but actually quite a DECREASE considering the inflation in just this past 12 months, especially when you throw in ShrinkFlation...........

The overall inflation increase over the past 12 months is 3%, so 4.1% it's still a small increase of 1.1%.

and that Black Friday sales are slanted more toward imports. These sales should only be price compared to previous Black Fridays.

I was complaining that my portfolio barely made an increase. An experienced trader put his arm around me and said something like "Never complain when your stocks are in the green, no matter how small the gain. Only complain if they are in the red."

Was surprised the local WalMart parking lot wasn't packed either day. Asked one of the workers who told me there was a line of 4 or 5 dozen people waiting for the doors to open on Friday, but then it petered out. There were shoppers on both days when I went, but the store wasn't packed. Later went to the local mall and the same thing, there were shoppers, but not the kind of crowds one normally expects on the days after Thanksgiving. Aldi was about the same, but I noticed they'd aleady sold a good chunk of their seasonal xmas items.

“Credit card debt reaches $1.21 trillion — in line with last year’s all-time high, NY Fed finds”. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/05/ny-fed-credit-card-debt-second-quarter-2025.html

At what point will we see people lose their homes and cars because they can’t afford to live on their earnings. The US economy feels like it’s now built on a shaky house of cards created by Trump and his Republican sycophants.

I think people wonder why I don't buy a new car every so often, but the 2012 Rav4 runs fine and has relatively low mileage. It's been paid off for years.

I'm still spending as if Biden is still in office. I
The spending this holiday season should be the lowest on record. It could be. All it takes is participation.

So, they are out spending money to make sure their Dear Leader's economy looks good.

I hope they all go bankrupt doing that.

Also, that orange gibbon and his hooting cohorts are not responsible for this bias in our economy. That has been going on for some time. They are just the current cheerleaders.

nt

Big crowds, not actually buying a lot of stuff from the stands but putting their kids on the rides (+5$ per ride) and the food venders were busy (not much below $10).

I'd say this is a good start to the Holiday season. But, I've been around long enough to know, purchases can dry up as the season progresses and bad weather in the right parts of the country can impact in-store sales. Uneven spending can also favor large retailers over small businesses. In other words, it's way too early to be crowing about how well things are going.

Even my European email outfit (Proton) was sending me Black Friday offers. WTF?

There were no more people there than you would find on any day. I hate going to Walmart...ever!....but that's the only place in an hour's drive that has some things that no other store in town has (small towns aren't known for a lot of variety), and I figured I see how "crazy" black friday was there. It was a total nothing burger.

But the media wants to pump up trump by saying spending was up? Was it the tariffs? Corporate greed thrown in?

50 years ago, before I saw Corporations for what they are....

Increases in Sales meant nothing to us because of inflation.......

And a few percent increase in sales, was frightening, when we looked at units sold.

And their 4.1, considering the gross amount of inflation this year, should frighten everyone greatly.
They have known this for months, and have already been having tons of pre Black Friday sales to try and get "theirs" while the getting is good.
They publish the 4.1, to make everyone think that people aren't cutting back or worried about the economy, and to try and fool the stock holders.........

It goes hand in hand with the Republicans, ENDING all reporting about Labor, Un-employment, etc etc etc which have skyrocketed the past few months...........

while the money gets diverted to the government. Given there were no tariffs last year this should be taken into consideration before comparisons are made. If the tariffs are bringing in "billions & billions" this would skew any comparison except that we have no accurate reporting of tariffs that I know of.

This time around though people are getting bent over by Trump and his tariffs--he's TAXING Christmas period.

That dipshit will think that people will keep spending like that in all of 2026,they won't.

They're really teaching these retailers a lesson!

And they wonder why prices never come down.

If consumers had bought before or after Black Friday/Cyber Monday, they would only give retailers greater profits. They also boycotted small business Saturday.

But if consumers don't start to exercise some power over retailers they are doomed to higher prices. AFAIC, a good percentage of our inflation rates over the last few years are just plain greed from opportunity to blame something.

And today while my husband was watching the football game I went to a large outdoor shopping center in Surprise . There were a lot of people in the store looking for bargains and when I went to buy something, there were only 2 people ahead of me in line and when I went to another store same thing. Usually there are 10-15 people in line at these stores.

I know what pear-shaped is, not K shaped.

I've decided to give cash or card presents. I will choose the price. My loved ones can decide when to spend them, and maybe find a way to wait out the tariff crap.

Anyway, if someone can explain K shaped economy, thanks.

I really didn't know, and the graph explains it perfectly