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Ceos Explored Chevron-Exxon Merger In P2JW032000-6-A00100-17FFFF5178F ADVERTISEMENT Meetour new, easy-to-use trading platform: thinkorswim® Web. LearnmoreonpageB10. ****** MONDAY,FEBRUARY 1, 2021 ~VOL. CCLXXVII NO.25 WSJ.com HHHH $4.00 Last week: DJIA 29982.62 g 1014.36 3.3% NASDAQ 13070.69 g 3.5% STOXX 600 395.85 g 3.1% 10-YR. TREASURY unch , yield 1.090% OIL $52.20 g $0.07 EURO $1.2138 YEN 104.69 Thousands Arrested in Protests in Russia What’s CEOs Explored News Chevron-Exxon Business&Finance Merger in ’20 xxon and Chevron’s E chief executives spoke about combining the oil gi- Thechief executives of people said. Thediscussions ants after the pandemic Exxon Mobil Corp.and Chevron were described as preliminary shook the world last year, Corp.spokeabout combining andaren’t ongoing but could according to people famil- theoil giantsafter the pan- come back in the future, the iar with the talks, testing demicshook the world last people said. the waters for what could year,according to people famil- Such adeal would reunite be one of the largest cor- iar with the talks,testing the the two largest descendantsof porate mergers ever. A1 waters forwhat could be one John D. Rockefeller’sStandard of thelargest corporatemerg- Oilmonopoly,which wasbro- Hedgefund Melvin, ersever. kenupbyU.S.regulatorsiN which has borne the brunt of 1911, and would reshape the en- losses from the recent soar- ergy industry. ing prices of heavily shorted By Christopher M. Acombined company’smar- stocks,lost 53% on itsin- Matthews, Emily Glazer ketvalue could top$350 bil- vestmentsinJanuary. A1 and Cara Lombardo lion. Exxon has amarket value Citadel Securities, one S of $190 billion, while Chevron’s of the biggest players in PRES Chevron Chief Executive is $164 billion. Together,they global markets, stands to TED MikeWirth and Exxon CEO would likely form the world’s benefit from the frenetic CIA Darren Woods discussed a second largest oil companyby trading of small investors SO mergerfollowing the outbreak market capitalization and pro- in stocks likeGameStop. B1 AS O/ of the newcoronavirus,which duction, producing about seven Amazon is preparing fora decimated oil and gasdemand million barrels of oil and gasa labor battle unlikeanything and put enormous financial day, based on pre-pandemic in its history after having strain on both companies,the PleaseturntopageA2 for years successfully re- ZEMLIANICHENK pelled attempts by its U.S. employees to unionize. B1 ANDER Silverprices rallied to ALEX GameStop-Hit Fund CLASH: Police detain a man at a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei start the trading week,fueled Navalny in Moscow on Sunday. Across Russia, police detained some 5,000 protesters. A8 by awaveoffresh enthusi- asm from online traders. B1 Lost 53% in January Anational-security panel hunting forChinese involve- BY JULIET CHUNG horting one another to keep ment in U.S. tech companies Va ccination Delays Put buying GameStopstock and call is scrutinizing startup in- Melvin Capital Management, options. vestments that are months the hedgefund that has borne Thefrenetic trading is al- or even years old. A5 the brunt of losses from the most certain to continue Mon- soaring stock prices of heavily dayand intothe week.Broker- China’seconomy began the Global Rebound at Risk shorted stocks recently,lost ages restricted purchases of newyear on aweaker footing, 53% on itsinvestmentsinJanu- GameStopand other hot stocks as gauges of industrial and BY DREW HINSHAW the planet—including partsof ary, according to people famil- last week,pulling volumes services activities eased more AND MIKE CHERNEY Fighting the Virus Europe, Asia and Latin Amer- iar with the firm. down. But morethan 50 million than expected in January. A18 Biden invites GOP ica—face a longer slog. Melvin’slosses arethe most GameStopshares still changed Timetables forvaccinating senators to White House Places from Germanyto visible wound in an extraordi- handsFriday. Ayear ago, vol- World-Wide enough people to effectively to discuss their smaller Mexico are running into seri- narytussle playing out between umewas just afew million a curb Covid-19 are slipping in aid proposal...................... A4 ousproblems sourcing suffi- professional hedge-fund inves- day. On the other side,while many countries,raising fears NFL season turned into cient vaccines.Other countries tors and amateur traderscon- PleaseturntopageA2 Timetables forvaccinat- that alarge portion of the Covid-19 study............... A14 with lowcaseloads areless gregating on forums likeRed- ing enough people to effec- world will still be battling the pressed to start vaccination dit’sWallStreetBets. The Big trader gets a lift from tively curb Covid-19 areslip- pandemic and itseconomic ef- campaigns and aren’t eager to amateurshavemade Melvin online-buying surge................ B1 ping in manycountries, fectswell into2022orbeyond. vaccinating most of their pop- reopen bordersanytime soon. their principal enemyand have Market disrupter first wanted raising fearsthat alarge While the U.S. and some ulations by latesummer, At the current ratesofvacci- gleefully seized the upper hand. to be a track star.................... B5 portion of the world will still other mostly small countries health expertsand economists nation, only about 10% of the “Only 47%lefttogo!!” one user Heard on the Street: Gaming be battling the pandemic aremaking progresstoward areconcluding that much of PleaseturntopageA7 posted Sunday. They areex- out retailer’s outlook........... B10 and itseconomic effectswell into2022orbeyond. A1 Health-careworkers who Home Schooling Catches On decline Covid-19 vaccines Facebook Tightens Military are proving to be an unex- pected obstacle to efforts to disseminate the shots Seizes as widely as possible. A7 Control of ‘Groups’ Myanmar’s military took charge of the countryfromits Power in BY JEFF HORWITZ partisanship and even calls for civilian-run government, amid JOURNAL violencethat inflamed the coun- reportsthat the country’sci- Facebook Inc.in2019 rede- tryafter the election. REET Myanmar vilian leader Aung SanSuu ST signed itsflagship product to Thechanges,which Facebook Kyiand other membersofher LL center on what it called Groups, escalated afterthe Jan. 6riot at party were detained. A1 WA forums forlike-minded users. the U.S. Capitol, involveover- Myanmar’s militaryleader THE Biden invited agroup of Re- Chief ExecutiveMark Zucker- hauling the mechanics of a R has seized powerfromits ci- publican senatorstodiscussa bergcalled them the new“heart product that wasmeant to be FO vilian-run government, accord- coronavirus relief bill after of the app.” central to itsfuture. ing to astatement broadcast they proposed a$600 billion Nowthe social-networking Facebook executives were MEDLEY on an army-runtelevision sta- plan and as Democratspre- giant is clamping down on aware foryearsthat tools fuel- TE tion, aftercivilian leader Aung KA pared to advancethe initial Groups.The effort began after PleaseturntopageA10 Fueledbyfrustrations with remote learning during the pan- SanSuu Kyiand other mem- $1.9trillion package. A4 Facebook’sown research found demic,some families aretrying to do it on their own. A3 bers of her party were de- that American Facebook Groups Trump donor, Alex Jones tained in amorning raid. Therally in Washington’s became avector forthe rabid facilitated rally.......................... A6 Ellipse that preceded the Jan. 6riot at the Capitol wasar- By Niharika Mandhana ranged and funded by asmall and Feliz Solomon in group including atop Trump When Netflix Doesn’t Feel Chill, Singapore and Sabrina campaign fundraiser and do- U.S. ParentsSearch Siddiqui in Washington nor facilitated by far-right Try an Old-School TV Channel The coup marks a major show host Alex Jones. A6 iii ForaSon Lost in Syria setback to the country’stransi- Police detained thou- tion from militaryrule to de- sands of protesterswho had Choice is mentallyexhausting,‘Baywatch’ mocracy, which began about a takeN to the streets across decade ago. Russiatosupport opposition reruns arenot; ‘path of leastresistance’ Sam Goodwin was on a quest to visit every TheU.S.and human-rights politician AlexeiNavalny. A8 groups called on the military country; he was snatched during call home Sundaytoadheretodemo- BY CHRIS KORNELIS what I’m in the mood for,” he craticnorms,and the White CONTENTS Outlook....................... A2 says.“If I’m just dropping into BY DION NISSENBAUM ing week,intime to take a House threatened unspecified Arts in Review... A13 Personal Journal A11-12 BusinessNews.......B3 Sports....................... A14 Kyle Dallmann, a23-year-old the TV show, it doesn’t really seat at the Stanley Cup Final action. Crossword.............. A14 Technology............... B4 nurse in Mankato, Minn., re- givemethat option to pick Elizabeth Goodwin wasoN and see his St.Louis Blues Themilitaryhas long domi- HeardonStreet... B10 U.S. News............. A2-7 cently discovered achannel on what Iwant to watch. It kind of aMemorial Daygetaway in playthe Boston Bruins. nated in the Southeast Asian Markets...................... B9 Weather................... A14 the PlutoTVstreaming ser- takesthat guessing of what I’m 2019 when she gotaFace- He held up his phone to country, and tensions have Opinion.............. A15-17 World News...... A8,18 vicethat shows nothing but in the mood forout of the Time call from her son Sam. givehis mother apanoramic been rising fordays over aNo- back-to-back episodes of the equation.” He wasiNSyria,nearing the viewofaSyrian roundabout vember election
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