NEWSFLASH: Holiday Sales Will Suck

Given all of our recent coverage of how the economy is going down the toilet, we find this Fitch report on holiday sales…obvious. (Read a summary here.)”As expected, the 2008 ‘back-to-school’ period showed disappointing results for department store and specialty retailers,” the report says. “This is a signal that the crucial winter holiday period will experience weak sales.” Really?We don’t mean to put down Fitch in any way, but does anyone expect holiday sales to come out favorably at this point? And in a climate where it seems like every once-respected financial institution in this country is failing, does anyone care? Will there even be a holiday to SELL?