Cyber Monday Sales Up
The keyboards were clicking and online shoppers were buying on Cyber Monday. Early data indicates sales were up 14 percent over last year. On the average 4.3 million consumers per minute reportedly visited shopping web sites yesterday. More on the cyber shopping bonanza here.
Black Friday Sales Tumble
Big crowds turned out on Black Friday and over the Thanksgiving weekend, but apparently those shoppers were more lookie-loos than serious buyers. Early figures show those shoppers spent 8 percent less than last year — which is really bad news all around. Consumer spending reportedly fuels the U.S. economy by as much as 70 percent. Reuters has more on the 2009 holiday shopping season.
IRS Holding $123.5 Million in Unclaimed Tax Refunds
Over a 100,000 refund checks were returned to the Internal Revenue Service this year, because of problems with the addresses. The average tax refund is over a thousand bucks! Now that would help add a little cheer to the holiday season. Here’s the story and details on how to claim some of that dough.