Black Friday Is Underway

I don't know what happened to the tryprophan in my turkey yesterday, but I barely slept last night. I'm glad I'm not braving the crowds of Black Friday today.

Speaking of Black Friday, reports show that shoppers are certainly out there in droves again, but as retailers have already started to slash prices, most shoppers will likely spend less than last year. And retailers sales will likely be well below last year. I think most retailers are more interested in trimming down their inventories ahead of what will likely be a very weak start to 2009.

The market is pretty flat this morning after a huge 4-day rally. The last four days were the first 4-day up string since May. Moreover, it was reported that the Dow had its biggest 4-day gain since 1932. The downside is that the indexes are still down for November, and deeply in negative territory for the year.

Asian markets were mostly higher overnight. Oil is lower this morning, near $52, ahead of an OPEC meeting this weekend. The dollar is higher vs. the Euro today, which is weighing on commodities. BHP said demand for commodities is weak due to waning demand.

In corporate news, the British govt. is taking a near 58% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Also, GM is looking at divesting its Saturn, Pontiac, and Saab brands to save money. I think they should have done this years ago.

In hedge fund news, a hedge fund for billionaire Ross Perot and his family is being shut down after experiencing -40% losses this year. What is more surprising about this story is that the fund is supposedly a fixed income fund. This highlights the widespread carnage in the financial markets this year, and how no asset class escaped unscathed.