Comments on: Bad Omens for Last Minute Christmas Shopping

By: Just another CIA created monster

Just another CIA created monster — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 08:18:00 +0000

@russell1200

Sounds good. I will package my 5 year old in a box. It should make some FBI agent’s day. Another anonymous serial killer pokes his head out of the CIA wack-a-mole machine…

By: Saks

Saks — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 23:30:00 +0000

Remember last January – sales got a big big bump from gift card redemption – this year gift card sales tanked – When the January retail sales numbers are reported in the first week of Feb. it will be a disaster

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 17:24:00 +0000

Went to Ikea on the 24th in Los Angeles. It was a ghost town! 2 Registers open. Scary stuff!

By: russell1200

russell1200 — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 16:55:00 +0000

Maybe we need to give everyone a 5 year old.

It’s a double bonus. You buy more gifts, AND the enthusiasm reciprocated per gift doubles as well.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 01:43:00 +0000

I wonder how many will partake of the Aussie classic of re-gifting. Take an old gift, re-wrap and hand over as new, retailers worst nightmare.

BTW another good example, of when a man made system is weak, some unforeseeable act of nature or other, will further erode its capacity/performance and its ability to to correct its position against these forces.

If this effect cascades, well their is little to do but rework the system. The time lines/durations of events usually happen in 10, 20 to 40 year durations, with equal periods of seemingly calm/normal events. Hence the feeling of normalcy and no need to rework the system till it becomes to overstressed and collapses.

All because the human mind as an individual and as a collective society needs to be reaffirmed/placated/consoled in short time frames, regardless of its detachment to the facts.

Skippy

By: Glen

Glen — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 01:28:00 +0000

Here in OZ they are talking about record spends for Christmas! Either we’re really stupid and have NFI about what’s happening outside Fortress Australia or we do but don’t give a flying f**k, so what the hell; the world is about to grind to a halt so let’s enjoy the last hurrah. Probably abit of both I suspect. Right – off to crack coldie and open a present we can’t afford.

By: fresno dan

fresno dan — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:58:00 +0000

being a male, I ain’t buying nothing. Friends at work bought me lunch at a mall (PF Chang) since my birthday is Dec 29. The women had to buy something – Nicole bought 89$ sunglasses at banana republic (she said they were not an impulse purchase, even though they look exactly like her other sunglasses). Seemed like a lot of traffic at the mall, but not too many shopping bags. I told her Bernanke and Paulson would send her a special thank you/Christmas card for her purchase.