Target warns December sales fell; worst holiday season in 4 years

CBS News

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[Music] early holiday sales reports are coming in and they confirm what we've been predicting that this was the worst holiday shopping season in at least four years so bad in fact that Target the nation's number two retailer is warning that sales may have actually fallen in December Electronics were the biggest sellers women's clothing and jewelry the worst those post Christmas sales abound and retailers are hoping you'll go out between now and New Year's Day and spend spend spend Americans are expected to spend $76 billion over the next week when they redeem all those gift cards they got for Christmas and when they return some of those unwanted gifts it is back to business for Wall Street and investors are hoping Monday's Santa Claus rally will continue and so far stock futures are pointing to a higher open Move Over GM Here Comes Toyota the Japanese car maker promises to sell N9 .8 million Vehicles next year that could Dethrone General Motors as the world's top autom maker a title it has held for 76 years soaring gas prices have boosted demand for smaller fuel efficient cars which are Toyota's trademark you can track all the business headlines at cbsnews.com in New York I'm Alexis christopherus

Worst holiday sales in 4 years; home prices drop record 6.7%

CBS News

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[Music] retailers open their doors earlier than ever today and they are slashing prices to entice bargain hunters and Salvage a week Christmas shopping season early reports confirmed the 2007 season was the worst in at least four years for retailers but it's not over Americans are expected to spend $76 billion over the next week redeeming those holiday gift cards and cashing in on deep discounts much better news from amazon.com which saw its strongest holiday season ever the online retailer says its biggest sales day was December 10th when it processed about 63 orders every second for a total of nearly 5.5 million gifts that day alone on Wall Street those weak sales numbers kept pressure on stocks but the Dow managed to gain of two points the NASDAQ closed up nearly 11 home prices fell at a record Pace in October down 6.7% it's the largest drop in 16 years and it marks the 10th straight month of falling prices economists say the new numbers mean the housing slump is far from over and Toyota is poised to be the king of cars in 2008 the Japanese car maker promises to sell 9.8 million Vehicles next year and that could make it the world's biggest automaker a title General Motors has held for the last 76 years Toyota says soaring gas prices are fueling demand for smaller fuele efficient cars that's your money watch log on to cbsnews.com for more in New York I'm Carter Evans