It’s a Monday full of questions. What will Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) tell its shareholders in London? Does the credit crunch get worse this week? Will Labor’s landslide have any effect on Australia’s 16-year boom? And how many more stupid names can the American press come up with to describe the shopping season?
Friday was “Black Friday” in the States. It’s the day retailers are supposed to get into the “black” and start making heaps of money from the holiday shopping season. According to the people who claim to know these things, Friday sales in the US were up 8.3% to US$10.3 billion on the day. The Friday/Saturday take of US$16.4 billion was 7.2% than last year.
Presumably everyone feels 8.3% richer and 7.2% happier today, which, incidentally, is “cyber Monday”. Stay home and buy something today to show your solidarity with America.
The Dow made an unusually strong move for a traditionally lethargic session on Friday. It closed up nearly 200 points. Still, the drumbeat of nasty headlines is getting louder. “Mortgage failures could create nightmare,” reports the AP. “Wake up to the dangers of a deepening crisis,” warns the FT. “Subprime mess to worsen,” states the Wall Street Journal.
Dan Denning
The Daily Reckoning Australia
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About the Author
Dan Denning is the author of 2005's best-selling The Bull Hunter (John Wiley & Sons). He began his financial publishing career in 1997 and has covered financial markets form Baltimore, Paris, London and, beginning in 2005 Melbourne. He’s the editor of The Daily Reckoning Australia and the Publisher of Port Phillip Publishing.
