The Wall Street Journal - 17.08.2019 - 18.08.2019

A2| Saturday/Sunday, August 17 - 18, 2019 ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. NEWS

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

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A Page One graphic on

Thursday about potential

warning signs of a recession

showed a chart of 10-year gov-

ernment-bond yields on

Wednesday compared with

yields at the end of 2018. In

some editions the end of 2018

data was unlabeled.

Dozens of people on a Rus-

sian aircraft that made an

emergency landing in a corn-

field near Moscow on Thursday

sought medical assistance, and

one was hospitalized. A World

News photo caption in some

editions Friday incorrectly said

there were no injuries.

A configuration of Tesla

Inc.’s new utility-scale batter-

ies can hold enough energy to

power every home in San

Francisco for six hours. A Busi-

ness & Finance article Monday

incorrectly said a single bat-

tery held that much energy.

Readers can alert The Wall Street Journal to any errors in news articles by

emailing [email protected] or by calling 888-410-2667.

CORRECTIONSAMPLIFICATIONS

wool-and-nylon felted cover.

Wilson—which manufac-

tures up to 220,000 balls a

day and 80 million a year—

uses 30 molds to make the

rubber cores during regular

production.

But when it’s time to

make balls for the U.S. Open,

the company selects just two

or three molds to ensure the

98,000 balls it will provide

for the tournament are as

consistent as possible.

The completed cores are

pressurized to 12 to 14

pounds per square inch and

covered with interlocking

“dog bones” of felt—named

for their shape when they

are laid flat—using fabric

that has been inspected for

uniform thickness.

Tournament balls are

stamped with the U.S. Open

logo and year. But the ink

colors vary, allowing players

and umpires to distinguish

extra-duty balls from regu-

lar-duty balls based on the

stamps: Extra-duty balls

have the “Wilson” script in

black and “U.S. Open” print

in red. Regular-duty balls are

the opposite.

A

lthough the Open be-

gins in August each

year, Wilson and the

U.S. Tennis Association start

talking balls in February or

March, and in midsummer,

the company ships several

cases of that year’s samples

to the USTA for testing.

“They are airfreighted

over to the USTA lab in

White Plains to make sure

the specifications measure

with what we expect,” said

tournament director Dave

Brewer, referring to the city

about 25 miles north of

Manhattan. “It confirms the

continuity of balls.”

The full delivery arrives

in early August, ahead of

the tournament’s qualifying

rounds.

“By far, it’s the largest

shipment of balls we receive

each year,” Mr. Brewer said.

“The guy who heads up

courts and grounds calls

when they arrive. It’s always

a big day.”

Mr. Brewer, who has

worked in tennis for three

decades, couldn’t explain

THE NUMBERS|By Jo Craven McGinty

Do Women Play With Faster Tennis Balls?

When the
men and
women com-
peting in the
U.S. Open ten-
nis tourna-
ment hit the courts at Flush-
ing Meadows in two weeks,
the balls they use will differ.
The men will smack fuzz-
ier, extra-duty balls across
the net, while the women, as
they have for decades, will
launch sleeker, regular-duty
balls.
The perception is that the
women’s balls are faster.
But Wilson Sporting
Goods, which has supplied
the official tennis balls of
the U.S. Open since 1978,
said it has not tested its
balls for speed and noted
that both kinds are manufac-
tured to the identical stan-
dard of the International
Tennis Federation, the gov-
erning body of world tennis.
The ITF sanctions three
different speeds of balls for
use at regular altitudes:
Type 1 fast balls, Type 2 me-
dium balls and Type 3 slow
balls. A fourth ball is ap-
proved for high altitudes.
The U.S. Open uses Type 2
balls, which, among other
things, must:

• weigh 56.0 to 59.
  grams, or 1.975 to 2.
  ounces


• measure 6.54 to 6.

centimeters, or 2.57 to 2.

inches, in diameter

• rebound 135 to 147 cen-
  timeters, or 53 to 58 inches,
  after having been dropped
  from a height of 100 inches


• and exhibit a forward
  deformation of 0.56 to 0.
  centimeter, or 0.22 to 0.
  inch.
  “Extra-duty and regular-
  duty balls are both submit-
  ted and both tested under
  that criteria,” said Jason
  Collins, Wilson’s global prod-
  uct director. “Based on the
  weight, circumference, re-
  bound and deformation, a
  measure of hardness, you
  wouldn’t be able to decipher
  a difference between the
  two.”

I

t’s only on the court that

players detect a varia-

tion, perhaps because

the smoother felt of the reg-

ular-duty ball makes it more

aerodynamic and reduces

friction.

“There is a slightly tighter

weave on regular-duty balls,”

Mr. Collins said. “Because

the felt stays tighter, it flies

through the air quicker. It

doesn’t stay on the racket

strings as long. It gives the

impression that it’s a lighter

ball.”

There are two main com-

ponents of a tennis ball: a

natural rubber core and a

why women use different

balls at the Open but said it

has been that way as long

as he can remember.

The men apparently don’t

care. “The subject of a dif-

ferent ball being used by

the women in the same

tournament historically has

not been raised as an issue

or concern,” a spokesman

for the Association of Ten-

nis Professionals, the gov-

erning body of men’s tennis,

said.

It’s the Women’s Tennis

Association that’s the driv-

ing force.

WTA rules stipulate that

regular-duty balls are to be

used at all of its tourna-

ments unless otherwise ap-

proved.

The rule was adopted in

the early 1980s at the re-

quest of the players, accord-

ing to a WTA spokeswoman,

because extra-duty balls

were difficult on their arms,

shoulders and elbows.

Since then, the women

and men have played with

different balls—at least in

the U.S.

“It’s an American phe-

nomenon,” Mr. Collins said.

“If you look at any U.S.

event—Cincinnati, Indian

Wells, Miami—there is a dif-

ference.”

In Europe, he said, they

just play with tennis balls.

Slugsarecompression-molded

intohalfshellstoformthe

exterioroftheball.

Halfshellsareplacedina

heatedpressthatsealstheball.

Feltiscoatedwithadhesive,

driedandcutinto‘dogbones.’

Thefeltisappliedandtheball

isheatedtocuretheseam

adhesive.

Simplified

manufacturingprocess

Source: Wilson

Alberto Cervantes/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

AnatomyofaBall

Menandwomenplay

withdifferenttennis

ballsattheU.S.Open.

Menusetheextra-duty

versionandwomen

useregular-dutyballs.

Theperception

isthatthewomen’s

ballsarefaster.

Theonlydifference

isinthefelt.

2.57-2.70’’

Weight 1.975-2.095 ounces

Natural

rubber

call said. The fact that the call

happened on a volatile day for

the stock market was just a

coincidence, the people said.

“The Treasury secretary de-

cided to take advantage of the

three of them being together

and hear their views on some

macroeconomic issues and

what they’re seeing in the

world,” one of the people said,

adding that the call took place

in Mr. Mnuchin’s office.

There was “not a lot of

drama” to the discussion, the

other person added.

The conference call came

on a day when the Dow Jones

Industrial Average slumped

800.49 points, or 3%, led by

sharp declines in economically

sensitive industries such as

banking and manufacturing.

Since then, U.S. stocks have

climbed for two consecutive

sessions.

Mr. Trump and his advisers

have publicly projected opti-

mism about the economy, even

as the president has heaped

scorn on the Federal Reserve

and its chairman, Jerome Pow-

ell.

Mr. Trump has blamed Mr.

Powell for the state of the

economy, because the presi-

dent thinks the Fed has kept

interest rates too high.

—Andrew Restuccia

contributed to this article.

President Trump held a

conference call with the chief

executives of three major U.S.

banks on Wednesday, the day

the stock market saw a precip-

itous drop and the configura-

tion of interest rates prompted

fears of a potential coming re-

cession, according to people

familiar with the matter.

The president, who is

spending the week at his golf

resort in Bedminster, N.J.,

spoke by phone to Jamie Di-

mon of JPMorgan Chase & Co.,

Brian Moynihan of Bank of

America Corp. and Michael

Corbat of Citigroup Inc., the

people said.

The call followed a previ-

ously scheduled meeting the

three executives held on

Wednesday with Treasury Sec-

retary Steven Mnuchin at the

Treasury Department in Wash-

ington to discuss anti-money-

laundering regulations, ac-

cording to people familiar

with the discussions.

At the end of the meeting

with Mr. Mnuchin, the three

CEOs spoke on the phone with

the president about the econ-

omy, including sharing their

views on consumer spending

and financial-market activity,

two people familiar with the

BYREBECCABALLHAUS

ANDKATEDAVIDSON

Trump, Bank CEOs

Spoke as Market Fell

U.S. WATCH

Wednesday, the same day the

Dow industrials suffered their

biggest loss of 2019. That lat-

est batch of volatility has

many traders and analysts

calling for additional interven-

tion by the Fed.

Sentiment, at least tempo-

rarily, appeared to shift Thurs-

day after retail sales data indi-

cated American consumer

spending had remained strong

in the face of global head-

winds, countering weakness in

other parts of the economy.

The Dow industrials rose

306.62 points, or 1.2%, to

25886.01 Friday. The S&P 500

climbed 41.08 points, or 1.4%,

ending the week down 1%.

Both indexes have slumped for

three consecutive weeks and

are off about 5% from last

month’s all-time highs.

The yield on 10-year Trea-

surys also flipped higher, ris-

ing to 1.540% Friday, from

1.534% a day earlier. The 30-

year bond slipped below 2%

again and was briefly as low as

1.979%, according to

Tradeweb.

Earlier this week, so many

investors piled into long-term

U.S. government debt that the

yield on the 10-year Treasury

note briefly fell below two-

year yields for the first time

since 2007, an inversion that is

viewed by many as a signal

that a recession could be on

the horizon.

Jose Marques, chief execu-

tive of quantitative hedge fund

Inferent Capital LLC, said he

believes the recent volatility is

part of a larger shift in how

markets trade, leaving it more

difficult for investors to make

money. His fund invests in

about 3,000 stocks at a time—

algorithms, rather than hu-

mans, drive the bets.

“What’s changing every day

is the relationships deep inside

that are generally getting

faster and less predictable,” he

said. “You can call that market

efficiency, but it does make it

harder to extract trading prof-

its from markets.”

Investors will be watching

next week for any signs of

progress in the U.S.-China

trade talks. President Trump

said Thursday that he plans to

have a call with Chinese Presi-

dent Xi Jinping soon and face-

to-face negotiations on a pos-

sible trade deal will resume

next month.

Capping the volatile week,

major indexes in Europe and

Asia finished Friday higher.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose

1.2% after a top official at the

European Central Bank said

that it would announce a pack-

age of stimulus measures at its

next policy meeting in Septem-

ber that should exceed inves-

tors’ expectations.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang

Seng gained 0.9%, while stocks

in Shanghai rose 0.3%. China’s

State Council pledged to cut fi-

nancing costs for businesses.

In commodities markets,

U.S. crude rose 0.7%. Oil prices

have been volatile as tensions

in the Strait of Hormuz ratch-

eted up. Gibraltar released an

Iranian tanker this week that

was impounded in July, open-

ing the door for Tehran to free

a British-flagged vessel it

seized.

—Avantika Chilkoti, Rachael

Levy and Anna Isaac

contributed to this article.

The ever-shifting signals
have left traders scrambling to
keep up.
“The volatility makes a dif-
ficult investing environment,”
said Justin Wiggs, managing
director of equity trading at
Stifel Nicolaus. “It seems to be
equal parts people feeling they
need to be in motion and peo-
ple feeling paralyzed.”
Government-bond yields
have continued to tumble since
the Fed cut rates last month
for the first time in a decade.
Weak data out of Germany and
China have exacerbated fears
of a potential recession and
sent many investors rushing to
cut their exposure to riskier
stocks and seek the relative
safety of U.S. government
bonds.
The amalgamation of fears
drove the yield on the 30-year
Treasury bond to a record low

ContinuedfromPageOne

Stocks End

We e k i n

Recovery

of consumer sentiment for Au-

gust was 92.1, down from July’s

reading of 98.4. That fell short of

economists’ expectations for an

initial reading of 97.0 in August,

and marked the lowest reading

since January.

“Consumers concluded, follow-

ing the Fed’s lead, that they may

need to reduce spending in antic-

ipation of a potential recession,”

said Richard Curtin, the survey’s

chief economist.

U.S. households also strongly

reacted to President Trump’s

early August move to extend tar-

iffs to essentially all Chinese im-

ports from Sept. 1, he said. Even

though the Trump administration

later scaled back those plans, “it

still raises concerns about future

price increases,” he said.

—Harriet Torry

HOUSING

U.S. Starts Down for

Third Straight Month

Home building in the U.S.

fell for a third straight month,

showing that rising labor and

material costs continue to dent

the pace of home construction.

Housing starts, a measure

of new-home construction, fell

4% in July from the prior

month to a seasonally adjusted

annual rate of 1.191 million, the

Commerce Department said Fri-

day.

Residential building permits,

which can signal how much

construction is in the pipeline,

rose 8.4% from June to an an-

nual pace of 1.336 million.

—Likhitha Butchireddygari

KANSAS

Earthquake Felt for

About 200 Miles

A series of earthquakes

shook parts of Kansas on Friday

morning near Hutchinson, knock-

ing down ceiling tiles and break-

ing windows.

The largest earthquake mea-

sured 4.2 and hit around 8 a.m.,

with an epicenter about 3 miles

from Hutchinson. The U.S. Geolog-

ical Survey received reports that

it was felt in Kansas City, Mo.—

about 200 miles from Hutchinson.

Three temblors, with magni-

tudes ranging from 2.8 to 3.3,

followed in the same area, said

Rick Miller, a senior scientist with

the Kansas Geological Survey.

—Associated Press

A bomb squad officer investigated a suspicious package, one of three found in Manhattan on Friday.

NEW YORK

NYPD Looks for Man

After Devices Found

The New York Police Depart-
ment was searching for a man
in connection to three suspicious
devices found in Manhattan on
Friday morning, officials said.
Two devices that appeared to
be pressure cookers were discov-
ered at about 7 a.m. in the Ful-
ton Street subway station, but
they didn’t have explosives in
them, police said. Investigators
are seeking a suspect who was
caught on video near the station
pushing a shopping cart with a
pressure cooker in it, officials
said, adding that he was being
sought for reckless endanger-
ment.
A third suspicious device was
found near Union Square, the of-
ficials said. Terrorism hasn’t been
ruled out as a motive, they said.
“They don’t believe, at this
point, there was an actual bomb
device—there were no wires, et-
cetera,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo
said. “The suspicion is they were
placed there to suggest they
were electronic devices and pos-
sible bombs.”
—Ben Chapman

ECONOMY

Trade Jitters Dent

Consumer Sentiment

U.S. household sentiment
dropped to a seven-month low in
August, as consumers were rat-
tled by the implications of trade
uncertainties and the Federal Re-
serve’s recent rate cut.
The University of Michigan
said Friday its preliminary index

SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS

Government-bond

yields have tumbled

since the Fed cut

rates last month.