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Page 1: >> As ShoppersSkiptheMall, StoresSearchforFreshLuresonline.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/PageOne011714.pdf · 2018-08-27 · Festival, holiday. Hailian countsdownthe days until

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* * * * * * FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2014 ~ VOL. CCLXIII NO. 14 WSJ.com HHHH $2 .00

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TODAY IN ARENA

Inside the Tight Oscar RaceMANSION The Rise of the Boutique Condo

CONTENTSArt...................................... D6Corporate News.... B2,3Global Finance............ C3Heard on the Street C8In the Markets........... C4Music............................... D4

Opinion................... A11-13Sports.............................. D8Technology................... B4Theater........................... D7U.S. News................. A2-5Weather Watch........ B5World News........... A6-9

s Copyright 2014 Dow Jones & Company.All Rights Reserved

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What’sNews

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World-WidenObama was still wrestlingwith how to manage the NSA’sbulk collection of phone dataon the eve of his long-awaitedspeech on surveillance. A1nU.S. adults are consumingfewer calories, eatingmoremeals at home and reading nu-tritional labels, a study said. A1nCigarettes are deadlier andlinked tomore diseases thanpreviously thought, a newgovernment report said. A2n Biden has resumed apush to withdraw virtuallyall U.S. troops from Afghani-stan at year’s end. A6n Railroads and energy firmsagreed to take steps to makeshipping crude oil by rail saferafter a string of accidents. A3n House GOP leaders planfor the first time to endorselegal status for many peopleliving in the U.S. illegally. A4n South Sudan’s presidentsaid in an interview thatUgandan troops are aiding hisfight against a political foe. A7nTheWhite House releaseddetails of the Iran nuclear pactand disclosed an implemen-tation plan to lawmakers. A8n The Senate approved a$1.012 trillion spending billthat keeps the governmentrunning through September. A5nMusharraf asked to leavePakistan, where the ex-rulerfaces criminal charges, forU.S. medical treatment. A6nThe U.S. Mint is consideringchanging the metals it uses inquarters, dimes and nickels. A2nMajor League Baseballapproved an expanded in-stant-replay system. D8

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Best Buy became the latestretailer to post soft holiday

results as consumers continueto abandon physical stores foronline shopping. The chain’sshares plunged 29%. A1, C1n Goldman cut employee payfor 2013 after a steep slow-down in tradingmarred overallperformance. Citigroup posteddisappointing results. C1, C2n Employees haven’t beencharged at two-thirds of thefirms that have settledprobes or been convicted ofcrimes in recent years. C1n Sprint has received pro-posals from at least twobanks on how it could financea takeover of T-Mobile US. B1n Stocks closed mostlylower on disappointing cor-porate earnings. The Dow fell64.93 points to 16417.01. C4n The Target data breachappeared to be part of a broadcampaign against multiple re-tailers, a report said. B2n The OCC proposed tougherrisk-management rules forbig U.S. banks and promisedswifter enforcement. C1n A bankruptcy judge deliv-ered a major blow to the onlycompleted deal to cut a portionof Detroit’s long-term debt. C3n Intel said there were signsof stabilization in the PC sectorin the fourth quarter, but pro-jected flat revenue for 2014. B3n BlackRock reported re-cord annual earnings of $2.9billion as markets surged. C3n Apollo agreed to buyChuck E. Cheese’s owner CECfor about $950 million. B3

Business&Finance

WASHINGTON—President Ba-rack Obama’s address on govern-ment surveillance Friday will be akey step in his re-examination ofpost-Sept. 11 security practices, aprocess White House officials sayis designed to restructure terror-ism policies and shore up theircredibility before he leaves office.

Mr. Obama, in a highly antici-pated speech that follows a six-month review of U.S. spying pro-grams, is expected to extendprivacy protections to non-U.S. cit-izens and announce measures tocontinuously evaluate sensitivesurveillance, particularly involvingforeign leaders, people familiarwith the plan say.

But as of Thursday evening, hewas still wrestling with the mostcontroversial question—how tomanage the National SecurityAgency’s bulk collection of tele-phone data, administration offi-cials said.

“That is still the trickiest issue,and of the decisions that he hasstill to finalize, that’s one,” accord-ing to one senior administrationofficial.

Mr. Obama is set to call on Con-gress to work with him on deter-mining where the data should bestored, say people familiar withhis decision. His own advisorypanel recommended that the stor-age role shift from the NSA, thebig spy agency charged witheavesdropping on foreign-intelli-gence targets, to phone companiesor another third party.

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BY CAROL E. LEEAND SIOBHAN GORMAN

ObamaWrestlesWithSpyOverhaul

Years of warnings by health of-ficials and grim news on the bath-room scale appear to finally behaving an impact on the nation’seating habits. While there is nosign the high level of obesity hasfallen, Americans say they are con-suming fewer calories and cuttingback on fast food, cholesterol andfat.

Working-age adults consumedan average of 118 fewer calories aday in the 2009-10 period thanfour years earlier, according to astudy released Thursday by theU.S. Department of Agriculture.Americans also reported eatingmore home-cooked meals withtheir families and fewer in restau-rants—though the economy playeda role—and reading nutritional la-bels on food at grocery storesmore often.

The latest findings add togrowing evidence that suggeststhe nation’s eating habits may betaking a more healthful turn.Other studies also have found thatcaloric intake has declined in re-cent years.

Nutrition and public health ex-perts caution that the tide hasn’tturned on the problem of obesityand the health risks that comewith it, such as diabetes. But theysay a range of trends may be con-tributing to modest yet promisingshifts in behavior, includinggreater public awareness andpressure on food manufacturersand the restaurant industry toproduce more healthful offerings.

“These are not huge shifts, butthey are positive ones,” said KellyBrownell, an obesity expert anddean of Duke University’s SanfordSchool of Public Policy. “We stillhave huge problems with obe-

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BY MELINDA BECKAND AMY SCHATZ

American Eating HabitsTake a Healthier Turn

Best Buy Co. on Thursday be-came the latest retailer to chimein with weak holiday results. Likeother chains, the electronics re-tailer blamed the race to offerthe deepest discounts, a game ofbrinkmanship that hurt profitmargins and held back revenue.

But there is a deeper malaiseat work: A long-term change inshopper habits has reduced storetraffic—perhaps permanently—and shifted pricing power away

from malls and big-box retailers.Consumers’ rush to e-com-

merce is a challenge that brick-and-mortar retailers have wres-tled with for years. Across anumber of retailers, their defen-sive strategies don’t seem to bepanning out. Best Buy, for exam-ple, overhauled its store layoutsand marketing in the past year,even inviting shoppers to “show-room” the electronics retailer—co-opting the term for peoplewho try out products in storesand then buy them for less online.

Despite those changes, visits

to Best Buy dropped off afterThanksgiving weekend, Chief Ex-ecutive Hubert Joly said in an in-terview. Not only are more peo-ple shopping online, the Web haseroded demand for former con-sumer-electronics staples, suchas compact discs, he said.

“There is a phenomenon thatimpacts traffic to the physicalstores,” Mr. Joly said. “There isno doubt about it.”

Traffic to U.S. retailers washurt during the financial crisisand recession, when job lossessoared and shoppers kept a tight

grip on their dollars. But nearlyfive years into the recovery, itappears many of those shoppersmay never be coming back.

Retailers got only about halfthe holiday traffic in 2013 asthey did just three years earlier,according to ShopperTrak, whichuses a network of 60,000 shop-per-counting devices to trackvisits at malls and large retailersacross the country. The data firm

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BY SHELLY BANJOAND DREW FITZGERALD

As Shoppers Skip the Mall,Stores Search for Fresh Lures

States Mint New Millionaires

North Dakota 0.53

South Dakota0.35

SoSoSoutututhhh DaDaDakokokotatata0.0.3535

South Dakota0.35

Nebraska 0.32 Iowa 0.28

Alaska 0.28

Maine 0.41New Hampshire 0.39

Pennsylvania 0.27Wyoming 0.22

Vermont 0.25

Maryland0.39

Delaware0.33

Massachusetts 0.22

Virginia 0.28ViViViViViViViViViViViVirgrgrgrgrgrgrgrgrgrginininininininininiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaia 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.28282828282828282828282828Virginia 0.28

Louisiana 0.35

Arkansas0.25

Washington 0.21

Montana 0.24

New Mexico0.28

0.0.0.0.353535350.350.0.3535

0.32320.0.0.323232NeNebrbrasaskaNeNebrbraskakaNebraska 0.32 IoIowawa 0.0.0.282828Iowa 0.28WyWyWyomominingg 0.0.0.2222222222NeNeNebraska NeNeNeNeNebraska NeNe

Wyoming 0.22

ArArArArkakakakansnsnsasasasas0.0.0.0.25252525

Arkansas0.25

MoMoMontntananaa 0.0.0.24242424Montana 0.24

NeNeNeNeww MeMeMexixixixicococo0.0.0.0.2828282828

New Mexico0.28

Source: Phoenix Marketing International The Wall Street Journal

North Dakota’s energy boom and brisk economic turnarounds in states like Louisiana and Maine have vaulted their standing in a ranking of millionairehouseholds last year. Change in percentage of households with investable assets in excess of $1 million from 2012 to 2013 (in percentage points)

>>See article on page A2

West Virginia 0.22West Virginia 0.22

Cindy Fox, known as “The Na-ked Cowgirl,” usually wears herred, white and blue bikini and abrimmed hat to sing and playguitar in TimesSquare, one of theworld’s busiest inter-sections.

Come Super Bowlweekend, she is per-forming in Secaucus,N.J. “For me, it’s goingto be a little strange,”Ms. Fox, 47 years old,said. “I grew up here,and I’ve always triedto keep my TimesSquare life separate. Ireally have a lot of pressure tolook awesome and performgreat. It’s the Super Bowl.”

As football’s Super Bowlcomes to East Rutherford, N.J.,

Feb. 2, officials in nearby Secau-cus and other north Jerseytowns have a message: Why notparty and sightsee in the GardenState? Secaucus—a town whosename is subject to debate over

its pronunciation—istouting its first-everbeer garden. Countrymusic will blarethrough the speakersof a tent stretchingseveral blocks. A mo-bile museum, part ofthe New Jersey Hall ofFame, will includephotos, videos andpieces of state historyinside a 53-foot trailerthat expands.

As Manhattan offers SuperBowl fetes at the Waldorf Asto-ria and celebrity-filled rooftopparties, places like Secaucus aregiving the game a distinctly Jer-

sey feel, trying to lure tourists inthe region’s hotel rooms to elab-orate events that stretch severaldays.

“I don’t think you’d want tovacation in Secaucus by itself,”Mayor Michael Gonnelli said.“But you are certainly close toNew York. And you can get any-where on the East Coast fromthe train station here.”

Officials expect the game tobring 400,000 people to thearea.

Along a waterfront pier inHoboken, N.J., city officials arebuilding three curling lanes andbringing national curlers in toteach the winter sport to anyonewho comes by. A glimmering 16-foot sculpture of the Super BowlRoman numerals XLVIII willstand at water’s edge, setagainst the Manhattan skyline

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BY JOSH DAWSEY

Jersey to Super Bowl Fans:WannaSeeOurGiant Cheese Ball?i i i

Host State Aims to Divert Visitors From That City Across the Hudson

Cindy Fox

Bitcoin Courts Pro Basketball

CASHING IN: The Sacramento Kings will become the first majorprofessional sports franchise to accept bitcoin for its products, a step inthe virtual currency’s bid to achieve mainstream acceptance. C1

USA

TodaySp

orts/R

euters

XIA QING, China—Like millions of children inrural China, 10-year-old Yang Hailian lives for themoment her parents come home from their jobs ina faraway city for the Lunar New Year, or SpringFestival, holiday.

Hailian counts down the days until the most im-portant holiday on the Chinese calendar, whichstarts Jan. 31 this year. Factories and constructionsites shut down, and most of the nation’s migrantworkers make the long trek to reunite with theirfamilies.

“They always bring me new clothes,” she saysof her parents.

They moved away about seven years ago. Theonly sign of them in the wood and bamboo homeon a rocky mountainside here where Hailian livesis a pair of her father’s old sneakers that she keepsat the bottom of the bed shared with her 7-year-old sister, Yang Haili.

The two girls are examples of one of the mostwrenching consequences to come from the biggestmigration in human history. China has about 250

million migrant workers, who pour into cities fromrural areas and help keep the country’s manufac-turing engine supplied with cheap labor.

The migrant workers typically live in dormito-ries, tents or bomb shelters. Their children rarelymove because of strict rules set by Chinese leadersdecades ago to control the flow of people acrossthe country.

About 61 million Chinese children—one of everyfive in the world’s most populous nation—haven’tseen one or both parents for at least three months,according to the All-China Women’s Federation, aCommunist Party advocacy group. The total hasgrown so big that the children are widely knownas left-behind kids. Nowhere else on earth do somany children live largely on their own.

Many migrant parents believe they are fulfillingtheir duty to raise their family’s standard of living.Income sent home helps pay for better food andeducation, and some workers save enough moneyto build a new home in their rural village. It iscommon for both parents to leave home together,since they can save faster and there are so many

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BY ANDREW BROWNE

‘MASTER OF THE HOME’

China’s Left-Behind KidsBear Grown-Up Burdens

Retailer stocks sell off....... C1, C4 Heard on the Street.................... C8

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