The one word that describes the retail world coming in to yesterday's "Black Friday" is nervousness. Would the consumer pull-back on this season's shopping and would retailers suffer a terrible fate? Many big name "box" stores have already dropped their forecasts for the season and earnings expectations were lowered. Not so fast.

The consumer came out in droves yesterday, and in some cases even Thanksgiving night. The great Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis was abuzz from the get-go. I know because I was there.

The Mall of America has enough parking to accommodate 14,000 cars. When I arrived at the Mall with my 17-year-old daughter and her two friends, I knew things were good when I was directed to park my car a mile from the Mall and hop the shuttle bus.That's a good start. Before I did park in the remote area, I dropped off my daughter and drove around the parking garage. I wanted to see where these shoppers came from. I counted license plates from 21 different states and many from Canada as they sported the Ontario license plates.

Continue reading Black Friday was green!

Black Friday was green! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 24 Nov 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I live in the greater Minneapolis area and am still in shock. Last night my 15-year old son Joey and I decided to go watch our beloved Twins. The game was to start at 7:10 pm, but Joey , being Joey, begged me to go early so we could watch batting practice. He is an avid baseball fan and player. Why not? Let's get there early, grab a couple of hot dogs and watch the pros smack the ball around. Joey and I crossed the I-35 W bridge at 5:30 -- thirty-five minutes before the collapse.

At the Minneapolis Metrodome, all seemed normal. The bridge collapsed at 6:05 pm as people were filing into the stadium. At 6:50 pm, the Twins announced that the game would go on as scheduled. It was a puzzler because no one in the Dome was aware of any tragedy that lay just eight blocks away. The public address announcer explained what happened and said the Twins would play the game as they did not want to send 25,000 people back into the already heavy-congested traffic. Today's noon game has been postponed as the rescue workers are using the Twins parking lot as a staging area.

Cell phones were working intermittently as the lines were flooded with concerned and curious callers. As my phone finally worked, my wife, two daughters and my other two sons were frantically trying to reach me as they all knew we went over the bridge, but they did not know what time we crossed it. I remember just breaking out in a sweat when I realized the scope and scale of the disaster. My precious son and I were only 35 minutes ahead of a disaster that could have cost us our lives.

I barely remember the game. As word spread throughout the Dome, people were more concerned about their loved ones and friends. The I-35 W bridge normally accommodates 135,000 cars a day; it is one of the major arteries leading to downtown Minneapolis. Not anymore.

So dear readers, take a moment and reflect, maybe give someone you love an extra hug. I know I will . . .

Georges Yared is the CIO of Yared Investment Research.

How I missed the Minneapolis tragedy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

'Sign O' the Times:' Prince performs at Macy's originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 May 2007 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.