First there is Black Friday, followed by CyberMonday. The later was often thought of as a joke, especially compared to the money that was spent on the former.
But that is no more.
CyberMonday is enormous business. Yesterday, it was record setting.
According to Adobe Analytics, the total hit $9.4 billion, achieved due to a surge between 10 PM and 2 AM. There was $2.9 billion spent during those hours.
Black Friday was also a record, seeing $5.4 billion tallied on that day. This was a 22.3% increase over the previous year.
In the United States, consumer spending accounts for more than 70% of the economy. With numbers like these, there is some legitimacy to the claim the consumer is strong. One can question whether this is all debt fueled since shoppers tend to whip out the charge cards during the frenzy.
Adobe is predicting a holiday shopping season of $143 billion. Thus far, from November 1st to December 2nd, $81.5 billion was spent.
Both large and small retailers are seeing impressive gains over the previous year. This is likely to bode well for retailing stocks when earnings come out for the quarter. For this sector, the fourth quarter is imperative since the bulk of most companies sales come during this window.
It is not all good news though. The CyberMonday results did fall short of expectations. Also, the stock market seems to have other things on its mind since it is taking a beating in the early hours today.
Nevertheless, impressive holiday numbers make the bulls case that much stronger. It also negates some of the trade war argument, somewhat, since it shows that shoppers are not put off if the tariffs are being passed on. Of course, we will have to wait and see how the margins look when the numbers do come out.
In the meantime, these sales numbers are impressive and do make the optimists case about the economy. Individuals who are truly worried about their jobs will not spend at a record setting pace.
With unemployment near record lows, it is easy to see why consumers feel so confident. Time will tell if it is misplaced or not.
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