Print Sales Rose 5.8% in Christmas Week (publishersweekly.com)

Comparable sales and EPS near the high end of expectations. Third quarter comparable traffic grew 1.4 percent. Comparable sales increased 0.9 percent. Third quarter GAAP EPS from continuing operations of $0.87 and Adjusted EPS1 of $0.91 were near the upper-end of the guidance range of $0.75 to $0.95. Comparable digital channel sales increased 24 percent, on top of 26 percent growth in third quarter 2016. In the third quarter, Target devoted $847 million to capital investment, paid dividends of $339 million, and returned $171 million through share repurchases. Click Read More below for additional information.

In Order No. 4257, which examined the current ratemaking system, the Commission identified three principal areas of the PAEA system that encapsulate the nine objectives: (1) the structure of the ratemaking system; (2) the financial health of the Postal Service; and (3) service. The Commission concluded that the system had achieved some of the goals of these areas, but the overall system had not achieved the objectives taking into account the factors of the PAEA. In brief, the Commission’s findings were as follows: *The system was largely successful in achieving the goals related to the structure of the ratemaking system. However, the Commission concluded that the ratemaking system had not increased pricing efficiency. *The system had not maintained the financial health of the Postal Service as intended by the PAEA. While the Postal Service had generally achieved short-term financial stability, both medium-term and long-term financial stability measures had not been achieved. *High-quality service standards had not been maintained during the 10 years following the enactment of the PAEA.

Business groups are increasing the pressure on lawmakers to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month’s deadline in the stalled contract talks. A coalition of more than 400 business groups sent a letter to Congressional leaders Monday urging them to step into the stalled talks because of fears about the devastating potential impact of a strike that could force many businesses to shut down if they can’t get the rail deliveries they need. Commuter railroads and Amtrak would also be affected in a strike because many of them use tracks owned by the freight railroads. The business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and National Retail Federation said even a short-term strike would have a tremendous impact and the economic pain would start to be felt even before the Dec. 9 strike deadline because the railroads would stop hauling hazardous chemicals, fertilizers and perishable goods up to a week beforehand to keep those products from being stranded somewhere along the tracks.