Walmart Releases Q3 FY22 Earnings

As adopted by the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, the House of Representatives Report 117-79 states: First-Class Service Standards.—The Committee is concerned about further changes to the service standards for market-dominant mail products, particularly the Postal Service’s recent proposal to extend first-class service standards to as long as five days. The Committee believes this change would further erode public confidence in the USPS. The Committee directs the PRC to analyze the feasibility of restoring service standards for market-dominant products that were in effect on July 1, 2012, including an examination of the resources and structural and operational changes needed, and the impacts on market growth and revenue. If service standards are decreased from their January 2021 levels, the PRC shall also conduct a similar analysis of the costs and benefits of restoring USPS service and performance levels to their January 1, 2021, levels. The PRC shall report to the Committee on its findings within 1 year of enactment of this Act.

Sweeping new rules governing debt collection practices in the U.S. will go into effect on November 30. Unfortunately, many of the very serious concerns about the use of electronic communications for debt collection raised by citizens, cybersecurity experts and consumer advocacy groups including Keep Me Posted (KMP) were effectively ignored by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the federal agency charged with making sure banks, lenders and other financial companies treat consumers fairly. The widespread impacts of CFPB’s new rules cannot be underestimated: Nearly 70 million Americans now have a debt in collection. That staggering number translates to nearly one in three adults with a credit report being pursued during the pandemic, according to analysis from the Urban Institute. What’s more, even consumers with debts that are beyond the statute of limitations can still be pursued under the rules. Even those with no credit worries need to beware: Scammers are already using unsolicited electronic communications to perpetrate fraud, using debt collection as a pretext. click read more below for more information

Sales in the first nine months decreased by 2% in underlying terms primarily due to expected declines in North America in school assessment, school and higher education courseware, and the retirement of Learning Studio. Sales in US higher education courseware declined by 1% on an underlying basis, towards the upper half of our expected range. The negative impact of lower enrolments and attrition from growth in the secondary market driven by print rental was partially offset by the benefit of increased digital revenue and a year on year benefit from the reduction in returns from last year’s unprecedented levels, helped by the actions we announced at the beginning of the year. Underlying sales in Core and Growth were in line with our expectations. Click Read More below for additional information.