The Wall Street Journal - 03.04.2020

** FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXV NO. 78 WSJ.com HHHH $4.

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We ’ v e Al l

Decided to

Bake Bread iii

But a lot of us are

ending up with

hockey pucks

BYANNIEGASPARRO ANDJAMESR.HAGERTY

They’re calling it carb ther- apy. People are dusting off old bread makers and desperately trying to find dry yeast. The coronavirus pandemic is turning everyone into a baker. It’s not as easy as it looks on Instagram. Stuck at home with her kids in Longview, Wash., on day nine of social distancing, Please turn to page A

The NFL team sent its plane on a flight to acquire 1.2 million N masks from China for medical workers in Massachusetts treating coronavirus patients. A

BYDAVIDHODARI ANDSARAHTOY

ventilators needed to defeat the virus.” Unknown is whether enough ventilators will be made avail- able and in time for an expected surge in the next two weeks. Mr. Trump has said he wants manufacturers to send supplies to states and hospitals directly, bypassing the stockpile. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in charge of coordinating the federal response, including trans- porting supplies to where they are needed. A spokeswoman Please turn to page A

WSJ EXTRA

NAVIGATING THE CORONAVIRUS

What to put in an emergency care kit to make sure your family is ready at home. R1-

market plummeted, Valiant posted gains on those bets, including some on cruise lines, international airlines and travel companies. By early March, the fund had begun shorting less obvious candi- dates, believing those with weak balance sheets and companies it viewed as fraudulent would be caught out in a pro- longed slump. By the end of March, Valiant was up 36% for the year before fees, said the people familiar with the firm. The return stands in contrast to a 19.6% drop in the S&P 500 and a 21.3% decline in the MSCI All World Index, a broad global index measuring the performance of stocks around the world. “Protecting capital from downturns has always been a Please turn to page A

Chris Hansen saw it com- ing. Mr. Hansen, who runs San Francisco hedge fund Valiant Capital Management, had an early conviction the novel coronavirus would wreak havoc on the global economy. Mr. Hansen and his team homed in early on the risks the virus posed and placed wagers accordingly, said people familiar with the firm. In late January, Valiant boosted its bet against stock indexes as it became more concerned about the virus. In February, Valiant started placing bets against, or shorting, levered companies it viewed as likely to be hurt from an economic slowdown caused by the virus. As the

BYJULIETCHUNG

Hedge Fund That Realized

Global Risk Early Is Up 36%

day. Prices then soared as much as 35% before turning lower after the Kremlin denied talking to the Saudis. The climb then stabilized after Saudi officials said the king- dom would consider substan- tial output cuts as long as oth- ers in the Group of 20 nations were willing to join the effort. While investors still expect the coronavirus crisis to de- liver a heavy blow to global oil demand, Thursday’s news of- Please turn to page A

A record 6.6 million Ameri- cans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the new coronavirus struck the U.S. economy and sent a recently booming labor market into free fall, as confirmed cases topped a million world- wide on Thursday. The world-wide count of deaths from the Covid-19 re- spiratory disease caused by the virus exceeded 53,000 on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins, marking another grim milestone for the pandemic that has thrust the global economy into a deep freeze. The large number of U.S. jobless claims was double the 3.3 million who sought benefits two weeks ago as the U.S. shut parts of the economy in an effort to contain the virus. Jobless claims, a proxy for lay- offs, provide temporary finan- cial assistance for workers who lose their jobs. About 6% of the U.S. labor Please turn to page A

BYSARAHCHANEY ANDERICMORATH

THE

CORONAVIRUS

PANDEMIC

Confirmed cases exceed one million world-wide, A U.S. hospitals see shortage of thousands of beds, A Questions of test accuracy sow worry, A Crisis makes EMTs rethink hospital trips, A

Patriots

Score on

Medical

Mission

U.S. oil prices jumped 25% Thursday in their biggest one-day rally on record, lifted by investors’ hopes that initial steps to end a global price war will offer a reprieve to an industry battered by coronavirus. The gains capped a wild day of trading, in which an early climb accelerated after Presi- dent Trump tweeted that he expected Russia and Saudi Arabia to agree to cut production by millions of barrels a

Trump Orders Output

Of Masks, Ventilators

President Trump invoked a Korean War-era law to help manufacturers secure supplies needed to make ventilators and to force 3M Inc. to produce as many N95 protective face masks for medical workers as the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency deems necessary to address the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Trump used the Defense Production Act in an effort to address the surging levels of patients in particularly hard-hit metro areas such as New York, New Orleans and Detroit. The federal government has distributed roughly half of its ventilators, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal, and has fewer than 10,000 still in hand. The nation is projected to need tens of thousands more in the next weeks ahead. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said Thursday the state had only enough ventilators in its stockpile for the next six days at the current rate of use. He said the state would provide financing to companies who need to make changes to begin manu- facturing ventilators and other medical supplies. Mr. Trump said his order would help manufacturers such as General Electric Co., Hill- Rom Holdings Inc., Medtronic PLC, ResMed Inc., Philips NV and Vyaire Medical “secure the supplies they need to build

BYRACHAELLEVY ANDALEXLEARY

Oil Prices Leap 25%

As President Expects

A Saudi-Russia Deal

2019 2020

Lastweek 6.6million

Previousweek 3.3million

Note: Civilian labor force sizes are from February, the latest period for which data is avilable. March 22-28 data is preliminary Source: Department of Labor Randy Yeip and Danny Dougherty/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

TotalU.S.jobless claims,weekly

Floridasaw2.9%ofworkersfilethe previoustwoweeksandonlydirected residentstostayhomethisweek.

Hawaii,heavily reliantonservice jobs,sawthebiggest singleweekof applications.

InNewYork, 4.7%filed the lasttwo weeks.

Michigansawclaims jumpfrom2.6%to 6.3%ofworkers.

MEME

OROR UTUT WYWY SDSD IAIA WIWI ININ OHOH PAPA NJNJ CTCT

AZAZ NMNM KSKS ARAR TNTN NCNC SCSC

HIHI TXTX FLFL

WAWA IDID MTMT NDND MNMN MIMI NYNY MAMA RIRI

VTVT NHNH

CACA NVNV COCO NENE MOMO ILIL KYKY WVWV VAVA MDMD DEDE

OKOK LALA MSMS ALAL GAGA

6

0

2

4

% Overthelasttwoweeks,newapplicationsfor

unemploymentbenefitsindicatethat6%ofU.S. workershavelosttheirjobs.

Marchweeklynewjoblessclaims asshareoflaborforce,bystate

AKAK

U.S. Jobless Claims Hit 6.6 Million

Weekly applications strain benefit systems as coronavirus cases top a million globally

Trade deficit shrinks as economy slows......................... A Heard on the Street: Gauging the impact of claims........... B

Energy sector kick-starts stocks ............................................ B

CDC to Recommend Cloth

Face Masks for Hot Spots

The Trump administration is expected to recommend that people in parts of the U.S. where the coronavirus is rapidly spreading wear cloth face masks or coverings when in public to reduce transmission. The new recommendation from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would aim to reduce the risk that people who are infected but asymptomatic will spread the virus, according to a draft document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the planning. It

has yet to be announced by the White House. “A recommendation is com- ing out. We’ll see what that recommendation is,” President Trump said at his news brief- ing Thursday, noting that any such guidance on wearing masks would be voluntary. The White House has been urging people without symp- toms not to buy masks, hoping to ease heavy purchases of the products that have created shortages. On Feb. 29, Vice President Mike Pence said, “Let me be very clear—and I’m sure the physicians who are up here will reflect this as well: The av- Please turn to page A

BYBETSYMCKAY ANDSTEPHANIEARMOUR

CONTENTS Business News.. B3, Crossword.............. A Equities....................... B Heard on Street. B Life & Arts...... A12- Mansion.............. M1-

Markets...................... B Opinion.............. A15- Sports....................... A Technology............... B U.S. News............. A2- Weather................... A World News A10,11,

>

What’s

News

The Trump administration is expected to recommend that Americans in parts of the U.S. where the coronavirus is rapidly spreading wear cloth face masks or coverings when in public to reduce transmission. A Trump invoked the De- fense Production Act to help manufacturers secure supplies needed to make ventilators and to force 3M to produce as many N95 face masks for medical workers as FEMA deems necessary. A Confirmed cases of coronavirus topped one million world-wide, as governments deploy increasingly strin- gent measures to battle the pathogen’s spread. A TheNavyhas relieved the captain of a U.S. aircraft car- rier after a memo in which he pleaded for help with a coronavirus outbreak at sea was leaked to a newspaper. A A Pakistani court over- turned the murder conviction of a British national in the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. A Investigators examining the origins of the probe of possible links between the Trump campaign and Russian election interference are push- ing to finish their inquiry. A The Democratic National Conventionis being pushed back to mid-August be- cause of the pandemic. A

A

record 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the coronavirus struck the U.S. economy and sent a recently booming labor market into free fall. A U.S. oil prices jumped 25% in their biggest one- day rally on record, lifted by investors’ hopes that initial stepsto end a global price war will offer a reprieve to the industry. A Stocks in the U.S. rose, led by the energy sector. The Dow industrials and S&P 500 gained 2.2% and 2.3%, respectively. B The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in Feb- ruary as the spread of the coronavirus disrupted global commerce. A Amazon has filled 80, of the 100,000 jobs it aims to add amid the pandemic. The company unveiled a raft of worker protections. B The coronavirus outbreak is costing Trump Organi- zation properties more than a million dollars in lost revenue daily. B SoftBank terminated an offer to pay up to $3 billion for shares in office-space provider WeWork. B Disney is furloughing employees across all divi- sions in the company’s do- mestic operations. B

Business&Finance

World-Wide

NOTICE TO READERS The World Health Organiza- tion has said it is safe to handle newspapers during the coronavirus pandemic. The Wall Street Journal’s printing plants and delivery services, though, are taking precautions, frequently cleaning equipment and fa- cilities while reducing human contact with the newspaper. A digital version of the print edition also can be viewed at https://www.wsj.com/itp.

The Wall Street Journal - 03.04.2020

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