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The Wall Street Journal Europe April 4 2017 PDF
The Wall Street Journal Europe April 4 2017 PDF
World-Wide
the auto industry is undergo-
0 *Based on prices during early Monday trading
of electric cars, while rela- Iraq’s Travel
ing a seismic shift. tively modest, have skyrock-
Tesla Inc., the upstart Sili-
con Valley electric-car maker
2010 ’11
Source: FactSet
’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
eted in a period when low gas-
oline prices have sunk demand
Ban Reprieve
Senate Democrats have run by Mr. Musk, has over- for other electric vehicles. On
enough votes to mount a taken Ford Motor Co., the au- midday, above the Michigan $298.52 at 4 p.m. Sunday, the company said its Why Trump went against
filibuster that would block tomotive pioneer that is ex- company’s $45 billion, accord- The latest gains at Tesla global sales rose 69% in the his instincts and grudgingly
consideration of Trump’s actly 100 years older, as the ing to FactSet. The next mile- were achieved as the broader first quarter, putting the car agreed to remove it from a
Supreme Court nomi- second-largest U.S. auto maker stone for the California auto auto industry delivered disap- Please see TESLA page A2 list of restricted countries
nee, setting up a fight over by stock-market value. maker is General Motors Co., pointing March sales results,
the chamber’s rules. A1 Tesla’s market capitaliza- valued at roughly $51 billion. reinforcing widespread inves- Safer, high-tech cars cost A6
tion stood at $47.49 billion at Shares in Tesla rose 7.3 to tor concern that the profitable more to insure........................... B1
A blast tore through a
subway train in the Rus-
sian city of St. Petersburg,
killing 10 people and injur-
ing dozens more. A3
Trump adviser Kushner
SEEKING MONEY WITHOUT INTERFERENCE
made a surprise visit to
Baghdad to receive mili-
tary briefings on the fight A shift to watered-down voting power at tech firms hurts shareholder democracy and leaves investors vulnerable, some say
against Islamic State. A3
BY MAUREEN FARRELL investors got one vote for every 10 About 15% of the tech companies 10 votes per share, while Class A
Trump can draw money held by the two co-founders. that went public in the U.S. between shares sold to the public have one
from his business empire as Companies that go public on the Their viselike grip on the disap- 2012 and 2016, including Facebook vote per share. Snap has three
its trustees see fit without New York Stock Exchange usually pearing-message app is an extreme Inc., Fitbit Inc. and Twilio Inc., did classes of shares.
disclosing it publicly, accord- celebrate by ringing the opening example of a growing power grab so with at least two classes of stock, The tech industry’s use of so-
ing to his revised trust. A6 bell from a balcony crowded with by technology companies when they up from 8% between 2007 and 2011, called supervoting shares has
The Supreme Court will executives and employees. Snap Inc. go public. according to data compiled by Uni- climbed so much in the past five
consider whether firms can had only two: co-founders Evan Those companies are structuring versity of Florida finance professor years that it is roughly in line with
be sued by foreigners in U.S. Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, who their IPOs so that founders and ex- Jay Ritter. IPOs as a whole. The percentage of
courts for alleged violations control about 90% of the voting ecutives wind up with far more That ownership structure makes it newly public tech companies with
of international law. A7 power in Snapchat’s parent. votes than actual shares. The exag- possible for companies to assign dif- supervoting shares is likely to climb
Snap was the first major com- gerated voting power gives those ferent voting rights to different even higher if the market for new
Trump welcomed Egyp- pany since at least 2000 to do an few shareholders dominance over all groups of shareholders, as Facebook offerings continues to rebound and
tian leader Sisi, as the U.S. initial public offering in the U.S. corporate decisions, ranging from did in its IPO in 2012. Class B shares corporate executives are embold-
shifts the focus of its ties that gave new shareholders no vot- the election of directors to whether held by Chief Executive Mark Zucker- ened by the successful stock-market
with Cairo from human ing rights whatsoever, and earlier to sell the company someday. berg and other early investors have Please see TECH page A8
rights to security matters. A4
A U.N. report blasted
Australia over its treat-
ment of indigenous people,
Braking Bad: Vandals Lay Waste Crisis
citing “deeply disturbing”
levels of racism. A4
To China’s Share Bikes Deepens
South Africa’s credit rat-
i i i In South
ing was downgraded to Pranksters are having a free ride with Africa
GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
WORLD NEWS
T
he problem in Wash- while Democrats are split- Washington. And those vot- now as 100 or more. This Mr. Trump on anything. The White House are “completely
ington is no longer ting over whether to force a ers are standing with him. group also is well repre- precise number is hard to dependent on what the issue
simply paralyzing par- blowup in the Senate rules in The Journal’s Dante Chinni sented in the Senate. tell, but Sen. Bernie Sanders is,” says Ms. Heitkamp. “The
tisanship. The danger at the an attempt to stop Supreme often gives voice to the feel- question is whether the well
moment is that the capital Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. ings of such Democrats; on is too poisoned to get any-
could be sliding into a kind A similar fate may await Friday he defended Trump thing done. I think the an-
of tribalism. coming efforts at tax reform
The polarizing nature of Mr. Trump and his voters while calling the swer to that is no.”
The fights over health and infrastructure spending presidency is fueling this trend. president a “fraud.” In fact, the Senate’s com-
care and a new Supreme unless the White House finds Intense anti-Trump feel- bination of governing Repub-
Court justice a way to blur the lines to ings at the Democratic grass licans and Democrats willing
suggest that form a governing coalition roots are fueling such incli- to work with them form the
the divides across them. dug deep into Gallup’s presi- Freedom Caucus Repub- nations. Republicans are likeliest path to legislative
aren’t simply For now, think of the dential job-approval numbers licans. This is a group that, pointing to a speech last achievement amid a tribal
between Re- capital as divided among for February and March and at its core, consists of about week by new party Chairman Washington. Democratic
publicans five tribes: found that, even as Mr. 40 of the House’s most con- Tom Perez in which he told a Sens. Heitkamp, Manchin,
and Demo- The Trump Tribe. This Trump’s approval ratings servative Republicans. (The rally that Democratic pro- Mark Warner and Claire Mc-
crats. Instead, there are group is made up of the slumped nationally, they ac- exact number isn’t clear testers feel Mr. Trump Caskill, and Republicans Bob
schisms within the parties, president, his advisers and tually went up in the work- and shifts around a bit.) “didn’t win the election.” Corker, John McCain, Rob
and in some cases schisms his wider administration. The ing-class and Appalachian They are the people who Maybe-Sometimes- Portman and Lamar Alexan-
within the schisms. president is essentially an in- counties that form his base. stood in the way of the bill Trump Democrats. These der—they are the kinds of
The polarizing nature of dependent force who won of- Governing Republicans. to repeal and replace are moderate to conserva- people who hold the key.
President Donald Trump and fice with limited support These are Republicans who Obamacare because they tive Democrats, many from It may be impossible for
his presidency is fueling this from his Republican Party’s think that, after waiting thought it didn’t sufficiently states the president won, them to prevent a standoff
trend, though the roots run leaders, and who now is sur- years to gain full control of adhere to their principles. who are willing to work over a Supreme Court nomi-
deeper. “Most of these fault rounded in the White House the government, it’s essen- The Freedom Caucus has with the Trump administra- nee, but a tax overhaul
lines, in my view, predate the largely by people with lim- tial the party show that it in the past found sympathiz- tion on selected issues. looms as the next big test.
Katie Vanneck-Smith,
WORLD NEWS
Blast in St. Petersburg Subway Kills 10
One explosive device has been spared the large-
scale terror attacks that have
disarmed at another hit Moscow in the past two
station; Putin considers decades.
Russia faces a simmering
terrorism ‘above all’ insurgency in the volatile
North Caucasus region, al-
BY NATHAN HODGE though terror attacks have be-
AND JAMES MARSON come less common in the rest
of Russia. Security officials
MOSCOW—Russian officials have warned of the danger of
opened a criminal probe into thousands of Russian citizens
what they said was a terrorist fighting in the Middle East on
attack Monday, after a blast on the side of Islamic State. Rus-
a St. Petersburg subway train sia sent its military into Syria
killed 10 people and injured in fall 2015 in support of Pres-
dozens more, and another ex- ident Bashar al-Assad, helping
WWW.VK.COM/SPB_TODAY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
plosive device was disarmed. to turn the tide in a conflict
“Naturally, we always con- that has now raged for six
sider all options—both domes- years.
tic and criminal, and above all In 2015, a bomb brought
actions of a terrorist nature,” down a Russian passenger jet
said Russian President Vladi- bound for St. Petersburg in
mir Putin, who was in St. Pe- Egypt. An affiliate of Islamic
tersburg to attend a media fo- State claimed credit for the
rum. attack.
Russia’s Investigative Com- Twin attacks hit a train sta-
mittee, the main federal inves- tion and a bus in the southern
tigative authority, said it had city of Volgograd in December
opened a criminal probe. Blast victims lying near a subway train hit by an explosion at the Technology Institute station in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Monday. 2012, killing more than 30
The blast early afternoon people. The attacks were the
Monday stunned the normally of a subway train bent outward Officials said an explosive U.S. condemned “today’s repre- ing the wounded to be treated deadliest Russia had seen
peaceful city, the country’s sec- by the blast. device was found and dis- hensible attack.” and evacuated quickly, said a since a suicide attack in the
ond-largest with around five Seven people died at the armed at a separate subway Authorities closed down all spokeswoman for the Investi- arrival hall of Moscow’s Do-
million inhabitants. St. Peters- scene, one in an ambulance station. St. Petersburg’s subway sta- gative Committee. Subway ser- modedovo International Air-
burg, known as the country’s and two on arrival at the hos- U.S. President Donald tions after the blast. Officials vice was partially restarted port killed 37 people in Janu-
cultural capital, is considered pital, Russian Health Minister Trump, commenting on the said more than three dozen late on Monday evening. ary 2011.
its most European city for its Veronika Skvortsova said in blast, said: “Terrible. Terrible ambulances raced to help vic- Much of Russia’s elite, in- Moscow’s subway system
elegant facades and relaxed at- televised comments. She said thing. Happening all over the tims after the blast, which oc- cluding Mr. Putin, hails from has been a target twice in re-
mosphere. 47 people had been injured, six world. Absolutely a terrible curred between Sennaya Plosh- St. Petersburg. cent years. In 2010, suicide
State television showed first of whom are in serious condi- thing.” Mr. Trump made the chad, or Haymarket Square, a The former czarist capital bombers, one of them the
responders arriving on the tion. remarks to reporters in re- busy downtown subway station was a site of terror attacks teenage widow of an Islamist
platform at Technology Insti- Unnamed witnesses on state sponse to a question at the that connects three lines, and more than a century ago, in- leader from the North Cauca-
tute station and treating ap- television described a bright start of a meeting in the White Technology Institute station. cluding the assassination of sus, killed 40 and wounded 90
parent victims. Videos posted flash followed by smoke and a House’s State Dining Room in The subway driver carried Czar Alexander II. But the in the Moscow metro. In 2004,
on social media and broadcast smell of burning. One said he Washington. on to Technology Institute sta- 300-year-old city, popular an explosion in the Moscow
on television showed smoke in- crawled out of the window of State Department spokes- tion, preventing a greater with tourists for its architec- subway killed 40 people and
side the station and the doors the subway car. man Mark Toner later said the number of casualties by allow- ture, theaters and museums, wounded 134.
BAGHDAD—President Don- cial, a rare appearance at the largely resemble the old one,
ald Trump’s senior adviser and Pentagon, where he met Saudi initiated under President Ba-
son-in-law Jared Kushner Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince rack Obama, with tweaks and
made a surprise visit to Bagh- and Minister of Defense Mo- additions in the margins, U.S.
dad on Monday to meet U.S. hammed bin Salman during officials said.
and Iraqi officials and to re- his meeting with Defense Sec- Gen. Dunford said he in-
ceive military briefings on the retary Jim Mattis. vited Messrs. Kushner and
fight against Islamic State. He has also been influential Bossert to join him on the trip
Mr. Kushner is the first with his father-in-law on is- some weeks ago so they could
member of Mr. Trump’s inner sues pertaining to Mexico and see the work troops are doing
circle to visit Iraq, currently other countries, and he has here, since they will be part of
engaged in a fight to drive the been given broad authority by the decision on strategy.
militant group from Mosul his father-in-law to attempt to “I think anyone who’s in-
and other areas. He was in- broker a peace deal between volved in the discussion on
vited here by the chairman of Israel and the Palestinians. where we go strategically—
the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mr. Kushner, a multimilli- having good situational
Gen. Joe Dunford, who is ionaire businessman and de- awareness about what’s hap-
meeting with U.S. and Iraqi veloper interested in how pening tactically and hear it
commanders and troops. technology can reform organi- first hand and unfiltered, how
The visit comes as the zations, launched an innova- our advisers assess the Iraqi
Trump administration is as- tion office for the White Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, far right, meets with a delegation including Gen. Joe Dunford, security forces, both the op-
sessing the U.S. strategy to House last week that intends chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, center, and Jared Kushner, to his right. portunities and the chal-
combat Islamic State in Iraq, to help reform government. lenges—will feed into some-
Syria and elsewhere. Mr. Kushner didn’t speak Bossert, a former administra- of the strategy to fight the what it might be. body’s strategic view,” Gen.
Mr. Kushner, 36, a new- with reporters on the trip to tion official under President group. Mr. Trump signaled No plan has emerged, and it Dunford told reporters travel-
comer to foreign-policy is- Iraq, his first ever here, which George W. Bush who is serving during the campaign and now falls to Mr. Mattis and ing with him on a military jet.
sues, has taken an active was preceded by an overnight as Mr. Trump’s homeland se- since assuming office that he Gen. Dunford to come up with The new strategy, or a re-
role as an adviser to Mr. stay at a U.S. military base in curity adviser. had a plan to accelerate the a new strategy. Gen. Dunford finement of it, may include ad-
Trump on national security Germany. Mr. Mattis and Gen. Dun- fight against Islamic State, declined to discuss what the ditional U.S. troops for both
and foreign policy. He is accompanied by Tom ford are completing a review offering no details about new strategy would look like. Iraq and Syria.
A4 | Tuesday, April 4, 2017 HK JP KO ML SI IN UK FR MN PR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
WORLD NEWS
South Africa
Credit Rating
Sinks to Junk
S&P move comes as to reduce its deficit. Friday’s
dismissal of Mr. Gigaba’s prede-
calls mount for Zuma cessor, Pravin Gordhan,
to step down amid prompted a revolt in the ruling
African National Congress and
changes to today’s black boxes onment, domestic violence and tutional recognition and a
that help unravel accidents. unemployment, according to treaty to reduce discrimination.
The most prominent dis- government data. While the Australian gov-
agreement involves deployable “I have found the preva- ernment has supported a ref-
recorders, devices designed to lence of racism against Ab- erendum on a constitutional
capture real-time flight data original and Torres Strait Is- change to recognize its indige-
and cockpit conversations, just lander Peoples deeply nous people, it hasn’t backed a
as damage-resistant black-box disturbing,” Victoria Tauli- formal treaty over concerns it
recorders do. Malaysia Airlines ground staff worked on aircraft at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in January. Corpuz, the U.N. special rap- could open up legal challenges
But while conventional black porteur on indigenous rights, over compensation and prop-
boxes are intended to be recov- Progress in adopting de- ered status-quo black-box tech- Airline trade groups, regu- said in a report ending her 15- erty rights. Mr. Turnbull has
ered from wreckage, the alter- ployable systems has been nology as acceptable. Agency of- lators and leaders of the day visit. “This manifests itself said a formal treaty could fur-
native devices, already used in a slow, with U.S. and European ficials point out that in nearly United Nations agency that in different ways, ranging ther stoke divisions over rec-
broad range of military jets and regulators watching to see every jetliner accident stretch- sets global-safety standards, from public stereotyped por- onciliation and make constitu-
helicopters world-wide, are de- whether the other side takes ing back decades, including the the International Civil Aviation trayals of them as violent tional change even harder.
signed to be jettisoned automat- action to benefit either Boeing 2009 midocean crash of an Air Organization, worked to over- criminals, welfare profiteers Australia is the only former
ically before impact and to float. or Airbus at the other’s ex- France Airbus A330 that killed come public concerns. Ac- and poor parents and to dis- British colony not to have a
Airbus and other proponents pense. Equipment changes will 228 people, conventional black knowledging that new options crimination in the administra- formal treaty with indigenous
say that supplementing current take at least several years to boxes ultimately were recovered. were essential, experts spelled tion of justice.” inhabitants.
systems with deployable tech- show up, and they are expected Supporters of deployable out various potential solu-
nology would lead to easier to affect only new jetliners devices counter that those tions, publicly debated their
searches, with features includ- rolling off assembly lines. searches were often protracted merits and tried to persuade
ing built-in emergency trans- The rivals say they don’t affairs. plane makers and equipment
mitters that can pinpoint loca- compete on safety matters, but, Airbus, which considers de- suppliers to embrace them.
tions on the surface of water. in this instance, each company ployable recorders a market- After some hiccups, indus-
In the opposing camp, Boe- has quietly pressured suppliers ing advantage, intends eventu- try and the ICAO agreed on
ing’s position is that the de- and government agencies to ally to install them widely on steps to track aircraft more
ployable technology is unnec- embrace their view, people fa- newly manufactured jets. Out- closely, especially when they
DAN PELED/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
essary partly because there are miliar with the details said. side experts said continued fly over large expanses of wa-
so few crashes of big jets, and The result, these people say, maneuvering over the issue ter or remote polar regions.
the recorders are expensive to has impeded the initial sense has complicated those plans. But to help future investiga-
maintain and potentially haz- of urgency among regulators. The standoff wasn’t what was tors, industry and government
ardous if ejected by mistake. “Governments and interna- envisioned after the predawn officials world-wide are consid-
The disagreement has played tional organizations are moving tragedy of March 8, 2014, when ering a different option, which
out in various forums, both in mighty slowly,” said Alan Diehl, Flight 370 and the 239 people on doesn’t involve hunting for and
public and private. Federal a former military and commer- board bound for Beijing from retrieving recorders: streaming
Aviation Administration offi- cial accident investigator. “The Kuala Lumpur dropped off radar some flight data to the ground
cials say it is hard to justify public perception is, ‘Why can’t and continued flying for hours via satellites.
the costs of deployable record- we have the solution now?’ ” without any communication —Robert Wall
ers versus the safety benefits. Historically, the FAA consid- from the cockpit. contributed to this article. Protesters at an indigenous rally in Brisbane in January.
WORLD WATCH
EGYPT Mr. Trump is seeking to boost ago amid a dispute over the coun- sides said would end a dispute of the 2015 agreement. and for jobless Spanish to 4.09
the Pentagon’s budget while cut- tries’ wartime past, will return to over Japan’s atonement for the —Alastair Gale million from 4.13 million.
Trump Welcomes Sisi ting State Department spending. Seoul Tuesday to bolster coordina- so-called comfort-women sys- —Paul Hannon
As U.S. Resets Ties Egypt is one of the largest re- tion in dealing with North Korea, tem. The deal became unpopular EUROZONE
cipients of U.S. military and foreign Japan said. in South Korea. OLYMPICS
President Donald Trump wel- aid, getting about $1.5 billion a Japanese Foreign Minister Fu- Following the deal, Japan said Italy, Spain Help Drive
comed visiting Egyptian President year. The U.S. budget blueprint mio Kishida said Tokyo is also it expected South Korea to re- Improved Jobs Picture NHL Pulls Out
Abdel Fattah Al Sisi to the White doesn’t guarantee aid to Egypt, sending its ambassador back to move a statue of a comfort
House, as the administration shifts and State Department officials prepare for a new government woman built by a civic group Declines in the number of peo- The National Hockey League
the focus of its relationship with have said aid to every country, ex- in South Korea. outside the Japanese Embassy ple without work in Italy and Spain won’t play in the Winter Olympics
Cairo away from human rights and cept Israel, is under review. Tokyo and Seoul frequently in Seoul in 2011. However, that drove a drop in the eurozone’s un- in Pyeongchang, South Korea next
toward security. —Felicia Schwartz clash over the legacies of Japan’s statue remains in place, and at employment rate in February. year, league officials said. After
“We agree on so many things,” 35-year colonization of the Ko- the end of 2016, activists built The European Union’s statis- months of negotiations with the
Mr. Trump said during the Egyp- JAPAN rean Peninsula through 1945. One an identical statue outside the tics agency said the unemploy- International Olympic Committee,
tian leader’s first official visit to of the most contentious issues is Japanese consulate in South Ko- ment rate fell to 9.5% from 9.6% the league said because most of
Washington. “You have a great Tokyo’s Ambassador the use of Korean women by the rea’s second city of Busan. in January, its lowest level since its clubs oppose taking a break
friend and ally in the United States To Return to Seoul Japanese military as forced sex Japan recalled its ambassador, May 2009. The number of peo- from the season to participate in
and in me.” Mr. Sisi said Egypt will workers during that time. Yasumasa Nagamine, in early ple without work fell by 140,000, the Games, it will not release its
be a “strong partner” in confront- Japan’s ambassador to South In late 2015, the two coun- January, saying the installation of as the figure for Italians dropped players for the tournament.
ing terrorism. Korea, withdrawn three months tries reached a deal that both the Busan statue was a violation to 2.98 million from 3.06 million —Matthew Futterman
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Tuesday, April 4, 2017 | A5
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A6 | Tuesday, April 4, 2017 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
U.S. NEWS
Why Trump Spared Iraq From Travel Ban
Pressed by Baghdad, not perpetrators of it.” The
spokesman, Ahmed Jamal,
U.S. security officials said conversations with other
moved president to U.S. officials over Iraq’s inclu-
sion in the ban continued for
override his instincts weeks.
Mr. Trump’s national-secu-
President Donald Trump’s rity team mostly stayed out of
national-security team had the headlines, but Messrs. Til-
many reasons to be wary of lerson, Mattis and Kelly all
his travel ban aimed at seven were frequent visitors to the
majority-Muslim nations, even Oval Office. Each made his
though it followed through on case to the president for re-
a signature campaign pledge. vamping the travel ban.
Mr. Tillerson, in other dis-
By Tamer El-Ghobashy, cussions, and others argued
Peter Nicholas, that Iraq didn’t belong on the
Felicia Schwartz list chiefly because it wasn’t a
and Ben Kesling state sponsor of terror, it had
a functioning U.S. embassy
They had been left out of and it had been routinely shar-
the deliberations; there were ing security intelligence with
concerns the executive order the U.S. since 2008.
without disclosing it publicly, otherwise deem appropriate.” could coincide with or be re- transfers.
according to a revised version The trustees who would be lated to something that he “The entire point of setting
of his trust, a change that eth- responsible for making those does in his official capacity as it up is that somebody can
ics experts said blurs the lines decisions are Donald Trump the president of the United withdraw money,” Mr. Spicer
between the Trump Organiza- Jr., the president’s eldest son, said.
tion and his administration. and Allen Weisselberg, the The trust document, signed
Mr. Trump said before his longtime chief financial officer Feb. 10, also stipulates that
inauguration that he would put of the Trump Organization.
The trust doesn’t the trustees won’t report to
his assets into a trust and re- The trust doesn’t require require that any such the president any details
Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch at a Senate hearing on March 22. linquish control of his busi- that any such transfer of funds about the trust’s “holdings
nesses to his two adult sons, in be publicly disclosed. While
transfer of funds be and sources of income.” But
U.S. NEWS
U.S. WATCH
churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., jected an attempt by the Mem- Sanders, who opposed the mea- the names of Confederate lead-
by a white supremacist who ex- phis city council to move the sure, said that he believes all ers from two city parks.
WASHINGTON
cial information about the rental borrowers are defaulting on their spite the downshift, the gauge
agreement between the couple student loans and in turn harm- marked a seventh consecutive
and the home’s owner, a Chilean ing their credit and ability to pur- month of industrial expansion.
magnate whose company is em- chase homes, the report shows. “It’s often all about attitude
broiled in a dispute with the U.S. —Josh Mitchell rather than fundamentals,”
government over a mine poten- said Bradley Holcomb, who
tially worth billions of dollars. CALIFORNIA oversees the ISM survey. “The
The rent is in line with that prospects of lower tax rates
paid for similar luxury properties Wildlife Managers and reduced encumbrances
in the area, according to local Reduce Abalone Catch from regulation are helping to
brokers. The owner, Andrónico Luk- drive this system.” An employee worked at Pewag Inc.’s chain-manufacturing facility in Pueblo, Colo., last month.
sic, bought the house after the No- California wildlife managers One highlight in Monday’s
vember election and paid $5.5 mil- have sharply reduced the report: The index tracking see, but people are comment- The U.S. factory sector has including output from utilities
lion for the six-bedroom property. amount of red abalone that div- prices paid by companies for ing on it for sure.” been on the upswing after a and mines, rose 0.4% on the
“This was an arm’s-length ers can catch this year because their raw materials rose to its Other details were upbeat. rough patch in 2015 and early year in February.
transaction at a market price,” ocean conditions have prompted highest level since May 2011. While indexes for new orders 2016, when falling oil prices More broadly, data on U.S.
said Hope Hicks, a spokes- extensive starvation in abalone Broad U.S. inflation gauges and production pulled back in squeezed energy firms and a consumer and business confi-
woman for the White House, stocks. April and November have have firmed in recent months, March, the employment index strong dollar depressed de- dence has outpaced hard data
Ms. Trump and Mr. Kushner. been removed from this year’s and the Federal Reserve’s pre- rose to its highest level since mand for U.S. products by on economic activity in recent
—Mark Maremont fishing calendar for the mollusks. ferred price gauge in February June 2011. The index tracking making them more expensive months.
and James V. Grimaldi Red abalone is highly sought exceeded the central bank’s 2% new export orders hit its high- for foreign customers. Some forecasters expect
after by California divers allowed annual target for the first time est level since November 2013, The rebound in actual pro- stronger growth because of
ECONOMY to catch for sport only in waters in nearly five years. signaling stronger global duction has been less dramatic tax cuts and other policy
north of San Francisco. More than has been the growth. than the surge in sentiment. changes under the Trump ad-
Student Debt Damps The annual abalone catch al- norm in recent years, “compa- Among 18 industries Manufacturing production was ministration, but the timing
Homeownership Rates lowed per diver will be reduced nies are seemingly feeling they tracked in Monday’s report, 17 up 1.3% in February from a and details remain uncertain.
to 12 from 18 to reduce this can pass prices along” to their reported growth during March year earlier, according to Fed- The government will re-
Americans continue to default year’s harvest by 25%. customers, Mr. Holcomb said. and one said there was no eral Reserve data. lease its initial estimate of
on student loans at a “stub- —Associated Press He added, “We’ll watch and change in conditions. Total industrial production, first-quarter GDP on April 28.
A8 | Tuesday, April 4, 2017 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
IN DEPTH
TECH Doubling Up
Percentage of companies that
went public with more than
Continued from Page One one class of shares
debuts so far this year, includ- 20%
ing Snap. Technology companies
Investment bankers and Non-tech companies
lawyers expect that the vast 15
majority of the highest-valued
companies that are now private
would use some form of dual- 10
class structure if they decide to
go public. The most valuable
companies include Uber Tech- 5
nologies Inc., Palantir Technol-
ogies Inc. and Airbnb Inc.
On Friday, Snap shares 0
closed at $22.53, up a third 1990 2000 ’10
from their $17-a-share offering Note: Figures are five-year rolling averages
price March 1, valuing the five- Source: University of Florida Prof. Jay Ritter
year-old company at about $27 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
MICHAEL NAGLE/BLOOMBERG NEWS
0.2
congestion became a problem, 0 ing, “Mobike is part of my
bikes became trendy again. 2015 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 life now.”
In recent months, investors Forecasts —Junya Qian
have plowed $1 billion into Chi- Source: BigData Research and Kersten Zhang
nese bike-share companies. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. A mass of sabotaged shared bikes near a park in Shenzhen in southern China. contributed to this article.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Tuesday, April 4, 2017 | A9
LIFE&ARTS
FAMILY
enth in women. In the U.S., there president of the Skin Cancer Foun-
is no national consensus on who dation, which also recommends
should be screened for melanoma Some doctors say individuals at high risk for skin cancer should have one head-to-toe exam a year. annual screenings for everyone.
or how often, so insurance cover- Dr. Hale recommends that indi-
age varies. guidelines to help individuals de- often will be tested for skin can- noma or a history of indoor tan- viduals with risk factors such as
Currently, most patients who termine whether they should get cer. ning and blistering sunburns. Fi- indoor tanning, light skin, freckles
get regular exams, like Ms. McCor- regular total-body skin exams. In the Melanoma Management nally, an annual exam is or atypical moles get two scans a
mick, consult a dermatologist on Such tests usually entail a 10- article, the experts recommend an recommended for individuals with year. “What makes skin cancer so
their own initiative. But some ex- to-20-minute head-to-toe examina- annual total body skin exam for a broad array of physical features, unique is early detection is possi-
perts say screening for melanoma tion in which a health professional people between the ages of 35 and such as light skin; blonde or red ble and so critical,” she said.
should be more widespread and studies the size, shape, color and 75 with one or more risk factors. hair; lots of freckles; severely sun- The average five-year survival
accessible. In a perspective piece borders of moles, including in Such factors include previous damaged skin; 40 or more moles; rate is as high as 98% for mela-
published last week in the journal hard-to-spot places such as the cases of melanoma, a mutation in or two or more atypical moles. noma caught at an early stage, but
Melanoma Management, more scalp, under fingernails, behind a melanoma gene or a compro- “It’s probably one of the most drops to about 18% once it is stage
than 50 dermatologists and skin- the ears and even in the iris of the mised immune system. Other risk cost-effective screenings you can four, or has spread to other or-
cancer experts called for uniform eyes. Any suspicious-looking moles factors: a family history of mela- think about.” said Sancy Leach- gans.
A10 | Tuesday, April 4, 2017 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
OPINION
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
In France, Extreme
The Other French Radical Is the New Mainstream
Y
ou wouldn’t know from the heavy media come by taxing firms that employ robots.
coverage of Marine Le Pen, but the Na- The problem for Mr. Hamon is that voters as- France’s weakness Alongside her visceral contempt for
against challenges to immigrants, Ms. Le Pen’s Mélenchon-
tional Front leader isn’t the only radical sociate him with President François Hollande’s di-
its democratic instincts like allegiance to Vladimir Putin and
outsider threatening the sastrous tenure, which began in is being exposed as the campaign to get France out of the EU
French political establishment Socialist voters are 2012 with a march to the hard country wobbles to- are well known. At full blast, Mr. Mélen-
in this month’s presidential abandoning the party for left and ended with modest at- ward the first round of chon reviles money, finance, America
election campaign. The other tempts at pro-growth reforms. its presidential election and Angela Merkel. He insists French
is independent hard-left candi- a hard-left alternative. Socialist voters who liked the EYE ON
on April 23. workers are treated like “parasitic en-
EUROPE
date Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who reform half are now supporting By John
The latest evidence cumbrances” and has accused workers
over the weekend overtook the Mr. Macron, while the party’s for concern came last migrating to France of trying to “steal
Vinocur
center-left Socialists in the polls. base sees Mr. Mélenchon as the authentic voice week when far-left can- their bread.”
Mr. Mélenchon is in striking distance of dis- of the left. Why support Mélenchon-lite in Mr. didate Jean-Luc Mélen- Together, the two extremist leaders
placing the center-right’s François Fillon in third Hamon if you can get the real thing? chon finished first in a poll to find the do not form an axis but a notional Re-
politician the French would most desire jection Front that melds class warfare,
place, not far behind the two frontrunners, Ms. Le France’s leftist grandees are urging the two
“to play an important role in the fu- prejudice and anti-Western instincts.
Pen and the independent centrist Emmanuel Ma- men to merge campaigns in the hope of making ture.” He leaped ahead of Emmanuel Even assuming they are shut out of the
cron. If enough Socialist voters abandon their it to the runoff, likely against Ms. Le Pen, but Mr. Macron, the clear favorite in general presidency, there is a symbiosis in
party’s candidate, Benoît Hamon, Mr. Mélenchon Mélenchon has so far resisted. It isn’t clear whom polls on the presidential race, and their attitudes that would underpin
might make it to the second round in May. his voters would support in case Mr. Mélenchon widely distanced Marine Le Pen of the the French staple of antireformist
The 65-year-old spent 35 years in the Social- is eliminated in the first round. Mr. Mélenchon so extreme right. street warfare certain to greet a Ma-
ist Party before leaving in 2008 to launch his loathes Ms. Le Pen that he refuses to mention her At age 65, Mr. Mélenchon has built a cron presidency—and its planned
own movement, which he calls “Unbowed by name, yet the two see eye-to-eye on many eco- career out of continued excess and rage. changes in labor-market and education
France.” Mr. Mélenchon makes Bernie Sanders nomic questions. He wants France out of NATO and out policies. Such demonstrations are fer-
look like American Senator Ted Cruz, and his Like Ms. Le Pen, Mr. Mélenchon wants to see of the European Union. He prefers a tile ground for anarchistic gangs, some
partnership with Russia and a French with ties to extremism, and the vio-
campaign platform would undo even the mod- Paris form an alliance with Vladimir Putin and
constitution rewritten exclusively by lence they often bring.
est pro-growth reforms enacted in France over Bashar Assad. He wants to pull the country out people who have never held national of-
the past decade while adding a raft of new stat- of NATO, and he views the European Union as fice. Writ smaller, Mr. Mélenchon makes
ist measures. a “neoliberal” vehicle designed to oppress Big Rock Candy Mountain promises of a Voters head to the left and
These include raising the minimum wage by French workers. Voters who back such a plat- sixth week of annual vacation and limit-
15% to €1,300 ($1,386) a month after taxes; form might prefer to hold their noses and vote ing work on Sundays. right fringes as scandal
shortening the workweek to 32 hours from 35, for Ms. Le Pen in a runoff instead of supporting At the same time, there is no current and economic malaise
and lowering the retirement age to 60 from 62. a reformer like Mr. Macron. public-opinion survey that doesn’t proj-
Mr. Mélenchon would slap a 100% tax on anyone France isn’t the only country where the tradi- ect Mr. Macron, a former Socialist eco- sap support for centrists.
earning 20 times the median income, or about tional center-left party is either jumping further nomics minister and self-proclaimed
€33,000 a month. For bad measure, he vows a to the left or falling off a political cliff, or both. “progressive,” as the expected victor
against Ms. Le Pen in the final round of Some critics see the hardline candi-
€273 billion splurge in stimulus spending, public Support for Britain’s Labour Party has plum-
voting May 7. dates sharpening their vocabularies. In
works and “green” projects. meted under the leadership of ’60s-style radical Friends of France grasp the trouble. February, a major Jewish organization
Mr. Hamon, his rival for the left-wing vote, Jeremy Corbyn, and the center-left Labor Party As Italy’s former prime minister, Ro- refused to invite either Ms. Le Pen or
calls these proposals irresponsible. But Mr. fell apart in last month’s election in the Nether- mano Prodi, commented last month: Mr. Mélenchon to its annual dinner, a
Hamon, a former education minister, isn’t all lands, supplanted by the Greens and the far-left “You often ask yourself—where has national political event, saying the two
that moderate himself. He won the Socialist D66 party. France gone?” “convey hatred.”
nomination after thumping the party’s reform The collapse of Europe’s center-left is as im- To a considerable measure, the an- Last week, a reporter in a televised
wing, led by former Prime Minister Manuel portant a story as the rise of the far-right. In swer is into an imploding, grotesque face-to-face with Ms. Le Pen asked her
Valls. Mr. Hamon would also shorten the work- France it is another reason not to rule out a Le political universe. The country’s ex- if there wasn’t a foul odor escaping
week, and he wants to fund a universal basic in- Pen victory next month. tremist candidates at the right and left from under the detoxified, “polished
now outweigh the combined voter pro- surface of the National Front.”
jections for the mainstream Gaullists He referred to four incidents, includ-
The U.K. Boom That Debt Built and Socialists, which have provided
France with presidents since 1981.
ing one involving a National Front mu-
nicipal councilman. In his town, home
B
A poll over the weekend found that to many Roma, the councilman said
ritain’s financial watchdog on Monday in overall personal debt and credit-card debt Mr. Mélenchon (15%) and Ms. Le Pen their unpaid rent could be offset by hir-
proposed new regulations on credit- have hit levels not seen since 2005—more than (24%)—extremists with no use for each ing dentists “who would recuperate
card issuers to bail out overindebted 10% on a rolling 12-month basis each month other—would notionally outrun by a 39 their gold teeth and replace them with
consumers. No prizes for for the former and nearly 10% to 30.5 margin the combined first-round metal ones.”
guessing how successful more Now regulators worry for the latter. Household con- score of the Socialist Benoît Hamon After calling the reporter “a hood-
rules will prove in rowing sumption has pumped up eco- (11.5%) and the Republican François Fil- lum,” Ms. Le Pen told the TV audience
against the current of Brit-
about the effects of nomic growth since last lon (19%). that a local party disciplinary body
ain’s monetary policy. growth bought on credit. year’s Brexit vote despite Alain Minc, an advisor to presidents would review the remark. The town’s
and now a Macron-backer, dismisses the mayor soon announced he had turned
The Financial Conduct Au- skittish business investment. Mélenchon factor as “talent, showman- the incident over to the regional state
thority (FCA) wants to require Consumption is crucial to ship—nothing to do with basics.” Still, a prosecutor’s office.
banks to waive fees and interest for household growth but it’s only sustainable when it’s part poll last week showed the French believ- Mr. Mélenchon increasingly sees
borrowers overwhelmed by credit-card debt. of a virtuous circle of business investment and ing that Mr. Mélenchon is the candidate himself as making it to the presidential
Around 3.3 million Brits have gone 18 months rising wages, not merely rising debt. most likely to increase, without specify- runoff round. Rather than as a candi-
paying more interest and fees than principal on This isn’t the kind of economic “recovery” ing how, their buying power. date of fear and disruption—a weekend
their credit-card balances, according to the Britain’s central bankers thought they’d get These scores ultimately emphasize poll said 63% of the French were scared
FCA’s new definition of “persistent debt.” The when they spent a decade trying to prop up how the extreme left and right, moving of him—he insisted, “I’m becoming a re-
FCA wants card issuers to prod such debtors business investment with ultralow interest into terrain formerly occupied by the assuring figure.”
to repay faster, or ultimately give them a break rates. And no one should think that rules to traditional parties, have been legiti- Reality makes that an awful but un-
mized since the last presidential elec- nerving joke. In a country gripped by
on their repayments. ease the burden on Britain’s most heavily in-
tion in 2012. The causes? Scandal, loss multiple tensions, and uncertain pros-
Think of this as an attempt to treat Britain’s debted households will make the economy any of identity, economic failure, and the pects for relieving them, the leaders of
debt hangover before the patient has stopped safer if a bout of rising unemployment or weak responses to terrorism and Is- the far right and left are tightening
drinking. Over the past year the growth rates slower wage growth hits. lamic radicalism at home that have France’s confrontational screws, and
characterized politics in François Hol- with that, providing a threat of violence
lande’s France. from its extremes.
The Truth About the China Trade Shock
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
W
hen President Trump hosts Chinese exposed sectors is comparable—or even
President Xi Jinping this week at lower—than the risk to workers in non-traded
Mar-a-Lago, trade will be high on the sectors and that these risks have not increased Should We Tax Robots as We Do Workers?
agenda. If Mr. Trump hopes to during the period of more in-
Regarding Andy Kessler’s “Bill imposes more taxes and regulations.
come away a winner, he’ll need New evidence shows that tense competition with Chi- Gates vs. the Robots” (op-ed, March This will drive out still more manu-
the right objectives. That imports made firms and nese imports.” 28): Bill Gates has suggested that we facturers and further reduce factory
means focusing on China’s A second recent study— tax the robots in proportion to the employment. This demonstrates the
mercantilist practices without workers more competitive. “Firm Reorganization, Chi- jobs they displace. It isn’t clear if this heavy propensity to use taxation
jeopardizing the benefits of nese Imports, and US Manu- is intended to compensate for the lost and tax breaks as a solution to too
mutual trade and investment. facturing Employment” by income taxes no longer paid by the many problems while remaining
Support for this policy comes from two recent Columbia Ph.D. candidate Ildikó Magyari—looks workers who were replaced or to dis- blind to the damage caused. All too
economic studies that debunk the claim that im- at the impact of Chinese imports on U.S. compa- courage the use of robots. Given the often higher taxes lead to lower tax
ports from China—particularly after its acces- nies. It finds that trade with China reduced consistency of robots’ output and revenue as business and industry
their ability to function in dangerous are demotivated.
sion to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in costs and allowed firms to expand “their total
and unpleasant environments, they WALTER S. CICIORA, PH.D.
2001—have hollowed out large areas of the U.S. manufacturing employment in industries in may still be a better choice in many Southport, Conn.
and made Americans worse off. which the US has a comparative advantage rela- circumstances. The calculation of a
The two new papers address the work of MIT tive to China, even as specific” parts of the “robot tax” will be complex and will Mr. Kessler rallies around the bless-
economist David Autor and co-authors David same company got smaller. constantly change as the robots take ing of robotics in the form of comput-
Dorn and Gordon Hanson, who have published Although Chinese imports may mean job losses on more and more functions. Likely a ers, the internet and Microsoft. And so
several papers on Chinese imports. Their much- in one part of the company, Mr. Magyari writes, whole new Washington building will it should be. But robotics have a down-
quoted study, “The China Syndrome: Local La- “these losses were more than offset by gains in be needed, filled with bureaucrats cal- side in human impact that Mr. Kessler
bor Market Effects of Import Competition in the employment within the same firms. Contrary to culating the robot tax and imposing skims over. Robotics has led to much of
United States,” looked at 722 geographic areas conventional wisdom, firms exposed to greater more regulations on American indus- the unemployment in the Rust Belt.
from 1990-2000 and 2000-2007. It found that Chinese imports created more manufacturing and try. Some categories of employment Donald Trump campaigned to restore
will increase. How far will this go? the Rust Belt and to “bring back the
“rising imports cause higher unemployment, nonmanufacturing jobs than non-exposed firms.”
What about washing machines and jobs.” But the robots have the jobs.
lower labor force participation, and reduced Somewhere David Ricardo is smiling. dishwashers? Those jobs used to be What does that mean for the people
wages in local labor markets that house import- Both studies conclude that competition from done by humans. who are no longer useful? They are in
competing manufacturing industries.” China increased the value of U.S. workers. As Rather than making American in- need, and America’s Republican presi-
Jonathan Rothwell, senior economist at Gal- Ms. Magyari notes, using Census Bureau data, dustry more competitive by reduc- dent has come to help those people.
lup and a visiting scholar at George Washington companies that faced competition and reorga- ing business- and corporate-income LINDSAY RALPHS
University Institute of Public Policy, studied the nized, expanded employment “by 2 percent taxes and regulations, this approach Oakland, Calif.
effects of China trade on the same areas during more per year as they hired more (i) production
the same two time periods. His findings, pub- workers in manufacturing, whom they paid
lished in “Cutting the Losses: Reassessing the higher wages, and (ii) in services complemen- Dutch Face a More Universal Refugee Concern
Costs of Import Competition to Workers and tary to high-skilled and high-tech manufactur-
Leon de Winter’s suggestion that Thanks to the collapse of Ameri-
Communities,” are different because his meth- ing, such as R&D, design, engineering, and
Dutch citizens want “immigrants can influence in stabilizing the
odology is different. headquarters services.” [to] practice tolerance, work and Middle East and the subsequent
The Autor team compared changes across An import surge does hurt some workers in study hard, and teach their children refugee crisis that resulted, we
the two time periods, but Mr. Rothwell analyzed some industries, and the Chinese surge after its to be proud and contributing mem- may soon find out how much that
the two time periods separately. He did this to entry into the World Trade Organization was bers of this society” seems like a tolerance has frayed, not only in
account for macroeconomic trends, which were bigger than most. But the evidence suggests reasonable set of expectations for the Netherlands but throughout
not the same in both times for all places. For that its impact was also a net benefit to many their newly arrived neighbors (“Im- Europe.
example, the dot.com boom followed by a bust U.S. workers and firms, and that’s without tak- migration, Welfare and the Nervous TOM O’HARE
in places like San Jose, California shows a ing into account the benefit to consumers from Dutch,” op-ed, March 14). Charlestown, R.I.
downturn in the second period compared to the lower prices for clothing and other daily goods. The question is what should gov-
ernments do when immigrants ar-
first but that had little to do with China. In any event that surge is now over and the U.S. Letters intended for publication should
rive from war-torn countries that be addressed to: The Editor, 1211 Avenue
Mr. Rothwell’s results show that foreign economy has adjusted. are breeding grounds for terrorists, of the Americas, New York, NY 10036,
competition did not affect workers in manufac- Mr. Trump is right to press Mr. Xi on intel- and European host countries begin or emailed to wsj.ltrs@wsj.com. Please
turing any more than domestic factors like au- lectual property and cyber theft, high tariffs, to pay a heavy price for those who include your city and state. All letters
tomation, bad management or right-to-work, favoritism to “national champions” and other choose not to assimilate and in are subject to editing, and unpublished
low-tax states. The economist finds “the risk of bad practices. He shouldn’t worry about trade some cases bite the generous hand letters can be neither acknowledged nor
returned.
layoff and unemployment to workers in trade- in general or the size of the trade deficit. that feeds them.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Tuesday, April 4, 2017 | A11
OPINION
T
sessing major tax changes. But expand investment meaningfully in
he implosion of the Re- the frameworks put out last year America’s roads, bridges, railways
publican health-care bill by the Trump campaign and and airports. It could be funded
shows the limits of what House Republicans do not pass with a mandatory one-time tax—
one party alone can do the test. They would add trillions say, of 15%—on unrepatriated for-
in Washington. Tax re- of dollars to the deficit while pro- eign earnings as part of the transi-
form will be even trickier, since it viding, respectively, 50.8% and tion to the new international tax
touches a larger fraction of the 99.6% of their benefits to the top system. Both tax reform and infra-
economy and threatens more pow- 1%, according to the Tax Policy structure would be good for
erful vested interests. The only Center. growth—and pairing them has
hope for seriously revamping • Focus on business taxes only. been a staple of Democratic and
America’s inefficient business-tax This is where the largest economic Republican proposals alike in re-
system to unlock stronger eco- gains from tax reform can be cent years.
nomic growth is a bipartisan ap- found. In part that’s because com- Following these five steps is
proach, but it will require a course panies can and do move across the way to enact genuine, durable
correction by President Trump. borders in search of lower taxes, tax reform. If Republicans work
Here are five important steps to while individuals are much less alone, they might be able to pass
DAVID GOTHARD
building a sensible tax reform: likely to do so. a temporary tax cut through the
For a reformed system to work, reconciliation process, which re-
all large companies should have to quires only 51 votes in the Senate.
Focus on fixing the badly file under the corporate tax code, But the rules of reconciliation
as President George W. Bush’s tax- mean that the tax cut would sun-
broken corporate-tax reform commission proposed. ments in countries like Germany cash flow. This would allow busi- set after a decade. That would
system, and commit Small businesses should have their or the U.K., which already tax nesses to expense their invest- only add a new layer of uncer-
rates left alone but could be American companies doing busi- ments fully while disallowing in- tainty on top of America’s ineffi-
to no loss of revenue. helped in other ways—for in- ness there at over 19%. But on in- terest deductions—effectively like cient tax system, while swelling
stance, with more-generous tax vestments in low-tax countries like a consumption tax. At the same the budget deficit.
breaks for research or employer Ireland, which has a corporate rate time, eliminate as many loopholes Real tax reform would create
• Commit to revenue neutrality benefits. of 12.5%, American firms would as possible and lower the tax rate winners and losers, making it al-
and distributional neutrality, as in • For overseas business income, pay the difference. Profits re- as far as possible. These reforms most impossible to pass with only
the 1986 tax reform. In other adopt something like a “minimum ported in tax havens like the Cay- would make the tax system neu- one party. Republican majorities
words, a bipartisan plan would fo- tax.” The current system, which man Islands could end up facing tral toward investing in different are relatively slim, and vested in-
cus on making the tax system taxes American companies on nearly the full 19%. types of assets, as well as neutral terests trying to sink the legisla-
more efficient, without cutting the their repatriated earnings at the This is a less elegant solution to between financing with debt or tion would need to pick off only
revenue raised or shifting the bur- regular rate of 35%, is badly bro- taxing international income than with equity. three GOP senators or 22 repre-
den in any direction. This would ken. It raises little or no revenue the House Republican plan of How low could rates drop? Clos- sentatives. An easier path would
not require a change in rhetoric. while imposing substantial distor- shifting to a territorial system ing loopholes and moving to an in- be to write a bipartisan bill and
House Speaker Paul Ryan has al- tions, such as giving firms an in- with a border adjustment. But the ternational minimum tax would aim for the support of 30 Demo-
ready said tax reform should be centive to stash money overseas GOP proposal comes with serious provide some revenue. If the goal crats in the Senate and 100 in the
revenue-neutral, and Treasury Sec- permanently. side effects: large movements in is revenue neutrality, then getting House. That could be doable, but
retary Steven Mnuchin has said A minimum tax instead would the currency, shifts in asset prices, the rate down to 28% might be only if President Trump is open to
that there will be “no absolute tax apply to all overseas earnings at and the potential to start a trade possible. But the 15% or 20% rate changing his approach.
cut for the upper class.” some intermediate rate—President war. A minimum tax would avoid proposed by the Trump campaign
Any specific legislation should Obama proposed 19% and Republi- all of those. and House Republicans, respec- Mr. Furman, a senior fellow at
be judged against these bench- can Sen. Rob Portman supported a • For domestic business income, tively, would be impossible without the Peterson Institute for Interna-
marks by the nonpartisan analysts lower rate. Earnings could then be adopt something along the lines of massively raising the deficit. tional Economics, was chairman of
at the Joint Committee on Taxa- repatriated tax-free. A minimum the House Republican proposal. • Incorporate into the bill a real the White House Council of Eco-
tion, a group that incidentally tax would not apply to invest- Shift from taxing profits to taxing plan for public infrastructure nomic Advisers, 2013-17.
Who Wins When Foreign Firms Comply With U.S. Tax Laws?
By Nigel Green (subtracting IRS enforcement client accounts looking for Ameri- spent by Bank of Nova Scotia passed when massive compliance
R
costs) may be closer to $200 mil- can “indicia.” Although there is no alone as of 2013. practices sprang up, offering their
ecently I launched the Cam- lion a year and possibly as low as official figure for the cumulative Mr. Byrnes cites KPMG and Del- services and advising that repeal of
paign to Repeal Fatca—the $100 million. world-wide cost, the magnitude can oitte estimates that more than the law wasn’t in the cards. “Fatca
Foreign Account Tax Compli- That isn’t enough to fund the be extrapolated from piecemeal dis- 250,000 foreign financial institu- is here to stay,” experts from
ance Act. The 2010 law, which pur- federal government for more than closures by banks and the compa- tions are affected by Fatca, with KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and
ports to track down tax cheats half an hour. It is far less than was nies selling them services. These costs for some of the larger ones PricewaterhouseCoopers rushed to
hiding money abroad, forces for- expected at Fatca’s enactment, expenses, as Mr. Byrnes writes, are reaching more than $200 million. pontificate.
eign banks and other financial in- since the law was scored as bring- “staggering.” The representative of Banco Bilbao As a businessman, I have no ob-
stitutions to disclose Americans’ ing in $800 million a year. Except- Vizcaya Argentaria, a large Spanish jection to anyone offering profes-
accounts to the Internal Revenue ing penalties, writes Mr. Byrnes, bank, said in a paper released in sional expertise. But non-Americans
Service. Fatca could “soon cost more money Soon the Foreign Account 2014 that compliance costs could accountants who pooh-pooh the no-
Threatened with U.S. sanctions if than it brings in.” range from $8.5 million for a local tion that Fatca could be repealed
they don’t comply, banks around That meager gain must be Tax Compliance Act will entity to $850 million for a global often have little insight into Ameri-
the world have rushed to submit to weighed against the law’s costs. cost more to enforce than one. The British government esti- can politics. What lies behind the
Fatca. Foreign governments have Fatca adds one more onerous and mated the aggregate initial costs to smug posture of inevitability other
hastened to abrogate their domes- expensive reporting obligation for it recovers in taxes. U.K. financial institutions at $1.1 than making sure vulnerable clients
tic privacy laws. Fatca, it seems, American taxpayers who hold any billion to $1.9 billion, with a con- maintain a proper Stockholm syn-
has been a big success. But who re- asset abroad. It largely duplicates tinuing cost of $60 million to $100 drome docility?
ally benefits? existing mandates, notably the Re- In 2014 Thomson Reuters sur- million a year. Fatca was not subjected to a
Not the U.S. budget. The IRS port of Foreign Banks and Foreign veyed some 300 financial institu- Thus there are plausible projec- cost-benefit analysis before it was
claimed last October that Fatca Accounts, and the penalties for er- tions, 27% of which expected their tions that the law’s aggregate enacted, but the results are now in.
has helped it to collect $10 billion ror are draconian. The Tax Founda- annual Fatca compliance costs of global cost is anywhere from $60 As a revenue tool for the public
since 2009 from “taxpayers com- tion estimated in 2016 that comply- between $100,000 and $1 million. billion to $170 billion. That money purse, the law is a failure. Instead
ing back into compliance.” But that ing with Fatca each year takes The same year, The Wall Street comes out of the pockets of con- it offers a windfall of corporate
figure lumps in penalties for filing almost 4.5 million hours and costs Journal reported that Canada’s five sumers, depositors and perhaps welfare for the compliance indus-
deficiencies and money from all $166 million. biggest banks collectively had shareholders. tries. That’s no reason to keep it.
offshore enforcement programs. But the really big boodle goes to spent about 750 million Canadian There’s no question where this
William H. Byrnes, a law professor the accounting, law and software dollars (US$693.5 million) on ini- money goes—not to the U.S. gov- Mr. Green is founder and CEO of
at Texas A&M, believes the actual firms that help foreign financial in- tial Fatca compliance expenses. ernment but to the bottom line of deVere Group, a world-wide finan-
net recovery attributable to Fatca stitutions sift through millions of That included some C$100 million the vendors. Fatca had barely cial consultancy.
I
shouldn’t he know about health care, my nerves. What, I would ask my fa- tion. Confidence helps, to be sure. this life, but I should imagine that
n the petit-bourgeois, confi- immigration, life in the inner cities? ther, is better to argue with? How But making a wad in real estate, the heart of any effective negotia-
dently philistine milieu in which Or if he doesn’t know, no reason the success was achieved, what went mail order or auto sales doesn’t im- tion is finding common interests
I grew up, plutocratic values why with a bit of quick study he into it, who suffered because of it? part any special advantage in un- among those at the bargaining table.
held a firm purchase. When the men can’t find out enough to put every- By success my father meant finan- derstanding the complexities of In business, the paramount common
gathered in the living room after thing in order. cial success. The money game was health care, African-American cul- interest is obvious: money, profit all
dinner, money talked—those who My father was a moderately suc- the real one, and not the least satis- ture or foreign policy—as Mr. round. In politics, it turns out, much
had found the greatest financial suc- cessful businessman—for a kid who fying thing about it was the tidy Trump and his billionaire-laden more is usually entailed.
cess tended to dominate the conver- never finished high school, an im- means of keeping score: How much, cabinet are discovering. In government, unlike business,
sation. Since Lou Riskin had made a mensely successful one—but too in hard cash, did one come out with many things cannot be delegated.
killing in the mail-order business, well-mannered to wish to dominate in the end? Careful study may be sufficient for
the assumption was that he had these living-room discussions. Yet I am someone who finds it diffi- It’s now obvious financial determining where to build a new
penetrating things to say on the he had no argument with the un- cult to think about money for more success does not easily hotel, but an understanding of var-
subject of urban renewal. Saul derlying rules of the game. As an than two minutes at a time. I rather ied, often subtle human motives is
Levine had run the most successful adolescent, I heard several of his envy those who have earned enough transfer into other realms. required to compose and pass a
Buick agency in the city, therefore business homilies: If you work for a money to sit out forever from the complex piece of legislation.
definitely worth listening to him man for a dollar an hour, always financial wars, but I don’t envy That financial success doesn’t
hold forth on welfare. give him two dollars worth of ef- them sufficiently to drop the things President Trump’s first weeks in easily, or always, transfer into other
When I hear Donald Trump talk, I fort; you make your money not in that interest me more in order to office demonstrate the hubris of the realms is now obvious. Let’s hope
think of how much at home he selling, but in buying right; you emulate them. Moneymaking seems plutocrat. The defeats began with that the evidence on display during
would have felt in those living can’t argue with success. a useful skill, but not much more. his releasing an immigration order the early days of his administration
rooms. The guy’s a multibillionaire, That last bit was the only one I’ve known too many ninnies who neither well thought out nor even will soon humble even so arrogant a
seem to have mastered it to be in quite legal. He obviously didn’t in- man as America’s new president.
thrall myself. vestigate thoroughly the men he Donald Trump and those who sup-
A strong argument can be made hired for key positions in his cam- port him ought to think about argu-
PUBLISHED SINCE 1889 BY DOW JONES & COMPANY that, contra Trump, success in busi- paign (Paul Manafort) or his admin- ing with success, at least as the plu-
Rupert Murdoch Robert Thomson ness is too narrow to transfer to istration (Mike Flynn). On health tocrats construe it.
Executive Chairman, News Corp Chief Executive Officer, News Corp other realms. Orderly thought is care, he evidently had no notion of
Gerard Baker William Lewis needed for success of any kind. So, the variety of views within his newly Mr. Epstein’s books include “Fro-
Editor in Chief Chief Executive Officer and Publisher too, the clarity to get outside one- adopted party. zen in Time: Twenty Stories” and
Matthew J. Murray DOW JONES MANAGEMENT: self to grasp the larger forces in- I’ve not read “The Art of the “Wind Sprints: Shorter Essays.”
Deputy Editor in Chief Mark Musgrave, Chief People Officer;
DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORS: Edward Roussel, Innovation & Communications;
Anna Sedgley, Chief Operating Officer & CFO;
FROM LEFT: GETTY IMAGES; RYAN DONNELL FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
President Richard Nixon in the
Oval Office. Nixon’s advice to wait
watchfully in the wings before be-
coming king didn’t sit well with
the 21-year-old heir apparent.
“To be just a presence would be
fatal,” Charles wrote in his diary,
railing at the notion of “saying
meaningless niceties.”
The account, from a biography
out April 4, reveals a young man
“who didn’t want to spend his life
cutting ribbons,” says the author,
Sally Bedell Smith. Although the
Prince of Wales has devoted con-
siderable time to fox hunting, gar-
dening and painting watercolors,
he “is absolutely driven by this
sense that he has to accomplish all
sorts of things,” Mrs. Smith says. The book reveals the prince was pressured to marry Diana, left with princes
In “Prince Charles: The Passions William and Harry, by his father. Above, author Sally Bedell Smith.
and Paradoxes of an Improbable
Life,” Mrs. Smith decodes a very paralyzed by in- ents preoccupied by their duties,
private public figure whose de- decision—and Charles turned to his grandmother
cades of philanthropy have re- impervious to for affection. “The first part of his
ceived less tabloid coverage than advice. “Proba- life was completely dictated by”
his romances and occasional bly one flaw is Charles’s father, Prince Philip, Mrs.
gaffes. Overshadowed by his daz- his unwilling- Smith says. “He went to schools
zling first wife, Lady Diana Spen- ness to listen to that he hated and went into the
cer, Charles ultimately was re- other points of Navy as he was commanded to
deemed by his second, Camilla view,” Mrs. do.”
Parker Bowles, whom he wed in Smith says. Although a stickler for protocol
2005. “The game-changer in his “He’s very stub- with a sharp temper, Charles has
life was marrying Camilla,” Mrs. born when it mellowed over time, Mrs. Smith
Smith says. comes to pushing his point of says. A Monty Python fan, he has a
Paradoxes dot the life of a man view.” self-deprecating sense of humor
who moves in rarified circles but Mrs. Smith first crossed paths and sustains a good-natured ri-
is most at ease in the countryside, with Prince Charles in 1991 at a valry with his sister Anne, the
where he spends hours weeding conditions before the Industrial out,” she says, citing one person polo match in England. Among the Princess Royal, to tally the most
and tending to hedges. If he hadn’t Revolution. Charles doesn’t like who served Charles’s mother, seven biographies she has written appearances every year.
been born into the royal family, computers and replies to emails Queen Elizabeth II, for almost 20 are lives of Queen Elizabeth II, as The heir apparent since the age
“he would have been a farmer,” with fountain-penned energetic years before going to work for the well as Diana, the Princess of of three, Charles has waited a re-
Mrs. Smith says. scrawls known in England as his Prince of Wales. The employee Wales, who died in 1997. cord stretch of time to become
In the early 1990s, Charles ad- “black spider” memos. found the shift “a total shock to Charles’s life is improbable, king. Queen Elizabeth, who will be
vocated to “radically modernize” The 68-year-old prince does the system,” according to Mrs. Mrs. Smith says, because it follows 91 this month, is Britain’s longest-
the monarchy, in part by slimming know how to use a smart phone Smith. “He said, ‘In the whole time a jagged arc compared with his reigning sovereign. Mrs. Smith de-
down the royal payroll. But the and to text, Mrs. Smith says, a I worked for the Queen, she never mother’s smooth grooming for the scribes how as a boy, Charles
fervent modernizer also is an un- concession largely to communicate called me on the weekend. And the throne. Charles “was caught be- watched his 27-year-old mother
apologetic luddite, who bought with his staff. There has been first weekend I worked for Prince tween the modern world and the practice for her coronation, walk-
property in Romania’s Transylva- churn among employees because Charles, he called me five times.’ ” world of his parents, his mother in ing around the nursery wearing a
nia in part to experience life in the energetic royal “wears people The exacting prince can seem particular,” she says. With his par- bejeweled crown.
© 2017 Dow Jones & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. 6DJ5059
TECHNOLOGY: CANADA PUSHES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INITIATIVES B4
Euro vs. Dollar 1.0664 À 0.08% FTSE 100 7282.69 g 0.55% Gold 1250.80 À 0.28% WTI crude 50.24 g 0.71% German Bund yield 0.278% 10-Year Treasury yield 2.351%
BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS
BY ROBERT MCMILLAN sessment hinged on a 2014 rea, said Vitaly Kamluk, a re-
Federal Bureau of Investigation searcher with Kaspersky.
Fight
A newly discovered digital claim that one Lazarus hack— North Korea has “very little
clue links the hacking group the compromise of Sony Pic- presence on the internet, and
blamed for a multimillion-dol- tures Entertainment in 2014— the chances that this is just a
lar cyberattack on Bangla- was conducted by North Korea. random connection are ex-
desh’s central bank to a com- Although The Wall Street tremely small,” Mr. Kamluk said. BY STU WOO
puter in North Korea, Journal reported last month As with most developments
according to the Russian cy- that the FBI is pursuing a in the shadowy world of com- Bangladesh Bank’s account at the New York Fed was attacked. LONDON—A small but criti-
bersecurity company Kasper- criminal case linking North Ko- puter intrusions, this latest cal Apple Inc. supplier here is
sky Lab ZAO. rea to Lazarus’s activity, the piece of evidence isn’t conclu- spectively, the Lazarus group into computer networks and raising the prospect of a pat-
Kaspersky announced Mon- agency hasn’t provided any sive. It is technically possible, has been active since at least lurk undetected for months be- ent fight with the smartphone
day at its security conference public evidence to substantiate for example, for someone to 2009 and recently has targeted fore attacking, the security ex- giant after Apple said it would
on the Caribbean island of St. the alleged North Korean link. hack the North Korean com- banks in Europe and the U.S., perts said. The Lazarus group stop using its technology to
Maarten that its researchers Multiple calls to the North puter and connect it to the Mr. Kamluk said. Lazarus is a is suspected of stealing $81 process graphics in its iPhones
had obtained digital records Korean mission to the United Lazarus server to throw off in- name given to a group of the million from Bangladesh Bank’s and other devices.
showing a European server Nations went unanswered. vestigators, Mr. Kamluk said. hackers by security research- account at the Federal Reserve Shares of Imagination
used by the group to launch its The newly discovered evi- Although the attacks against ers. Often, as with the Bangla- Bank of New York last year af- Technologies Group PLC fell
attacks exchanged data in Jan- dence came from a rare techni- Sony and Bangladesh Bank oc- desh central-bank hack, the ter initiating fraudulent orders as much as 70% in London
uary with a computer that had cal error by the Lazarus hack- curred in 2014 and 2016, re- Lazarus hackers quietly break asking for nearly $1 billion. trading after it disclosed that
Apple—its biggest customer—
would stop using Imagination
The Dollar
technology in the graphics
processing units in its devices
within 15 months to two years.
Gets Its
Graphics processing units,
or GPUs, are computer chips
that power videos and other
Flow Back
animations on smartphones,
computers and other gadgets.
Imagination runs its business
based on intellectual prop-
ing the pressure on Japa- ing out of their lanes are in- Illinois, recently bought a About 14% of vehicles sold
nese banks to find yield in creasingly available on vehi- 2017 Volkswagen Passat to
sensors when driver- in the 2016 model-year were
the U.S. cles rolling off assembly replace a two-year-old assisted cars crash. equipped with collision-miti-
But the flow of dollars lines. Auto companies and model. It was loaded with so- gation technology, according
around the system is work- third-party researchers say called active safety equip- to WardsAuto.com. Some in-
ing better elsewhere, too. these features help prevent ment. So he wasn’t expecting surers estimate 25% to 50% of
The cross-currency basis
against euros has also al-
crashes and are building
blocks to self-driving cars. But
his State Farm insurance-pol-
icy premiums to jump 20% to
Mr. Woods ended up nego-
tiating a price reduction with
all vehicles on the road will
have to have forward-collision-
ENERGY’S
most halved, taking it back progress comes with a price. $1,200 a year. State Farm. prevention systems before ac- BEST-PAYING
to where it was a year ago.
The extra cost over Treasury
Enabling the safety tech
are cameras, sensors, micro-
“I was told by the car deal-
ership all the technology
Insurance sticker shock is a
blow to auto makers looking
cident rates decline enough to
offset higher repair costs.
JOBS
yields of swapping fixed for processors and other hard- would improve the cost of in- to increase adoption of high- It now costs $166 to fix a
Please see STREET page B2 ware whose repair costs can surance,” Mr. Woods said. “In- tech safety packages, which Please see SAFETY page B2 FINANCE & MARKETS, B5
B2 | Tuesday, April 4, 2017 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
BUBBLE
G Microsoft.....................B4 Z In 2010, when Australian vance and that it was there- seem to be working. Web
General Motors...........A1 Morgan Stanley..........A8 Zillow Group...............A8 prices last rose sharply, the fore better to clean up after- searches in China for Vancou-
Goldman Sachs GroupA8 Movement Mortgage..B5 Zynga .......................... A8 Reserve Bank of Australia ward rather than try to ver properties dropped 37% in
tightened policy to cool down influence their growth. Now, December compared with a
–0.6 0.3
–0.7 0.2
–0.8 0.1
–0.9 0
2015 ’16 ’17 2015 ’16 ’17
*Through 4:10 p.m. BST Monday †Spread of London Interbank Offered Rate above overnight indexed swaps. Data through Friday
Source: Thomson Reuters THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
BUSINESS NEWS
Schneider
Electric
Mustard Maker Looks for Buyer
Reckitt Benckiser shopping around a food busi-
ness: Danone SA of France last
starts strategic review
To Sell of French’s food unit;
week put its Stonyfield or-
ganic-yogurt unit up for sale,
seeking to clear the biggest
higher margins prized
DTN Unit BY DENISE ROLAND
antitrust hurdle to its $10.4
billion acquisition of White-
Wave Foods Co.
BY BEN DUMMETT On Friday, Reckitt disclosed
AND NOEMIE BISSERBE French’s mustard is up for in its annual report that the
sale. board cut Mr. Kapoor’s pay
French power-equipment Reckitt Benckiser Group last year after a scandal at the
a small part of DTN’s business. sales and a heavy debt load. and report to Mr. Drexler. prevent them from blocking
It also collects and electroni- Ms. Lyons has been with Ms. Lyons couldn’t immedi- the company’s transfer of in-
cally transmits weather infor- the company for 26 years and ately be reached for comment. tellectual property to an off-
mation to farmers, primarily is the No. 2 executive to CEO In a press release she said, “I shore subsidiary and out of
in the U.S. on a subscription Mickey Drexler. She is often am excited about the next their grasp.
basis, to help them determine credited as the creative force chapter for J. Crew as well as J. Crew Group, which in-
the best time to plant certain behind the brand’s signature the opportunity for other cre- cludes the Madewell chain, re-
crops. Other customers that looks, pairing casual pieces ative leaders within the organ- cently reported a loss of $23.5
depend on up-to-date weather with formal wear. She was po- ization to step up and take on million as revenue fell 3% to
information are as varied as sitioned as the brand’s aspira- new responsibilities.” $2.43 billion in the fiscal year
airlines and professional golf tional spokesmodel, and the The retailer and its inves- ended Jan. 28.
associations. company featured Jenna’s tors have been gearing up to “We have taken important
DTN offers a similar service Picks of must-have pieces on battle over a potential restruc- steps to improve our perfor-
for refined fuel aimed at the its website. turing of its roughly $2 billion mance and are confident that
energy sector. Traders also sub- Ms. Lyons will serve as a in debt. The company was the team in place will continue
scribe to the company’s com- consultant until her contract taken private in 2011 in a lev- these efforts,” Mr. Drexler said
modity-market data service. Jenna Lyons posed at Café Boulud in Toronto in 2015. expires in December, the com- eraged buyout by a group of in Monday’s release
What truly differentiates a law firm is how it serves its clients. When our
clients tell us that the quality of our work and the experience of working
©2017 K&L Gates LLP. All rights reserved.
TECHNOLOGY WSJ.com/Tech
Canada Aims to
Become AI Player
BY DANIELA HERNANDEZ ridi, the minister of research,
AND DAVID GEORGE-COSH innovation and science for On-
tario.
Canada wants to be an arti- At an event last week with
ficial-intelligence hotbed. Mr. Trudeau, Ford Motor Co.
Don Walker, chief executive unveiled plans to invest C$500
of Canadian auto-parts giant million to hire 400 engineers
Magna International Inc. from BlackBerry Ltd.’s mobil-
hosted a number of the coun- ity-solutions unit to help de-
try’s leading executives, scien- velop internet-connected vehi-
tists and politicians, including cles and create a new
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, research-and-development
at his summer home in July to center in Ottawa.
mull ways Canada could move The irony, according to Ca-
past its reliance on natural-re- nadian academics, is that basic
source exports. Artificial intel- research that has enabled
GENE J. PUSKAR/ASSOCIATED PRESS
BUSINESS NEWS
business booms, Fyre’s strug- More established festivals ties. Between 6,000 and 7,000
To promote a new music gles highlight the difficulty of owned by promotion giants people are expected to come
festival this spring in the Ba- getting such an event off the such as Live Nation Entertain- for each of the festival’s two
hamas, an assortment of bi- ground. ment Inc. and AEG, by con- weekends, according to people
kini-clad supermodels in De- Interest in high-end, desti- trast, usually pay much familiar with the matter.
cember began appearing in nation festivals has soared re- smaller advances. The delayed artist pay-
beach photos on Instagram, cently thanks to successes General admission prices ments and miscommunication
with tags mentioning the Fyre such as Anschutz Entertain- for the Fyre Festival are sig- were due in part to their ini-
Festival, billed as “the cultural ment Group’s classic rock- nificantly more than tickets tial focus on building the elab-
experience of the decade.” themed Desert Trip event last for events produced by Live orate infrastructure needed to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, shown last week.
The festival is slated to year. The event in Indio, Calif., Nation and other big promot- host the festival in the Exuma
BUSINESS WATCH
start in less than a month, but where the more known ers. Cays, a 365-island archipelago
some involved are worried Coachella festival is also held, Fyre’s creative director, in the Bahamas, people close
there might be trouble in par- is the company’s highest- Mark Musters, said the festival to the festival said. The pro-
adise. grossing and most profitable is aimed at millennials and is moters also lacked festival ex-
Its organizers missed a se- event to date, according to intended to “capture those In- perience, struggling to field GRAB patients as part of an illegal
ries of deadlines to make ad- people familiar with the mat- stagram moments” in an “off- additional requests from art- scheme to secure sales.
vance payments to performers. ter. line experience.” ists and managers, the people Ride Service Buys The lawsuit, which is seeking
Last week, some artists still But festivals typically are Mr. Abrahao, the DJ, said it said. Indonesia’s Kudo class-action status, is the latest
hadn’t been paid what they unprofitable in their early was the first public event to Artists were paid out of the fallout from patient anger over
were owed based on the terms years, industry executives which he could invite his pri- pockets of Fyre Media’s co- Ride-hailing company Grab the cost of EpiPens, the lifesav-
of their contracts, according to said, and face greater upfront vate-event clients, “really founders: Billy McFarland, a said it was acquiring the Indone- ing allergy treatments whose
people familiar with the mat- costs because musicians’ rep- wealthy people who don’t computer programmer and en- sian e-commerce company Kudo price Mylan has raised nearly
ter, but the event’s promoters resentatives typically demand come to clubs.” trepreneur, and rapper Ja for an undisclosed sum, and said 550% to $609 for a two-pack.
in recent days made progress first-year festivals pay at least The Fyre Festival is to take Rule, according to people close that it hopes to expand its on- A spokeswoman for Mylan
in catching up with payments, 50% of their fee just to put place over two weekends, the to the event. The two men are line payments network in the said the company was starting
and in some cases have paid their clients’ names on the last in April and the first in seeking outside investment to country. to review the lawsuit and didn’t
acts in full. bill, and 100% of their fee be- May, and cost $1,500 to pay for festival costs and have Grab’s acquisition of Kudo have an immediate comment.
And some fans who bought fore they travel to the event $250,000 a person for one held discussions with potential paves the way for the Singa- The complaint was filed in
tickets—which include accom- investors, including Comcast pore-based company to expand federal court in Seattle by the
modations and private air Corp.’s Comcast Ventures, but its offerings beyond ride-hailing Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro
transportation from Miami— haven’t closed a deal with any services, by moving into online LLP law firm on behalf of three
have been nervous as the fes- of them, these people added. payments and e-commerce in In- EpiPen patients. It follows a sim-
tival’s “concierge” team has Still, Fyre expects it will donesia. ilar such pricing lawsuit that the
been slow to provide them turn a slight profit this year, Kudo allows customers with- firm filed in January against
with logistical details. and has been gradually raising out access to traditional banking drug companies that make insu-
The festival, which is pro- ticket prices in order to do so, services to shop online. lin.
moted by Fyre Media Inc., so people close to the festival The ride-hailing company said The latest lawsuit alleged
far has 35 acts on the bill, in- said. it plans to invest $700 million in Mylan violated a federal racke-
AMY HARRIS/INVISION/ASSOCIATED PRESS
cluding Blink-182 and Beto General-admission tickets Indonesia over the next four teering statute and various
Abrahao, a DJ who specializes sold out within weeks of the years to help develop the coun- states’ consumer-protection laws
in producing ’70s and ’80s December announcement, said try’s digital economy. by raising the EpiPen’s list price
rock remixes for clients that a person close to the event, —Dan Strumpf in order to give a share of the
include Middle Eastern and thanks not just to the super- proceeds to pharmacy-benefit
European royalty. models but to 400 other en- MYLAN managers, or PBMs, and ensure
A Fyre spokeswoman said tertainers—from football play- the device was available for sale
“artists have been paid ac- ers to comedians—who all Drugmaker Faces to patients. PBMs manage phar-
cording to terms.” As for the posted on social media the Another EpiPen Suit macy benefits for employers and
ticket holders, the spokes- same mysterious burnt-orange insurers, and can influence which
woman said it confirmed all color tile with the hashtag Mylan NV was hit Monday drugs are covered by placing
guests’ charter flight times Mark Hoppus, left, and Travis Barker of Blink-182 on stage. The #FyreFestival, reaching 500 with a lawsuit alleging the drug them on preferred lists.
late last week. band will perform at the Fyre Festival in the Bahamas this spring. million viewers in 24 hours. company overcharged EpiPen —Jonathan D. Rockoff
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Tuesday, April 4, 2017 | B5
Bank
18
from Home Depot Inc. to a 2 $4,239
ment plan, according to re-
mortgage lender—are taking 2,000 cordkeepers and economists.
17
steps to warn workers of the Most plans also allow peo-
FINANCE WATCH
that was split from the deal-
advisory and transaction-
banking businesses in late
2015.
Plans are being drawn up LOUIS DREYFUS Dreyfus was in line with the pre- to end a blockade, officials said
for new, adjacent offices to be vious year at 81 million metric Monday.
constructed for the invest- Profit Rose in 2016 tons. About a week ago, an armed
ment-bank co-heads, Mr. Despite Grain Surplus The financial results of the group blocked a pipeline trans-
Schenck and current markets dominant agricultural trading porting oil from Sharara, which
chief Garth Ritchie, on the Agricultural commodities houses—Archer Daniels Midland pumps about 200,000 barrels a
fourth floor of Deutsche trader Louis Dreyfus Co. BV re- Co., Bunge Ltd., Cargill and day—nearly a third of the coun-
Bank’s London headquarters, ported a rise in 2016 income on Dreyfus—have suffered in recent try’s production at the time—in
people with knowledge of the Monday despite another year of years from three consecutive Libya’s Western Sahara. The
plans say. That floor is home ample supplies of grain. large global grain crops, but gunmen were protesting arrears
to a reduced European stock- The Switzerland-based, pri- there are signs of improvement. in wages for protecting the area.
DADO GALDIERI/BLOOMBERG
trading business. vately held company reported Last week, Cargill, the largest Following talks with the au-
net income, group share, of of the four, said that quarterly thorities, the militia has agreed
$305 million for 2016, up from net income in the period ended to reopen the facility, officials
The investment bank $211 million the previous year.
The total was well below the
Feb. 28 rose 42% to $650 mil-
lion. —Sarah Mcfarlane
with the National Oil Co. said.
The return of Sharara’s pro-
is narrowing its client 2014 net-income level of $648 duction is a setback for the Or-
roster while trying to million.
“Oversupply, market shocks,
GUNVOR GROUP
Sugar cane is harvested at a Dreyfus farm in 2012.
ganization of the Petroleum Ex-
porting Countries, which is
recover market share. geopolitical dynamics and ad- Oil Trader Earns Less seeking to scale back output to
verse weather conditions were billion in 2015, when it finished LIBYA boost prices. The effort has also
some of the difficulties that the Profits slipped last year at divesting itself of its Russian as- been hindered by resurgent U.S.
agribusiness industry had to Gunvor Group after asset sales sets in a move to diversify. Output of Crude production.
Mr. von zur Mühlen previ- face during 2016,” said Chief Ex- provided a one-time boost to The firm said the 2016 under- Restarts at Key Field Futures for Brent, the inter-
ously was a senior European ecutive Officer Gonzalo Ramírez the firm’s results in 2015. lying profit increased from the national benchmark grade of oil,
debt capital-markets and de- Martiarena. The privately held oil-trading previous year, but it didn’t dis- Production has resumed at closed down 41 cents a barrel, or
rivatives banker at Deutsche The volume of grain and firm said that net profit was close figures. Libya’s largest oil field after au- 0.8%, at $53.12.
Bank. His fate as the longtime other products shipped by Louis $312 million, down from $1.25 —Sarah Mcfarlane thorities convinced a local militia —Benoit Faucon
treasurer has been a subject of
speculation inside and outside
Deutsche Bank because some
co-workers and investors saw
him as a potential successor to
Mr. Schenck as CFO, according
Energy’s Best-Paying Job? CEO of Bankrupt Firm
to people close to the bank. A When Ultra Petroleum Natural gas prices closed at higher or lower depending on have filed for bankruptcy pro-
Deutsche Bank spokeswoman Corp. emerges from bank- $3.19 per million British ther- how the company’s stock tection since 2014, when a
declined to comment on his ruptcy protection in coming mal units on Friday, twice the trades. global glut of crude caused en-
behalf. weeks, as expected, the natu- price that pushed Ultra into The situation shows how ergy prices to collapse. Those
Deutsche Bank’s new trea- ral gas producer’s chief execu- bankruptcy but down about timing and the ability to hang companies, which include oil
surer will come from the mar- tive is on track to be rewarded 19% from their year-end highs. on can be everything in the oil and gas producers, pipeline
kets division: Dixit Joshi is with roughly $35 million of its Jerry Winchester, CEO of industry. Investors in compa- operators and oil-field-service
moving into the job after over- stock, more than 10 times his Seventy Seven Energy Inc., nies that sought bankruptcy providers, collectively re-
MATTHEW STAVER/BLOOMBERG NEWS
seeing fixed-income sales annual compensation in recent was awarded 440,000 shares protection last year when en- ported about $118 billion of
globally since late 2015, ac- years. in August, valued at about ergy prices were at their low- debt, according to law firm
cording to people familiar Michael Watford, the CEO, $6.6 million, when the drilling est levels caught the rebound Haynes and Boone LLP.
with the pending move. Dis- and other employees are shar- contractor emerged from and have generally fared bet- Executives aren’t the only
cussions about the plans were ing 7.5% of Ultra’s new shares, bankruptcy protection, accord- ones benefiting. Creditors of
earlier reported by eFinancial- a fairly typical cut awarded to ing to securities filings. bankrupt energy companies
$35M
Careers. managers of companies The shares immediately are doing much better than
Mr. Joshi’s departure from emerging from bankruptcy climbed from their initial price they were a year ago.
global markets is the latest ex- protection to incentivize them of $15, and on Dec. 13 made a While many of last year’s
ample of change in client-fac- to stick around. Companies huge leap above $40 when ri- bankruptcy filers have yet to
ing roles in the investment usually issue new stock when Ultra CEO Michael Watford val Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. Approximate award in stock Mr. emerge from bankruptcy pro-
bank. Deutsche Bank is still they emerge from bankruptcy, announced a deal to buy Sev- Watford is on track to receive tection, the average recovery
narrowing its client roster replacing the old shares. that size to exist after bank- enty Seven for $1.76 billion. rate for debtholders in eight
while trying to win back mar- What’s unusual in Ultra’s ruptcy. It resulted largely from Seventy Seven representa- that have is about 41%, up
ket share it has lost in key ar- case is the size of the pie from gas prices roughly doubling tives didn't respond to re- from the 21% of value they re-
eas. which that slice is coming: The from a year ago. Ultra filed for quests for comment. ter, compared with those in- covered in 2015’s bankrupt-
A number of employees, in- company’s postbankruptcy eq- bankruptcy protection in April As for Ultra, some of the vested in companies that suc- cies, according to Moody’s In-
cluding some in the invest- uity value has been set at last year after low gas prices shares due to be distributed to cumbed to the oil bust early vestors Service. Historically,
ment bank and trading divi- about $4 billion, meaning that pushed its earnings relative to executives are subject to vest- on and grappled with prices the average recovery in energy
sion, have been discussed as its employees are due some debt below thresholds spelled ing schedules, and the num- that kept plunging even after producer bankruptcies is
potential CFO candidates, but $300 million of stock, 40% of out in agreements with credi- bers may change subject to they had filed. about 59%, according to
people close to the bank say it to be doled out the day its tors. pending litigation. The values More than 250 U.S. and Ca- Moody’s, which tracks only
Deutsche Bank executives have new shares are launched, ac- Mr. Watford declined to also might swing significantly nadian oil-and-gas companies large cases.
signaled that an external hire cording to court filings and comment through a spokes-
is more likely. people familiar with the mat- woman. Ultra has said it ex-
The latest investment-bank
overhaul has stoked fresh con-
ter. The rest would be distrib-
uted at the discretion of its
pects to emerge from bank-
ruptcy by mid-April. In 2015,
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B6 | Tuesday, April 4, 2017 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
MARKETS DIGEST
Nikkei 225 Index STOXX 600 Index S&P 500 Index Data as of 4 p.m. New York time
Last Year ago
18983.23 s 73.97, or 0.39% Year-to-date t 0.69% 379.29 t 1.85, or 0.49% Year-to-date s 4.94% 2358.84 t 3.88, or 0.16% Trailing P/E ratio * 24.75 23.82
High, low, open and close for each 52-wk high/low 19633.75 14952.02 High, low, open and close for each 52-wk high/low 381.14 308.75 High, low, open and close for each P/E estimate * 18.28 17.49
trading day of the past three months. All-time high 38915.87 12/29/89 trading day of the past three months. All-time high 414.06 4/15/15 trading day of the past three months. Dividend yield 1.97 2.20
All-time high: 2395.96, 03/01/17
International Stock Indexes Data as of 4 p.m. New York time Global government bonds
Latest 52-Week Range YTD Latest, month-ago and year-ago yields and spreads over or under U.S. Treasurys on benchmark two-year
Region/Country Index Close NetChg % chg Low Close High % chg and 10-year government bonds around the world. Data as of 3 p.m. ET
World The Global Dow 2685.06 –7.11 –0.26 2193.75 • 2720.47 6.2 Country/ Spread Over Treasurys, in basis points Yield
MSCI EAFE 1787.99 –4.99 –0.28 1471.88 • 1956.39 4.2 Coupon Maturity, in years Yield Latest Previous Month Ago Year ago Previous Month ago Year ago
MSCI EM USD 963.82 5.45 0.57 691.21 • 1044.05 21.4 5.250 Australia 2 1.752 51.8 50.4 52.4 122.1 1.758 1.833 1.957
4.750 10 2.687 33.9 31.6 33.5 76.6 2.702 2.815 2.537
Americas DJ Americas 568.86 –0.95 –0.17 480.90 • 577.65 5.3
3.000 Belgium 2 -178.9 -178.2 -185.0 -116.5 -0.528 -0.541 -0.429
-0.555
Brazil Sao Paulo Bovespa 65156.72 172.65 0.27 47873.65 • 69487.58 8.2
0.800 10 0.820 -152.9 -154.7 -167.5 -139.6 0.839 0.805 0.376
Canada S&P/TSX Comp 15576.05 28.30 0.18 13217.17 • 15943.09 1.9
0.000 France 2 -0.504 -173.8 -172.4 -179.7 -117.1 -0.470 -0.488 -0.435
Mexico IPC All-Share 48803.39 261.83 0.54 43902.25 • 49523.94 6.9
0.250 10 0.951 -139.7 -142.7 -153.0 -130.2 0.959 0.950 0.470
Chile Santiago IPSA 3698.63 6.28 0.17 2998.64 • 3764.58 14.8
0.000 Germany 2 -0.803 -203.7 -199.6 -212.3 -120.7 -0.742 -0.813 -0.471
U.S. DJIA 20650.21 –13.01 –0.06 17063.08 • 21169.11 4.5
0.250 10 0.278 -207.0 -205.7 -212.8 -163.6 0.329 0.352 0.135
Nasdaq Composite 5894.68 –17.06 –0.29 4574.25 • 5928.93 9.5
0.300 Italy 2 -0.077 -131.1 -131.5 -135.8 -76.0 -0.061 -0.049 -0.024
S&P 500 2358.84 –3.88 –0.16 1991.68 • 2400.98 5.4
1.250 10 2.144 -20.5 -24.3 -37.6 -54.9 2.143 2.104 1.223
CBOE Volatility 12.44 0.07 0.57 9.97 • 26.72 –11.4
0.100 Japan 2 -0.167 -140.1 -144.7 -159.4 -95.4 -0.193 -0.285 -0.218
EMEA Stoxx Europe 600 379.29 –1.85 –0.49 308.75 • 381.14 4.9 0.100 10 0.075 -227.3 -231.7 -240.6 -183.4 0.069 0.074 -0.062
Stoxx Europe 50 3145.86 –14.83 –0.47 2626.52 • 3174.79 4.5 4.000 Netherlands 2 -0.759 -199.3 -196.6 -209.7 -122.1 -0.712 -0.788 -0.485
Austria ATX 2844.90 16.11 0.57 1981.93 • 2867.67 8.6 0.750 10 0.539 -180.9 -180.9 -187.7 -155.2 0.577 0.603 0.220
Belgium Bel-20 3800.44 –16.58 –0.43 3127.94 • 3823.19 5.4 4.450 Portugal 2 -0.166 -140.0 -139.9 -132.4 -50.1 -0.145 -0.015 0.235
France CAC 40 5085.91 –36.60 –0.71 3955.98 • 5132.93 4.6 2.875 10 3.565 121.7 126.0 143.1 96.2 3.645 3.911 2.733
Germany DAX 12257.20 –55.67 –0.45 9214.10 • 12375.58 6.8 2.750 Spain 2 -0.219 -145.3 -144.0 -161.1 -72.6 -0.186 -0.302 0.010
Greece ATG 667.32 1.26 0.19 517.10 • 674.97 3.7 1.500 10 1.637 -71.1 -74.0 -88.1 -40.2 1.645 1.599 1.370
Hungary BUX 31788.40 154.14 0.49 25126.36 • 34334.92 –0.7 4.250 Sweden 2 -0.606 -184.0 -186.5 -190.3 -138.1 -0.611 -0.594 -0.645
Israel Tel Aviv 1394.65 –1.36 –0.10 1372.23 • 1504.42 –5.2 1.000 10 0.593 -175.5 -178.5 -178.8 -101.1 0.601 0.692 0.760
Italy FTSE MIB 20242.88 –250.06 –1.22 15017.42 • 20540.39 5.2 1.750 U.K. 2 0.109 -112.5 -112.5 -121.6 -30.7 0.129 0.093 0.429
Netherlands AEX 513.45 –3.09 –0.60 409.23 • 518.88 6.3 4.250 10 1.066 -128.3 -124.4 -129.6 -36.0 1.142 1.184 1.411
Poland WIG 58636.31 725.00 1.25 42812.99 • 60631.65 13.3 1.250 U.S. 2 1.234 ... ... ... ... 1.254 1.309 0.736
Russia RTS Index 1122.98 9.22 0.83 839.62 • 1196.99 –2.5 2.250 10 2.348 ... ... ... ... 2.386 2.480 1.772
Spain IBEX 35 10325.30 –137.60 –1.32 7579.80 • 10462.90 10.4
Sweden SX All Share 558.53 –4.41 –0.78 443.66 • 564.93 4.5 Commodities Prices of futures contracts with the most open interest 3:30 p.m. New York time
Switzerland Swiss Market 8633.86 –25.03 –0.29 7475.54 • 8710.26 5.0 EXCHANGE LEGEND: CBOT: Chicago Board of Trade; CME: Chicago Mercantile Exchange; ICE-US: ICE Futures U.S.; MDEX: Bursa Malaysia
South Africa Johannesburg All Share 52457.76 401.70 0.77 48935.90 • 54704.22 3.6 Derivatives Berhad; TCE: Tokyo Commodity Exchange; COMEX: Commodity Exchange; LME: London Metal Exchange;
NYMEX: New York Mercantile Exchange; ICE-EU: ICE Futures Europe. *Data as of 3/31/2017
Turkey BIST 100 88669.47 –277.93 –0.31 70426.16 • 91497.00 13.5
One-Day Change Year Year
U.K. FTSE 100 7282.69 –40.23 –0.55 5788.74 • 7447.00 2.0 Commodity Exchange Last price Net Percentage high low
367.25 3.00 0.82% 387.25 354.25
Asia-Pacific DJ Asia-Pacific TSM 1555.71 8.14 0.53 1308.52 • 1570.38 9.3 Corn (cents/bu.) CBOT
Soybeans (cents/bu.) 939.50 -6.50 -0.69% 1,088.25 937.25
Australia S&P/ASX 200 5872.70 7.80 0.13 4924.40 • 5896.20 3.7
Wheat (cents/bu.)
CBOT
CBOT 428.00 1.50 0.35 477.00 416.25
China Shanghai Composite 3222.51 … Closed 2806.91 • 3282.92 3.8
Live cattle (cents/lb.) CME 110.675 -0.200 -0.18 114.200 103.150
Hong Kong Hang Seng 24261.48 149.89 0.62 19694.33 • 24593.12 10.3
Cocoa ($/ton) ICE-US 2,099 4 0.19 2,273 1,869
India S&P BSE Sensex 29910.22 289.72 0.98 24673.84 • 29910.22 12.3
Coffee (cents/lb.) ICE-US 137.70 -1.60 -1.15 159.30 136.20
Japan Nikkei Stock Avg 18983.23 73.97 0.39 14952.02 • 19633.75 –0.7
Sugar (cents/lb.) ICE-US 16.48 -0.28 -1.67 21.21 16.47
Singapore Straits Times 3187.51 12.40 0.39 2729.85 • 3187.51 10.6
Cotton (cents/lb.) ICE-US 75.48 -1.85 -2.39 79.46 71.55
South Korea Kospi 2167.51 7.28 0.34 1925.24 • 2178.38 7.0 Robusta coffee ($/ton) ICE-EU 2151.00 2.00 0.09 2,279.00 2,093.00
Taiwan Weighted 9811.52 … Closed 8053.69 • 9972.49 6.0
Copper ($/lb.) COMEX 2.6060 -0.0465 -1.75 2.8360 2.4800
Source: SIX Financial Information;WSJ Market Data Group Gold ($/troy oz.) COMEX 1254.20 3.00 0.24 1,268.10 1,152.20
Silver ($/troy oz.) COMEX 18.220 -0.036 -0.20 18.540 16.000
Currencies London close on April 3 Aluminum ($/mt)* LME 1,954.50 -5.50 -0.28 1,960.00 1,688.50
Tin ($/mt)* LME 20,000.00 -50.00 -0.25 21,225.00 18,760.00
Yen, euro vs. dollar; dollar vs. major U.S. trading partners US$vs,
Mon YTDchg Copper ($/mt)* LME 5,865.50 -15.50 -0.26 6,156.00 5,518.00
Country/currency in US$ per US$ (%) Lead ($/mt)* LME 2,319.00 -30.50 -1.30 2,445.00 2,022.00
20%
Europe Zinc ($/mt)* LME 2,802.00 -46.50 -1.63 2,958.50 2,555.00
Bulgaria lev 0.5447 1.8358 –1.2 Nickel ($/mt)* LME 9,955.00 -55.00 -0.55 11,095.00 9,430.00
10 WSJ Dollar index
0.1436 6.966 –2.9
s
Croatia kuna Rubber (Y.01/ton) TCE 245.00 ... unch. n.a. n.a.
sYen Euro zone euro 1.0664 0.9378 –1.4
0 Palm oil (MYR/mt) MDEX 2663.00 17.00 0.64 3068.00 2642.00
Czech Rep. koruna-b 0.0394 25.370 –1.2
s Euro Denmark krone 0.1434 6.9747 –1.3 Crude oil ($/bbl.) NYMEX 50.34 -0.26 -0.51 57.50 47.01
–10 0.003455 289.42 –1.7
Hungary forint NY Harbor ULSD ($/gal.) NYMEX 1.5671 -0.0075 -0.48 1.7770 1.4825
Iceland krona 0.008783 113.85 0.8 RBOB gasoline ($/gal.) NYMEX 1.6964 -0.0066 -0.39 1.9065 1.5824
–20 Norway krone 0.1164 8.5894 –0.6
0.2511 3.9831 –4.9
Natural gas ($/mmBtu) NYMEX 3.134 -0.056 -1.76 3.5070 2.7370
2016 2017 Poland zloty
Russia ruble-d 0.01775 56.327 –8.1 Brent crude ($/bbl.) ICE-EU 53.23 -0.30 -0.56 59.89 50.00
US$vs, US$vs,
YTDchg YTDchg Sweden krona 0.1117 8.9551 –1.7 Gas oil ($/ton) ICE-EU 473.75 1.50 0.32 526.50 448.00
Mon Mon
Country/currency in US$ per US$ (%) Country/currency in US$ per US$ (%) Switzerland franc 0.9977 1.0023 –1.6
Turkey lira 0.2743 3.6452 3.5 Sources: SIX Financial Information; WSJ Market Data Group
Americas Hong Kong dollar 0.1287 7.7711 0.2
Ukraine hryvnia 0.0370 27.0000 –0.3
Argentina peso-a 0.0648 15.4363 –2.7
India rupee
Indonesia rupiah
0.0154
0.0000750
65.0401
13331
–4.3
–1.4
U.K. pound 1.2488 0.8008 –1.1 Cross rates London close on Apr 3
Brazil real 0.3208 3.1173 –4.2 Middle East/Africa
Japan yen 0.009013 110.95 –5.2
Canada dollar 0.7465 1.3396 –0.3 USD GBP CHF JPY HKD EUR CDN AUD
Kazakhstan tenge 0.003192 313.33 –6.1 Bahrain dinar 2.6532 0.3769 –0.1
Chile peso 0.001519 658.20 –1.7 Australia 1.3161 1.6433 1.3129 0.0119 0.1693 1.4032 0.9825 ...
Macau pataca 0.1249 8.0055 1.1 Egypt pound-a 0.0552 18.1320 –0.003
Colombia peso 0.0003488 2866.86 –4.5 Canada 1.3396 1.6728 1.3365 0.0121 0.1724 1.4284 ... 1.0180
Malaysia ringgit-c 0.2259 4.4275 –1.3 Israel shekel 0.2749 3.6373 –5.5
Ecuador US dollar-f 1 1 unch
New Zealand dollar 0.6997 1.4292 –1.0 Kuwait dinar 3.2781 0.3051 –0.2 Euro 0.9378 1.1711 0.9356 0.0085 0.1207 ... 0.7001 0.7126
Mexico peso-a 0.0534 18.7387 –9.6
Pakistan rupee 0.0095 104.800 0.4 Oman sul rial 2.5968 0.3851 0.03 Hong Kong 7.7711 9.7053 7.7540 0.0700 ... 8.2867 5.8012 5.9052
Peru sol 0.3080 3.2465 –3.2
Philippines peso 0.0199 50.234 1.3 Qatar rial 0.2747 3.641 0.02 Japan 110.9510 138.5500 110.6900 ... 14.2760 118.3100 82.8300 84.3200
Uruguay peso-e 0.0351 28.520 –2.8
Singapore dollar 0.7157 1.3973 –3.5 Saudi Arabia riyal 0.2666 3.7505 –0.01 1.0023 1.2517 ... 0.0090 0.1290 1.0689 0.7482 0.7617
Venezuela bolivar 0.100150 9.99 –0.1 Switzerland
South Korea won 0.0008940 1118.56 –7.4 South Africa rand 0.0732 13.6648 –0.2
U.K. 0.8008 ... 0.7989 0.0072 0.1030 0.8540 0.5978 0.6085
Asia-Pacific Sri Lanka rupee 0.0065794 151.99 2.4 Close Net Chg % Chg YTD % Chg
0.7598 1.3161 –5.2 Taiwan dollar 0.03289 30.400 U.S. ... 1.2488 0.9977 0.0090 0.1287 1.0664 0.7465 0.7598
Australia dollar –6.3 WSJ Dollar Index 90.40 0.02 0.02 –2.73
China yuan 0.1451 6.8913 –0.8 Thailand baht 0.02909 34.380 –4.0 Sources: Tullett Prebon, WSJ Market Data Group Source: Tullett Prebon
posting its biggest quarterly Trump administration. by late afternoon. prices rise. bank’s portfolio would proba-
gain since 2015 There’s “still some skepti- The slip in auto sales came As investors continue to an- bly have to be parceled into
MONDAY’S on Friday. The cism about the overall health as a gauge of U.S. factory-sector alyze economic data, several different sizes in order for the
MARKETS Dow Jones In- of the U.S. economy and the health showed the manufactur- said they will also maintain fo- states to get the best price for
dustrial Aver- health of the global economy. ing sector expanding in March cus on the outlook for U.S. taxpayers.
age shed 13.01 When you get data that con- for a seventh consecutive policy, including a potential The global shipping crisis is
points, or less than 0.1%, to firms that skepticism, you see month, with rising costs for tax overhaul and a summit also complicating the process,
20650.21 and the Nasdaq Com- markets react negatively,” said raw materials that could boost later this week between U.S. however, with banks world-
posite fell 0.3%. Willie Delwiche, investment inflation, according to the Insti- President Donald Trump and wide struggling to unload bad
The Stoxx Europe 600 strategist at Baird. tute for Supply Management. his Chinese counterpart Xi shipping loans and shipping
slipped 0.5% to 379.29 follow- Consumer discretionary In Europe, Banco Popular Jinping that could shed light Shares of Banco Popular companies scrapping worth-
ing modest advances in Asian stocks were among the biggest Español fel1 10% after the lender on prospects for trade. Español tumbled 10%. less vessels.
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B8 | Tuesday, April 4, 2017 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
MARKETS
THE DAILY SHOT
WSJ
subscribers can get
Percentage change since 2015 U.S. monthly supply of houses, seasonally adjusted House prices vs. earnings (May 1996=100)
0 6 Average 150
Average
–10 4 125 hourly earnings*
–20 2 100
New privately owned housing units started, New one-family homes for sale per 30-year mortgage rate
three-month moving average 10,000 U.S. civilians
1500 4.5
20
Average
1000 4.0
10
500 3.5
Recessions Recessions
0 0 3.0
2000 ’10 1963 ’70 ’80 ’90 2000 ’10 2012 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17
Source: FactSet (change since 2015); U.S. Census Bureau (new homes for sale, housing starts, supply of houses); U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (prices vs. earnings); Freddie Mac (30-year mortgage rate) THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Email: heard@wsj.com
HEARD ON THE STREET FINANCIAL ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY WSJ.com/Heard
That would be a hit to the 55 technology. The Tax Prof Blog in China, might suggest wor-
industry’s revenues. Credit- 2005 ’10 points out that $37,051 is ries about banks’ loan books
Regulators worry card balances in the U.K. last spent on IT for the average should ease further. Beijing
Note: £1 = $1.25
about the level of debt year averaged £62 billion, of Source: British Bankers' Association Treasury Department em- has been pushing ahead with
which 57% was interest bear- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ployee, of which the IRS is a plans to cut overcapacity in
held on credit cards ing, according to data from big part, compared with less major industries like mining
at least 18 months. the British Bankers’ Associa- resents about 5% of group banks look likely to curtail than $5,000 per employee in and steelmaking, another
tion. revenues. Lloyds doesn’t re- consumer lending, which the private sector. helpful sign.
At an annual interest rate port its card income sepa- could be a drag on the econ- The International Associa- Beneath the surface, all is
of 20%, in line with that of rately. omy. tion of IT Asset Managers es- not so well. Even though the
The proposed changes many credit cards, that Consumers in the U.K. Credit-card profits have timates that the IRS could balance of nonperforming
came about because the would put annual industry have relied more heavily on been helped in recent years save a whopping $31,000 per loans remained stable last
U.K.’s Financial Conduct Au- interest income at about £7 credit cards to fund spend- by very low default rates, employee annually. Translated year at China’s big and mid-
thority, whose role includes billion—a little more than ing following 2016’s Brexit but the rising inflation rate into the typical $9,118 that size banks, their return on
safeguarding consumers’ in- five times the top end of es- vote, which has kept the is now expected to put pres- most Americans send each assets and equity continued
terests, is concerned about timated consumer savings. economy humming. However, sure on real incomes in the year to the IRS, that is to fade as credit costs—a
the high level of debt held Credit-card income is sig- fast growth in consumer U.K., while interest rates are 281,000 taxpayers’ contribu- measure of banks’ impair-
on credit cards for 18 nificant for U.K. banks. Cards lending has led the Bank of likely to start rising. tions to the federal budget ment charges—rose to their
months or longer. bring in nearly 30% of Bar- England to review credit Losing these revenues as eaten up by waste in the highest in six years.
More than three million clays’s U.K. revenues and standards and to focus on the credit cycle turns will agency tasked with collecting There is likely more of
people in the U.K. have card nearly 10% of group reve- consumer risks in 2017’s likely give the card industry their taxes. this to come. For now, major
debt that costs them more nues. banking stress test. Add in a bloody nose. pain from souring corporate
each month in interest and At RBS, card income rep- the FCA’s measures and —Paul J. Davies debt seems at bay as Chinese
companies’ cash flows
grow—rising a whopping 9%