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Black Friday Sales Rose, But More Discounts Loom

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Karl Dec 2, 2008 11:15 PM GMT If you have a job that pays well, and it's a secure job, then this holiday will be no different from any other! Just last night my "Better Half" said she wants to get a leather sofa & a love-seat that's on sale for $1,959.00 and I said O.K. She said to me- "What do you want for Christmas?" I said this- "I'll take a used 1996 or 1997 911 Twin-Turbo!" She said- "O.K., should we trade-in the 1987 911 or should we keep it too?" I said- "It's up to you, sweetheart!"
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sayrock Dec 2, 2008 7:45 PM GMT I read a blog posting on Dec 1 called "Black Friday: A Great Start But Show Me the Money!"The author, Jose Roncal suggests that the sales figures released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and picked up by every major news outlet, are superficial and preliminary at best. After all, as he states, the NRF is a retailer's trade association, and their role is to be the Cheerleaders of Shopping. Cheerleaders exist to pump you up and rally the herds. Remember, the mantra of herd mentality is if everyone else is doing it, it must be OK. He has a lot more to say about the state of the economy at his website: www.financialspeculation.comHe's also written a book titled The Big Gamble: Are You Investing or Speculating?" Looks like Donald Trump is giving it rave reviews, so it must be worth reading.
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Preston Dec 2, 2008 4:00 AM GMT mark, chuck...I did read somewhere that the steel industry is projected to experience moderate increases even though the overall job loss for steel related employment is around 17 or 18%. HOWEVER, I am NOT lobbying to be Glum from Gulliver's Travels. My original point is that there is an upside to this chaos. You can't deny that consumers have been taking in the rear without so much as a kiss from retailers, credit providers and other corporate behemoths. If we play this right it can eventually be a win for everyone. Many of these companies were/are fat and complacent. Innovation was a 4 letter word in the US auto industry. Ford was making two of every car and adorning them with different "jewelry" so they wouldn't appear to be the same. My dad is a Ford retiree (a foreman), so I got that info first hand. GM introduced a practical, fully functional electric car back in the 70s and then scrapped it in favor of their purchase of Hummer. THIS HAS TO STOP... that's all I'm saying. Mark, the growth you speak of is all good, honestly. But I know people who have lost jobs and homes and wear their humiliation like a scarlet letter.
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mark Dec 2, 2008 12:52 AM GMT Preston, Well to start the oil industry only posted 7.3% profits well below other industries. The steel industry which I am in has been having the best record year in almost 30 years. 3 new mills being built in the US and 30 more new additions and retrofits. OEMs we talk to have orders out to 2010-2011. Agriculture equipment has a 1 year backlog. Material handling mfg doing export are still working a slower 40-50 hours work week versus the 6-7 day,24 hour a day pace from march to July. Yes we have slowed downbecause people are afraid due to the doom and gloom but as of this past 2 weeks orders started again when companies realized they need materials to fill orders. Yes Virginia porrly run businesses are recild during economic downturns. Funny thing I have seen many requests for material from auomotive (Japanese companies in the US) in the last month that would giv us 3 months backlog- and w do not do automotive. Medical is strong, Tool & die, mfg equip up 11% in 2008 What else do you want. Domestic auto is down,residential housing and appliances are down, and the finance industry finally got caught from raping the public and businesses
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Jim Dec 1, 2008 11:48 PM GMT Aili,Sales up 3% over last year and you continue to put a negative spin on everything...why don't you take a happy pill? Is there anything wrong with putting a positive spin on something. PS Our small business (executive search is up 5%) over last year and we are overjoyed!
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Chuck Gaffney Dec 1, 2008 7:48 PM GMT My company has doubled sales in the past year and I deal with Japanese collectibles and crystal figures, which I'm surprised about since these are not necessities. At least on my end the consumer spending and confidence is doing quite well since I take care of the customers first, run online only and deal in unsaturated market. Preston, there are many problems out there but the media is making much more of a panic than there should be. There are still companies growing and so what if the growth wasn't much...there is still growth. If Black Friday sales dropped compared to last year, then we could be a bit worried.
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Preston Dec 1, 2008 7:37 PM GMT mark...Just because the media reports it, doesn't make it untrue. Sensationalized, perhaps... but not a fairytale.Perhaps you can share with us which companies (aside from Oil) are having record years, and exactly what percentage of the population are those profits benefiting.You made a comment regarding "real research and real facts", so please enlighten...
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Denni Dec 1, 2008 7:31 PM GMT MK, if you're not happy with the CEOs and where you're money is going, quit buying from their companies. Do some research and find out who manufactures products you want in your area, and support them. That way you'll at least know your hard-earned money went to one of your real peers.
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Big Pete Dec 1, 2008 7:29 PM GMT There's plenty of blame to go around! Greedy people who wanted more than their incomes could sustain. Greedy lenders who didn't check credit and put people into loans they could not afford. Greedy financial firms who pushed for deregulation so they could offer high risk investments. Said firms packaging said risky loans into risky mortgage backed securities and then borrowed against them at up to 40 times their real value. Stupid auto companies selling stupid gas guzzlers to stupid people who purchased said gas guzzlers for stupid reasons (how many 4 wheel drive SUV's will ever be driven in 4WD conditions? Very few). And finally, greedy and stupid just about everyone who bought (ha! literally) the premise that borrowing beyond one's means was how to get ahead in the world. The collective "we" created such a heavily leveraged environment that when the dominoes start to fall, everything collapses. The painful part is that now we HAVE to bail out people (and firms) who did the wrong thing, because failing to do means the dominoes will eventually fall on all of us, no matter how you have conducted your finances. The cure is not going to be as fun as the cause!
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Isabelle Dec 1, 2008 7:21 PM GMT We're in this situation because creditors based part of their wealth on the ridiculous interest hike they inflict and plan to inflict on buyers that miss one meager payment. If a waitress breaks her leg, a it tech gets fired, if you get ill or layed off they punish you with a 20-30% increase.That's ridiculous. It makes no sense because there is no basis for it but greed. They are not attempting to reward good financial behavior but rather take advantage of the trials of life that most humans will inevitably face.That tells Americans they have no respect for life whatsover. So how can we have respect for them or their credit cards?If you borrow something from a friend you should pay it back, yes. You should give a little more for the favor. But what will happen to your friendship if he comes to your house requesting his cash the day after you lose your job, wife and your leg, and requesting that you give him your house as well because you missed one payment?Yeah he'll turn into your enemy real fast. And when he does he'll most likely get nothing from you (not like there's much to give anyway).
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