Black Friday: Other than the usual trampling incidents at Wal-Mart, Black Friday appears to have been strong this year. According to the National Retail Federation, compared to last year, retail sales grew 16.4% in the four days beginning with Thanksgiving. Online sales were strong, too. In the past, Friday was always the big day for traditional retailers and Monday was dubbed “Cyber Monday.” Now, it is not as true. My initial guess is that it is because of the predominance of hand-held devices. People no longer need to plant themselves in front of a computer to go online shopping. I know this first hand from the random emails I get about apps being purchased on my children’s iPad and iTouch. Of course, it always seems to be an accident.
Europe: European stocks experienced their biggest increase in two months. Investors speculated that European policy makers are intensifying their efforts to contain the crisis. The US retail news likely helped European stocks as well.
Powerball: Three Connecticut men went in on one Powerball ticket for 33.3 cents each. They ended up winning $254 million in the biggest Connecticut payday ever. Incidentally, they are investment managers who live in Greenwich. I wonder if people will start sleeping in tents at the lottery offices?
Market Today: The market was very strong today, ending a seven day losing streak for the S&P 500. The propellents were the strong holiday sales and slightly better news out of Europe. Every sector I follow was up, and stocks were up across the board.
Have a good day! Brent
