Black Friday crowds lift hopes; Dow up 181 in post-holiday rally
CBS
Transcript
from the looks of the malls and department stores nobody was holding back on spending on Black Friday Shoppers brushed aside worries about the economy and high gas prices and scooped up the bargains it was a day that left retailers hopeful they might bail out what is expected to be the worst holiday Sal season in 5 years well it looked a lot like Black Friday on Wall Street the buyers were out a post Thanksgiving rally through the 1: p.m. close of trading sent the Dow up 181 points the NASDAQ Rose a sharp 34 oil prices inched closer to the $100 a barrel Mark worries about supplies of heating oil LED crude up 90 cents a barrel to 9819 that's a new closing High the tops meet company has filed for bankruptcy this move coming after Topps closed its doors in early October following a recall of 22 million pounds of Frozen Burgers a Year's worth of production after some was found to contain a potentially deadly form of E POI bacteria as for food on major airlines new survey finds United has the best buy on board meal options getting high marks for variety and healthy choices Continental came in second it was praised for low calorie meals and noted for still not charging for meals the worst food in the air Northwest for snacks very high in calories and for not keeping track of nutritional values for its menus that's your money watch check out cbsnews.com for all the day's business I'm Susan mcginness it was a day for discounts the price is very good for me so that's why I wake up early and sharp I going to spend the whole day here today Shoppers lured by early openings and doorbuster sales crowded into malls and stores on Friday hot after Bargains and seemingly unfazed by a slow economy and toy recalls they do have some nice out they do they really do not going to waste time you you know you're just going to go in with the crowds and and enjoy it at Macy's flagship store in New York City consumers were buying early and often I'm excited about the uh encouraging signs at the beginning the store is very busy now the registers are buzzing that optimism comes in the face of some sobering numbers a new report finds more than a third of consumers say they'll spend less this holiday season mostly because of high Gas and energy prices those sort of numbers make retailers very very nervous another reason to be nervous retail analyst Wendy leedman says this year there's no so-called it gift there isn't you know Tickle Me Elmo or dancing Elmo or whatever singing Elmo or whatever Elmo did last season there are some toys but nothing that you know people are saying Oh we must have this same with apparel same with accessories nothing really that people are just running to the stores to get while they were running to the stores on Friday retailers will need consumers to keep coming back through the season season to bail out what's expected to be the weakest one in 5 years they're counting on good old holiday spirit along with deep discounts to keep the cash registers ringing along with the Jingle Bells Susan mcginness CBS News New York