[Specop_007]

I wanted to clean the house (garage mainly) but had to trash bags. Damn the luck I was forced to go out. Hell I need ammo cause I'm shootin Sunday anyways so....

Went to Wal-mart. Grabbed 500 rounds of 9mm and 6 jugs of juice. It was probably as busy as it was on a normal day after work. Busy but not crazy. This was at 9:30 though. Check out lady said the worst of it had passed by then.

Off to Home Depot. Grabbed my trash bags and a spare light bulb for the lights. On the way out say a 125 piece screwdriver bit set for 15 bucks or so. The one I have has some missing pieces (all the common ones, go figure) so screw it. I grabbed that. Slightly busier then normal but again not crazy. Check out lines were normal.

Heard a rumor Lowes had Dremels for 39. Mine is on its last leg, almost killed it cutting drywall when I finished my basement last year so heck might as well grab a replacement. Went to Lowes, naturally sold out of Dremels by then. Well, I grabbed some Loctite I needed for a rifle I'm putting a trigger in and called it a day. I dont go to Lowes much but I'd say it was, again, slightly busier then normal.

Stopped by the pet store. Played with the puppies.

Home for lunch.

Off to Cabelas. Holy sheit. It was, as expected, packed. I wandered around a bit, grabbed some more ammo, wandered around, decided I wasnt standing in line for 30 minutes for 2 boxes of ammo, put them back and left.

Went across the street to Nebraska Furniture Mart. I need a new couch in a bad way. Screw that. My patience was gone from Cabelas. Turned around and left.

Off to Costco. Again, slightly more busy then usual. I bought a shitload of food. It was the biggest purchase of the day by far.

Went back to Cabelas today. It was again busy as hell but not nearly as bad as yesterday. Grabbed a Hornady LNL AP progressive press. Been wanting a progressive for a while, what the hell now I have one. What I saw, you wouldnt think its as bad (the economy) as the news and markets keep telling us.

And yes, I fall for the Black Friday deals. But only for stuff that I "need". Like the screwdriver set and Dremel. That was simply a cost effective way to replace mine which had problems of one type or another. But as for buying new computers or TV's or Blu-Ray players? Nah. Screw all that. I buy something because I need it, not because the price is right. If I can happen to find something I need for the right price, thats just a bonus.

[RedStateGreen]

I make it a point to stay at home on Thanksgiving weekend.

[Arsenal]

Well. I guess the sheeple were impressed enough with the current state to go and shop.

Early Black Friday Numbers

My guess is that this figure will be updated much later on in the year. I really can't believe that people are out there spending as much given the state of the economy.

Stupidity has no bounds.

[Ferretlover]

I finished buying all my "store-bought" christmas gifts by the first of October (now working on several sewing projects). Stayed home: unloaded the dishwasher, did two loads of laundry, and ironed. Egads! I am sooo boring!!
DH went to Menards in the morning for some lumber for a project; said he managed to get the order rung up at customer service, but the place was packed, and he had to wait until later in the afternoon to go back to pick up the wood.

[Sixstrings]

Well, I did run out an buy a mixer on Black Friday, if that counts..

Had dinner at Steak & Shake.. they've always been a little pricey, but now that have a bunch of $4 meals. So I thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of deflation.

[dunewalker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Auntie_Cipation', 'T')he nearest "mall"? Well that depends -- if you mean a REAL mall, I'd have no clue because the nearest one is about 120 miles away and I haven't been there in years. But if you mean what we call the local "mini-mall" -- otherwise known as the local dump, which is actually a great place to 'shop,' well, today was one of the 2 days per week it's open, and the weather was nice, so I'll bet it was hopping indeed.

[idiom]

I would love to see some doomer porn of people fighting over a stack of assault rifles.

[DJSNOLA]

So it seems the early reports suggest it was not as bad a Black Friday as feared. However, I think on the whole the season will still be far less than last. On the surface it makes sense, if people arent doing well then more of them are searching for bargains. Hence the better performance o Wal Mart recently.

[frankthetank]

I think part of it was that people had cut back so much going all the way back to summer (because of high fuel/food) and then with the economic shitstorm, that finally they said "screw it" and decided to actually buy something... i don't know.

[Auntie_Cipation]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dunewalker', 'T')oday (Saturday) I went & got Auntie & her roommate & took them mall shopping

[Arsenal]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('frankthetank', 'I') think part of it was that people had cut back so much going all the way back to summer (because of high fuel/food) and then with the economic shitstorm, that finally they said "screw it" and decided to actually buy something... i don't know.

[wisconsin_cur]

Compulsive Consumption, I have observed, is a hard habit to break.

Like any other addiction it will lie latent within many for the remainder of their lives, even if they are unable to act on it for many decades.

But now they are able to act on it. So they do.

[Arsenal]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wisconsin_cur', 'C')ompulsive Consumption, I have observed, is a hard habit to break.

Like any other addiction it will lie latent within many for the remainder of their lives, even if they are unable to act on it for many decades.

But now they are able to act on it. So they do.

[ReverseEngineer]

Thank God for the highly successful Black Friday. The American Economy is Saved! Those Americans who went out and Shopped and did not manage to shoot each other or trample each other in the Life and Death struggle to buy a Bissell Vacuum Cleaner spent their Unemployment Checks on Chinese Plastic Toys soon to become Collector's Items as Historical Rarities auctioned at Sotheby's next year.

Along with this heartening news of our resilient economy, USA Today also reported that Americans are streaming back into the McMansion Market in droves, enticed by the new low mortgage rates in the 6% range.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/hou ... ates_N.htm

Does anyone else here get the impression the MSM is pushing out skewed data here in order to promote "confidence" in the economy, and keep investors from pulling their last dime out of the market before the RockeRoths have enough time to deleverage themselves?

The idea that Holiday shopping is going to pull the economy out of a depression when the Big 3 Automakers are on the verge of bankruptcy and AIG pisses out a river of freshly printed greenbacks each day is preposterous. Equally silly is the idea that the home buyers market is going to be flooded with new home buyers because of low interest rates. If anybody is going after those loans, its current owners of house looking to refinance at a lower rate, NOT new home sales.

Can the MSM keep a lid on this through the New Year with more stories of a Holly Jolly Christmas? Will the markets buy this spin next week and rebound into 5 digits now that we have hit bottom and consumers are buying toys and houses again?

The reporting here is pathetic, it is criminal negligence if its not being wholesale falsified by the Goobermint Propaganda machine. Excuse me while I go puke.

Reverse Engineer

[wisconsin_cur]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReverseEngineer', ' ')Excuse me while I go puke.

Reverse Engineer

[ReverseEngineer]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wisconsin_cur', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReverseEngineer', ' ')Excuse me while I go puke.

Reverse Engineer

[DJSNOLA]

Apparently the data being touted everywhere is from a company, I believe that shoppertrac is the one that extrapolates foot traffic to $$$. They were off by a lot last year. Simply put, the uneducated investor will take this as great news but anyone doing their homework knows this story is being pushed without much regard as to how valid and reliable these numbers are. So I would wait til more numbers are out. Either way, the outlook for the overall holiday season continues to be grim. Seems that many folks did all their holiday shopping yesterday. Personally, Im waiting to see whats in store after the 25th. Love a good bargain!

[wisconsin_cur]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReverseEngineer', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wisconsin_cur', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReverseEngineer', ' ')Excuse me while I go puke.

Reverse Engineer

[BlueGhostNo2]

Yeah, In a way people have to shop for xmas due to social pressure. So if they think Black Friday is the best sale they're getting before xmas they will of course go then and shop.

It doesn't mean you're gonna have a good holiday shopping season. I'm tempted to stop shorting the FTSE until after xmas now though, reckon bad news will get held until after whilst everyone holds their breath.

That said because the recession is biting much slower in the UK it seems our shopping is going O.K. still... eep.

[topcat]

JJ asked:

"How much for the rounds and eagles?"

Bought rounds for 13/each, others were asking as high as 14.

The silver eagles depended on mint date, bought the less expensive dates for 16/each and picked up another 2008 for 19.