The Wall Street Journal - 21.03.2020 - 22.03.2020

(Joyce) #1

**** SATURDAY/SUNDAY, MARCH 21 - 22, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXV NO. 67 WSJ.com HHHH$5.


THEWALLSTREETJOURNALWEEKEND


Cumulativechange
5

















0

JFM

Total

Note: Data are through Thursday’s close. Source: FactSet

$30 trillion %

0

5

10

15

20

25

JFM

S&P 500 market value

Peak
$28.

Thursday
$19.

agreeing to temporarily sus-
pend production in Fremont.
The decision followed
weeks—and, arguably, a ca-
reer—of defiance.
A malaria survivor who
founded SpaceX, his rocket
company, with the aim of colo-
nizing Mars because he fears
Earth could be doomed, Mr.
Musk, 48 years old, has consis-
tently played down the reac-
tion to the coronavirus out-
break as a panic. He has held
forth on Twitter with his own
sanguine takes on its epidemi-
ology and likely impact.
“My guess is that the panic
will cause more harm than the
virus, if that hasn’t happened
Please turn to page A

On Monday, as companies all
over the Bay Area rushed to
send their workers home, com-
plying with an order to shelter
in place, Tesla Inc. Chief Execu-
tive Elon Musk had a defiant
message for his 56,000 workers.
“I will personally be at
work, but that’s just me,” he
said in an email. “Totally ok if
you want to stay home for any
reason.” Tesla’s Fremont, Calif.,
factory kept humming, even as
the county sheriff’s office the
next day said publicly that
Tesla should stop production.
Thursday, under pressure
from local authorities and
some in the public, he relented,

BYTIMHIGGINS

thy. Ms. Krauss and Mr. Han-
cock will exchange vows on
Facebook’s live stream.
The Covid-19 crisis wasn’t
on anyone’s guest list, but the
wedding crasher is coming
anyway, forcing couples to re-
think their walks down the
aisle. Some brides and grooms
are searching for workarounds,
others are rescheduling, elop-
ing or giving up on elaborate
ceremonies altogether.
Governments are trying to
contain the spread of the virus
by shutting down restaurants,
ordering lockdowns and warn-
Please turn to page A

When Jess Krauss and Trent
Hancock get married this
weekend, their 115 loved ones
will gather to watch the cere-
mony despite the threat of the
coronavirus. The couple plan
to exchange rings surrounded
by rolling meadows dotted
with magnolia and hickory
trees on a North Carolina farm.
For their part, the guests
will respond with their hearts.
And their smiley faces. And
their thumbs ups. And any
other emojis they deem wor-

BYELLENGAMERMAN
ANDDEEPASEETHARAMAN

Should We Say ‘I Do’


Now or Later?
iii

Couples live-stream weddings, postpone


or cancel; ‘Dammit, we will get married!’


THE


CORONAVIRUS


PANDEMIC


Talks on economic-relief bill
focus on cash payments, A
New York City hospitals are
already strained, A
U.K. to foot the lion’s share
of firms’ salary bills, A
Communities mobilize to
help senior citizens, A
Businesses clamor to be
labeled as essential, B

Musk, Striking a Defiant Tone,


Resisted Pressure to Halt Teslas


The group encompasses many workers who
were late beneficiaries of the surge in hiring as
the labor market tightened in recent years—in-
cluding members of minority groups or people
with less education and skills—during one of
the longest and most lucrative growth phases
in U.S. history.
Malls, restaurants and hotels have closed.
Already, the number of Americans seeking un-
employment benefits—a proxy for layoffs—in-
creased last week by 70,000 from the previous
week, with states telling the Labor Department
the cause was the pandemic. Economists pre-
dict a much bigger surge when numbers are re-
leased for this week, with Goldman Sachs Eco-
nomics Research estimating roughly 2.
million new claims for jobless benefits.
Please turn to page A

As coronavirus shutdowns halt commerce
across the U.S., low-wage workers, many of
whom live paycheck to paycheck, are being
quickly stung.
The affected jobs, by their nature, often re-
quire personal contact, such as running a cash
register or cleaning hotel rooms. That substan-
tially raises the risk of infection.
Many such workers also hold positions most
vulnerable to quick job cuts and pay cuts, espe-
cially in service industries.
That includes restaurant workers, hotel
maids, dog walkers and child-care providers. In
many cases, the cuts are tied to shutdowns and
cancellations at sports stadiums, conventions,
casinos, music festivals and other gatherings.

BYERICMORATH ANDRACHELFEINTZEIG

adding to repayment woes for
companies and governments
that borrowed in dollars.
In the U.S., corporate issu-
ance has been largely off lim-
its to all but the bluest chips.
State and local governments
are facing sticker shock as
steep declines in demand for
their securities force rates
much higher in some in-
stances, while the market for
Please turn to page A

ing to 0.932%. But many trad-
ers say trading this month in
Treasurys and other debt of-
fers reason for acute concern.
In recent days, long-term
Treasury securities have suf-
fered significant price declines
alongside large stock-market
retreats, an unusual dual down-
turn that has raised alarm
among traders. A stampede
into dollars is pushing up the
U.S. currency’s value overseas,

The global scramble for
cash is putting immense pres-
sure on bond markets, raising
concern about whether they
are functioning well enough to
effectively distribute funds to
communities and businesses.
On Friday, the Dow Jones
Industrial Average dropped
913.21 points, or 4.55%, to
19173.98, putting it down 33%
for the year. Selling was
broad-based, with declines in

technology shares, financial is-
sues and health-care firms
leading the 30-stock index to
its fourth weekly decline out
of five. U.S. Treasury prices
rose Friday, with the yield on
the 10-year Treasury note fall-

ByGregory
Zuckerman,Heather
GillersandJulia-
Ambra Verlaine

Bond-Market Strain Heightens Risk


More than 1 in 5 Americans
were under orders to limit their
outside activity as the corona-
virus crisis spurred more emer-
gency measures and continued
to all but grind American life
and commerce to a halt.

The governor of Illinois late
Friday ordered residents to
stay at home, joining his coun-
terparts in California and New
York. The restrictions come as
deaths from the pneumonia-
causing pathogen have more
than quadrupled over the past
week to 249, while confirmed
infections in the nation have
grown to 19,285 from around
1,700 just a week earlier. The
majority of U.S. cases are in
three states: New York, Wash-
ington and California.
“I don’t take this action
lightly,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritz-
ker said Friday of his order for
residents to remain at home
and for all nonessential busi-
nesses to close by 5 p.m. Satur-
day.
Illinois had 585 confirmed
cases by Friday afternoon, com-
pared with more than 1,000 in
California and more than 7,
in New York, the hardest-hit.
There, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on
Friday told residents to stay in-
doors “to the greatest extent”
and all nonessential workforce
employees to stay home, effec-
tive Sunday evening.
Mr. Cuomo said measures
would be enforced with fines
and mandatory closures for
businesses that don’t comply.
California late Thursday had
ordered the state’s 40 million
Please turn to page A

ByJennifer Calfas,
Joe Barrett
andJim Carlton

How the Bull Run Unraveled
Low-Wage Workers Face

Brunt of Coronavirus Crisis


Double hit for service jobs: layoffs, plus high risk of contagion


The market’s plunge reflects the pace at which coronavirus
has upended life, as unruly trading is driving massive daily
swings in markets. An in-depth graphics package, A8-9.

The End of Globalization?


Don’t Count on It


REVIEW


WSJ


The Comfort of


Books Now


OFF DUTY


States Batten Down as Cases Rise


New York, California
and Illinois governors
order limits to activity
as they fight pandemic

Times Square in New York was sparse on visitors Friday as nonessential businesses were ordered to close.

MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS

The global scramblefor
cash amid the pandemic is
putting immense pressure
on bond markets, raising
concern about how well
they are functioning.A
U.S. stocks sank, cap-
ping off the worst week for
the Dow and S&P 500 since
October 2008. Both lost
more than 4% on Friday.B
From steelmakersto
arts-and-crafts retailers,
companies across the U.S.
are arguing that their oper-
ations are essential.B
An unparalleled number
of Americans filed for job-
less benefits this week as
businesses shut down.A
Airbnb is considering
raising capital from new in-
vestors as it wrestles with
losses in the outbreak.B
U.S. oil industryregulators
opened a dialogue with OPEC
in talks that could help foster
a truce between the world’s
three largest oil producers.B
Gov. Newsom droppedhis
opposition to PG&E’s bank-
ruptcy plan after concessions
from the California utility.B
The Fed expandeda lend-
ing operation that will accept
municipal debt as collateral
amid funding strains.B

What’s


News


CONTENTS
Books..................... C7-
Design & Decor.... D
Food......................... D4-
Gear & Gadgets D7-
Heard on Street...B
Markets..................... B

Obituaries............... A
Opinion.............. A13-
Sports........................ A
Style & Fashion D2-
U.S. News............. A2-
Weather................... A
World News.......... A

s2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

>

M


orethan1in5Ameri-
cans were under orders
to limit their outside activity
as the coronavirus crisis
spurred more emergency
measures and continued to
all but grind American life
and commerce to a halt.A
Negotiations onan eco-
nomic stimulus package hit
snags on how to provide as-
sistance to Americans during
the pandemic, as a target to
reach a bipartisan agree-
ment by Friday slipped.A
Several membersof Con-
gress, their spouses and in-
vestment advisers sold stock
after lawmakers attended
closed-door briefings about
the coronavirus threat.A
Italy recorded627 deaths
on Friday, the world’s high-
est death toll in a single day
from the coronavirus.A
The U.S. and Mexico
agreed to curtail travel
across their shared border in
response to the pandemic.A
Bloomberg saidhe
would transfer $18 million
from his presidential cam-
paign to the DNC.A

World-Wide


Business&Finance


NOONAN
We Need Time
To Absorb All ThisA

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