBorrowingRatesandYieldsSpread+/- Treasurys,

Yield (%) in basis pts, 52-wkRange Total ReturnBond total return index Last Wkago Last Low High 52-wk 3-yr

U.S. Treasury, Barclays 0.570 0.630 7.47 5.23U.S. TreasuryLong, Barclays 1.490 1.590 14.92 10.18Aggregate, Barclays 1.170 1.210 n.a. 39 127 7.01 5.31Fixed-RateMBS, Barclays 1.340 1.360 n.a. 28 132 3.77 3.68HighYield 100, ICEBofA 3.874 3.761 352 271 1018 4.029 4.911MuniMaster, ICEBofA 0.897 0.941 29 -12 41 5.129 4.475EMBIGlobal, J.P.Morgan 4.424 4.437 339 277 662 5.596 4.732

Sources: J.P.Morgan; S&PDowJones Indices; BloombergBarclays; ICEDataServices

ConsumerRates andReturns to InvestorU.S. consumer ratesA consumer rate against itsbenchmark over the past year

3.00

3.40

3.80

4.20

4.60%

J2020

F M A M J J A S O N D

tNew car loan

tPrime rate

Selected ratesNewcar loan

Bankrate.comavg†: 4.04%First CommandBank 2.75%FortWorth, TX 888-763-7600

First SavingsBankofHegewisch 2.75%Chicago, IL 773-646-4200

CambridgeSavingsBank 3.24%Cambridge,MA 888-418-5626

PNCBank 3.34%Washington, DC 888-PNC-BANK

ChaseBank 3.84%HighlandPark, IL 800-CHA-SE24

Yield/Rate (%) 52-WeekRange (%) 3-yr chgInterest rate Last (l)Week ago Low 0 2 4 6 8 High (pct pts)

Federal-funds rate target 0.00-0.25 0.00-0.25 0.00 l 1.50 -1.00Prime rate* 3.25 3.25 3.25 l 4.75 -1.00Libor, 3-month 0.22 0.23 0.20 l 1.96 -1.35Moneymarket, annual yield 0.20 0.20 0.19 l 0.58 -0.14Five-year CD, annual yield 0.59 0.58 0.58 l 1.41 -0.9030-yearmortgage, fixed† 2.94 2.94 2.90 l 4.22 -0.9415-yearmortgage, fixed† 2.50 2.37 2.37 l 3.57 -0.80Jumbomortgages, $510,400-plus† 2.92 2.97 2.90 l 4.36 -1.38Five-year adjmortgage (ARM)† 3.22 3.21 2.85 l 4.61 -0.48New-car loan, 48-month 4.04 4.04 4.04 l 4.50 0.84Bankrate.com rates based on survey of over 4,800 online banks. *Base rate posted by 70% of the nation's largestbanks.† Excludes closing costs.

Sources: FactSet; Dow JonesMarket Data; Bankrate.com

S&P 500 Index3663.46 t35.66, or 0.96% last week

High, low, open and close for each ofthe past 52 weeks

Year agoLast

Trailing P/E ratio *P/E estimate *Dividend yield *All-time high

41.52 24.8525.85 19.271.65 1.84

3702.25, 12/08/20

2000

2250

2500

2750

3000

3250

3500

3750

D J F M A M J J A S O N D

65-day moving average


Nasdaq Composite

t 86.36, or -0.69%last week

12550

12400

12250

121004

December7 8 9 10 11

DJ US TSM

t 252.60, or -0.66%last week

38500

38200

37900

376004

December7 8 9 10 11

International Stock IndexesLatestWeek 52-WeekRange YTD

Region/Country Index Close % chg Low Close High % chg

World TheGlobalDow 3447.97 –1.26 2138.97 • 3492.03 6.1DJGlobal Index 482.38 –0.49 292.30 • 485.09 11.1DJGlobal exU.S. 280.50 –0.16 174.38 • 281.30 6.4

Americas DJAmericas 867.19 –0.67 512.68 • 875.53 14.0Brazil SaoPauloBovespa 115128.00 1.21 63569.62 • 119527.63 –0.4Canada S&P/TSXComp 17548.92 0.16 11228.49 • 17944.06 2.8Mexico S&P/BMV IPC 43612.31 –0.08 32964.22 • 45902.68 0.16Chile Santiago IPSA 2798.22 –2.67 2045.49 • 3567.90 –16.1

EMEA StoxxEurope600 390.12 –1.00 279.66 • 433.90 –6.2StoxxEurope50 3078.02 –0.42 2383.14 • 3539.12 –9.6

Eurozone EuroStoxx 388.90 –1.34 261.53 • 421.34 –3.7EuroStoxx50 3485.84 –1.51 2385.82 • 3865.18 –6.9

Austria ATX 2632.17 –0.92 1630.84 • 3229.37 –17.4Belgium Bel-20 3649.74 –2.07 2528.77 • 4198.31 –7.7France CAC40 5507.55 –1.81 3754.84 • 6111.24 –7.9Germany DAX 13114.30 –1.39 8441.71 • 13789.00 –1.0Greece AthexComposite 779.04 –0.75 484.40 • 948.64 –15.0Israel TelAviv 1472.62 1.77 1171.21 • 1751.79 –12.5Italy FTSEMIB 21702.16 –2.15 14894 • 25478 –7.7Netherlands AEX 614.46 –0.20 404.10 • 629.23 1.6Portugal PSI 20 4742.67 0.85 3596.08 • 5435.85 –9.0Russia RTS Index 1412.88 4.09 832.26 • 1646.60 –8.8SouthAfrica FTSE/JSEAll-Share 59412.61 –0.01 37963.01 • 59527.70 4.1Spain IBEX35 8063.10 –3.12 6107.2 • 10083.6 –15.6Sweden OMXStockholm 756.67 –0.21 478.95 • 764.42 11.1Switzerland SwissMarket 10391.76 0.26 8160.79 • 11263.01 –2.1U.K. FTSE 100 6546.75 –0.05 4993.89 • 7674.56 –13.2

Asia-PacificAustralia S&P/ASX200 6642.60 0.13 4546.0 • 7162.5 –0.6China Shanghai Composite 3347.19 –2.83 2660.17 • 3451.94 9.7HongKong HangSeng 26505.87 –1.23 21696.13 • 29056.42 –6.0India S&PBSESensex 46099.01 2.26 25981.24 • 46103.50 11.7Japan Nikkei StockAvg 26652.52 –0.37 16552.83 • 26817.94 12.7Malaysia FTSEBursaMalaysiaKLCI 1684.58 3.87 1219.72 • 1684.58 6.0Singapore Straits Times 2821.70 –0.64 2233.48 • 3281.03 –12.4SouthKorea Kospi 2770.06 1.41 1457.64 • 2770.06 26.0Taiwan TAIEX 14261.69 0.91 8681.34 • 14390.14 18.9

Source: FactSet; DowJonesMarketData

MajorU.S. Stock-Market IndexesLatestWeek 52-Week % chg

High Low Close Net chg % chg Low Close (l) High %chg YTD 3-yr. ann.DowJones

Industrial Average 30319.70 29820.84 30046.37 -171.89 -0.57 18591.93 l 30218.26 6.8 5.3 7.2TransportationAvg 12917.86 12595.03 12672.38 -69.70 -0.55 6703.63 l 12803.02 17.6 16.2 6.9UtilityAverage 863.63 849.30 855.10 -1.03 -0.12 610.89 l 960.89 -0.2 -2.7 3.9Total StockMarket 38693.59 37877.81 38201.70 -252.60 -0.66 22462.76 l 38576.35 17.9 15.6 11.6Barron's 400 828.38 817.87 823.98 -0.23 -0.03 455.11 l 828.38 14.1 12.5 5.4

NasdaqStockMarket

NasdaqComposite 12607.15 12214.74 12377.87 -86.36 -0.69 6860.67 l 12582.77 41.7 38.0 21.7Nasdaq 100 12651.35 12226.13 12375.41 -153.07 -1.22 6994.29 l 12635.72 45.8 41.7 24.6

S&P

500 Index 3712.39 3633.40 3663.46 -35.66 -0.96 2237.40 l 3702.25 15.6 13.4 11.3MidCap400 2264.67 2220.91 2239.94 -5.00 -0.22 1218.55 l 2249.57 10.6 8.6 5.9SmallCap600 1103.95 1074.03 1086.59 1.15 0.11 595.67 l 1095.22 8.4 6.4 5.5

Other Indexes

Russell 2000 1935.27 1881.70 1911.70 19.25 1.02 991.16 l 1922.7 16.7 14.6 7.9NYSEComposite 14476.68 14260.89 14355.29 -62.04 -0.43 8777.38 l 14417.33 4.8 3.2 4.3Value Line 566.68 555.33 559.24 -2.76 -0.49 305.71 l 562.82 3.3 1.3 0.2NYSEArcaBiotech 5647.52 5409.04 5542.42 -77.22 -1.37 3855.67 l 6142.96 8.9 9.4 9.8NYSEArcaPharma 694.90 680.29 689.40 5.38 0.79 494.36 l 691.7 8.0 5.5 8.2KBWBank 96.16 93.12 94.19 -1.43 -1.50 56.19 l 114.12 -16.4 -16.9 -3.9PHLX§Gold/Silver 145.03 137.94 138.61 -0.73 -0.53 70.12 l 161.14 38.2 29.6 21.7PHLX§Oil Service 47.53 43.50 46.23 0.963 2.13 21.47 l 80.99 -37.6 -40.9 -30.2PHLX§Semiconductor 2825.94 2675.37 2704.08 -88.95 -3.18 1286.84 l 2816.27 50.6 46.2 29.5CBOEVolatility 25.14 20.10 23.31 2.52 12.12 12.10 l 82.69 84.6 69.2 35.6

NasdaqPHLX Sources: FactSet; DowJonesMarketData

Commodities andCurrencies

LastWeek YTDClose Net chg %Chg % chg

DJCommodity 701.10 6.88 0.99 9.15

TR/CCCRB Index 161.25 1.35 0.85 -13.21

Crude oil,$per barrel 46.57 0.31 0.67 -23.73

Natural gas,$/MMBtu 2.591 0.016 0.62 18.36

Gold,$per troy oz. 1839.80 3.90 0.21 21.08

U.S. Dollar Index 90.98 0.28 0.31 -5.61

WSJDollar Index 85.96 0.10 0.12 -4.03

Euro, per dollar 0.8257 0.0006 0.07 -7.41

Yen, per dollar 104.02 -0.17 -0.17 -4.26

U.K. pound, in dollars 1.32 -0.0210 -1.56 -0.25

52-WeekLow Close(l) High %Chg

DJCommodity 433.70 l 701.75 11.08

TR/CCCRB Index 106.29 l 187.39 -12.27

Crude oil,$per barrel -37.63 l 63.27 -22.47

Natural gas,$/MMBtu 1.482 l 3.354 12.85

Gold,$per troy oz. 1472.60 l 2051.50 24.68

U.S. Dollar Index 90.70 l 102.82 -6.37

WSJDollar Index 85.77 l 97.02 -4.74

Euro, per dollar 0.8231 l 0.9352 -8.18

Yen, per dollar 102.37 l 112.11 -4.87

U.K. pound, in dollars 1.15 l 1.35 -0.77

Real-time U.S. stockquotes are available onWSJ.com. Track most-active stocks, newhighs/lows, mutualfunds and ETFs.

All are available free atWSJMarkets.com

WSJ.COM

BenchmarkYields andRatesBenchmarkYields andRates

MARKETS DIGEST

Dow Jones Industrial Average30046.37 t171.89, or 0.57% last week

High, low, open and close for each ofthe past 52 weeks

Year agoLast

Trailing P/E ratioP/E estimate *Dividend yieldAll-time high

29.58 20.9424.71 18.792.03 2.23

30218.26, 12/04/20

16000

18000

20000

22000

24000

26000

28000

30000


Current divisor 0.15198707565833

Bars measure the point change from Monday's open

tt

Week's high

Week's low

Monday's open

Friday's close Monday's open

Friday's closeDOWN UP

Primarymarket t

t

Composite



NYSE weekly volume, in billions of shares

0

12

24

36


*Weekly P/E data based on as-reported earnings from Birinyi Associates Inc.; †Based on Nasdaq-100 Index

CurrenciesU.S.-dollar foreign-exchange rates in lateNewYork trading

US$vs,Fri YTD chg

Country/currency inUS$ perUS$ (%)

AmericasArgentina peso .0122 82.1450 37.2Brazil real .1974 5.0661 26.0Canada dollar .7830 1.2772 –1.7Chile peso .001362 734.30 –0.7Colombiapeso .000291 3438.10 4.8EcuadorUSdollar 1 1 unchMexico peso .0496 20.1428 6.4Uruguay peso .02356 42.4500 14.3Asia-PacificAustralian dollar .7533 1.3275 –6.8China yuan .1527 6.5467 –6.0HongKong dollar .1290 7.7515 –0.5India rupee .01356 73.741 3.3Indonesia rupiah .0000710 14080 1.4Japan yen .009614 104.02 –4.3Kazakhstan tenge .002385 419.34 9.8Macau pataca .1252 7.9880 –0.4Malaysia ringgit .2468 4.0515 –1.0NewZealand dollar .7081 1.4122 –4.9Pakistan rupee .00624 160.150 3.3Philippines peso .0208 48.130 –5.1Singapore dollar .7480 1.3369 –0.7SouthKoreawon .0009159 1091.80 –5.5Sri Lanka rupee .0053562 186.70 3.0Taiwan dollar .03548 28.182 –5.8Thailand baht .03321 30.110 1.2

US$vs,Fri YTD chg

Country/currency inUS$ perUS$ (%)

Vietnam dong .00004323 23132 –0.2EuropeCzechRep. koruna .04593 21.774 –4.0Denmark krone .1627 6.1448 –7.8Euro area euro 1.2112 .8257 –7.4Hungary forint .003420 292.44 –1.0Iceland krona .007825 127.80 5.5Norway krone .1134 8.8150 0.4Poland zloty .2723 3.6720 –3.2Russia ruble .01367 73.150 17.9Sweden krona .1182 8.4598 –9.7Switzerland franc 1.1235 .8901 –8.0Turkey lira .1272 7.8612 32.1Ukraine hryvnia .0357 28.0500 18.5UK pound 1.3227 .7560 0.2Middle East/AfricaBahrain dinar 2.6522 .3771 ...Egypt pound .0636 15.7115 –2.1Israel shekel .3070 3.2571 –5.7Kuwait dinar 3.2760 .3052 0.7Oman sul rial 2.5976 .3850 –0.01Qatar rial .2746 3.641 –0.1SaudiArabia riyal .2667 3.7499 –0.04SouthAfrica rand .0661 15.1396 8.2

Close Net Chg %Chg YTD%Chg

WSJDollar Index 85.96 0.17 0.20 –4.03

Sources: Tullett Prebon, DowJonesMarketData

Off theShelf“Shelf registrations” allowa company to prepare a stock or bond forsale,without selling thewhole issue at once. Corporations sell asconditions become favorable. Here are the shelf sales, or takedowns,over the lastweek:

Takedowndate/ Deal valueIssuer/Industry Registration date ($mil.) Bookrunner(s)

RepligenCorp Dec. 7 $312.2 JPMorganStifelHealthcare April 29,319

KuraOncology Inc Dec. 8 $345.1 SVBLeerink, Credit Suisse,Healthcare Dec. 7,320 Barclays, Stifel

SutroBiopharma Inc Dec. 8 $126.0 Cowen&Company LLC, Piper Sandler,Healthcare Oct. 4,319 WFS

iBio Inc Dec. 8 $35.0 Cantor Fitzgerald&CoHealthcare Nov. 25,320

MarinusPharmaceuticals Inc Dec. 8 $70.0 Cantor Fitzgerald&CoHealthcare July 9,320

SequansCommunicationsSA Dec. 8 $13.9 BRiley Securities IncComputers&Electronics Nov. 16,320

AtaraBiotherapeutics Inc Dec. 8 $175.0 Citi, Evercore Inc,MizuhoHealthcare Feb. 27,318

SyndaxPharmaceuticals Inc Dec. 8 $143.8 GS, Citi, Cowen&Company LLCHealthcare Aug. 30,319

ArcturusTherapeuticsHoldings Inc Dec. 7 $150.2 Piper Sandler, GuggenheimPartners,Healthcare Dec. 7,320 WFS, RWBaird&Co

Volaris Dec. 8 $173.4 MS, Evercore Inc, Santander, Citi,Transportation Oct. 7,320 BofASecurities

GrowGenerationCorp Dec. 9 $150.0 Oppenheimer IncRetail Dec. 7,320

IGMBiosciences Inc Dec. 8 $200.0 Jefferies, Stifel,Healthcare Nov. 5,320 GuggenheimPartners, RBCCptlMkts

DelcathSystems Inc Dec. 9 $19.3 CanaccordGenuity, Roth Cptl PtnrsHealthcare Oct. 24,318

HOOKIPAPharma Inc Dec. 8 $40.0 MS, SVBLeerinkHealthcare May 15,320

IchorHoldings Ltd Dec. 9 $127.0 Stifel, Cowen&Company LLCComputers&Electronics Aug. 3,320

Curis Inc Dec. 9 $169.6 Cantor Fitzgerald&Co,Healthcare May 3,318 JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC

BRPGroup Inc Dec. 8 $258.1 JPM, BofASecurities,WFS,MS,Insurance Dec. 8,320 Jefferies,W. Blair LLC

Cel-Sci Corp Dec. 9 $14.7 KingswoodCapitalManagement LLC,Healthcare Aug. 3,318 Aegis Cptl

AtlanticaSustainable Infrastructure plcDec. 9 $145.5 BofASecuritiesUtility &Energy Aug. 6,318

Fiserv Inc Dec. 9 $1,960.0 BofASecurities, Citi, KKR,Computers&Electronics Sept. 20,318 PNCBankNA, Truist Financial Corp,WFS

RocketPharmaceuticals Inc Dec. 9 $260.0 JPM, BofASecurities, SVBLeerink,Healthcare June 17,319 Piper Sandler

AquaBountyTechnologies Inc Dec. 10 $56.7 Oppenheimer Inc,Agribusiness April 6,318 LakeStreet CapitalMarkets LLC

LeafGroupLtd Dec. 10 $30.0 CanaccordGenuityPublishing Oct. 14,320

AvidBioservices Inc Dec. 10 $30.0 RBCCptlMktsHealthcare Jan. 12,318

Pixelworks Inc Dec. 10 $12.0 RothCptl Ptnrs,Computers&Electronics Nov. 6,320 Craig-HallumGroup

SeaLtd Dec. 10 $2,574.0 GS, JPMComputers&Electronics March 1,319

PebblebrookHotel Trust Dec. 11 $450.0 BofASecurities,Real Estate/Property Feb. 21,320 Raymond James&Associates Inc

Protagonist Therapeutics Inc Dec. 10 $100.0 JPM, SVBLeerink, Piper Sandler,Healthcare Dec. 10,320 BMOCptlMkts

NabrivaTherapeutics plc Dec. 10 $15.0 HCWainwright&Co LLCHealthcare Sept. 1,320

NapcoSecurity Systems Inc Dec. 11 $58.1 BRiley Securities Inc,Telecommunications Aug. 17,320 Needham&CoLLC

9MetersBiopharma Inc Dec. 11 $30.0 W.Blair LLC,Healthcare Oct. 2,320 Truist Financial Corp

Public andPrivateBorrowingTreasurysMonday, December 14 Thursday, December 17

Auction of 13 and 26week bills; Auction of 4 and8week bills;announced onDecember 10; settles onDecember 17announced onDecember 15; settles onDecember 22

Track the MarketsCompare the performance of selectedglobal stock indexes, bond ETFs,currencies and commodities atwsj.com/graphics/track-the-markets


B8 | Monday, December 14, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

SchrdrsOpp Inc;A2 NA NA NA NSSchrdrsOpp Inc;I 25.61 NA NA 1.1SchrdrsOpp Inc;SDR 25.65 NA NA 1.2InvescoSr LoanA 6.22 NA NA 4.4InvescoSr LoanC 6.24 NA NA 3.7InvescoSr Loan IB 6.23 NA NA 4.6InvescoSr Loan IC 6.23 NA NA 4.5InvescoSr LoanY 6.23 NA NA 4.6Pioneer Sec Inc 9.49 NA NA NSHighYieldBondFundsGriffin InstAccess Cd:A NA NA NA 6.1Griffin InstAccess Cd:C NA NA NA 6.1Griffin InstAccess Cd:F NA NA NA 6.2Griffin InstAccess Cd:I NA NA NA 6.1Griffin InstAccess Cd:L NA NA NA 6.2PIMCOFlexible Cr I;A-2 9.18 NA NA 9.8PIMCOFlexible Cr I;A-3 9.17 NA NA NSPIMCOFlexible Cr I;A-4 9.18 NA NA 10.1PIMCOFlexible Cr I;Inst 9.17 NA NA 10.9PionrILSBridge NA NA NA 0.0WAMiddleMktDbt NA NA NA 7.8WAMiddleMkt Inc NA NA NA 8.7OtherDomestic TaxableBondFundsAmBeaconApollo TR:T 10.37 NA NA 1.7AmBeaconApollo TR:Y 10.42 NA NA 2.5AmBeaconSPEnh Inc:T 9.59 NA NA NSAmBeaconSPEnh Inc:Y 9.65 NA NA 3.3BRCredit Strat;A 10.42 NA NA NSBRCredit Strat;Inst 10.41 NA NA 5.1BlackRockMlt-SctrOppty 88.14 NA NA 8.6BlackRockMlt-SecOpp II 91.11 NA NA 8.3Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:A NA NA NA 8.2Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:I NA NA NA 9.1Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:L NA NA NA 8.6Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:M NA NA NA NSCarlyle Tact Pvt Cred:N NA NA NA 9.1Carlyle Tact Pvt Cred:Y NA NA NA 8.8CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;A NA NA NA 5.7CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;C NA NA NA 5.7CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;I NA NA NA 5.6CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;L NA NA NA 5.6CIONAresDvsfd Crdt;U NA NA NA 5.6CIONAresDvsfd Crdt:U2 NA NA NA NSCIONAresDvsfd Crdt;W NA NA NA 5.6CNRSelect Strategies 11.58 NA NA 0.0First Eagle CrdtOppsA 25.28 NA NA NSFirst Eagle CrdtOpps I 25.27 NA NA NSGLBeyond Income 0.64 NA NA NEKKRCREDITOPPTY;D NA NA NA NSKKRCREDITOPPTY;I NA NA NA NSKKRCREDITOPPTY;T NA NA NA NSKKRCREDITOPPTY;U NA NA NA NSLordAbbett CredOpps Fd 10.30 NA NA 7.2LordAbbett CredOpps Fd 10.30 NA NA 7.8LordAbbett CrdOp:U 10.30 NA NA NSPalmer SquareOpp Inc NA NA NA 6.0Resource Credit Inc:A 10.43 NA NA 8.0Resource Credit Inc:C 10.53 NA NA 7.3Resource Credit Inc:I 10.45 NA NA 8.2Resource Credit Inc:L 10.42 NA NA 7.7Resource Credit Inc:W 10.42 NA NA 8.0Thrivent Church Ln&Inc:S NA NA NA 2.6World IncomeFundsDestra Int&Evt-DvnCrd:A 25.20 NA NA 4.6Destra Int&Evt-DvnCrd:I 25.21 NA NA 4.8Destra Int&Evt-DvnCrd:L 25.19 NA NA 4.4Destra Int&Evt-DvnCrd:T 25.16 NA NA 4.2NationalMuni BondFundsPIMCOFlexMun Inc;A-3 NA NA NA 2.1PIMCOFlexMun Inc:A1 NA NA NA NSPIMCOFlexMun Inc;A2 NA NA NA NSPIMCOFlexMun Inc;Inst NA NA NA 2.8Tortoise Tax-AdvSoc Inf 9.52 NA NA 5.0

52wkPrem Ttl

Fund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret

Insider-TradingSpotlightTrading by ‘insiders’ of a corporation, such as a company’s CEO, vice president or director, potentially conveysnew information about the prospects of a company. Insiders are required to report large trades to theSECwithin twobusiness days. Here’s a look at the biggest individual trades by insiders, based on data received byThomsonFinancial onDecember 11, and year-to-date stock performance of the companyKEY: B: beneficial owner ofmore than 10%of a security class CB: chairman CEO: chief executive officer CFO: chief financial officerCO: chief operating officer D: director DO: director and beneficial owner GC: general counsel H: officer, director and beneficial ownerI: indirect transaction filed through a trust, insider spouse,minor child or other O: officer OD: officer and director P: presidentUT:unknown VP: vice president Excludes pure options transactions

Biggestweekly individual tradesBased on reports filedwith regulators this pastweek

No. of shrs in Price range ($) $ValueDate(s) Company Symbol Insider Title trans (000s) in transaction (000s) Close ($) Ytd (%)

BuyersDec. 2 KinnateBiopharma KNTE C. Gordon DOI 750 20.00 15,000 41.01Dec. 2-4 MultiPlan MPLN G.August DI 826 7.00-7.00 5,782 8.47Nov. 30-Dec. 4DIRTTEnvironmental Solutions DRTT S. Noll B 1870* 1.69-2.45 3,892 2.08 -37.3Dec. 4-8 HC2Holdings HCHC A.Glazer DOI 341 3.48-3.49 1,187 3.65 68.5Dec. 10 Ardelyx ARDX D.Mott D 170 5.89 1,001 6.68 -11.0Dec. 9 CarriageServices CSV M.Payne CEO 29 30.02 871 29.71 16.1Dec. 1 IcahnEnterprises IEP A. Krongard DI 17 50.03 837 50.95 -17.2Dec. 7-9 CuriosityStream CURI J. Hendricks DO 78 8.97-9.00 701 8.85Dec. 8 CannaeHoldings CNNE R.Massey CEO 15 42.33 635 42.52 14.3Dec. 3-4 HoughtonMifflinHarcourt HMHC D.Allen D 150 3.38-3.39 508 3.34 -46.6Dec. 1-3 Atlas Technical Consultants ATCX D.Quinn CFO 75 5.45-6.21 436 7.26 -28.5Dec. 8-10 Escalade ESCA W.Glazer D 21 18.43-18.62 388 19.67 100.1Dec. 8-10 Biglari Holdings BH.A S. Biglari CEOI x 589.16-598.32 345 633.03 5.5Dec. 9 StateAuto Financial STFC K. Garland O 20 16.90 338 17.12 -44.8Dec. 9 AmericoldRealty Trust COLD J. Heistand D 10 33.50 335 33.95 -3.2Dec. 2 Hormel Foods HRL S. Lykken OI 7 46.97 323 47.20 4.6Dec. 4-7 BlackKnight BKI J. Otting DI 3 88.00-89.00 300 87.83 36.2Dec. 3 Avnet AVT O. Khaykin D 9 32.28 291 31.56 -25.6

SellersDec. 2 Carvana CVNA E. Garcia B 2,000 239.20 478,400 258.26 180.6Dec. 4 ZoomInfoTechnologies ZI T. Crockett DI 6,859 43.88 300,953 41.80Dec. 3 SyneosHealth SYNH T. Allen DI 3,228 61.28 197,827 65.02 9.3Dec. 3 J.Maldonado DI 3,228 61.28 197,827Dec. 8 CambiumNetworks CMBM R.Amen DOI 2,500 26.60 66,500 24.67 182.3Dec. 8 A. Slusky DOI 2,500 26.60 66,500Dec. 2-3 Walmart WMT S.Walton DOI 422 149.14-152.08 63,331 147.00 23.7Dec. 2-3 J.Walton BI 422 149.14-152.08 63,331Dec. 2-3 A.Walton BI 422 149.14-152.08 63,331Dec. 2-3 Sysco SYY J. Frank DI 800 72.92-73.68 58,437 75.88 -11.3Dec. 8 AddusHomeCare ADUS M.First DI 514 100.75 51,772 104.78 7.8Dec. 1-2 Datadog DDOG A. Le-Quoc PI 469 90.72-98.45 44,378 98.98162.000Dec. 8-9 Appian APPN M.Calkins CEOI 250 145.46-163.80 38,549 152.87 300.1Dec. 4 PVH PVH E. Chirico CEO 379 88.22-91.66 34,255 94.33 -10.3Dec. 8 Broadcom AVGO H. Tan CEO 78 418.90-426.59 33,003 405.82 28.4Dec. 2-3 Ecolab ECL D. Baker CEO 148 219.40-223.45 32,655 221.25 14.6Dec. 7-9 WWInternational WW O.Winfrey DO 962* 30.41-32.67 29,664 29.04 -24.0Dec. 8 VarianMedical Systems VAR D.Wilson CEO 159 174.40 27,765 174.58 22.9

* Half the transactionswere indirect **Twoday transactionp - Pink Sheets

Buying and selling by sectorBased on actual transaction dates in reports received this pastweek

Sector Buying Selling Sector Buying Selling

Basic Industries 208,000 137,730,361 Finance 1,954,506 75,038,809Business services 0 51,128,560 Health care 12,300 107,539,407Capital goods 0 0 Industrial 366,471 56,998,817Consumer durables 0 11,192,841 Media 0 19,233,172Consumer nondurables 903,546 114,955,583 Technology 104,350 160,743,476Consumer services 1,103,130 40,071,743 Transportation 93,091 1,972,714Energy 166,044 6,198,133 Utilities 62,609 14,835,320

Sources: Refinitiv; DowJonesMarketData

Friday

Energy

Coal,C.Aplc.,12500Btu,1.2SO2-r,w 54.350Coal,PwdrRvrBsn,8800Btu,0.8SO2-r,w 11.550

Metals

Gold, per troy ozEngelhard industrial 1838.00Handy&Harmanbase 1842.00Handy&Harman fabricated 2044.62LBMAGold PriceAM *1834.20LBMAGold Price PM *1844.35Krugerrand,wholesale-e 1913.70Maple Leaf-e 1932.11AmericanEagle-e 1932.11Mexican peso-e 2226.61Austria crown-e 1806.67Austria phil-e 1932.11Silver, troy oz.Engelhard industrial 23.9500Handy&Harmanbase 24.0150Handy&Harman fabricated 30.0190LBMAspot price *£18.0200(U.S.$ equivalent) *23.8850Coins,wholesale $1,000 face-a 18027OthermetalsLBMAPlatinumPrice PM *1038.0Platinum,Engelhard industrial 1012.0Palladium,Engelhard industrial 2347.0

Friday

Aluminum, LME, $ permetric ton *2031.0Copper,Comex spot 3.5240IronOre, 62%FeCFRChina-s 160.7ShreddedScrap, USMidwest-s,m 371Steel, HRCUSA, FOBMidwestMill-s 900

Fibers andTextiles

Burlap,10-oz,40-inchNYyd-n,w 0.6400Cotton,1 1/16 std lw-mdMphs-u 0.7133Cotlook 'A' Index-t *79.65Hides,hvy native steers piece fob-u 39.500Wool,64s,staple,Terr del-u,w n.a.

Grains andFeedsBarley,top-qualityMnpls-u n.a.Bran,wheatmiddlings, KC-u 150Corn,No. 2 yellow,Cent IL-bp,u 4.1250Corn gluten feed,Midwest-u,w 149.0Corn glutenmeal,Midwest-u,w 553.3Cottonseedmeal-u,w 430Hominy feed,Cent IL-u,w 122Meat-bonemeal,50%proMnpls-u,w 275Oats,No.2milling,Mnpls-u 3.6450Rice, LongGrainMilled, No. 2AR-u,w 28.38Sorghum,(Milo)No.2Gulf-u 6.3125SoybeanMeal,Cent IL,rail,ton48%-u 378.30Soybeans,No.1 yllw IL-bp,u 11.4400Wheat,Spring14%-proMnpls-u 6.8000Wheat,No.2 soft red,St.Louis-u 6.4200

Friday

Wheat -Hard - KC (USDA) $ per bu-u 6.0625Wheat,No.1softwhite,Portld,OR-u 6.3250

FoodBeef,carcass equiv. indexchoice 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 181.03select 1-3,600-900 lbs.-u 162.49Broilers, National compwtd. avg.-u,w 0.8333Butter,AAChicago 1.4800Cheddar cheese,bbl,Chicago 144.25Cheddar cheese,blk,Chicago 161.75Milk,Nonfat dry,Chicago lb. 112.75Coffee,Brazilian,Comp 1.1296Coffee,Colombian, NY 1.6857Eggs,largewhite,Chicago-u 0.8250Flour,hardwinter KC 15.95Hams,17-20 lbs,Mid-US fob-u n.a.Hogs,Iowa-So.Minnesota-u 63.59Pork bellies,12-14 lbMidUS-u n.a.Pork loins,13-19 lbMidUS-u 0.7489Steers,Tex.-Okla. Choice-u n.a.Steers,feeder,Okla. City-u,w 149.56

Fats andOilsCorn oil,crudewet/drymill wtd. avg.-u,w 41.0000Grease,choicewhite,Chicago-h 0.3200Lard,Chicago-u n.a.Soybean oil,crude;Centl IL-u 0.3924Tallow,bleach;Chicago-h 0.3625Tallow,edible,Chicago-u 0.3750

KEY TO CODES: A=ask; B=bid; BP=country elevator bids to producers; C=corrected; E=Manfra,Tordella & Brookes; H=American Commodities Brokerage Co;M=monthly; N=nominal; n.a.=not quoted or not available; R=SNL Energy; S=Platts-TSI; T=Cotlook Limited; U=USDA;W=weekly; Z=not quoted. *Data as of 12/10

Source: Dow JonesMarket Data

CashPrices Friday, December 11, 2020These prices reflect buying and selling of a variety of actual or “physical” commodities in themarketplace—separate from the futures price on an exchange,which reflectswhat the commoditymight beworth in futuremonths.

| wsj.com/market-data/commodities

MoneyRates December 11, 2020

Key annual interest rates paid to borrowor lendmoney inU.S. and internationalmarkets. Rates beloware aguide to general levels but don’t always represent actual transactions.

InflationNov. index ChgFrom (%)

level Oct. '20 Nov. '19

U.S. consumer price indexAll items 260.229 –0.06 1.2Core 269.473 0.05 1.6

International rates

Week 52-WeekLatest ago High Low

Prime ratesU.S. 3.25 3.25 4.75 3.25Canada 2.45 2.45 3.95 2.45Japan 1.475 1.475 1.475 1.475

PolicyRatesEuro zone 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00Switzerland 0.00 0.00 0.50 0.00Britain 0.10 0.10 0.75 0.10Australia 0.10 0.10 0.75 0.10

Overnight repurchaseU.S. 0.08 0.09 1.65 -0.07

U.S. government rates

Discount0.25 0.25 2.25 0.25

Federal fundsEffective rate 0.0900 0.0900 1.6200 0.0600High 0.1000 0.1000 1.6500 0.1000

Week —52-WEEK—Latest ago High Low

Low 0.0500 0.0500 1.5800 0.0100Bid 0.0800 0.0800 1.6000 0.0100Offer 0.1000 0.1000 1.6300 0.0500

Treasury bill auction4weeks 0.065 0.075 1.575 0.00013weeks 0.080 0.085 1.555 0.00026weeks 0.090 0.090 1.570 0.080

Secondarymarket

FannieMae30-yearmortgage yields

30days 1.911 1.896 3.362 1.75160days 1.938 1.923 3.370 1.804

Other short-term rates

Week 52-WeekLatest ago high low

Callmoney2.00 2.00 3.50 2.00

Notes ondata:U.S. prime rate is the base rate on corporate loans posted by at least 70%of the 10 largestU.S. banks,and is effectiveMarch 16, 2020. Other prime rates aren’t directly comparable; lending practices varywidely by location; Discount rate is effectiveMarch 16, 2020.SecuredOvernight FinancingRate isas ofDecember 10, 2020. DTCCGCFRepo Index is Depository Trust&Clearing Corp.'sweightedaverage for overnight trades in applicable CUSIPs. Value traded is in billions ofU.S. dollars.Federal-funds rates are Tullett Prebon rates as of 5:30 p.m. ET.Sources: Federal Reserve; Bureau of Labor Statistics; DTCC; FactSet;Tullett Prebon Information, Ltd.

Commercial paper (AA financial)90days 0.14 0.14 2.53 0.04

LiborOnemonth 0.15863 0.15175 1.80475 0.12663Threemonth 0.21650 0.22588 1.96050 0.20488Sixmonth 0.24875 0.25575 1.92438 0.23375One year 0.33588 0.33675 2.01200 0.32763

Euro LiborOnemonth -0.582 -0.590 -0.360 -0.621Threemonth -0.572 -0.553 -0.142 -0.572Sixmonth -0.536 -0.522 -0.052 -0.536One year -0.497 -0.485 0.008 -0.501

SecuredOvernight FinancingRate0.08 0.08 1.64 0.01

Value 52-WeekLatest Traded High Low

DTCCGCFRepo IndexTreasury 0.102 37.530 1.720 0.002MBS 0.126 53.300 1.763 0.011

Week —52-WEEK—Latest ago High Low

General Equity FundsAdamsDiversified Equity ADX 19.49 16.94 -13.1 15.7BoulderGrowth& Income BIF 13.40 11.06 -17.5 -0.7Central Secs CET 38.32 31.21 -18.6 1.5CohenStrsCEOppFd FOF 12.58 12.14 -3.5 0.0EVTxAdvDivIncm EVT 24.44 23.48 -3.9 1.8GabelliDiv&IncTr GDV 24.34 21.18 -13.0 6.0Gabelli Equity Tr GAB 5.69 6.26 +10.0 16.8GeneralAmer GAM 43.13 36.18 -16.1 5.6JHancockTaxAdvDiv HTD 22.77 21.19 -6.9 -15.0LibertyAll-Star Equity USA 7.19 6.70 -6.8 12.3LibertyAll-StarGrowth ASG 7.56 7.86 +4.0 39.7RoyceMicro-CapTr RMT 11.42 9.78 -14.4 27.5RoyceValue Trust RVT 17.99 15.86 -11.8 17.9Source Capital SOR 44.54 40.09 -10.0 9.7Tri-Continental TY 33.13 29.44 -11.1 11.1SpecializedEquity FundsAberdeenGlb PremProp AWP 5.84 5.09 -12.8 -11.6AdamsNatural Resources PEO 14.33 11.95 -16.6 -19.1AllianzGIAI &TechOpps AIO 27.99 25.22 -9.9 35.4GIDivInt&PremStr NFJ 15.10 13.19 -12.6 9.1ASAGold&PrecMet Ltd ASA 25.02 20.92 -16.4 63.5BREnhC&I CII 18.87 17.29 -8.4 9.1BlackRock Energy&Res BGR 8.62 7.55 -12.4 -25.3BlackRock EqEnhDiv BDJ 9.28 8.31 -10.5 -6.5BlackRock EnhGlbl Div BOE 12.16 10.70 -12.0 6.4BlackRock Enh Intl Div BGY 6.45 5.82 -9.8 10.1BlackRockHlth Sci Tr II BMEZ 29.48 29.52 +0.1 NSBlackRockHlth Sciences BME 44.52 46.21 +3.8 20.2BlackRockRes&Comm BCX 8.51 7.29 -14.3 1.8BlackRockSci&TechTr II BSTZ 36.81 34.20 -7.1 80.4BlackRockSci&TechTrust BST 49.94 50.93 +2.0 60.7BlackRockUtl Inf &Pwr BUI 23.26 24.17 +3.9 13.4CBREClrnGlbRlEst IGR 7.90 6.71 -15.1 -6.4ClearBridgeMLP&Midstm CEM NA 19.05 NA -60.7

Listed are the 300 largest closed-end funds asmeasured by assets. Closed-end funds sell a limitednumber of shares and invest the proceeds in securities.Unlike open-end funds, closed-ends generally do notbuy their shares back from investors who wish to cashin their holdings. Instead, fund shares trade on a stockexchange. NA signifies that the information is notavailable or not applicable. NS signifies funds not inexistence for the entire period. 12 month yield iscomputed by dividing income dividends paid (duringthe previous 12 months for periods ending at month-end or during the previous 52 weeks for periodsending at any time other than month-end) by thelatest month-end market price adjusted for capitalgains distributions. Depending on the fund category,either 12-month yield or total return is listed.

Source: Lipper

Friday, December 11, 202052wk

Prem TtlFund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Ret

ChnStrInfr UTF 24.64 25.35 +2.9 7.5Cohen&SteersQualInc RQI 12.82 12.39 -3.4 -9.5Cohen&Steers TotRet RFI 12.91 12.95 +0.3 -1.5CohenStrsREITPrefInc RNP 23.18 21.91 -5.5 0.2Columbia Sel PrmTechGr STK 26.51 26.49 -0.1 23.4DNPSelect Income DNP 9.13 10.29 +12.8 -12.4Duff&PhUti&Infra Inc Fd DPG 13.57 12.13 -10.6 -10.7EtnVncEqtyInc EOI 16.52 15.80 -4.4 8.5EtnVncEqtyIncoII EOS 20.61 20.79 +0.9 28.4EVRskMnDvsEqInc ETJ 9.96 10.28 +3.2 21.5ETnVncTxMgdBuyWrtInc ETB 14.44 14.61 +1.2 -1.8EtnVncTxMgdBuyWrtOpp ETV 14.26 14.95 +4.8 11.0EvTxMnDvsEqInc ETY 12.53 12.17 -2.9 6.9EtnVncTxMgdGlbB ETW 10.10 9.44 -6.5 1.4EVTxMnGblDvEqInc EXG 9.13 8.53 -6.6 8.6First Trust Energy IncG FEN 13.28 11.33 -14.7 -39.2First Tr EnhancedEq FFA 18.05 16.90 -6.4 9.8FirstTrMLPEner&Inc FEI 7.19 6.06 -15.7 -38.6Gabelli Healthcare GRX 13.40 11.44 -14.6 9.4GabUtility GUT 4.08 7.85 +92.4 20.3GAMCOGlGold&NatRes GGN 3.96 3.50 -11.6 -6.1JHanFinl Opptys BTO 27.76 29.73 +7.1 -7.6NuvDow30DynOverwrite DIAX NA 15.13 NA -10.1NuvCorEqAlpha JCE NA 13.79 NA 1.3NuveenNasdaq 100DynOv QQQX NA 25.34 NA 12.2NuvReal Est JRS NA 8.54 NA -10.2NuveenRl Asst Inc&Gro JRI NA 13.30 NA -19.2NuvS&P500DynOvFd SPXX NA 15.06 NA -1.5NuvSP500BuyIncFd BXMX NA 12.74 NA 0.1ReavesUtilityIncome UTG 32.40 32.75 +1.1 -4.6Tortoise Enrgy Infra Crp TYG NA 21.92 NA -67.1Income&PreferredStockFundsCalamosStratTot CSQ NA 15.30 NA 24.4CohenStrsLtdDurPref&Inc LDP 25.88 25.63 -1.0 5.1CohenStrsSelPref&Income PSF 26.71 27.94 +4.6 -3.2FirstTrIntDurPref&Inc FPF 24.10 22.92 -4.9 4.0JHanPrefInc HPI 19.74 19.43 -1.6 -5.1JHPrefIncII HPF 19.39 18.60 -4.1 -7.0HnckJPfdInco III HPS 17.36 16.90 -2.6 -2.9JHanPrm PDT 13.63 14.10 +3.4 -11.1LMPCapInco SCD NA 11.69 NA -10.6NuveenPref & IncOpp JPC NA 9.29 NA -3.4NuveenFd JPS NA 9.56 NA 2.3NuveenPref & Inc Term JPI NA 24.37 NA 3.5NuveenTxAdvDivGr JTD NA 14.12 NA -11.3TCWStrat Income TSI 5.68 5.68 0.0 4.9Convertible Sec's. FundsAdvntCnvrtbl&IncFd AVK 18.64 16.06 -13.8 15.0GI Conv& Inc NCV 6.05 5.51 -8.9 8.8

52wkPrem Ttl


IPOScorecardPerformance of IPOs,most-recent listed first

%ChgFrom %ChgFromCompany SYMBOL Friday3s Offer 1st-day Company SYMBOL Friday3s Offer 1st-dayIPOdate/Offer price close ($) price close IPOdate/Offer price close ($) price close

4DMolecular Therapeutics 40.50 76.1 ... GlobisAcquisition 10.15 1.5 ...FDMTDec. 11/$23.00 GLAQUDec. 11/$10.00

AbCellera Biologics 58.90 194.5 ... GoresHldgsVI 10.45 4.5 ...ABCLDec. 11/$20.00 GHVIUDec. 11/$10.00

Certara 38.08 65.6 ... Motive Capital 10.26 2.6 ...CERTDec. 11/$23.00 MOTV.UTDec. 11/$10.00

Delwinds InsuranceAcquisition 10.06 0.6 ... RothCHAcquisition II 10.20 2.0 ...DWIN.UTDec. 11/$10.00 ROCCUDec. 11/$10.00

EdtechXHldgsAcquisition II 10.06 0.6 ... Senior ConnectAcquisition I 10.30 3.0 ...EDTXUDec. 11/$10.00 SNRHUDec. 11/$10.00

Sources: DowJonesMarketData; FactSet

Other StockOfferingsSecondaries and follow-ons expected thisweek in theU.S.marketNone expected thisweek

Borrowing Benchmarks | wsj.com/market-data/bonds/benchmarks

Wells FargoMulti-Sector ERC NA 11.91 NA 9.7World IncomeFundsAbrdnAP IncFd FAX 4.89 4.37 -10.6 7.8BrndywnGLBGlb IncOppts BWG NA 12.48 NA 7.0EtnVncStDivInc EVG 13.75 12.44 -9.5 7.2MSEmMktDomDebt EDD 7.34 6.36 -13.4 7.4PIMCODynCrd&Mrt Inc PCI 19.96 20.44 +2.4 12.2PIMCODynamic Income PDI 24.56 26.18 +6.6 11.5PIMCO IncomeOpportunity PKO 23.33 24.75 +6.1 9.1PIMCOStratg Inc RCS NA 6.90 NA 9.7TempletonEm Inc TEI 8.92 7.85 -12.0 7.7TempltnGlbl Inc GIM 6.09 5.42 -11.0 4.5WstAstEmergDebt EMD NA 13.67 NA 8.8WesternAssetGl CrDOp GDO NA 17.99 NA 6.7NationalMuni BondFundsAllBerNatlMunInc AFB 15.36 14.22 -7.4 4.2BlckRk InvQMun BKN 16.69 17.24 +3.3 4.2BlackRockMuni 2030Tgt BTT 26.75 25.21 -5.8 2.9BlackRockMuni BFK 14.71 15.09 +2.6 4.4BlackRockMuni II BLE 15.14 15.39 +1.7 4.6BlckRkMuni IncQly BYM 15.90 14.87 -6.5 4.0BRMuniAssets Fd MUA 14.39 14.80 +2.8 4.3BRMuniEnhanced MEN 12.48 12.07 -3.3 4.1BRMuniHoldingsQly MFL 15.12 14.17 -6.3 3.9BRMHQly 2 MUE 14.27 13.35 -6.4 4.3BRMuniHoldngs MHD 17.26 16.13 -6.5 4.5BRMuniVest Fd MVF 9.88 9.16 -7.3 4.4BRMuniVest 2 MVT 15.52 14.76 -4.9 4.4BRMuniYield Fd MYD 15.18 14.43 -4.9 4.7BRMuniYieldQlty MQY 16.60 16.67 +0.4 4.1BRMuniYldQlty2 MQT 14.58 13.89 -4.7 4.1BRMuniYldQly 3 MYI 15.24 14.24 -6.6 3.9BNYMellonMuni Bd Infra DMB 14.53 14.09 -3.0 4.5BNYMellonStrMuni Bond DSM NA 7.78 NA 4.7BNYMellonStratMuni LEO 8.60 8.60 0.0 4.9DWSMuni Inc KTF 12.80 11.49 -10.2 4.1EVMuniBd EIM 14.30 13.35 -6.6 4.3EVMuniIncm EVN 14.21 13.46 -5.3 4.2EVNatMuniOpp EOT 21.74 20.94 -3.7 3.7InvAdvMuIncTrII VKI NA 11.49 NA 4.7InvescoMuniOp OIA NA 7.78 NA 4.9InvescoMuOppTr VMO NA 12.97 NA 4.7InvescoMuTr VKQ NA 12.97 NA 4.6InvescoQual Inc IQI NA 12.89 NA 4.7InvTrInvGrMu VGM NA 13.27 NA 4.7InvescoValMunInc IIM NA 15.70 NA 4.5MAINSTAY:MKDEFTRMUNOP MMD NA 21.68 NA 4.7NeubrgrBrm NBH 15.25 15.37 +0.8 4.8NuveenAMT-FrMuVal NUW NA 16.30 NA 2.8NuveenAMT-FrQltyMun I NEA NA 15.01 NA 4.5NuveenAMT-FrMuCI NVG NA 16.85 NA 4.8NuveenDynMuniOpp NDMO NA NA NA NSNuveenEnhMuni Val NEV NA 15.77 NA 4.5Nuveen IntDurMunTerm NID NA 13.86 NA 3.7NuveenMuCrdtOpps NMCO NA 13.01 NA 5.6NuvMuni Credit Income NZF NA 16.00 NA 4.8NuvMuniHiIncOpp NMZ NA 14.25 NA 5.3NuveenMuni Val NUV NA 10.95 NA 3.3NuveenQualityMuni Inc NAD NA 15.16 NA 4.4NuveenSel TF NXP NA 16.92 NA 3.2NuveenSel TF 2 NXQ NA 15.55 NA 3.2NuveenSel TF 3 NXR NA 17.61 NA 3.1PIMCOMuniInc PMF 13.24 14.04 +6.0 4.7PIMCOMuniIncII PML 12.35 14.50 +17.4 5.0PimcoMuni III PMX 11.31 11.96 +5.7 4.6PioneerHilncAdv MAV 12.31 11.71 -4.9 4.3PioneerMunHiIcmT MHI 13.20 12.31 -6.7 4.4PutnamMgd Inc PMM 8.18 7.95 -2.8 4.8PutnamMuniOpp PMO 13.99 13.56 -3.1 4.7RiverNorthMgdDurMun I RMM 19.48 17.98 -7.7 5.7WesternAssetMgdMuni MMU NA 12.97 NA 4.2WestnAsstMuDefOppTr MTT NA 20.78 NA 3.2Single StateMuni BondBlackRock CAMun BFZ 16.04 14.13 -11.9 3.3BRMHCAQly Fd Inc MUC 16.02 14.73 -8.1 3.9BRMHNJQly MUJ 16.03 14.47 -9.7 4.8BRMHNYQly MHN 15.18 13.88 -8.6 4.2BRMuniYld CA MYC 16.38 14.55 -11.2 3.5BRMuniYld CAQly MCA 16.22 14.90 -8.1 4.0BRMuniYldMIQly MIY 15.88 14.48 -8.8 4.2BRMuniYldNJ MYJ 16.10 14.32 -11.1 5.1BRMuniYldNYQly MYN 14.56 13.21 -9.3 4.1EVCAMuniBd EVM 12.82 11.69 -8.9 4.0EatonVanceNYMuni Bd ENX 13.57 12.27 -9.6 4.1InvCaValMuIncTr VCV NA 12.93 NA 4.1InvPAValMuIncTr VPV 14.28 12.56 -12.0 4.7InvTrInvGrNYMu VTN 14.41 12.67 -12.1 4.3NuveenCAAMT-FQualMI NKX NA 15.70 NA 4.0NuveenCAVal NCA NA 10.50 NA 3.0NuveenCAQtyMuInc NAC NA 15.13 NA 4.1NuveenMDQualMuni Inc NMY NA 13.83 NA 4.1NuveenMIQualMuni Inc NUM NA 14.75 NA 3.8NuvNJQualMuni Inc NXJ NA 14.31 NA 4.5NuveenNYAMT/FrQualMI NRK NA 13.41 NA 4.2NuveenNYQualMuni Inc NAN NA 14.17 NA 4.3NuveenOHQualMuni Inc NUO NA 15.67 NA 3.4NuveenPAQualMuni Inc NQP NA 14.17 NA 4.5NuveenVAQltyMun Inc NPV NA 16.10 NA 3.5PIMCOCA PCQ 14.23 18.34 +28.9 4.5PIMCOCAMuniII PCK 9.10 9.11 +0.1 4.2PimcoCAMuni III PZC 10.26 10.41 +1.5 4.4

Prem12MoFund (SYM) NAV Close /Disc Yld

AGI Conv& Inc II NCZ 5.42 4.89 -9.8 8.9AGIDvs Inc&Conv ACV 33.56 31.20 -7.0 37.1AGI Eqty&Conv Inc NIE 30.36 27.55 -9.3 30.5CalamosConvHi CHY NA 13.91 NA 33.7CalmosConvOp CHI NA 13.18 NA 31.1WorldEquity FundsAberdeenEmgMkts Eq Inc AEF 9.31 7.95 -14.6 10.1AberdeenTotDynDiv AOD 10.07 8.75 -13.1 9.2CalamosGloDynInc CHW NA 9.42 NA 21.3China CHN 32.30 29.63 -8.3 47.1EVTxAdvGlbDivInc ETG 19.05 17.31 -9.1 4.8EtnVncTxAdvOpp ETO 26.20 23.93 -8.7 2.7FirstTrDynEuro Eq Inc FDEU 13.34 11.59 -13.1 -14.5GabelliMultimedia GGT 7.80 7.88 +1.0 15.0HighlandGlobal Alloc HGLB 10.31 6.60 -36.0 -14.4India Fund IFN 22.45 19.73 -12.1 7.4JapanSmaller Cap JOF NA 9.67 NA 10.4LazardGlbTotRetInc LGI 19.16 17.37 -9.3 17.8MSChinaShrFd CAF 27.28 24.11 -11.6 14.4MS India IIF 24.41 20.50 -16.0 2.2NewGermany GF 22.54 19.64 -12.9 32.1TempletonDragon TDF 26.66 25.45 -4.5 52.7TempletonEmMkt EMF 20.27 18.56 -8.4 23.8Wells FargoGl DivOppty EOD NA 4.81 NA -2.7

U.S.MortgageBondFundsBlckRk Income BKT 6.24 6.10 -2.2 6.7InvescoHI 2023Tgt Term IHIT 8.80 8.56 -2.7 7.2InvestmentGradeBondFundsBlRck CoreBond BHK 16.50 15.98 -3.2 4.9BRCredit Alloc Inc BTZ 15.69 14.86 -5.3 6.7Insight Select Income INSI 22.46 21.18 -5.7 3.9InvescoBond VBF 21.90 20.95 -4.3 3.6JHan Income JHS 16.24 15.63 -3.8 4.6MFS Intmdt MIN 3.96 3.78 -4.5 8.9WesternAsset Inf-Lk Inc WIA NA 13.32 NA 2.9WesternAsset Inf-LkO&I WIW NA 12.10 NA 3.4WestnAsst IGDefOppTr IGI NA 21.74 NA 3.8LoanParticipationFundsApollo Senior Floating AFT NA 14.05 NA 6.9BRDebt Strategy DSU 11.58 10.28 -11.2 8.2BRF/R Inc Str FRA 13.85 12.17 -12.1 7.8BlackRock FloatngRt Inc BGT 13.44 11.88 -11.6 7.7Blackstone /GSOStrat BGB 14.20 12.46 -12.3 9.3Blackstone/GSOSr Flt Rt BSL 15.88 14.24 -10.3 8.0Eagle Point Credit ECC NA 10.43 NA 15.8EtnVncFltRteInc EFT 14.35 13.45 -6.3 6.7EVSenFlRtTr EFR 14.12 12.78 -9.5 7.0EVSnrIncm EVF 6.74 6.28 -6.8 6.3FT/Sr FltgRte Inc 2 FCT 12.72 11.63 -8.6 9.7FT/Sr FltgRte 2022TgTr FIV 9.41 9.00 -4.4 2.9Highland Income HFRO 12.95 9.86 -23.9 10.2InvDYCrOpp VTA 11.58 10.29 -11.1 8.7InvSnrIncTr VVR 4.43 3.92 -11.5 6.8NuveenCredit Strat Inc JQC NA 6.40 NA 16.5NuvFloatRateIncFd JFR NA 8.77 NA 7.4NuvFloatRteIncOppty JRO NA 8.72 NA 7.4NuveenSenior Income NSL NA 5.21 NA 7.9PionrFltRate Tr PHD 11.21 10.80 -3.7 6.3HighYieldBondFundsAllianceBernGlHiIncm AWF 12.85 11.59 -9.8 6.9Angel Oak FS Inc Trm FINS 18.62 16.87 -9.4 7.4BaringsGlb SDHYBd BGH 16.54 14.92 -9.8 9.7BRCorporateHY HYT 11.94 11.70 -2.0 8.0BlackRock LtdDur Inc BLW 16.98 15.69 -7.6 7.4BNYMellonHi Yield Str DHF 3.26 2.96 -9.2 8.5Brookfield Real Asst Inc RA 20.02 18.23 -8.9 13.5CrSuisHighYld DHY NA 2.30 NA 8.5DoubleLine Inc Sol DSL NA 16.36 NA 10.7DoubleLineYldOpps DLY NA 18.75 NA NSFirst TrHi Inc Lng/Shrt FSD 16.38 14.59 -10.9 9.0First TrustHYOpp:2027 FTHY 21.27 19.97 -6.1 NSIVYHIGH INCOMEOPP IVH 14.51 13.07 -9.9 9.5NeubHgYldStrt NHS 12.53 11.83 -5.6 9.4NewAmerHi Inc HYB 9.83 8.60 -12.5 6.5NexPointStratOppty NHF 17.66 10.70 -39.4 14.3NuveenCINov 2021 Tgt JHB NA 9.19 NA 4.4NuveenCrdtOpps 2022TT JCO NA 8.16 NA 6.8NuveenGlobal High Inc JGH NA 15.24 NA 7.6PGIMGlobal HighYield GHY 16.19 14.31 -11.6 8.9PGIMHighYield Bond ISD 16.59 14.84 -10.5 8.5PioneerHilncmTr PHT 9.33 9.04 -3.1 8.4Wells Fargo IncomeOppty EAD NA 8.08 NA 8.8WstAstHIF II HIX NA 6.93 NA 8.4WesternAssetHi IncOpp HIO NA 5.00 NA 7.7WesternAssetHi YldDO HYI NA 15.16 NA 7.4OtherDomestic TaxableBondFundsApollo Tactical Income AIF NA 14.15 NA 7.2AresDynamic CrdtAlloc ARDC NA 13.82 NA 8.9BlackRockMlt-Sctr Inc BIT 18.38 17.14 -6.7 8.7BlackRock TaxMuni Bd BBN 25.38 26.79 +5.6 5.0DoubleLine:Oppor Crdt Fd DBL NA 19.63 NA 7.1Duff&PhUtil Cor DUC 9.61 9.88 +2.8 5.9EVLmtDurIncm EVV 13.60 12.26 -9.9 9.8Franklin LtdDur Income FTF 9.43 8.79 -6.8 10.8JHan Investors JHI 18.14 17.14 -5.5 7.8KKR IncomeOpportunities KIO NA 14.34 NA 10.5MFSCharter MCR 8.95 8.58 -4.1 8.1NuveenTaxableMuni Inc NBB NA 23.54 NA 4.8PIMCOCorp& IncOppty PTY 13.85 17.59 +27.0 9.1PIMCOCorp& Inc Strat PCN 13.98 16.98 +21.5 8.3PIMCOHilnco PHK NA 6.01 NA 11.1PIMCO IncmStrFd PFL 10.41 11.06 +6.2 9.7PIMCO IncmStrFd II PFN 9.27 9.78 +5.5 9.8PutnamMas Int PIM 4.46 4.15 -7.0 8.6PutnamPrem Inc PPT 4.94 4.59 -7.1 9.1

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General Equity FundsSpecializedEquity FundsBluerock Total Inc+RE:A 29.53 NA NA 1.3Bluerock Total Inc+RE:C 28.11 NA NA 0.6Bluerock Total Inc+RE:I 30.10 NA NA 1.6Bluerock Total Inc+RE:L 29.27 NA NA 1.1BroadstoneRl EstAcc:I 9.57 NA NA -4.1BroadstoneRl EstAcc:W 9.56 NA NA -4.4CIMRA&CA NA NA NA NSCIMRA&CC NA NA NA NSCIMRA&C I NA NA NA NSCIMRA&CL NA NA NA NSGSReal EstDiv Inc:A 9.75 NA NA -4.3GSReal EstDiv Inc:C 9.73 NA NA -4.9GSReal EstDiv Inc:I 10.17 NA NA -4.2GSReal EstDiv Inc:L 9.75 NA NA -4.5GSReal EstDiv Inc:W 9.90 NA NA -4.3NexPointRlEstStrat;A 16.63 NA NA -9.3NexPointRlEstStrat;C 16.80 NA NA -9.6NexPointRlEstStrat;Z 16.80 NA NA -8.7PREDEX;I 25.32 NA NA 0.2PREDEX;T 25.42 NA NA 0.2PREDEX;W 25.42 NA NA 0.2Principal DvsSel RAA 25.30 NA NA 1.2Principal DvsSel RA Ins 25.35 NA NA 1.5Principal DvsSel RAY 25.42 NA NA 1.7SharesPost 100;A 35.74 NA NA 21.1SharesPost 100:I 36.00 NA NA 21.5SharesPost 100:L 35.49 NA NA 20.9USQCoreReal Estate:I 24.85 NA NA 0.1USQCoreReal Estate:IS 24.86 NA NA 0.1Versus CapMMgrRE Inc:I 27.02 NA NA NEVersusCapital Real Asst 25.09 NA NA 0.8WildermuthEndwmnt:A 13.47 NA NA -3.1WildermuthEndwmnt:C 12.97 NA NA -4.1WildermuthEndowment:I 13.55 NA NA -3.4Income&PreferredStockFundsCalamos L/SEqty andDI CPZ NA 17.59 NA NADestraMulti-Altrntv;A 12.12 NA NA -5.2DestraMulti-Altrntv;C 11.59 NA NA -5.9DestraMulti-Altrntv;I 12.37 NA NA -5.0DestraMulti-Altrntv;T 11.77 NA NA -5.6Flat RockOpportunity 19.52 NA NA 14.1VariantAltrntv Inc:Inst 26.66 NA NA 6.0VariantAltrntv Inc:Inv 26.66 NA NA 5.8Convertible Sec's. FundsCalmosDynConv and Inc CCD NA 27.53 NA NAWorldEquity FundsACAPStrategic:A 26.41 NA NA 50.6ACAPStrategic:W 19.47 NA NA 51.7BMOLGMFrontME;I 6.41 NA NA -21.6CalamosGlbTotRet CGO NA 14.07 NA NAPrimark Priv Eq Inv:III NA NA NA NSVirtusTotalRetFd ZTR 9.27 8.51 -8.2 1.2

LoanParticipationFunds1WSCredit Income NA NA NA 6.0AlphCntrc PrimeMerid In 9.97 NA NA NSAngelOakStr Crdt:Inst 22.74 NA NA 7.9AxonicAlternative Inc NA NA NA 3.5Blackstone/GSOFREID 23.64 NA NA 5.7Blackstone/GSOFREI I 23.60 NA NA 5.9Blackstone/GSOFREI T 23.56 NA NA 5.5Blackstone/GSOFREI T-I 24.14 NA NA 5.4Blackstone/GSOFREIU 24.60 NA NA 5.4Blstn CommntyDev 10.12 NA NA 3.4BNYMAlcntr GlbMSCr Fd 100.70 NA NA 6.9CLIFFWATERCLFD;I 10.52 NA NA 5.1CNRStrategic Credit 10.28 NA NA 7.8FedProj&TrFinanceTendr 10.00 NA NA 2.8FSGlobal CrdtOpptysD NA NA NA 8.5SchrdrsOpp Inc;A 25.60 NA NA 1.1

52wkPrem Ttl



AWeek in the Life of theDJIAA look at how the Dow Jones Industrial Average component stocksdid in the past week and howmuch each moved the index. The DJIAlost 171.89 points, or 0.57%, on the week. A $1 change in the price ofany DJIA stock = 6.58-point change in the average. To date, a $1,000investment on Dec. 31 in each current DJIA stock component wouldhave returned $32,527, or a gain of 8.42%, on the $30,000investment, including reinvested dividends.

TheWeek’sActionPct Stock price Point chg $1,000 Invested(year-end '19)chg (%) change in average* Company Symbol Close $1,000

14.00 21.58 141.99 WaltDisney DIS $175.72 $1,2151.78 2.68 17.63 Johnson&Johnson JNJ 152.95 1,0771.24 1.02 6.71 Merck MRK 82.96 9330.92 1.95 12.83 Honeywell HON 214.63 1,2410.90 1.56 10.26 3M MMM 174.02 1,0230.21 0.56 3.68 HomeDepot HD 264.55 1,2400.17 0.41 2.70 GoldmanSachs GS 239.99 1,0690.16 0.22 1.45 Nike NKE 137.41 1,3690.13 0.16 1.05 Apple AAPL 122.41 1,682–0.14 –0.06 –0.39 Cisco CSCO 44.32 955–0.51 –1.10 –7.24 Microsoft MSFT 213.26 1,367–0.70 –0.96 –6.32 Procter&Gamble PG 136.51 1,120–0.79 –1.81 –11.91 Amgen AMGN 227.40 969–0.89 –0.83 –5.46 Chevron CVX 92.45 810–0.89 –1.21 –7.96 Travelers TRV 134.95 1,013–0.93 –0.50 –3.29 Coca-Cola KO 53.35 997–1.02 –2.38 –15.66 Boeing BA 230.33 711–1.28 –1.91 –12.57 Walmart WMT 147.00 1,258–1.41 –2.98 –19.61 McDonald’s MCD 207.76 1,078–1.52 –3.44 –22.63 salesforce.com CRM 222.42 1,368–1.60 –2.92 –19.21 Caterpillar CAT 179.29 1,250–1.91 –1.05 –6.91 Dow DOW 54.00 1,051–1.95 –1.20 –7.90 Verizon VZ 60.35 1,026–2.27 –2.78 –18.29 JPMorganChase JPM 119.56 889–2.30 –2.93 –19.28 IBM IBM 124.27 975–3.03 –6.44 –42.37 Visa V 206.24 1,104–3.66 –12.82 –84.35 UnitedHealthGroup UNH 337.07 1,165–3.85 –4.81 –31.65 AmericanExpress AXP 120.23 983–4.33 –1.88 –12.37 Walgreens WBA 41.53 736–4.34 –2.26 –14.84 Intel INTC 49.73 851

*Based onComposite price. DJIA is calculated on primary-market price.Source: DowJonesMarketData; FactSet.

CLOSED-END FUNDS



THE TICKER | Market events coming this week

MondayNomajoreventsarescheduled

Tuesday

Capacity utilizationOct., previous 72.80%Nov., expected 73.00%

EmpireManufacturingNov., previous 6.3Dec., expected 6

Import price indexOct., previous down0.1%Nov., expected up 0.3%

Industrial productionOct., previous up 1.1%Nov., expected up 0.4%

FOMCMeeting

Earningsexpected*Estimate/YearAgo($)

NordsonCorp.1.53/1.79

Wednesday

Business inventoriesSep., previous up 0.7%Oct., expected up 0.6%

EIAstatus reportPreviouschangeinstocks inmillionsofbarrels

Crude-oil stocks up 15.2Gasoline stocks up 4.2Distillates up 5.2

Mort. bankers indexesPurch.,previous down5%Refinan.,prev. up2%

Retail sales, ex. autosOct., previous up 0.2%Nov., expected up 0.1%

Retail salesOct., previous up 0.3%Nov., expected

down0.3%

FOMCMeeting


Lennar Corp. 2.36/2.13Toro Co. 0.51/0.48

Thursday

BuildingPermitsOct., previous 1.545mil.Nov., expected 1.54mil.

IA report:natural-gasPreviouschangeinstocks inbillionsofcubicfeet

down91

HousingStartsOct., previous 1.53mil.Nov., expected 1.52mil.

Initial jobless claimsPrevious 853000Expected 828000

Philadelphia Fed surveyNov., previous 26.3Dec., expected 18


Accenture 2.05/2.09FedEx 3.93/2.51GeneralMills 0.97/0.95

FridayProductivity2nd quarter, previous

170.5 bil. Deficit3rd quarter. prel., exp.

187.5 bil. Deficit

Leading indicatorsOct., previous up 0.7%Nov., expected up 0.5%


DardenRestaurants0.73/1.12

Nike 0.62/0.70

* FACTSET ESTIMATES EARNINGS-PER-SHARE ESTIMATES DON’T INCLUDE EXTRAORDINARY ITEMS (LOSSES INPARENTHESES) � ADJUSTED FOR STOCK SPLITNOTE: FORECASTS ARE FROM DOW JONES WEEKLY SURVEY OFECONOMISTS Nike on Friday is expected to post quarterly earnings of 62 cents a share, down from a year earlier.

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Fractional shares are aneasy way for small investors tobuy a piece of Tesla Inc. or Ap-ple Inc., but many are using itas a way to slowly accumulateexchange-traded funds thatgive them a small piece of thebroader market.

Cari Swanger, a 33-year-oldpharmacist living in Seattle,opened her first SoFi Investaccount this summer after shefinished paying off her studentloans. Ms. Swanger chose frac-tional investing and ETFs be-cause they allowed her to di-versify and minimize her risk.

“One share of Amazon orTesla is a lot of money thesedays,” she said. “I made myselfa promise: I’m not going to putall my money on one stock.”

Ms. Swanger’s first invest-ment was $50 in the SoFi Se-lect 500 ETF, which tracksthe S&P 500. She has since in-vested in the SoFi Weekly In-come ETF, which invests incorporate bonds and in theSoFi 50 ETF, an ETF of the50 most popular U.S. stocks

on SoFi.Apex Clearing Corp., a digi-

tal custodial and clearing firm,reports that in 2020 to date, itprocessed about 17 millionfractional trades a month. Onits platform, fractional tradingmade up 47% of total tradingvolume, with 43% of thosetrades in ETFs.

Robinhood Financial LLC,which reported more thanthree million new accountsthis year, started offering afeature in May that allows us-ers to regularly schedule in-vestments and buy fractionalshares.

“When we ask customers,‘Hey, why did you do this?’ theNo. 1 reason they tell us is theywant to invest in this companyor ETF long-term,” said MadhuMuthukumar, head of productmanagement at Robinhood.

Social Finance Inc., knownas SoFi, estimates that aboutone-quarter of its clients’ frac-tional buys are ETFs, withsome of the most popular be-ing the Vanguard S&P 500ETF; the SoFi Select 500 ETF;the SPDR Global Stock Mar-ket ETF, tracking companies inemerging markets; and the In-vesco QQQ Trust, whichtracks the Nasdaq-100 index.Fund prices range from almost$50 a share for SPDR to morethan $300 for QQQ and Van-

guard S&P 500.Investing in fractions of ETF

shares works just like buyingother fractional shares: Inves-tors choose a dollar amountthey would like to invest in theETF, which a brokerage alreadyhas purchased, and then thefraction they hold is whateverportion of the share their dol-lar contribution is worth.

Ryan Lee, a 20-year-oldbusiness student at the Univer-sity of New Hampshire, usesthe investment app Stash tobuy fractional shares of high-profile ETFs.

“I can diversify so easilywith just $5 at a time,” hesaid. “By using ETFs, I had di-versification.”

Mr. Lee said he bought QQQand the iShares Russell 2000ETF at the beginning of his in-vestment journey in 2018.They appealed to him becausethey increased his exposure tonew parts of the market—QQQto tech, the iShares Russell2000 to track small-capstocks—and diversified his in-vestment portfolio.

“When I was putting $100into that tech ETF, I investedin more than just Apple,” hesaid.

Not all platforms offer theability to buy ETFs throughfractional trading. CharlesSchwab Corp., for example,

offers only S&P 500 stocksthrough its fractional platform,Stock Slices.

At Fidelity Investments,18% of the trades on the frac-

tional and dollar-based invest-ing platform have been in ETFssince it launched this February.

With this year’s retailfrenzy in the backdrop, the

rise of fractional investorsbuying ETFs may ease the fearthat these new investors willget wiped out when this mar-ket rally ends.

“If we’re worried about peo-ple speculating and gettingthemselves into trouble, it’sbetter they have well-diversi-fied portfolios,” said LarryHarris, former Securities andExchange Commission chiefeconomist and professor of fi-nance at the University ofSouthern California’s MarshallSchool of Business.

“The more we encouragepeople to hold well-diversifiedportfolios, the less likely theyare to be wiped out and theless likely they are to shy awayfrom the markets in the futurewhen it would be unwise to doso.”

Ms. Swanger said she wouldcontinue to invest in ETFs.Over the course of the year,she has gradually increasedher stake and estimates shehas close to $40,000 in frac-tional ETFs.

In some cases, she is able tobuy whole shares of ETFs, butshe said that overall, the frac-tional approach makes it eas-ier for her to map out her in-vestments.

“I didn’t want to put myearnings directly into [stock]shares,” she said.

BY JULIA CARPENTER

Fractional Shares Catch On With YoungNew investors useprograms to get broadexposure to stocksthrough ETFs

Cari Swanger says fractional investing allowed her to diversify.

CARI

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about $243 million in Decem-ber 2019, according to Ash-more’s financial filings.

Still, what had been Ash-more’s largest mutual fund,which invests in short-termbonds, has lost 13.75% thisyear while a comparable indexgained 4.15%, according todata from Morningstar Inc.The fund’s assets have shrunkby 69% to $2 billion, forcing itto sell Argentine, Ecuadoreanand Lebanese bonds, theMorningstar data and financial

ContinuedfrompageB1

reports show.Meanwhile, funds managed

by BlackRock Inc., EatonVance Corp. and WellingtonManagement LLP have betagainst Ashmore shares thisyear, though BlackRock termi-nated short positions on thestock in recent weeks, accord-ing to data from the U.K.’s Fi-nancial Conduct Authority.Ashmore shares fell 52% to$3.55 in February and Marchand have since recoveredabout half the loss, closing at$5.48 on Friday.

Connecticut’s state treasurydecided in May to withdraw aroughly $730 million accountwith Ashmore, according toregulatory filings. This au-tumn, Goldman Sachs GroupInc. discontinued Ashmore asan option in its employee401(k) retirement plan, ac-cording to a document re-

viewed by The Wall StreetJournal.

Competitors say Ashmorehas grown too large for Mr.Coombs’s high-octane invest-ment style and for his unwill-ingness to delegate. Mr.Coombs declined to be inter-viewed. Ashmore’s invest-ments are decided by a six-member investmentcommittee that Mr. Coombsheads, a person close to thecompany said.

“They’re trying to put abrave face on it, but this is theworst we’ve seen since the fi-nancial crisis,” said David Mc-Cann, an analyst at London-based brokerage NumisSecurities who has a “reduce”rating on Ashmore stock.

Mr. Coombs grew up inLondon and attended Cam-bridge University, where heplayed rugby and studied law.

He worked for about 15 yearsas an emerging-markets in-vestment banker before found-ing Ashmore in 1999.

The idea was to pioneer in-vesting in emerging markets,where he believed growthwould outpace the U.S. andEurope.

That has mostly playedout—the face value of emerg-ing-market debt outstandingclimbed to $26.5 trillion in2018 from $90 billion in 1984,around when Mr. Coombs firstentered finance, according todata from Ashmore.

Former colleagues describeMr. Coombs as a candid andvisionary leader with a high IQwho is propelled by a fiercedrive to make money, oftengoing on buying binges in cri-ses when bond prices crashed.Mr. Coombs can be charmingwith clients and in groups butin private is more taciturn,former colleagues said.

He lives in the same homehe owned before becoming abillionaire and limits his cloth-ing to multiple copies of onesuit and tie, sometimes wear-ing old shirts with frayed cuffsto client meetings, former col-leagues say. Mr. Coombs com-petes in triathlons and ofteneats a single meal a day tostay trim.

Mr. Coombs has kept costslow by packing employeestightly in the firm’s offices,paying below-market salariesand cutting personnel in leanyears, analysts and former col-leagues said.

The company’s first bigbreak came in 2001 when Mr.Coombs sold all his Argentinebondholdings before the coun-try defaulted. Dodging thatbullet, along with large, win-

ning bets in Brazil and Russia,helped Ashmore deliver aver-age annual returns around 18%at the time, one of the formercolleagues said.

Mr. Coombs became anemerging-markets evangelist,persuading insurers, pensionsand endowments to investwith him while paying hedge-fund-like fees. When the com-pany listed on the LondonStock Exchange in 2006, it wasmanaging $20 billion, and Mr.Coomb’s 47% stake was valuedat about $1.6 billion, accordingto data from S&P Global Mar-ket Intelligence.

The growth acceleratedover the past decade as ane-mic interest rates stoked de-mand for high-yielding emerg-ing-markets bonds. Ashmore’sinvestment dollars jumped to$98 billion last year.

But even in emerging mar-kets, interest rates fell andyield grew harder to find. Todeliver, Mr. Coombs went bigin three countries that paidhigh interest rates becausethey struggled with large defi-cits and political instability,leading to the unlucky trifectaof Argentina, Ecuador andLebanon.

Some Wall Street analystssee cause for optimism in Ash-more’s disclosure that out-flows slowed to $800 millionin the third quarter. Others ex-pect the cash drain to inten-sify again in January when in-stitutional investors rebalanceportfolios.

Mr. Coombs said on theSeptember analyst call that itis uncertain how many institu-tional clients will leave. “Itcould be half of them, it couldbe 10% of them, he said. “Wejust don’t know.”

Investor’sBond BetsBackfire

Mark Coombs, left, CEO of Ashmore Group, shakes hands with Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno.

Propane supplier FerrellgasPartners LP has reached a pre-arranged deal with bondhold-ers for the holding companywith no employees to file forbankruptcy while keeping itsoperations out of chapter 11.

The proposed deal will allowthe company’s employees, aswell as Chairman and interimChief Executive James Ferrell,to retain ownership of operat-ing company Ferrellgas LP.

“We have reached an agree-ment with a substantial major-ity of our noteholders that willpreserve our almost 100-year-old history and maintain own-ership by our nearly 5,000global employees,” Mr. Ferrellsaid.

The parent company, Ferrell-gas Partners, plans to file forbankruptcy in the U.S. Bank-ruptcy Court in Wilmington,Del., the company said in a reg-ulatory filing. Under a prepack-aged bankruptcy plan, the com-pany will convert over $350million in notes at the parentcompany into ownership units.

Ferrellgas has been in for-bearance since the summer onthe $350 million in parent-com-pany notes that came due onJune 15, and holders of 74% ofthose notes have agreed to thedeal under which the parentcompany will file for bank-ruptcy.

BY SOMA BISWAS

FerrellgasTo PlaceParent inBankruptcy



DividendsWill HaveTheir DayAgain

Companies that pay outcould shine once more

Total return

Source: FactSet

3,000

–500

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

%

2000 ’10 ’201990

S&P 500Dividend Aristocrats

S&P 500

HEARD ONTHESTREET

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

OPEC startspricewar

First effectiveCovid-19 vaccineannounced

Crude-oil futures price

Source: FactSetNote: Most-active contracts

$80

0

20

40

60

barrel

J F M A M J J A S O N D

WTIBrent

Third Point asked Disney to suspend its payout and invest in streaming.

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ergy, referring to U.S. shale.Governments also have acceler-

ated their decarbonization plansthis year, increasing the risk thatoil left in the ground today mightnever be profitably recovered. Andinvestor discipline might waveragainst a backdrop of ultralow in-terest rates.

Drilling is indeed creeping up,and producers are bringing on un-completed wells. Even if U.S. pro-ducers hold firm, OPEC suppliersare pushing to roll back the recordproduction cuts they made in Aprilin their efforts to stabilize prices.

Demand recovery can’t be takenfor granted, either. Vaccines willallow a return to something likenormal life in the U.S. and Europe,and fast-growing Asian marketswill want more crude. Yet some ofthis year’s work-from-homechanges could persist and, in thelonger term, decarbonization poli-cies will cut demand.

Fossil-fuel companies have over-invested in recent years to creategluts of oil, gas, liquefied naturalgas and even refineries. Disciplinein the face of today’s optimismabout the post-Covid recoverywould require a radical cultureshift.

—Rochelle Toplensky

What do you call an investmentstrategy that would have left thelikes of Amazon, Facebook, Tesla,Netflix and Google parent Alpha-bet out of your portfolio?

Aside from some unprintablewords, “stodgy” might come tomind. But until recently, a portfo-lio that mechanically excludedsuch nonpayers of dividends wouldhave done very well. They mightagain in practice, even if theyshouldn’t in theory.

Franco Modigliani and MertonMiller, pioneers of modern finan-cial theory, argued decades agothat investors should in theory belargely indifferent to dividends.Since the 1980s, the payouts havebecome quaint in the U.S. as com-panies have been able to freelybuy back their shares. In the sec-ond quarter of this year, the yieldfrom buybacks in the S&P 500 was2.52% whereas the dividend yieldwas 1.75%, according to YardeniResearch.

The decision to pay out cashcomes down to how much moneyinvestors think management canearn if they keep it. Activist inves-tors have split on the issue re-cently with D.E. Shaw pushingExxon Mobil to cut expendituresto maintain its fat dividend andThird Point asking Walt Disney tosuspend its payout and invest instreaming instead.

Yet for something that theoreti-cally shouldn’t matter, dividend-paying stocks have done swim-mingly. The key seems to befocusing on those with high butsustainable payouts. Slicing largeU.S. companies into quintiles bydividend yield found that the sec-

ond-highest-yielding group beatthe market most consistently eachyear over many decades. Measuredfrom 1928 through 2019, a basketof dividend payers in that quintilesaw a $1 investment turn into$25,395, according to DartmouthCollege professor Kenneth French.A basket of nonpayers would havebeen worth $2,139.

That result is all the more re-markable because dividends were arelatively small part of investors’returns during the market’s most-rewarding decades. In the 1990sand 2010s they produced 16% and17% of the S&P 500’s return, ac-cording to data from Morningstarand Hartford Funds. But they morethan made up for it during less-ex-

citing periods like the 1940s and1970s, when they made up 67% and73% of the return, respectively.

Part of the answer for why divi-dends mattered is that reinvestingthem during those bleak timespaid off—easier said than donewhen investors get discouraged.But another is what sort of com-pany pays them in the first place.A dividend payer is more likely tobe a value stock. In June, the aver-age price-to-book ratio of DividendAristocrats such as AbbVie, 3Mand Colgate-Palmolive, with atleast a quarter-century of risingpayouts, was less than half that ofthe S&P Growth Index, accordingto ProShares. Value is out of fash-ion now, like it was in the 1990sand other bullish periods, butcheap stocks shine when the partyends. The same might not be truefor companies that mostly rewardshareholders through buybackssince they are much quicker toslash them just as stocks plunge.

Longtime dividend payers hateangering shareholders by cuttingpayouts. That might force them toborrow money to fund those cou-pons or to skip good investmentopportunities, but it also leadsmanagers to avoid bad invest-ments. They are better stewards ofinvestors’ capital because theyhave to spend it more judiciously.

Dividends may not be the mostefficient way of producing goodcompanies. Still, it is hard to arguewith the results. —Spencer Jakab

Vaccines have buoyed hopesthat oil demand will soon recover,and the Brent global benchmark isflirting with $50 a barrel. Buttraders may be underestimatingthe responsiveness of U.S. supply.

It has been a terrible year forthe oil industry. A price war fol-lowed by a pandemic forced manyproducers to slash spending. His-torically, significant underinvest-ment in drilling has prompted aprice increase when demand even-tually rebounded, given the longlead time to find and develop newoil sources.

U.S. shale deposits changed thatdynamic in recent years, though.The sector’s ability to ramp upproduction rapidly means the highprices that historically resultedfrom big cuts to capital expendi-ture no longer look to be such asure thing.

The U.S. industry has for yearsfrustrated efforts by the Organiza-tion of the Petroleum ExportingCountries and its allies to increaseprices by cutting production. A re-cent proposal to add the main U.S.export price, WTI Midland, to theglobal oil benchmark from 2022 isa testament to shale’s importancein global supply.

True, shale producers have con-solidated this year and come un-der investor pressure to focus oncash flow rather than growth.

“The rules of the game havechanged” and the industry no lon-ger has access to the “incredibleamounts of capital” it did just ayear ago, says Benjamin Shattuckof energy consultant Wood Mack-enzie.

Yet newfound discipline maynot last. Oil is up about a quartersince early November, when thefirst effective vaccine was an-nounced. At the current U.S.benchmark price of just under $47,many reserves could be profitablylifted. “As you move above $45 abarrel it gives you way more com-mercial drilling,” says Alisa Lukashof energy consultant Rystad En-

Oil’s Recovery Isn’tA Sure Thing

AstraZeneca’s Alexion Splurge Could Attract a Crowd

cies last month. “Where doyou pull the data from?There’s no NYSE, no ICE orNasdaq that will match up ex-actly with every other pro-vider,” he said.

The discrepancies in thebitcoin data reflect the natureof the industry itself. Bitcoinand hundreds of other crypto-currencies trade on indepen-dent exchanges around theworld. Every exchange man-ages its own data feed, com-prising millions of trades.Some are regulated and trans-parent; others are notoriousfor unreliable volume numbersand fraudulent trading.

In traditional capital mar-kets, exchanges like the NewYork Stock Exchange and Nas-daq Stock Market providetroves of data that help inves-tors value the underlying as-sets in mutual, index and ex-change-traded funds. Thatdoesn’t exist in the cryptomarket.

Startups like Messari, Cryp-toCompare, CoinDesk and oth-ers have been trying to aggre-gate data within the industryfor years, but as the marketgrows, traditional companies,like S&P, are jumping in.

S&P unveiled a partnershipwith the crypto-data provider

Lukka earlier this month tocreate a suite of indexingproducts for cryptocurrencies.Although details about theprojects are scarce, Peter Roff-man, the global head of inno-vation and strategy at S&P,said the company plans tolaunch a couple of productsearly next year and createother lines of index productsover time.

What mainly exists cur-rently, he said, are market-

data feeds that average pricesacross a number of exchanges.That makes it difficult to comeup with an acceptable defini-tion of fair-market value.

“Our goal is to create trans-parency in markets that inves-tors have interest in,” he said.“Something that I think a lotof people and organizationsdon’t realize is that crypto isdifferent than traditional mar-kets.”

There is a potential profit

to be made in providing theseservices. The firms involvedmake money by licensing thedata to companies that willuse them to build financialproducts like index funds. Andwith bitcoin’s marketplacegrowing, the opportunitygrows as well.

“The demand for data hasincreased substantially,” saidCharles Hayter, the CEO ofLondon-based CryptoCom-pare. His firm licenses about

50 index products world-wide,and selling data brings inabout half of its revenue.

This month, CryptoCom-pare launched a bitcoin-basedvolatility index, similar to thevolatility index created byCboe Global Markets Inc. tomeasure volatility in stocks.This BVIX operates much likethe CBOE’s VIX. It is a mea-sure of implied volatility inbitcoin based on options trad-ing on a European exchangecalled Deribit.

Messari is another firmthat has tried to sift out unre-liable exchange data. It cre-ated an index that pulls datafrom 10 exchanges it rates asreliable and builds volume,price and market-capitaliza-tion numbers from them.

The firm also recently re-built its website to operate asa comprehensive data feed forinvestors, something it hopeswill become for crypto inves-tors what the Bloomberg ter-minal is for traditional inves-tors.

“The question becomes, areyou going to go to 20 differentwalled gardens to hunt andpeck and aggregate, or will itbe one portal?” said Ryan Sel-kis, Messari’s founder andCEO.

Bitcoin enthusiasts agreethe digital currency hit a re-cord recently. What they don’tagree on is the level of thatmilestone or when it was set.

Data provider Refinitiv re-corded an all-time high of$19,510 on Nov. 25. Researchand news site CoinDesk re-corded the high at $19,921 onDec. 1. Another startup-dataprovider, Messari, put the highat $19,931, on Dec. 1. Other ex-changes and data providershave their own numbers.

The fractured marketplacehas prompted the introductionof a new crop of tools to helpinvestors track the burgeon-ing, volatile industry. Sincebitcoin exploded in popularityagain this fall, S&P Dow JonesIndices has said it would cre-ate cryptocurrency indexes.Other firms have launched abitcoin-volatility index and atool that aims to be theBloomberg screen of thecrypto industry.

“That’s the biggest problemfor trading, getting that his-torical data,” said Anthony De-nier, chief executive of tradingplatform Webull FinancialLLC, which began allowing itsclients to trade cryptocurren-

BY PAUL VIGNA

Bitcoin Upturn Spurs Demand for Better Tracking

MARKETS

The discrepancies in the digital currency’s data reflect the nature of the industry itself.

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That would rank right alongsidethe cancer drug Tagrisso as one ofthe company’s bestselling prod-ucts. Competition for Soliris is un-likely to reach the market for sev-eral years, and rare-diseasepatients have historically been re-luctant to switch treatments, evenif a drug with superior datareaches the market.

Much of the public attentionthat AstraZeneca has received re-cently has surrounded its Covid-19vaccine candidate, but it is un-likely to be a significant part ofcompany sales for a long time.Alexion is far more material. As-traZeneca expects the deal to in-

crease earnings per share by atleast 10% over the next threeyears. The company also said thatthe acquisition “supports” its“progressive dividend policy,” sig-naling a higher payout eventually.

As for Alexion, its stock price isdown 40% since its 2015 high, de-spite those huge cash flows. Drugcompanies with one product ac-counting for the majority of theirsales tend to trade at low earningsmultiples. In the case of Alexion,Soliris and the next-generationdrug Ultomiris account for morethan 80% of its 2020 estimatedrevenue. Its shares fetch just 10times this year’s adjusted profit

that, though Alexion will owe As-traZeneca a break fee of $1.2 bil-lion in such a scenario.

“In today’s inflated market webelieve investors could demandmore,” from AstraZeneca “or an-other acquirer,” wrote SVB LeerinkAnalyst Geoffrey Porges in a noteto investors on Saturday.

As such, investors should becarefully watching Alexion’s stockprice when trading resumes onMonday.

The stronger it performs, themore likely it is that AstraZenecaChief Executive Officer Pascal So-riot will have to sweeten the deal.

—Charley Grant

forecast. By that logic, those drugsare more valuable to a larger,more-diversified company like As-traZeneca, in the eyes of WallStreet.

But while the deal seems un-likely to run afoul of antitrust reg-ulators, AstraZeneca shareholdersshouldn’t count on that extra divi-dend boost just yet. Alexion couldbe attractive to other suitors, too.After all, the drug industry has noshortage of large companies withlong-term growth challenges butfat wallets. And the deal price an-nounced on Saturday is fairly lighton cash. An interested biddershouldn’t have trouble exceeding

AstraZeneca’s $39 billionsplurge to acquire Alexion Phar-maceuticals looks like a winner—as long as it can hang on at thatprice tag.

The European pharmaceuticalsgiant said Saturday it would ac-quire the rare-disease specialistfor $175 a share, with just overone-third of that payable in cashand the remainder in stock. Astra-Zeneca is paying a 45% premiumto Alexion’s Friday closing price.

The deal has obvious benefitsfor both sides. AstraZeneca’s bigprize in this deal is the blood dis-order franchise, which generatesroughly $5 billion in annual sales.


* * * *THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, December 14, 2020 | R1

JOURNAL REPORT

C-SUITE STRATEGIES

zon.com Inc. as No. 1 by performing consistently wellacross each of the five main components of the over-all ranking compiled by researchers at ClaremontGraduate University’s Drucker Institute: customersatisfaction, employee engagement and development,innovation, social responsibility and financialstrength.While their analysis captures data from the first

few months of the pandemic, through the end ofJune, Drucker Institute researchers say the healthcrisis likely had a limited impact on their 2020 list.“What we’ve really noticed is that the companiesthat scored highest in our ranking last year seemedin the best shape to deal with the crisis,” says RickWartzman, head of the KH Moon Center for a Func-

tioning Society, a part of the Drucker Institute.Rivals in the cloud-computing market, Microsoft

and Amazon have both benefited from the shift to re-mote work, as companies and employees embracedtheir products to adapt to office closures and social-distancing requirements aimed at curbing the spreadof the coronavirus. But Amazon fell to No. 4 this yearas Apple Inc. took the No. 2 spot, followed by Inter-national Business Machines Corp. Google parent Al-phabet Inc. rounds out the tech-centric top five.Overall, researchers examined 886 companies thisyear, using 33 indicators of management effective-ness.Silicon Valley has faced mounting scrutiny from

PleaseturntopageR4

The technology giants that shape somuch of our lives dominate in yet an-other way: They lead the pack of thecountry’s best-run companies.In a year when the coronavirus

pandemic has devastated largeswaths of the U.S. economy and re-

configured the ways millions of Americans shop, work,communicate and learn, tech stalwarts have remainedin the uppermost echelon of the Management Top250, an annual ranking based on the principles of thelate management guru Peter Drucker.In the 2020 lineup, Microsoft Corp. unseated Ama-

BY PATRICK THOMAS

INSIDE

• Fine Tuning

What’s new in howthis year’s rankingswere calculated R2

The RecipeA look at how the rankingsmeasuremanagement effec-tiveness—and howwellR2

•Red flags

Some highlyranked companieshave a weak spot intheir scores R5

TYLER COMRIE

Plus: Highlights of interviews withbusiness and government leaders atThe Journal’s CEO Council Summit

The Best-Managed

Companiesof 2020

Microsoft is on top, followed byApple, IBM and Amazon in theDrucker Institute’s annual

Management Top 250 ranking

SUMMITCOVERAGEBEGINS ONPAGE R13

CEOs’ Advice tothe Biden

AdministrationCEO Council


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JOURNAL REPORT | C-SUITE STRATEGIES

When the Drucker Institutebegan building the model

behind the Management

Top 250 six years ago, we

had no idea whether it

would pan out.

Our theory was that all

five of the areas we examine—employee

engagement and development, customer

satisfaction, innovation, social responsibility

and financial strength—are interrelated and

influence each other over time. Social sci-

entists call this “reciprocal causation.”

It’s a bit like the way the systems of the

human body—circulatory, nervous, respira-

tory, skeletal and so forth—are connected.

Yet this really was just a hypothesis.

There was no guarantee that pulling to-

gether dozens of metrics on hundreds and

hundreds of big companies, collected by a

variety of data providers feeding into our

five categories, wouldn’t turn into a sta-

tistical mess and nothing more.

It didn’t.

One way that we judge the model’s

value and validity is by looking at correla-

tions between each of our categories and

a company’s overall management perfor-

mance, or what we call “effectiveness.”

Management scholar Peter Drucker de-

fined effectiveness as “doing the right

things well.”

Like “health,” you can’t see effective-

ness per se. But you can assess whether

a company is effectively managed by

measuring individual indicators in the

same way that you can measure whether

someone is healthy by looking at their

cholesterol count, neural activity, lung ca-

pacity and bone density.

The correlations of this type range from

zero (the model explains nothing) to 1.0

(whereby the model explains everything).

In our case, the five areas can together

explain 44% of a company’s effectiveness.

(This is calculated by squaring the aver-

age correlation: 0.66 multiplied by 0.66

equals 0.44.) That’s strong. The average

correlation of our five areas with effec-

tiveness is about the same as, for ex-

ample, the correlation of the percentage

of shots a National Basketball Associa-

tion team makes with how many games

it wins.

It’s also notable that our correlations

have gotten stronger as we’ve incorpo-

rated new data sources to bolster the

model. The average correlations for our

five areas of corporate effectiveness are

up by 0.02 over the past four years.

Similarly, the average correlation for our

33 indicators with their respective areas

of effectiveness has increased from 0.65

in 2016 to 0.70 in 2020.

All of this is to say that our model

accurately captures an essential quality

of large companies—again, what we la-

bel “effectiveness”—and the underlying

factors that influence it.

Of course, there are lots of things that

our model misses. As good as our model

is, it doesn’t explain the other 56% of why

a company is or is not effective.

Macroeconomic events, such as big

swings in currency exchange rates or

new trade policies, are likely to fall out-

side our scope. We also didn’t detect, at

least in a timely way, several headline-

grabbing management failures—the fa-

tal flaw in Boeing Co.’s 737 Max soft-

ware and General Electric Co.’s financial

collapse in 2018, among them.

Nonetheless, by and large, our model

has proved its ability to consistently

separate out the best-managed compa-

nies from the rest.

One barometer of this has been the

stock market. Although we don’t con-

sider share price the be-all and end-all

of how well a company is run, we do

agree with Peter Drucker that it tends

to be a pretty good gauge over time.

To that end, the S&P/Drucker Insti-

tute Corporate Effectiveness Index

tracks the 100 companies among the

S&P 500 that have both the highest ef-

fectiveness scores in our model and

that also perform consistently across

our various categories. For the 12

months ended Nov. 30, 2020, our index

outpaced the S&P 500 by 402 basis

points in total return, 21.48% versus

17.46%. (S&P Dow Jones Indices Inc.

publishes this index through a co-brand-

ing agreement with the Drucker Insti-

tute, and the Institute earns a royalty

from assets invested in financial prod-

ucts based on the index.)

Our model has been able to illumi-

nate other trends, as well. Through our

ongoing research, we have found that

the most effectively managed compa-

nies in our ranking have been far less

likely than their peers to lay off or fur-

lough workers during the pandemic;

have the most gender diversity among

their top executives; and are led by indi-

viduals who are adaptable and tolerant

of ambiguity—traits that have been es-

pecially important of late.

In the end, we are a proud testament

to statistician George E. P. Box’s famous

adage, “All models are wrong, but some

are useful.”

Dr. First is executive director of theDrucker Institute. He can be reached at

[email protected].

BY ZACHARY FIRST

What the Rankings Measure,And HowWell They Measure It

The model does a good jobgauging ‘effectiveness,’ andthe underlying factors that

influence it

As you digest the Manage-ment Top 250 for 2020, see-

ing which companies landed

where on the list, our heads

are already off in a different

place: thinking about the

rankings for 2021.

As soon as we put things

to bed, we begin to contem-

plate modifications for the

next year to the Drucker In-stitute’s gauge of corporateeffectiveness, which is

grounded in the teachings of

the late management scholar

Peter Drucker and is the ba-

sis of the Management Top

250. We define “effective-

ness” as Mr. Drucker did: do-

ing the right things well.

For 2020, we examined

886 major corporations in all,

using 33 indicators across five

categories: customer satisfac-

tion, employee engagement

and development, innovation,

social responsibility and finan-

cial strength. Corporations are

compared in each of these ar-

eas, as well as in their overall

effectiveness, through stan-

dardized scores with a typical

range of 0 to 100 and a mean

of 50.

Sometimes, the adjust-

ments we make to our sta-

tistical model are substantial.

In 2019, for example, we re-

vamped the way that we deter-

mine financial strength by adding

to our mix of metrics “economic

value added,” or EVA, which

takes stock of a company’s oper-

ating efficiency, asset manage-

ment, capital discipline and prof-

itable growth.

Other times, we make smaller

tweaks, such as when we elimi-

nated a few indicators in 2018 to

prevent the possible overweighting

of data from the same provider.

In either case, our aim is the

same: to better reflect Mr.

Drucker’s core principles and to

bolster the model’s empirical va-

lidity. (Our data sources, method-

ology and other details going

back to 2017 can be found at

drucker.institute/programs/com-

pany-rankings.)

This year, we undertook sev-

eral revisions that were relatively

minor—but that still affected

how a number of prominent

companies fared. For starters, we

fine-tuned what’s included in the

customer-satisfaction category,

ascribing far less importance to

certain indicators that track how

marketing professionals assess a

business’s brand reputation and

whether a company has a data

privacy and security policy or

program. The reason: Neither re-

ally captures a consumer’s expe-

rience (as opposed to what some

experts think or what a company

says it’s going to do but may not

deliver on).

We also honed our approach

in the innovation category. In this

arena, how a company stacks up

on a variety of different indica-

tors is calculated relative to the

industry average. That way, we

aren’t comparing how many pat-

ents are filed by a software firm

with those from, say, a retailer.

The trouble is, companies

don’t always reveal the activity

they’re engaged in, particularly

when it comes to investments in

research and development, where

many firms

fail to report

any expendi-

tures. Previ-

ously in our

model, this

would regis-

ter as $0,

pulling down

the industry

average and,

in turn, giving

those that

did disclose their spending an ar-

tificially high score. To correct for

that, we now derive the industry

average only from companies

that supply data.

In addition, this year for the

first time we evaluated the ex-

tent of a company’s cutting-edge

job postings—for positions in ar-

tificial intelligence, robotics,

blockchain and so forth—and

R&D-related job postings in the

context of its total hiring.

For some in our rankings,

these alterations had a notable

impact. For instance, largely be-

cause of how we reworked our

formula, Amazon.com Inc.’s inno-

vation score fell by more than 76

points from 2019 to 2020—

though it still ranked No. 1 in the

category this year with an off-

the-charts mark of 135.9.

Meanwhile, Facebook Inc.’scustomer-satisfaction score de-

clined from 41.6 in 2019 to an

abysmal 26.3 this year, as Clorox

Co.—which has seen a surge in

sales of coronavirus-killing clean-

ing products amid the pan-

demic—leapt from an already im-

pressive 67.1 in that category to

a sky-high 72.5. The movements

for both companies were caused,

in no small part, by how we

changed our model.

While it can be kind of excit-

ing to follow who is up and who

is down from year to year, that is

never our focus. What guides us

is the data—not the drama—and

a commitment to ensuring that

the entire model is sound from a

statistical standpoint.

To that end, the correlation

between customer satisfaction

and overall effectiveness in-

creased to 0.58 in 2020 from

0.48 in 2019, while the correla-

tion for the innovation category

climbed to 0.77 from 0.71. Corre-

lations of this type range from

zero (signaling that the model

explains nothing) to 1.0 (whereby

the model explains everything).

As we look to 2021, we will

continue to try to find that sweet

spot: improving the model that

we’ve built without going so far

that we obscure the actual perfor-

mance of the companies we cover.

Mr. Wartzman is the head of theKH Moon Center for aFunctioning Society, a part ofthe Drucker Institute, and Ms.

Tang is the institute’s senior

director of research. Email them

at [email protected].

BY RICK WARTZMAN AND KELLY TANG

What’s New in the Rankings This Year

To repurpose this logo andcontent, visit WSJ.com/mgmtrankingsreprint formore information.

Reprints

The All-StarsThe companies in the 2020Management Top 250 thatscored at least one standard de-viation above the mean for allcompanies examined in all fivecategories of the ranking. Overallrank in parentheses

Microsoft Corp. (1)

Apple Inc. (2)

Cisco Systems Inc. (6)

Procter & Gamble Co. (8)

Merck & Co. (11)

Nvidia Corp. (12)

Adobe Inc. (16)

Eli Lilly & Co. (39)

Source: Drucker Institute

Clorox Co. scored a big increasein customer satisfaction.


THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, December 14, 2020 | R3

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consumer and privacyadvocates as well aspolicy makers, includingantitrust investigationsand calls for tighter reg-ulation of digital plat-forms after a conten-tious election season.Yet the firms that leadthe technology sectorstill have a lot going forthem, says ZacharyFirst, Drucker’s execu-tive director.“There is something

going on in technologyright now around justbasic management.These top tech firms arevery well managed,” Mr.First says. “I think itspeaks to their publicprestige, the extent towhich they attract tal-ent, customers, andthey have this relentlessfocus on being high-per-formance organiza-tions.”

Microsoft’swinning formulaMicrosoft moved intothe top spot in thisyear’s ranking by scor-ing strong marks in in-novation while doublingdown on corporate culture andsocial impact.On the innovation front, the

company notched increases inresearch-and-developmentspending, patent applicationsand trademark registrations. Ahigh volume of trademarks is agood measure of the extent towhich a company can commer-cialize its intellectual property,Drucker researchers say.In the past, Microsoft missed

key waves in technology inno-vation such as the rise ofsearch engines, social mediaand mobile phones, says SureshKotha, a management professorat the University of Washing-ton’s Foster School of Busi-ness. But since Satya Nadellatook over as chief executive in2014, he has pushed to developthe company’s cloud-computingbusiness, turning it into a seri-ous market competitor, Mr.Kotha says.“They see these waves but

they didn’t take the action, andthis one [cloud computing]they did,” he says. “They gotthis wave correctly.”Already an earnings driver

before the pandemic, cloudcomputing became more cen-tral for many of Microsoft’scorporate customers as theymoved to support employeesworking remotely.Mr. Nadella has also sought

to make Microsoft a more vocalcorporate citizen, especially asthe tech industry faces greatergovernment and public scru-tiny, and its social responsibil-ity score ticked up this year inthe Drucker ranking. In Janu-ary, the company pledged to

ContinuedfrompageR1

eliminate its carbon emissionsover the next decade and in-vest $1 billion as part of awider climate commitment.Microsoft aims to remove asmuch carbon from the atmo-sphere by 2050 as it has pro-duced since its founding in1975.“The culture change was

one of the things Satya Nadelladid that makes it a great com-pany,” says Mr. Kotha.In addition to cloud comput-

ing, Chief Technology Officer

Kevin Scott touts Microsoft’sprogress over the past year inartificial intelligence and gam-ing alongside its investmentsin sustainability and collabora-tion software.“We are constantly trying to

pay attention to what theworld is telling us about whatit needs,” Mr. Scott says, “andconstantly looking for wherethe technology trends areheading.”

Consumersentiment’s effectAmazon dropped to No. 4 over-all this year in part because itsinnovation score fell from anunprecedented level a year ago,

though it is still the highestscore for any company inthat category. Its innova-tion score a year ago wasmore than double that ofany other company’s.While Amazon stands

out in innovation, its per-formance is more unevenelsewhere on Drucker’smeasures. It is about aver-age on social responsibility,although the company hasmade efforts to improve inthat regard, including

launching a $2 billion inter-nal venture-capital fund fo-cused on technology invest-ments to reduce the impactof climate change.Amazon also posted a

lower customer-satisfactionscore than last year. The e-commerce giant, which hasgone on a hiring spree thisyear to meet exploding de-mand, also continues toface criticism by labor or-ganizers and lawmakers forits treatment of workers. Itraised U.S. employees’ mini-mum wage to $15 an hourin 2018. The company’sscore in employee engage-ment and development im-proved slightly this year.“You have to have

strength across the boardto hold your own at thatlevel,” Drucker’s Mr. Firstsays of Amazon’s 2020ranking. “It’s what makesMicrosoft’s ranking so im-pressive, that they are notjust innovation at all costs.They are excellent acrossthe board.”An Amazon spokes-

woman says the companystrives to be the most cus-tomer-centric company on

the planet and notes that ittopped the American Cus-tomer Satisfaction Index forinternet retailers last year.She adds Amazon prioritizesthe safety and health of itsemployees and has investedmillions of dollars to pro-vide a safe workplace.The spokeswoman notes

that Amazon offers Covid-19testing opportunities to itsemployees, and points toseveral of its other innova-tions during the pandemic,

such as its Amazon WebServices initiative to accel-erate Covid-19 diagnostics,research and testing.Researchers also high-

lighted companies with par-ticularly weak scores in oneor more dimension ofDrucker’s scorecard. Face-book, for instance, had adisproportionately low cus-tomer-satisfaction score,compared with its perfor-mance in other categories,amid continuing criticism ofits data-privacy practicesand handling of misinforma-tion.While the social-media

giant has ramped up its ef-forts to police political andcoronavirus-related misin-formation this year, Face-book continues to face criti-cism in Congress, wherebipartisan calls for tighterregulation of online plat-forms are intensifying.Drucker researchers notethe company was in aboutthe bottom 1% of all compa-nies they studied in cus-tomer satisfaction. In theoverall ranking, Facebookfell six spots from 2019 toNo. 12 this year.The Drucker researchers

say Facebook’s overall sta-tistical profile is comparablenot to other tech companiesbut to big tobacco firms.Similar to Philip Morris,Facebook scored well in em- TH

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The Best-ManagedCompanies

JOURNAL REPORT | C-SUITE STRATEGIES JOURNAL REPORT | C-SUITE STRATEGIES

Red FlagsSome companies that score welloverall but have at least oneweakness that bears watching

Facebook raked in morethan $21 billion in reve-

nue in the third quarter,

has upward of 50,000

employees, and more

than three billion people use at

least one of its products in any

given month. But it came in dead

last in customer satisfaction

among the top 100 U.S. compa-

nies in this year’s Management

Top 250 ranking, drawn down in

part by a low net promoter

score—which shows customers’

willingness to recommend the

company—from J.D. Power.

For a growing company with a

healthy balance sheet, does it

matter? Rick Wartzman, head of

the KH Moon Center for a Func-tioning Society at the DruckerInstitute, which created the sta-tistical model used to rank the

companies in the Management

Top 250, argues that it does. Few

companies, he says, perform well

in all of the categories that

Drucker measures—customer

satisfaction, employee engage-

ment and development, innova-

tion, social responsibility and fi-

nancial strength. But ranking

below the 25th percentile in any

category, he says, amounts to a

red flag, a sign that the company

is especially weak in that area.

“And that weakness,” he says,

“if it’s severe enough and left un-

tended over time, may ultimately

undermine the whole enterprise.”

There are 12 companies in the

top 100 with a red flag in one of

the five categories. Here is a

closer look at some of them:

AT&T Inc.

Red Flag: CustomerSatisfaction

AT&T’s customer-satisfaction

score landed in the 19.2nd per-

centile, hurt in part by a consis-

tently low American CustomerSatisfaction Index score. DavidVanAmburg, managing director

at ACSI, says customer-satisfac-

tion scores generally tend not to

be much of an issue when you

look at wireless service itself. But

when you look at wireless com-

panies that are also pay-TV and

internet-service providers, such

as AT&T, you start to see scores

hit rock bottom. He says custom-

ers pay a lot for these services

and expect a lot—particularly

now that they are home using

them all day. “And then we find

that, generally speaking, the

quality isn’t up to our expecta-

tions,” he says, adding that com-

plaints include spotty internet

service and slow downloads.

AT&T said in statement that

“as of October 2020, our net pro-

moter score (NPS) [from mar-

ket-research firm Kantar] is up

year-over-year across all of our

products, and is at an all-time

high for AT&T Fiber and wireless

service.” What’s more, the com-

pany said, “J.D. Power’s most re-

cent study also ranked AT&T/DI-

RECTV number one nationally

among TV providers and number

one for broadband internet pro-

viders in every region we serve.”

Boeing Co.

Red Flag: Financial Strength

Struggling with the grounding

of the 737 MAX following a pair

of crashes, and fewer orders as

the pandemic crippled air travel,

Boeing earned a red flag for its

financial performance, ranking in

the 10.5th percentile. Boeing’s

struggles were reflected in mul-

tiple sources that Drucker looks

at for financial strength, includ-

ing total shareholder return and

economic profit, which is calcu-

lated by corporate analytics firm

ISS EVA, a division of Institu-

tional Shareholder Services, and

measures operating profit mi-

nus a charge for use of capital.

Rich Cleary, a vice president at

ISS Corporate Solutions, a divi-

sion of ISS, says Boeing’s de-

fense business has remained

relatively stable, “but, obvi-

ously, commercial aviation has

taken a hit this year.”

A representative for Boeing

pointed to CFO Greg Smith’s

comments in the company’s

third-quarter earnings call:

“We’re taking comprehensive

action to preserve liquidity,

navigate the pandemic, adapt

to our new markets, improve

performance, and position our

company for the future.”

Facebook

Red Flag: CustomerSatisfaction

Facebook sits in the 1.1 percen-

tile for customer satisfaction,

drawn down in part by a low net

promoter score from J.D. Power.

Michael Vermillion, vice presi-

dent of global business intelli-

gence at J.D. Power, says Face-

book likely is being hurt by a

very low brand trust, which

didn’t improve as it sat at the

center of the nation’s political

and cultural divide during the

election season.

“To me, Facebook used to be

a platform where I could share

photos and experiences with

friends and family,” he says. This

year, it turned into a place where

you go to have arguments with

strangers about politics, he says,

adding “I spent a lot of time hid-

ing posts or turning people off

or turning off all the stuff I

didn’t want to see.”

Facebook didn’t respond to a

request for comment.

General Electric Co.


Sitting in the 10.3rd percentile

for financial strength, GE drew a

red flag for the category just as

it did last year. Mr. Cleary says

GE’s turnaround efforts had

been showing some promise, but

the pandemic’s effect on its avi-

ation business has meant fewer

engines sold.

“They had been moving in the

right direction,” he says, “but it

seems Covid threw a wrench

into those plans.” A GE spokes-

person points to comments CEO

Larry Culp made in an Oct. 28

earnings call: “We’re encouraged

by our progress amid a challeng-

ing backdrop. We remain fo-

cused on the long term, not only

in terms of our ability to per-

form but to realize our purpose

and the full potential of GE.”

Molson CoorsBeverage Co.


Though Americans haven’t been

shy about increasing their con-

sumption during the pandemic, it

hasn’t been enough to keep Mol-

son Coors out of red-flag terri-

tory. The beer giant picked up a

red flag for its financial strength,

ranking in the 21.9th percentile.

Anthony Campagna, ISS EVA’s

global director of fundamental

research, says that while at-

home consumption of beer has

gone up during the pandemic,

Molson’s commercial business

has been hit hard by shutdowns.

But the company’s core financial

hangups stem from the merger

of Molson and Coors in 2015, he

says, adding that the merger

hasn’t yet provided the kind of

cost savings that the company

had hoped for.

Molson said in a statement

that it has delivered more than

$700 million in savings from

2017 to 2019, and is on target to

generate $600 million in savings

from 2020 to 2022. In addition,

the company a year ago

launched a revitalization plan to

drive top-line growth. “The deci-

sions we’ve made over the past

year, and quick actions and in-

vestments we are making,

helped us beat top- and bottom-

line expectations last quarter,

and we believe will ensure the

Molson Coors Beverage Co. is

built to succeed well into the fu-

ture,” the company said.

Mr. Kornelis is a writer inSeattle. Email [email protected].

BY ĆHRIS KORNELIS

IBM recorded the eighth-highest innovation scoresince the ranking process began in 2012.

General Electric isone of the biggestgainers in thisyear’s ranking.

Employee Top 10

The top scores for em-

ployee engagement and

development among the

Management Top 250

Zoom Video

Communications Inc. 81.5

Salesforce.com 76.1

Facebook Inc. 75.1

Nvidia Corp. 75.0

Microsoft Corp. 74.1

Alphabet Inc. 72.9

Prologis Inc. 71.9

Intuit Inc. 71.7

VMware Inc. 70.9

Intuitive Surgical Inc. 70.8


Innovation Top 10

The top scores for employee

engagement and development

among the Management Top

250

Amazon.com Inc. 135.9

International Business

Machines Corp. 127.1


Apple Inc. 113.7

Johnson & Johnson 97.5

General Electric Co. 96.5

Uber Technologies Inc. 91.8

Facebook Inc. 91.7

Alphabet Inc. 89.8

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. 89.5


Social Top 10

The top scores for social

responsibility among the

Management Top 250


HP Inc. 78.5

Intel Corp. 77.3

Cisco Systems Inc. 76.5

Accenture PLC 74.1

AT&T Inc. 72.9

Texas Instruments Inc. 71.6

Xerox Holdings Corp. 71.5

Cummins Inc. 71.3

Medtronic PLC 71.2


Warning SignsCompanies among the top

100 overall in the Manage-

ment Top 250 that have a red

flag--a score below the 25th

percentile, among all the com-

panies examined, in one of

the five components of the

ranking.

Facebook Inc. (No. 12 overall)1.1 percentile

in customer satisfaction

Ford Motor Co.(No. 19 overall)

22.3 percentilein financial strength

General Electric Co.(No. 20 overall)


AT&T Inc. (No. 60 overall)19.2 percentile

in customer satisfaction

Boeing Co. (No. 66 overall)10.5 percentile

in financial strength

Verizon Communications Inc.(No. 69 overall)

24.1 percentilein customer satisfaction

Philip Morris International(No. 78 overall)


Bristol-Myers Squibb(No. 82 overall)


Molson Coors Beverage Co.(No. 85 overall)


Workday Inc. (No. 92 over-all)


DuPont Co. (No. 95 overall)20.2 percentile

in financial strength

Owens Corning Inc.(No. 99 overall)


customers and tackle theworld’s biggest challenges,from precision health to thesafe return to flight to the en-ergy transition.”IBM—a blue chip before

many of today’s leading techcompanies existed— climbedthree spots to No. 3 this yearamid efforts to reposition it-self as a cloud-services pro-vider as customers flocked torivals such as Amazon and Mi-crosoft. The company boughtopen-source software firmRed Hat for around $33 billionlast year and named formercloud chief Arvind Krishna itsCEO in April.IBM has reported declining

revenue in 30 quarters overthe past decade, and it’s fi-nancial-strength score in theranking slipped this year. Butthe company recorded theeighth-highest innovationscore since the ranking pro-cess began in 2012. IBM aban-dons patent applications at ahigher rate than others, a signof its commitment to movepast obsolete technology. Thecompany’s employee and cus-tomer-satisfaction scores alsorebounded after being downfor several years.“IBM’s investments in hy-

brid cloud and AI technology,as well as in technologies ofthe future like quantum com-puting, are making IBM anemployer of choice and a valu-able partner for clients,” acompany spokesman says.On the down side, it has

been a tumultuous year forOccidental Petroleum Corp.,which fell off the Top 250 listentirely this year—from No.180 last year—after it posted adecline in financial strength.The Houston-based oil pro-ducer slashed its dividend ear-lier this year to conserve cashamid low oil prices and weakdemand due to coronaviruslockdowns. The company hasalso curtailed its capitalspending and cut executiveand employee salaries tempo-rarily. Occidental has beensaddled with debt followingits $38 billion deal to buy rivalAnadarko Petroleum Corp. lastyear. The company declined tocomment.

Mr. Thomas is a Wall StreetJournal reporter based in NewYork. He can be reached [email protected].

ployee satisfaction and forits healthy balance sheetbut faltered with customers.Tim Kendall, the company’sformer director of moneti-zation, drew a similar com-parison in testimony beforeCongress in September,speaking about the plat-form’s design.“We took a page from Big

Tobacco’s playbook, workingto make our offering addic-tive at the outset,” he toldHouse lawmakers.A Facebook spokesman

declined to comment forthis article.

Shifts insidelegacy firmsWhile tech companies ac-count for much of the top10, some older blue-chipcompanies have also risenon the list of most effec-tively managed firms.Procter & Gamble, the

maker of Tide, Bounty andmany other consumer prod-ucts, moved up to No. 8from No. 15 a year agothanks to high scores acrossthe ranking’s five dimen-sions of performance. Thecompany has benefited fromconsumer shifts spurred bythe pandemic but also be-gan making changes to itscomplex management struc-ture that had sometimesput brand managers andcountry managers at odds.One of the list’s biggest

gainers in the ranking thisyear was General ElectricCo., which rose 80 spots toNo. 20, bolstered by ahigher innovation score anda slightly better financialscore. GE has struggled foryears with declining profitsand cash flow but recentlycompleted its sale of its bio-technology business for $21billion in cash. Layoffs andcost-cutting have helped GEweather Covid-19’s damageto the commercial airlinesthat buy the jet engines thecompany makes.A GE spokeswoman

pointed to Chief ExecutiveLarry Culp’s comments onthe company’s Oct. 28 earn-ings call: “We’re encouragedby our progress amidst achallenging backdrop.…Wecontinue to deliver for our

Satya Nadella, CEO of top-ranked Microsoft, has pushed to develop the company’s cloud-computingbusiness and has sought to make Microsoft a more vocal corporate citizen.

Customer Top 10The top scores for customer

satisfaction among the

Management Top 250

International Business

Machines Corp. 84.2

Caterpillar Inc. 76.6

Agilent

Technologies Inc. 76.1

Procter & Gamble Co. 75.1


Accenture PLC 73.3

Clorox Co. 72.5

Molson Coors

Beverage Co. 72.3

Ford Motor Co. 71.7

TE Connectivity Ltd. 71.6


Financial Top 10

The top scores for financial

strength among the Manage-

ment Top 250


Apple Inc. 90.3

Amazon.com Inc. 90.1

Alphabet Inc. 84.2

Facebook Inc. 83.8

Philip Morris 80.9

Mastercard Inc. 80.2


Etsy Inc. 78.3

Intel Corp. 78.2


Molson Coors, owner of Millerbeers, placed in the 21.9thoercentile for financial strength.




The Management Top 250 ranking, developed by the DruckerInstitute, measures corporate effectiveness by examining per-formance in five areas: customer satisfaction, employee engage-ment and development, innovation, social responsibility and fi-nancial strength. The ranking is based on an analysis of 33 datainputs provided by 14 third-party sources.

The five areas are weighted nearly equally in calculating ascore that is the basis of the ranking. Not all data inputs areavailable for all companies in the ranking; companies are ex-

cluded from the ranking if fewer than two data inputs are avail-able for any of the five areas.

The Management Top 250 includes the top U.S. companiesfrom a universe of 886 publicly traded companies that wereincluded in a Drucker Institute study. Red flags in the tableindicate a score that is in the bottom 25% for those 886 com-panies.

To be included in the study universe, companies were a partof the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index or the S&P

Composite 1500 Index (or both) and met at least one of thesecriteria: had stock that was a component of the S&P 500 index,had a stock-market capitalization of $10 billion when snapshotswere taken for the Drucker study on June 30, 2020, or had atleast $3 billion in annual revenue as of March 31, 2020.

All data collected by the Drucker Institute was the most cur-rent available as of June 30, 2020.

A detailed explanation of the methodology can be found atWSJ.com/ManagementTop250.

A ranking of U.S. companies by the Drucker Institute

ManagementTop250

+ Rating in this category was greater than five stars. N/A-Not included in 2019 rankings. Score is in the bottom 25% of the 886 companies examined for this ranking

Sources: Drucker Institute, using data from American Customer Satisfaction Index, Burning Glass Technologies, Clarivate Analytics, CSRHub, Glassdoor, HIP Investor, ISS EVA, J.D. Power, Refinitiv Eikon, Prof. Dimitris Papanikolaou of Northwestern University and Prof. Amit Seru of StanfordUniversity, PayScale, Supply Chain Resource Cooperative, Sustainalytics, Thomson Reuters Eikon and wRatings. Note: Alice Korngold, chief executive officer of Korngold Consulting in New York, developed the methodology for a portion of the social responsibility category.

1 Microsoft Corp. 103.0 s 5.4 HHHH HHHHH HHHHH+ HHHHH HHHHH Technology

2 Apple Inc. 96.0 s 3.9 HHHHH HHHH HHHHH+ HHHHH HHHHH Technology

3 Intl BusinessMachines Corp. 95.7 s 14.9 HHHHH HHHH HHHHH+ HHHHH HHHH Technology

4 Amazon.com Inc. 93.9 t 26.3 HHH HHHH HHHHH+ HHH HHHHH Technology

5 Alphabet Inc. 86.4 s 0.9 HHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHHH Technology

6 Cisco Systems Inc. 85.3 s 0.1 HHHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHHH Technology

7 Intel Corp. 84.5 s 5.0 HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHHH Technology

8 Procter &Gamble Co. 83.5 s 7.9 HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHH Consumer Goods

9 Johnson& Johnson 80.5 s 0.6 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHH Health Care

10 HP Inc. 80.2 s 1.3 HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHH Technology

11 Merck& Co. 77.9 s 9.3 HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

12 Facebook Inc. 77.2 t 3.6 H HHHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHH Technology

12 Nvidia Corp. 77.2 s 4.0 HHHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH Technology

14 Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. 74.2 N/A HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHH Real Estate/Construction

15 PepsiCo Inc. 74.1 t 3.2 HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHH Consumer Goods

16 Adobe Inc. 73.9 s 0.4 HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH Technology

17 Accenture PLC 73.6 s 0.1 HHHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH Business/Consumer Services

18 LockheedMartin Corp. 73.5 s 5.2 HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHH Consumer Goods

19 FordMotor Co. 73.1 s 9.1 HHHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HH Technology

20 General Electric Co. 72.6 s 11.7 HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HH Business/Consumer Services

21 Colgate-Palmolive Co. 72.1 s 6.7 HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH Consumer Goods

21 Salesforce.com Inc. 72.1 s 4.6 HHHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHH Technology

23 3MCo. 72.0 t 7.4 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

23 NIKE Inc. 72.0 t 3.0 HHHHH HHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHH Financial Services

23 Oracle Corp. 72.0 s 5.4 HHHHH HHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHH Retail/Wholesale

26 Amgen Inc. 71.5 s 4.9 HHHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

26 S&PGlobal Inc. 71.5 s 6.0 HHHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH Financial Services

26 Target Corp. 71.5 s 10.9 HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHH Retail/Wholesale

29 Edwards Lifesciences Corp. 71.4 s 0.7 HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

30 JPMorgan Chase& Co. 71.1 s 0.8 HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH Financial Services

30 Visa Inc. 71.1 t 1.0 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHHH Financial Services

32 Caterpillar Inc. 70.9 s 6.0 HHHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Industrial Goods

33 Clorox Co. 70.8 s 3.8 HHHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH Consumer Goods

34 Walmart Inc. 70.6 t 5.8 HHHH HH HHHHH HHHH HHHHH Retail/Wholesale

35 Mastercard Inc. 70.5 t 6.1 HHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH Financial Services

36 Automatic Data Processing Inc. 69.8 s 5.1 HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHH Business/Consumer Services

37 Altria Group Inc. 69.3 s 0.9 HHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHH Consumer Goods

38 Honeywell International Inc. 69.2 s 4.9 HHHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Business/Consumer Services

39 Eli Lilly & Co. 69.0 s 4.0 HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

40 Coca-Cola Co. 68.9 s 3.6 HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Consumer Goods

40 Deere & Co. 68.9 s 6.1 HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHH Industrial Goods

40 Dell Technologies Inc. 68.9 s 3.1 HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Technology

43 Kimberly-Clark Corp. 68.6 s 7.4 HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH Consumer Goods

43 Medtronic PLC 68.6 s 3.4 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHH Health Care/Life Sciences

45 VMware Inc. 68.5 t 0.6 HHHHH HHHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Technology

46 AbbVie Inc. 68.4 s 3.2 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

46 GeneralMotors Co. 68.4 s 0.6 HHHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HHH Automotive/Vehicles

48 Intuit Inc. 68.2 t 4.8 HHHH HHHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Technology

49 AdvancedMicro Devices Inc. 68.1 N/A HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH Technology

50 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. 67.8 s 7.9 HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHHH HHH Technology

51 Abbott Laboratories 67.5 s 2.5 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

52 Texas Instruments Inc. 67.4 t 1.6 HHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH Technology

53 Agilent Technologies Inc. 66.8 s 6.0 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHHH HHH Industrial Goods

53 Raytheon Co. 66.8 N/A HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHH Industrial Goods

55 Qualcomm Inc. 66.5 s 7.2 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Technology

56 Etsy Inc. 66.4 N/A HHHHH HHH HHHH HHH HHHHH Retail/Wholesale

57 Whirlpool Corp. 66.3 s 5.8 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Consumer Goods

58 Pfizer Inc. 66.2 t 1.1 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

59 HomeDepot Inc. 66.1 t 2.1 HHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH Retail/Wholesale

60 AT&T Inc. 65.6 t 0.5 HH HHH HHHHH HHHHH HHHHH Telecommunication Services

60 GeneralMills Inc. 65.6 s 1.8 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHH Consumer Goods

62 Allstate Corp. 65.3 t 5.6 HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Financial Services

62 eBay Inc. 65.3 t 0.7 HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Technology

64 Cummins Inc. 65.1 s 3.3 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHH Automotive/Vehicles

64 Hershey Co. 65.1 t 1.6 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHHH HHH Consumer Goods

66 Bank of America Corp. 65.0 t 4.3 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Financial Services

66 Boeing Co. 65.0 t 3.7 HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HH Industrial Goods

66 Rockwell Automation Inc. 65.0 s 4.0 HHHHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Industrial Goods

69 Verizon Communications Inc. 64.9 s 0.6 HH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHHH Telecommunication Services

70 AppliedMaterials Inc. 64.4 s 4.2 HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Technology

70 Eaton Corp. 64.4 s 3.5 HHHHH HHH HHH HHHHH HHHH Business/Consumer Services

72 Intuitive Surgical Inc. 64.3 t 1.1 HHH HHHHH HHHHH HHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

73 Estee Lauder Cos. 64.1 t 0.9 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Consumer Goods

74 CostcoWholesale Corp. 64.0 s 1.6 HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH Retail/Wholesale

CHANGE EMPLOYEEFROM CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT& SOCIAL FINANCIAL

RANK COMPANY SCORE 2019 SATISFACTION DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION RESPONSIBILITY STRENGTH SECTOR



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74 Illumina Inc. 64.0 t 2.3 HHH HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

74 Mettler-Toledo International Inc. 64.0 t 0.6 HHHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHHH Industrial Goods

77 Best Buy Co. 63.9 s 0.9 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH Retail/Wholesale

78 PhilipMorris International Inc. 63.7 t 0.4 H HHH HHHHH HHH HHHHH Consumer Goods

79 Autodesk Inc. 63.6 s 2.3 HHH HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH Technology

79 LamResearch Corp. 63.6 N/A HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Technology

81 American Express Co. 63.3 t 3.7 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH Financial Services

82 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. 63.2 t 2.0 HH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

82 CBREGroup Inc. 63.2 s 3.9 HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Real Estate/Construction

84 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. 63.1 s 3.3 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

85 Molson Coors Beverage Co. 62.9 s 4.6 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HH Consumer Goods

85 NorthropGrummanCorp. 62.9 s 0.6 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHH Industrial Goods

87 Moody's Corp. 62.8 s 5.0 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Financial Services

88 HiltonWorldwideHoldings Inc. 62.7 t 2.9 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Leisure/Arts/Hospitality

88 Johnson Controls International PLC 62.7 s 2.4 HHHH HHH HHHH HHHHH HHH Business/Consumer Services

88 Newmont Corp. 62.7 N/A HHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH BasicMaterials/Resources

91 Linde PLC 62.6 N/A HHHH HHH HHHH HHHHH HHH BasicMaterials/Resources

92 Workday Inc. 62.5 t 0.3 HHHH HHHHH HHH HHHH HH Technology

93 Hormel Foods Corp. 62.4 s 5.3 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Consumer Goods

94 PayPal Holdings Inc. 62.3 s 3.2 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH Financial Services

95 DuPont Co. 62.2 N/A HHHHH HHHH HHHHH HHH HH BasicMaterials/Resources

95 Ecolab Inc. 62.2 s 5.0 HHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HHH Business/Consumer Services

95 Gilead Sciences Inc. 62.2 s 8.8 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH Health Care/Life Sciences

95 Kellogg Co. 62.2 s 4.5 HHH HHH HHHH HHHHH HHH Consumer Goods

99 Biogen Inc. 62.0 0.0 HHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

99 Owens Corning Inc. 62.0 s 6.4 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHHH HH Real Estate/Construction

101 Boston Scientific Corp. 61.9 0.0 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH Health Care/Life Sciences

101 International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. 61.9 s 3.6 HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHH BasicMaterials/Resources

101 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. 61.9 s 2.0 HHHH HHH HHHH HHH HHHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

101 Walt Disney Co. 61.9 t 2.3 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH Media/Entertainment

105 Electronic Arts Inc. 61.5 s 1.5 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Consumer Goods

105 ResMed Inc. 61.5 s 2.5 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

105 TEConnectivity Ltd. 61.5 N/A HHHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Industrial Goods

108 CadenceDesign Systems Inc. 61.4 s 4.7 HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHHHH Technology

108 Motorola Solutions Inc. 61.4 t 0.2 HHH HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH Technology

110 FMCCorp. 61.3 s 5.5 HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH BasicMaterials/Resources

110 United Parcel Service Inc. 61.3 t 9.9 HHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Transportation/Logistics

112 AESCorp. 61.2 s 6.8 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH Utilities

113 LululemonAthletica Inc. 61.1 t 2.4 HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHHHH Retail/Wholesale

114 Hasbro Inc. 61.0 t 0.2 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH Consumer Goods

115 BectonDickinson&Co. 60.9 s 4.0 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH Health Care/Life Sciences

116 Campbell Soup Co. 60.7 s 5.9 HHHH HHH HHH HHHHH HHH Consumer Goods

117 Tiffany& Co. 60.6 s 4.5 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Retail/Wholesale

118 Starbucks Corp. 60.5 t 8.5 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH Leisure/Arts/Hospitality

119 NetApp Inc. 60.4 t 1.4 HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHHH Technology

119 ServiceNow Inc. 60.4 s 2.4 HHHH HHHH HHH HH HHHHH Technology

121 Citigroup Inc. 60.3 t 1.8 HHH HHH HHHH HHHHH HHH Financial Services

121 W.W. Grainger Inc. 60.3 s 2.0 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHHH Retail/Wholesale

123 Morgan Stanley 60.2 t 0.6 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Financial Services

123 PVHCorp. 60.2 s 2.4 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HH Consumer Goods

125 AveryDennison Corp. 60.1 N/A HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHHH BasicMaterials/Resources

125 Brown-Forman Corp. 60.1 t 3.6 HHHH HHHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Consumer Goods

125 McDonald's Corp. 60.1 s 4.6 HHH HH HHHHH HHHH HHHH Leisure/Arts/Hospitality

128 KLACorp. 59.9 N/A HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHHH Technology

129 Keysight Technologies Inc. 59.8 N/A HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Industrial Goods

129 Weyerhaeuser Co. 59.8 t 4.8 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHHH HH Real Estate/Construction

131 Equinix Inc. 59.7 t 0.4 HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH HHH Business/Consumer Services

131 Illinois ToolWorks Inc. 59.7 s 0.3 HHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Industrial Goods

131 T-Mobile US Inc. 59.7 t 1.4 HHH HHHH HHH HHH HHHHH Telecommunication Services

131 VarianMedical Systems Inc. 59.7 s 5.5 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Health Care/Life Sciences

135 NielsenHoldings PLC 59.5 t 0.4 HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH HH Business/Consumer Services

136 Archer DanielsMidland Co. 59.4 s 6.5 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Agriculture

137 Air Products & Chemicals Inc. 59.3 t 0.6 HH HHHH HHHH HHHHH HHHH BasicMaterials/Resources

137 Danaher Corp. 59.3 s 2.1 HHHH HHH HHHHH HHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

137 Metlife Inc. 59.3 s 1.9 HHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH Financial Services

137 VFCorp. 59.3 s 0.3 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Consumer Goods

141 Capital One Financial Corp. 59.2 t 5.8 HHH HHHH HHHHH HHH HH Financial Services

141 Xilinx Inc. 59.2 N/A HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Technology

143 AnalogDevices Inc. 59.1 N/A HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Technology

143 YumBrands Inc. 59.1 s 1.3 HH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Leisure/Arts/Hospitality

145 Juniper Networks Inc. 59.0 s 4.1 HHHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Technology

146 McCormick & Co. 58.9 s 3.2 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Consumer Goods

146 Oshkosh Corp. 58.9 s 0.5 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Automotive/Vehicles

146 WasteManagement Inc. 58.9 s 1.3 HHHH HHH HHH HHHHH HHH Business/Consumer Services

149 Sherwin-Williams Co. 58.8 s 1.6 HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Retail/Wholesale

150 Citrix Systems Inc. 58.7 s 0.6 HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHHH Technology

150 Humana Inc. 58.7 s 2.5 HHHH HHH HHH HHH HHHH Financial Services

150 Marriott International Inc. 58.7 t 9.2 HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHH Leisure/Arts/Hospitality

150 Teradyne Inc. 58.7 N/A HHHH HHHHH HHH HHH HHHHH Industrial Goods

150 Xylem Inc. 58.7 s 2.7 HHHH HHH HHH HHHHH HHH Industrial Goods

155 Garmin Ltd 58.6 s 4.1 HH HHH HHHHH HHH HHHH Technology

156 Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. 58.4 N/A HHHHH HH HHH HHH HHHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

156 Southern Co. 58.4 s 5.6 HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH Utilities

158 BlackRock Inc. 58.3 s 1.4 HH HHHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Financial Services

159 Church&Dwight Co. 58.2 s 6.5 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Consumer Goods

159 Fortinet Inc. 58.2 s 2.8 HHH HHHHH HHH HHH HHHH Technology

159 Mondelez International Inc. 58.2 s 2.1 HHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Consumer Goods

162 Cognizant Tech Solutions Corp. 58.1 s 1.7 HHHH HH HHHH HHHH HHH Business/Consumer Services

162 UnitedHealth Group Inc. 58.1 t 2.9 HH HHH HHH HHHH HHHHH Financial Services






162 Wells Fargo&Co. 58.1 t 1.0 HH HHH HHHH HHHH HHH Financial Services

165 Ball Corp. 58.0 s 3.6 HHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Industrial Goods

165 Emerson Electric Co. 58.0 s 0.3 HHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Industrial Goods

165 Hologic Inc. 58.0 s 9.7 HHHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHH Health Care/Life Sciences

165 Netflix Inc. 58.0 t 2.7 HH HHHHH HHHH HH HHHHH Media/Entertainment

169 Stryker Corp. 57.8 s 0.8 HH HHHH HHHHH HHH HHH Health Care/Life Sciences

170 Baxter International Inc. 57.7 s 2.7 HHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHH Health Care/Life Sciences

170 Exelon Corp. 57.7 t 0.7 HH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Utilities

170 Prologis Inc. 57.7 N/A HHH HHHHH HH HHHH HHH Real Estate/Construction

170 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 57.7 s 5.2 HHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

170 Waters Corp. 57.7 s 4.7 HHHHH HHH HHH HHH HHHH Industrial Goods

175 Celanese Corp. 57.6 s 1.5 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH BasicMaterials/Resources

175 WesternDigital Corp. 57.6 s 8.3 HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH HH Technology

177 Aecom 57.5 s 4.6 HHHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Health Care/Life Sciences

177 ExxonMobil Corp. 57.5 t 13.6 H HHH HHHHH HHHH HHH Energy

177 FedEx Corp. 57.5 t 6.1 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Transportation/Logistics

177 Polaris Inc. 57.5 s 5.9 HHHH HHH HHHH HHH HHH Automotive

177 XeroxHoldings Corp. 57.5 s 9.4 HHHH HH HHH HHHHH HHH Technology

182 Eastman Chemical Co. 57.2 s 1.0 HHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHH BasicMaterials/Resources

182 Seagate Technology PLC 57.2 t 1.3 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Technology

182 Synopsys Inc. 57.2 s 3.9 HHH HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH Technology

185 ConocoPhillips 57.0 t 3.8 HH HHHH HHH HHHHH HHH Energy

185 DexCom Inc. 57.0 s 12.6 HHH HHH HHHH HHH HHHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

185 Lowe's Cos. 57.0 s 3.1 HHHH HH HHH HHHH HHHHH Retail/Wholesale

185 Pitney Bowes Inc. 57.0 N/A HHHHH HHH HHH HHHH HH Business/Consumer Services

189 Ingersoll Rand Inc. 56.9 N/A HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HH Industrial Goods

189 LeidosHoldings Inc. 56.9 t 0.3 HHH HHH HHH HHHHH HHH Business/Consumer Services

189 Progressive Corp. 56.9 t 1.8 HHH HHHH HH HHH HHHHH Financial Services

189 ZoomVideo Communications Inc. 56.9 N/A HHH HHHHH HHH H HHHH Technology

193 Baker Hughes Co. 56.8 s 2.2 HHH HHH HHHH HHHH HH Energy

194 Delta Air Lines Inc. 56.6 t 5.2 HHH HHHHH HHH HHHH HH Transportation/Logistics

194 PaycomSoftware Inc. 56.6 t 3.0 HHHH HHHH HH HH HHHHH Technology

194 Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. 56.6 s 0.4 HHHH HHHH HHH HH HHHHH Consumer Goods

197 GoldmanSachsGroup Inc. 56.5 t 0.7 HHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Financial Services

197 International Paper Co. 56.5 N/A HHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH BasicMaterials/Resources

197 PerkinElmer Inc. 56.5 s 8.6 HHHHH HHH HHH HHH HHH Industrial Services

200 Fortune BrandsHome&Security Inc. 56.4 s 6.4 HHH HHHH HHHH HHH HHH Real Estate/Construction

201 Anthem Inc. 56.3 s 4.7 HH HHH HHH HHHHH HHHH Financial Services

201 CVSHealth Corp. 56.3 s 2.3 HHHH HH HHH HHHH HHHH Health Care/Life Sciences

203 Activision Blizzard Inc. 56.2 s 2.7 HHHHH HHH HHH HHH HHH Consumer Goods

203 Huntsman Corp. 56.2 s 4.6 HHHH HHHH HHHH HHH HH BasicMaterials/Resources

203 J.M. Smucker Co. 56.2 s 3.9 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Consumer Goods

203 Verisk Analytics Inc. 56.2 s 3.1 HHH HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH BasicMaterials/Resources

207 Aptiv PLC 56.1 s 2.6 HHHH HHH HHHH HHHH HHH Automotive/Vehicles

207 DardenRestaurants Inc. 56.1 s 0.1 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Leisure/Arts/Hospitality

207 NXPSemiconductor NV 56.1 N/A HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HH Technology

210 First Solar Inc. 56.0 N/A HHHH HHHH HH HHHH HHH Industrial Goods

211 Ansys Inc. 55.9 s 0.8 HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHH Technology

211 BoozAllenHamiltonHolding Corp. 55.9 s 2.4 HHH HHHH HHH HHH HHHH Business/Consumer Services

211 Cigna Corp. 55.9 s 1.0 HH HHHH HHH HHHHH HHHH Financial Services

211 Dominion Energy Inc. 55.9 s 0.2 HH HHHHH HHH HHHH HHH Utilities

211 Square Inc. 55.9 t 7.8 HHHH HHHH HHH HH HHHH Technology

211 Sysco Corp. 55.9 s 0.9 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Retail/Wholesale

217 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. 55.8 s 0.1 HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HH BasicMaterials/Resources

217 PNCFinancial Services Group Inc. 55.8 s 0.7 HHHH HHH HH HHHH HHH Financial Services

219 Amcor PLC 55.7 N/A HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Industrial Goods

220 Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. 55.6 t 2.2 HH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Financial Services

221 Charles Schwab Corp. 55.5 t 1.3 HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHH Financial Services

221 Eversource Energy 55.5 s 5.5 HH HHHHH HHH HHHH HHH Utilities

221 Maxim Integrated Products Inc. 55.5 N/A HHH HHH HHH HHHH HHHH Technology

224 ONSemiconductor Corp. 55.4 N/A HHH HHH HHH HHHH HH Technology

225 Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. 55.2 s 5.6 HHHHH HHH HHH HHH HHH Consumer Goods

226 TJX Cos. 55.1 t 3.8 HHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Retail/Wholesale

227 Regency Centers Corp. 54.9 N/A HHHH HHHH HHH HHHH HH Real Estate/Construction

228 BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. 54.8 s 7.6 HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHH Health Care/Life Sciences

228 Kroger Co. 54.8 s 2.7 HHHH HH HHH HHHHH HHHH Retail/Wholesale

228 T. RowePrice Group Inc. 54.8 t 4.1 HHH HHH HH HHHH HHHHH Financial Services

228 TaylorMorrisonHomeCorp. 54.8 N/A HHH HHHHH HH HHH HHH Real Estate/Construction

232 Autoliv Inc. 54.7 N/A HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HH Automotive/Vehicles

232 FactSet Research Systems Inc. 54.7 t 5.1 HHH HHH HHH HHH HHHH Media/Entertainment

232 Splunk Inc. 54.7 N/A HHHH HHHHH HHH HHH HH Technology

235 Cardinal Health Inc. 54.6 t 1.6 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Retail/Wholesale

236 Alcoa Corp. 54.5 s 0.5 HHH HHHH HHH HHHH HH BasicMaterials/Resources

236 General Dynamics Corp. 54.5 s 6.5 HHHH HHH HHHH HHH HHH Industrial Goods

236 IronMountain Inc. 54.5 s 5.9 HHHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Real Estate/Construction

236 Uber Technologies Inc. 54.5 N/A HHH HHHH HHHHH HH H Technology

240 Comcast Corp. 54.4 t 2.2 H HHH HHHH HHHH HHHHH Media/Entertainment

240 Robert Half International Inc. 54.4 t 1.1 HHH HHH HHH HHHH HHHH Business/Consumer Services

240 Tractor Supply Co. 54.4 s 2.9 HHHHH HH HH HHH HHHH Retail/Wholesale

240 Trimble Inc. 54.4 N/A HHHH HHH HHH HHH HHH Industrial Goods

244 Gap Inc. 54.2 t 1.2 HHH HHH HHH HHHHH HH Retail/Wholesale

245 BorgWarner Inc. 54.1 s 1.9 HHHH HHH HHH HHH HHH Automotive/Vehicles

246 Consolidated Edison Inc. 54.0 s 0.3 HHH HHHH HHH HHHH HHH Energy

246 Hanesbrands Inc. 54.0 s 0.7 HHHH H HHHH HHHH HHH Consumer Goods

246 Micron Technology Inc. 54.0 t 10.1 HHHH HHH HHHH HHH HHH Technology

246 Sonoco Products Co. 54.0 N/A HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HHH Industrial Goods

250 Ciena Corp. 53.9 s 7.1 HHH HHHH HHH HHH HHHH Technology

250 Levi Strauss & Co. 53.9 N/A HHHH HHHH HHH HHH HH Consumer Goods

250 Masco Corp. 53.9 s 6.2 HHH HHH HHH HHHH HHH Real Estate/Construction




R10 | Monday, December 14, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, December 14, 2020 | R11

Where WorkflowMeets Work Life

How does ServiceNow think about theconcept of digital workflows?

ServiceNow, at its heart, is a digital

workflow platform. We take unstructured

work — be that work done offline, on

spreadsheets or in emails — and we

build digital workflows around it. Using

the power of the Now Platform, we can

workflow any operational challenge, and

we do that by connecting processes

across the enterprise.

That could mean connecting the

front to the middle to the back office for

financial services. It could mean taking

IoT data from sensors and linking it to

customer service and field service. Or in

our current environment, it could mean

looking at how we improve the process

for onboarding employees during the

COVID-19 pandemic.

What’s the relationship betweenworkflows and digital transformationon a broader level?

Workflows are key for digital

transformation. They form the connective

tissue across the modern digital

enterprise — and for us, behind every

great experience is a great workflow.

They can break down silos to provide a

single pane of glass that helps people

see exactly how work is flowing across

an organization. They can automate

mundane tasks so people can focus

on meaningful work. And they can help

organizations surface insights and start

to understand their data.

From your perspective, what are someof the key ways the pandemic hasimpacted the future of work?

The workplace was already leaning

toward a more flexible, distributed

environment. COVID-19 has simply

accelerated the trend. We’ve seen

how companies with digital workflows

in place were better suited to support

remote work. In the past, location

formed your hiring boundaries. That’s no

longer true. With digital onboarding and

management workflows, you can hire

the right person regardless of location.

Once you digitally connect the activities

that run across the company, you get

visibility into the status and progress

of knowledge work. Managers can see

what’s running efficiently and what’s

causing pain points, and employees

can feel confident their work is being

acknowledged. So workflows end up

forming the new boundary of trust.

How has the culture of work shiftedduring the pandemic?

Trust and flexibility are also integral

components of a strong workplace

culture. Employees want to choose when

and where they work, which requires

organizations to trust that work will still

get done — and get done efficiently.

That’s what ServiceNow’s workflow-driven

solutions provide. We give organizations a

formalized way to track and assign work,

including visibility into the status of every

process and who it must go through to

be completed. As a result, we cease to

rely on informal conversations to manage

work, which provides organizations the

assurances they need and employees the

flexibility they want.

You mentioned onboarding earlier. Howare businesses balancing this expansionof the remote workforce with theirapproach to HR operations?

HR works cross-functionally with

nearly every department and team.

And as we learned at the start of the

pandemic, without physical proximity,

working across teams becomes more

TheWall Street Journal newsorganization was not involvedin the creation of this content.Wall Street Journal Custom Contentis a unit ofTheWall Street Journaladvertising department.

Thecoronavirus pandemic

has accelerated the digital

transformation of business.

Companies worldwide have

embraced digital solutions to meet rapidly

shifting employee needs and customer

demands, as well as a host of other

challenges. We sat down with Dave Wright,

chief innovation officer at ServiceNow, to

learn how digital workflows are helping

organizations manage through the

pandemic — including a very famous CEO

with some uniquely seasonal needs.

time-consuming and complex. Dropping

in on a colleague next door to move a

process forward is no longer an option.

A sudden dependence on convoluted,

cross-departmental email threads made

moving to remote onboarding a major

logistical challenge. With digital workflows,

HR can connect to departments across

the organization to coordinate the entire

onboarding process with ease.

What about the customer side? How areexpectations changing around customerexperience, particularly since the earlystages of the pandemic?

Customers expect a digital, connected

experience that extends across contexts

and industries — whether it’s curbside

pickup in retail or fast, connected customer

support in telecom. This was a trend before

the pandemic, but now it’s simply a reality.

Organizations must adapt by beefing up

their digital capabilities. Workflows help by

digitizing and connecting processes while

creating a single system of action that hides

back-end complexity and delivers a simple,

seamless customer experience.

Has the conversation around businessresilience also changed? How hasServiceNow responded with regardto areas like risk management?

Before the pandemic, resilience was often

viewed as a box to be checked or an IT-

focused conversation. It was more about

data center failovers than true business

resiliency. But the sheer scale and length

of the pandemic has forced us to think

more holistically about business resilience.

It’s now a conversation that includes

people, processes and technology, and

it’s centered around truly business-critical

capabilities. With instability, uncertainty

and risk increasing globally, it’s a necessary

shift. ServiceNow has responded with new

operational risk and resilience capabilities

that connect risk management across

domains and lines of business for a

comprehensive look into an organization’s

risk environment and posture.

In all of these contexts, what is the role ofAI and machine learning in helping peoplefocus on more challenging, exciting work?

We view AI and ML as tools to augment

human capabilities, not replace them. For

instance, rather than asking an employee

to triage customer service tickets, we can

now use AI to categorize and route those

tickets to the appropriate individuals. That’s

an important but repetitive job. With AI/ML,

we can free employees to focus on higher-

skill, more value-add activities, like actually

solving the problems those tickets contain.

At its core, this is what AI/ML is about:

automating the mundane so employees

can save their energy for innovative

problem-solving.

Lastly, can you tell us about anyinteresting clients you’ve workedwith during the pandemic?

When the City of Los Angeles needed

to manage COVID-19 testing for 4 million

people, they came to ServiceNow and said,

“Is this something your workflow platform

could support?” The answer was “yes.” In

fact, we managed to stand up a solution

that worked for them within 96 hours. Now

they’ve got the capability to track the entire

city’s test results on a single platform.

Then there’s the NBA. In response to

the pandemic, they decided to complete

the basketball season at a secure campus

in Orlando, Florida. The league needed

to create a safe environment for the

2,600 people — players, doctors, media

and vendors — who needed to get in

and out of their facility. We helped them

workflow the entire process on the Now

Platform. Everything from medical scans to

insurance records were put into workflows

and routed to the appropriate people.

Using ServiceNow workflows, the league

processed 13,000 documents and shared

critical decision-making data with doctors.

The end result? Zero COVID-19 cases.

Learn more about ServiceNow’s partnership

with the NBA in a special advertising feature

in Thursday’s Business & Finance section of

The Wall Street Journal.

Before we close, we heard you’re workingwith one other client that has someparticularly unusual needs. They’re locatedpretty far north, correct?

Yes — that’s been an interesting challenge

as well. We partnered with a company that is

incredibly seasonal. Every year, this company

has to deal with huge growth in its contingent

workforce, which happens over a very short

period of time. They’re also managing

the logistics of being able to deliver to

over 2.2 billion customers in a really short

timeframe, with the most critical service-level

agreements in the world. And they’re in a

very remote location, so we have to consider

the fact they are always going to be mobile.

I’ll also mention that this partnership gave

us the opportunity to work with one of the

world’s most famous CEOs. For now, though,

I’m going to have to leave it at that.

Companies have embraced new operating models in the wake of COVID-19

Get an inside look at how ServiceNow is bringingthe power of workflows to the North Pole at

wonderfulworkflow.com

Special Advertising Feature Special Advertising Feature



© 2020 Dow Jones & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. 6DJ8180

Mike Roman, 3M

Jo Ann Jenkins, AARP

Robert Ford, Abbott

Julie Sweet, Accenture

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Michael J. Wolf, Activate

Seifi Ghasemi, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

Tom Leighton, Akamai Technologies, Inc.

Joel S. Marcus, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.

Simon Freakley, AlixPartners

Ralph Andretta, Alliance Data

Paul Black, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.

Laila Worrell, Altran Americas

Claude LeBlanc, Ambac Financial Group

Nicholas K. Akins, American Electric Power

Paul A. Tufano, AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies

Milind Pant, Amway

Mike Preston, Arkansas Economic Development Commission

Joe Impicciche, Ascension

Alan Colberg, Assurant Inc.

Bernard Mensah, Bank of America

John Fox, Beaumont Health

Bruce Thorn, Big Lots

Jean-Yves Fillion, BNP Paribas USA

David McCormick, Bridgewater Associates, LP

Tim Gokey, Broadridge

Sanjiv Das, Caliber Home Loans

Todd Stevens, California Resources Corporation

Victor Dodig, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Nancy Agee, Carilion Clinic

Andrew E. Law, Caxton Associates

Michael F. Neidorff, Centene Corporation

Margaret E. Franklin, CFA Institute

JoAnna Sohovich, Chamberlain Group

Jeffrey Walker, CIMC Capital

Chuck Robbins, Cisco Systems, Inc.

Robert Willett, Cognex Corporation

Brian Humphries, Cognizant

Cliff Skelton, Conduent

Damon T. Hininger, CoreCivic

Rob Bernshteyn, Coupa Software, Inc.

Jeffrey Marc Solomon, Cowen Inc.

Mark Machin, CPP Investments

Faiza Saeed, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Jay Brown, Crown Castle International Corp.

Paul Perreault, CSL Limited

Bradley H. Feldmann, Cubic Corporation

Larry J. Merlo, CVS Health

Thierry Betbeze, Dassault Falcon Jet Corp.

Harold L. Yoh III, Day & Zimmermann

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Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion Energy

Almar Latour, Dow Jones & Co., Publisher, The Wall Street Journal

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Edmund Murphy III, Empower Retirement

Ashish Masih, Encore Capital Group

Börje Ekholm, Ericsson

Calvin Butler, Exelon Utilities

Bill H. Stoller, Express Employment Professionals

Carmine Di Sibio, EY

Hugh Frater, Fannie Mae

Kevin Mandia, FireEye, Inc.

Jonathan Brossard, Fischer Connectors Holding SA

Michael Silvestro, Flexjet

Jim Lico, Fortive

Steven Gunby, FTI Consulting, Inc.

Cain A. Hayes, Gateway Health

Diane Hoskins, Gensler & Associates

Thomas McInerney, Genworth Financial, Inc.

Sanjeev Gupta, GFG Alliance

Michael E. McKelvy, Gilbane Building Company

Joel Hyatt, Globality

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Amy Schabacker Dufrane, Ed.D., HR Certification Institute

Michael Cropp, Independent Health

Paul Brown, Inspire Brands Inc.

Stephen Spengler, Intelsat

Elie Maalouf, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®)

Marc Harrison, Intermountain Healthcare

Kristalina Georgieva, International Monetary Fund

Michael Connors, ISG

Alex Gorsky, Johnson and Johnson

David Kamenetzky, Kamenetzky Family Office

Alex Liu, Kearney, Inc.

Benjamin A. Breier, Kindred Healthcare, LLC

Sue Kench, King & Wood Mallesons

Gisbert Ruehl, Kloeckner & Co SE

Chris Wacker, Laserfiche

Sanjay Jalona, LTI

Austin Russell, Luminar Technologies

Nick Savasta, Main Gate Capital

Mark Trudeau, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals

Dan Glaser, Marsh & McLennan Companies

David J. Sorbaro, Mavis Discount Tire, Inc.

Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., Mayo Clinic

Ira Coleman, McDermott Will & Emery

Chris Kempczinski, McDonald's

Kevin Sneader, McKinsey & Company

Mark Penn, MDC Partners and Stagwell Group

Leslie Stretch, Medallia

Edward K. Aldag Jr., Medical Properties Trust, Inc.

Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron Technology

Satya Nadella, Microsoft Corporation

Jami McKeon, Morgan Lewis

Nitin Rakesh, Mphasis

Jacob Kam, MTR Corporation Limited

Andrew Clyde, Murphy USA

Heather Bresch, Mylan N.V.

Adena Friedman, Nasdaq

Frank Martire, NCR Corporation

Takashi Niino, NEC Corp.

Adam Johnson, NetJets Inc.

Charles Gottdiener, Neustar, Inc.

Ravi Saligram, Newell Brands

Robert Thomson, News Corp

Rupert Murdoch, News Corp

Lachlan Murdoch, News Corp

Steven J. Corwin, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

Andrew Glincher, Nixon Peabody LLP

Michael J. Dowling, Northwell Health

John E. Schlifske, Northwestern Mutual

Jun Sawada, NTT Corporation

Bob Pryor, NTT Data Services

Jason Goodall, NTT Ltd.

Glen A. Messina, Ocwen Financial Corporation

John Romeo, Oliver Wyman

Mark Barrenechea, OpenText Corporation

John P. Davidson, Options Clearing Corporation

Sandor Csanyi, OTP Bank Nyrt

Alan Trefler, Pegasystems Inc.

Vitor Rocha, Philips North America

Scott W. Wine, Polaris Inc.

Anthony Pratt, Pratt Industries, Inc.

Jennifer A. Prosek, Prosek Partners

Rodney Hochman, Providence St. Joseph Health

Mike Wells, Prudential PLC

Neil Cunningham, Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Ralph Izzo, Public Service Enterprise Group Inc.

Mohammed Bader Al Sada, Qatar Media City

Richard Thornberry, Radian Group Inc.

Gregory J. Hayes, Raytheon Technologies

Dennis E. Abboud, Readerlink, LLC

Laxman Narasimhan, Reckitt Benckiser

Reynolds American, Inc.

Christopher Peel, Rheem Manufacturing Company

Elizabeth Critchley, Ripplewood Advisors

Manoj Menda, RMZ Corp

Afsaneh M. Beschloss, RockCreek

Kathy Bloomgarden, Ph.D., Ruder Finn

Clarke Murphy, Russell Reynolds Associates

Barry Ostrowsky, RWJBarnabas Health

Martin Sorrell, S4 Capital

Cenk Alper, Sabanci Holding AS

Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com

Young Hoon Eom, Samsung Electronics North America

Mark Testoni, SAP NS2

Mitchell Rudin, Savills

Andrew Collins, Sentient Jet

Bill McDermott, ServiceNow

David J. Beveridge, Shearman & Sterling LLP

Guy Halgren, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton

Marc Rey, Shiseido Americas Corporation

Greg Becker, Silicon Valley Bank

Swan Gin Beh, Singapore Economic Development Board

Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony Corporation

Edward Ellison, M.D., Southern CaliforniaPermanente Medical Group

Ronnen Harary, Spin Master

Doug Merritt, Splunk

James M. Loree, Stanley Black & Decker Inc.

Ronald James Kruszewski, Stifel Financial Corp.

Sharb Farjami, Storyful

Margaret M. Keane, Synchrony Financial

Kevin P. Hourican, Sysco

Surya Kant, Tata Consultancy Services

Terrence R. Curtin, TE Connectivity

CP Gurnani, Tech Mahindra Limited

Declan Kelly, Teneo Holdings

Larry Helm, Texas Capital Bank

Michael Chertoff, The Chertoff Group

Deanna Mulligan, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America

Mark T. Smucker, The J.M. Smucker Company

Maruyama Masahiro, The Mainichi Newspapers

Harold L. Paz, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Scott McDonald, The Oliver Wyman Group

Ross Perot Jr., The Perot Companies and Hillwood

Julie Wainwright, The RealReal, Inc.

Peter WT Pisters, M.D., The University of TexasMD Anderson Cancer Center

Johnny Hornby, The&Partnership

Teresa Rasmussen, Thrivent

Christian Lanng, Tradeshift

Jean Savage, Trinity Industries

Jane Jie Sun, Trip.com Group Ltd.

Takashi Sonoda, Uhuru Corporation

Patrik Frisk, Under Armour

Krishna Sudheendra, UST Global

Gregory William Cappelli, Vanta Education

Scott G. Stephenson, Verisk Analytics, Inc.

Ronan Dunne, Verizon Consumer Group

Guru Gowrappan, Verizon Media Group

Patrick Gelsinger, VMware Inc.

Vinod Kumar, Vodafone Business

Maxim Pasik, Watergen

Robert J. Pagano, Watts Water Technologies

Melissa Smith, WEX Inc.

Hugh Verrier, White & Case LLP

Keshav Murugesh, WNS Global Services

Mark Read, WPP plc

Mindy Grossman, WW International

Bradley S. Jacobs, XPO Logistics Inc.

Joey Wat, Yum China Holdings, Inc.

David Gibbs, Yum! Brands

Scott Anderson, Zions Bancorporation

Kristin Peck, Zoetis

Eric S. Yuan, Zoom Video Communications

Membership is by invitation: [email protected] more at CEOCouncil.wsj.com/inquire

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ecutive said. Another complainedthat the tariffs raised his costs,forcing him to revamp his supplychain and move manufacturing jobsout of the U.S.Don’t just disrupt, the executives

concurred. Find a less concussiveapproach to problems, like strate-gizing with allies to pressure Chinato conform.

Third, build consensus. Reachacross party lines, the CEOs urged.Listen to others, walk in their shoesand then make your decision. Inother words, don’t stoke polariza-tion. The CEOs who examined howthe pandemic is affecting economicgrowth shook their heads over thefact that wearing a face mask—thefirst line of defense against gettingor spreading infection—had become

politicized. That struggle makes itharder to reopen their companies.The executives encouraged Mr.

Biden to resist promoting wide-spread lockdowns. Several said theywere able to operate their busi-nesses safely using social-distancingprotocols and masks. The workplaceisn’t the problem, they contended.It’s the home.“We’ve had lines we’ve had to

shut down because someone had afamily gathering,” one chief execu-tive said.Build consensus and then pursue

policy in moderation, the CEOs reit-erated, whether that applies to re-joining the Paris climate accord orcrushing the coronavirus.

And fourth, invest. Investcreatively in core needs of the na-

tion, the CEOs advised. Invest inSTEM education for K through 12schools to boost technical profi-ciency and reduce inequality in theworkplace. Invest in programs thatteach the workforce needed skills,and optimize opportunities for peo-ple of all races and educationalbackgrounds (in fact, create a fed-eral Office of Reskilling). Invest inbasic research to power the nextgeneration of scientific and com-mercial innovation and enterprise.Which gets back to the CEOs’ ad-

monition to build consensus—inthis case, consensus on how to raisethe money for all of that investing.Did someone say corporate tax

hike?—John Bussey, Elena Cherney,

Charles Forelle, Jamie Heller andGerald F. Seib

JOURNAL REPORT

CEO COUNCILWishListFromCEOsAmong the requests for thenew administration:re-engage with allies, lessdisruption, and go slow onreinstituting regulations

What do business leaders want from the incoming administration?Here’s a rundown of their wish list in four key areas: the economy; America’s

role in the world; trade and China policy; and inequalityand inclusion in the workplace and society.

Managing the EconomyEDUCATIONFocus on reskilling workers, both white-collar

and blue-collar. Expand Pell grants. Consider

national curriculums with a business focus.

REGULATIONSDon’t rush to re-regulate businesses,

which can’t afford added costs right now,

and they need certainty. A big change in the

tax code, just three years after the last one,

would be counterproductive.

CORONAVIRUSSupport targeted social-distancing measures, not

broad lockdowns. Some businesses can operate

safely. Let them.

DIVISIONSThe country is divided. Even mask-wearing

has become politicized. Reach out to people

of all political persuasions to talk to them,

not criticize them.

America’s Role in the WorldCHINADefine an agenda for dealing with China that in-

corporates allies more effectively.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONSRe-engage with the world generally and with in-

ternational organizations specifically.

INTERNATIONALISMRestore Americans’ faith in internationalism by

showing it can work for them.

R&DReinvest in research, development and people.

Trade and China PolicyTARIFFSSteer away from applying tariffs as a pre-

ferred tool, and instead use them highly se-

lectively.

CHINADeploy an approach of ‘targeted

reciprocity’ with China.

MULTILATERALISMAlly with other like-minded nations rather

than relying on a largely bilateral approach

WTOThe World Trade Organization needs to be

reformed to help it address the disadvantage

companies have competing against China’s

subsidized state-owned enterprises.

Inequality and Inclusion inthe Workplace and SocietyRESKILLINGCreate incentives for companies to undertake

reskilling programs.

DISABILITIESCreate incentives for companies to employ

people with disabilities.

A NEW FEDERAL OFFICECreate an Office of Reskilling in the

federal government.

STEMInvest in STEM education for

grades K through 12

CEOs’ Adviceto theBidenAdministration

The Wall Street Jour-nal’s CEO Councilmet Dec. 8 during atumultuous time inthe U.S.—a pandemicand economic down-turn, a divisive presi-dential election,trade relations up-ended, and the after-

math of broad public protest over ra-cial and economic inequality.What should be done? The CEOs had

advice for the incoming administrationof President-elect Joe Biden, a partialagenda for the nation through the lensof business.Of the 282 global CEOs attending

the virtual meeting, 116 broke into fourtask-force groups to address key issuesthe country faces. A Journal editormoderated each of the sessions withthe understanding that commentswouldn’t be attributed so debate couldbe candid.The CEOs weren’t shy about want-

ing a fresh approach.

First, they advised the incomingadministration to find productive waysto re-engage with allies and interna-tional organizations. “Don’t pull up thedrawbridges,” said one CEO. Other rec-ommendations: Rejoin the Paris cli-mate accord, revive America’s role inthe Trans-Pacific Partnership tradepact, bolster the U.S. commitment tothe North Atlantic Treaty Organiza-tion, and open the door wider to tal-ented immigrants.The reason? To boost the U.S. econ-

omy in the short run. And, in the lon-ger run, to build alliances needed tostave off the commercial and securitythreat posed by China.One executive said he hoped the na-

tionalist impulse of the past four yearswas a “blip” in the history of U.S. en-gagement internationally in the after-math of World War II. Big border-spanning companies like those in theCEO Council tend to be internationalistby nature. So, in more than one taskforce, CEOs underscored the need toexplain to average Americans the bene-fits of engagement. Better marketingand having real benefits to sell—that’sone way to help blunt nationalism,they said.

Second, a little less disruption,please. Companies, just like stock mar-kets, like consistency and predictabil-ity, not big swings in policy. How elsecan chief executives make long-termplans?The CEOs advised President-elect Bi-

den to go slow on raising corporatetaxes (no surprise there) and on rein-stituting regulations cut by the Trumpadministration. (Mr. Biden is looking atconsumer finance and energy.) Busi-ness knows the policy landscape will bechanging under a new president, butthe CEOs asked for moderation and along-range plan.“We can’t afford regulatory uncer-

tainty,” one executive said. “We needpolicy we can count on for a decade tocome.” Similarly, a big shift in tax policythree years after the last big shift cre-ates more uncertainty and could in-crease costs—something that companiescan’t afford in the middle of a pan-demic, the executives contended.Add tariffs to that list of disruptions.

The Trump administration used tariffsto try to force China to open its market,abide by global trade conventions andstop stealing U.S. technology. The strat-egy had limited effect. But the back-wash for U.S. companies was notable.“Tariffs create disruption,” one ex-



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When it takes office in January,the Biden administration will con-

front both immediate challenges

to national security and broader

shifts in business and global af-

fairs. Matt Murray, editor in chief

of The Wall Street Journal, dis-

cussed those challenges and the incoming adminis-

tration’s approach with Jake Sullivan, national-secu-

rity adviser to President-elect Joe Biden. Here are

edited excerpts of their conversation.

WSJ: As you andyour colleagues in

national security un-

dertake your new

jobs, what are the realities shaping what you can

do and how you should go about thinking about na-

tional security?

MR. SULLIVAN: There are significant changes thathave been unfolding over the course of several

years. And this is not just about

President Trump. This is about un-

derlying currents in the interna-

tional system.

Three changes in particular stand

out. The first is a change in the dis-

tribution of power among states,

with a number of rising actors in the

world, including the rise of China.

The second is the increasing salience

of nonstate actors of all kinds, from

the private sector to diverse trans-

national networks working on a wide

range of different issues to terrorist

and extremist organizations that

span territory and cross borders.

The third is a crisis of governance

within states in many parts of the

world. And that crisis takes the form

both of fragility of states but also

crisis in democracy, where you see a

hollowing out in the trust in institu-

tions across many parts of the

West.

And so if you think about those

three big changes, what we con-

front is a world that very much re-

quires a kind of new way of think-

ing about how we approach the

partnerships we form, how we revi-

talize the alliances that have been

weakened over the course of the

last few years, and how we set our

priorities as to what the true

threats and challenges are facing

the American people. And while all

that’s happening out in the world,

the American people have increas-

ingly come to expect that their gov-

ernments show them how every-

thing that happens, both domestic

and foreign, relates back to their

welfare and well-being. That very

much has to be at the center of

U.S. foreign policy going forward.

WSJ: The Trump team has put

China right at the center of na-

tional security. Relations have really

chilled between the two countries.

And I think it’s fair to say that’s

broad-based and really bipartisan.

What did they get right and what

did they miss? And how are you

thinking about the China relation-

ship going forward?

MR. SULLIVAN: The current admin-istration is certainly right that

China represents a significant chal-

lenge that the United States is go-

ing to have to contend with in a

clear-eyed and forceful way.

But the core thing they missed is

what are the real sources of Ameri-

can strength in the competition with

China as we move forward? And I

really see four of them, which I don’t

think have been tended to as well

as they should have.

The first is our domestic

strength. It’s investing in the talent

of our people, in our innovation and

industrial base, in our workforce

and our education and our infra-

structure.

The second is our alliances. We

are stronger when we are working

together with democratic allies in

Asia, Europe and elsewhere to de-

velop a common agenda when it

comes to pushing back against

China’s abuses in the trade space,

in the technology space and in

other ways.

The third is America’s participa-

tion and leadership in international

institutions.

When we walk away from the

table at the WHO or the Paris Cli-

mate Accord, or other agreements

and institutions, China tends to fill

the vacuum, and steer those organ-

izations in ways that are not in keep-

ing with America’s national interests.

And then the final is our values. That

we stand up and speak with a clarion

voice on behalf of our view about hu-

man dignity, human rights, democ-

racy.

WSJ: When you look at the interna-tional institutions in the world, how

much reform do they need? Are they

reformable? Are some of them be-

yond repair? Or do we need new in-

stitutions for the world that we’re in

now?

MR. SULLIVAN: Certainly the major

institutions—particularly the ones

that have been around awhile—are

very much in need of reform. I think

it’s our view that that reform is best

carried out with the United States at

the table, as opposed to picking up

our ball and going home.

WSJ: What about trade deals? Bothcandidates in 2016 ended up oppos-

ing the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In

hindsight would it have been better

for us to have joined even a flawed

or imperfect TPP? Or is there a dif-

ferent multilateral trade pact that is

possible ahead of us?

MR. SULLIVAN: What President-elect Biden has said is that the first

order of business for us is actually to

invest here at home—in our workers,

in our strength. Then to step out and

engage on setting the rules and stan-

dards going forward. I think part of

that has to do with reforming the

WTO.

Then part of it has to do with ac-

tually working with like-minded allies

and partners on a strategy that is

particularly focused on pushing back

on China’s abuses—on state-owned

enterprise subsidies, on intellectual-

property theft, on dumping and on

other steps that they’re taking.

A NewAgenda forNationalSecurityJake Sullivan, adviser toPresident-elect Biden, says theU.S. has to rethink its approach

Canada’s Fiscal Approach to Covid-19

“[Our government spending] is notadding structural deficits to our

economy. This is holding things to-

gether while this pandemic hits.

“There was a concern in the be-

ginning that this might last three,

four years. Yes, there will be impacts

that will last three, four years. But

with vaccines coming very rapidly on

the horizon, we are hopeful that our

economy is going to get back to nor-

mal, although it will take a few years

to get back to pre-pandemic levels.

“We are confident that the growth

we have protected for when we

come through this pandemic is going

to more than offset any debt financ-

ing costs associated with what we

injected into the economy.”

—Justin Trudeau, prime minister ofCanada, edited excerpt from the

WSJ CEO Council summit

‘We are strongerwhenwe areworkingtogetherwith democratic allies.’

Carrie Lam, chief executive ofHong Kong, on the territory’s

new national-security law:

WSJ: In just thepast six months, we’ve seen

Beijing impose a national-secu-

rity law without debate or any

prospect of judicial review. You

yourself have suspended legisla-

tive elections when it appeared

the government was going to

lose those.

We’ve had news rooms

raided, reporters arrested. There

have been teachers who have

been fired for not being patri-

otic enough. I believe your own

administration is still reviewing

books written by opposition

figures to see if it’s suitable to

keep them in libraries.

And just last week, we had

four leading members of the

opposition arrested. So I know

there are specific circum-

stances around all of these.

But taken as a totality, how

can anyone not conclude that

something fundamental has

changed in Hong Kong?

MS. LAM: Well, taken as a to-tality, it’s basically still the rule

of law. I would take issue with

you when you refer to a law

being imposed by the central

people’s government on Hong

Kong. If I may go back to One

Country, Two Systems—One

Country, Two Systems sits on

one country.

We are part of the People’s

Republic of China. So I don’t

think any country will tolerate

any secession, treason or at-

tempts to overrule the gov-

ernment.

After 23 years, successive

governments, including my

government, have not been

able to enact local legislation

to protect national security.

So I pose you this question:

How long could a country tol-

erate that part of the territory

is not protected by national-se-

curity legislation? It’s unbeliev-

able. Especially after what we

have seen since June last year,

that there were a lot of riots,

anti-government, anti-mainland,

and various subversive acts,

particularly on social media, rad-

icalization and so on, that the

central people’s government has

no option but to

use its powers un-

der One Country,

Two Systems.

And to require

or expect the Na-

tional People’s

Congress Standing

Committee, which

is the highest

state power, to en-

act a piece of na-

tional legislation

on national secu-

rity, and have it

applied in Hong

Kong.

Carrie Lam: China and Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s chiefexecutive defendsChina’s actions

‘How long could a countrytolerate that part of theterritory is not protected bynational-security legislation?It’s unbelievable.’

‘We are hopeful that oureconomy is going to get

back to normal, althoughit will take a few years

to get back topre-pandemic levels.’

JOURNAL REPORT | CEO COUNCIL



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Rep. Cedric Rich-mond (D., La.), for-

mer co-chairman of

the Biden presiden-

tial campaign, spoke

at the CEO Council

summit last week

about President-elect Joe Bi-

den’s immediate plans for when

he takes office in January.

Mr. Richmond, appointed di-

rector of the Office of Public

Engagement in the Biden ad-

ministration, spoke with Wall

Street Journal Executive Wash-

ington Editor Gerald F. Seib

about the new administration’s

agenda and what his own role

will be in making it successful,

on issues from the pandemic

and the economy to taxes and

racial justice. Edited excerpts

follow.

WSJ: Joe Biden ran as a moder-ate Democrat. But there are stillconcerns in the business com-munity, worries about highercorporate taxes or capital-gainstaxes, more regulation, maybetoo much influence by yourparty’s left wing. What wouldyou say to business leaders to

reassure them on thosefronts?

MR. RICHMOND: Well, I’m not

necessarily sure that I’m here

to reassure them, but part of

what I can do is just be as

candid and frank as I can. If

you’re asking me, do I think

Joe Biden’s plan is to raise the

corporate tax rates, the an-

swer is yes, because I believe

that’s what he said on the

campaign trail.

The real question is how

high and what the investment

will do.

But I think that he has done

a good job of staying in the

middle as a moderate, and

running a campaign that oth-

ers said was a campaign you

couldn’t win, saying that he

would work with Republicans

and Democrats, and that he

would govern in a pragmatic

way.

So I think for the business

community, that should be re-

assuring.

The other thing I think is im-

portant for business, and you all

know better than me, is stability

and predictability and knowing

the rules by which you’re going

to play.

WSJ: I recognize there’s a lotof uncertainty still on the hori-zon, but what do you think thefirst 100 days of a Biden ad-ministration are going to looklike?

MR. RICHMOND: You havePlan A if we win both seats in

Georgia. You have Plan B if we

don’t win both seats in Geor-

gia.

But I think from Day One, you

will see executive actions that

are designed to bring us back to

some sense of normalcy.

You’ll see executive orders in

the climate arena, rejoining the

Paris climate accord.

You’ll see executive actions in

racial equity, restoring diversity,

inclusion pattern and practice in-

vestigations, consent decrees. You

will see it in terms of economic

areas. But make no mistake about

it, our No. 1 job is to get this coun-

try out of this pandemic and the

crisis that has resulted from it—

both the public-health crisis and

the economic crisis that has fol-

lowed.

WSJ: Even if Congress passes,in this lame-duck session, a cor-onavirus stimulus/relief bill, youthink there’s probably going tobe a need to come back formore in 2021.

MR. RICHMOND: Absolutely.And whether it’s investing in

the charging stations for elec-

tric vehicles, whether it’s roads

and bridges, water systems, ret-

rofitting schools for the pan-

demic, we believe that we’re go-

ing to have to come with a new

package in January that jump

starts and invests in the econ-

omy also.

WSJ: How do you anticipatehearing from CEOs and beingheard by them?

MR. RICHMOND: For me, no-body’s going to persuade me

that—somehow, someway—

CEOs in this country are bad

people. CEOs are creating jobs.

They are supporting families.

They deserve a seat at the ta-

ble, and they will have a seat at

the table.

Cedric Richmond saysthe question is howhigh and what will theydo with the money

CEOs ‘deserve aseat at the table,and they willhave a seat atthe table.’

“It remains to be seenwhether [President Trump] is

going to have the kind of

stranglehold that he’s had.

First, with President Trump

about to go out of office, you

will have the Congressional

leadership in the Republican

Party somewhat unleashed.

“Many of them who worry

about being primaried may try

to carry the Trumpist line on

certain issues. But I’m hopeful

that this country has always

been basically a centrist coun-

try. We go center left, we go

center right. But we have al-

ways been a centrist nation.

“And Trumpism really was

not. Trumpism was a kind of

weird populism that was also

xenophobic, it was welcoming

of racist points of view. I don’t

think that is the future of the

Republican Party, at least not

as a majority party. Because I

think demographics, for one

thing, are

working against

that notion. So I’m a little more

hopeful. I haven’t given up my

Republican registration yet.

“I’ll wait a while longer. Give

them a chance to be able to

right themselves.”

—Linda Chavez, former WhiteHouse director of public liaison

(1985), edited excerpt from

the WSJ CEO Council summit

Republicans After Trump?

Linda Chavez argueshis views aren’t thefuture of the party


Cedric Richmond will head the Office of Public Engagement.

Biden’s Plan onCorporate Taxes

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and the baby food. So it’s

like when’s the last time

there was some good

candy? What’s the forc-

ing function for a new

candy bar? I haven’t seen

one in ages.

WSJ: We had a couple ofpeople last night at this

event who are joining the

Biden administration, a

couple of the president-

elect’s senior advisers.

And clearly, one of the

things heavily on their

mind is sort of a new na-

tional industrial policy,

for wont of a better

term. They talked about

spending a lot more on

research and develop-

ment, and fostering inno-

vation; big government

spending, basically.

Is that kind of national

industrial policy a good

idea? Is that a good use

of government right now,

in your mind? And if it is,

where would you focus

that kind of effort?

MR. MUSK: It’s govern-ment’s responsibility to

establish the rules of the

game and then ensure

that those rules are

properly enforced, sort of

like the referees on the field.

I think that’s an important

role for government; to ensure

that the rules are correct and

that the incentives are what we

actually want them to be for

the long-term maximum happi-

ness of people into the future.

Where I think government

does not do a great job is when

they want to not just be a ref-

eree on the field, they want to

be a player on the field.

WSJ: In the corporate suite inAmerica, are companies in gen-

eral fostering and developing

innovation? And are the leaders

in corporate America prioritiz-

ing innovation as much as we

might or need to right now?

MR. MUSK: No. Generally, myrecommendation would really

be spend less time on finance,

spend less time in conference

rooms, less time on PowerPoint,

and more time just trying to

make your product as amazing

as possible. And the company

might take their cue from that.

How can the U.S.remain a global

leader in innova-

tion amid increas-

ing competition?

How can CEOs in-

spire innovation in

their companies? Elon Musk,

co-founder of Tesla and founder

of SpaceX, discussed these is-

sues with Matt Murray, editor

in chief of The

Wall Street Journal, at the

Journal’s CEO Council summit.

Edited excerpts of their conver-

sation follow.

WSJ: You’ve spoken often inyour career about how impor-

tant it was for you, as a young

entrepreneur and innovator, to

come to America. And you’ve

said there’s no other country

where you could have

achieved what you’ve achieved

today. Would that still apply in

2020? And are we, broadly as

a society, doing everything we

should be doing to foster that

same environment that

brought you here?

MR. MUSK: The U.S. is stillgreat with respect to innova-

tion and fostering entrepre-

neurship. We don’t want to be

complacent, and we want to

say, “OK, how can we make it

better over time?” And we

want to be cautious about the

gradual creep of regulations

and bureaucracy.

WSJ: When you think throughan innovation lens in the

broadest sense, what’s the

right role for government?

Where should government be

a player, and where should it

be hands-off?

MR. MUSK: A lot of the time,the best thing that govern-

ment can do is just get out of

the way. Then after that

would be ensuring that there

are not artificial monopolies,

that there is a fertile ground

for startups.

If you’ve got a duopoly or

oligopoly, they’re generally go-

ing to have a weak response

to their customer. And if

they’re a monopoly, they’re go-

ing to have the weakest re-

sponse to the customer.

WSJ: Is that what you see inSilicon Valley today?

MR. MUSK: This is not a Sili-con Valley problem, it’s just a

general problem. If you look

at, say, how many candy com-

panies are there? Big candy

has consolidated into three

companies or something. And

they also own all the dog food

The entrepreneur’s primary piece of advice:Get out of the conference room

Arne Sorenson, chief execu-tive officer of Marriott Inter-

national Inc., and Julie Sweet,

CEO of Accenture, talked

about business leadership in

a time of social upheaval and

economic disruption at the

CEO Council summit with

The Wall Street Journal’s

Nikki Waller.Edited excerpts follow.

WSJ: This year has shown ushow consequential leadership

can be. The fragmented re-

sponse during the pandemic

has hurt businesses. Julie,

what has been the biggest

wake-up call for you this

year?

MS. SWEET: A wake-up callfor all of us is the intercon-

nection globally. We all rec-

ognize how interconnected

we are. Also the need for col-

laboration. If you solve the

pandemic and the issues

around it, it has taken gov-

ernment, nonprofits, educa-

tion and the private sector

coming together.

WSJ: As board members of

the Business Roundtable,

you’ve advanced the idea of

companies pursuing returns

that extend beyond share-

holder value. And certainly

that idea has been tested

this year.

If you’re pursuing a stake-

holder agenda and don’t

meet earnings expectations,

do you still get in trouble?

MR. SORENSON: It is crystalclear to companies that have

been around a long time that

it is in our selfish and pecuni-

ary interests to be good com-

munity citizens. Because it’s

good for our brand. It’s good

for motivating our people. It’s

good for creating economic

opportunity, which also en-

hances our customers and

causes them to be that much

more loyal to us.

WSJ: What are employeesdemanding leadership on?

MS. SWEET: One out of ev-ery two workers roughly, ac-

cording to our latest re-

search, want to work at

companies that are taking

more of a role in helping

solve social and environmen-

tal issues.

WSJ: Is there something youthink CEOs shouldn’t be

weighing in on?

MR. SORENSON: There arelimits. To some extent, it is

maybe just asking yourself,

“Does anybody care what I

think about that issue?” Prin-

cipally, the community that

forces us to speak is our own

community of people. We

have about 750,000 people

that wear our name badge

every day around the world.

They have a loyalty to the

company. They want to know

what the company’s point of

view is about things.

So we will speak about in-

clusiveness. We will speak

about immigration.

WSJ: How do you adopt a ra-

cial-equality agenda at a time

when, in some cases, the

business is fighting for sur-

vival?

MR. SORENSON: It has gotto be embedded in your busi-

ness. It is fundamentally

about making sure that we

are inclusive and that every-

body gets a fair opportunity.

And obviously the explicit

bias is relatively easy to pro-

hibit and ban. The implicit

bias is harder. But it is there.

And we’ve got to make

sure that we are using the

tools that we have to

stamp it out.

And you do that in

different ways at dif-

ferent layers of the

organization.

WSJ: Accenture’sgrowing. But you do

regularly trim the

ranks. How do you

take all this into ac-

count?

MS. SWEET: Wehave a complete

commitment to

equality. But we also

believe that diversity

is why we’re really

successful.

Two CEOs on whatthey’ve learned

WhatVoters Sawin Trump

“It was obvious to me in 2016that Donald Trump had repudi-

ated some of the conventional

wisdom or orthodoxy in our party

that had grown pretty stale—like

an open-borders, amnesty, mass-

migration approach to immigra-

tion.

“I don’t see us going back to

being a party that supports that

kind of approach, opposed to con-

trolling immigration the way we

have for four years that has led

to some of the fastest wage

gains for working-class voters.

“When it comes to trade and

specifically trade with China, too

many leaders in both parties for

too long had supported anything

you might slap the name free

trade on. They heard in Donald

Trump someone who recognized

that when you’re talking about

trade between nations, there is

nothing that is natural about free

trade. These are highly complex

agreements, and oftentimes there

are winners and losers. And low

and behold, it seemed like for 25

or 30 years the people who were

winning were always the ones

who were negotiating, not the

ones who were working in facto-

ries in places like Arkansas, or

Michigan, or Ohio.”

—Tom Cotton, U.S. Senator (R.,Ark.), edited excerpt from the

WSJ CEO Council summit

Elon Musksays the gov-ernment needsto ensurethere is fertileground forstartups.

Lessons inLeadership

Accenture’s Julie Sweet, left, and Marriott’s Arne Sorenson


‘A lot of the time, the best thingthat government can do isjust get out of theway.’

Elon Musk onFostering Innovation



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What does the increasingly strainedrelationship between the U.S. and

China mean for American business

leaders? Matt Murray, The Wall

Street Journal’s editor in chief, asked

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

about that at the CEO Council sum-

mit. Edited excerpts follow.

WSJ: The U.S.-China relationship hasgrown a bit chillier in the last few

years for many reasons. How do you

assess the relationship now?

MR. POMPEO: In the end, the deci-

sion about the relationship between

our two countries is largely going to

hinge on the direction of travel of

General Secretary Xi Jinping and the

leadership of the Chinese Communist

Party. In these past years they have

chosen a direction of travel that has

been increasingly aggressive.

Whether that’s at home with

their own people and what’s happen-

ing in Xinjiang, or whether it’s

abroad in the South China Sea, or is-

sues of trade, economics, there is a

different China than 10 or 15 or 20

years ago because of decisions the

Chinese Communist Party has made.

And that forced the U.S. to take real

action, serious action.

WSJ: What should the role of U.S.multinational corporations be at this

moment?

MR. POMPEO: It can’t be the casethat whether it’s at the World Trade

Organization or elsewhere, that

there is one set of rules for just

about every nation and then another

set for China.

Business leaders ought to be ac-

tively engaged in making sure that

the rules apply equally, whether that’s

investment rules applying reciprocally

between foreign direct investment

here in the U.S. and American compa-

nies that want to invest in China, or

whether it’s the massive human-

rights violations taking place in China.

I’ve watched our businesses. They

care deeply about their employees.

They care deeply about their cus-

tomers. They want to make sure

that they aren’t doing anything to

harm them. I think every business

leader who is operating internation-

ally understands that it is important

to make sure: a) that you aren’t con-

tributing to massive human-rights

violations; and b) that you are oper-

ating in a way that, even if it has a

short-term cost to your own busi-

ness, fundamentally works toward

making sure that the opportunities

for freedom-loving nations, for rules-

abiding nations, continue to exist,

and that you aren’t helping to under-

write authoritarian regimes that

want to take away the very free-

doms that have led you and your

company to be successful.

I can’t tell you how many CEOs

have come into my office and qui-

etly, because they do business there,

told me that the Chinese Communist

Party is stealing from them..

Secretary of StatePompeo says rules mustapply equally

What the U.S.Should DoAbout China

Anthony Fauci says he thinkseveryone in the U.S. who is will-

ing to be vaccinated could be by

early summer. There are, of

course, hurdles, the U.S. govern-

ment’s top infectious-disease

expert told Wall Street Journal

reporter Jonathan D. Rockoff at the CEO

Council summit. Edited excerpts follow.

WSJ: As we wait for vaccinations to begin,what do we need more of, or what should we

do differently, to protect against Covid-19?

DR. FAUCI: We have to have a uniformity of

purpose. We know clearly

that uniform wearing of

masks, physical distancing,

avoiding of crowds—particu-

larly indoors—washing hands

frequently, all seem simple in

the backdrop of the enormity

of the problem we’re facing.

But when you compare

comparable situations in

which one state, city, town,

or even country imple-

mented these measures,

they were able to either pre-

vent surges or turn around

the dynamics.

And yet, we don’t do that

uniformly. It’s extraordinarily

frustrating. We have not yet

seen the full effect of the

[Thanksgiving] traveling and

congregating. And then we’re

going to enter the Christmas

season with more traveling

and congregating at family

and social gatherings.

So we’re in for a very

challenging period.

And the only way we’re

going to counter that is by a

consistent, uniform implemen-

tation and an adherence to

public-health measures.

Trouble is, you go to differ-

ent parts of the country and

even when the outbreak is

clear and hospitals are on the

verge of being overrun, there

are a substantial proportion of

the people who still think that

this is not real, that it’s fake

news or that it’s a hoax. It’s

extraordinary. I’ve never really

seen anything like this. We’ve

got to overcome that and pull

together as a nation uniformly

with adhering to these public-

health measures.

WSJ: Does Washington needto insist on masking, distanc-

ing and testing, and provide

more resources?

DR. FAUCI: We definitelyneed to provide resources.

We know now that in

schools, the rate of infection

is less than what we would

have predicted. And the chil-

dren seem to be doing well.

But we’ve got to provide the

resources to teachers and

local communities to be able

to address contingencies

with regard to protecting

the health and welfare of

the children and the teach-

ers.

WSJ: When can CEOs ex-pect their employees to have

been vaccinated?

DR. FAUCI: The only prioriti-zation established and offi-

cially made public is priority

1A: health-care providers and

those in nursing homes and

extended-care facilities. After

that, you will likely see peo-

ple with critical jobs in soci-

ety, teachers, elderly, people

with underlying conditions.

You get to the general popu-

lation, people who are young,

relatively young, healthy and

have no underlying condi-

tions, likely by the end of

March, beginning of April.

If we’re efficient in that

and, this is the critical issue,

if we can convince the over-

whelming majority of the

U.S. population to take the

vaccine, when we get

through April, May, and June,

we could likely get most ev-

erybody and anybody who

can get vaccinated to be

vaccinated.

Fauci on Vaccination Timing

The government’s top infectious-disease expert on the need for a‘uniformity of purpose’

�Anthony Fauci says ‘asubstantial proportion’ ofpeople still think that thepandemic is not real.

‘In schools, the rate ofinfection is less than whatwe would have predicted.’

‘Business leaders oughtto be actively engagedinmaking sure that therules apply equally.’




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Gita Gopinath is the In-ternational Monetary

Fund’s chief economist.

With the pandemic heating

up, The Wall Street Jour-

nal’s Greg Ip asked her

about the outlook for the

world economy for the near

term and further out. Here

are edited excerpts:

WSJ: In the last IMF fore-cast, you projected 4.4%

contraction in the global

economy this year, then a

bounce back of 5.2% next

year. Has that changed?

MS. GOPINATH: Since ourOctober projections, we’re

seeing third-quarter GDP

surprises on the upside for

many countries. But we’ve

also seen the very strong

second wave [of infec-

tions], along with partial

lockdowns. So we likely will

have downgrades for some

countries—we already have

one for the U.K.—and the

rest, including the U.S., are

likely to have an upgrade

for 2020.

So basically, the fourth

quarter of this year and the

first quarter of next year

will come in somewhat

weaker than many ex-

pected. But none of this is

as bad as what it was in

the spring. Overall, I think

the world economy is re-

covering.

WSJ: We hear about a K-shaped recovery, with

people who are highly

paid and well-skilled doing

much better than those

who aren’t. Is the same

true of advanced vs.

emerging markets?

MS. GOPINATH: Indeed.In terms of the challenge

for 2021, I

think it’s precisely this K

shape of the recovery. On

average, economies have

a lot of momentum, and

you should see them com-

ing back. But the distribu-

tion within and across

countries will take longer

to resolve.

We are seeing low-

skilled workers, young

workers, women being

much harder hit. Similarly, if

you look across countries,

there’s a divergence in

prospects. Per capita in-

comes in emerging and de-

veloping economies, exclud-

ing China, are being hit

much harder than in ad-

vanced economies.

We also know that vac-

cination is going to happen

at a much slower pace in

many emerging and devel-

oping economies compared

with advanced economies.

So a K-shaped recovery is

the big challenge of 2021.

A K-Shaped RecoveryThe IMF’s chiefeconomist offersher forecast

In the remaining months ofthe Trump administration, Deb-

orah Birx, White House corona-

virus-response coordinator, has

crisscrossed the U.S. getting the

message out that masks and

social distancing do help pre-

vent spread of coronavirus. Dr. Birx

spoke last week at the CEO Council

summit with The Wall Street Jour-

nal’s Stefanie Ilgenfritz.

Edited excerpts follow.

WSJ: What is the Trump adminis-tration planning to help curb the

current surge in these crucial next

weeks?

DR. BIRX: We know masks work,

physical distancing works. But if

we don’t change how we gather,

we’ll continue to have this surge

across the country.

People really need to under-

stand how much asymptomatic

spread there is, and that the ma-

jority of spread is from people

who don’t know they’re infected

being with others in close quar-

ters with their mask off. That’s

where transmission is occurring.

WSJ: Are we trying to improvetesting availability?

DR. BIRX: We’ve sent out, I think,90 million antigen tests, asking

state governors and mayors to

use those tests in a new way.

To create new scenarios for

testing so that people can get

results immediately.

WSJ: You find the rapid antigentests, which have that trade-off of

speed versus accuracy, to be a le-

gitimate way to increase access

to testing?

DR. BIRX: Absolutely. It will be inthe high 80s, high 90s for what

we call sensitivity and specificity.

WSJ: Why do you wear a maskindoors when you are away from

your home?

DR. BIRX: I wear a mask anytimeI’m outside of my household. And

I think this is critically important.

Understanding that anytime you

take that mask off, that you could

be transmitting the virus to oth-

ers, or you could be getting the

virus, is very critical.

This asymptomatic spread is

the majority of spread. Sick peo-

ple by and large go to bed. So

they may only spread for a couple

of days.

When you’re asymptomatic,

you’re spreading for at least

seven, eight, nine, 10 days, in pub-

lic, in private, not knowing.

WSJ: Some suggestions—masks,social distancing—that you’ve

been sending out have not been

echoed perfectly by other mem-

bers of the current administration.

How do you address the confu-

sion that the public feels about

this? Especially people who don’t

believe that masks work.

DR. BIRX: Let’s be very clear. Vac-cines are coming soon.

But it will take a while to vac-

cinate people in the U.S., and

[meanwhile] we know that the

only prevention we have is behav-

ioral change.

So, messages need to be criti-

cally consistent. I think we have

to be much more aggressive

about addressing the myths that

are out there.

Masks do not hurt you, they

help you. We know that they pro-

tect us as well as protect others.

Dr. BirxOn theSurgeThe White Housecoordinator says theasymptomatic spreadmeans people mustkeep wearing masks

‘We have to bemuch moreaggressive aboutaddressing themyths.’

Deborah Birx, right, says ‘Masks do not hurt you, they help you.’

‘On average,economies havea lot ofmomentum.’


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Pfizer Begins Mass Shipping Of Vaccines - JosePauloEcon