They did that so they can then say that things were great because of that misleading number and they will not explain how they got it.

Because that would show just how bad things are compared to last year.

when 5 higher priced ones will do 😆
And stop it with all those pencils, just sketch in B&W 😆

Wall Street this morning doesn't appear to be buying what they're selling.

The vaunted rise in Black Friday spending was accompanied by FEWER actual purchases.

If the bulk of the spending is done by the top quintile, it means something different than if it was at the bottom.

are the ones doing all the buying this year, not so much the rest of us.

The very wealthy are buying luxury goods like mad. Conspicuous consumption is all the rage.

Let’s see the stats on the actual revenue generated by retailers, let’s the see the earnings reports on profits made over expenses.

And so would looking at how much was actually received by the consumer, not just how much they spent.

I went to buy a bottle of nice, brand-name fragrance for my partner, something I've done many an xmas. I'm used to seeing prices for the nice stuff for $90-$120. This year the nice stuff was in the $180-200 range. As we waited for our gifts to be wrapped by staff, I chatted with another customer, who was equally chagrined and ready to blame tariffs as I suggested to them.