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The City was in shock last night after the apparent suicide of a millionaire financier haunted by the pressures of dealing with the credit crunch. Kirk Stephenson, who was married with an eight-year-old son, died in the path of a 100mph express train at Taplow railway station, Berkshire.

Ya got PANIC! Right here in Freeper City! With a capital P And that rhymes with B And that stands for BAIL!Well, anyone who wasted six hours yesterday on all the FR bailout threads saw them. The messages calling for a BLACK FRIDAY if Congress didn't JUMP when Henry and Ben whispered "Frog!"Let's see how the Chicken Littles did, OK? The DOW - Falls of from 500 to 900 points were described as "very likely" if we didn't LOCK IN A BAILOUT TODAY.Reality?According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 121.07, or 1.10 percent, to 11,143.13. OIL - Meltdown claims included...

I searched for a live thread but didn't find one so here it is. The NYSE is down 136 points after the first 4 minutes.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation's instant background check, required on all gun purchases from licensed firearms dealers, set a one-day record in November and officials have their sights on hitting a record for the year. The CBI's InstaCheck program handled 1,306 checks in 12 hours on the day after Thanksgiving, so-called Black Friday for its potential to put retailers in the black for the year. The previous record was 1,234, set last December. Last year's Black Friday total was 1,184. Now, with only a few days until year's end, InstaCheck appears on target to meet or top last year's record...

Merchants long have tried to lure shoppers into rising at ungodly hours to snare blockbuster bargains on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. But are the deals actually better? Turns out that often they are not.

November 23, 2007 — Adbusters, the Canadian culture jamming magazine largely responsible for propagating Buy Nothing Day, has once again been rejected in its attempt to buy advertising on MTV in promotion of the anti-consumerist holiday. MTV's Advertising Standards representative, Elisa J. Billis, didn't deny that the rejection was based soley on the message of the ad, simply saying that "the spot goes further than we are willing to accept on our channels." The ad features a burping animated pig and seeks to illustrate the divide in the amount of waste produced by the richest and poorest countries in the...

AOL News has the figures from the Thanksgiving weekend start to the Christmas shopping season, and early indications are that shoppers have not been paying attention to gloomy media and political candidates' forecasts about the state of the economy. Retail sales for Friday and Saturday combined rose by 7.2% over last year to a staggering $16.4 billion. Sales on Black Friday alone rose a very healthy 8.3% over last year to $10.3 billion, according to ShopperTrak RCT Corp, which tracks sales at over 50,000 retailers nationwide. The news was even better online, as consumers drove sales up 22% over last...

Holiday sales fail to get shoppers to splurge Industry trade group says Black Friday discounts drew big crowds but not big spenders. But Cyber Monday sales expected to break record. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com ) -- Although deep discounts brought out much bigger crowds of holiday bargain hunters, a major retail trade group said Sunday that shoppers actually spent less money this year over the crucial Thanksgiving weekend. The National Retail Foundation's (NRF's) 2007 Black Friday Weekend Survey said more than 147 million shoppers hit the stores over the Black Friday weekend, up 4.8 percent from last year. However, the trade...

The nation's shoppers set aside worries about higher gas prices and a slumping housing market and proved their resilience over the Thanksgiving weekend, giving what the nation's merchants wished for -- a strong start to the holiday shopping season. Stores and malls opened the season as early as midnight, drawing bigger-than-expected crowds Friday for discounted flat-panel TVs, digital cameras and toys such as all things related to Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana." Strong sales continued through Saturday, according to one research group that tracks total sales at retail outlets across the country. Clearly, the biggest draw was electronics, benefiting consumer electronics...

NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's retailers had a robust start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that tracks sales at retail outlets across the country. According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about $10.3 billion on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than 4 percent to 5 percent. "This is a really strong number. ... You can't have a...

Remember Not One Damn Dime Day? That was the proposal by the DUmmies to protest Bush's re-election in 2004 by not spending One Damn Dime on inauguration day in an effort to make a huge dent in the economy. That sure worked out well...NOT! Well, the DUmmies are back again with another version of Not One Damn Dime Day. It is Buy Nothing Day. This is supposed to be a 24 hour moratorium on buying anything on Black Friday to protest what I'm not sure. However, it is FUn to watch DUmmies come up with yet another of their...

Retailers focus more on Thanksgiving Day By SAMANTHA BOMKAMP, AP Business Writer 31 minutes ago NEW YORK - The nation's retailers want shoppers to spend less time eating turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving and more time shopping — whether it's online or on land. For the second year in a row, CompUSA Inc. and BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. are opening their doors on Thanksgiving. The exception are stores in Massachusetts where local laws preclude holiday hours. CompUSA also added an extra incentive for consumers this year by providing pumpkin pie for those in line. Iconic toy store FAO Schwarz —...

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Since most of us have Thursday and Friday off this week, I thought I'd start a Wednesday thread instead.... Ten things that sound dirty at Thanksgiving, but aren't..... 1) Reach in and grab the giblets. 2) Whew, that's one terrific spread! 3) I'm in the mood for a little dark meat. 4) Tying the legs together will keep the insides moist. 5) Talk about a huge breast! 6) "and he forced his way into the end zone..." 7) She's 5000 pounds fully inflated and it takes 15 men to hold her down. 8) It's Cool Whip time!!!! 9)...

Next Friday (Nov. 23), shoppers across America will pour into retail stores looking for 'Black Friday' bargains on everything from appliances to apparel. But here at TVPredictions.com, we focus on High-Definition TV so we have compiled the Ultimate 'Black Friday' Guide for high-def sets and products. This guide has everything from tips on how to get the best deals to news reports on what 12 specific retailers are planning to offer on the big day. Before we begin, a little background in case you're not familiar with the Black Friday tradition: Retailers traditionally offer deep discounts on the day after...

WASHINGTON - Sen. Mel Martinez of Orlando became the new face of the Republican Party on Friday, pledging to attract more Hispanic voters and heal the party's rift over illegal immigration. "The fact that a boy at age 15 can come here from another country, with nothing, not even speaking the language of this country, and stand before you today as a leader of our great party and a United States senator is a miracle that could only happen in America," said Martinez, who immigrated to Florida from Cuba. He was overwhelmingly elected to a new position, general chairman, by...

Excerpt - Demand for computers during the Thanksgiving weekend appeared to be strong, with both notebook and desktop models enjoying brisk sales driven by deep discounts. Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) was a standout, with some analysts reporting long lines in its stores and strong demand, even though the Cupertino, Calif., computer maker wasn't selling systems on the cheap. Shoppers at big-box retailers lined up to get the deeply discounted computers, but once the specials were gone, consumers didn't linger or buy more expensive systems, said Richard Doherty, research director at Envisoneering, at market- research firm. He said the strategy of...

This year Black Friday started on Thursday. Shoppers were lined up in the hundreds at stores like CompUSA on Thanksgiving Day and hitting the outlets at midnight. Raj Koppada's four hours in line CompUSA paid off — he was the first one in the store. He went Wednesday looking for a Sony flat panel television, but decided to hold off. His diligence saved him about $1,000. Another CompUSA shopper, Leisa Bonewald, said she braved the line to take advantage of the specials. "My daughter wanted to get some Bluetooth thing," she said. "I'm trying to get into all this...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Black Friday" conjures up images of crowded malls, long lines and cranky shoppers, but the day after Thanksgiving did not even rank as one of the top five busiest holiday shopping days last year, according to a report released by MasterCard Worldwide on Monday. The report also found that, contrary to popular belief, there will not be a huge surge in online shopping on the Monday after Thanksgiving -- which has been called "Cyber Monday." Instead, the report predicts that most people will likely put off their holiday shopping until right before Christmas.

The night before Christmas, all snug in their beds, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says it will be visions of MP3 players, flat-panel televisions and digital cameras dancing in its shoppers' heads. With consumer electronics at the top of many holiday "Wish Lists," Gary Severson, Wal-Mart senior vice president and general merchandise manager, said in an interview that those products, along with laptop computers and cell phones, are showing "phenomenal" growth. "A lot of digital, a lot of small (products) are extremely strong," he said. That is not very surprising given Wal-Mart's decision to aggressively target the consumer electronics segment, stocking more...

Contrary to the media’s pessimistic forecasts for the Christmas shopping season reported by the Free Market Project in late October, strong retail sales this Thanksgiving weekend got the annual end-of-the-year buying bonanza off to a bang. In fact, the economic data available prior to this weekend looked so strong that the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association, actually raised its sales forecast for 2005 holiday shopping from a 5 percent year-over-year increase to 6 percent. Regardless of this upgrade in expectations by retailers themselves, and the fabulous start to the shopping season, the media continued to rain...

Consumers snap up computers on Black Friday By Michael Kanellos, CNET News.com Published on ZDNet News: December 2, 2005, 10:41 AM PT Computer makers can breathe a sigh of relief--people did scoop up a lot of laptops during the holiday shopping extravaganza last week. Sales of personal computers in U.S. retail outlets during Thanksgiving week increased 35 percent over the same week the year before. Overall revenue increased by 11 percent, better than expected, according to research firm Current Analysis. In 2004, computer sales increased by only 7 percent while revenue decreased by 3 percent. Thanksgiving week is a crucial...

That bad economy we keep hearing about just keeps getting better. The Christmas shopping season opened up 22 percent over last year. 22 percent! The average shopper was planning to spend over $300. Yet the cities, controlled by Democrats, are experiencing an economic meltdown.

Today, employees across the country return to work after a day of feasting and, of course, a day of shopping. But for shoppers with unfinished business -- or office employees who need a break from business -- the Monday after Thanksgiving has become one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Online retailers have been busy tempting buyers with special promotions, discounts and deals on shipping. Now they are bracing for "Cyber Monday." "It's really the official kickoff of the online holiday season," said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, a trade group of online retailers and a division...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Retail sales are expected to jump 22 percent to nearly $28 billion over the Thanksgiving weekend, a retail group said Sunday, which would be a welcome relief to stores worried about a sluggish start to the holiday shopping season on Black Friday.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The official holiday shopping season appears to have gotten off to a lukewarm start, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that monitors retail sales. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was one bright spot in the crowd, reporting its sales exceeded expectations. "Although the Black Friday number is a bit flat, this may be misleading as we're comparing this to a very strong 2004 performance," said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist and director of research for the International Council of Shopping Centers, in a statement. At Wal-Mart, the deep discounts and expanded hours appeared to...

It's beginning to look a lot like a big, big Christmas shopping season. Deep discounts are pulling shoppers to stores and malls in big numbers, national early holiday-season data show - and the big bargains are helping retailers post big sales figures. Shoppers charged over $3.9 billion Friday on Visa cards, a 13.9 percent increase over the same day last year - and based on early sales, stores like Wal-Mart and JCPenney were confident that the holiday season would produce more revenue than last year. Among the top-selling toys this year were Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and...

In the Black Despite everything, Black Friday was a roaring success this year. by Irwin M. Stelzer 11/25/2005 8:30:00 PM THE WASHINGTON POST doubted that Americans would enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, announcing on the morning of turkey day that 61 percent of Americans are "anxious about money." So anxious, in fact, that the very next day between 130 million and 150 million headed to the malls to spend a sum that exceeds the GDP of three quarters of the world's countries. Wal-Mart alone racked up some $2 billion in sales. Sure, heating bills this winter will be higher, perhaps by...

Black Friday Sales Flat as Holiday Shopping Season Begins Sales Total $8.0 Billion For The Season's First Major Shopping Day, Down a Slight 0.9 Percent From a Very Strong 2004 CHICAGO – November 26, 2005 – ShopperTrak RCT Corporation's National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE) today reported that the 2005 holiday retail season got off to a relatively flat start as compared to 2004 as the season's first major shopping day, Black Friday, fell a very slight 0.9 percent. With heavy discounting by non-mall retailers combined with the extended shopping season in 2005, consumers may not feel the pressure to shop...

Holiday Sales Get Off to a Lukewarm Start, Though Wal-Mart Reports a Strong Opening.... O.K. Juxtapose with: http://www.wtap.com/news/headlines/2018527.html http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/story/1126202005_new01_shopping112605.asp http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1133029847125880.xml&coll=1 You have to, of course only read local news for this positive spin. Question is: If all the local news is positive then why is the national picture bleak? Quick answer, it's not.

Good Samaritans have stepped in to help a Jonesboro woman who was mugged at gunpoint and robbed for the XBox 360 video game she bought for her son. Patsy Springer found the game at Best Buy, took money out of her retirement fund, stood in line for nine hours, and bought it for Christmas. It cost nearly $600 with accessories. Before she got it home, a gunman took it from her. "I believe he would have killed me if I hadn't have let him have the game," said Springer.

NEW YORK -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s deep discounting and expanded hours on Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season, appeared to have paid off. The world's largest retailer said Saturday that it expects to post a solid 4.3 percent gain in same-store sales for November, helped by better-than expected sales during the post-Thanksgiving day shopping rush. That's at the midpoint of its growth forecast of 3 to 5 percent. The sales results cover the four-week period through Friday. Same-store sales are sales at stores opened at least a year and are considered the best indicator of a retailer's health....

Early morning shoppers at Beaumont’s Wal-Mart say they were pepper sprayed by an off-duty police officer working security as a large crowd gathered in the electronics department of the store. “There were some people trying to break thru the crowds because they were throwing up, and couldn`t breathe,” said one shopper, Andrenette Davis, “It was pretty bad.” The incident took place on what is often called “Black Friday,” a day retailers open their doors early to hundreds, sometimes thousands, looking for early holiday bargains. Numerous customers inside the store at the time tell KBTV the crowd gathered in the electronics...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Security guards wrestled a man to the ground in a Wal-Mart after he cut in line to get laptop computers that were on sale Friday, a television station reported. The man started arguing with people inside the store, WFTV-TV in Orlando reported. He then started fighting with the guards, the station reported One man told WFTV that the laptops were being thrown into the air and people rushed toward them, collapsing on each other. Another man described the scene as crazy. Orlando police and Orange County sheriff's officials didn't return phone messages seeking comment. The store's manager...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday, extending November's rally and giving the three major indexes their fifth straight week of gains, as the start of the holiday shopping period put visions of profits in investors' heads. Both the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index hit fresh 4-1/2-year closing highs, while the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average ended at its highest level since March. Shares of electronics retailers Best Buy Co. Inc. and Circuit City Stores Inc. gained as shoppers snapped up bargain-priced DVD players, TVs and other consumer electronics items for holiday giving....

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. online holiday sales are expected to hit nearly $20 billion this year and should take off on Monday, when consumers return to work and their fast Internet connections after the long Thanksgiving weekend. "Cyber Monday," the term coined for the Monday after Thanksgiving, comes on the heels of the busy "Black Friday" shopping day when many brick-and-mortar retailers begin turning a profit. The good news for online shoppers this year, is that "Cyber Monday" is becoming the Web shopping equivalent to "Black Friday" when retailers launch major sales and discounts to drive traffic, analysts said....

Woman, 73, says she was knocked down, stepped on during 'Black Friday' at Sawgrass Mills By Joseph Mann Sun-Sentinel Posted November 25 2005, 9:26 AM EST "Black Friday," the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, began in South Florida early today with a 73-year-old woman being knocked down as a crowd at an electronics store rushed a metal security gate to get inside. The crowd of shoppers outside BrandsMart USA in Sawgrass Mills, angry at being forced to wait by security personnel, pushed their way under the security gate and down a hallway into the store, forcing dozens of...

It was a dangerous morning on Black Friday at a West Michigan Wal-Mart. An impatient crowd stormed the doors in the mad rush to get to those door-buster deals inside. It was an ugly scene when the doors opened at the Cascade Township Wal-Mart. Hundreds of shoppers pushed and shoved their way into the store, trampling a number of customers, sending two to the hospital. At 5:00 a.m. the doors opened, holiday shoppers rushed in, and immediately one customer is pushed to the ground. "This is ridiculous. I do not want my life in danger for this," said shopper Karen...

In scenes reminiscient of the Great Depression, Americans lined up early this morning outside stores across the country as word of shortages of Christmas gifts caused riots when the stores opened. With the price of gasoline and heating oil having hit record highs this year, consumers waited in the freezing cold to be first in line when the doors opened at 5 a.m. to buy laptop computers and other essentials before supplies were exhausted. Riots at stores from Washington, D.C. to Washington state and as far south as Florida were reported. Shocked mothers complained their children were traumatized by the...

Shoppers Scuffle While Waiting for Xboxes 2 hours, 1 minute ago Shoppers waiting in line for the new Xbox 360 video game player scuffled outside a Wal-Mart Supercenter when a manager improvised rules for who would get the game first. It took more than 10 police officers to restore order, though no one was arrested.A crowd of about 300 people were waiting late Monday for the game to go on sale at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. Some of them had waited 12 hours when a night manager said the Xboxes would be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, instead of...

Hey! You! Yeah, you in your bathrobe and slippies. What are you doing? You don’t have time to be reading a newspaper right now. You’ve got to get out and get going. Time’s a-wastin’. What do you mean you want to eat breakfast first? It’s 4:30 a.m. and you’re still puttering around your kitchen? Come on! Speed is key here. You want a breakfast, grab a Pop-Tart out of the cupboard on your way out. Shower? Please. You shower for work, you shower for a date with the cutie in HR, you shower if you’re in a wedding. But...

Looking at the sale flyers in the paper, I see disclaimers like "seven units per store." I recall last year, some stampedes, people trampling over people to grab stuff. Will the madness cost someone their life tomorrow? Also, will anyone admit to joning the mad rush on tomorrow? For the record, though somewhat tempted, I never have.

Prices are scientifically slashed down to the penny. Sales begin at dawn. And glossy circulars containing well-laid plans are distributed just a day or two ahead to keep consumers and competitors in the dark. Or at least that is how it worked before people like Michael Brim came along. From a cramped dorm room in California, Brim, an 18-year-old college freshman who dines on Lucky Charms and says he rarely shops, is abruptly pulling back the curtain on the biggest shopping day of the year. His Web site, BF2005.com, publishes the circulars for what retailers call Black Friday--the day that...

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Someone may have let the cat out of Wal-Mart's Black Friday bag early -- and it looks like the No. 1 retailer is ready to aggressively battle on prices in the weeks ahead by going very low on some hot products.And here's what to expect: A Hewlett-Packard Pavilion ze2308wm notebook computer for $398; an HP Photosmart E317 digital camera for $98.88; a Lexmark all-in-one printer, scanner and copier for $39.88; and a 12-cup coffeemaker, food chopper or 2 qt. slow cooker for just $4.24.Typically Wal-Mart (Research) and other retailers debut the eagerly awaited day-after-Thanksgiving specials a...

[...] While luxury shoppers led the charge to spend at the start of the Thanksgiving weekend, economists kept a nervous eye on low- and middle-income consumers. Now, it seems clear that high prices for gasoline and home heating are taking a bite out of their Christmas spending. ShopperTrak of Chicago estimated that retail sales on Saturday were down 7% to $6.7 billion compared with the same Saturday last year. Bill Martin, co-founder of the research group, said a slowdown is evident even taking into account that there are two additional shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. "The two...

Retail sales edge up Government report shows better-than-expected gain to start holiday shopping season. December 13, 2004: 9:44 AM EST NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Retail sales edged up in November, a government report showed Monday, with the report on the start of the holiday shopping season coming in a bit better than Wall Street expectations. The Commerce Department report showed overall sales up 0.1 percent in November compared to October, when sales rose a revised 0.8 percent. The revision was a big jump from the 0.2 percent gain originally reported for October. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast that retail...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Splurging shoppers helped the economy hum along faster than first thought in the third quarter, but high energy prices could weigh on consumers in the months ahead. Gross domestic product -- the value of all goods and services produced within the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 3.9 percent in the July-to-September quarter, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. "I think the economy has found its groove," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com. But sinking confidence among consumers raised new questions about their appetite to spend in coming months. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence...

Wal-Mart to Cut Prices After Poor Sales Tue Nov 30, 2004 09:48 AM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the No. 1 U.S. retailer, on Tuesday signaled it will cut prices in the weeks before Christmas after a strategy against deep discounts backfired on the first weekend of the holiday shopping season. The retailer said it had taken a "more balanced" approach to discounting than in previous years on the day after Thanksgiving -- known as Black Friday, as it used to be the day that retailers moved into profit -- but this...

Holiday shoppers spent 10 percent more Friday than they did a year ago, according to early reports, but Wal-Mart Stores Inc. dampened hopes for a strong start to the key retail season by slashing its November sales forecast by more than half.

CLAIM: The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year in America. STATUS: False.

SAN FRANCISCO Visa reports that consumers spent 15.5 percent more the day after Thanksgiving than they did on the same day last year.