Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Cyber Wednesday

"A modest uptick in spending by US consumers in October suggests they’re still wary of buying too much ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season, the Commerce Department said. The overall US economy has recorded solid growth over the last six months, yet consumers have restrained spending amid ongoing worries about stagnant wages. But with a steadily improving job market and falling gas prices, economists say households are ready to shed their cautiousness. The holidays will reveal if that’s true."

Yeah, I $uppo$e they will and they will also reveal yet again what liars are the agenda-pu$hing corporate media.

"Cyber Monday deals get stretched, crimping sales" by Mae Anderson, Associated Press  December 03, 2014

NEW YORK — Cyber Monday deals are being stretched out this holiday shopping season, crimping sales on the day itself.

Retailers such as Target and Amazon have been offering online deals since November began and are promising ‘‘cyber’’ deals all week. That seems to have dented Cyber Monday sales. Sales were up, according to estimates. But they weren’t as strong as some were expecting.

That's odd because I was told sales were down on the bottom line, even in cyber$pace.

IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark said online sales rose 8.5 percent, compared to those in 2013. That still makes it the busiest US online shopping day of the year so far — a title the date has held since 2010. But growth was less stellar than on Cyber Monday 2013, when online sales jumped 20 percent.

In the midst of an ever-improving economy, huh?

‘‘As the holiday shopping season becomes less concentrated on a single day, retailers and marketers took advantage by making it easier for consumers to find the best deals on the go, whenever and wherever they chose to shop,’’ said Jay Henderson, director of IBM Smarter Commerce.

A bright spot was mobile: Shopping on a tablet or smartphone accounted for 41.2 percent of online traffic, up from 30.1 percent last year. Mobile sales hit 22 percent of total Cyber Monday online sales.

Sterne Agee’s chief economist, Lindsey Piegza, said the 8.5 percent rise fell short of projections for a 13 to 15 percent gain.

‘‘With gasoline prices down markedly over the past few months leaving consumers with extra cash in their pockets, many retailers are befuddled over such disappointing spending numbers,’’ she said. 

Oh, retailers are BEFUDDLED, are they? 

I'm not, and I've been telling you why the last few days. All the wealth has been accrued to the top and the American middle class has been destroyed upon the altar of Wall Street to please money junkies that control this collaborative government. 

I will tell you one thing that doesn't befuddle me anymore: the lies and distortions of an agenda-pu$hing propaganda pre$$.

The sales figures highlight how fragile the US economy remains, particularly the consumer sector, she added.

The name Cyber Monday was coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation’s online arm, called Shop.org, to encourage people to shop online.

I'm SICK of the $ALE$ JOB no matter who it is coming from these days!

After retailers revved up deals for the day, it became the busiest online shopping day in 2010.

The name was also a nod to online shopping being done at work, where faster connections often made it easier to browse.

I'm sure the boss loves seeing that.

Some retailers painted a rosy picture of the day.

That's great! I love illu$ions!

Walmart.com said it got the most online orders in its history on Cyber Monday. It said mobile made up about 70 percent of the traffic to its website between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.

But some shoppers were disappointed by the deals.

Preston Neill, 28, of Philadelphia, took advantage of early online deals over the weekend, including 40 percent off board games from Amazon and clothing that was 40 percent off at Banana Republic.

But he said the deals on Cyber Monday seemed similar to what he had seen earlier.

Related:

"It works like this: in the weeks and even months before Black Friday, retailers artificially raise the price of goods above normal to make Black Friday specials look spectacular in comparison.--MORE--"

‘‘I haven’t seen anything that jumps out at me,’’ he said. ‘‘I feel like [Cyber Monday] is the Super Bowl of shopping: There is a lot of hype, then it doesn’t quite live up.’’

Interestingly, it is what happens every day when I read a Globe.

--more--"

Yeah, let's not get all hyped up0 over the losses:

"Stocks head higher, bouncing back from day before

Biotech and energy stocks led the big indexes higher even as crude oil resumed its slide, falling to $66.88 a barrel in New York. Two Fed policy makers said sharply lower crude prices will boost spending and aid US growth. Concern about the strength of Thanksgiving weekend retail sales helped knock the market down Monday, but the worry was probably overblown; other evidence suggests people simply wanted to avoid the crowds. Tuesday’s one economic report was encouraging:

I'm befuddled.

--more--"

Here's where the crowds were:

"American shoppers passed on the malls and headed to car dealerships over Thanksgiving weekend. Black Friday promotions — coupled with falling gas prices, low-interest loans, and hot new vehicles — drove auto sales higher in November, kicking off what’s expected to be a strong holiday season."

There will be plenty of time to appraise that.

RelatedSony studio is again target of hackers

Terrorist hackers called the Guardians of Peace, huh? And they hit Sony(??)??

C'mon, guys. The propaganda has to be better than that.