I was recently in a tiny group of islands in eastern Indonesia called the Bandas, remote even by the standards of that far-flung archipelago nation. They are the ultimate storybook stereotype of the isolated, tropical paradise …
Top 10 Shopping Trends for the 2011 Holiday Season
Here’s a look back at the frantic holiday shopping season that’s just passed—and that, among other things, reached a high point for self-gifting, shoplifting, free shipping, and procrastination. Without further adieu, this …
Retro Sneakers Literally All the Rage: Air Jordan XI Concords Cause Fights, Sell for Nearly $1,000
Each holiday season, an especially hot, must-have gift emerges, often triggering behavior by desperate consumers that seems wacky and ugly at the time — and even more so in retrospect. (Example: Some guy made $6,000 selling Zhu Zhu pets on eBay last year.) This year, the behavior surrounding one hot item seems especially extreme — …
The U.S. Government Bond Bubble (And What To Do About It)
Treasury bond prices will likely suffer a major decline in the next few years. Here are eight high-yielding stocks that are a smarter alternative for the income part of your portfolio.
Let the After-Christmas Sales Begin! December 26 Expected to Be Huge Day for Retailers
What with exchanges and shoppers eager to redeem gift cards, the day after Christmas is always a busy one for retailers. For a variety of reasons, including that December 26 falls on a Monday this year, retailers anticipate a …
More Shoppers Hit Dollar Stores for Holiday Gifts
The past few years of economic struggle have been a boom time for dollar stores. One study has it that business has been so strong in recent times at dollar stores, they now outnumber drugstores in the U.S. Consumers now rank …
Cybercrooks Targeted Subway Sandwich Shops
As many as 80,000 customers who used a credit or debit card to buy a Subway sandwich may have had their account information stolen by a ring of Eastern European crooks who tampered with the payment terminals in 150 different …
Final Holiday Shopping Marathon: Stores Stay Open 112 Hours in a Row Before Christmas
Kiss Mistletoe Goodbye? Poor Weather Blamed For Holiday Shortage
But we’re not going to let this stop our normal routine of awkward holiday kissing.
Whoops! That Stuff You Ordered Weeks Ago from Best Buy? It’s Not Coming
Talk about dropping the ball. Best Buy waited until as late as this week — mere days before Christmas — to admit that it’s not going to be able to fulfill the online orders placed by some customers. These are customers, by the way, who made their purchases around Thanksgiving weekend, more than three weeks ago.
Scrooged: Walmart Managers Turn Down Layaway ‘Secret Santa’ Donor
After one anonymous woman in western Michigan generously paid for a stranger’s layaway purchases, reports of copycat good Samaritans have popped up around the country. But one would-be do-gooder in Houston was thwarted when she went to not one, but two local Walmarts with a request to donate $300 toward other people’s holiday gifts.
Why North Korea Keeps Weakening Itself
I’m in Seoul, South Korea, the perfect place to reflect on the goings-on across the border, in Pyongyang. In the wake of Kim Jong Il’s death, North Korea is proceeding with business as usual – or at least that seems to be …