November 20, 2025

  • Walmart is displaying ongoing strength, delivering a quarterly sales increase of 4.5%, improved foot traffic, and larger average basket size in its most recent report. “We’re gaining market share, improving delivery speed, and managing inventory well. We’re well positioned for a strong finish to the year and beyond that,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a news release (via CNN Business).
  • The Federal Reserve appears divided on the subject of a December interest rate cut. “Several participants assessed that a further lowering of the target range for the federal funds rate could well be appropriate in December if the economy evolved about as they expected over the coming intermeeting period,” the minutes from the FOMC October meeting read. “Many participants suggested that, under their economic outlooks, it would likely be appropriate to keep the target range unchanged for the rest of the year,” it continued (via CNBC).
  • AI toys are the subject of increasing scrutiny from nonprofit children’s safety organization Fairplay, among other organizations. “Young children are especially susceptible to the potential harms of these toys, such as invading their privacy, collecting data, engendering false trust and friendship, and displacing what they need to thrive, like human-to-human interactions and time to play with all their senses. These can have long and short-term impacts on development,” said Rachel Franz, a Fairplay program director (via NPR).
  • Thanksgiving dinner is expected to again decline in price, with the average price to serve 10 guests resting at $55.18, down from $58.08 last year and $61.17 in 2023. “We are blessed to live in a country that is capable of producing such an abundant food supply, and for that we should be thankful. Despite modest declines in the cost of a Thanksgiving meal, I know food prices are a real concern for many families, including in rural America. We lost 15,000 farms last year because of factors including historically low crop prices, high supply costs and trade uncertainty, which continue to squeeze farmers and ranchers. Every farm lost is another step toward consolidation and reliance on other countries for our food,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall (via AFBF).
  • TJX managed to provide a strong showing during its Q3 2026 report, delivering beats on net sales, comp sales, and EPS. “Sharp price points, a constantly refreshed assortment, and that unmistakable treasure-hunt energy keep people coming back—and once they’re in the door, bigger baskets follow. [TJX’s] sourcing model also works in its favor right now: department-store softness means more excess merchandise to buy, and TJX can turn those opportunistic finds into margin wins even with ongoing tariff pressure,” said Suzy Davidson, VP of content at EMarketer (via Chain Store Age).