CNN: "Worried retailers breathed a sigh of relief as shoppers spent $20 billion on Black Friday"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Shoppers put estimated $20B in registers

Worried retailers breathed a sigh of relief as the first estimates for Black Friday's shopping bonanza came in -- $20 billion spent and slightly up on last year. But some analysts fear the early buying frenzy could soon peter out as millions of pre-dawn shoppers succumb to shopping fatigue.

http://www.cnn.com/

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. last year they said the same on Friday and they revised the whole

shigang by monday

So will see.

[depakid]

2. Yep- CNN has ZERO credibility

but they are predictable. You knew they'd be pimping consumption- irrespective of the facts or the sorry state of the economy.

[Nay]

3. Yeah, we'll see. Mr Nay and Sonny Nay went out, and they said

stores were not very crowded. And that's in shop-til-u-drop Richmond, VA.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. That's what others have been saying

so will see

Me, no buy Friday... so I am staying home today.

Will cook dinner in a bit.

[Dr.Phool]

25. Mrs Phool went out with her sister this afternoon.

No crowds. Normal traffic.

She bought a rug.

[Bitwit1234]

27. Maybe they did drop a bundle today

but that could be the extent of it. They might not have any more money left to shop the rest of the Christmas season. Did they ever think of that.

[onethatcares]

12. kinda like the unemployment numbers,

the cost of the Iraq war numbers, the cost of the Afganistan war numbers, the cost of the medicare bill, everything gets new numbers on monday next week when no one is watching.

[Mike03]

18. You clearly know the game.

That is exactly what they do: revise the numbers. But they will probably revise them in January.

These numbers are meant to change the minds of people who decided NOT to spend as much money as they did last year. They will see on the news that this is a holiday shopping season like any other--and in fact people are spending "more" than they did last year. Then they will feel properly guilty, scutter their plans to spend less, spend more than they planned, and run up a lot of debt.

It's a calculated, devious and crooked game, just like the inflation numbers!

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Last year the revision came the following week in the news dump cycle

look for it there.

[Mike03]

30. You may well be right, but I think there are a few secrets

that our corporate government wants to keep from us:

How indebted and poor we actually are.
How little we need to be spending in order to be able to retire.
How much gas is going to cost us after Christmas.
How much our mortgages are going to ascend after they readjust right after the holidays.

[avenger64]

4. Oh, man another 20 billion in consumer debt ...

... or maybe just 19.5 was on credit cards. Why do I feel like I'm watching the last days of Rome?

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Because ... you are

[flashl]

7. Thats incredible. Makes you wonder, how do they know. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Actually simple

Wally Mart reports all its sales to HQ on every store every so often to HQ, like every other company, ever so many hours

They keep close tabs on this....

Anyhow they have initial numbers fairly early... problem is that these early numbers tend to be wrong every year since cash registers have not closed and at times the numbers are projections of trends.

For example, if they had a very good sale number on lets say the East Cosat, which is three hours ahead of me, but sales are lousy on the midwest and the West coast, then those trends will not maintain

[flashl]

32. Thanks for info. n/t

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

11. That's how much Condi spent on Ferragamo shoes today alone

[Bozita]

24. On the leftcoast, it's just 1:30pm -- typical Chicken Noodle News reporting

[kurth]

8. $10 Bil for the American CEOs, $10 Bil for the Chinese

or something like that.

[gollygee]

9. Oh well. None of it is mine.

Unless they count the $6 for a gallon of organic milk I bought this morning.

[gatorboy]

13. ...

[Mike03]

14. This was inevitable

Wish I could locate that thread in which someone asked us to predict what would happen on Black Friday.

By now, the drill should be well known. They ALWAYS tell the public that Black Friday was a humongous success, partly in order to inspire people to buy more than they had planned, and also because of egregious accounting mistakes or flat-out wishful thinking and lies.

Even if it is true that Black Friday this year is a "success," that doesn't surprise me one bit. There will always be a die hard 10% or so of chronic, habituated shoppers who will shop no matter what, come hell or high water, and put it on the credit cards.

This is no more an indication of a successful holiday season for retailers than it is if the CD of some mediocre band sells well on the day it is released--there is always someone to buy.

The proof will be in the pudding, and that will come over the next month.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Start looking for the revision on Monday

at the latest by next friday when all trends are revised and real numbers come in

[MADem]

15. Well, the Titanic is sinking....may I have this dance, my dear??

[gizmo1979]

17. how do they know what the NO. is?

I think it's still Friday?It's not even over yet.

[SheilaT]

19. I find it hard to believe

than can have valid projections, or even estimates of what's being spent today anywhere near this early.

And the other thing, (along with the invariable claims initially that this day is a huge success and the later revisions of that success) is that I have also read many times that this is not actually the day that the most money is spent. That's (if I'm recalling correctly) the Friday or Saturday immediately before Christmas . . . wait a minute here . . . okay, I just did a Google search: "busiest shopping day" + Christmas, and the first link that came up was this: http://www.snopes.com/holidays/thanksgiving/shopping.asp

I actually spent a little money today, but only because I needed another set of knitting needles, size 10, and while I was at it I bought for skeins of yarn that were on sale, so I'll knit another couple of scarves as Christmas presents.

[Mike03]

22. I don't they can have projections this early either

I know how difficult it is to project on Friday what a movie will make on Saturday and Sunday--and that box office projection is down to a science.

The retail market is scattered; it is not simply store purchases but online purchases, and many of these purchases are personal, not gifts, and a high percentage of them will be returned after people come to their senses.

[Maine-ah]

20. it's only up more 'cause shit costs more than it did last year.

[Reno.Muse]

21. which means retailers, producers, credit card financers ...are all happy

[Solar_Power]

23. Visa and Mastercard will account for a huge portion of it

and they know how much was spent

[snot]

28. I wonder how many have figured out that buying sooner rather than later

is one way to protect yourself from the ongoing plunge of the dollar . . . certainly anyone old enough to remember the early 80's . . .

[Solar_Power]

29. Cyber Monday is becoming more important

the Monday after Thanksgiving is seen as the unofficial kickoff to the holiday season for Web shops

[blues90]

31. None of it was mine , I bought nothing

I guess people are just brainwashed to consume crap , hope their happy with it and their lifes will be so much BETTER .

[PSPS]

33. And how many of these "retailers" buy advertising on CNN?

These fluff pieces are nothing more than a free premium all media whores give to their largest advertisers.