P2JW049000-5-A00100-17FFFF5178F ***** THURSDAY,FEBRUARY 18,2021~VOL. CCLXXVII NO.39 WSJ.com HHHH $4.00 DJIA 31613.02 À 90.27 0.3% NASDAQ 13965.49 g 0.6% STOXX 600 416.10 g 0.7% 10-YR. TREAS. À 1/32 , yield 1.297% OIL $61.14 À $1.09 GOLD $1,771.10 g $26.10 EURO $1.2043 YEN 105.88 Power Outage Stretches Into Third Frigid Day for Millions Recovery What’s News Broadens As Retail Business&Finance SalesJoin he U.S. economy’s recov- Terypicked up as consum- ersused stimulus checks to Upswing boost retail spending in Janu- arytoits largest increase in seven months,ajump that Fedmodel sharply comes as manufacturerscon- tinued to increase output and boostsGDP estimate employers resumed hiring. A1 amid growing streak Executives and directors of good economic data at Pfizer,Moderna and other firms developing Covid-19 BY HARRIET TORRY vaccines sold about $496 million of stock last year. A1 TheU.S.economy’srecov- Saudi Arabia plans to in- erypicked up as consumers crease itsoil output in the used stimulus checks to boost coming months,reversing a retail spending in January to recent big production cut. A1 itslargest increase in seven months,ajump that comes as The SEC is weighing manufacturerscontinued to whether to requiremore S increase output and employers transparencyinshort sell- PRES resumed hiring. ing and the mechanics of TED Thelatestpositivesigns the bearish trades. B1 OCIA came Wednesdaywhen the gov- SS The Dow rose 0.3% to a /A ernment said retail sales,a record, while the Nasdaq measureofpurchases at stores, lost 0.6% and the S&P 500 PHILLIP at restaurantsand online, inched 0.03% lower. B11 J. jumped aseasonally adjusted VID 5.3% in Januaryfromamonth Nestlé is selling most of its DA ICY GRIP: Customers waited in the freezing rain in HoustoN on Wednesday to fill propane tanks. Millions of people across earlier,and manufacturing out- North American bottled-wa- Texas and other parts of the South were without power after frigid weather struck and overwhelmed power grids. A3 put neared pre-pandemic levels. terbrands to two private-eq- “Consumer spending is fir- uity firms for$4.3billion. B1 ing on all cylinders,” said TwoAmericans accused James Knightley,aneconomist of helping Ghosn flee at INGFinancial MarketsLLC. Japan have appealed to NorthKorea Accused in CryptoHeists He said improvement in manu- the Biden administration facturing painted averyposi- to stop their extradition. B1 tive picture for the U.S. econ- BY ROBERT MCMILLAN apps,launched ransomware The hackers allegedly sent world’sleading bank robbers,” omy in the first quarter. Facebook said it would AND ARUNA VISWANATHA attacks and promoted afraud- spear-phishing emails to em- said John Demers, the head of While the pandemic has restrict publishersand users ulent initial coin offering in ployees at the State and De- theJusticeDepartment’sna- continued to weigh on the in Australia from viewing or TheJusticeDepartment un- pursuit of digital cash, prose- fense departmentsand several tional security division. economyand recent winter sharing news articles,ramp- sealed an indictment on cutors said. U.S. technology companies in Starting in 2017, North Ko- weather hascaused disrup- ing up astandoff there. B5 Wednesdayagainst two alleged Thenew indictment Januaryand February2020, readeveloped an initialcoin tions,signs of growth, fresh Google will pay for con- membersofNorth Korea’smil- charged JoN Chang Hyok and and at times traveled to and offering, called Marine Chain, government stimulus and eased tent from News Corp pub- itaryintelligenceservices,ac- Kim Il with the hacking and worked from Russia and that invited investors to pur- Covid-19-related businessre- lications under a three- cusing them of hacking banks related fraud. Athirdman, China, the indictment said. chasedigital tokens—similar strictions have prompted some year licensing deal. B5 and companies in morethan a Park Jin Hyok,who is also Thechargeschronicle a to bitcoin—that represented economiststoincrease gross dozencountries,including the named in the indictment, was criminal moneymaking opera- fractional stakes of maritime domestic product estimates for Two of Boeing’s long- U.S.,aspart of awide-ranging previouslychargedinaSep- tion that mirrored the general vessels. Marine Chain, whose the firstquarter of the year. time directorsare expected scheme to steal $1.3billion tember 2018 case that accused public’s increasing interest in websitehas been removed PleaseturntopageA2 to step down from the over the past half-decade for him of playing arole in the digitalcurrencies,asbitcoin from the internet, wasafraud, aerospacegiant’sboard. B2 Pyongyang. 2016 theftof$81 million from topped the $50,000 mark. prosecutors said. Greg Ip: Child tax credit vs. North Korean hackersare Bangladesh’saccount at the “North Korea’soperatives, NorthKorean hackerscut universal basic income......... A2 World-Wide increasingly focusing their Federal Reserve Bank of New usingkeyboardsrather than their teeth by launching a se- Fedminutes showofficials criminal activity on the world York and the 2014SonyPic- guns,stealing digital walletsof ries of highly sophisticated at- staying the course..................... A4 of cryptocurrencyand recently tures hack,among other intru- cryptocurrencyinstead of tacks on banking systems, Democrats face a split on TheJusticeDepartment built malicious cryptocurrency sions. stacks of cash, have become the PleaseturntopageA8 minimum wage......................... A4 unsealed an indictment against two alleged mem- bers of North Korea’s mili- Talk-Radio Host Limbaugh, 70, Dies tary intelligence services, Va ccine Future Europe Task: accusing them of hacking banks and companies in morethan adozencountries Executives as part of ascheme to steal Unlocking Economy $1.3billion over the past half- decade forPyongyang. A1 Profited Federal prosecutors have Nations have kept firms and jobs in place, begun an investigation of how the administration of New On Stocks preventing adaptation to new realities York Gov. Cuomo handled GES the Covid-19 pandemic in IMA BY INTI PACHECO BY TOM FAIRLESS region’s $18 trillion econ- the state’snursing homes. A3 GETTY AND ERIC SYLVERS omy, allowing businesses to TheBiden administration Executivesand directorsat SE/ fire up quickly and bring will pump $1.6 billion into Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and For nearly a year, large back workers. It’s an inten- ramping up Covid-19 testing othercompanies developing swaths of Europe’s economy tional effort to slow an eco- and sequencing of the virus as Covid-19 vaccines sold about ANCE-PRES have been in a deep freeze. nomic deep clean, dubbed by moretransmissible variants $496 million of stock last year, FR Trillions in state-backed many economists creative aredetected acrossthe U.S. A8 reaping rewardsofpositive ENCE subsidies and inexpensive destruction. This reflects a AG U.S. life expectancy de- vaccine developmentsthat loans have kept businesses political choice: Europeans droveupthe value of the MM/ alive, while governments pay are generally less tolerant of clined by a year during the KA firsthalf of 2020,according drugmakers’ shares. S millions of furloughed work- the brutal adjustments re- Executives and directorsat ers to stay home. In much of quired by the U.S. model of to federal figuresthat show the same 13 companies sold Europe, layoffs or forced capitalism. the deadly impact of the NICHOLA about $132 million of stock in Rush Limbaugh, the talk-radio icon who helped build the bankruptcies are banned. But as the pandemic drags pandemic’searly months. A8 2019,according to insider power and reach of conservative media, died Wednesday of In pursuing such policies, on and Europe’s vaccine roll- Millions of Americans re- transaction datafromresearch complications from lung cancer. He was 70 years old. A4 European leaders have bet out is expected to stretch mained without powerfor firm Kaleidoscope. More than that, once the pandemic sub- through the year and be- athirdstraight day, as an- 8.5million shares were sold sides, they caN defrost the PleaseturntopageA10 other winter storm began hit- last year by insiders at these ting parts of the South. A3 companies,compared with 4.7 Democrats braced for million shares in 2019. ‘I’mLikeaSPAC—What the Hell Is In dollar terms,much of the an internal party battle Saudis Plan to Reverse sales came at asingle company, over raising the minimum That?’ RapExplains FinanceTrend Moderna, maker of one of two wage to $15 an hour. A4 Biden detailed his com- Covid-19 vaccines authorized iii Oil Cuts as Prices Rise ing economic stimulus and foruse in the U.S. Executives and adirector theresold more infrastructure plans with Special-purpose acquisition companies than $321 million of their stock BY BENOIT FAUCON already have committed to top labor leaders. A4 in morethan 700transactions. inspire investor’s song AND SUMMER SAID stick to cutsthrough March. Biden and Israeli Merck &Co. insiderssold $58 The advisers cautioned the leader Netanyahu held million of their shares.At BY AMRITH RAMKUMAR year created the largest SPAC Saudi Arabia plans to in- plans still could be reversed if their firstphone call of Novavax Inc., executives sold ever andrecently tweeted a crease itsoil output in the circumstances change, and the the Biden presidency. A18 morethan $40 million of their Theflashiest trend in fi- link to the video,saying coming months,reversing a Saudis’ intention hasn’t yet Dozens of high-school shares afterthe company’svac- nancehas Wall Street tycoons, “Watch this.” recent big production cut, ad- been communicated to the Or- boys and staff were kidnapped cine hit milestones in August professional athletes and ce- “I don’t knowhow many viserstothe kingdom said, a ganization of the Petroleum andSeptember. lebrities. rapperswith lessthan 500 fol- sign of growing confidence Exporting Countries, the peo- by gunmen in Nigeria. A18 Merck,which said last May Now it also has a rap song. lowers have had their music over an oil-price recovery. ple and OPEC delegates said. it was pursuing two vaccines, Oakland, Calif., videos shared by Theworld’slargest oil ex- “Weare in amuch better CONTENTS Opinion.............