USPS lost $6.5 billion this year

TheStreet's J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets close for trading Thursday, November 15. 

Full Video Transcript Below:

J.D. DURKIN: I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

Stocks were in the green to close out today's session. The Dow closed up over 160 points, the Nasdaq closed up fractionally, and the S&P also closed fractionally higher.

This comes after yet another encouraging inflation report. October’s Producer Price Index, which measures wholesale prices, fell by 0.5 percent, marking the biggest monthly drop since April 2020. Investors are hoping that this cooling inflation will put an end to interest rate hikes.

In other news - the United States Postal Service suffered a big financial loss to the tune of $6.5 billion, after predicting it would break even in 2023 and have a clear path to profitability.

Despite the USPS seeing a slight uptick in revenue from both its shipping and packaging and first-class mail departments, an 8 percent decrease in marketing mail led to a $920 million hit. According to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, an increase in printing prices led to a severe reduction in the amount of marketing junk mail sent.

On the agency’s outlook, DeJoy said quote “We are already providing more consistent, reliable, and timely delivery to America’s businesses and residences. We are also addressing near-term financial headwinds relative to inflation as we make strong progress in our long-term cost control and revenue-generating strategies.”

Unlike most federal agencies, the Postal Service is not funded by the government. It stopped receiving taxpayer money in the 1970s and regularly depends on sales to keep running.

That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.