Gold Jumps, Retail Sales Rise

Black Friday a Big Success, Gold Above $825

Post Thanksgiving weekend shoppers dumped a load of cash into the economy. Sales were up more than 7% over last years Black Friday and Saturday combined sales, with the number of shoppers up and the per shopper amounts spent actually down. Purchasing was heavily skewed towards electronics and related items, benefiting Best Buy and Wal-Mart who offered good deals in these areas. We'll see how Amazon does today as Cyber Monday unfolds.

Gold and other precious metals also surged in the post Thanksgiving euphoria, with Gold topping $820 on Friday. This morning Gold is holding very solid above the $825 mark as of this posting, with demand for the world’s favorite precious metal quite strong in the Middle East.