Sales growth for U.S. retailers picked up in November, while the prices charged by goods-and-services-producing companies rose more modestly than economists had expected, delayed government data showed. Retail sales growth of 0.6% to $735.9 billion in November was a reversal of a slight pullback by shoppers the previous month, the Commerce Department said.

Personal spending, which makes up more than two-thirds of the overall economy, hasn’t missed a beat, even though the economy in some ways looks more fragile than during the post-pandemic boom, the Journal’s Matt Grossman writes. Americans’ penchant to keep on shopping was reflected in comments by bank executives this week, who said consumers continued to spend and borrow at a healthy clip at the end of 2025, despite job insecurity, tariffs and inflation.

The producer-price index for November, meanwhile, nudged up by 0.2%, and by 0.1% in October, according to a shutdown-delayed Labor Department report that combined the two months’ data. The PPI numbers are watched closely because some of the underlying data are used to calculate the personal-consumption expenditures price index. This is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric, which it uses to gauge progress against its 2% target.

• Home sales finished 2025 with surprisingly strong momentum, rising 5.1% in December for the biggest gain in nearly two years. (WSJ)

The collapse of auto-parts supplier First Brands has brought renewed scrutiny to supply-chain finance, the WSJ’s Jonathan Weil writes in Heard on the Street. There is also more transparency now than just a few years ago because of new disclosure requirements.

Suppliers need cash immediately to keep making products and their customers want to hold on to their cash for as long as possible. Often the buyer will direct the seller to a bank that will quickly pay the seller’s invoice early at a discount. If the seller sought a loan instead, it might have to pay a high interest rate. But with supply-chain finance, the bank will set the discount, or fee, based on the buyer’s credit rating, not the seller’s.

If the buyer is a large company with strong credit, the fee often will cost less than whatever financing the seller could get on its own. However, a company that currently has the ability to pay late might not for long. In that case, a cash hoard could turn into a cash drain if, for instance, the economy hits a soft patch.

Lenders could force companies to cut back on these finance programs if their creditworthiness deteriorates. That would mean having to pay suppliers more quickly.

For years, China made inroads into Latin America, coaxing countries to abandon support for Taiwan with loans to build roads, ports and rail lines, making significant purchases of commodities like soybeans and oil, and mining metals such as copper.

Now, the U.S. ouster of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro is forcing Beijing into a high-stakes recalculation of its ambitions in a region that looks like America’s backyard again, according to people close to internal discussions in the Chinese leadership.

The WSJ’s Lingling Wei explains how the discourse in China’s policymaking circles has shifted toward a potential trade-off: If the Western Hemisphere belongs to the Americans, then the Taiwan Strait belongs to the Chinese.

• China’s trade surplus reached a record in 2025 at $1.19 trillion, with exports jumping 5.5% from 2024, as manufacturers found new customers worldwide to offset a drop in shipments to the U.S. (WSJ)

• Chips imported to the U.S. but not used for the domestic AI industry will be subjected to 25% tariffs following a tariff investigation, Trump said. (WSJ)
• The EU said Ukraine must buy weapons and military platforms from European manufacturers under a new $104.8 billion loan, unless they can’t supply what Kyiv needs. (WSJ)
• The parent of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy, barely a year after the two storied retailers joined in what was supposed to be a powerhouse deal. (WSJ)
• Mission Produce agreed to acquire Calavo Growers, combining two of the most prominent publicly traded avocado producers. (WSJ)
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the EV maker would stop selling a suite of advanced driver-assistance features for a one-time payment, switching instead to a monthly subscription service. (WSJ)
• Coca-Cola is creating a chief digital officer role and reorganizing senior leadership to accelerate digital transformation. (WSJ)
• BP anticipates a write-down of up to $5 billion in its gas and low-carbon energy segment for the fourth quarter. (WSJ)
• Audi’s full-year car deliveries dropped 2.9% in 2025, totaling 1.62 million vehicles, due to competition in China and U.S. tariffs. (WSJ)
• Trump moved to set up a new process to secure access to imports of critical minerals following a months-long national-security review. (Bloomberg)
• Saia acquired two properties in North Carolina from XPO for $14.25 million, according to county records. (TruckingDive)
• Penske Logistics expects productivity gains of up to 30% to 40% from a new AI platform from Augment it is introducing. (Transport Topics)

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.