THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2024 ~ VOL. CCLXXXIII NO. 103
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DJIA 37903.29 À 87.37 0.23%
NASDAQ 15605.48 g 0.3%
STOXX 600 504.31 g 0.1%
10-YR. TREAS. À 22/32 , yield 4.591%
OIL $79.00 g $2.93
WSJ.com GOLD $2,299.90 À $8.50
Blinken Meets With Hostage Families in Israel
What’s News Business & Finance The Federal Reserve acknowledged a recent setback in its inflation fight but said it was more likely to keep interest rates at their current level for longer than to raise them again. A1 The S&P 500 extended its recent slide after the central bank’s outlook, falling 0.3% and matching the Nasdaq’s session decline. The Dow rose 0.2%. B10
Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer is exploring options for a new model to challenge Airbus and Boeing’s duopoly for large jets. A1 A growing number of companies are offering 401(k) plans that promise employees a degree of predictability, with retirement paychecks they can count on for life. B1 CoreWeave, a cloud-computing startup backed by Nvidia and tailored for artificial intelligence, nearly tripled its valuation to $19 billion in a funding round. B4 J&J said it would put to a vote a nearly $6.5 billion settlement offer for tens of thousands of talc-related personal-injury lawsuits. B1 MLB fans in some cities lost access to Bally Sports regional networks after Comcast and Diamond failed to reach a new carriage deal. B2 Qualcomm reported a slight rise in quarterly sales as the mobile-phone chip company grew its footprint in the automotive industry. B3
World-Wide
Two Republicans joined Democrats in the Arizona Senate to roll back the state’s near total ban on abortions, as some in the GOP look to reverse a major political liability for the party. A3 A six-week abortion ban took effect in Florida, adding to anxieties in the South, where access to the procedure has narrowed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. A3 Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she would call a vote next week in a long-shot effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson over many Republican colleagues’ objections. A4 Proposals for a restrictive new political funding law set off an opposition storm in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, with critics accusing Russia of meddling in Tbilisi’s domestic affairs. A7 The surprise announcement of a new prime minister for Haiti threatened to fracture a transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for the country. A7 The Biden administration said it would cancel $6 billion in student loans for people who attended the Art Institutes. A2 Died: Paul Auster, 77, novelist and filmmaker. A3 CONTENTS Arts in Review..... A11 Business News....... B3 Crossword................ A12 Equities........................ B6 From Page One.... A8 Heard on Street... B11
Markets..................... B10 Opinion................ A13-15 Personal Journal A9-10 Sports.......................... A12 Technology................ B4 U.S. News.............. A2-5 World News......... A6-7
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YEN 154.51
Fed Cites Inflation Setback, Holds Rate Firm BY NICK TIMIRAOS
PLEA FOR RELEASE: Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets in Tel Aviv on Wednesday with the families of hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The U.S. is pressing for a temporary cease-fire deal in the Gaza Strip. A6
FTC, Exxon Clear Way for Megadeal The Federal Trade Commission was set to allege as soon as this week that Sheffield engaged in collusive activity that could have raised the price of oil, these people said. The allegations will include that Sheffield sent hundreds of messages to representatives of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries about market dynamics, including pricing and production levels. There is no allegation of any wrongdoing by Exxon, according to the people. The oil giant will enter
Oil giant agrees to freeze out Pioneer exCEO as condition for $60 billion purchase BY COLLIN EATON Exxon Mobil is set to close its $60 billion megadeal for Pioneer Natural Resources following an agreement with antitrust enforcers not to add former Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield to its board of directors, according to people familiar with the matter.
Medicare Costs Hit CVS
Hundreds of protesters were arrested across several campuses, as universities and police crack down on what they say are outsiders escalating pro-Palestinian demonstrations. A5 University leaders are navigating the most tumultuous wave of student demonstrations since the Vietnam War with varied strategies. A5
EURO $1.0715
Officials extend their wait-and-see stance, approve slowing bond runoff TOMER APPELBAUM/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Exxon was set to close its $60 billion deal for Pioneer following an agreement with antitrust enforcers not to add former Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield to its board, people familiar with the matter said. A1
HHHH $5.00
CVS Health posted sharply lower first-quarter net income and cut its guidance for 2024, citing higher medical costs in its Medicare business, which it has invested heavily in. B1 CVS’s Medicare Advantage enrollment
Quarterly net income/loss
4.0 million
$3 billion
4.2M
1 Q 2024
$1.12B 3.5
into a consent decree with the FTC, agreeing to keep Sheffield off the board, the people said. With the filing of that agreement, the deal between Exxon and Pioneer could close within days. Sheffield declined to comment. Exxon agreed in October to buy Pioneer for $60 billion in stock, marking its biggest deal since it merged with Mobil in the late 1990s and the largest oil-and-gas deal in two decades. The Houston-based oil giant is set to acquire Pioneer’s
massive swath of prolific oil land in the Midland Basin of West Texas, where the smaller shale driller has operated for decades. In December, the companies disclosed the FTC had sought additional information from the companies about the deal, a step it takes when reviewing whether a merger could be anticompetitive under U.S. law. Exxon and Pioneer toPlease turn to page A2 BP’s ambitions reside in Gulf of Mexico..................... B1
WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve acknowledged a recent setback in its inflation fight but said it was more likely to keep interest rates at their current level for longer than to raise them again. Officials held their benchmark federal-funds rate steady Wednesday at a range between 5.25% and 5.5%, the highest in two decades and a level it reached last July, following a run of economic data that revealed simmering price pressures in the economy. Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the bar to cut interest rates had gone up, but that the bar to increase rates was even higher. “It’s likely to take longer for us to gain confidence that we are on a sustainable path” to lower inflation, Powell said. He said he expected inflation would resume its decline this year, but added, “my confidence in that is lower than it was.” At the same time, Powell said, for officials to put rate increases back on the table, they would need persuasive Please turn to page A2 Companies trim debt amid high interest rates............ B3 S&P 500 slips after Fed meeting................................ B10
Beijing Braces for a Rematch Of Trump vs. China Officials prepare for potential of more drama in U.S. relations
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Annual Meetings Can Be Romantic at Berkshire Hathaway i
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Warren Buffett himself has jumped in to serve as a wingman at Omaha gathering BY KAREN LANGLEY
him at a past Berkshire weekend. This weekend, thousands of Buffett has dubbed the investing aficionados will de- gathering “Woodstock for scend on Omaha to hear War- Capitalists,” and it is more ren Buffett hold forth on busi- than a chance to hear from ness and life. If they are lucky, the legendary investor and atthey might catch a passionate tend to corporate formalities. shareholder proposal. Planning to propose at the In something of a Omaha event? It helps that closely held secret, Berkshire-owned Borthe famed Berksheims jewelry store is shire Hathaway anconveniently nearby. nual gathering has a In fact, on Friday, atromantic history. tendees can sip cockWhile getting entails at a shareholderLong-term gaged at a fancy resonly shopping night at investing taurant or scenic overBorsheims, followed look is nice, a select by a picnic dinner and group of couples across the more shopping Saturday eveU.S. can trace their big mo- ning at the company’s Nement back to the well-known braska Furniture Mart. weekend confab in Nebraska. Buffett himself has been “Believe it or not, Omaha known to man the counter at doesn’t have too many claims Borsheims, inspiring ring purto fame. Warren was one of chases. them,” says Nebraska native “It was sort of this magical, Michael Dentlinger, on why he once-in-a-lifetime kind of Please turn to page A8 asked Rachel Gogan to marry
Last year, as Mike Pompeo’s memoir, “Never Give an Inch,” made the rounds among China’s leaders, one passage in particular enraged Xi Jinping. The secretary of state under former President Donald Trump wrote that the U.S. should “grant full diplomatic recognition” to Taiwan. Xi’s anger at the remark foreshadowed a broader worry coursing through Beijing: What awaits China should Trump and his inner circle regain power? Trump’s four years in the White House had brought turmoil to the relationship. When he left in 2020, Beijing breathed a sigh of relief. “Good riddance, Donald Trump!” the official
Xinhua News Agency said in an unusually expressive tweet. Now Chinese officials are quietly preparing for the prospect of Trump’s return to the White House—and bracing for drama in its U.S. relations to amp up again, according to people close to the Chinese leadership’s thinking. President Biden has made life difficult for Beijing, too, by keeping in place and even expanding Trump’s tough-on-China economic policies, and by building up coalitions with U.S. allies to counter China. Yet Biden has also sought to dial back rancor with Beijing, an effort Xi appreciates, the people said. A case in point: Washington took care not Please turn to page A8
Brazilian Aircraft Maker Eyes Jet to Rival Boeing BY ANDREW TANGEL AND BENJAMIN KATZ With Boeing in the throes of its latest crisis, one of its smaller rivals, Embraer, is exploring options for a new model to challenge the duopoly for large jets that has dominated the industry for almost three decades. Internal assessments conducted by Embraer have determined that the Brazilian company has the technological know-how and manufacturing might to develop a next-generation narrow-body aircraft, its first in that market segment, people familiar with the company’s strategy and planning said. Embraer has a market value of about $5 billion and specializes in regional and business jets. The plane would compete head-on with the successors to Boeing’s 737 MAX and Airbus’s A320 in a category that is key for both manufacturers. Greenlighting the project would also represent a poten-
tially make-or-break bet: New aircraft programs typically cost tens of billions of dollars to develop, can take more than a decade from inception to entering service and regularly don’t get to market. Gus Kelly, chief executive of AerCap, one of the biggest aircraft lessors, said he wouldn’t expect any new Embraer-derived narrow-body jet until the mid-to-late 2030s, much as airlines and lessors might welcome the competition. “I think it’s a long shot, to be honest,” Kelly said on an investor call Wednesday. “And even if it does come off, I don’t think it will be relevant for the next 15 years.” While the plans are still in their infancy and a final decision hasn’t been made, Embraer has been laying the groundwork, including assessing potential payload and range requirements. Embraer has also sounded out potential financial and industrial partners that the company would Please turn to page A4
INSIDE
PERSONAL JOURNAL As prices soar, many drivers cling to their old cars—and count the savings. A9
SPORTS Superstars who slug from both sides of the plate have become a disappearing breed. A12