* * * * * WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXVI NO. 71 WSJ.com HHHH $4 .00

DJIA 27288.18 À 140.48 0.5% NASDAQ 10963.64 À 1.7% STOXX600 357.55 À 0.2% 10-YR. TREAS. À 2/32 , yield 0.663% OIL $39.60 À $0.29 GOLD $1,898.60 g $2.60 EURO $1.1709 YEN 104.93

BY SIOBHAN HUGHES

GOPClearsPath forCourtNomineeRomney backs Senateleaders on proceedingwith filling vacancyahead of Trump’s pick

Sources: TAC Index (airfreight rate); IATA, Vasigh (cargo yield)Note: The two 2020 forecasts were made before and after the coronavirus outbreak, respectively.

30%

–20

–10

0

10

20

2005 ’10 ’15 ’21’20

Commercial airlines’global cargo yield

00

70millionmetric tons

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2005 ’10 ’15 ’20 ’21

2020Post-Covid51million

2020Pre-Covid62.4million

World-wideairfreight traffic

FORECASTchange from a year earlier

2020Pre-Covid: –3%

2020Post-Covid: 30%

Is There Life After a TikTok Ban?India Goes Into Withdrawal

i i i

The nation’s shutdown of the popular appleaves fans bereft; ‘I’m still mourning’

NEW DELHI — Americanfans of TikTok have recentlybeen left pondering a possiblefuture without their favoriteshort-video sharing app. Indiaknows what that future lookslike, and it isn’t pretty.

“I’m still mourning thedeath of TikTok,” said FaizaanPathan, an auto rickshawdriver who transformed him-self into a TikTok phenomknown as David King, withdyed blond hair, blue contacts

and flashy clothes. “I’m sad.My future feels uncertain. Ijust sleep in my room all day.”

India ousted the appmonths ago, and ever since,the nation has been in TikTokwithdrawal. Until this summer,India was TikTok’s biggestmarket, with more than 400million downloads. WannabeTikTok stars hoping for their15 seconds of fame crowdedparks and malls across thecountry, shooting videos toshare their Bollywood dance,

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BY ERIC BELLMAN

sumer loyalty. It puts at a dis-advantage an array of gadgetmakers such as Arlo Technol-ogies Inc. that rely on Ama-zon’s site for a significantshare of their sales.

The e-commerce giant rou-tinely lets companies buy adsthat appear inside search re-sults, including searches forcompeting products. Indeed,search advertising is a lucra-tive part of the company’sbusiness. But Amazon won’tlet some of its own largecompetitors buy sponsored-product ads tied to searchesfor Amazon’s own devices,

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Amazon.com Inc. is limit-ing the ability of some com-petitors to promote their rivalsmart speakers, video door-bells and other devices on its

dominant e-commerce plat-form, according to Amazonemployees and executives atrival companies and advertis-ing firms.

The strategy gives an edgeto Amazon’s own devices,which the company regardsas central to building con-

By DanaMattioli,Patience Haggin

and Shane Shifflett

INSIDE

WASHINGTON—A growingnumber of Republicans arepushing to get a successor toSupreme Court Justice RuthBader Ginsburg confirmed bythe November elections, aftersenators dashed Democrats’ ef-forts to stop President Trumpfrom moving ahead with anominee.

The speedy time frame couldfurther energize voters of bothparties and add a new memberto the court in time to considera major health-care case.

Democrats’ hopes of stop-ping or at least slowing downMr. Trump’s coming pickdimmed Tuesday morning whenSen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Re-publican, said he supportedmoving forward. Only two GOPsenators, Susan Collins of Maineand Lisa Murkowski of Alaska,have said they oppose the nomi-nation effort, which wouldn’t beenough to derail it given theGOP’s 53-47 Senate advantage.

Mr. Trump has said he has ashort list of five female judges,and he has begun meeting withpossible nominees. Federal Ap-pellate Judge Amy Coney Bar-rett of the Seventh Circuit in

PleaseturntopageA4

The biggest wholesalemortgage originator in the U.S.is merging with a special-pur-pose acquisition company in adeal that will take the lenderpublic at a valuation north of$16 billion, the record for atype of deal that has becomeall the rage on Wall Street.

United Wholesale Mortgageplans to combine with GoresHoldings IV Inc., a SPAC thatraised $425 million in a publiclisting in January, people fa-

miliar with the matter said.The deal will make UnitedWholesale Mortgage a publiccompany listed on Nasdaq.

Also known as blank-checkcompanies, SPACs effectivelyturn the traditional model forinitial public offerings on itshead by raising money beforethey develop a business. Theyuse the proceeds to make anacquisition—usually within acouple of years—that con-verts the target into a publiccompany.

There has been an unex-

pected boom this year inblank-check deal making,which has gone in and out offavor over the years, as start-ups and other private compa-nies seek a more expeditiousroute to the public marketsand sponsors hunt for oppor-tunities in the economic dislo-cation caused by the coronavi-rus pandemic.

Blank-check companies havebeen a key driver of what isshaping up to be a record yearfor IPOs. Issuers have taken in$91 billion in U.S.-listed IPOs,

exceeding the $84 billionraised at this point in 2000,the previous record year, ac-cording to Dealogic. About44% of the volume, or $40 bil-lion, has come from SPACs.That is more than four timesthe volume raised by these ve-hicles at this point in 2019—the previous record year.

Everyone from Wall Streetpower brokers to Silicon Val-ley venture capitalists, ath-letes and former politicianshave jumped on the band-

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BY MAUREEN FARRELL

Mortgage Giant Opts to MergeIn Biggest ‘Blank Check’ Deal

Amazon RestrictsAd Buying by RivalsStrategy gives edge to its own devices andputs other gadget makers at disadvantage

Cargo Gives SomeAirlines a LiftCargo shipping is offsetting the decrease in passenger travelfor major airlines in export-heavy South Korea and Taiwan. B1

Oil MarketFlies BlindAmid JoltsAnd CrisesBY JOE WALLACE

Many voters are unmoved bycourt battle................................. A4

Predicting oil demand hasrarely been more challeng-ing, buffeting prices andmuddying the outlook fortraders, investors and energyproducers.

Energy analysts are map-ping out the course of thecoronavirus and efforts tostop the pandemic, includinglimits on flights, cruises andthe use of public transporta-tion.

They are also grapplingwith the effects on fuel de-mand of an economic down-turn, rising unemployment,and changing patterns ofwork, study and travel.

All this has introduced anunusual degree of uncertaintyinto estimates for how muchoil the world will consume inthe remainder of 2020.

The lack of visibility hascontributed to renewed turbu-lence in the market afterprices rose over the summer,buoyed by the return of carsand trucks to the road.

Brent-crude futures, the in-ternational energy bench-mark, ticked up 0.7% to $41.72a barrel Tuesday. This year,Brent has moved between aclosing high of $68.91 in earlyJanuary and a low of $19.33 in

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Pipeline firms squeezed byshale-oil cutbacks.................. B12

FAMILY & TECHApps take the stressout of dinner decisionsif you have pickyeaters. A11

SPORTSTeam USA is likely tobe the biggest viruschallenge at the

Olympic Games. A14

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Hidden fees? Not on our watch.We charge you less so you have more to invest. Find out more on page B14.

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Trump, Xi Lay Out Clashing Views at U.N. on Trade, Virus

CONTENTSArts in Review.... A13Business News...... B3Crossword.............. A14Heard on Street B13,14Markets.................... B13Opinion.............. A15-17

Personal Journal A11-12Property Report... B6Sports....................... A14Technology............... B4U.S. News.... A2-4,6-7Weather................... A14World News....... A8-9

s 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.All Rights Reserved

>

What’sNews

A growing number ofRepublicans are pushing toget a successor to SupremeCourt Justice Ginsburg con-firmed by the Novemberelections, after senatorsdashed Democrats’ effortsto stop Trump frommovingahead with a nominee. A1TheHouse passed a short-term spending bill keepingthe government fundedthrough Dec. 11, after Dem-ocrats reached a deal withthe White House over farmaid and food assistance. A4More than 200,000 peo-ple in the U.S. have diedfrom Covid-19, a grim mile-stone as Americans enteranother new season with apandemic that continues toshape every facet of life. A6 U.S. health regulatorshave drafted guidelines thatwould require a Covid-19vaccine to meet rigorousstandards to gain a speedyclearance for use. A6 U.K. leader Johnson an-nounced new coronavirusrestrictions for England ashis government tries to quella second wave of infectionswhile avoiding an economi-cally damaging lockdown. A8 The Vatican condemnedthe spreading interna-tional acceptance of eu-thanasia and assisted sui-cide, including in sometraditionally Catholiccountries in Europe. A8

The biggest wholesalemortgage originator in

the U.S. is merging with aspecial-purpose acquisitioncompany in a deal that willtake the lender public at avaluation north of $16 bil-lion, the record for a typeof deal that has become allthe rage on Wall Street. A1 Amazon is limiting theability of some competitorsto promote their rival gadgetson its platform, according toAmazon employees and ex-ecutives at rival companiesand advertising firms. A1 Nikola’s finance chiefdefended the firm’s technol-ogy and business plan, tell-ing an investor conferencethat the startup’s partnersare staying the course. B1 U.S. stocks gained, withthe S&P 500, Nasdaq andDow advancing 1.1%, 1.7%and 0.5%, respectively. B13Home sales rose in Au-gust for the third consecu-tive month, fueled by de-mand for luxury homes and apickup in Northeast sales. A2Nike’s sales reboundedin the summer quarter afterslumping earlier during thepandemic, as rising digitalsales offset declining reve-nue at traditional stores. B1 Elon Musk laid out aplan for Tesla to eventu-ally use drastically lower-cost batteries to produce a$25,000 electric car. B2

Business&Finance

World-Wide

ON TAPE: President Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping addressed the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting on Tuesday in re-corded video messages, staking out opposing views on several topics, including trade and how to fight the global pandemic. A9

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