USA Today - 09.08.2019

USA TODAY z FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019 z SECTION B

INDEX CLOSE CHG
Dow Jones Industrial Avg. 26,378.19 x 371.
S&P 500 2,938.09 x 54.
Nasdaq composite 8,039.16 x 176.
T-note, 10-year yield 1.72 x 0.
SOURCESUSA TODAY RESEARCH, BLOOMBERG

Dow Jones Industrial Avg.

24,

26,

27,

28,

FEB. AUG.

AP

25,

371.

26,

THURSDAY’S MARKETS

KRAFT HEINZ SHARES DROP
AFTER Q2 EARNINGS REPORT

Kraft Heinz released its second-quar-
ter earnings report delayed by ac-
counting problems and revealed con-
tinued fallout related to those issues
on top of weak sales. The company
that makes Oscar Mayer hot dogs,
Kool-Aid, Heinz ketchup and Velveeta
took charges in excess of $1 billion in
the first half due in part to the “per-
ceived risk” to the value of the com-
pany during a very rough year in which
its stock has been cut in half. Shares
tumbled 14% to an all-time low Thurs-
day but rebounded slightly to close at
$28.22, down 8.58%.

IMPORTS OF US GOODS
IN CHINA PLUNGE 19%

Chinese imports of American goods
plunged in July as a tariff war with
Washington intensified. Imports of
U.S. goods fell 19% from a year earlier
to $10.9 billion, customs data showed
Thursday, though that was an im-
provement over June’s 31.4% fall.
Exports to the United States declined
6.5% to $38.8 billion.

LABOR MARKET STABLE
AS FEWER SEEK JOBLESS AID

The number of people seeking U.S.
unemployment benefits declined
during the week ending Aug. 3, a sign
that the labor market remains stable
despite signs the economy is slowing.
The Labor Department on Thursday
reported 209,000 applications. That’s
down 8,000 from the previous week.

2015 PHOTO BY NAM Y. HUH/AP

Doorless Jeep can handle the fun

Gladiator is in a league of its own. Review, 4B

Not-so-secret Netflix hacks

Use your computer to liven up the experience. 3B

Around the nation

News from every state. 5B

IN AUTOS

STATES

IN TECH

CHRISTIAN LANTRY/CARS.COM

MONEYLINE

Per gallon of regular unleaded.

Yesterday Avg. ........................$2.

Wednesday Avg. ....................$2.

Week Ago Avg. .......................$2.

Month Ago Avg. .....................$2.

Year Ago Avg. .........................$2.

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Gas Prices

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HARLAN, Ky. – It began to rain as

the last of a handful of cars pulled up to

the small white church, tucked be-

tween steep Appalachian hillsides

overgrown by kudzu.

Inside, Jason Powers, a tattooed

pastor and third-generation coal min-

er, greeted worshipers weighed down

with worry as they sat among blue-

cushioned pews for the weeknight ser-

vice. Powers and many of his flock

have been out of work since the latest

coal company bankruptcy.

Layoffs in Harlan County are noth-

ing new. But this one landed like a gut

punch. More than a quarter of the

county’s miners were left jobless when

Blackjewel and Revelation Energy

closed mines July 1.

Not only did the closings come

without warning, but the company’s

bounced paychecks had left miners

struggling to pay mortgages and buy

groceries.

Some had enough. Powers’ Sunday

school teacher was leaving, packing

for a coal job out of state. Another

churchgoer had decided to retrain as a

lineman. After seeing fellow miners

laid off five times in as many years,

Powers told the church that he, too,

was finally done with coal.

“Sometimes God opens a door, and

that might be the unemployment line,”

he said as the rain beat down on the

church roof. “I can’t depend on coal for

the rest of my life.”

In Harlan County, there are no

strangers to coal’s mercurial highs and

lows. But the collapse of Blackjewel, the

latest major American coal company to

declare bankruptcy, roiled Harlan with

unusual intensity, eliminating the jobs

of 225 of the county’s 850 workers and

sending financial turmoil rippling

through the area.

The ensuing anger led a group of

miners to block a company coal train

last week as they demanded back pay.

Blackjewel’s bankruptcy has acceler-

ated a reckoning among miners like

Powers, worn out by years of uncertain-

ty, their hopes fading for President Don-

ald Trump’s promised coal revival.

The question on everyone’s mind:

whether to quit coal, or wait until coal

quits you.

“They’ve always hoped, maybe it will

get better in five years. But that’s kind of

ended. They don’t say that anymore,”

said Michal Ingram, an admission coor-

dinator at Harlan’s Southeast Kentucky

Community and Technical College,

where he’s been inundated with appli-

cations. “This time more are really say-

ing, ‘I’m done with it, I’m going into

something else.’ ”

Closures hit hard

The alarm rang at 3 a.m. July 1 like it

did six days a week in John Howard’s

neat Harlan mobile home, a Trump flag

flying over a wood deck with an above-

ground pool.

Family members seek support for miners along U.S. 421 in Harlan, Ky., on July 18 after Blackjewel and Revelation Energy

closed mines earlier that month. PHOTOS BY ALTON STRUPP/USA TODAY NETWORK

When coal jobs leave,

what do families do?

Layoffs in Harlan County not new, but latest hit home

Chris Kenning

Louisville Courier Journal

USA TODAY

John Howard, a former Blackjewel

foreman, gets a kiss from daughter

Lyndsie, 6. Howard was earning nearly

$100,000 a year. Not long after the

mine abruptly closed, his June 28

paycheck bounced.

See COAL, Page 2B

The stock market has plenty of ex-

cuses for its recent roller-coaster ride

that has left it about 3% below the rec-

ord high it touched in late July.

President Donald Trump escalated

a trade war with new tariffs on Chinese

imports and Beijing retaliated by de-

valuing its currency. The Federal Re-

serve cut interest rates last month but

not as much as investors hoped. And in

response to a dim outlook for the global

economy, U.S. bond yields tumbled and

overseas central banks lowered rates.

Then there’s this: It’s August.

Over the past decade, August has

been the worst month for stocks, and

this year is no exception..

“This is when bad things tend to hap-

pen to the stock market,” says Ryan De-

trick, senior market strategist for LPL

Financial.

Stocks usually perform

poorly in August

SOURCE LPL Financial Research

3.0%

S&P 500 average monthly returns,

2009-18:

George Petras/USA TODAY

2.5%

2.0%

1.5%

1.0%

0.5%

0%

-0.5%

-1.0%

J F M A M J J A S O N D

2.79%

-0.78%

Why August often is

trouble for market

For the past 10 years, it’s

been the worst month

Paul Davidson

USA TODAY

See MARKET, Page 2B