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CNN Live At Daybreak
Postal Service Expects Lots of Letters to Santa
Aired December 02, 2003 - 06:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now, though, for a little 'Business Buzz.' The Postal Service expects a lot of letters to Santa this year. Their advice, mail early.
Stacey Tisdale is live at the Nasdaq market site.
That's so cute when kids write to Santa.
STACEY TISDALE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It is, Carol. But if you are a postal worker, you are looking at 20 billion pieces of mail, which is an incredible amount, so they might not be that thrilled about it.
But what they are less thrilled about, the post office plans to handle all this with fewer workers than last year. Now the Postal Service says that the strengthening economy means there is going to be even additional volume.
In fact, they are expecting a 50 percent increase in cards and letters than compared to the rest of the year. The heaviest mailing day this season, December 15. Still, they are hiring only 10,000 temporary workers, which is half as many as last year.
And other delivery services are making similar preparations, Carol. Federal Express says its daily package volume is going to be up 20 percent. UPS will ship an estimated 300 million packages.
Now, to avoid mail problems, three pieces of advice. First, as we mentioned, mail early. Second, don't guess zip codes. Go to the Postal Service Web site. And third, if you are mailing letters to Santa, they really told me to say this, the Postal Service, don't put cookies in the envelope. Their words not mine.
So let's talk about the market. As you might have heard by now, stocks surged to their highest level in 18 months yesterday. The Dow is just 101 points from that key 10,000 mark. When things open up today, we will have the industrials, as you see there, at 9899 after a 116-point gain. Nasdaq starts at 1989 and the S&P 500 at 1070. But right now, premarket indicators a little on the weak side. Investors taking a breather after yesterday's big run up.
And those are the business news headlines, now let's go back to Carol in Atlanta.
COSTELLO: And we will remember your advice, Stacey, no cookies in the envelopes. But you have to admit, it's better than eggnog.
TISDALE: Send them to me.
COSTELLO: We will. Stacey Tisdale live from the Nasdaq market site.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 2, 2003 - 06:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now, though, for a little 'Business Buzz.' The Postal Service expects a lot of letters to Santa this year. Their advice, mail early.
Stacey Tisdale is live at the Nasdaq market site.
That's so cute when kids write to Santa.
STACEY TISDALE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It is, Carol. But if you are a postal worker, you are looking at 20 billion pieces of mail, which is an incredible amount, so they might not be that thrilled about it.
But what they are less thrilled about, the post office plans to handle all this with fewer workers than last year. Now the Postal Service says that the strengthening economy means there is going to be even additional volume.
In fact, they are expecting a 50 percent increase in cards and letters than compared to the rest of the year. The heaviest mailing day this season, December 15. Still, they are hiring only 10,000 temporary workers, which is half as many as last year.
And other delivery services are making similar preparations, Carol. Federal Express says its daily package volume is going to be up 20 percent. UPS will ship an estimated 300 million packages.
Now, to avoid mail problems, three pieces of advice. First, as we mentioned, mail early. Second, don't guess zip codes. Go to the Postal Service Web site. And third, if you are mailing letters to Santa, they really told me to say this, the Postal Service, don't put cookies in the envelope. Their words not mine.
So let's talk about the market. As you might have heard by now, stocks surged to their highest level in 18 months yesterday. The Dow is just 101 points from that key 10,000 mark. When things open up today, we will have the industrials, as you see there, at 9899 after a 116-point gain. Nasdaq starts at 1989 and the S&P 500 at 1070. But right now, premarket indicators a little on the weak side. Investors taking a breather after yesterday's big run up.
And those are the business news headlines, now let's go back to Carol in Atlanta.
COSTELLO: And we will remember your advice, Stacey, no cookies in the envelopes. But you have to admit, it's better than eggnog.
TISDALE: Send them to me.
COSTELLO: We will. Stacey Tisdale live from the Nasdaq market site.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
