New numbers on holiday shopping. The Commerce Department's report on November retail sales will come out tomorrow. Economists expect a strong survey with solid growth compared to last year.  Research firm comScore says online sales are up 15 per cent as more Americans change their shopping habits.  Sales on six individual days during the first 39 days of the November-to-December shopping season have exceeded $1 billion, led by Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, when sales hit $1.25 billion. This could be the heaviest week of the year for online retailers, with the final few days free shipping before Christmas…

Lowe's home improvement chain has pulled ads from a reality TV show about American Muslims. The move comes after protests by an evangelical Christian group, The Florida Family Association, which threatened a boycott of Lowes. " All-American Muslim" premiered last month on TLC and features five families from Dearborn, a Detroit suburb with a large Muslim and Arab-American population. A cast member on the show says she's disappointed Lowe's "would succumb to bigots." In California, Democratic state Rep. Ted Lieu of Torrance says he's considering a call for a boycott against Lowe's for what he calls "naked religious bigotry."

A mixed reaction from global financial markets to Friday's debt crisis summit in Europe. Every nation but Britain agreed to work on an agreement for much tighter budget discipline for members of the single currency Euro. But missing from the deal was a big new push to purchase bonds from troubled European nations. The Dow was up 187 points on Friday after the summit ended, but US futures fell this morning. Most Asian stocks were up overnight.

Time is running short to take full advantage of some 2011 tax deductions that could save you lots of money. Putting extra funds in tax-free retirement accounts is one way to reduce your tax bill. "If you can squirrel away any more extra money in your 401(k) plan that's a really good thing." says ABC News financial contributor Mellody Hobson. "Not only does it shore up your retirement but it also reduces your taxable income." If you have a home loan consider making the January payment days early.  "If you could pay your mortgage statement on December 31 instead of January 1 you get that mortgage interest deduction," Hobson says. And make sure you spend any money left in your flexible spending accounts.