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The Wall Street Journal 21 - 06 - 23
The Wall Street Journal 21 - 06 - 23
***** WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2023 ~ VOL. CCLXXXI NO. 142 WSJ.com U.S. Edition
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What’s
Time Grows Short for Five Lost in the Ocean Deep Alibaba
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U.S. NEWS
Biden Pick Confirmed Judge Strikes Down Arkansas Ban
To Join Appeals Court On Care for Transgender Children
BY LAURA KUSISTO York’s Southern District.
These nominees “were seen BY ADOLFO FLORES care improves the mental part of a wave of state laws do so, Cooper said. For those
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday as really breaking the mold,” health and well-being of pa- targeting gender-affirming who don’t, children would be
confirmed abortion-rights said Marin K. Levy, a professor A federal judge on Tuesday tients and that, by prohibiting care for transgender children, forced to discontinue care and
lawyer Julie Rikelman to a at Duke Law School. “Time struck down Arkansas’s ban on it, the State undermined the with Tennessee, Arizona and experience great distress, she
U.S. appeals court, resolving a passed and there’s been a real gender-affirming care for interests it claims to be ad- Alabama following suit. Critics said.
high-profile nomination by interest in whether they would transgender children, the first vancing,” Moody said. of these efforts said they con- Opponents of gender-affirm-
President Biden that had been ultimately get to the bench.” of its kind law in the nation, The law, which was tempo- tribute to the fear and growing ing care for children often fo-
pending nearly a year. Biden has made filling judi- finding it was unconstitutional. rarily blocked in 2021 by violence trans people face. cus on surgeries, despite medi-
Rikelman, 51 years old, will cial vacancies a priority of his In an 80-page ruling, U.S. Moody, would have prohibited The Arkansas measure was cal guidelines advising against
join the Boston-based First administration, aided by his District Judge James M. doctors from providing gender- enacted in April 2021, after the it. Most treatments for trans-
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, party’s retention of Senate Moody Jr. permanently blocked affirming care that includes state legislature overruled a gender minors involve hor-
which has jurisdiction over control in the November mid- Arkansas from enforcing the puberty blockers, hormone-re- veto by then-Republican Gov. mone therapies, not surgery,
four Northeastern states and terms. Democrats have faced law. placement therapy and transi- Asa Hutchinson to pass it. Cooper said.
Puerto Rico. She has worked complications in recent Moody said the ban violated tion-related In May 2021, The Endocrine Society and
as an advocate for abortion months, however, as California the plaintiffs’ equal-protection surgery to mi- four families of the World Professional Associ-
rights for more than a decade, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Dem- and due-process rights because nors. Doctors transgender ation for Transgender Health
most recently leading U.S. liti- ocrat who sits on the Senate it denies medical care for trans who broke the The judge ruled children and recommend against genital
gation for the Center for Re- Judiciary Committee, was ab- children that it allows others law would have the ban violated two doctors surgery until someone is of le-
productive Rights. sent for health reasons. to receive and undermines par- faced discipline sued Arkansas. gal age. Chest surgery can be
Representing a Mississippi The president has vowed to ents’ rights to make medical from a licensing the plaintiffs’ Leslie Coo- considered for someone who
abortion clinic at the Supreme nominate candidates who decisions for their children. group or a re- per, deputy isn’t an adult but only after
Court, she was on the losing would diversify the federal ju- The ruling also said the law vi- view board, and
constitutional project director undergoing hormone treat-
end of last year’s ruling in diciary, both in terms of demo- olated healthcare workers’ may have also rights. for the ACLU’s ment and ample time living in
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s graphics and professional expe- First Amendment free-speech been sued. LGBTQ and HIV the desired gender.
Health Organization that over- rience. Of the more than 130 rights by barring them from In a state- Project and one The Centers for Disease
ruled Roe v. Wade and ended Biden judicial nominees con- referring underage trans pa- ment following of the lawyers Control and Prevention said
nearly 50 years of constitu- firmed so far, two-thirds are tients to other providers. the ruling, Arkansas Attorney representing the plaintiffs in transgender minors are at
tional protections for women women and nearly 70% are peo- In court filings and state- General Tim Griffin said the court, said the law doesn’t pro- higher risk of suicide com-
seeking the procedure. ple of color. He also has sought ments, the Arkansas Attorney state would appeal Moody’s tect children as its proponents pared with their cisgender
The Senate confirmed her nominees who have done work General’s Office said the law decision to the Eighth Circuit. claim but instead harms ado- counterparts. In a brief to the
on a 51-43 vote. in areas such as criminal de- banning gender-affirming care “I am disappointed in the lescents who could benefit or Eighth Circuit Appeals Court,
Rikelman is one of several fense and civil rights. was constitutional because the decision that prevents our already depend on gender-af- the American Academy of Pe-
Biden judicial nominees who Biden is on pace to make state has a responsibility to state from protecting our chil- firming medical care. diatrics, the American Medical
have been confirmed recently more judicial appointments protect children from medical dren against dangerous medi- If the law had taken effect, Association, the American Pe-
after languishing for many during his first term than treatment that lawmakers be- cal experimentation under the families of transgender youth diatric Society and other medi-
months. The Senate last week many of his predecessors but lieve is unsafe. moniker of ‘gender transition,’” who are receiving care would cal organizations said if gender
confirmed Dale Ho, a voting- faces an uphill battle matching “Rather than protecting Griffin said. “I will continue have to move their families to dysphoria is treated improp-
rights attorney at the Ameri- former President Donald children or safeguarding medi- fighting as long as it takes.” another state or regularly erly or not at all, the condition
can Civil Liberties Union, to Trump’s record of appoint- cal ethics, the evidence showed Arkansas’s law was the first travel to another state to get can result in debilitating anxi-
the U.S. District Court for New ments to the federal bench. that the prohibited medical of its kind to pass in the U.S. as care, if they have the means to ety, depression, and self-harm.
300
May 2015: Daniel Zhang
becomes Alibaba CEO.
Sept 2019: Zhang succeeds
Jack Ma as chairman.
12 months.
A former Pricewater-
houseCoopers financial con-
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | A3
U.S. NEWS
ACTION AVIATION/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The now-missing submersible Titan is shown preparing for a dive Sunday into a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean on an expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic.
U.S. NEWS
TUESDAY
AY
Huckabee
With the 2024 Republican determinant, recent history Santorum prompted many rank-and-file sitting in low single digits, get
presidential crop now largely has shown a wealthy donor Republicans to rally to his your butt out of the race.”
PE TUE
Bush
in place, another guessing can sustain a candidate deep Christie side. He faces other investiga- The super PAC era of un-
SUPER
game begins. When will candi- into the process. Pataki tions related to the Jan. 6, limited donations means a
dates start dropping out? “Running for president is Graham 2021, Capitol riot and an ef- rich benefactor can keep a
As the shine from campaign an endeavor that generally re- Gilmore fort to overturn the results in candidate going even if they
launches wears, candidates wards the stubborn,” said GOP Jindal Georgia. Trump denies wrong- aren’t raising much money for
Perry
will feel pressure to show strategist Mike Murphy. Can- doing in those cases, and their campaigns. In the 2012
Walker
progress. That tension is likely didates should spend wisely, pleaded not guilty to the doc- GOP race, two years after the
to be more intense than usual display polish and do things Jan. July Jan. July ument charges. Supreme Court’s landmark
given what happened in the that attract media attention, 2015 2016 Opponents such as Florida Citizens United campaign fi-
GOP’s raucous 2016 primary, he said. Source: news reports Rosie Ettenheim/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Gov. Ron DeSantis, who runs nance decision, former Penn-
during which Donald Trump Since 1976, more than 40% second in most polls, are sylvania Sen. Rick Santorum
bested a massive field. Given of Republican presidential nors, with a minimum number fanfare, ended his bid the day treading carefully around the battled eventual nominee Mitt
his base of core supporters, candidates have dropped out of donors required from at after placing third in the Iowa classified documents case, Romney but was hurt by an-
both pro- and anti-Trump Re- before the balloting in Iowa least 20 different states, and event in August 2011. largely mirroring Trump’s as- other challenger, Newt Ging-
publicans agree that the for- and New Hampshire. Another reaching 1% in three qualify- The 2016 primary featured sertions that the case is politi- rich, who was fueled by $15
mer president benefits from batch of hopefuls typically ing polls. The candidates also 17 major candidates—a dozen cally motivated. More broadly, million in super PAC dona-
having a large crop of rivals drops out just after the first must agree to support the of whom were still in the race DeSantis and some others tions.
divvy up the rest of the GOP few states cast votes. eventual nominee. Front-run- when voting started—and the have begun to more directly Dave Carney, a New Hamp-
electorate. An early test could come in ning Trump has signaled he large field aided Trump. draw contrasts with Trump. shire-based consultant who
“Everyone realizes that mid-July when quarterly fund- might skip the debate. “It took too long for sup- Just as in 2016, the Trump has advised presidential cam-
candidates that are just taking raising reports are due. A The debate could take on porters to consolidate behind campaign has a “more the paigns, offered another moti-
up space are also helping more likely winnowing point some of the role of the Iowa our campaign and by the time merrier” perspective. His op- vation. “When there’s money
Trump,” said Alex Conant, is the first GOP debate on Straw Poll, which before being they had…Trump had too big a ponents, the thinking goes, in the bank, consultants will
who worked for Sen. Marco Aug. 23. To make the stage, eliminated in 2015 tended to lead to catch up to,” said will split the anti-Trump vote convince the candidate to stay
Rubio’s (R., Fla.) campaign in candidates must meet stan- cull poorly performing candi- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who in early primary states. That in regardless of what’s in their
that 2016 contest. dards set by the Republican dates. Former Minnesota Gov. mounted the strongest chal- worries Republicans who want best interest,” he said.
Experience, ego and en- National Committee, including Tim Pawlenty, who entered lenge. “I’m sure that experi- to move on from the former —John McCormick
couragement from supporters having 40,000 individual do- the 2012 presidential race to ence is front and center on the president. contributed to this article.
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A6 | Wednesday, June 21, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
U.S. NEWS
Feud Puts
Delightful Deep-Sea Style Hedge Fund
PHILIP MONTGOMERY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
169
cian who worked for Jeff Be- ago at MIT. events. They
$ zos in Amazon.com’s early Each executive
The two men frequently snipe
days. He and Siegel, a Massa- has groups of at each other in
Compare at $240 chusetts Institute of Technol- loyalists. also have meetings, at-
ogy-educated computer scien- “It’s two tendees said.
tist who also worked at Tudor tribes,” a per- clashed over Decisions get
Investments, met while work- son close to the delayed and
ing at quant firm D.E. Shaw firm said.
succession projects killed
Group in the 1990s and went In a 2015 planning. because employ-
on to found Two Sigma in profile of Two ees assume they
2001. Mark Pickard, another Sigma, Forbes won’t be able to
co-founder, retired in 2006. described Over- get both found-
The firm’s computers digest deck as the “master chef” at ers to agree, the people said.
torrents of information from Two Sigma, and Siegel as the One person familiar with
earnings reports, weather bul- firm’s manager. Soon after, Overdeck and Siegel described
letins and more, and its scien- Overdeck brought a chef’s hat their relationship as evolving
tists write trading algorithms into a meeting with Siegel, over the years “from irritation
to invest based on patterns and people familiar with the situa- to Cold War to hot war.”
signals detected in the data. tion said. Siegel was furious In the March filing, Two
Two Sigma has described about the incident for days, Sigma said that the discord
itself to prospective employ- the people said. could affect the firm’s “ability
ees—often math and engineer- The two men also have to retain or attract employees
ing Ph. D.s—as “the best place clashed over succession plan- (including very senior employ-
for nice geeks to work,” cur- ning, some of the people said. ees) and could continue to im-
ORDER TODAY! rent and former employees Siegel has favored a plan to pact the ability of employees
To receive this special price and free shipping use offer code: SWIM16 said, a slogan that emphasized hand control to a chief execu- to fully implement key re-
the importance of passion and tive officer, while he and search, engineering, or corpo-
1.800.556.7376 or visit ross-simons.com/swim collegiality. The New York firm Overdeck would keep their rate business initiatives.”
Item #932281 has expanded into venture, chairmen roles. Overdeck, Ongoing disputes could af-
private equity, reinsurance and meanwhile, has wanted to fect investors’ returns over
market-making businesses. maintain an operating role. time, the firm said.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | A7
WORLD NEWS
Russian Drones Pummel Ukrainian Cities
Kyiv officials say the destroy dozens of Western-
supplied Ukrainian tanks, in-
offensive is going to fantry fighting vehicles and
plan, and the main armored personnel carriers.
Despite these setbacks, and
thrust is still ahead the thick layers of Russian
minefields and other fortifica-
BY YAROSLAV TROFIMOV tions, Ukrainian forces have ad-
vanced along two of the three
Russia launched 35 Iranian- axes of offensive, toward the
made suicide drones at Kyiv town Vasylivka on the banks of
and other Ukrainian cities Dnipro and south of Velyka No-
overnight as Ukrainian forces vosilka, on the border between
engaged in heavy battles in the the Donetsk and Luhansk re-
south of the country as part of gions, retaking a total of eight
their attempt to advance. villages and 44 square miles.
Russia, which intensified Most of the reserve brigades
cruise-missile and drone trained and equipped by the
strikes on Kyiv during the past West and Ukraine for the offen-
two months, lobbed the major- sive haven’t yet engaged in com-
ity of the Iranian-made Sha- bat. “The biggest strike is still
hed drones at the Ukrainian ahead,” said Ukraine’s Deputy
capital. While all the drones Defense Minister Hanna Malyar.
that headed to Kyiv were shot On Tuesday, Ukrainian
down, Ukraine’s military said, forces were pushing from the
three others hit their targets village of Piatykhatky that
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine—
Monday mornings at Daniil
Popov’s high school in the oc-
cupied southern Ukrainian
town of Pryazovske started
with a Russian civics lesson.
Health class was replaced by
“Defense of the Motherland,”
where he was taught the
structure of the Russian army.
VIRGINIE NGUYEN HOANG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Evan’s Journal colleagues will be sharing stories of their work with him
each week.
To show support for Evan, please follow the latest updates at WSJ.com/Evan
and add the hashtag #IStandWithEvan across social media.
I met Evan shortly after he joined The Wall Street Journal in early 2022.
He had moved to London temporarily after a lot of reporters left Moscow,
and I had just started working in London a few months before that. I had
been at the paper for more than four years at that point but he already
seemed more at ease than me in the newsroom.
Everyone will tell you he’s just a really fun person to be around—a really
infectious guy. I think that’s one of the things that make him such a good
journalist; he’s someone that people enjoy being around and want to talk
to. He’s always busy, he’s always doing a lot, but he always makes it look
fun and effortless. I was always struck by the fact that he could do so
much, make it look so easy and still make people laugh.
We also spoke about the book “Life and Fate” by Vasily Grossman.
I had been reading it last year and told him how much I loved the book.
He told me how much he was enjoying it, too. He finished reading it in
a Russian prison.
Isabel Coles
Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
#IStandWithEvan
©2023 Dow Jones & Co, Inc. All rights reserved. 6DJ0011
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ******* Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | A9
WORLD NEWS
ture they and other parents in Bwera, a bustling market tracked workers from Chinese
this impoverished border town, and nearby villages. telecom giants Huawei Tech-
town never had. Many spent weeknights sleep- nologies and ZTE entering and
ing in the school’s dormito- exiting from facilities suspected
By Nicholas Bariyo, ries. of housing Chinese eavesdrop-
Gabriele Steinhauser That calm ended shortly ping operations in Cuba, say
and Benoit Faucon before midnight Friday, when people familiar with the matter.
a gang of between five and 10 The intelligence contributed
Now half its buildings lie in suspected ADF militants found to suspicions within the Trump
ruins and 37 of its 63 stu- their way to the school. administration that the tele-
dents—between the ages of 12 Ugandan officials say the communications firms might be
and 22—are dead, as are five fighters had initially planned playing a role in expanding
adult community members. A woman consoles another mourner during the funeral ceremony for victims of the attack. to strike a military installa- China’s ability to spy on the U.S.
Among them are Elton, the tion. They are investigating from the island, according to
Kirilhuhandis’ studious 17- “He badly wanted his chil- worst terrorist attack in more beheaded villagers in eastern what led the militants to people familiar with the matter.
year-old son, and his father, dren to study,” Moses Kirilhu- than a decade, is a grisly Congo in a terror campaign change their target and why It couldn’t be learned whether
Zephana, the school’s security handi said of his uncle, Zeph- marker of how far militants of that has claimed around 4,000 nobody stepped in to stop the Biden administration has
guard. ana, fighting back tears at a the Allied Democratic Forces civilian lives, according to es- them. pursued that line of inquiry.
Another son, 15-year-old hastily arranged funeral on have expanded the territory in timates by the U.S.-based Zephana Kirilhuhandi, hired While neither Huawei nor
Brian, is missing. Authorities Sunday. “He valued education which they operate. Bridgeway Foundation, which in May as the school’s security ZTE are known to make the
couldn’t determine whether he a lot and he wanted to do ev- Formed in Uganda, the Isla- tracks militant activity in east guard, was the fighters’ first tools governments would use
was among a handful of stu- erything in his power to make mist group now operates from and central Africa. victim, killed with a bullet for eavesdropping, both spe-
dents kidnapped when Islamic sure his children attain that.” the neighboring Democratic Other African Islamic State through the head, Ugandan of- cialize in the technology
State-linked militants raided Elton’s and Brian’s mother, Republic of Congo. affiliates have helped fund the ficials said. needed to facilitate such an op-
the school Friday night or if Biira, was too distraught to Since 2019, when Islamic group, including one in Soma- Boys locked the door of eration, the people familiar
his is one of the bodies recov- speak. State recognized the ADF as lia, and it benefits from opera- their dormitory, but the men with the matter said.
ered from one of its dormito- The massacre at Lhubiriha one of its franchises, fighters tional links to Islamist fight- shot through the windows and In a statement, Huawei de-
ries. Secondary School, Uganda’s have bombed churches and ers in Mozambique, according hurled gasoline bombs inside. nied “such groundless accusa-
tions” and said it was “com-
mitted to full compliance with
T
BY RACHEL WOLFE A Dollar Tree in Fort Myers, Fla.
Wealthy Americans long viewed
hat Mercedes in the dol- discount stores as ‘not for them.’
lar-store parking lot
isn’t an illusion. branch popped up near his tony
High-earners joined Palm Springs, Calif., community.
the rest of the country “We see lots of people driving
in flooding discount re- Porsches, Mercedes and BMWs in
tailers such as Dollar General, the parking lot,” Gillman says.
Aldi grocery store and Five Below “No matter how much you make,
as prices for food and staples rose. you don’t want to spend $4 on an
Now, with inflation at half its avocado when you can get one for
peak, they aren’t letting up. 59 cents.”
InMarket, which tracks retailer Few seem to mind feeding a
foot traffic, measured a 4% aver- quarter to check out a shopping
age increase in the share of dollar- cart, or bagging their own grocer-
store visits this year among those ies, Gillman says.
making more than $100,000, com- Gillman’s daughter, Rachel Gill-
pared with the second half of man Rischall, often rolled her eyes
2022. Households with six-figure at her dad’s zealous discount
incomes are 15% more likely to say shopping. That is, until this past
they would shop at dollar stores year, when her grocery bills
than they were last June, going soared, and birthday-party gifts
from 39% to 45%, according to for her kids’ friends topped $50 a
daily surveys from Morning Con- pop near her Chicago home. Fed
sult of about 50,000 Americans. up, she checked out the toy selec-
Wealthy Americans long viewed tion at Five Below and hasn’t
discount stores as “not for them,” looked back. She also now buys
says Michael Liersch, who consults journals, art supplies, stationery
with high-net-worth individuals as and snacks there.
head of advice and planning at “My dad is so proud,” she says.
Wells Fargo. Yet paying $8 for a Shopping at dollar stores is a
carton of eggs struck even many choice for some, yet it is a neces-
affluent people as ridiculous. sity for many, and Americans in-
Overspending on things was creasingly get their groceries from
once fashionable for some, Liersch these retailers.
says. “These days, it’s about mak- Expanding into more-prosper-
ing the most of your money and ous areas is part of Aldi’s strategy,
not getting ripped off.” analysts say. The retailer plans to
No matter how much you make, add 120 new U.S. stores in 2023,
consumers say, there is no longer a after opening and remodeling 139
stigma in going after a good deal. stores last year. The brand says it
attracted 9.4 million new U.S. cus-
Cheap kombucha tomers in 2022.
Autry Liggett, who works in oper-
based in Chicago.
Online Stores Reach Andrew Matos, 29, says he
shops final sales online with his
tailor’s blessing. Purchasing pants
T
oday’s shoppers are still try- Devillard says. purchases end up a good fit. He
ing to figure out life after the donates or resells the rest.
end of unlimited returns. Change of mind “Psychologically, it always feels
Early in the pandemic, online Angela Gatto thought she scored like a risk,” says Matos, a men’s
shopping and easy returns prolif- some great deals when buying clothing-store supervisor in Miami.
erated as millions hunkered down. clothes online. Having a close family member
Then, in 2022, clothing retailers But a dress turned out to be a or friend accept your castoffs at
started selling some more nonre- shade of mustardy yellow. And a the ready helps Cathy Williamson,
turnable items, when the decline crushed velvet bodysuit looked 62, make that gamble. Her daugh-
of pandemic-related “revenge great on the model but proved too ter and two daughters-in-law get
shopping” coincided with an influx revealing. Both went straight into items that she can’t wear, so it is
in inventory, says Sandrine Devil- the donation pile. “You get suck- easier to decide to buy something
lard. She is a senior partner at ered in,” says Gatto, a 44-year-old she loves. Williamson, who writes
McKinsey & Co., who leads the human-resources executive in Bed- a blog for women over 50, says
consulting firm’s apparel, fashion minster, N.J. she keeps the purchases at least
and luxury practice for North Clearance racks have always in- half the time, but still finds it
America. cluded nonreturnable merchan- stressful to pay $300 for a shirt
Nonrefundable items are now dise. But more of today’s final that doesn’t fit.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ELENA SCOTTI/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, ISTOCK (3)
popping up in even more places. sales offer clothing items from the Shoppers say they are learning
Secondhand website Poshmark re- current season. They aim to entice sale for $400 last summer. Cock- marked down to $145. from their final-sales mistakes.
ports a 61% rise in garments shoppers to pull the trigger on an tail dresses also sell quickly, while An estimated 16.5% of items Lakeisha Rush, 39, decided to
marked “new with tags” and fea- item without needing to give an jeans only sell at a loss. Still, the were returned in 2022, according create a wish list of items that she
ture the words “final sale” in the even steeper discount later in the branding-agency executive contin- to the latest numbers from the Na- wants to purchase each season.
description since 2022. When a re- season, Devillard says. ues to shop final sales because she tional Retail Federation. When all else fails, Rush, a
tailer includes the words “final Lainne Bacharach, 37, has a bin is eager to find bargains on de- Charlotte, N.C.-based content cre-
sale,” the company means that in the spare bedroom of her Pitts- signer pieces. Playing the game ator, says she has had luck calling
even if the item doesn’t fit, you burgh home for items purchased AYR, an online retailer known For those who must shop final- the retailer and negotiating for a
can’t send it back. on sale that don’t fit. Though she for its denim, added a final-sale sale sections, wardrobe stylist Ka- credit or a different size. Earlier
Consumers are having a hard posts the unwanted garments for section to the website last year. tie Schuppler recommends pur- this year, she scored a refund on a
time adjusting. Some are continu- sale on secondhand websites in- The 40% off section allows the chasing a size up from your usual red chiffon Versace skirt that was
ing to buy goods like they did be- cluding Poshmark or Vestiaire Col- company to move discontinued size or opting for brands that are too small and bought as final sale.
fore retailers clamped down, lective, it can take months to re- colors, clothing styles and remain- already in your closet so you can Having a prior shopping history
tempted by the final-sale deals. coup the money she spent. ing sizes out of their inventory better understand the fit. with the retailer, being kind to the
They often get stuck with their This spring, Bacharach resold more quickly, says New York-based “It comes up a lot when you’re customer-service representative
online purchases or must get cre- for $700 a pair of Bottega Veneta co-founder Max Bonbrest. In some panic-buying and not even paying and acknowledging that she was
ative in unloading them. flats that she purchased on final instances, jeans that cost $245 are attention,” says Schuppler, who is asking for an exception helped.
A12 | Wednesday, June 21, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
PERSONAL JOURNAL.
type text-only prompts in exchange sources, though that doesn’t mean visual prompts, such as “King take longer. bing.com/create make mistakes. To get on the wait
for text-only responses. It was it’s immune to AI “hallucina- Kong roller skating down the Em- list, you need a Khan Academy ac-
trained on huge amounts of data tions.” It’s free to use, but to ac- pire State Building.” Adobe Firefly count. You must be 18 to sign up,
found on the internet, so it’s great cess all its features, you’ll have to Adobe Firefly does a lot free of but you can give access to your
for complex questions and drafting download the Edge browser and OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 charge. You can generate images kids. Once selected, you will be
letters. To access the bot, create an log in with a Microsoft account. OpenAI’s DALL-E was one of the from a text description, apply asked to donate $20 a month.
account with OpenAI, or log in via bing.com/new earliest image generators, and it’s styles or textures to text and edit khanacademy.org/khan-labs
Google, Microsoft or Apple. The still a fun, if clunky, tool. It gener- images based on text descriptions.
free version is open to everyone, Google’s Bard ates four images based on a text You can also change the back- Expedia’s trip planning
but it’s slow and can refuse re- Bard is great if you want to get description—“a chair shaped like ground, remove objects or zoom Expedia’s AI assistant, also pow-
quests if too many people are using straight to the point. You can use an avocado”—or even a photo. If out the image beyond what was ered by ChatGPT, offers travel rec-
it. The faster, $20-a-month Chat- it to draft a blog post or an email you signed up after April 6, you’ll captured. Adobe said Firefly is ommendations to book directly in
GPT Plus doesn’t have congestion to a boss, and even search the have to buy credits to try it. trained using Adobe Stock images the app. When a user asks the bot
outages, and gets under-the-hood web. The company is working on labs.openai.com and other data sets to respect art- for lodging suggestions, it orga-
updates sooner. chat.openai.com an update that would let users ists’ ownership. firefly.adobe.com nizes them in the app’s Trips sec-
prompt Bard with images, and in Bing Image Creator tion. Just be aware: The tool is
Microsoft’s Bing the coming months, Bard will be Bing Image Creator is powered by Career & productivity still in beta, it is only available in
The new Bing incorporates Ope- able to generate images using the latest version of OpenAI’s Companies are looking to AI to English, and it doesn’t have access
nAI’s tech with Microsoft’s search Adobe Firefly, a generative-AI im- DALL-E, but improves on it with a boost productivity in the work- to real-time pricing information.
engine for up-to-date responses. age tool. You must be 18 years old slick interface and a way to get place. These tools help cut back on expedia.com/app
L
osing an AirPod has al- Hook, Boerum Hill, Carroll ing” group.
most become a rite of Gardens and Columbia Wa- Subracko got lucky. In
passage. Finding a terfront neighborhoods of their second marriage, her
free replacement has be- Brooklyn, New York. AirPods survived a laundry
come a sport. cycle and currently reside
Apple’s earbuds are easy Just in case in Colorado with family
to misplace. They also have Nicole Barron dropped her friends. Had she not found
tiny batteries that wear out left AirPod on the New a replacement AirPod, the
fast. Sometimes one ear York subway tracks in the loner would probably still
dies before the other. But spring of 2021. Metropoli- be in a drawer.
buying a single AirPod can tan Transportation Author-
cost as much as $89, de- ity staff members helped Missed connections
pending on the model. her snag the bud from the Pairing two random Air-
Rather than handing money tracks—but it turned out to Pods isn’t always seamless,
over to Apple, many people be another right AirPod. Af- as Shahla Jabeen found out
are turning to neighbor- ter the workers rescued the in December.
hood Facebook groups. correct one, the 32-year-old The 37-year-old stay-at-
That includes Elana product manager pocketed home mom lost her right
Taubman. In March, the 34- the spare, just in case. AirPod Pro and turned to
Invest
year-old sixth-grade math Nelson Rodriguez had the “Buy Nothing” group.
teacher went for a run and
then to the grocery store.
She stuck her AirPods in her
pocket. When she got home,
she only had the left one.
Taubman turned to her
in
local Brooklyn “Buy Noth-
ing” group on Facebook,
where neighbors give away
used kitchenware, furniture
and even half-eaten pizzas.
Taubman posted a plea
her.
in the group. A neighbor
said she had an extra Air-
Pod Taubman could have
free. She picked it up that
night and paired it with her
ELANA TAUBMAN
ARTS IN REVIEW
ART REVIEW
BY PETER PLAGENS York and considered giving up Cecily Brown’s ‘Fair of Face, Full
T
painting. Not for long: By 1998 of Woe’ (2008), above, and
New York she’d had two exhibitions in ‘Untitled (Vanity)’ (2005), left
he painter Cecily Brown SoHo, and was on her way to a
says she thinks of herself career that includes solo exhibi-
as a realist. In her survey tions at the Museum of Fine Arts Brown’s riffs on this theme (for
exhibition (that is to say, in Boston, the Reina Sofia in Ma- example, a small 2006 watercolor
a thorough show, but not drid, and the Hirshhorn Museum of two children on a sled barely
a full retrospective), in Washington. coalescing into a skull), her pur-
“Cecily Brown: Death and the Although she says in a catalog suit of it seems mostly concerned
Maid” at the Metropolitan Museum interview that “I do very little with the mechanics of the double
of Art through Dec. 3, Ms. Brown planning, almost none,” her art- image itself, rather than a medita-
(b. 1969) stretches the definition of historical borrowings, both self- tion on death.
realism almost beyond recognition. proclaimed and noticed by critics, Ms. Brown has told interviewers
Granted, her paintings do include are many and diverse; they range that she wants her paintings to re-
Rorschach-like allusions to human from Fragonard to Bosch, from quire viewers to look more slowly
figures and skulls, and piles of food Bruegel to El Greco. (The catalog and appreciate everything that’s
upon tables—and the exhibition even includes reproductions of gone into the work. This is where
does include explicitly figurative paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, the problems begin. While Ms.
drawings and sketchbook excerpts. Edouard Manet, Rosa Bonheur and Brown’s brushwork is hyperactive,
The overall effect, however, is that Chaim Soutine.) Whatever the ref- it seems less a product of painterly
of an intended display of the art- erences, many of Ms. Brown’s passion than of didactic display.
ist’s virtuoso ability to apply paint paintings are veritable blizzards of The now-it-is-now-it-isn’t quality of
to canvas. brushstrokes—bloody blizzards, her figuration seems more simply
Organized by Ian Alteveer, cu- given the abundance of red—that wanting to have it both ways than
rator of modern and contemporary cause Mr. Alteveer to note, as if it genuine visual intrigue. Moreover,
art at the Met, “Death and the were an accomplishment, that the Ms. Brown’s avalanche of titular
Maid” is the first such survey of artist’s “practice necessitates a references to other artists, while
Ms. Brown’s work in New York certain temporal labor.” presumably sincere, isn’t of much
since she moved to the city from “Lobsters, Oysters, Cherries use to the viewer.
England in 1994. It comprises 47 and Pearls” (2020), 59 inches tall It’s not as if Ms. Brown is an
works altogether, including 21 by 67 inches wide, is a case in unremarkable painter; she has am-
paintings on canvas, with the rest point. It’s a semi-abstract still- bition, flair, talent at least a few
consisting of monotypes, drawings life—emphasis on the abstract— notches above mere facility, and
and sketchbook pages. with a nicely adumbrated black an apparently tireless work ethic.
While she was a 21-year-old cat peering from underneath the In the end, however, the amalgam
student at the Slade School of table. The paint application is vig- of representation and abstraction
Fine Art in London, Ms. Brown orous, if not fevered, and the red diminishes both. The still-lifes and
learned that the art critic and bi- runs orange-ish and, intentionally gestalt skulls are neither convinc-
ographer of the painter Francis or not, alludes to both fire and ing nor moving, and the abstrac-
Bacon, David Sylvester—whom blood. The upper lefthand corner, tion is tethered to them. A decided
she was led to believe was merely almost politely impressionist by swerve to one side or the other
a close family friend—was her bi- comparison, is flecked with greens would probably make for a more
ological father. (Ms. Brown’s and neutrals. White mixed in as compelling exhibition.
mother is the Scottish novelist the still-life table recedes to the show is Ms. Brown’s interest in, large circular mirror; with either a
CECILY BROWN/THE MET (2)
Shena Mackay.) Sylvester took right yields a fatty flesh-like ele- and pictorial “takes” on, vanitas bit of distance or a squint, the im- Cecily Brown: Death and the Maid
Ms. Brown to galleries and gave ment. The painting—and others pictures. Her primary pictorial age coalesces into a skull. Gilbert’s Metropolitan Museum of Art,
her a first encouragement in art. much like it in the exhibition—is a source is a 1902 Life magazine il- memento mori serves as the basis through Dec. 3
In 1994, a year after graduating testament to Ms. Brown’s relent- lustration by Charles Allan Gilbert of several drawings and a large
from the Slade, the artist worked less energy as an artist. depicting a woman with a Gibson untitled 2005 painting. While Mr. Plagens is an artist and writer
a series of menial jobs in New The other main thread in the Girl hairdo looking at herself in a there’s inventiveness in Ms. in Connecticut.
A
blend of screwball comedy the politics and the absurdist sensi-
and socioeconomic outrage, bility of this seven-part series list
“I’m a Virgo” might have toward the revolutionary, the story
been written by the team of Harpo is less a racial allegory than one
and Karl Marx, though it is basi- about self-realization and of being
cally a fairy tale—about a 13-foot- an outsider. Flora, for instance: Orig-
tall black man, cloistered his whole inally diagnosed as autistic, she re-
life and then unleashed upon the Jharrel Jerome, left, and Olivia alized as a child that she was pro-
world. Or, rather, the world is un- Washington, above, in the new grammed at a higher speed than
leashed upon him. series on Prime Video everyone else and slowed herself
The brainchild of Boots Riley (of down to accommodate the “real”
the 2018 cult hit “Sorry to Bother world; reverting to her Flash-like na-
You”), “Virgo” is precisely what naïve and headstrong, a true Virgo ture comes in handy at her job at
viewers complain they can’t find on if you buy the standard astrological Bing-Bang Burger, as well as in
television—something novel, some- profile—is going to break out even- fighting vigilantes. She may be a
thing offbeat, something surpris- tually. He does so in the company more provocative character than
ing; something that lacks serial of Jones (Kara Young), Scat (Allius Cootie, in what she reflects about
murder, true crime or, for that mat- when he grows up and falls in love— ing the drywall while being enter- Barnes) and Felix (Brett Gray), a neurology and altered states.
ter, an abundance of explanations which he does, with the convention- tained on a diet of TV and comic trio of hedonist-activists who intro- But Mr. Jerome is a charmer, his
to the inevitable questions. For in- ally proportioned Flora (Olivia Wash- books. To make the case for Coo- duce the not-so-wild child to a portrayal of Cootie fairly adorable.
stance, why is Cootie (Jharrel Je- ington). That we will get to witness tie’s seclusion, they keep a scrap- slightly futuristic Oakland. There, Ms. Young is a powerhouse and Ms.
rome) so big? in rather explicit and protracted de- book of clippings—about giants who vigilante justice is meted out by Washington is a find. As he indi-
It isn’t an adolescent growth tail. But as in many a fable, a lot is were exploited, murdered and put The Hero (a nicely sinister Walton cated already with “Sorry to Bother
spurt. The opening shot, of a just-de- left to our imaginations, piqued by a on display either alive or dead. They Goggins). Hero began life in the You,” Mr. Riley is a political provoca-
livered baby the size of a love seat, few clues scattered throughout the build a Cootie-size house, in their graphic novels of Musk-like tech teur. But an original one.
shows Cootie in the arms of the dialogue. backyard in Oakland, Calif. (They magnate Jay Whittle (also Mr.
alarmed-looking Lafrancine (Carmen What’s clear right off is how ter- have an abundance of urban real Goggins), who now flies around I’m a Virgo
PRIME VIDEO (2)
Ejogo) and one wonders how she’s rified Lafrancine and her husband, estate, but hey, this is a fairy tale.) town with a jetpack breaking up il- Friday, Prime Video
standing up. One might also specu- Martisse (Mike Epps), are about the And this mollifies the restless lad to legal assemblies and inhabiting his
late about how this oversize infant is future of their boy, who is kept in- some extent. own fictional character. Mr. Anderson is the Journal's
going to conduct himself biologically doors, filling up space and imperil- But Cootie—curious, endearingly Visually, Mr. Riley works a partic- TV critic.
A14 | Wednesday, June 21, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
SPORTS
son specifically because of his
T
he strange legacy of baseball’s ing position.
data revolution is that it “Luis was a much-needed bat
aimed to break the sport out in our lineup,” said Marlins gen-
of a one-dimensional measure of eral manager Kim Ng. “We’ve had
what makes a great hitter—batting him hit in many different places in
average—and somehow led to a the lineup, including at clean-up—
new, even more homogenous view real high-production spots.”
that power is the only metric that It has presented a fun dilemma
matters. for manager Skip Schumaker, who
But this year, Miami Marlins has decided to mostly bat Arraez
second baseman Luis Arraez is leadoff to get him an extra plate
sparking a renaissance of old- appearance each night. Arraez is
school thinking. Arraez is an old- leading off the lineup, Schumaker
school contact hitter who has a says, while also leading his team-
.400 batting average, which would mates by example. As they watch
make him an outlier in any year— his meticulous routines and see
but which, in a power-obsessed the results that have followed, it
era, may make his 2023 season sends a strong message that is of-
one of the biggest outlier offensive ten lost in this efficiency-chasing
campaigns in MLB history. era of baseball: Just be yourself.
After going 5-for-5 against the “Players get in trouble when
Blue Jays on Monday, Arraez is they don’t realize who they are as
hitting .400 in 255 at-bats. At hitters,” said Schumaker. “The
times this month, Arraez’s average younger generation especially
has climbed north of .400—a hal- thinks that slug and power are the
lowed figure last achieved by Ted ways to get up here and be a suc-
Williams in 1941, a mark many cessful major leaguer. But a lot of
have believed would never be guys get in trouble when they try
reached again. The last time a ma- to be somebody else, and then
jor-league batter was hitting at they’re in and out of the league.”
least .390 through the end of June Miami Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez is sparking a renaissance of old-school thinking this season. Arraez clearly has a standout
was Chipper Jones in 2008, finish- skill set and results to match, but
ing the month with a .394 mark. and watch the sport today. and not be a really good hitter.” style. it may be his willingness to go
“I try to make strong contact, This is one of the unintended James nonetheless is criticized Arraez prefers not to speak against the grain that has led to
but I don’t worry about home consequences of the discipline for the way his work led hitters to publicly about his hitting philoso- this success. Average, long demon-
runs,” Arraez said of his approach. known as Sabermetrics—the name seek power over contact. This phies or practices, but the num- ized by people who misunderstood
“I like to look at the defense and used to describe the pursuit of ob- week, no less an authority than bers speak for themselves. Enter- the initial backlash against it,
then form my plan on where I jective information in baseball. Rod Carew—the Hall of Famer ing Tuesday, he leads baseball in might be cool again.
want to hit it. I focus on putting The devaluation of batting average who also made a run at .400, average (.400), on-base per- “When singles become rela-
the ball in play. I know my as a measuring stick for hitting and a vocal supporter of centage (.450), and his tively scarce, that makes them
strengths and I know I am not a prowess has gone too far even for Arraez—tweeted at .941 on-base plus slug- more valuable—but not to an ex-
home run hitter.” the person who first articulated James: “Your ‘new ging percentage (OPS) tent that matters a lot,” James
(Arraez, who grew up in Vene-
zuela, cites fellow left-handed hit-
ter Endy Chavez—a lifetime .270
the concept.
“I started out saying that you
should not treat batting average
statistics’ hurt the
game…Baseball is
in trouble. That
.400
Luis Arraez’s
makes him a top-10
hitter this season
and puts him in the
said. “From a fan perspective, it
may be more satisfying to see peo-
ple hit more singles because it’s a
hitter—as his favorite player to as a reliable indicator of a player’s wasn’t the case be- batting average in company of power team thing. For those of us who
watch growing up.) value,” said Bill James, whose fore people who hitters like Shohei were born in the 19th century, we
255 at-bats, entering
Arraez is standing out in a work around player valuation led have done nothing Ohtani and J.D. Mar- still think of baseball as watching
Tuesday’s play.
data-obsessed offensive climate in to the game’s “Moneyball” era and in this sport had a tinez. Where he a team do this rather than an indi-
which power is seen as the mark the hunt for “market inefficien- say about how it’s stands out, however, is vidual do that.”
of a great hitter, while slapping to- cies” revealed by data. “Quite a played.” in the composition of The game’s greatest champion
gether base hits is viewed as an few people within my profession Nevertheless, the idea that OPS: Of his 102 hits this of objective evaluation then threw
34 35 36 37 38 39 33 Bellyache
36 Withholding
40 41 42 43 44 in some
households
45 46 47 48
37 Part of a
49 50 51 52 Molière play
53 54 55 56 57 38 College
STEPHANIE LECOCQ/REUTERS
member
58 59 41 Descriptor
for some
60 61 62
cats
63 64 65 44 Like some
Orthodox
worshipers Investigators searched the headquarters of the Paris 2024 organizing committee.
CONSUMER REVIEWS | By Jeff Stillman
46 Suffers
Across
1 Change for a
29 Investment
option, for
58 Confusing
consumer
7 Galley tool
8 Motorcade
47 Lifesaving
allergy device
French Authorities Raid Offices
short review: “This
sawbuck
5 Wind-driven
30 Yonder
American
flag is a...”
member,
perhaps 48 Republican Of Paris 2024 Olympics Organizers
people attorney
waves 9 Most likely to general twice
34 Cut off 60 Nailed BY JOSHUA ROBINSON let’s let the investigators do construction projects in the
make you
9 Robe obliquely 49 Some paid their job.” Saint-Denis area north of
35 How some pucker
cincher rides FRENCH AUTHORITIES car- The Paris organizing com- the city. Those clusters of
idiotic things 61 Suit to ___ ried out searches at the mittee had already been the towers are due to be sold to
10 Paul who
13 Was furious are done 50 Alphabet headquarters of the organiz- target of two reports by the public as housing once
62 Nouveau co-founded
15 Get wind of follower Microsoft quintet ing committee for the Paris France’s anti-corruption the Olympics and Paralym-
39 “Mr. Blue Sky” 2024 Olympics on Tuesday agency in early 2021 that pics are over.
16 Bread group 63 Empire 11 Assail 51 Glossy black as part of an investigation were detailed in the French Corruption investigations
spread 40 God with State sch. shade into suspected embezzle- press. Those assessments have previously cropped up
12 Party
arrows system 54 District ment, the national financial highlighted a risk for con- around the past two sum-
17 Confusing leaders
64 Wolverine, prosecutor’s office said. flicts of interest involving mer Olympics, in Rio de Ja-
consumer 42 Crackerjack 14 “White 55 A whole lot Authorities didn’t disclose the Paris 2024 organizing neiro in 2016 and Tokyo
review: for one
43 Tibet’s Noise” details of what it called two committee and Solideo, the 2021.
“With these 56 Close
capital 65 Eats author Don preliminary probes, which company formed to oversee Those cases, linked to
new golf balls, imitation
came 13 months before the the delivery of construction vote-buying in the bid pro-
I’ve had...” 45 Confusing Down 18 Dispensary Games’ Opening Ceremony. projects for the Games. It cess, led to the resignations
57 Worry
consumer unit The first was opened by the also noted “imprecise and in- of several Olympic commit-
20 Standard of 1 Many an 59 Where to
comparison review: Al Jazeera 19 Punch central office against corrup- complete” procedures for the tee members in the buildup
“These eggs...” find your tion and financial and tax hiring of contractors. to the Games. But Paris had
viewer 23 Ambience balance
21 Irritated with crimes in 2017, proving The International Olympic pledged to be more trans-
49 Original 2 Sponge cake
22 Irritate Previous Puzzle’s Solution whether there was favorit- Committee said it was parent than its predecessors
“SNL” cast typically
S T U F F T E N S P R A Y
ism and misappropriation of aware of the investigation under the organizing com-
23 Mountaineer’s member soaked in rum funds by Paris 2024. The and referred inquiries to mittee’s chief executive, the
Newman N O S I R A R I A R A G E
feats OM E G A R A C Y OM E N second, run by the financial Paris 2024. former Olympic canoeist
3 They may B E R MU D A S H O R T S
52 Campaign- brigade of the Paris police, Ever since Paris won the Tony Estanguet.
24 Confusing clash E D O E E N I E was opened in 2022, author- right to host the Games in French sports minister
consumer backing orgs. GWE N C P R A C C R U E
4 Four, maybe E A R T H A S T R O T U R F ities said. 2017, it has committed to a Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said
review: 53 How I D O O U I R A H S K I “We are fully cooperating plan that focuses mainly on after her appointment in
“This vacuum birthdays are 5 Lon who C E D A R T R E E S T E E L with investigators,” Paris existing competition venues 2022 that, “The success of
cleaner...” celebrated played O D E T T E A X E I S L E 2024 said in a statement in and around the French these Games will be irre-
Quasimodo T O N E R L I E
28 Pastoral 54 When the R U N S I N C I R C L E S
confirming Tuesday’s raid. capital. But accommodating proachable organization.”
poem shows go on 6 Roll call reply N E O N I D E A O L I V E “Today, we are totally fo- around 14,000 athletes and —Matthew Dalton
T Y P E L E S S N I V E N cused on the delivery and delegates in the Olympic Vil- and Rachel Bachman
▶ Solve this puzzle online and discuss it at WSJ.com/Puzzles. H E E D S R T A S P E N D organization of the Games: lage has still required major contributed to this article.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | A15
OPINION
The Establishment vs. Trump BOOKSHELF | By Marc Weingarten
The country
might get
lucky, all the
Goodman. Because the judge in
the documents case once is-
sued a ruling favorable to Mr.
helping Mr. Trump accomplish
some useful goals.
Instead, it gave us the collu-
Trump is the nominee, accus-
ing him of planning to hand
over Ukraine to Mr. Putin, and
Meet Me
c u r re n t
buildup may
go
and
“pffft,”
2024
Trump, she’s supposedly in the
tank for Mr. Trump. If she
were now to issue rulings fa-
vorable to the prosecution,
sion hoax so Democrats and
others could tell themselves
Mr. Trump’s election was a
message from Vladimir Putin,
yet no president would be bet-
ter designed by history to de-
liver the outcome Mr. Biden
has secretly wanted all along:
In Jakarta, Baby
BUSINESS
will give us a this must be a smoke screen. not voters. Mrs. Clinton can be End the shooting, end the es-
WORLD
race of non- Any open questions of fact or remembered now in history calation risk, permit a frozen
The Con Queen of Hollywood
By Holman W.
Trump vs. law can be resolved by recall- with one word: coward. What- conflict that certifies Russia’s By Scott C. Johnson
Jenkins, Jr.
non-Biden. ing how much we dislike Mr. ever else, Mr. Trump can say weakness and cements Ukraine (Harper, 244 pages, $30)
W
But every Trump. Needed is a judge who as the de facto porcupine of
tendril senses that the whole- already knows Mr. Trump is the Western alliance. e’re living in a boom time for scams, much of it
of-establishment effort to stop guilty and will supply the max- Yet no president The Russian media, follow- thanks to digital tools that can make for immacu-
Donald Trump’s return to imum penalty. ing ours, will have declared so late deceptions; imposter fraud swiped nearly $2.6
power is reaching a climax. How is it possible to learn is better suited to many times that a Trump vic- billion from our bank accounts last year, the FTC reports.
Like too much that has already so little from searing experi- deliver Joe Biden’s tory in 2024 would be a Putin Our increased vulnerability to being taken in might be the
happened, it may also over- ence? Not a few self-identified victory that it could become reason why we’re eager to hear the stories of con artists—
reach. Republican and conservative Ukraine endgame. the Russian leader’s substitute so long as it’s someone else getting swindled. The flood of
The intelligence prosecution pundits were so terrified of a victory in Ukraine, allowing twisty stories featuring confidence men and women, to be
is said to be strong as if this Trumpian threat to their per- him to back away on terms im- streamed, read, or otherwise ingested, continues unabated.
assures Joe Biden’s re-elec- sonal “brands” on day one that he withstood the most scurri- possible with Mr. Biden still in While Scott C. Johnson’s fascinating book “The Con
tion. It doesn’t. Up through at they’ve been useless ever lous plot against an incoming office. The slander Mr. Trump Queen of Hollywood” conforms to some of the familiar out-
least the Kennedy, Johnson since. president since Lincoln, with a endured over the collusion lines of the 21st-century high-tech swindle, this particular
and Nixon presidencies, an in- Number them among the resilience and humor that few hoax, the awkward moments scheme’s pretty poison, the smooth, purring engine that
cumbent in Mr. Biden’s shoes many who made a merely dif- would have matched. Millions America had to suffer because drove the entire operation, was the siren call of a single
might well have phoned up the ficult situation, finally, apoca- of voters saw it and can still of his rational unwillingness to human voice. Finding out just how this scheme transpired
Justice Department after the lyptic. I called it the Trump-as- see it. oblige Democrats by acknowl- is the big fun of Mr. Johnson’s book, which folds the official
FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago and democratic-accident problem By now the establishment’s edging Russian meddling the investigation of “The Con
told his attorney general: “You amid the 2016 primaries. The losing streak shouldn’t make 2016 race, will become a card Queen of Hollywood” into Mr.
got the documents back. Good. improbable enthusiasm of a us hopeful of the further ef- to play. Johnson’s own deep reporting
Now let’s drop it.” large minority of GOP voters forts of Mr. Biden, Attorney The price might still be too for the Hollywood Reporter.
And not out of consider- metastasized with the Demo- General Merrick Garland and high given the concomitant What emerges is the profile of
ation for Mr. Trump; out of an cratic determination to nomi- special counsel Jack Smith, risks of a Trump presidency, a troubled serial fantasist who
innate sense that in the oppor- nate the repellant Hillary Clin- not to mention a national me- namely rampant domestic dis- derives pleasure from inflict-
tunism of partisan warfare the ton, who only showed herself dia so inept in its intellectual order from the left. As I said in ing widespread psychic pain.
perfect can be the enemy of more repellent in how she re- dishonesty that it has long 2016, victory next year might In the spring of 2018, Mr.
the good. For reference, Mr. sponded to defeat. It culmi- been Mr. Trump’s best asset. belong to whichever party is Johnson received a tip about
Biden might check out the nated in the bizarre antics of It isn’t too early to ask what ruthless enough to unburden “an imposter . . . running amok
hundreds of pages his Justice FBI chief James Comey who, in the next Trump presidency itself of its current front-run- around [Hollywood], co-opting
Department had to spend his determination to “fix” the might be like, given the sort of ner. the identities of prominent
cleaning up after itself in the problem, likely elected Mr. people “protecting us” from it. We can always hope. But female executives” in order to
collusion hoax. Net result: 74 Trump Mr. Trump has a record, after our country remains burdened scam unwitting victims of
million votes for Mr. Trump in At this point, the establish- all, delivering on trade, taxes by a press so weak-minded, so their time and money. Creative
2020. ment might have responded and immigration largely in line mesmerized by the shiny ob- strivers eager for a break were
Sadly emblematic, though, with maturity, restraint and a with alternating major-party ject and cheap grace of anti- being lassoed by scammers posing as Hollywood big shots:
is a podcast from Never determination to put some norms. Get ready for a giant Trump virtue signaling, that billionaire Gigi Pritzker, former Sony Pictures chair Amy
Trumper William Kristol and guardrails on an interesting irony. “Collusion” will be res- it’s unfitted to be of much help Pascal, megahit producer Kathleen Kennedy, and other L.A.
anti-Trump legal expert Ryan voter experiment, maybe even urrected in spades if Mr. in our interesting times. power players, all of them women. The pitch: We have an
exciting film (or TV) project set in Indonesia, and we want
you to be a part of it. The first stage in each fictitious
Ukraine Could Be Forced to Compromise production sent the mark on a fact-gathering trip to the
East Asian country.
Will Strathmann, a photographer based in Nebraska,
All wars have as it takes.” The underlying it prepares for its annual McCarthy rebuffed a plan was swallowed up whole by the fake Amy Pascal’s seductive
political di- question: As long as it takes to meeting next month. Although backed by both Senate Majority pitch, which alternated between businesslike and inti-
mensions, the do what? For President Volod- recent signals have been Leader Chuck Schumer and Mi- mately conspiratorial: the caller “asked how he felt about
war in ymyr Zelensky, the answer is mixed, Mr. Biden may be open nority Leader Mitch McConnell working with powerful women,” Mr. Johnson writes. “She
Ukraine more clear: As long as it takes to to the suggestion, promoted by that would provide supplemen- called him ‘darling’ and ‘honey.’ By the end of the first
than most. As clear Russian troops from in- NATO Secretary General Jens tal aid for Ukraine outside the phone call, they were on a first-name basis.”
POLITICS leader of the ternationally recognized Ukrai- Stoltenberg, that Ukraine normal appropriations process, Mr. Strathmann bought a round-trip plane ticket to
international nian territory. For the alliance, could join NATO after the war on which the debt-ceiling Jakarta. Then another. In a matter of weeks, he was
& IDEAS
coalition sup- I suspect, the answer is differ- without going through the agreement imposes caps for wrecked—his savings depleted by the large sums he had
By William
porting Kyiv, ent: As long as it takes for lengthy and elaborate prepara- defense as well as nondefense paid up front for hotels, drivers and guides. Reimbursement
A. Galston
President Bi- Ukrainian troops to regain as tory steps typically required of spending. Assistance to Kyiv never materialized, then “Amy Pascal” disappeared. A few
den must re- much territory as possible, applicants. France, Germany could be cut as soon as the end direct phone calls to Ms. Pascal’s real office revealed the
tain domestic support for our with the outcome of the cur- of September. truth: The producer was not developing any projects based
massive financial contribution rent counteroffensive defining Mr. Zelensky must also take in Indonesia.
to Ukraine while maintaining a possible perimeter. With support waning into account the possibility In the space of a few months, someone posing as Ms.
the unity of the coalition. Put simply, I believe that that Donald Trump, no friend Pascal and other moguls had lured unsuspecting photog-
The evidence suggests that 2023 will be the decisive year in the U.S., the of Ukraine, will return to the raphers, drone operators and screenwriters into multiple,
he is doing better with the lat- for the war—and that by the counteroffensive may Oval Office after the November all-cash trips to Indonesia at the mark’s own expense—all
ter task than the former. Yes, end of the year, support for a 2024 election. Mr. Trump has at the behest of a fake producer with a non-existent project
there have been recurrent dis- cease-fire as a prelude to nego- define a new border. promised to end the war who never showed her face. The subjects were told to pay
agreements with allies about tiations will become too strong within 24 hours of taking of- drivers and handlers up front: Most of this money was
the kinds of weapons Ukraine to resist, even if some Eastern fice. Allowing for hyperbole, funneled back to the scammer via a network of bag men.
should receive and the pace of European allies doubt the wis- and many Eastern European there is every reason to be- No one was ever reimbursed.
delivery. Mr. Biden has made dom of this course. I find it countries are also indicating lieve that he would swiftly re- The real Amy Pascal filed a complaint with K2 Intelli-
it clear that he wants to do ev- hard to believe that the coali- they are open to this plan. verse current policy, weaken- gence, known as the “CIA for the corporate world,” to find
erything possible to assist tion is prepared to maintain its Within this framework, it ing Ukraine’s ability to resist out what individual or group of individuals was pretending
Ukraine without triggering a current level of effort for a should be possible to work out Russian aggression. Unless Mr. to be the producer. K2’s investigator Nicole Kotsianas
wider war. Because the line trench-warfare conflict lasting the security guarantees that Zelensky is prepared to wager scraped metadata from emails, non-disclosure agreements
between maximum effort and as long as World War I. Ukraine would need before it the future of his country on and travel itineraries and found her way to an Instagram
dangerous overreach is un- This hard reality will be a joins NATO. the whims of American voters, account called Purebytes, where a man named Gavin Lal
clear, he has proceeded at bitter pill for most Ukraini- But why would Ukraine he should seriously consider kept a curated visual record of Indonesia’s finest restau-
times more deliberately than ans, who are committed, un- agree to arrangements that locking in the best deal he can rants and hotels. That led in turn to an Indonesian gamer
other countries, especially derstandably, to liberating ev- would probably mean the per- get from his allies while sup- who admitted that he had purchased a phone number for
those in Eastern Europe, ery square mile of their manent loss of a substantial port remains strong. the fake Gigi Pritzker. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Kotsianas
would have preferred. But he territory. Mr. Zelensky has en- portion of its internationally Charles de Gaulle once received a frantic call from Gavin Lal himself, pleading,
has moved forward enough to couraged his people to believe recognized territory? The an- dreamed of a Europe stretch- for the sake of his family, for her to stop the investigation.
mute coalition discontent that this goal isn’t only right swer is U.S. domestic politics. ing “from the Atlantic to the
while assisting Ukraine with but also possible. He can’t At the beginning, support Urals,” and for a fleeting mo-
robust offensive capacities persuade them to accept less, for Ukraine in the U.S. was ment after the collapse of the For an aspiring filmmaker, an unexpected call
and surprisingly effective air unless his country receives strongly bipartisan. No longer. Soviet Union, this dream from a Hollywood player was the break that
defense. binding interim security guar- While Democrats continue to seemed possible. Now it’s clear
As Ukraine begins its long- antees along a credible path back current levels of assis- that Europe must end at could make a career. But it was all a scam.
awaited counteroffensive, the to accelerated membership in tance, the share of Republicans Ukraine’s border with Russia.
issue of what comes next has the North Atlantic Treaty Or- who believe that we are doing For the peace of the world, the
moved to the center of discus- ganization. too much has risen steadily, West must establish this bor- Who was Gavin Lal? It took Ms. Kotsianas nearly a year
sions within the coalition. Offi- The good news is that NATO from 9% in March 2022 to 44% der and defend it against fu- to sort through a vast trove of data pulled from the so-
cially, the allies are committed is moving closer to agreement today, according to Pew. Re- ture aggression from a nation called Lal’s network of go-betweens. Lal was in fact
to aiding Ukraine for “as long on such a security package as cently, House Speaker Kevin that will never be European. Hargobind “Harvey” Tahilramani, the disgraced son of well-
off family in Jakarta. The younger Tahilramani—who would
repeatedly get in legal trouble over his propensity for
China Tries to Cancel an Art Show in Poland fraud—had failed at everything in life save for one thing:
an uncanny ability to mimic virtually any male or female
regional accent. There was no large cast of co-conspirators.
By Jillian Kay Melchior pressure to cancel Badiucao awarded a grant funded by the Poland as he issued his threats. Amy Pascal, Gigi Pritzker, Kathleen Kennedy. All of them
exhibits. The artist, who keeps government for a politically “You could read it in two had been Tahilramani.
A
Warsaw his real name secret, lives in themed graphic novel. ways,” Ms. Kolek observed. Ms. Kotsianas’s investigation had uncovered the how of
senior Chinese diplomat exile in Australia, where he is a In remarks at the opening of Perhaps he was “marking the scam; what remained blurry was the why. Mr. Johnson
visited the Centre for citizen. He says no Australian the Warsaw exhibit, Badiucao down that there are a number digs deep into Tahilramani’s backstory. He grew up in
Contemporary Art in Po- museum has been willing to noted how the fates of Poland of students in Poland—they Jakarta with a disapproving father and a doting mother
land’s capital with an ultima- host an exhibit of his art, in and China diverged in 1989 as could be mobilized.” But who died prematurely. “Conversion therapy,” administered
tum: A planned exhibit by Chi- part because left-leaning ad- the Poles threw off communism maybe he feared that the stu- to cleanse Tahilramani of supposed homosexality, seems to
nese-dissident artist Badiucao ministrators are cowed by Bei- while Beijing slaughtered pro- dents would be exposed to the have done considerable psychological damage. He devel-
“hurts the feelings of the Chi- jing’s accusations of anti-Chi- testers in Tiananmen Square. truth about their government. oped a tendency to converse with invisible companions,
nese people and it should not nese racism. “Every communist regime is Enzo Lai, 37, who is from and became obsessed with movies, picking up the subtleties
be opened,” museum director similar,” Mr. Bernatowicz told South China, got Badiucao’s of various dialects by studying Meryl Streep’s shape-shift-
Piotr Bernatowicz says the me. “They try to block other autograph and said he admired ing roles. As the product of a prosperous family, Tahilra-
diplomat told him. “It could The effort backfired, types of narratives, and they the artist’s bravery. He asked mani expected to strike it rich, but it never quite worked
destroy the good relations be- stiffening the spine try to control the narratives of me not to print a photo of him out and, according to Mr. Johnson, “if he couldn’t have
tween China and Poland.” their country.” for fear that China would use his dream, no one else would, either.”
Mr. Bernatowicz rejected of Australian officials. Badiucao’s Warsaw exhibit facial-recognition technology There is some unfortunate overreach in “The Con
the demand, and Badiucao’s borrows its title from Xi Jin- to identify him and arrest him Queen,” particularly Mr. Johnson’s weak attempt to link
show opened Friday. Radio- ping’s 2013 exhortation to “tell if he returned home. the Indonesian con with his own family history of secrets
FreeEurope/Radio Liberty re- Badiucao’s experience in China’s story well.” The art “The Communist Party and lies. Mr. Johnson certainly doesn’t need to add any
ports Chinese diplomats also Warsaw, however, appears to portrays the Tiananmen mas- claims my art hurts Chinese emotional ballast to what is already a gripping story, and
contacted the Polish Ministry have stiffened Canberra’s sacre, the Covid coverup, the feelings, but I am speaking for the snippets of memoir he includes feel out of place here.
of Culture and National Heri- spine. Australia’s Department genocide of Uyghur Muslims, Chinese people the government As Mr. Johnson moves deeper into the labyrinth, he
tage, which partially funds the of Foreign Affairs said in a the destruction of freedom in has oppressed and deprived of eventually comes face to face with his quarry. Confronted
museum. Mr. Bernatowicz says statement that Ambassador Hong Kong, and Beijing’s cozy a voice,” Badiucao said. Mr. Lai by the author with his crimes, Tahilramani spins an uncon-
he received no pressure from Lloyd Brodrick met with the relationship with Moscow. One agreed: “In China, there’s no vincing tale about being a pawn in some larger scheme
the Polish government to shut artist before the exhibit painting shows Mr. Xi and election. You cannot vote your involving players far more powerful than himself. But he
the exhibit down. opened to discuss his “work, Vladimir Putin feasting on hu- president. So how can you rep- also admits to a motivation that rings true. Wearing the
China often attempts to his concerns in relation to per- man flesh. resent the Chinese people?” masks of these powerful identities allowed him, for a
censor speech abroad that’s sonal safety, and the support Agnieszka Kolek, the cen- moment, to feel as if he were them: “And they felt great.”
critical of the Communist the Australian government ter’s deputy director, said that Ms. Melchior is a London-
Party. Venues in Italy and the was providing.” Badiucao an- the Chinese diplomat cited the based member of the Journal Mr. Weingarten is the author of “Thirsty: William
Czech Republic defied similar nounced Monday that he was number of Chinese students in editorial board. Mulholland, California Water, and the Real Chinatown.”
A16 | Wednesday, June 21, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
OPINION
REVIEW & OUTLOOK LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The Blue State Budget Blues Debating the Scope and Merits of ESG Investing
W
e hope progressive states enjoyed plunge in income-tax, and 44% drop in corpo- There is no way to reconcile envi- Mr. Puzder argues that ESG is sim-
their Covid spending party while it rate-tax, collections. Income-tax revenue in the ronmental, social and governance in- ply “politically motivated investing.”
vesting with the fiduciary duty of in- This is wrong. In fact, in a piece that
lasted. Now arrives the hangover as current fiscal year that began last July is run-
vestment managers unless it can be Mr. Puzder cites as evidence the ESG
federal largesse ebbs and tax ning 9.2% lower than in the claimed that ESG won’t result in juggernaut has slowed, my co-author
revenue falls from unsustain- The fiscal crash arrives previous year while corporate- lower investment returns (“Red States and I specifically argue that “ESG-re-
able heights. following years of tax revenue is down 5.7%. For Have Slowed the ESG Juggernaut” by lated considerations can have strong
The Federal Reserve’s mon- the first time in nearly three Andy Puzder, op-ed, June 15). Black- connections to investment return.”
etary policy during the first profligate spending. years, sales tax revenue in May Rock goes further by claiming ESG in- ESG is about incorporating mate-
two years of the pandemic in- also dropped. vestments will provide “better long- rial factors for risk and opportunity
flated asset prices and capital Recall that Democrats in term financial outcomes.” in investing. Nothing more. Many
gains, which produced a revenue rush in blue Trenton raised income taxes and extended a Any such argument flies in the face supposed anti-ESG initiatives, includ-
states with steeply progressive tax rates. Corpo- 2.5 percentage point corporate surtax in au- of conventional investing wisdom. ing one that Mr. Puzder cites, allow
rate tax revenue also surged as profits increased tumn 2020. New Jersey’s 11.5% top corporate Voluminous research attests to both the use of ESG factors “that qualified
the folly of trying to predict invest- investment professionals would treat
owing to inflation and transfer payments that tax rate is now the highest in the country. Gov.
ment returns and the benefits of di- as material economic considerations
fueled consumer spending. Phil Murphy has said he wants the surtax to versification in providing higher risk- under generally accepted investment
But as the Fed has tightened to bring inflation expire this year, but don’t count on it. adjusted, long-term returns. Yet ESG theories.” I agree.
under control, asset prices and corporate profits Time and again, progressives use putative proponents blithely assert that a less- The problems aren’t with ESG it-
have declined and consumer spending has budget emergencies to impose supposedly tem- diversified investment approach will self—which is simply analyzing poten-
slowed. Tax revenue in blue states is now falling porary tax increases that invariably become provide superior returns. If this were tial externalities—but rather with pro-
as precipitously as it rose. permanent as the revenue is baked into spend- the case, coerced ESG investment posals, largely in blue states, which
New York State Comptroller Thomas Di- ing baselines. This is what happened in Califor- wouldn’t be necessary; unless invest- mandate wholesale divestment from
Napoli said Friday that state tax collections in nia in 2012 when Democrats raised the top rate ment managers were incompetent or certain industries and those, mostly
the past two months are running 32.2% lower to 13.3%. criminal, they would all embrace ESG. in red states, which create “blacklists”
By hijacking other people’s money of companies and investment manag-
than a year ago, with personal income tax reve- California’s budget has since become even
to pursue outcomes they haven’t ers. These laws, portrayed as pro- and
nue lagging 45%. His report follows Gov. Kathy more dependent on the affluent. The top 0.5% agreed to, coerced ESG investing is a anti-ESG, respectively, undermine fi-
Hochul’s revised budget forecast this month of taxpayers pay 40% of state income tax, and form of theft. Voluntary ESG is al- duciary responsibility standards in
projecting a $36.4 billion shortfall over the next their capital gains have plunged. Income-tax col- ready an option and, if the predic- the name of politics. Considering ESG
three years. lections in the fiscal year that started last July tions of higher returns are correct, it factors, on the other hand, is often a
While income-tax withholding is still increasing are 34.6% below a year earlier and corporate-tax will become increasingly popular key aspect of upholding standards.
as payrolls grow, capital gains have fallen. Demo- revenue is down 33.7%. Gov. Gavin Newsom last without the need for regulation. PROF. ROBERT G. ECCLES
crats in Albany exacerbated the state’s fiscal reli- month increased the state’s projected budget JONATHAN COBURN Oxford University
ance on the rich in 2021 when they raised the com- deficit to $32 billion, but revenue is already Apex, N.C. Concord, Mass.
bined state and New York City top rate to 14.8% trailing his revised forecast.
from 12.7%. Millionaires now pay as much state in- By contrast, tax revenue in Florida is ex-
come tax as the bottom 98.9% of tax filers. ceeding forecasts. Florida’s corporate-tax reve-
Cities may also soon feel budget pain since nue—at a 5.5% rate—during the first 10 months The Last Thing Reagan National Airport Needs
year-over-year growth in local sales tax collec- of this fiscal year is up 57.7% year-over-year. Expansion of long-haul flights at increase in passenger delays.
tions has run below 2% in each of the last three States tax corporate income based on the share Reagan National Airport (“Tear Down Expansion is also opposed by local
months, Mr. DiNapoli warns. That’s well below of business done in their borders. So while cor- This Perimeter” by Michael Huerta, interests due to concerns over noise,
the rate of inflation. No doubt one contributing porate earnings generally are shrinking, Flor- op-ed, June 13) is opposed by the air- traffic and congestion. Reagan Na-
factor is New York’s loss of some 525,000 in pop- ida appears to be grabbing a larger share of port’s own operator as dangerous and tional was never intended to be,
ulation between 2020 and 2022. profits as businesses expand in the state. The impractical. Reagan National has one wasn’t designed for, and can’t accom-
Yet Democrats in Albany this spring boosted opposite may be happening in California, New main runway that is already the busi- modate more traffic. The region has
spending by $9 billion in their $229 billion bud- York and New Jersey. est in the nation. The airport is oper- two other airports at Dulles and BWI
get. New York City Mayor Eric Adams last week Florida’s $117 billion budget this year is half ating above its designed capacity and that are available for and capable of
has one of the worst records of flight handling increased traffic. There al-
reached generous five-year labor agreements as large as New York’s, though it has 2.5 million
delays and cancellations. The Federal ready is enough hot air in Washing-
with 11 government unions. Teacher pay will in- more people. The Sunshine State lacks an in- Aviation Administration found that ton without the introduction of more
crease by about 20%, raising the top salary to come tax and mandatory government collec- air-traffic control conditions are flights to Reagan National.
$151,271. tive-bargaining, which together create a tax- strained and that any addition of new STEVE CHAMEIDES
Next door in New Jersey, officials reported and-spend ratchet. An iron law in progressive flights would result in a significant Bethesda, Md.
Monday that tax revenue last month declined states is that when revenue falls, taxes go up.
20% from the previous May, driven by a 55% Look out below.
What Does It Take to Get a Real Education?
New York’s Unconstitutional Mail-Vote Bill I read with admiration Andrew
Delbanco’s discussion of various at-
eliminate the mishmash entirely by
prescribing a program of study in
A
tempts at universities and community which all texts are read in common for
lbany is again thumbing its nose at New ballot process. This bill relates to a form of colleges to engender diversity all four years. Whatever its shortcom-
Yorkers and the state constitution, this early voting.” What a hilarious semantic con. through conversation about texts that ings, this solution at least acknowl-
time on mail voting. The supreme law You see, the state constitution prohibits potay- all students read in common (“Great edges that the true diversity of which
of the Empire State reserves tos. This new legislation con- Books Can Heal Our Divided Cam- Mr. Delbanco speaks is extremely
absentee ballots for residents Gov. Hochul should templates potahtos. Com- puses,” Review, June 10). I hope it hard-won, emerging only after years
who are out of their county or veto this out of respect pletely different. isn’t churlish, however, to ask of patient listening in the classroom.
New York City on Election Day, To finish the old Gershwin whether a single year, let alone a sin- BRENDAN BOYLE
as well as those who can’t “ap- for the electorate. song, let’s call the whole thing gle semester, of such conversation is Annapolis, Md.
pear personally” at the polls off. “The voters of New York enough to hold at bay Daniel Bell’s
“because of illness or physical said no, we’re going to stick to worry about a “mishmash of courses Exposure to the classics should
that are only superficially connected.” come before college. I spent my high-
disability.” the constitution, and we’re going to say that only
One radical solution, adopted at St. school years in the late 1960s work-
Two years ago, in a shock to Democrats, the certain circumstances should allow someone to John’s College, where I teach, would ing through the great-books program
electorate rejected a proposed constitutional vote by mail, vote by absentee, or whatever it available in my average Midwestern
amendment that would have loosened the rules might be,” said Republican Sen. George Borrello. high school. It served me well in col-
and permitted no-excuses absentee voting. The “This bill essentially ignores the will of the peo- Confronted With Common lege and law school and then after-
ballot measure failed 45% to 55%. Yet the so- ple of New York State.” He’s right. ward, in my career. College is far too
lons in Albany must think the dummies who Even if Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul agrees
Sense, SPLC Cries ‘Hate’ late. Eighteen-year-olds can vote; why
vote don’t know what’s good for them. This with the idea on the merits, she should veto it Margaret Huang, president of the delay exposure to the critical moral
month the Legislature passed a bill to let any- out of respect for the electorate. Otherwise, the Southern Poverty Law Center, defends and ethical issues of our society?
one vote by mail. courts might have to kill this legal runaround. her group’s decision to list Moms for ERICK HOLT
Isn’t this what the citizenry rejected in 2021? The simple fact is that New York’s constitution Liberty as a hate group on the Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
grounds that it hates . . . the govern-
“No, you are mistaken,” argued Democratic Sen. sets out a provision for “absent” voters. The
ment (Letters, June 15). Specifically, No one would teach a child to
Michael Gianaris, during the brief floor debate. Legislature can’t get around that provision by Moms for Liberty hates the school throw a curve or knuckler before
“The referendum was relevant to the absentee renaming it. system’s insistence on exposing very teaching the child to throw. It works
young children to drag queens, having the same way with the mind: The
discussions with young children about broad skills of reasoning and writing
The Hunter Biden Business sexuality and trans identity, and mak- must precede the more specialized
P
ing efforts to either hide this from skills found in narrower disciplines.
resident Biden’s son Hunter agreed veteran who oversees a team specializing in parents or insisting that parents have RICHARD MCGOWAN
Tuesday to plead guilty to two misde- international tax crimes. The whistleblower no say in the matter. Green Bay, Wis.
meanor tax charges that will likely says his team was assigned to the Hunter case The real hate group here is the one
that vilifies parents who wish to pro-
keep him out of prison. The in early 2020, and he “imme-
lenient treatment is firing up Joe’s son cuts a plea deal diately saw deviations from
tect their young children. The Writing on the Wall
ARI WEITZNER
Republican claims of two- Reading the Journal with my cof-
tiered justice, especially be-
for minor offenses that theHenormal process.”
says “multiple steps”
New York
fee, I glanced up to see on the wall
cause there are no answers will keep him out of jail. were “just completely not The SPLC tells us that Moms for
what my husband had framed. It is
about the Biden family’s for- done” and that “each and ev- Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not
Liberty espouses “anti-government
Taken.” It was my choice to recite de-
eign influence peddling. ery time” decisions “seemed principles,” “targets funding for public
cades ago in a classroom (“Kids and
U.S. Attorney David Weiss began investigat- to always benefit the subject.” Mr. Shapley education” and, worst of all, the group
the Power of the Spoken Word” by
ing Hunter in 2018, and former Attorney Gen- says when he pushed back, his team was ex- “advocates the abolition of the Educa-
Mark Bauerlein and David Mikics, op-
eral Bill Barr said Tuesday these charges cluded—and later removed—from the probe. tion Department” (a position strongly
ed, June 15) and it has stayed with
could have been brought within months of his In any case, is that all there is? What about argued by Ronald Reagan in 1980,
me. I found meaning in choices we
when he won the presidency in a land-
own confirmation in early 2019. the Biden family’s income windfall from make. I cherish the poem and my hus-
slide, and held by many Republicans
The tax charges stem from Hunter’s “willful Hunter’s foreign business deals? since). Ms. Huang’s letter confirms
band, who knew its importance to me.
failure” to pay more than $200,000 in taxes House and Senate Republicans have docu- LYNDA GODDARD
that the SPLC considers any organiza-
in 2017 and 2018 on income of more than $3 mented dozens of suspicious financial transac- Redondo Beach, Calif.
tion positioned to the right of Sen.
million from his foreign business deals. The tions related to Hunter’s overseas business Bernie Sanders a “hate group.”
press is reporting that prosecutors will recom- while his father was Vice President. The evi- ROBERT DAME
mend probation instead of jail time. dence includes a web of shell companies that Charlottesville, Va. Pepper ...
The gun plea says Hunter lied on the fed- appear to have funneled large sums of cash to And Salt
eral background-check form by denying he Hunter and other Biden family members.
was an unlawful user of a controlled substance Congressional investigators have also re- Newsom vs. DeSantis, 2024 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
when buying a gun. Hunter has admitted he vealed the existence of an FBI document in The world would be in a better
was a cocaine addict at the time. He’ll be al- which a confidential FBI source says a Ukrai- place with a Gavin Newsom vs. Ron
lowed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement nian oligarch claimed to have made bribery DeSantis presidential race, not merely
in which he promises to stay drug free for two payments to Hunter and Joe Biden. Mr. Barr a TV debate (“Newsom vs. DeSantis:
years and never again own a firearm. The gun says that FBI document was sent to Mr. Bring It On,” Review & Outlook, June
charge will then be dropped. Weiss’s office. The bribery claim remains 16). They are at opposite ends of
their ideologies, but that won’t keep
One question is why Hunter faced only “will- hearsay, but Hunter’s financial dealings with
me awake at night. What keeps me up
ful” misdemeanor tax charges rather than fel- shady foreign actors—some connected to the is a megalomaniac running against a
ony count of “tax evasion”—given April news Chinese Communist Party—contain enough befuddled guy on the verge of falling.
reports that Mr. Weiss’s office felt it had enough smoke to warrant a thorough probe. WILLIAM GOLDMAN
evidence for the latter. It’s true DOJ has rarely DOJ said in a press release Tuesday that Los Angeles
pursued “lie and buy” gun cases—a longtime the “investigation is ongoing.” But Hunter’s
complaint of progressive gun-control groups. attorney said “it is my understanding that
Letters intended for publication should
But DOJ has elevated its focus in recent years, the five-year investigation into Hunter is re- be emailed to wsj.ltrs@wsj.com. Please
and other attorneys have bragged about their solved.” Which is it? Mr. Weiss ought to include your city, state and telephone
aggressive pursuit of such cases. clarify matters and cooperate with Congress number. All letters are subject to “Thank you for this food, and
There’s also the testimony by Internal Rev- to put any suspicion of favorable treatment editing, and unpublished letters cannot protect us from the additives
be acknowledged.
enue Service agent Gary Shapley, a 14-year- to rest. and preservatives therein.”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | A17
OPINION
GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
won six Pulitzer Prizes.” Here is Jus- Second, when I reviewed the port for 2008 either the accommoda-
tice Alito’s response: cases in question to determine tions provided by the owner of the
P
whether I was required to recuse, I King Salmon Lodge, who, to my
roPublica has leveled two was not aware and had no good rea- knowledge, has never been involved
charges against me: first, son to be aware that Mr. Singer had in any matter before the Court, or
that I should have recused an interest in any party. During my the seat on the flight to Alaska.
in matters in which an en- time on the Court, I have voted on In brief, the relevant facts relating
tity connected with Paul approximately 100,000 certiorari pe- to the fishing trip 15 years ago are as
Singer was a party and, second, that titions. The vast majority receive lit- the merits briefs. Because his name Language 690 (2001) (defining a “fa- follows. I stayed for three nights in a
I was obligated to list certain items as tle personal attention from the jus- did not appear in these filings, I was cility” as “something designed, built, modest one-room unit at the King
gifts on my 2008 Financial Disclose tices because even a cursory unaware of his connection with any installed, etc., to serve a specific Salmon Lodge, which was a comfort-
Report. Neither charge is valid. examination reveals that they do not of the listed entities, and I had no function affording a convenience or able but rustic facility. As I recall, the
• Recusal. I had no obligation to meet our requirements for review. good reason to be aware of that. The service: transportation facilities” and meals were homestyle fare. I cannot
recuse in any of the cases that Pro- See Sup. Ct. R. 10. To ensure that I entities that ProPublica claims are “something that permits the easier recall whether the group at the
Publica cites. First, even if I had been am not required to recuse, multiple connected to Mr. Singer all appear to performance of an action”). Legal us- lodge, about 20 people, was served
aware of Mr. Singer’s connection to members of my staff carefully check be either limited liability corpora- age is similar. Black’s Law Dictionary wine, but if there was wine it was
the entities involved in those cases, the names of the parties in each case tions or limited liability partner- has explained that the term “facili- certainly not wine that costs $1,000.
recusal would not have been required and any other entities listed in the ships. It would be utterly impossible ties” may mean “everything neces- Since my visit 15 years ago, the lodge
or appropriate. ProPublica suggests for my staff or any other Supreme sary for the convenience of passen- has been sold and, I believe, reno-
that my failure to recuse in these Court employees to search filings gers.” Federal statutory law is vated, but an examination of the pho-
cases created an appearance of im- The publication levels false with the SEC or other government similar. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C §1958(b) tos and information on the lodge’s
propriety, but that is incorrect. bodies to find the names of all indi- (“ ‘facility of interstate commerce’ website shows that ProPublica’s por-
“There is an appearance of impropri- charges about recusal, viduals with a financial interest in includes means of transportation”); trayal is misleading.
ety when an unbiased and reasonable financial disclosures every such entity named as a party 18 U.S.C §2251(a) (referring to an As for the flight, Mr. Singer and
person who is aware of all relevant in the thousands of cases that are item that has been “transported us- others had already made arrange-
facts would doubt that the Justice and a 2008 fishing trip. brought to us each year. ing any means or facility of inter- ments to fly to Alaska when I was
could fairly discharge his or her du- • Reporting. Until a few months state commerce”); Kevin F. O’Malley, invited shortly before the event,
ties” (Statement on Ethics Principles ago, the instructions for completing Jay E. Grenig, Hon. William C. Lee, and I was asked whether I would
and Practices appended to letter from corporate disclosure statement re- a Financial Disclosure Report told Federal Jury Practice and Instruc- like to fly there in a seat that, as
the Chief Justice to Senator Durbin, quired by our rules. See Supreme judges that “[p]ersonal hospitality tions §54.04 (February 2023) (“the far as I am aware, would have oth-
April 25, 2023). No such person Court Rule 29.6. Mr. Singer was not need not be reported,” and “hospi- term ‘uses any facility in interstate erwise been vacant. It was my un-
would think that my relationship listed as a party in any of the cases tality” was defined to include “hos- commerce’ means employing or uti- derstanding that this would not im-
with Mr. Singer meets that standard. listed by ProPublica. Nor did his pitality extended for a non-business lizing any method of . . . transporta- pose any extra cost on Mr. Singer.
My recollection is that I have spoken name appear in any of the corporate purpose by one, not a corporation or tion between one state and an- Had I taken commercial flights, that
to Mr. Singer on no more than a disclosure statements or the certio- organization, . . . on property or fa- other”). would have imposed a substantial
handful of occasions, all of which rari petitions or briefs in opposition cilities owned by [a] person . . .” This understanding of the require- cost and inconvenience on the dep-
(with the exception of small talk dur- to certiorari. In the one case in Section 109(14). The term “facilities” ment to report gifts reflected the ex- uty U.S. Marshals who would have
ing a fishing trip 15 years ago) con- which review was granted, Republic was not defined, but both in ordi- pert judgment of the body that the been required for security reasons
sisted of brief and casual comments of Argentina v. NML Capital, Ltd., nary and legal usage, the term en- Ethics in Government Act entrusts to assist me.
at events attended by large groups. No. 12-842, Mr. Singer’s name did compasses means of transportation. with the responsibility to administer
On no occasion have we discussed not appear in either the certiorari See, e.g., Random House Webster’s compliance with the Act, see 5 U.S.C. Justice Alito is an associate jus-
the activities of his businesses, and petition, the brief in opposition, or Unabridged Dictionary of the English App. §111(3). When I joined the Court tice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
W
but India has grown by 6% or more pansion from overgrown govern- delist under current regulatory more level playing field for busi-
hen India’s Prime Minister in recent years and is building ment, regulation and high taxes. On policies. This blocks consolidation, ness growth. Mr. Modi has taken
Narendra Modi visits the from a relatively low base ($2,200 the other side are the government which allows companies to re- steps to reduce bureaucracy, but
U.S. this week, Americans per capita). When offered sound and a few big companies as mas- structure to improve efficiency training more than three million
should pay careful attention to his policies and the tolerance inherent sive employers. While Mr. Modi’s and productivity. central government employees is a
vision for 8% growth. Both coun- in rules-based government, people budget calls for more government tall order.
tries would benefit greatly from from anywhere in the world can investment, it is critical that in- • Land and labor reform. Land
faster growth. achieve fast compound growth vestment shift to the private sec- New trade and investment acquisition remains a barrier to
India has entered the 25-year rates. China’s economy grew 10% a tor, particularly so small busi- new and expanding businesses and
period leading to the 100th anni- year throughout its 1993-2012 era nesses can grow. Reforms offer big opportunities will help the transformation of agriculture.
versary of its independence with a of currency stability, market and potential upside in three particular both countries become Most agricultural land transfers are
growth plan. Called Amrit Kaal, price liberalization, and tolerance areas. through inheritance. Land acquisi-
which roughly translates to “Golden for growing businesses. • Capital markets. India’s finan- less dependent on China. tion remains time-consuming and
Era,” it is Mr. Modi’s rallying cry India has shown that it can hold cial industry is dominated by big prone to delays from litigation. Di-
and blueprint for India to reach 8% down external indebtedness and banks. More needs to be done to rect transactions between landown-
growth and a much higher median that the rupee can be relatively increase credit to smaller busi- • Civil service. State-owned en- ers and businesses are also con-
income. Faster growth in India stable. It should build on that. Key nesses that are growing. This is terprises and government jobs play strained by the limited availability
would help the U.S. by allowing reforms would shrink spending and vital for competitiveness, and In- too big a role in the economy. of reliable records and by opaque
new opportunities for trade and in- bureaucracy and allow increased dia needs to speed this transition. Civil-service reforms are important land-use regulations. As a result,
vestment, less dependence on investment and jobs in medium- A related problem is the great for freeing private growth. The the market for buying and selling
China, and better balance for the size companies. India’s job creation number of publicly listed compa- government must make it easier land is vanishingly small. States re-
bipolar world economy. is shaped like a barbell, with start- nies that aren’t competitive. They for businesses to obtain permits strict land leasing even though this
Eight percent sounds out of ups and small businesses on one went public too soon and can’t se- and licenses while reducing cor- would help allocate land more effi-
ciently.
Getting more women into the
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Reshape 3M
BY MIKE COLIAS
BY BOB TITA AND JOHN KEILMAN AND JENNIFER HILLER
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Delays Hit EV Charging Projects
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Barclays........................................B13 Honda Motor.............................B2 Stellantis........................................B2
stations, where executives say CEO of Gage Zero, a startup
Battle Road Research......B13 HSBC Holdings.......................B13 SunEdison.....................................B2
delays getting everything from that develops and manages in-
BBVA...............................................B13 Hudson River Trading......B11 T parts to permits are slowing frastructure for electric fleets.
Block...............................................A10 Hyundai Motor.........................B2
Boston Properties..................B1 Jack in the Box.....................B13
Tesla.........................................B1,B13 down construction of the cru- El-Azzi said because electric
Brookfield Asset JD.com...........................................B12
Toyota Motor.............................B2 cial infrastructure. trucks have a limited range,
Management.......................A10 Kastle Systems.....................A10 Twitter..........................................A10 Electrical equipment manu- chargers must be located close
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Coinbase Global.....................B11 McDonald's..................................B4 Uber.................................................B13 build charging networks say where land may already be in
money
larger
canal
hauls in more
from
ships
rainfall in the
area around the
it’s not good
for anybody,”
Mr. Kenna said.
“The cargo will
in terms of capacity.
Vásquez Morales said ex-
treme rain or drought condi-
tions are more frequent oc-
one today.
crossing the
canal is 47% always find the currences than in the canal’s
newer locks, below average. most efficient earlier years of operation.
which are now way.” That issue presents a chal- Open an HIGH YIELD SAVINGS
responsible for Shipowners lenge for the Panama Canal
account today at
4.30 %
about half of are also re- Authority, which supplies wa-
its business. About 10 ships a sponding by charging custom- ter to about 2.5 million peo-
day move through the newer ers an average $600 more a ple, or about half of the coun-
synchronybank.com APY*
locks, and about 27 smaller box on vessels crossing the try’s population.
vessels travel through the canal. The daily freight rate The canal has hired the
older locks. from Asia to the U.S. East U.S. Army Corps of Engi- No monthly fees
“The rainfall volume has Coast was $2,400 a container neers, the original canal
been consistently falling over in May, according to the builder, and earmarked $2
No minimum balance
the past 20 years,” said Freightos Baltic Index, but it billion over the next 10 years
Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, is expected to rise in June, in to divert as many as four riv-
the Panama Canal Authority part, because of the Panama ers into the waterway in ad-
administrator. “We are deal- Canal drought surcharge. dition to the three that al-
ing with a climate crisis when For now, A.P. Moller- ready feed it. *ANNUAL PERCENTAGE YIELD (APY): APY is accurate as of 6/7/23. APY is subject to
we are at peak capacity, and Maersk and other liners such “We would have done the change at any time without notice. Offer applies to personal accounts only. Fees may
we have to find new sources as Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd same over a 25-year period if reduce earnings. For High Yield Savings accounts, the rate may change after the account
of water to store in our and China’s Cosco Group the weather stayed normal, is opened. Visit synchronybank.com for current rates, terms and account requirements.
lakes.” have no plans to divert ships but now it has to be done in
The Panama Canal is the away from Panama, but exec- 10 years,” Vásquez Morales © 2023 Synchrony Bank
country’s biggest foreign-rev- utives said it could happen if said.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ** Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | B3
FedEx Sales
Slide 10% as
Demand Falls
BY BEN GLICKMAN FedEx's average daily package
AND ESTHER FUNG volume, change from
a year earlier
FedEx on Tuesday posted its
20%
third straight drop in quarterly
revenue as the delivery giant
adapts to weaker demand after Express
a pandemic-fueled boom in 10
Ground
business.
The company is in the early
stages of combining its Express 0
and Ground delivery networks
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B4 | Wednesday, June 21, 2023 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
TECHNOLOGY WSJ.com/Tech
57M
The group, known as Black- recent months the blackout workforce, and slowing hiring other so-called meme stocks. sitions, including its 2008
Cat, stole the data in February with fewer at- went into ef- to address priorities, including Huffman later told the Journal purchase of ad-serving com-
and initially demanded just tacks, he said. fect, Reddit funding projects and achieving that the episode brought mil- pany DoubleClick, and called
the ransom fee. Lacking a re- Reddit is a Chief Executive its goal of breaking even next lions of new users and adver- for the divestiture of its ad ex-
sponse from Reddit, the group free online hub The number of users Steve Huffman year. tisers. change.
on Friday added it also wants comprising
the company to abide by the more than
on the social-media defended the
company’s de-
The developer of a popular
third-party app called Apollo
In mid-2021, Reddit said it
had a valuation of about $10
Alphabet executives have
said the Justice Department’s
demands of the scores of Red- 100,000 active company’s platforms cision to im- said in a post on Reddit a few billion after raising more than case is “wrong on the facts
dit communities that pro- communities, as of January 2021 pose the fees days before the protests began $400 million from longtime and the law” and that the
tested the developer fees last known as sub- on third-party that he planned to shut the investor Fidelity Investments. company will defend itself.
week. reddits, which Reddit apps, app down later this month be- Reddit filed paperwork to go The Justice Department
Reddit confirmed the Feb- are dedicated saying they ap- cause he couldn’t afford to public in late 2021, just as sued Google in 2020 for alleg-
ruary hack around the time it to a range of subjects. Last ply only to ones that generate pay the new fees. tech-stock valuations began to edly maintaining a monopoly
occurred and said the group week many communities revenue and eat up swaths of The cost for those required slip. It hasn’t followed through in online search and related
accessed some business infor- ceased operating and pledged its application programming to pay is 24 cents for every on those plans. advertising. Google’s chief le-
mation but no user data. On to remain dark for two days or interface, or API. 1,000 requests for data. Huff- Hackers seeking to extract gal officer at the time said the
Tuesday, a spokeswoman for more to protest the fees, He said the policy change man said that amounts to less money from businesses aren’t lawsuit was deeply flawed.
Reddit declined to comment which were announced in impacts a fraction of develop- than $1 per user a month for a as successful as they used to That case is scheduled to go to
on either of the group’s de- April and are due to go into ers and noted that it is costly typical Reddit third-party app. be. Extortion payments from trial in September.
mands. effect on July 1. for Reddit to maintain its Founded in 2005, Reddit ransomware, a hacking News Corp, owner of The
BlackCat, also known as Al- Several subreddits with API. was sold to Condé Nast in scourge that has crippled hos- Wall Street Journal, has a
phv, has been around since tens of millions of subscribers, “Reddit needs to be a self- 2006. The magazine pub- pitals, schools and public in- commercial agreement to sup-
late 2021, according to Tamer such as funny, aww, gaming, sustaining business, and to do lisher’s parent, Advance Pub- frastructure, fell significantly ply content on Google plat-
Hassan, chief executive of cy- music and pics, joined the that, we can no longer subsi- lications, spun Reddit off in last year. forms.
6
continue working from home,
they held on to their office
space anticipating that they
In Valley 5
would need it when their ex-
panded workforce returned to
their prepandemic spaces.
4 It hasn’t worked out that
Continued from page B1 way. Silicon Valley has had
this year when it said it was 3 one of the lowest return-to-
rethinking when it would office rates, according to Kas-
2
break ground on its planned tle Systems, which tracks se-
CAROLYN FONG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
BUSINESS NEWS
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COMMODITIES wsj.com/market-data/commodities
Metal & Petroleum Futures Sept 835.00 845.50 825.75 834.50 –4.50 77,538 Dec 1.1340 1.1399 1.1320 1.1345 –.0055 495 Dec 4497.25 4497.75 4456.75 4481.25 –19.50 9,538
Cattle-Feeder (CME)-50,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Australian Dollar (CME)-AUD 100,000; $ per AUD Mini S&P Midcap 400 (CME)-$100 x index
Contract Open July .6858 .6864 .6759 .6792 –.0092 580 Sept 2586.50 –17.60
Aug 234.750 235.850 231.875 232.150 –2.775 29,464 2605.60 2605.70 2572.20 38,538
Open High hi lo Low Settle Chg interest Sept .6866 .6872 .6770 .6803 –.0092 148,740
Sept 238.050 239.200 235.250 235.625 –2.550 10,051 Dec 2602.00 –16.10 n.a.
Copper-High (CMX)-25,000 lbs.; $ per lb. Cattle-Live (CME)-40,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Mexican Peso (CME)-MXN 500,000; $ per MXN Mini Nasdaq 100 (CME)-$20 x index
June 3.8440 3.8945 3.8415 3.8785 –0.0060 787 June 178.650 178.650 176.625 177.125 –1.225 5,643 July .05776 .05826 .05775 .05777 –.00058 69 Sept 15244.50 15310.75 15126.50 15256.50 –11.50 249,893
Sept 3.8785 3.9070 3.8490 3.8935 –0.0050 89,925 Aug 171.875 171.975 169.425 169.700 –2.025 145,373 Sept .05753 .05756 .05699 .05708 –.00057 232,210 Dec 15435.00 15500.00 15316.50 15447.25 –16.75 1,449
Gold (CMX)-100 troy oz.; $ per troy oz. Hogs-Lean (CME)-40,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Euro (CME)-€125,000; $ per € Mini Russell 2000 (CME)-$50 x index
1931.30 1935.50 –22.90 July 1.0936 1.0961 1.0908 1.0933 –.0029 1,967 Sept 1885.40
June 1951.70 1951.70 1,664 July 94.500 95.975 94.250 95.850 3.000 29,927 1889.10 1893.20 1870.70 –8.00 532,321
Sept 1.0973 1.0997 1.0943 1.0968 –.0028 715,641
July 1955.40 1959.20 1932.40 1938.90 –23.30 2,469 Aug 92.100 93.375 91.050 93.200 2.525 73,912 Dec 1907.00 1911.90 1889.60 1904.30 –7.70 158
Aug 1962.70 1968.70 1940.80 1947.70 –23.50 365,067 Lumber (CME)-27,500 bd. ft., $ per 1,000 bd. ft. Mini Russell 1000 (CME)-$50 x index
July 535.00 544.00 530.50 538.50 13.50 4,469
Index Futures Sept 2432.90 2437.50 2415.60 2428.20 –9.60 8,056
Oct 1983.50 1988.00 1960.40 1967.20 –23.50 11,929
Dec 2002.40 2007.00 1979.80 1986.60 –23.50 40,228 Sept 543.50 549.50 538.00 544.50 12.50 2,191 Mini DJ Industrial Average (CBT)-$5 x index U.S. Dollar Index (ICE-US)-$1,000 x index
Milk (CME)-200,000 lbs., cents per lb. Sept 34532 34551 34197 34356 –248 90,405 Sept 102.08 102.38 101.92 102.13 .29 27,612
Feb'24 2018.00 2026.20 1999.80 2006.70 –23.00 5,912
June 14.93 14.95 14.93 14.94 … 7,132 Dec 34769 34851 34509 34656 –243 186 Dec 101.85 101.86 101.85 101.80 .29 411
Palladium (NYM) - 50 troy oz.; $ per troy oz.
July 15.26 15.41 t 15.18 15.37 .06 6,930 Mini S&P 500 (CME)-$50 x index
June 1366.50 1366.50 1361.50 1363.20 –38.60 3
Cocoa (ICE-US)-10 metric tons; $ per ton. Sept 4449.00 4451.00 4410.50 4434.75 –19.00 2,210,290 Source: FactSet
Sept 1399.50 1413.50 1351.50 1379.10 –37.10 12,119
July 3,192 3,192 3,129 3,142 –46 14,052
Platinum (NYM)-50 troy oz.; $ per troy oz. Sept 3,239 3,239 3,203 3,211 –25 157,353
June 976.10 –19.30 100 Coffee (ICE-US)-37,500 lbs.; cents per lb.
July 988.40 989.00 956.30
Silver (CMX)-5,000 troy oz.; $ per troy oz.
968.00 –19.30 37,250 July 185.10 185.75 176.40 177.45 –7.45 9,241 Bonds | wsj.com/market-data/bonds/benchmarks
Sept 180.20 181.65 175.00 176.10 –4.65 90,446
June 23.193 –0.883 431 Sugar-World (ICE-US)-112,000 lbs.; cents per lb.
Sept 24.440 24.470 23.315 23.445 –0.894 76,509 July 26.25 26.48 25.93 26.22 –.21 139,577 Tracking Bond Benchmarks
Crude Oil, Light Sweet (NYM)-1,000 bbls.; $ per bbl. Oct 26.07 26.19 25.62 26.03 –.06 391,777
Return on investment and spreads over Treasurys and/or yields paid to investors compared with 52-week
July 70.96 72.09 69.65 70.50 –1.28 26,360 Sugar-Domestic (ICE-US)-112,000 lbs.; cents per lb.
Aug 71.51 72.38 69.76 71.19 –0.74 356,277 Sept 41.50 … 1,033 highs and lows for different types of bonds
Sept 71.50 72.31 69.81 71.18 –0.74 285,836 Cotton (ICE-US)-50,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Total Total
July 81.65 81.78 80.51 80.66 –.80 10,495 return YTD total Yield (%) return YTD total Yield (%)
Oct 71.29 72.08 69.66 71.00 –0.75 192,206
Dec 80.44 81.20 79.58 80.70 .60 118,766 close return (%) Index Latest Low High close return (%) Index Latest Low High
Dec 70.74 71.48 69.20 70.49 –0.74 210,299
Orange Juice (ICE-US)-15,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Mortgage-Backed Bloomberg Fixed Income Indices
Dec'24 67.33 67.90 66.19 67.24 –0.58 122,712 Broad Market Bloomberg Fixed Income Indices
July 266.90 268.75 264.20 267.55 1.90 4,009
NY Harbor ULSD (NYM)-42,000 gal.; $ per gal. Sept 262.20 265.30 261.10 264.30 2.25 3,827
1998.25 2.4 U.S. Aggregate 4.710 3.370 5.210 1980.92 2.3 Mortgage-Backed 4.690 3.300 5.380
July 2.5196 2.5196 2.4417 2.4754 –.0760 49,568
Aug 2.4739 2.4740 2.4074 2.4367 –.0681 59,738 Interest Rate Futures U.S. Corporate Indexes Bloomberg Fixed Income Indices 1952.70 2.4 Ginnie Mae (GNMA) 4.740 3.320 5.370
Gasoline-NY RBOB (NYM)-42,000 gal.; $ per gal.
July 2.6588 2.6680 2.5690 2.6092 –.0713 52,659 Ultra Treasury Bonds (CBT) - $100,000; pts 32nds of 100% 2964.17 3.2 U.S. Corporate 5.430 4.280 6.130 1165.62 2.2 Fannie mae (FNMA) 4.670 3.300 5.390
2.5199 –.0686 June 136-230 137-230 135-200 137-190 31.0 2,566
Aug 2.5652 2.5719 2.4855 90,082 2852.69 2.4 Intermediate 5.420 4.050 6.050 1783.16 2.1 Freddie Mac (FHLMC) 4.720 3.300 5.370
Natural Gas (NYM)-10,000 MMBtu.; $ per MMBtu. Sept 136-180 137-290 135-090 137-160 29.0 1,467,837
July 2.658 2.696 2.484 2.492 –.140 103,387 Treasury Bonds (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100% 3978.65 4.8 Long term 5.440 4.690 6.370 569.19 2.3 Muni Master 3.292 2.419 3.936
Aug 2.755 2.783 2.562 2.570 –.151 171,692 June 126-280 128-160 126-190 128-080 29.0 283
Sept 127-120 128-110 126-120 128-020 23.0 1,228,466 577.09 3.4 Double-A-rated 4.750 3.630 5.320 405.81 1.9 7-12 year 2.946 2.325 3.794
Sept 2.748 2.775 2.548 2.557 –.158 280,244
Oct 2.836 2.874 2.658 2.667 –.151 111,325
Treasury Notes (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100% 787.93 3.4 Triple-B-rated 5.710 4.620 6.440 458.01 3.4 12-22 year 3.632 2.991 4.428
June 112-170 112-285 112-110 112-215 8.5 2,863
Nov 3.218 3.263 3.050 3.065 –.152 71,141
Sept 113-025 113-170 112-230 113-100 8.5 4,638,855 High Yield Bonds ICE BofA 431.91 4.8 22-plus year 4.269 3.700 5.131
Jan'24 3.870 3.906 3.757 3.765 –.108 78,957
5 Yr. Treasury Notes (CBT)-$100,000; pts 32nds of 100% 488.07 5.3 High Yield Constrained 8.564 7.409 9.623 Global Government J.P. Morgan†
June 107-097 107-222 107-082 107-175 5.0 3,415
Agriculture Futures 461.92 9.9 Triple-C-rated 13.946 12.836 16.916 532.46 2.1 Global Government 3.020 2.010 3.250
Sept 107-260 108-035 107-187 107-300 5.0 4,925,879
Corn (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. 2 Yr. Treasury Notes (CBT)-$200,000; pts 32nds of 100%
July 640.75 647.00 635.50 643.75 3.50 220,592 3285.73 5.6 High Yield 100 7.966 6.786 8.753 771.62 1.0 Canada 3.460 2.720 3.780
June 101-307 102-027 101-29 102-003 1.6 1,684
Dec 600.00 609.00 588.50 597.50 … 484,469 2.4 EMU§ 3.181 1.594 3.490
Sept 102-043 102-081 102-013 102-056 1.6 3,471,396 425.12 4.8 Global High Yield Constrained 8.661 7.593 9.945 341.15
Oats (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. 30 Day Federal Funds (CBT)-$5,000,000; 100 - daily avg.
July 404.75 406.00 392.50 397.00 –7.50 1,652
June 94.9225 94.9225 94.9200 94.9200 .0000 325,729 323.97 4.9 Europe High Yield Constrained 7.320 5.952 8.508 631.02 1.8 France 3.050 1.410 3.310
Dec 409.75 412.25 399.25 404.75 –2.75 1,519
Soybeans (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. July 94.8950 94.8950 94.8850 94.8900 .0000 353,017 U.S Agency Bloomberg Fixed Income Indices 449.36 1.3 Germany 2.500 0.770 2.760
July 1472.75 1489.25 1459.75 1477.25 10.75 134,917
Three-Month SOFR (CME)-$1,000,000; 100 - daily avg.
March 95.0575 95.0575 95.0550 95.0550 .0000 1,027,042 1723.36 1.9 U.S Agency 4.780 3.060 5.080 286.12 3.0 Japan 0.740 0.570 1.060
Nov 1352.25 1364.75 1324.25 1342.75 .50 285,131
Soybean Meal (CBT)-100 tons; $ per ton. June 94.7850 94.7850 94.7725 94.7775 –.0075 1,534,686 1.7 10-20 years 4.790 3.020 5.100 1.6
1522.80 487.10 Netherlands 2.750 1.080 3.000
July 418.90 423.60 411.10 412.80 –3.60 74,245
Dec 408.00 409.70 397.80 402.60 –.70 176,881 Currency Futures 3349.72 4.9 20-plus years 4.580 3.600 5.240 754.58 -3.6 U.K. 4.420 2.100 4.680
Soybean Oil (CBT)-60,000 lbs.; cents per lb. Japanese Yen (CME)-¥12,500,000; $ per 100¥ 2609.47 3.0 Yankee 5.220 3.970 5.840 793.56 3.3 Emerging Markets ** 7.699 7.084 9.159
July 59.95 60.06 58.76 59.63 –.06 69,381 July .7070 t
.7110 .7059 .7103 .0020 4,797
Dec 57.78 58.18 56.62 57.66 –.21 174,575 Sept .7142 t
.7181 .7128 .7173 .0020 236,381 *Constrained indexes limit individual issuer concentrations to 2%; the High Yield 100 are the 100 largest bonds † In local currency § Euro-zone bonds
Rough Rice (CBT)-2,000 cwt.; $ per cwt. Canadian Dollar (CME)-CAD 100,000; $ per CAD ** EMBI Global Index Sources: ICE Data Services; Bloomberg Fixed Income Indices; J.P.Morgan
July 17.99 17.99 17.13 17.19 –.61 1,747 June .7570 .7572 .7547 .7548 –.0041 45,351
Sept 15.37 15.65 15.31 15.64 .21 6,160 Sept .7579 .7583 .7546 .7569 –.0029 127,128
Wheat (CBT)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu.
July 687.00 700.00 676.25 695.75 7.75 87,511
British Pound (CME)-£62,500; $ per £
July 1.2802 1.2810 1.2720 1.2764 –.0075 2,032
Global Government Bonds: Mapping Yields
Sept 701.50 713.25 689.25 708.75 7.25 142,622 Sept 1.2806 1.2820 1.2726 1.2772 –.0075 206,182 Yields and spreads over or under U.S. Treasurys on benchmark two-year and 10-year government bonds in
Wheat (KC)-5,000 bu.; cents per bu. Swiss Franc (CME)-CHF 125,000; $ per CHF
July 839.75 848.00 829.00 836.00 –6.00 31,611 Sept 1.1268 1.1274 1.1212 1.1240 –.0055 34,515 selected other countries; arrows indicate whether the yield rose(s) or fell (t) in the latest session
Country/ Yield (%) Spread Under/Over U.S. Treasurys, in basis points
Coupon (%) Maturity, in years Latest(l)-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Previous Month ago Year ago Latest Prev Year ago
ADVERTISEMENT 4.250 U.S. 2 4.695 t l 4.720 4.287 3.164
3.375 10 3.726 t l 3.768 3.690 3.238
Corporate Debt
Prices of firms' bonds reflect factors including investors' economic, sectoral and company-specific
expectations
Investment-grade spreads that tightened the most…
Spread*, in basis points
Issuer Symbol Coupon (%) Yield (%) Maturity Current One-day change Last week
UBS UBS 4.125 5.76 April 15, ’26 147 –36 165
Royal Bank of Canada RY 6.000 5.03 Nov. 1, ’27 107 –17 133
PacifiCorp BRKHEC 6.250 5.66 Oct. 15, ’37 194 –13 n.a.
Bank of Montreal BMO 5.300 5.30 June 5, ’26 101 –12 116
Jackson National Life Global Funding JXN 5.500 6.48 Jan. 9, ’26 220 –11 n.a.
Vodafone VOD 4.375 4.77 May 30, ’28 78 –11 90
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial SUMIBK 1.474 5.63 July 8, ’25 94 –10 108
JPMorgan Chase JPM 4.125 5.17 Dec. 15, ’26 89 –9 105
Showroom
To advertise: 800-366-3975 or WSJ.com/classifieds
Unilever Capital
Anheuser–Busch Inbev Worldwide
UNANA
ABIBB
5.900
8.200
4.63
5.27
Nov. 15, ’32
Jan. 15, ’39
93
127
6
5 127
92
Marks & Spencer MARSPE 7.125 7.50 Dec. 1, ’37 96.700 1.20 n.a.
Occidental Petroleum OXY 6.200 6.23 March 15, ’40 99.731 0.61 98.011
Regal Rexnord RRX 6.050 6.02 Feb. 15, ’26 100.065 0.45 99.890
Prime Security Services Borrower PRSESE 5.250 6.05 April 15, ’24 99.375 0.31 99.188
United States Cellular USM 6.700 8.35 Dec. 15, ’33 88.625 0.18 82.125
OneMain Finance OMF 6.875 7.83 March 15, ’25 98.466 0.09 98.500
Nissan Motor Acceptance NSANY 1.125 6.89 Sept. 16, ’24 93.288 0.07 93.067
Navient NAVI 5.875 6.76 Oct. 25, ’24 98.875 0.07 98.594
Dividend Changes
Amount Payable / Amount Payable /
Company Symbol Yld % New/Old Frq Record Company Symbol Yld % New/Old Frq Record
Reduced Banco Bradesco Pref ADR BBD 4.6 .04061 Jul13 /Jun28
Permianville Royalty Tr PVL 18.0 .0125 /.0135 M Jul14 /Jun30 Grupo Aeroportuario ADR OMAB 4.5 1.86359 Jun29 /Jun21
Opera ADR OPRA 2.2 .80 Jul12 /Jun30
Stocks Seapeak 8.5% Pfd. B SEALpB 8.8 .5313 Q Jul14 /Jun30
Energy Focus EFOI 1:7 /Jun20 Seapeak 9% Pfd. A SEALpA 9.1 .5625 Q Jul14 /Jun30
Shapeways SHPW 1:8 /Jun23 TFI International TFII 1.3 .35 Q Jul17 /Jun30
SQZ Biotechnologies SQZ 1:10 /Jul07
Yunji ADR YJ 1:10 /Jun20 Special
Spirit Airlines SAVE ... .10 Jun30 /Jun26
Foreign
Banco Bradesco Ord ADR BBDO 4.5 .03692 Jul13 /Jun28 Sources: FactSet; Dow Jones Market Data
KEY: A: annual; M: monthly; Q: quarterly; r: revised; SA: semiannual; S2:1: stock split and ratio; SO: spin-off.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | B9
MARKETS DIGEST
EQUITIES
Dow Jones Industrial Average S&P 500 Index Nasdaq Composite Index
Last Year ago Last Year ago Last Year ago
34053.87 t 245.25, or 0.72% Trailing P/E ratio 22.68 17.39 4388.71 t 20.88, or 0.47% Trailing P/E ratio * 19.75 20.33 13667.29 t 22.28, or 0.16% Trailing P/E ratio *† 31.47 23.22
High, low, open and close for each P/E estimate * 18.28 15.70 High, low, open and close for each P/E estimate * 20.12 16.10 High, low, open and close for each P/E estimate *† 29.76 19.85
trading day of the past three months. Dividend yield 2.09 2.32 trading day of the past three months. Dividend yield * 1.57 1.76 trading day of the past three months. Dividend yield *† 0.74 0.98
All-time high 36799.65, 01/04/22 All-time high 4796.56, 01/03/22 All-time high: 16057.44, 11/19/21
65-day
Session high moving average 32600 4100 12300
DOWN UP
t
BUSINESS NEWS
Street-Backed 3M Suits
Threaten
Crypto Market Heavy Costs
Gets to Work Continued from page B1
steep price tag that would po-
tentially reshape the company.
Some analysts expect 3M to
reduce its stock dividend that
Exchange EDX seeks serve individual investors. In- costs $3.4 billion a year as it
stead, it expects that retail becomes a smaller company
business from those brokerages will send inves- with a heavier debt load. The
wary of troubles at tors’ orders to buy and sell company said last July that it
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to Section 453(2)(b) Qualified cash buyers only. No owner financing. No brokers.
worth of customer assets to there were regulatory clarity. of the Irish Companies Act 2014 (the “2014 Act”) that
fund risky trades and venture- Citadel Securities had been the following resolution approving a proposed scheme
of arrangement (the “Scheme”) between CRH plc (the
capital investments. researching crypto as a poten- “Company”) and the holders of the Ordinary Shares
(as defined in the scheme document (the “Scheme
Earlier this month, the SEC tial trading opportunity as Document”)) was approved at a meeting of the Ordinary BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES NOTICE OF SALE
alleged in a lawsuit that Bi- early as March 2021, more Shareholders held on 8 June 2023 (which meeting was
ordered by the High Court of Ireland (the “Court”) on
nance commingled billions of than half a year before Grif- 8 May 2023 following an application by the Company
pursuant to Section 450(3) of the 2014 Act): NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE OF COLLATERAL
ADVERTISE TODAY
dollars of customer assets in fin’s comments, according to a “THAT the Scheme in its original form or with or subject THERE IS ONLY ONE… PLEASE TAKE NOTICE, that in accordance with
an account held by a trading lawsuit the firm filed last year to any modification(s), addition(s) or condition(s)
approved or imposed by the High Court be agreed to.” 1A applicable provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code
as enacted and currently in effect in New York, and
firm owned by Binance
founder Changpeng Zhao. Bi-
in Chicago against a former
employee whom it accused of
The purpose of the Scheme is to provide for the transfer New York on account of a default under a certain Pledge and
Security Agreement dated as of April 4, 2022 ( “Security
(800) 366-3975
or be eligible for such transfer, settlement and clearing for sale, at public auction, all of Pledgor’s right, title,
through DTC; (ii) terminate the transfer, settlement and and interest in and to: (i) 100% of the limited liability
tions. trade in March 2022 through clearing of the Ordinary Shares through the settlement company membership interest in 421 Kent Development,
NOTICE OF SALE
Unlike most crypto ex- an affiliate in Asia, the lawsuit system operated by Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V.; and (iii)
take certain steps to facilitate the foregoing.
LLC (“Pledged Entity”), owned by 421 Kent Development
Holdco, LLC; and (ii) All other “Pledged Interests”, as that
changes, EDX won’t directly said. The Company will make an application to the Court term is defined in the Pledge Agreement (collectively,
pursuant to section 453(2)(c) of the 2014 Act for an (i) and (ii) are the “Collateral”). Secured Party’s
order sanctioning the Scheme. NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE OF COLLATERAL understanding is that the principal asset of the Pledged
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to an order Please take notice that 100% of the membership Entity is that certain fee interest in condominium units
made by the Court on 19 June 2023, the Company will interests in ONH 14 53rd ST LLC, a Delaware limited designated and described as Unit Nos. TH1, TH5, TH7,
apply to the Court on 11 July 2023 under Section 453(2) liability company (the “Company”), will be offered TH8, 207, 231, D315, D327, L32, L52, L61, L62, L63,
For more information visit: (c) of the 2014 Act for an order sanctioning the Scheme. for sale at a public auction and sold to the highest L65, D720, D725, PH5, 812, 830, 834 and 912 in the
“qualified bidder” on August 9, 2023 at 11:00 A.M.
wsj.com/classifieds The Court has directed that the application for the
sanctioning of the Scheme and any related orders be
(New York time). The sale will be held virtually (i.e.,
not in person) via https://bit.ly/WhaleUCC (case
building known as Oosten Condominium, located at 421
Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. Mannion Auctions,
heard in the Commercial List of the Court sitting in the LLC (“Mannion”), under the direction of Matthew D.
sensitive). Mannion, licensed auctioneer (DCA #1434494) (the
Four Courts, Inns Quay, Dublin 7, D07 N972, Ireland at
10:30 a.m. (Irish time) on 11 July 2023 (the “Hearing”). The principal asset of the Company is the property “Auctioneer”), will conduct a public sale consisting of
The Hearing will take place in a hybrid fashion and located at 14 53rd Street, Brooklyn, New York. the Collateral (as set forth in Schedule I below), at the
virtual meeting details are available from the email This sale is held to enforce the rights of 14 53rd Street offices of Secured Party’s counsel, Herrick, Feinstein
address below on request. LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, as secured LLP, 2 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016, on July 25,
Any shareholder or creditor that wishes to obtain a copy party (including its successors and assigns, “Secured 2023 at 2:00 p.m. ET, in satisfaction of an indebtedness
of the Company’s filings relating to the Hearing should Party”) under (A) that certain (i) that certain Senior in the approximate amount of $36,211,589.94, including
contact the solicitors for the Company at the address Loan Agreement, dated as of September 25, 2020 by principal, interest on principal, and reasonable fees and
below. and among the Company and TPG RE Finance 2, Ltd. costs, plus default interest through June 5, 2023, subject
(“TPG”), (ii) that certain Amended and Restated to open charges and all additional interest, costs, fees
Any party with such an interest in the Scheme may Building Loan Agreement, dated as of September
appear at the Hearing personally or be represented by and disbursements permitted by law. The Secured Party
25, 2020 by and among the Company and TPG, and reserves the right to (i) credit bid its claim secured by
a solicitor or by counsel. Any such party intending to (iii) that certain Project Loan Agreement, dated as
so appear should give notice in writing to the Solicitors of September 25, 2020 by and among the Company the collateral; (ii) reject any and all bids found to be
for the Company by no later than 5:30 p.m. (Irish time) and TPG , and (B) that certain Pledge and Security made in bad faith, (iii) cancel the sale in its entirety,
on 4 July 2023, and any affidavit in support of any such Agreement dated as of September 25, 2020, executed and/or (iv) adjourn the sale. The collateral will be sold
appearance should be filed with the Central Office of the by ONH 14 53rd ST Mezz LLC, a Delaware limited as a block and will not be divided or sold in any lesser
High Court of Ireland, and served on the Solicitors for liability company, in favor of TPG, both of which amounts.
the Company, by no later than 5:30 p.m. (Irish time) on Interested parties who would like additional
BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS
MARKETS
Funds Buy More T-Bills, Park Less at Fed Norway Seeks to Allow
BY ERIC WALLERSTEIN Short-term rates net issuance in the next two
Mining in Deep Sea
weeks.
Money-market funds are 6% Wall Street banks have BY YUSUF KHAN looking to extract these nod-
placing less cash in a Federal One-month Treasury yield cited reverse repo as provid- ules, such as Norway’s Loke
Reserve borrowing program, a 5
Fed reverse repo rate
ing an adequate buffer for the The Norwegian government Marine Minerals, say that
sign that efforts to replenish new bill supply, and the Trea- opened the door for deep-sea harvesting them provides an
Two-year Treasury yield
government coffers after the 4 sury Department emphasized mining in its waters, despite alternative supply of the min-
debt-ceiling fight haven’t dis- its ability to handle debt-limit opposition from environmen- erals needed for renewables,
rupted markets. episodes in the past without tal groups and a growing list while avoiding the harm to in-
3
Analysts said funds are in- market consequence. of nation states arguing to digenous civilizations or rain-
stead likely stepping up to buy Some analysts think the de- ban the practice. forests when mining on land.
new Treasury bills that the 2 cline could be temporary. The The government said it was In Norway, the focus will be
government is issuing as it $117 billion drop on Thursday proposing parts of the Norwe- on seabed crusts on the coun-
looks to borrow up to $1 tril- 1 might have been amplified by gian continental shelf be try’s continental shelf. The
lion through the end of the corporate-tax payments June opened for deep-sea mining target crusts contain copper,
year. If so, that could ease 15, when companies typically and other commercial seabed zinc and cobalt, as well as
0
fears that a flood of short- pull cash from money-market mineral activities. It added some rare-earth elements, ac-
term bonds into the market 2021 ’22 ’23 funds to pay the government. that environmental consider- cording to the Norwegian Pe-
could boost volatility and gov- Overnight reverse repurchase transactions at Federal Reserve Coming reverse repo data will ations would be safeguarded troleum Directorate.
ernment funding costs. be closely watched to see and extraction permitted only “We need minerals to suc-
The Fed’s facility for so- $2.5 billion whether this marks the start if the industry could demon- ceed in the green transition,”
called reverse repurchase of a promising trend or proves strate “sustainability and re- said Terje Aasland, minister
agreements—which borrows 2.0 transitory. sponsible practices.” of petroleum and energy.
from money-market funds and “We would not be surprised Deep-sea mining has at- Deep-sea mining in interna-
other firms in exchange for se- to see if [reverse repo] bal- tracted growing opposition, tional waters isn’t yet legal,
1.5
curities such as Treasurys, ances rebound over the com- both in Europe and the rest of but it is expected to become so
then returns the money the ing days as the effect of the the world, over concerns that this year. Next month, the In-
next day—had its biggest 1.0 tax deadline fades,” wrote JP- it could significantly damage ternational Seabed Authority—
drain in roughly six months on Morgan analysts. marine ecosystems. However, a U.N. observer organization
Thursday. Reverse repo fell 0.5 The reverse repo rate is companies and countries are tasked with creating rules cov-
below $2 trillion for the first also mechanically tied to the scouring the planet to find ering the practice—is expected
time since June 2022, after 0 federal-funds target range set and secure additional sources to meet to agree upon regula-
peaking above $2.5 trillion at by the Fed. Should policy mak- of metals and minerals critical tions for deep-sea mining.
2021 ’22 ’23
the end of last year. ers opt to increase rates at for the energy transition, in- Deep-sea mining remains
The declining use of the Source: Federal Reserve their July meeting—which an- cluding manganese and cobalt. controversial, with a number
program—which rebounded alysts said looks likely given To date deep-sea mining of NGOs and national govern-
slightly on Friday to a touch money funds, which are gener- 4.720%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s re- has focused on the extraction ments calling to ban the prac-
above $2 trillion, remaining ally limited to ultrasafe assets The Treasury’s checking ac- cent comments—the yields on of seabed nodules—tennis- tice or at least obtain a mora-
near its lowest levels of the such as Treasurys and repur- count held at the Fed, known short-term Treasurys might ball-sized pieces of rock that torium to further investigate
past year—offers hope that chase agreements. Fears of a as the Treasury General Ac- have to climb above 5.3% to contain manganese, cobalt and its environmental impacts.
the smooth flow of money in widening banking crisis or U.S. count, had fallen as low as $50 keep pulling money-market nickel, all of which are used in “To forge ahead and un-
short-term markets dimin- default pushed investors into billion as of the end of May. It funds from the facility. electric-vehicle batteries. leash deep-sea mining in the
ishes a potential risk to Treasurys, driving yields had since rebounded to Marginally higher govern- So far much of the atten- Arctic would be criminal. Nor-
stocks’ rally. Some feared lower relative to the reverse roughly $135 billion as of ment borrowing costs might be tion has centered on the Pa- way talks about leading the
money-market funds could repo rate. Wednesday, but that remains less of an issue than a potential cific Ocean’s Clarion Clipper- world, but they clearly didn’t
continue sapping deposits Yields on Treasury bills well below officials’ targeted snarl in the short-term lending ton Zone, which is an area of get the memo of the growing
from banks and stashing that have now climbed high enough balance of $600 billion for the markets that underpin the fi- water between Mexico and opposition to this industry,”
cash at the Fed, adding stress for money-market funds to go end of September. nancial system, some analysts Hawaii that contains millions said Louisa Casson of Green-
to the financial system. buy them. The government’s After the debt-ceiling deal said. Should bank liquidity de- of tons of nodules. Companies peace International.
“The issuance has gone latest one-month and two- passed, Wall Street braced for cline too rapidly as the TGA re-
about as well as anyone could month bill auctions offered in- the Treasury Department to fills, the Fed could have to step
have imagined,” said Joseph vestment rates of 5.113% and sell more than $1 trillion of in to support markets at the
Brusuelas, principal and chief 5.206%, respectively. That short-term debt in the coming same time it is winding down
economist at RSM US. “That compares to reverse repo’s of- months. Extraordinary mea- its balance sheet—an atypical
doesn’t mean it’ll continue fered rate of 5.05%. sures enacted during the debt- policy stance.
that way, but so far Wall “We’ll see an increase in ceiling fight and weaker-than- Steven Kelly, a researcher
Street is handling the tsunami short-term yields when the expected taxes had bled the at Yale University’s program
of bills.” bulk of issuance hits in the government’s coffers. on financial stability, said that
OYSTEIN LEIKNES NAG, NPD
Money-market funds in- second half of this month,” Earlier in June, the Trea- if there isn’t enough cash in
vested much of their nearly said Brusuelas. “There’s defi- sury Department said it would the right place at the right
$5.5 trillion in assets at the nitely some worries—the local rebuild its balances gradually. time, short-term rates could
Fed to earn large fees on and regional banks started to It is targeting a $425 billion surge. A period of low liquid-
highly safe, daily transactions. break when the 2-year yield TGA balance by the end of ity caused an unexpected rate
Fewer Treasury bills going breached 5%.” June, down from May’s esti- spike in September 2019.
around meant there were The yield on the 2-year mate of $550 billion. That still “Someone can get pinched,” Rock extracted by an expedition off Norway’s coast. The
fewer buying opportunities for Treasury finished last week at requires nearly $300 billion of he said. seabed crust contains materials used in electric-car batteries.
Nvidia shares are down 105%. last summer, in anticipation of easy to source, making the fee more like long positions in million of short interest as of
Short The potential loss on a short
sale is unlimited, since the
this recession that has yet to to borrow them low. Investors
materialize,” said Jason Draho, were shorting about $235 bil-
practice. Two of the three
most profitable on a percent-
the end of May, according to
S3. Similar wagers against the
shares need to be repurchased head of asset lion worth of age-gain basis in May were in- smaller Direxion Daily Semi-
Sellers and returned eventually. allocation ETFs at the end vestors shorting inverse ETFs, conductor Bear 3X ETF are
$1T
The most popular short Americas at of May, accord- or those that seek to provide also prevalent.
There are a lot of theories for why menters. While Chief Executive Tesla's share price, past two years All these threads can be woven
Tesla’s market value increased by Elon Musk has talked about robo- together to depict Tesla as a tech-
$400
about a quarter-trillion dollars dur- taxis, Alphabet’s Waymo and GM’s nology ecosystem with several rev-
ing the past month. You have to go Cruise operate fleets of them, al- enue streams, rather than as a car-
far down the list to find the thing in- beit in limited areas and condi- Third-quarter sales maker. Tech analyst Dan Ives of
vestors usually pay most attention tions. GM and Alphabet moved for- 300 Wedbush Securities wrote of an
to: the foreseeable outlook for profit. ward with understandable caution. “AWS moment” for Tesla, referring
Even by Tesla’s standards the A mangled line from ChatGPT may to the emergence of Amazon.com’s
recent rally has been dizzying. The not have big consequences, but a cloud-computing business.
stock opened after the long week- stray robotaxi would. Uber found 200 Such comparisons are by nature
end above $260, a level last seen this out the hard way when one of imprecise. Tesla has interesting side-
in September, before a disappoint- its test vehicles hit a pedestrian in lines in charging and insurance—
ing third-quarter update started a 2018, triggering a sector downturn. both mostly accounted for in its ser-
run of bad news. Slow progress makes the business 100 vices division—and energy storage,
One commonly cited explanation expensive: Cruise burned through which has been growing very fast.
is artificial intelligence. A record- $1.8 billion of cash last year. But nothing seems likely to generate
breaking 13-day streak of gains in Robotaxis offer a problematic 0 revenues on anything like the scale
Tesla’s stock started about the time explanation for the latest Tesla of Tesla’s car sales.
July 2021 ’22 ’23
chip maker Nvidia gave a punchy rally. Over the past month, GM un- While much of the Street chatter
sales forecast based on booming derperformed Ford, which doesn’t Net purchases from retail investors, Deferred revenues $300 billion once again recasts Tesla as a tech gi-
demand for AI applications. Marco have a business like Cruise, while 10-day moving average* recognized by Tesla ant, there are more down-to-Earth
Iachini, senior vice president at Alphabet’s stock is broadly flat. for FSD features, explanations for the recent rally. Ben
Vanda Research, which analyzes Tesla sees the potential to take $400 billion charging-network 250 Rose, an analyst at Battle Road Re-
investor flows, points out small drivers out of cars to create robo- Tesla access, internet search, points out it started when
shareholders bought into Tesla and taxis as an extension of its existing connectivity and Musk appointed a new CEO at Twit-
AI basket† 200
the AI theme at similar times dur- driver-assistance package—so-called 300 OTA updates ter, alleviating worries about his get-
ing the past year. “We think the full-self-driving. This software offers ting distracted by the platform.
market wants to believe Tesla is an another justification for the AI hopes 150 Tesla updated its website this
AI name first, an auto company swirling around the company. month to show that all its vehicles
200
second,” Morgan Stanley analyst Tesla now charges $15,000 for FSD wide release qualify for the full U.S. tax credit,
Adam Jonas wrote last week. FSD, but doesn’t book all the reve- 100 which depends on complex battery-
Although the latest AI hopes have nue because the product is in test- sourcing requirements. Previously
been focused on the “large language ing mode. After years of disappoint- 100 most of its models got only half the
models” that power ChatGPT, some ment, its recognition of deferred 50 $7,500 subsidy. If second-quarter
investors appear to see a read-across revenue took a step up in the final Nvidia gives earnings show signs of stabilization,
to driverless cars. RBC analyst Tom quarter of last year, when it made 0
bullish revenue target
Quarterly 0
analysts could start to increase earn-
Narayan published a note last week FSD more widely available, and it ings forecasts that they have spent
with a new valuation methodology was higher than usual in the first July 2022 ’23 2020 ’21 ’22 ’23 the past six months or so cutting.
that attributed little value to Tesla’s quarter. This could be a sign—albeit *As of June 13 †Top 5 holdings: Nvidia, Amazon.com, C3.ai, Microsoft, Alphabet Second-quarter sales and earn-
car-making business but a lot to its one open to manipulation—that the Sources: FactSet (share price); VandaTrack (purchases); the company (revenues) ings next month could refocus
promise of “robotaxis”—driverless technology is finally working better. minds on how things look in the
vehicles for hire that one day might Still, putting a high value on FSD Leaving aside AI, the deals Ford never really warmed to indepen- more immediate future. Whether
replace some cases of car ownership. is problematic even if its perfor- and GM have signed to use Tesla’s dent charging-network builders the news is good or bad, it is
Pinning hopes on Tesla robotaxis mance turns a corner. Cutting-edge Supercharger network coincide with such as EVgo, given the capital in- likely to bring a reminder that
requires a double leap of faith be- technology in the car industry has the latest rally. They should help tensity of their rapid growth. Sud- Tesla still depends overwhelm-
cause the technology is at an ex- historically commanded a sales pre- Tesla wring better returns from of denly seeing huge profit potential ingly on selling vehicle hardware
perimental stage and Tesla isn’t mium only for limited periods before its fixed assets, but the response in Tesla’s charging business smacks and will do for many years to
among the most visible experi- competitors catch up. seems disproportionate. Investors of cognitive dissonance. come. —Stephen Wilmot
Bond Market Ignores $17 Billion Credit Suisse Loss China’s Yuan
Goes Global
Investors in a type of perpetual Additional Tier 1 bonds, spread narrower than on the older bond. very large.
bond don’t seem willing to think over risk-free interest rates In short: Once the impact of More broadly, getting converted Hong Kong’s latest plan to boost
very long term. central banks raising rates is fac- into the equity of a lender that is use of the yuan outside mainland
8 pct. pts.
Last week, Spain’s BBVA said it tored in, banks may actually be about to fail isn’t much better China is off to a slow start.
had issued €1 billion, equivalent to 7
getting cheaper AT1 funding. than being written off. Credit The city’s stock exchange started
$1.1 billion, in so-called Additional European officials designed Suisse has shown that confidence allowing trading in two dozen com-
Tier 1, or AT1, securities. This 6 AT1s in the aftermath of the 2008 in a bank can evaporate quickly panies in yuan on Monday, including
market was upended in March financial crisis so that lenders and that, if this happens, the fact Alibaba and Tencent.
when, in the process of rescuing 5 would automatically top up their that lenders today have big capital One aim is to create more invest-
Credit Suisse, Swiss regulators capital once a key ratio fell below buffers could matter little. More- ment channels for the yuan outside
wiped out the full $17 billion value 4 a certain threshold. To make them over, it has become clear that reg- mainland China. But trading has
of its AT1s. Three months later, count as capital, these bonds ulators will always step in early to been lackluster: turnover in yuan-
BBVA got bids for three times the 3 needed to be perpetual, but banks preserve financial stability, and denominated Alibaba and Tencent
issue on offer. Bank of Cyprus also also found a way to make them then wipe out AT1 holders to make shares was less than 1% of that in
sold new AT1s last week. 2 appeal to traditional bond inves- the bank easier to sell. their Hong Kong dollar equivalents
Both wanted to test whether tors. By custom, they regularly There is also the complicated in the first two days. Shares denom-
the door of the AT1 market was 1 send cash back to holders when- nature of AT1s. Had the market re- inated in either currency are mutu-
open, and the answer has been a ever call dates come due. mained frozen during the coming ally convertible.
resounding yes. 0 Are investors being too blasé? months, many large banks facing Investors from mainland China
It speaks to how short-lived 2015 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23 The consensus position is that calls—BBVA, Barclays, HSBC and can buy many Hong Kong stocks
soul-searching in the bond market Note: As of Monday; Using Bloomberg Global
fears in March were overblown, as UBS, among others—could have through Stock Connect. A yuan-de-
has been. Back in March, the Contingent Capital index, option-adjusted spread officials only had the power to opted not to trigger them. nominated stock is supposed to help
Bloomberg Global Contingent Cap- Source: FactSet wipe out Credit Suisse AT1s due to To be sure, BBVA’s success them avoid currency risk. Theoreti-
ital index lost 15% of its value in language contained in Swiss con- paves the way for the opposite to cally, it shouldn’t matter which cur-
just a few days. A big concern was This is important because AT1 tracts. Many AT1s are converted happen. Banks will likely use the rency a stock is denominated in. But
that Swiss regulators didn’t wipe bonds work in quirky ways: At into equity when triggered, rather opportunity to refinance and then investors may perceive a risk and
out Credit Suisse shares, which predetermined dates, issuers have than being written down to zero, call the bonds, attracting even the option could save them some
appeared to violate the seniority the option to call the bond. If they and regulators in the European more buyers. If no further banking administrative hassle.
of debt over equity. don’t, coupons are reset to what- Union and the U.K. have stated panics materialize, investors may If the yuan is ever to become a
Returns since the start of ever spread they had when they that bonds will only bear losses warm further to AT1s with early major trade or reserve currency,
March are still negative and yields were issued plus the floating five- after equity has been written off. call dates. China likely needs to dismantle its
are above 8%. But in terms of the year risk-free rate. For BBVA, But this is missing the forest When it comes to the long-term capital controls and boost offshore
spread above interest rates, AT1 which had a big coming AT1 call in for the trees. For one, the impact balance between risk and reward, yuan-denominated investment op-
debt is back to 2022 levels, and September, funding was about to on AT1s issued by UBS, the Swiss though, the market doesn’t seem portunities. The latest move is a
around where it was in the 2014 get more expensive. In fact, the bank that bought Credit Suisse, to be internalizing the lesson. step in the right direction—but a
to 2016 period. spread on its latest issuance is has been more persistent, but not —Jon Sindreu very small one so far. —Jacky Wong
B14 | Wednesday, June 21, 2023 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.