***** thursday,january14, 2021 ~vol. cclxxvii no ...2021/01/14  · in a confidential report. a1...

* * * * * FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2021 ~ VOL. CCLXXVII NO. 112 WSJ.com HHHH $4 .00

DJIA 34021.45 À 433.79 1.3% NASDAQ 13124.99 À 0.7% STOXX600 437.32 g 0.1% 10-YR. TREAS. yield 1.666% OIL $63.82 g $2.26 GOLD $1,823.80 À $1.20 EURO $1.2081 YEN 109.47

Dan Barker had barely fin-ished rejoicing that London’s“mad umbrella shop” had sur-vived the pandemic when hiswife broke some bad news:The “mad sailor shop” hadnot.

Next month, Arthur BealeLtd., a nearly 500-year-oldbusiness that sells maritime

supplies from central London,is set to close a store famedfor its elaboratewindow displaysand eccentric inte-rior. After survivinggreat fires, bubonicplague and Nazibombing raids, suc-cessive Covid-19lockdowns and ahuge repair bill have

sunk a store that was alreadylisting from changing shopper

habits, its owners said.London is emerging

from its third lock-down, and locals arecasting nervous glancesto see which of theirfavorite stores havesurvived the pandemic.The fate of ArthurPleaseturntopageA9

BY ALISTAIR MACDONALD

Centuries-Old ‘Mad Sailor Shop’ Sunk by Lockdownsi i i

London’sArthurBeale, famed forwindowdisplays, supplied explorers

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her said, “and we’re doing itwith no cars.”

He recently woke up at3:30 a.m. in a cold sweat andscrolled an iPad to check onhis inventory of Jeeps andRam trucks. After postinghis best months ever inMarch and April, Mr. Kelle-her was heading into thebusy summer sales seasonwith 98 vehicles on his lotinstead of the usual 700.

“That really shook me upin a bad way,” he said. “Thisis going to be longer andmore difficult than mostpeople think.”

Auto makers have beenforced to cut production ofmore than 1.2 million vehi-cles in North America be-cause they can’t get enough

PleaseturntopageA9

Americans are shoppingfor cars in near-record num-bers, but the world’s com-puter-chip shortage has leftdealers with the fewest of-ferings in decades.

The market mismatch isdriving up prices, and manybuyers expecting to drivenew cars off the lot have towait weeks or months fortheir vehicles to arrive.Some showroom models sellfor thousands of dollars overthe sticker price.

“We may just be in thegreatest new-car market ofour existence,” Philadelphia-area car dealer David Kelle-

By Mike Colias,Ben Foldy

and Nora Naughton

Stamford, Conn.

BY BRIANNA ABBOTT

CDC SaysIt’s TimeTo RelaxGuidanceOnMasksSocial distancing nolonger urged in mostcases for those whoare fully vaccinated

Fully vaccinated people don’tneed to wear a mask or physi-cally distance during outdoor orindoor activities, large or small,federal health officials said, thebroadest easing of pandemicrecommendations so far.

The fully vaccinated shouldcontinue to wear a mask whiletraveling by plane, bus ortrain, and the guidancedoesn’t apply to certain placeslike hospitals, nursing homesand prisons, the federal Cen-ters for Disease Control andPrevention said Thursday.

The fully protected can,however, resume doing many ofthe things they had to give updue to the pandemic, CDC Di-rector Rochelle Walensky said.

“We have all longed for thismoment, when we can get backto some sense of normalcy,” Dr.Walensky said. “That momenthas come for those who arefully vaccinated.”

The CDC considers peoplefully vaccinated either twoweeks after receiving theirsecond dose of an mRNA vac-cine, such as the one fromPfizer Inc. and partner BioN-Tech SE or Moderna Inc., ortwo weeks after getting the

PleaseturntopageA7

CONTENTSArts in Review A10-11Banking & Finance B10Business News...... B3Crossword............... A11Heard on Street. B12Mansion............. M1-16

Markets..................... B11Opinion.............. A13-15Sports........................ A12Technology............... B4U.S. News............. A2-7Weather................... A11World News...... A8,16

s 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.All Rights Reserved

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What’sNews

Fully vaccinated peopledon’t need to wear a maskor physically distance inmost cases, federal healthofficials said, the broadesteasing of pandemic recom-mendations so far. A1 Colonial Pipeline paid aransom to the criminal hack-ers who caused the companyto shut the country’s largestconduit of fuel, people famil-iar with the matter said. A1 Israel’s military said ithad begun ground operationsagainst Hamas in Gaza, es-calating its offensive againstthe militant group. A8 Biden asked a group ofRepublican senators to fleshout their $568 billion infra-structure proposal with addi-tional details, including howthey would pay for it. A3 A sweeping overhaul ofthe military-justice systemearned the backing of 61 sen-ators fromboth parties, clear-ing a critical threshold neededto advance the legislation.A4 New York prosecutorshave subpoenaed a Manhat-tan private school as theyseek the cooperation of theTrumpOrganization’s financechief in their investigation ofTrump and his company. A4 Former U.K. Prime Min-ister Cameron, testifyingbefore a parliamentarycommittee, said he didn’tbreak any rules in his lobby-ing for Greensill Capital. A16 Canada’s Trudeau didn’tviolate conflict-of-interestlaws when his governmentawarded a contract to a char-ity with financial ties to hisfamily, an inquiry found.A8

Some of the biggest U.S.employers of entry-level

workers are adding tens ofthousands of new positionsas the economy roars backfrom the pandemic. A1 U.S. stocks snapped athree-day losing streak asthe Dow, S&P 500 andNasdaq gained 1.3%, 1.2%and 0.7%, respectively. B1Walt Disney said itsDisney+ streaming serviceadded fewer users thanWallStreet had expected, aftermonths of torrid growth. B1Some big U.S. bankswillparticipate in an initiativeaimed atmaking it easier forpeople who have traditionallylacked borrowing opportuni-ties to get credit cards. B1 Coinbase Global’s profitsurged in the first quarter,driven by a rally in bitcoinand other digital assets. B1Canadian National tookthe lead in the race to ac-quire Kansas City Southern,which declared its roughly$30 billion takeover bid su-perior to a rival proposal. B1Alibabaposted its first-everquarterly loss since it wentpublic after being hit by a re-cord antitrust fine inChina.B4 DoorDash’s revenuetripled in the first quarter,showing sustained demandfor food-delivery services. B1Boeing received approvalfrom U.S. regulators for fixesto an electrical problem thathas grounded more than100 of its 737 MAX jets. B2 Airbnb reported morethan $10 billion in bookingsfor the home-sharing com-pany’s latest quarter. B3

Business&Finance

World-Wide

ing to feel like the pandemic,”said Jay Varma, a physicianand senior adviser to NewYork City Mayor Bill de Blasio.That said, “I think just likeSept. 11 changed the way wethink about physical security, Idon’t think we’re ever going tofeel the same way abouthealth security,” he said.

The steady—even if incre-mental—progress on the roadback to normal life for manypeople across the U.S. comesas Covid-19 cases decline andas the vaccination push shiftsto a more targeted phase.

The seven-day average ofnewly reported cases hasdropped below 40,000, levelslast seen in September, ac-

cording to data from the fed-eral Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention. Modelingused by the CDC shows thenumber of newly reportedcases will likely decrease overthe next four weeks.

More than 58% of peopleover the age of 18 in the U.S.have received at least onedose of Covid-19 vaccine, ac-cording to CDC data. Childrenages 12 to 15 are now eligiblefor the vaccine from PfizerInc. and BioNTech SE and havestarted to get the shots, givingan expected boost to the U.S.vaccination campaign just asthe pace of vaccinations hasslowed somewhat.

A new federal goal to pro-

vide at least one dose of vac-cine to 70% of people by July4 moved into a new phaseTuesday, as President Bidenannounced funding for en-hanced on-the-ground efforts,including phone banking,door-to-door canvassing andpop-up vaccination sites inworkplaces and churches. Al-ready, states, municipalitiesand healthcare providers havebeen trying new strategies toencourage people to get theshot.

The increased vaccinationsare bolstering reopening ef-forts. On Monday, Michigan hita vaccination rate of 55%among those 16 and older, a

PleaseturntopageA7

The return to a pre-pan-demic normal in the U.S. isgaining speed.

The New York City subwaya week ago hit its highestdaily ridership since March 13,2020, with some 2.2 millionriders. On Sunday, more than1.7 million people traveledthrough the nation’s airports,the most since the start of thepandemic. And early thisweek, seated diners at re-opened restaurants reached100% of 2019 levels on the res-ervation platform OpenTable.

“We’re absolutely headingto a time that’s going to feelmore like normal than it’s go-

BY MELANIE GRAYCE WEST

U.S. Gets Closer to Full ReopeningClockwise from top left, eased guidelines for people who are fully vaccinated were enjoyed Thursday at the ‘Ghost Forest’art installation in New York City; in a Stamford, Conn., park; at a golf tournament in McKinney, Texas; and at the Denver Zoo.

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The fight is on for lower-wage workers.

Some of the biggest U.S.employers of entry-level work-ers are adding tens of thou-sands of new positions as theeconomy roars back from thecoronavirus pandemic. Manyare raising wages or addingperks to entice workers fromother jobs or off the sidelinesof the labor market.

Amazon.com Inc. saidThursday that it would hire75,000 more workers and offer

$1,000 signing bonuses insome locations, its latest hir-ing spree in a year of tremen-dous job growth. McDonald’sCorp. said it wants to hire10,000 employees at company-owned restaurants in the nextthree months and that itwould raise pay at those loca-tions. Chipotle Mexican GrillInc., Applebee’s and KFC areamong other chains seeking tohire tens of thousands ofworkers as they restore indoorseating and seek to bolsterstaffing.

Many companies havestruggled to find enough avail-

able workers, though there aresigns that more are enteringthe labor market to take someof those open positions. TheLabor Department said Thurs-day that jobless claims hadcontinued a several-week slideto new pandemic lows.

Demand for workers is sohigh that wages are rising,too. Average hourly earningsfor private-sector employeesrose by 21 cents to $30.17 lastmonth, according to a recent

PleaseturntopageA2

BY SEBASTIAN HERRERAAND HEATHER HADDON

Workers With Low WagesAre Now in High Demand

Stocks Regain GroundU.S. stocks climbed Thursday, chipping away at lossesfollowing their worst three-day decline since late October. B1

Chip Crisis ThrowsWrench Into Car

BusinessAmerica’s car-buying boom has one big

problem: too few cars

Colonial Pipeline Paid Off HackersColonial Pipeline Co. paid a

ransom to the criminal hackerswho caused the company toshut the country’s largest con-duit of fuel, people familiar with

the matter said, a payment thatallowed the firm to obtain de-cryption tools to try to unlockits computer systems.

The ransom, paid in crypto-currency, was approximately $5

million at the time of the trans-action, one of the people famil-iar with the matter said.

The company restarted pipe-line operations on Wednesdayand said it was resuming ser-vice throughout its entire sys-tem on Thursday after a cyber-attack last week forced it toshut it down, leading to re-gional gasoline shortages andhigher prices. It couldn’t belearned whether the ransompayment directly enabled Colo-nial to restart its 5,500-mileconduit, which runs from Texas

to New Jersey.Some energy analysts said it

would likely take days beforegasoline supplies are returnedto normal in affected states inthe Southeast.

Bloomberg reported earlierThursday that Colonial had paidthe hackers a sum of nearly $5million, and that the decryptiontool ultimately wasn’t effectivein restoring operations. Instead,

PleaseturntopageA6

By Dustin VolzRobert McMillanand Collin Eaton

TSA’s pipeline oversight facesscrutiny......................................... A6

Jobless claims keep trendinglower............................................... A2

New York

Denver McKinney, Texas

Blood expert says he foundvaccine clots’ cause................ A7

Teachers union head calls forin-person classes..................... A7

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