[expat_panama]

best holiday sales growth in three years

Personal spending for Nov. rose +0.06% compared to +0.02% for Oct.  Incomes are up too. Of course there's a lot more to the story but...

[abb]

Every year, it seems, we’re bombarded with stories about the “poor retailer” and how end of year sales are gonna be down, Black Friday ain’t what it used to be - blah, blah, blah.

And every year, somehow, someway, sales increase. Check out the chart at the link.

[expat_panama]

Good morning!  So far it's light trade w/o big price swings --perfect for vacation time and it's true for both metals (hanging on) and stocks ("flat in half session").   We even got "crude prices steady above $60 in thin Christmas trading"!   This morning we're wrapping up our 'part-time' week as futures peg stock indexes up +0.16% and metals down -0.45%. 

Other active econ threads:

• High GDP Numbers for Q3? We Can Thank Obamacare and Forced Consumer Spending
• Merry Christmas from Texas to the World
• The Destruction Of The Middle Class Is Nearing The Final Stages
• Vanity: How does the economy feel near you?
• New York Times Insider: Multi-Million Dollar Shortfall Causing Drastic Cuts