Deep Freeze Wallops Texas, Leaving Millions in Cold, Dark
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P2JW048000-6-A00100-17FFFF5178F ****** WEDNESDAY,FEBRUARY 17,2021~VOL. CCLXXVII NO.38 WSJ.com HHHH $4.00 DJIA 31522.75 À 64.35 0.2% NASDAQ 14047.50 g 0.3% STOXX 600 419.20 g 0.1% 10-YR. TREAS. g 30/32 , yield 1.298% OIL $60.05 À $0.58 GOLD $1,797.20 g $24.40 EURO $1.2106 YEN 106.05 Empty Streets Mark Fat Tuesday This Year in New Orleans Bitcoin What’s News Trades Above Business&Finance S PRES $50,000 itcoin surged above TED B$50,000 forthe firsttime CIA on Tuesday, doubling in less SO AS In a First than two months as it con- T/ tinues atorrid runhigher. Thedigital currencytraded HERBER Cryptocurrency closes as high as $50,584.85 before ALD below high, up 68% for closing at $48,642.45. A1 GER S; NewYork’sattorney gen- year with $909 billion eral sued Amazon, accusing PRES in total circulation it of not doing enough to TED CIA protectworkersinthe state SO BY PAUl VIGNA from the coronavirus. B1 AS A/ AND CAITLIN OSTROFF Ajudgedenied Citigroup’s ANZ request to clawback roughly ST Bitcoin surgedabove CO $500 million it mistakenly Y $50,000 forthe firsttime on ST paid out of its owN pocket RU Tuesday, doubling in lessthan to investment firms that : two months as the digital cur- made loans to Revlon. B1 LEFT rency continues its torrid ruN OM higher. CVSsaid it would re-enter FR NO PARADE:Crowds packed Bourbon Street in NewOrleans forMardi Gras ayearago,left, beforethe pandemic struck. Bitcoin traded as high as the ACAinsurancemarket- This year,right,the French QuarteronTuesdaywas desertedasCovid-19 restrictions and frigid weather kept revelersaway. $50,584.85,beforeclosing at places next year,asthe com- $48,642.45,according to Coin- panyreported quarterly re- Desk,up0.95% forthe dayand sultsthat beat estimates. B1 68% for the year, with a total Goldman unveiled a market value in circulation low-cost digital platform close to $909 billion. that allocates and automati- Deep Freeze WallopsTexas, The$50,000 level is an cally rebalances individuals’ “emotional level for people in wealth acrossportfolios. B1 the space,” said Brian Melville, thehead of strategyattrading TheSEC sued Morningstar, firm Cumberland. But it is also alleging the firm allowedrat- Leaving Millions in Cold, Dark a simple result of supply and ing analyststoadjust finan- demand, he said. cial models that resulted in From August through De- betterterms forbond issuers BY RUSSELL GOLD of amounting death toll from the Thepowercrisis came as a Press. cember,about 150,000 new and in some cases lessinter- AND KATHERINE BLUNT cold. Thegrid operator said it far-reaching winter storm Sheltersand hotels in Texas bitcoins were minted, he esti- est income forinvestors. B13 continued to trytorestart power brought snow, iceand record filled up as residentssought mated. Thefirm calculated TheDow gained 0.2% to Millions of homes in Texas plantshobbled by the weather, lowtemperatures to swaths of refuge from the cold. In Hous- that about359,000 bitcoins close at another record.The were without powerfor asec- butitwarned that full restora- the U.S.,with dangerously cold ton, the George R. BrownCon- were bought in the same pe- S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.1% ond straight dayafter histori- tion could take days longer. wind chills from Arctic air ex- vention Center reached capac- riod, and that imbalancehas and 0.3%, respectively. B13 cally cold winter weather caused Gov.GregAbbott, aRepubli- pected to linger over the Great ity at noon on Tuesdayascity continued in 2021. “It’sare- afailureofthe state’selectricity can, called foraninvestigation Plains and Mississippi Valley PleaseturntopageA6 ally important metric to Alden Global Capital, grid, triggering apublic-health intowhat caused afailureof through midweek,the National watch,” he said. Tribune Publishing’s larg- emergencyinthe nation’ssec- the state’spowersupplies,as Weather Servicesaid. Farmers and ranchers are That buying demand has est shareholder, reached a ondmost populous state. between two and three million At least 15 people had died thrown into crisis.................... A6 brought not only apricerally, deal to acquire the rest of Acrossthe state, temporary Texans remained without elec- nationwide as of late Tuesday, Heard on the Street: Don’t but growing acceptanceand the newspaper company. B3 shelters filled up and fearsrose tricity on Tuesdayevening. according to the Associated blame wind power................ B14 PleaseturntopageA2 Buffett’s Berkshire took stakes in Verizon and Chev- ron, according to asnapshot Lumber Lumber-futures price* Housing unitsauthorized of investmentsheld in the by building permits† China Blocked Ant quarter ended Dec.31. B13 Prices $1,000 per 1,000 boardfeet 2.5 million World-Wide Soar in Recessions IPO AfterUncovering Boom 800 2.0 Millions of homes in Texas were without power Abuilding boom Who Stood to Gain forasecond straight dayaf- during the 600 1.5 terhistorically cold winter pandemic has lifted weather caused a failure of lumber prices, the state’s electricity grid, defying the normal 400 1.0 Xi’s unease with investors added to triggering a public-health winterslowdowniN emergency in the nation’s wood-product sales. concerns over financial risk, Ma comments second most populous state. Lumber futures 200 0.5 Swathsofthe U.S. were suf- have climbed49% BY lINGLING WEI ownership structure—and fering the effectsofafar- in the pastthree the people who stood to gain reaching winter storm. A1, A6 weeks,tomore 0 0 When China’s leader Xi most from what would have than twicethe 2017 ’18 ’19 ’20 ’21 2001 2010 2020 Jinping late last year been the world’s largest IPO. TheBiden administration priceayearearlier. quashed Ant Group’s initial In the weeks before the fi- extended a federal morato- *Random Length front-month contracts †Seasonally adjustedannual rate B13 public offering, his motives nancial-technology giant was rium on home foreclosures for Sources: FactSet (futures); U.S. Census Bureau via St.Louis Fed(Housing units) three months and expanded appeared clear: He was wor- scheduled to go public, a ried that Ant was adding previously unreported cen- assistance for people be- risk to the financial system, tral-government investiga- hind on mortgagepayments and furious at its founder, tion found that Ant’s IPO during the pandemic. A3 Teachers, ParentsSplit on Reopen Jack Ma, for criticizing his prospectus obscured the Trump criticized McCon- signature campaign to complexity of the firm’s nell in alengthystatement strengthen financial over- ownership, according to the afterthe Senateminority BY KRIS MAHER ownwords,who just doesn’t dentstoclassrooms full-time in sight. officials and government ad- leader’s condemnation of AND JENNIFER CALFAS care anymore,” he said, his March, up from two days a There was another key visers, who had knowledge Trump’sactions leading up voicebreaking.“What are week at most currently. reason, according to more of the probe. Behind layers to the riot at the Capitol. A7 MT.LEBANON,Pa.—Patrick youfocused on? Get our chil- “The thought of returning to than a dozeN Chinese offi- PleaseturntopageA10 The NAACP, on behalf Cozzens had never spoken up dren back!” afull in-person dayamid a cials and government advis- of Rep. Bennie Thompson at aschool boardmeeting un- Dozens of parentswho live global pandemic is so over- ers: growing unease in Bei- Beijing’s TV and movie (D., Miss.), filed a lawsuit til he stood in front of acrowd in the affluent community out- whelming that it could honestly jing over Ant’s complex censorship stirs ire............... A18 against Trump and Giuliani, of angryparentsearlier this side Pittsburgh erupted in ap- bring me to tears,” said Emily accusing them of conspiring month to read astatement his plause,and the president of Rindels,afifth-grade teacher in to incite the Capitol riot. A7 16-year-old daughter helped the school boardrapped his Mt. Lebanon, who teaches him to write. gavel fororder.Other parents, about half of her studentsata A hacker claims to have “I’vewatched hergofrom some via Zoom, and at least PleaseturntopageA4 stolen files belonging to C3 AI the global law firm Jones achild that has loved school, one teacher opposed aplan in- Day and posted many of thrived at school her entire troduced by the superintendent Biden wants more schools life, to one now, using her to return the town’s5,300 stu- open five days a week......... A4 them on the dark web. A3 #1 AI CRM Theadministration is re- viewing U.S. policytoward Skating Fans Up Their Game ReinventingCRM the NordStream 2pipeline, INSIDE which is designed to carry In Backyard Rink Building Russian natural gastoGer- manyunder the Baltic Sea. A8 iii France’sNational Assem- S First-timers and veterans are obsessed bly approved abill that Ma- PRES cron and his supportersiN Parliament have framed as ZUMA with keeping ice smooth; ‘homebonis’ a response to the spread LEVINE/ BY KIM MACKRAEL she soaked through three pairs of “Islamist separatism.” A9 B. of mittens while picking her Died: Arne Sorenson, On acrisp morning at the way through phyllo-pastry-like 62, CEO of Marriott. B1 end of January, Chelsea Parkin icesoshe could patch ahole RICHARD crouched beside the shallow in the wovenblue tarp under- CONTENTS Personal Journal A11-12 BUSINESS&FINANCE pool of iceand slush in her neath. Arts in Review... A13 Property Report... B6 Business News...... B3 Sports....................... A14 Citigroup loses bid to backyard,put her ear close to While intrepid Canadians Crossword.............. A14 Technology............... B4 clawback funds the surface, and listened. She and residentsofnorthern U.S. Heard on Street.B14 U.S. News............. A2-8 wassurethe waterunder- states have long created ice- Markets.................... B13 Weather................... A14 relatedtoRevlon neath wasescaping through a skating rinksintheir back- Opinion.............. A15-17 World News...... A9,18 loans. B1 hole somewhere. yards, pandemic restrictions The8-foot-by-19-foot rink and winter boredom have led > her husband had constructed to aboom this season.