Are Black Friday and Cyber Monday Worth the Hype?

Every year, the media starts buzzing about Black Friday before Thanksgiving even hits. They give forecasts for retail sales, consumer enthusiasm, and they ask what this could mean for fourth quarter profits, the stock market, and the GDP as a whole.

But as a small to medium sized business owner or entrepreneur, should Black Friday mean anything to you? After all, it’s well established that large consumer brands inflate their prices in the lead up to Black Friday in order to be able to give greater discounts. So are these high holy days of consumerism just hype, or is it really a once-a-year opportunity to get your balance sheet in the black?

Let’s look at the numbers.

Cyber Monday, 2022 was the biggest online shopping day in history, with an estimated $11.3 billion in sales. The average shopper spent a whopping $312.

Does that mean Cyber Monday (the Monday that follows Black Friday) has overshadowed its predecessor? Not even close…

The U.S. inflation rate was sitting at 3.7% as of September 30th, with the October unemployment rate increasing slightly to 3.9%. According to an advance estimate of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. Q3 real GDP increased 4.9%. Since May, real wages have finally begun increasing slightly – the first time since 2021 that they have done so. Inflation is still too high, and there are reasons to be wary of a serious market correction, but it is encouraging to see some positive numbers in looking back at the most recent quarter.

Your weekly chance to test your Bible knowledge! The answer to today’s question may surprise you:

Q: How many of the twelve disciples can you name?

1-3: Participation Award

4-6: Sunday School Graduate

7-11: Seminary Student

12: Bible Bookworm

Answer at the bottom

TIPS & TRICKS

Book Recommendation

We all get the same 168 hours per week – so why is it that some people seem to never have enough time in the day, while others seem confident, collected, successful, and at peace? Finishing one task usually leads to another, and the tyranny of the urgent can fill our calendars more and more until we start dropping things – to say nothing of the stress.

This is a problem we all know to avoid, but in practice, it is difficult to fight the slow creep of an overbooked, inefficient, draining schedule. So how can we stop the cycle…

• As of Tuesday, the S&P500 has risen for seven consecutive days.

• International House of Prayer (IHOPKC) founder Mike Bickle has stepped away from ministry pending an outside review of sexual misconduct allegations.

• As Daylight Savings Time comes to a close this past week, Pew Research reveals that the practice’s popularity is waning worldwide, with only about a third of countries now participating, down from half of countries in years past.

• Antisemitism has reached “historic levels” in the U.S., according to the FBI.

• Billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen revealed plans for an $8 billion hotel, gambling, and entertainment megaplex just outside of Citi Field in Queens, NY.