Americans Are Looking for Deals. That’s Good News for Walmart.

Summary

WSJ What’s News: Americans Are Looking for Deals. That’s Good News for Walmart.

Date: November 20, 2025
Host: Alex Osolleff, The Wall Street Journal

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Episode Overview

This episode of WSJ What’s News explores the evolving U.S. economic landscape, as reflected in consumer shopping behavior, financial markets, and headline corporate news. The focus is on Walmart’s strong quarterly performance amid Americans’ heightened deal-hunting, the latest (delayed) jobs report, volatile stock market swings, the ongoing political tensions in Washington, and notable global and business developments.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. U.S. Labor Market Update and Implications for the Federal Reserve

Segment Start: 00:32

• Jobs Report Release
  • The long-delayed September jobs report showed a gain of 119,000 jobs, the strongest since April—well above economists' expectations.
  • Unemployment edged up slightly to 4.4%.
• Labor Force Participation
  • Nearly half a million people re-entered the labor force, including teachers and other education staff.
• Fed Policy Implications
  • The report is dated and comes after a government shutdown, making it the last key employment data before the Fed’s December meeting.
  • Quote (Harriet Tory, 01:29):

    “The reassuring thing about the jobs number is that it shows that we’re not seeing a significant slowdown… Overall it’s just a reassuring sign that the labour market doesn’t seem to be deteriorating significantly.”

  • The report offers mixed signals: rising unemployment (potential reason for rate cuts) vs. solid job growth (reason to maintain restriction).

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2. Dramatic Day on Wall Street: Investor Uncertainty Despite Strong Headlines

Segment Start: 03:05

• Market Movements
  • Stocks rose sharply in the morning after positive headlines (Nvidia earnings, Walmart results, home sales).
  • By market close, the Dow had dropped over 1,100 points from its high; S&P 500 fell 1.6%, Nasdaq 2.2%, and Nvidia 3.2%.
• Investor Sentiment
  • Initial optimism about Nvidia (AI “financial Super Bowl”) faded; questions resurfaced about potential overinflation in AI/tech stocks.
  • Quote (Hannah Aaron Lang, 04:00):

    “Investors look to [Nvidia’s] earnings report as a gauge for faith in the AI trade. It’s kind of like a financial Super Bowl.”

  • Risk-off attitudes persisted; Bitcoin prices continued declining.
  • Quote (Hannah Aaron Lang, 05:39):

    “Stocks saw their biggest blown lead—that’s the biggest gain that they would have lost by the day’s end—since April 8th, at the height of the Trump tariff turmoil.”

• Uncertainty Caused by Outdated Data
  • The jobs report’s lack of clarity about Fed policy added to volatility.

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3. Walmart’s Strong Quarter and Shifting Consumer Behavior

Segment Start: 06:15

• Walmart Quarterly Results
  • Same-store U.S. sales up 4.5%; company raised its annual outlook.
  • High appeal across all income levels, with both low- and higher-income shoppers seeking deals.
• Signs of Low-Income Stress
  • Lower-income shoppers are cutting back more, while wealthier customers continue steady spending.
  • Quote (John David Rainey, CFO, Walmart, 06:46):

    “I don't want to sound alarmist... but when we look by low income cohort versus mid versus higher income, we have seen some moderation in spending in a low income cohort.”

• Wider Economic Indicator
  • Economists note a growing divide—a “tale of two economies”—between spending patterns at different income levels.

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4. Political and Global Headlines

(Summarized for relevance to episode)

• U.S. Political Tensions
  • Former President Trump called for arrest and trial of several Democratic lawmakers after they appeared in a video encouraging service members to refuse illegal orders.
  • Quote (White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt, 09:21):

    “The Democratic lawmakers are suggesting that the president has given illegal orders, which he has not.”

• Russia-Ukraine Peace Proposals
  • The U.S. and Ukraine presented a peace plan to President Zelenskyy; a separate, more controversial plan backed by some Trump aides consults with the Kremlin.
• Abbott’s Major Acquisition
  • Abbott Laboratories agreed to buy Exact Sciences for ~$21 billion, marking a major move in the life sciences industry.
• UPS Plane Crash Update
  • NTSB’s investigation points to metal fatigue and stress in an aircraft part; both UPS and FedEx ground MD11 fleets.
• Dick Cheney’s Funeral
  • Former Vice President remembered as a powerful, loyal public servant; many political figures attended, but not President Trump or VP J.D. Vance.
  • Quote (George W. Bush, 11:23):

    “They do not come any better than Dick Cheney.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The reassuring thing about the jobs number is that it shows that we're not seeing a significant slowdown… Overall it's just a reassuring sign that the labour market doesn't seem to be deteriorating significantly.”
  — Harriet Tory (01:29)

• “Investors look to [Nvidia’s] earnings report as a gauge for faith in the AI trade. It’s kind of like a financial Super Bowl.”
  — Hannah Aaron Lang (04:00)

• “When we see a reversal in really crowded trades like this, the momentum can kind of just build and build on itself. So the slide accelerates and I think there's an element of that going on today.”
  — Hannah Aaron Lang (05:22)

• “I don't want to sound alarmist... but when we look by low income cohort versus mid versus higher income, we have seen some moderation in spending in a low income cohort.”
  — John David Rainey, Walmart CFO (06:46)

• “They do not come any better than Dick Cheney.”
  — Former President George W. Bush (11:23)

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Timeline of Key Segments

• 00:32 – 03:05: U.S. Jobs Report and Fed Outlook (Harriet Tory Interview)
• 03:05 – 06:11: Wall Street Market Volatility Explained (Hannah Aaron Lang Interview)
• 06:15 – 07:03: Walmart Earnings & Consumer Spending Divide
• 08:01 – 09:13: U.S./Ukraine Peace Initiatives and Political Divides
• 09:13 – 11:51: UPS Crash Probe, Abbott Acquisition, Cheney Funeral

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Summary

This episode paints a nuanced portrait of an economy at a crossroads: Americans are seeking value, driving Walmart’s success even as lower-income spending weakens. Markets are struggling to find direction amid outdated economic data, big swings in tech stocks, and global uncertainties. Meanwhile, intense domestic politics, major business deals, and somber remembrances highlight the multifaceted news landscape. If you missed the episode, this summary provides a clear guide to the day’s most important business and political developments, as discussed on WSJ What’s News.

Transcript

[A]

This episode is brought to you by genspark. Your all in one AI workspace. Work like a boss.

[B]

Walmart reports strong earnings as Americans of all income levels are on the hunt for deals. Plus, what's driving another wild day on Wall street as stocks rise and then fall.

[C]

When we see a reversal in really crowded trades like this, the momentum can kind of just build and build on itself. So the slide accelerates and I think there's an element of that going on today.

[B]

And investigators looking into the recent UPS plane crash find signs of fatigue and stress on the cargo jet. It's Thursday, November 20th. I'm Alex Osolleff for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of what's news, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. A long awaited report from the Labor Department out today show that U.S. job growth beat expectations in September, rising by 119,000 jobs for the month. That's the strongest gain since April and well above economists expectations. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate, which is based on a separate survey, rose slightly to 4.4%. But this September report of course is coming out nearly seven weeks late due to the government shutdown. WSJ economics correspondent Harriet Tory joins us now to discuss how the report might influence the Federal Reserve. Harriet, this jobs growth seems to have been positive. What can it tell us about the labor market?

[D]

The reassuring thing about the jobs number is that it shows that we're not seeing a significant slowdown. This number was relatively broad based. I mean there were gains in retail and then also gains in the usual industries that we've seen most of the job growth in in recent months, which is, you know, education and health services and also to some extent leisure and hospitality. And we also saw nearly half a million people join the labor force in September, which economists said was people coming back to work, coming back to school, teachers and so on. Overall it's just a reassuring sign that the labour market doesn't seem to be deterior significantly. At least it didn't in September. Of course this data is looking a little stale right now.

[B]

Obviously this report is from September, but can it inform what the labor market's looking like now?

[D]

This data is a couple of months old now and there isn't really anything comparable to the government report. There are some proxies out there that economists look at, but the jobs report from the Labor Department is the gold standard. And this does mean that the Fed is going into its next meeting without a jobs report for October and for November.

[B]

Right. So does that mean that this report will take on an outsized influence to inform the Fed's decision for December.

[D]

This is really kind of the last glance that they have at the labor market. For Federal Reserve officials, this is a report that has something for everyone in a way like the unemployment rate has gone up. And that is something that people can point to as a reason why the Fed should maybe cut rates because the labor market is deteriorating. But on the other hand, there was still pretty strong job growth. So that might be a reason to keep policy relatively restrictive because that doesn't seem to be a sign of a big deterioration in the labor market.

[B]

That was Wall Street Journal reporter Harriet Tory. The jobs report was just one piece of seemingly good news for investors today. After yesterday's Nvidia earnings, Walmart became the latest company to report a strong quarter. More on that in a minute. And data out today show that October home sales rose to an eight month high. But that didn't appease investors. At their peaks during a buoyant morning of trading, the three major US Stock indexes were up more than one and a half percent. The reversal was dramatic with the Dow falling more than 1100 points from its high this morning. The dow closed down 0.8%. The S&P 500 slid 1.6% and the Nasdaq lost 2.2%. As for Nvidia, it dropped 3.2%. For more on what's driving markets today, I'm joined by WSJ reporter Hannah Aaron Lang. Hannah, seems like there's some good news for investors out there and yet markets were down today. What's going on?

[C]

Yeah, it was a really interesting day on Wall Street. We got Nvidia's earnings last night. Nvidia's the largest US Company by market cap, so it's super important to the health of the stock market as a whole. Investors look to this earnings report as a gauge for faith in the AI trade. It's kind of like a financial Super Bowl. Investors seem to like what they saw initially. We saw those shares rise post market and we even saw shares of NV and the major stock indexes turn higher when markets opened this morning. And then essentially what happened is that completely reversed.

[B]

Yeah. What's weighing on investors here?

[C]

There's been a broader questioning of the AI trade. More generally. Investors are concerned that this moment that we're in resembles a bubble of overly inflated asset prices. And it looked this morning like maybe Nvidia's earnings report had dispelled some of that. But as the day wore on, it seems like that turnaround might have been temporary. And then there was a jobs report this morning that was actually from September. And essentially the consensus on that was there's not a lot of clarity in that report in terms of how monetary policymakers, the Federal Reserve might move next month. So now investors are unsure if we're getting that rate cut. And then these risk off vibes remain in the market. Bitcoin prices have dropped so much over the past couple of weeks. They were down again today. When we see a reversal in really crowded trades like this, the momentum can kind of just build and build on itself. So the slide accelerates. And I think there's an element of that going on today, too.

[B]

This is a pretty big intraday move. Was this unusual? And what can we glean from that?

[C]

It was really unusual and it is a really big intraday move. Stocks saw their biggest blown lead. That's the biggest gain that they would have lost by the day's end since April 8th. That was at the height of the Trump tariff turmoil for those who remember that volatility. So, yeah, this is pretty unusual. And I think it might take some time to figure out exactly what's going on here and how investor sentiment is shifting.

[B]

That was WSJ reporter Hannah Aaron Lang. Thank you, Hannah.

[C]

Thanks for having me.

[B]

Walmart, the country's largest retailer by sales, said it had a strong third quarter. A key US sales measure rose 4 and a half percent and the company raised its outlook for the year. Executives say the retailers low prices on everything from eggs and milk to shoes and tires are appealing to both low income and wealthier shoppers. But low income shoppers showed signs of stress as they pulled back on some spending. Here's Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey speaking on the company's earnings call this morning.

[E]

I don't want to sound alarmist in any way here because again, overall, the business is very consistent and that's our outlook into the fourth quarter. But when we look by low income cohort versus midd versus higher income, we have seen some moderation in spending in a low income cohort.

[B]

The results support what economists have noted in recent months, a divergence between the two ends of the economy, one where low income Americans are spending less and wealthier shoppers are spending steadily. Coming up, President Trump is calling for the arrest of several Democratic lawmakers. That's after the break.

[A]

This episode is powered by genspark, Your all in one AI workspace. You know that feeling when everything clicks, ideas flowing, work flying. Now imagine that with a designer, a developer and a researcher working alongside you. From presentations to prototypes, genspark automates the busy work so you can focus on what moves you forward. Stop choosing what to build. Build it all, all from a single prompt. Follow your spark at genspark AI that's G E N S P A R K AI.

[B]

In Kyiv, a senior Pentagon official has spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about a comprehensive plan to end the war with Russia as part of the Trump administration's effort to restart peace talks. A US Official says the plan presented to Zelenskyy today was devised by the US and Ukraine. But there's a separate 28 point plan developed by senior aides to President Trump in consultation with Kremlin confidant Kirill Dmitriev that includes elements opposed by Ukraine and its European allies. A U.S. official says final agreement could include elements of both plans. Zelenskyy's office says it supports, quote, all substantive proposals that are capable of bringing about true peace. The European Union's foreign policy chief says a peace plan would need the support of Ukraine as well as the Europeans, and the Kremlin says any deal needs to address the root causes of the war and President Trump has called for the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video calling for the military to disobey illegal orders. The video, posted online this week, features Senators Alyssa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, along with four other Democrats who are all military or intelligence community veterans.

[D]

Right now.

[B]

The threats to our Constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.

[C]

Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.

[B]

You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution. In a string of social media posts today, Trump called the lawmakers traitors and said they should be arrested and put on trial. He said on Truth Social that seditious behavior was, quote, punishable by death and reposted comments saying that the Democrats should be charged with sedition and hanged. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt defended the president and says the Democratic lawmakers are, quote, suggesting that the president has given illegal orders, which he has not. Today, the six Democrats criticized Trump, saying he was calling for political violence. Abbott Laboratories has agreed to acquire cancer diagnostics company Exact Sciences in a deal valued at about $21 billion. Among the biggest transactions in life sciences this year. Exact Sciences has developed blood tests that detect several types of cancers at early stages. Abbott sells medical products including heart devices and generic drugs, and has its own diagnostics business but sales have sagged as demand for Covid tests faded. And federal investigators probing the deadly UPS cargo plane crash earlier this month found signs of metal fatigue and stress in a piece that connected the plane's left engine to the wing. The findings are in a report out today from the National Transportation Safety Board about the crash, which killed 14 people in Louisville, Kentucky. The report is preliminary and stopped short of identifying what caused the signs of metal stress and fatigue. Final conclusions are expected in about a year. UPS says it's supporting the NTSB investigation. The plane was a McDonnell Douglas MD11, and both UPS and FedEx have grounded their MD11 fleets. And finally, late Vice President Dick Cheney's funeral was held today at Washington's National Cathedral. During his eulogy, former President George W. Bush hailed Cheney as a loyal, steadying force.

[E]

History should record that I chose my vice president not once, but twice. In 2004, he offered to step aside in case I wanted to replace him. I thought about it for a while, but after four years of seeing how he treated people, how he carried responsibility, how he handled pressure and took the hits, I arrived back at the conclusion that they do not come any better than Dick Cheney.

[B]

Cheney, who served four Republican presidents and 10 years in Congress, was known as a national security hawk and became one of the most powerful vice presidents in U.S. history. Today's service brought together political leaders from both parties. In addition to former Presidents Bush and Joe Biden, four former vice presidents were also in attendance. The White House says President Trump, a frequent critic of Cheney's, wasn't invited to the service. Nor was Vice President J.D. vance. Cheney and his daughter, former Republican Representative Liz Cheney, both endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 election and criticized Trump's efforts to deny the 2020 election results. And that's what's news for this Thursday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname, with supervising producer Tali Arbel. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.

[A]

This episode is powered by genspark, your all in one AI workspace. You know that feeling when everything clicks, ideas flowing, work flying? Now imagine that with a designer, a developer, and a researcher working alongside you. From presentations to prototypes, genspark automates the busywork so you can focus on what moves you forward. Stop choosing what to build. Build it all. All from a single prompt. Follow your spark at genspark AI that's G E N S P A R K AI.