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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (106408)	11/27/2009 11:28:16 PM
From: Gib Bogle	7 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

No, disagreements are fine, and being ignored doesn't bother me at all. But when someone uses the power to ban when you poke a hole in his case, or point out a contradiction, or remind him of some stupid thing he said that he doesn't want to be reminded of, etc., then that person loses my respect. In the case of SOB his dictatorial behavior is combined with some very poisonous rhetoric that I consider racist. Now Obama's election has shown that that is more "typical" on SI than I would have guessed. Angry white men are thick on the ground, no more so than on SOB's board, where Glenn Beck is taken seriously.

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (106408)	11/29/2009 10:49:33 AM
From: Pogeu Mahone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

mad? how about a good laugh! Why would anybody care? ======================== Black Friday sees red in N.E. Sales dive 5% here, up half percent in U.S. By Thomas Grillo Sunday, November 29, 2009 - Updated 2h ago E-mail Print (8) Comments Text size Share Buzz up!Early-morning discounts on laptops, TVs and digital cameras lured many shoppers on Black Friday, but the recession kept frugal New Englanders from opening their wallets wide. Sales on the traditional first day of the holiday season plummeted by nearly 5 percent in the Northeast compared to a year ago, making it the worst region in the nation, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago research firm. “There’s a new economic reality,” said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. “Consumers are being very frugal.” Nationally, shoppers spent $10.6 billion at the malls on the day after Thanksgiving, 0.5 percent more than last year, according to ShopperTrak, which keeps tabs on sales at more than 50,000 stores. The West led the way with a 4.7 percent retail sales jump compared to 2008, followed by the Midwest where sales increased by 1.3 percent and the South, where sales rose by 0.6 percent. But despite a heavy volume of shoppers on Black Friday at many stores and malls, the Northeast played Scrooge with final sales plummeting by 4.9 percent compared to last year, according to ShopperTrak, which declined to release specific regional sales figures. Hurst said several factors may have contributed to the stunning drop in sales. He said the regions tech-savvy consumers may be avoiding crowds and early-morning sales in favor of online deals. The Bay State’s summer increase in the sales tax to 6.25 percent and rising unemployment hasn’t helped either, Hurst added. Bay State retail sales have been in freefall since the recession began in late 2007. Last year, Massachusetts holiday sales fell 7 percent compared to 2007. The Retailers Association of Massachusetts is predicting another 3 percent drop in retail sales during the holiday season this year. The National Retail Federation expects a 1 percent decrease for this holiday season across the nation. Michael Tesler, president of Retail Concepts, said local retailers are doing all they can to boost sales. Many more stores opened at midnight, providing more hours to sell, he said. In addition, stores are more careful with inventory, keeping the numbers down to avoid the need for slashing prices. Kathleen Seiders, an associate professor of marketing at Boston College, said she did not expect such a giant sales dip on Black Friday. “I’m shocked,” she said. “It seemed like things were improving. Locally, we are doing better in terms of employment and foreclosures. Maybe the rainy weather kept people home.” Still, Seiders said sales could improve for the rest of the holiday shopping season. “Perhaps New Englanders are less prone to deals and less likely to jump at the prospect of shopping at 4 a.m.,” she said. “The best retailers can expect this year is for sales to be flat or increase by up to percent at most.” Alessandra Babucia avoided the Black Friday rush and shopped yesterday at the CambridgeSide Galleria. The 26-year-old MIT graduate student was among those who scooped up a Tom-Tom GPS unit and platform as a gift for her father. Cyber Monday: + Retailers, shoppers eye Cyber Monday Renee Nadeau contributed to this report. (8) Comments \| Post / Read Comments Next Article in Business & Markets: Here comes the sun to charge your cell phone Page: 1 2 Continue »