{"id":85481,"date":"2024-12-07T01:00:15","date_gmt":"2024-12-07T09:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=85481"},"modified":"2024-12-10T12:47:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T20:47:08","slug":"black-coffee-7-dec-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id85481-black-coffee-7-dec-2024.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: More Funny Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

I’ve got another busy weekend ahead of me, so let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

A caricature is putting the face of a joke on the body of a truth.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Joseph Conrad<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Ayn Rand<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? American shoppers used their mobile phones, laptops, desktops and other devices to make roughly $11 billion<\/a> in purchases online on Black Friday. That\u2019s up more than 10% from last year. As for Mastercard, they reported consumers charged 3.2% more on their credit cards on the day after Thanksgiving. On the other hand …<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> While they have yet to report holiday revenue, the increased sales<\/a> is good news for stores like Macy\u2019s and Kohl\u2019s, which has seen their stock drop 19% and 46%, respectively, this year due to declining revenue. Even so, both retailers are bracing for muted sales this season because it is 26 days shorter due to Thanksgiving falling on the 28th of November. Then again, we can’t deny that the final totals often depend on the “talent” of their sales staff:<\/p>\n