After all the hype, commercials and news reports advertising incredible sales on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, the National Retail Federation (NRF) suggests that there were fewer sales and shoppers this year than in 2013. It has been reported that the NRF discovered 5.1 … [Read more...]
Technology Win: Girl Scouts Selling Cookies Online
Girl Scouts of the United States of America are going online to help sell their cookies. The century-old institution will embrace an e-commerce model as well as the 21st century next year by overturning its ban on selling their mint thins and other cookies online. The New York Times … [Read more...]
Brutal Black Friday Behavior Hits Great Britain
American consumers are often lambasted by outsiders for their questionable behavior on Black Friday - or now Gray Thursday - as they scuffle, yell profanities and beat up their own grandmother to get $50 off a Polaroid television. Well, now that type of behavior has inflicted British … [Read more...]
Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrats Blew Healthcare Opportunity
It seems it isn't just the Republican Party that has come out swinging against the Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise colloquially known as Obamacare, as a high-ranking Democrat has criticized the healthcare reform initiative. New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who voted … [Read more...]
Government Steps In Farmers Growing Too Many Cranberries
This Thanksgiving, millions of Americans will be dumping their turkey and stuffing into their cranberry sauce, a favorite pastime for so many people. Despite the enormous consumption of the cranberry - Americans buy five million pounds each year, particularly during Thanksgiving - a … [Read more...]
Holiday Shopping Trends Exposed in New Poll
Over the course of the next few weeks, American shoppers will plow through each other at the department stores, malls and retail outlets. Surely, YouTube will be consumed with numerous videos depicting shoppers as ravenous savages getting into arguments with cashiers over a … [Read more...]
One Quarter of Americans Will Work Over Holiday Season
This holiday season, millions of Americans will gather by the fire with the family, roasting chestnuts and listening to Bing Crosby tunes. However, there will be other millions of Americans that will be working during the holidays, according to a new survey. Results of a … [Read more...]
Don’t Fall for Black Friday Sales, Thanksgiving is the Real Steal
On Thursday, will you be holding a turkey drumstick or a credit card? That's the decision that many consumers are weighing this year as a growing number of retailers are participating in Gray Thursday, the Black Friday Creep or Turkey Day (whatever you wish to call it) and offering … [Read more...]
U.S. Economy Third-quarter Growth Revised to 3.9%
The United States economy had actually grew higher in the third quarter than what had initially been calculated. Due to greater business and consumer spending, the gross domestic product inched higher to 3.9 percent during the July-to-September period, an increase from 3.5 percent … [Read more...]
Mattel’s Incompetent Barbie Book Gets the Hook
Is the concept of Barbie being inept a thing of the past? Well, if it persists then the general public will be irate, at least according to the reaction to a kids book published a few years ago has generated. Many consumers are taking to social media to show their dissatisfaction … [Read more...]
Yahoo Will be New Default Search Engine for Firefox
Mozilla's third-most popular Firefox web browser is getting a new search engine partner. The non-profit organization announced late Wednesday that it will be replacing Google for Yahoo as its default search engine, a move that has surprised many considering their 10-year … [Read more...]
‘Lost Generation’ is Underemployed and In Debt
Are millennials the "lost generation" or have they only experienced minor setbacks that they'll overcome eventually? Reports continue to highlight that this demographic is underemployed, indebted and in financial disarray, and the latest poll restates what so many others have … [Read more...]
Walmart Stops Fraud by Closing Price Matching Loophole
On Nov. 13, Wal-Mart announced that it would price match select online retailers, including Amazon.com, in order to draw in a greater number of customers during the busy holiday season. However, it turned out that a small number of consumers unscrupulously took advantage of the system … [Read more...]
Bank of Japan Governor Says ‘Easing Program Wasn’t a Mistake’
The Japanese government and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) are in damage control this week after it was announced Monday the country had slipped back into a recession as economic growth contracted in the third quarter. Officials are blaming the sales tax hike, but is there something … [Read more...]
Uber Spending $1 Million to Dig Up Dirt on Journalist
Uber, a widely popular ride-sharing service, doesn't necessarily have a fantastic relationship with the media, a suggestion that is pretty much agreed upon within the company and in the media landscape. In fact, some go as far as saying that journalists are Uber's biggest … [Read more...]
U.S. Producer Prices Unexpectedly Inched Higher in October
Last month, United States producer prices unexpectedly rose as higher costs for food and services had actually beat the slump in energy costs. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the producer-price index (PPI) had risen 0.2 percent. Wholesale prices omitting energy and food … [Read more...]
Japan Slips into a Recession Consumers Say no to Spending
Despite heightened central banking actions, increased spending and government reforms - otherwise colloquially known as Abenomics - the nation of Japan has slipped back into a recession in the third quarter as consumers decided to put their wallets away during the July-to-September … [Read more...]
Price of Chocolate Increases Because We’re Running Out
A new report released suggests that the world will soon face a shortage of chocolate, something that has become increasingly expensive in recent years because of the growing scarcity of everyone's favorite remedy to a hard day at work, sadness or the breakup. Cocoa, the Washington … [Read more...]
NY Fed President: It’s Too Early to Raise Interest Rates
Is now the time to start raising interest rates or is it still too early for a rate hike? New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley delivered a speech at the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi on Thursday in which he urged the United States central bank … [Read more...]
Like Cheap Gas, There’s More Where That Came From
How have you been enjoying these lower gas prices as of late? You're probably jubilant about the extra dollars in your pocket over the past few months. Want even more good news? These gas prices are expected to last into the new year. According to a new short-term market report … [Read more...]
