PRIMERAS PLANAS INTERNACIONALES
EL PERIÓDICO GLOBAL
www.elpais.com
JUEVES 26 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2020 | Año XLV | Número 15.838 | EDICIÓN MADRID | Precio: 1,70 euros
Trump indulta al exsecretario de Seguridad Michael Flynn
El Madrid se impone con autoridad al Inter (0-2) P38
EE UU
CHAMPIONS
P4
España, Italia, Grecia y Malta se enfrentan a Merkel por la inmigración Rechazan la propuesta de pacto europeo sin cuotas obligatorias C. E. CUÉ / B. DE MIGUEL Palma de Mallorca / Bruselas España, Italia, Grecia y Malta, los países bajo presión por las entradas irregulares de personas por el Mediterráneo, plan-
Montero prevé armonizar los impuestos autonómicos el próximo año J. S. GONZÁLEZ, Madrid La ministra de Hacienda, María Jesús Montero, prevé armonizar los tributos autonómicos durante el próximo año. Pretende fijar un mínimo en los impuestos de patrimonio, sucesiones, donaciones y transmisiones para evitar la competencia fiscal a la baja. La decisión obligaría a Madrid a subir algunos de sus tributos. PÁGINA 40
tan cara al pacto migratorio que prepara la UE bajo la presidencia semestral de Alemania. En una carta remitida a la canciller alemana, Angela Merkel, los cuatro jefes de Gobierno señalan que el pacto propuesto por la Comisión Europea es insuficiente para garantizar una responsabilidad compartida en la gestión de la migración irregular. El plan de Bruselas reclama solidaridad de los países, pero ofrece a estos varias opciones, entre ellas apoyo financiero a las expulsiones, sin imponer cuotas de reparto de inmigrantes. La carta se hizo pública durante la cumbre hispanoitaliana que encabezaron Pedro Sánchez y Giuseppe Conte en Mallorca. PÁGINA 2
Los vecinos, al rescate de un naufragio en la costa de Lanzarote PÁGINA 20
Maradona, levantando la Copa del Mundo el 29 de junio de 1986 en el Estadio Azteca de México. / CARLO FUMAGALLI (AP)
Muere Maradona, un dios del fútbol La estrella argentina tuvo una carrera mitológica y una vida de excesos ENRIC GONZÁLEZ, Buenos Aires Diego Armando Maradona, fallecido ayer a los 60 años, personificó el misterio del fútbol. Dieguito, el cara sucia de Villa Fiorito, llevaba tanto tiempo muriendo que nadie pensaba que pudiera morirse. El otro,
Maradona, el 10, héroe de Argentina y divinidad profana, había asentado hace años un pie en la historia y otro en la mitología. El exjugador del Barcelona y el Nápoles, que en 1986 levantó para Argentina la Copa del Mundo tras marcar el mejor
gol de la historia del torneo, murió 21 días después de serle extraído un hematoma cerebral. A las once de la mañana de ayer, hora local, empezó a sentir asfixia y dolor en el pecho. Una hora después su corazón se paró. PÁGINAS 31 A 37
Adiós a Diego y adiós a Maradona Jorge Valdano Condenados 19 de los 23 acusados por desviar a la Gürtel fondos de la visita del Papa a Valencia ÓSCAR LÓPEZ-FONSECA, Madrid La Audiencia Nacional impuso ayer penas de hasta 15 años de prisión para 19 de los 23 acusados por el desvío de 3,2 millones de euros destinados a la visita del papa Benedicto XVI a Valencia en 2006. Las penas más altas son para los cabecillas de la trama Gürtel, Francisco Correa y Pablo Crespo, así como Álvaro Pérez El Bigotes y el exdirector de la RTVV Pedro García Gimeno. PÁGINA 18
PÁGINA 33
$3.66 DESIGNATED AREAS HIGHER
latimes.com
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2020
© 2020
County faces perilous moment on virus
COLUMN ONE
Death didn’t stop his giving A writer’s mother and his friend never met, but they would be connected in an astonishing way.
Infection rates are at ‘most alarming’ levels yet, official says, as holiday heightens risk.
By Carlos Valdez Lozano
By Rong-Gong Lin II and Luke Money
I
Los Angeles County was rapidly running out of time to prevent hospitals filling up with COVID-19 patients in the coming weeks as the novel coronavirus continued an unprecedented surge and the Thanksgiving weekend presented perilous risks of further infections. Officials had been hoping to enter the holiday with some signs that the latest surge was beginning to slow. But the virus continues to spread at alarming rates, increasing the chances of more widespread transmission as people gather with family and friends. Beginning Wednesday night, restaurants in much of L.A. County were to suspend outdoor dining. More restrictions could be coming as county elected officials review recommendations by the Department of Public Health. L.A. County was reporting a seven-day average of nearly 4,300 new coronavirus cases a day as of Wednesday, the third consecutive day that number has hit a new high. Unless something dramatic is done to slow transmission, that number is on track to double within two weeks and quadruple in a month, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, L.A. County’s director of health services. Officials said hospitals could see a shortage of beds — especially in intensive care units — over the next two to four weeks if these trends continue. Hospitals are better equipped now than they were in the spring [See COVID-19, A14]
couldn’t think of a better day to tell you about my friend Don Hunt. He has been gone almost 10 years now and it still hurts, just as it does sometimes to look at my mother’s pictures. She died in 2015, three years after suffering a paralyzing stroke. This is a story about love and friendship. And a reminder to all on this Thanksgiving Day to be grateful for those who touch us in profound and unexpected ways. Don and my mother never met, but they would be linked in ways I could never imagine. Don and I sat next to each other as editors on the Times Metro desk and quickly bonded as fellow Texans who loved Willie Nelson, the Hill Country and mesquite barbecue. To this day I’ve never known anyone who could consume so much pulled pork in one sitting. We shared other traits. A mutual friend once declared us both “profoundly cheap.” We used to joke about whose well-worn wallet had the most adhesive tape, whose shoes the most holes and who drove the oldest car. My Toyota Corolla was 15 years old, his Honda Accord five years older. [See Gift, A9]
Photographs by
Mel Melcon Los Angeles Times
THE PANDEMIC has been especially hard on LAUSD’s estimated 11,000 homeless students, who may
suffer from low grades and attendance. Above, volunteer Elyse Stelford helps a 6-year-old first-grader.
Help for homeless students For kids taking Zoom classes from a Van Nuys motel, a new city of L.A. program provides tutors — and snacks By Laura Newberry A dozen bleary-eyed children bundled in sweaters, jackets and knit caps trickle into the motel carport, taking seats at metal desks evenly spaced atop the gasoline-stained concrete. Diagrams of the alphabet and solar system are taped to the beige stucco wall. “How are we feeling today?” a tutor asks two little boys as they take their seats. “Sleepy?” The younger boy nods yes as he pulls a blue mask decorated with Dalmatians over his face. A 4-year-old wearing socks, flip-flops and a hot-pink Minnie Mouse coat bounds over to her desk and plops into her chair. The school day is about
VOLUNTEER Jill Ause helps a 5-year-old kindergartner with the letters of the alphabet.
to begin for these children, who amid the COVID-19 pandemic are sheltering with their families at the Hyland Motel in Van Nuys. Every Monday and Tuesday since mid-August, these homeless students — as few as five or as many as 12 — have congregated in the carport, where volunteers help them navigate hours-long Zoom classes. They are just a fraction of the L.A. Unified School District’s estimated 11,000 homeless students, who, according to data, are especially vulnerable to the pandemic’s learning impacts: lower grades, attendance rates and online participation. Coronavirus-forced school closures didn’t just [See Students, A14]
■ ■ ■ ELECTION 2020 ■ ■ ■
Biden gives U.S. a Thanksgiving message of hope President-elect strives to reassure and unite a COVID-weary nation in leadership vacuum. By Evan Halper WILMINGTON, Del. — As President Trump continued to downplay an out-ofcontrol virus that is taking more than 2,000 American lives a day, President-elect Joe Biden sought to step into the leadership void Wednesday by delivering a solemn appeal for Americans to put politics aside and unite to beat the pandemic. Biden’s Thanksgiving eve address signaled a new phase of the official transition, one in which he is bucking tradition and moving
early to claim the bully pulpit and reset the tone of the presidency. While he didn’t mention Trump by name, Biden said Americans deserve “to always hear the truth” from the president, a clear contrast to Trump’s daily stream of mistruths. For his part, Trump spent the day focused on his false claims of election fraud. He phoned in to a meeting hosted by Pennsylvania Republicans to voice more baseless charges, and said the election results must be invalidated. Trump also issued a pardon to Michael Flynn, the only White House aide charged in the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Flynn served less than a [See Biden, A8]
MORE COVERAGE
Out of isolation, into a pandemic Conservationists leave after months on remote island to find a changed world. NATION, A6
L.A. County’s high infection rates Estimates show that 1 in 145 Angelenos may be contagious with COVID-19. CALIFORNIA, B1
Carlo Fumagalli Associated Press
AT THE PINNACLE
Diego Maradona holds the World Cup trophy in triumph in 1986 after Argentina defeated West Germany, 3-2, to claim the championship.
D IEGO MARADONA, 1960 - 2020
Argentine soccer hero lived a life of extremes By Hector Tobar
A
mop-haired boy from a Buenos Aires slum, Diego Armando Maradona dribbled and dazzled his way to world fame, becoming one of the greatest soccer players of all time and achieving a godlike status in his homeland when he led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup. But he also was one of the most selfdestructive, a volatile man of prodigious appetites whose excesses landed him in the hospital again and again. Never far from the spotlight he chased
with such fury, Maradona died Wednesday of a heart attack, the Associated Press confirmed. He was 60. Maradona had been plagued by health issues in recent years and was recently released from a Buenos Aires hospital after suffering a subdural hematoma, which required brain surgery. As the news of Maradona’s death circulated around the world Wednesday, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez called for three days of national mourning, while UEFA, soccer’s governing body in Europe, announced there would be a minute of silence before its Champions League and [See Maradona, A4]
Associated Press
Trump pardons ex-aide Flynn President rewards his first national security advisor, a loyalist who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. NATION, A6
LAUSD ramps up food relief The school district expected to distribute 1.5 million meals, enough to last the week. CALIFORNIA, B1 Weather
Mostly sunny, windy. L.A. Basin: 67/45. B10
Carolyn Kaster Associated Press
PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden’s Thanksgiving eve
address signaled he is claiming the bully pulpit early.
APPRECIATION: Unpredictability made Maradona lovable. SPORTS, B7
7
85944 10300
BUSINESS INSIDE: Charities are getting creative with remote fundraising strategies. A10
9
Nxxx,2020-11-26,A,001,Bs-4C,E1
CMYK
Late Edition Today, cloudy, rain at times, mild, high 62. Tonight, mostly cloudy, patchy fog, mild, low 51. Tomorrow, periodic clouds and sunshine, mild, high 60. Weather map, Page B12.
VOL. CLXX . . . . No. 58,889
$3.00
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2020
© 2020 The New York Times Company
Jobless Claims Jump, Threatening Recovery Amid Worsening Virus Incomes Are Falling as Latest Pandemic Restrictions Expose New Pitfalls By BEN CASSELMAN
JONAH MARKOWITZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Elbow Room for Thanksgiving On what is usually one of the year’s busiest travel days, La Guardia Airport had sparse departures and empty gates on Wednesday.
As Surge Spreads, No Corner of Nation Is Spared AstraZeneca Admits Error Biden Asks Americans With Vaccine to ‘Hang On’ in His This article is by Manny Fernandez, Campbell Robertson, Mitch Smith and Will Wright.
What started as a Midwestern surge has grown into coast-tocoast disaster. Over the last two months, rural counties and midsize cities in the Great Plains and Upper Midwest have been the main drivers of the dizzying growth in coronavirus cases in the United States. But the virus appears to have entered a new phase in recent days: The reason the country is continuing to break case records has less to do with North Dakota and Wisconsin than it does with
Holiday Address swift resurgences of the virus in cities like Baltimore, Los Angeles, Miami and Phoenix and with firsttime spikes in smaller cities away from the nation’s middle, like Cumberland, Md. “Our people are tired,” said Maggie Hansen, the chief nursing executive at Memorial Healthcare System in South Florida. “They’re tired and they don’t see an end in
sight.” Seeking to rally the nation on the eve of Thanksgiving, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. offered words of encouragement, saying “there’s real hope, tangible hope” in the face of the virus. He urged Americans to wear face masks and practice social distancing, and to “hang on” as they faced a long, hard winter. “Looking back over our history, you see that it’s been in the most difficult circumstances that the soul of our nation has been forged,” Mr. Biden said. In language that served as an implicit repudiation of President Trump, he urged Americans to Continued on Page A8
Total new cases added each month:
3.3 million cases in the first 23 days of this month
3 MILLION
The Biggest Spike in Virus Cases Yet With several days still left in the month, about 3.3 million people in the United States have already tested positive for the coronavirus as of Nov. 23.
1.9 million cases in all of October
If the current growth pattern holds, the total number of cases reported for the full month of November is likely to hit 4.5 million.
2
1
March
April
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Note: Data is as of Nov. 23. Source: New York Times database of reports from state and local health agencies and hospitals
Oct.
Nov.
LAUREN LEATHERBY/THE NEW YORK TIMES
By REBECCA ROBBINS and BENJAMIN MUELLER
The announcement this week that a cheap, easy-to-make coronavirus vaccine appeared to be up to 90 percent effective was greeted with jubilation. “Get yourself a vaccaccino,” a British tabloid celebrated, noting that the vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, costs less than a cup of coffee. But since unveiling the preliminary results, AstraZeneca has acknowledged a key mistake in the vaccine dosage received by some study participants, adding to questions about whether the vaccine’s apparently spectacular efficacy will hold up under additional testing. Scientists and industry experts said the error and a series of other irregularities and omissions in the way AstraZeneca initially disclosed the data have eroded their confidence in the reliability of the results. Officials in the United States have noted that the results were not clear. It was the head of the flagship federal vaccine initiative — not the company — who first disclosed that the vaccine’s most promising results did not reflect data from older people. The upshot, the experts said, is that the chances of regulators in the United States and elsewhere quickly authorizing the emergency use of the AstraZeneca vaccine are declining, an unexpected setback in the global campaign to corral the devastating pandemic. “I think that they have really damaged confidence in their Continued on Page A6
New Political Force Is Rising in Georgia: Asian-American Voters By SABRINA TAVERNISE
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Four years ago, Maliha Javed, an immigrant from Pakistan, was not paying attention to politics. A community college student in suburban Atlanta, she was busy paying for books and studying for classes. She did not vote that year. But the past four years changed her. The Trump administration’s Muslim travel ban affected some
of her friends. The child separation policy reminded her of living apart from her parents for three years during her own move to the United States. Then, this summer, the discovery that she was pregnant made it final: On Election Day, she marched into the Amazing Grace Lutheran Church near her house and voted for the first time in her life. She chose Joseph R. Biden Jr. “I want it to be a better country for him to grow up in,” said Ms.
A Potential Bright Spot for Democrats Javed, who is 24 and is having a boy. Ms. Javed is part of a small but powerful new force in Georgia politics: Asian-American voters. She lives in Gwinnett County, Georgia’s second-most populous
county and the one with the largest Asian-American population. Mr. Biden, who narrowly defeated President Trump in Georgia, won Gwinnett County by 18 percentage points, a substantial increase over Hillary Clinton’s performance four years ago and only the second time the county went blue since the 1970s. The county is also the heart of the only tightly contested House
Continued on Page A21
Layoffs are rising again and Americans’ incomes are falling, the latest signs that the one-two punch of a resurgent pandemic and waning government aid are undermining the U.S. economic recovery. Applications for state jobless benefits rose for the second straight week last week, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Unemployment filings are up by more than 100,000 from the first week of November, when they hit their lowest level since last spring, the start of the pandemic. Forecasters have been warning for weeks that the increase in coronavirus cases could have dire economic consequences as consumers pull back on spending and cities and states reimpose restrictions on businesses and social gatherings. But while job gains and other markers of progress have slowed since the summer, the recovery had proved surprisingly resilient. Now cracks are beginning to appear. Jobless claims, not adjusted for seasonal patterns, jumped by 78,000 last week to nearly 828,000 — a big change following an increase of 18,000 the week before.
It was the first time filings had risen for two straight weeks since early September, and the largest two-week increase since April. Measures of consumer confidence fell sharply in November, and realtime data from private sources show the labor market slowing further or going into reverse. Any reversal would be disappointing after months of economic progress. But it would hardly be surprising given the new wave of lockdowns and business restrictions that made further layoffs all Continued on Page A6 INITIAL WEEKLY JOBLESS CLAIMS
Including those under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program 1 million P.U.A. 0.5 Regular
Week ending:
Oct. 10
Oct. 24
Nov. 7
Nov. 21
Note: Data is not seasonally adjusted. Source: Labor Dept. THE NEW YORK TIMES
Trump Pardons Flynn, Boosting Hopes of Allies in Legal Trouble By KENNETH P. VOGEL and ERIC LIPTON
WASHINGTON — When President Trump pardoned Michael T. Flynn on Wednesday, he did more than wipe clean the record of his first national security adviser, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. He also bolstered the hopes of a wide array of clemency seekers that he might deliver a wave of pardons and commutations before leaving office. Among the others looking for pardons are two former Trump campaign advisers, Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos, who like Mr. Flynn were convicted in cases stemming from the special counsel’s Russia investigation. But lawyers and others who have been in touch with the White
House say they anticipate that Mr. Trump will use his authority in cases that extend beyond those involving the special counsel’s inquiry and the lengthy cast of aides and associates who have gotten in legal trouble since he first ran for the presidency. Alan Dershowitz, the law professor who represented Mr. Trump during his impeachment trial, is advising two of his clients — a New Jersey man serving more than 20 years for defrauding investors, and a billionaire businessman convicted in what’s been called “one of North Carolina’s worst government corruption scandals” — on whether to seek Continued on Page A20
DIEGO MARADONA, 1960-2020
Soccer’s Tormented Genius By JERÉ LONGMAN
Diego Maradona, the Argentine who became a national hero as one of soccer’s greatest players, performing with a roguish cunning and extravagant control while pursuing a personal life rife with drug and alcohol abuse and health problems, died on Wednesday in Tigre, Argentina, in Buenos Aires Province. He was 60. His spokesman, Sebastián Sanchi, said the cause was a heart attack. Maradona had undergone brain surgery several weeks ago. News of the death brought an outpouring of mourning and remembrance in Argentina, becoming virtually the sole topic of conversation. Such was his stature — in 2000, FIFA, soccer’s governing body, voted him and Pelé of Brazil the sport’s two greatest players — that the government declared three days of national mourning. At Maradona’s feet, the ball seemed to obey his command like a pet. (He was said to do with an orange what others could only do
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES
Diego Maradona led Argentina to the World Cup title in 1986. with a ball.) And he played with a kind of brilliant camouflage, seeming to be somnolent for long stretches before asserting himself at urgent moments with a mesmerizing dribble, astounding pass or stabbing shot. Wearing the traditional No. 10 Continued on Page A23
TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-8
ARTS C1-8
BUSINESS B1-6
Homeless Men Have to Move
Tough Love, Sweet Moves
Trade Fairs on Hiatus
About 200 homeless men will have to vacate the hotel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that had been used as a shelter, a judge ruled. PAGE A6
The documentary “Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker” shines a spotlight on the choreographer Debbie Allen and her academy as it prepares for the holiday classic. PAGE C1
The annual showcases play a major role in the German economy, but the pandemic has shuttered most of them, creating hardships for the small businesses that rely on them. PAGE B1
NATIONAL A14-23
INTERNATIONAL A10-13
Gratitude in Verse
Macron’s Rightward Tilt
The Times asked state poets laureate: What do we have to be thankful for this year? PAGES A16-17
Critics of the French president say proposed laws are a drift toward repressive government policies. PAGE A10
Permit Denied for Alaska Mine
C.I.A. Officer Killed in Somalia
The Pebble Mine project would have been one of the world’s largest gold and copper projects. PAGE A22
The killing raises questions about U.S. operations in the region as President Trump weighs a troop pullout. PAGE A13
THURSDAY STYLES D1-8
Bronzing the Iron Lady As plans for another statue of the former British leader Margaret Thatcher take shape, she is seen as a political colossus abroad, but her years in power have a complicated legacy at home. PAGE C1 EDITORIAL, OP-ED A24-25
Gail Collins
PAGE A25
Holiday Windows All Aglow Stores are hurting and tourism is a mess but behind the glass, the show goes on, Vanessa Friedman says. PAGE D1
Seeing Old Relatives Again For socially distant Thanksgiving, some families are using Zoom to take a new look at their pasts. PAGE D1
Book Giant Grows Bigger ViacomCBS has agreed to sell Simon & Schuster to Penguin Random House for more than $2 billion in a deal that will create the first megapublisher. PAGE B1
U(D54G1D)y+&!{![!$!"
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXVI NO. 125
* * * * *
DJIA 30046.24 À 454.97 1.5%
NASDAQ 12036.79 À 1.3%
OIL $44.91 À $1.85
Milestone comes amid promising developments in the race for a vaccine to combat the global coronavirus pandemic and one day after the standoff over the presidential transition ended
Business & Finance he Dow vaulted above 30000 for the first time, rising 1.5%, to 30046.24 in a remarkable rally that has lifted the stock market to records even in the midst of a devastating pandemic. The S&P 500 rose 1.6% to a new high, while the Nasdaq added 1.3%. A1, A7, A7A, A7B
T
GE warned employees that more job cuts are coming to the conglomerate’s jet-engine business because of the pandemic’s impact on commercial air travel. B1 ViacomCBS is close to a deal to sell Simon & Schuster to Bertelsmann for more than $2 billion, a transaction that would create a publishing behemoth. B1 Best Buy continued benefiting from online sales and items that support homebound customers during the pandemic but warned that those gains will taper off. B1
Apple's market value tops $1 trillion.
GOLD $1,804.80 g $33.00
J.Crew replaced its CEO after less than a year in the role, and a few months after the apparel seller emerged from bankruptcy protection with new hedge-fund owners. B3 Ed Stack is stepping down as CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods. He will be succeeded in the post by Lauren Hobart, the company’s president. B7
World-Wide Biden is moving quickly to take advantage of government resources for his transition to the White House after the Trump administration ended a 16-day stalemate and announced its intention to begin cooperating with his team. A1 Trump has privately suggested he knows the battle to overturn the election’s result is effectively over and has begun to turn attention to his next act, advisers say. A4 The death rate from Covid-19 is falling in the U.S., according to infectious-disease experts and biostatisticians, a sign of advances in treating the disease. A6 The CDC may soon shorten the length of time it recommends a person self-quarantine after potential exposure to the coronavirus. A6 Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to three felonies related to the marketing and distribution of OxyContin, ending the bankrupt firm’s exposure to U.S. government action but leaving other liabilities. A3 The U.S., EU and other donors pledged billions in aid to Afghanistan but said disbursement would depend on progress in peace talks. A9 The Catholic Church in China ordained its first bishop since Beijing and the Vatican renewed an agreement on episcopal appointments. A9 Died: David Dinkins, 93, New York City’s first Black mayor. A10A NOTICE TO READERS
Personal Journal A11-12 Property Report... B6 Sports....................... A14 Technology............... B4 U.S. News.... A2-3,6-7 Weather................... A14 World News....... A8-9
>
30000
29000 The Fed signals it will do whatever it can to help the economy.
U.S. and China report progress on trade negotiations.
28000
27000
First-time 1, pt milestone
26000
25000
24000
–19%
23000 General Electric, a Dow component for more than a century, is replaced by Walgreens.
Dow closes above 20000 for the first time on Jan. 25, 2017.
U.S.-China trade tension escalates.
Salesforce, Amgen and Honeywell replace Exxon, Pfizer and Raytheon.
WHO declares coronavirus global health emergency.
22000
21000
20000 4
10 DAYS
About a year and a half, between milestones 372 TRADING DAYS
54 DAYS 0 8
2017
’18
90 DAYS
40
’19
18 DAYS
19000
’20
–37%
Cumulative percentage change since the Dow first closed above 20000
DJIA 50%
Apple 278%
Microsoft 236%
Salesforce 232%
Visa 150%
Nike 150%
Walmart 126%
UnitedHealth 108%
Home Depot 99%
Honeywell 84%
McDonald's 80%
Caterpillar 80%
P&G 59%
AmEx 57%
Amgen 43%
JPMorgan 43%
Disney 40%
Cisco 39%
Boeing 31%
Merck 31%
J&J 28%
Coca-Cola 26%
Intel 24%
Verizon 22%
Travelers 16%
Dow Inc. 16%
3M 0%
Goldman Sachs 0%
Chevron –18%
IBM –30%
Walgreens –53%
Source: FactSet
Erik Brynildsen and Peter Santilli/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
EURO $1.1894
YEN 104.44
BY AKANE OTANI
The Dow Jones Industrial Average vaulted above 30000 for the first time, a remarkable rally that has lifted the stock market to records even in the midst of a devastating pandemic. The blue-chip index rose 454.97 points, or 1.5%, to finish at 30046.24, a roughly 60% climb from its March nadir. It flirted with the level throughout the morning, coming just shy of crossing it several times before breaking through. Tuesday’s advance came after President Trump said his administration would cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition to the White House, giving investors hope that the country would be able to have a smooth transition of power. More broadly, much of the market’s rise in recent months has been powered by building hopes among investors that scientists are on the brink of pushing out vaccines effective enough to fight the novel coronavirus. News of potential vaccines comes at an important juncture for the U.S. The country has reported a record number of coronavirus cases in the past week. The holidays are also approaching, meaning many people will soon be deciding whether to travel and gather indoors with friends and relatives. The combination had many investors gearing up for a long and rocky path ahead for the economy. Still, vaccine disclosures have come this month from biotech firm Moderna Inc., pharmaceutical companies Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, and AstraZeneca PLC and the University of Oxford, giving money managers a new shot of confidence. All three groups have developed vaccines that have shown promise in protecting people against the coronavirus. Although most are still expecting some setbacks, includPlease turn to page A7A More coverage on pages A7, A7A, A7B
Buy-and-Hold Mantra Fuels Stocks’ Rise The U.S. stock boom has its roots in tactics that fund managers, small savers and Robinhood traders alike have applied By Gunjan Banerji, Akane Otani and Michael Wursthorn over the past decade: Don’t hide from markets by hoarding cash. Keep hold of your investments, and returns will follow.
Deck the Halls With Tons of Decor i
i
When there’s a crisis, buy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 30000 on Tuesday for the first time, extending an eight-month rebound that has taken many analysts by surprise. The bluechip gauge advanced 454.97 points, or 1.5%, to 30046.24, continuing a recent winning streak that has put it on track for the best month since 1987. The run has put the Dow up 62% from its March low, when
INSIDE
the U.S. Federal Reserve ended a panic that wiped out trillions of dollars in investments by outlining a plan to counter the pandemic’s economic stress. The market appears to be in a self-perpetuating upward spiral, defying the pandemic and accompanying economic woes. Some pessimists say today’s gains will inevitably lower returns tomorrow. But low interest rates mean investors big and small can’t expect to make
much money in less-risky investments like bonds. So they are betting that the market’s momentum will continue, whether passively through index funds or actively with a buy-on-dips mantra. “The real learning lesson over the last decade is you just put your head down, you don’t try to time the market, you take advantage of weakness,” said Dev Kantesaria, a managing partner at Valley Forge
Capital Management, which oversees around $1.1 billion in assets. Over the past 13 years, he typically held about a fifth of his firm’s holdings in cash. At the end of October, that figure was close to zero. This strategy paid off handsomely in the past for investors who added to shareholdings around the March 2009 financial-crisis nadir and during recession scares in 2011, Please turn to page A7A
Biden Cleared for Key Briefing As Transition Moves Forward
i
BY ANDREW RESTUCCIA AND SABRINA SIDDIQUI
Pandemic holiday decorating starts early, gets lavish BY ANNE MARIE CHAKER AND JIM CARLTON
WSJ.com and WSJ mobile apps will publish throughout the Thanksgiving holiday. The Wall Street Journal print edition won’t appear Thursday, but a daily edition will be available in WSJ iPad and Android apps.
Federal Reserve says it could take a break from raising rates.
Tuesday 30046.24
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Laptop sales, driven by people working and learning from home, helped HP and Dell soften the impact from lower spending on office equipment. B4
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10-YR. TREAS. g 7/32 , yield 0.881%
HHHH $4.00
Dow Eclipses 30000 for First Time
What’s News
CONTENTS Arts in Review... A13 Business News.. B3,7 Crossword.............. A14 Heard on Street. B14 Markets.................... B13 Opinion.............. A15-17
STOXX 600 392.39 À 0.9%
WSJ.com
Fred Stewart was disappointed that he couldn’t throw a holiday party as usual this year, he decided to decorate his front yard in Rogersville, Mo., for the first time. He bought four 6-foot snowmen and an 8-foot Santa, and is adding his own tropical theme, including 20 pink flamingos in Santa caps plus a 4foot-tall hippo wearing a pink tutu. “We were like, what else can we do?” says the 48-yearold owner of a plumbing company. With everyone spending so much time at home, Americans are throwing themselves into holiday décor—and they’re putting up the lavish displays even earlier than usual. Pandemic-weary homePlease turn to page A10
JASON GAY Coronavirus rewrites the rules for family touch football this Thanksgiving. A14
WASHINGTON—Presidentelect Joe Biden is moving quickly to take advantage of government resources for his transition to the White House after the Trump administration ended a 16-day stalemate and declared its intention to begin
cooperating with his team. The White House granted approval on Tuesday to the government’s intelligence arm to give Mr. Biden the president’s daily intelligence brief, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Lawmakers of both parties had argued that step was necessary to ensure the president-elect is prepared to
protect U.S. interests as soon as he takes office on Jan. 20. The brief includes some of the government’s most sensitive intelligence. Mr. Biden had been blocked from receiving it. The timing of Mr. Biden’s first briefPlease turn to page A4 Trump looks beyond his fouryear term..................................... A4
Yellen Faces Political Storms In Future Role as Treasury Chief Her Fed experience was unlike what cabinet secretaries encounter BY JON HILSENRATH AND NICK TIMIRAOS
BUSINESS & FINANCE Peloton races to correct monthslong delivery delays as some fans defect. B1
When she led President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers in the late 1990s, Janet Yellen confided to her husband, economist George Akerlof, about the challenges she faced navigating Washington’s political storms. Those storms are about to become Ms. Yellen’s headache again. As President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Treasury secretary, Ms.
Yellen is looking at the most political role she has had in nearly three decades of highprofile policy making. Her job will be to formulate and defend Mr. Biden’s policies at a time when the economy is at a crossroads and the capital is deeply polarized. Tough debates loom about how much more the government should borrow and Please turn to page A10 Heard on the Street: Pick is boon for Biden... B14