Ready, Set, Shop for Holiday Deals
Online retailers will prepare for the holiday season even earlier this year; Amazon will unveil many of its holiday deals beginning Saturday. Office Depot and Sears will also roll out "Black Friday"-like deals in the coming weeks. Walmart will also reportedly test a program to match prices offered by online retailers such as Amazon, according the Wall Street Journal. The move would keep Walmart competitive this holiday season, but could also affect its fourth-quarter earnings.
Markets were on the rise this morning, with strong results across Asia and Europe and positive sentiment in the United States. Japanese markets were up big, nearly 5 percent, following a controversial and unexpected announcement by the Bank of Japan to provide additional monetary stimulus to the country. Markets across Asia and Europe are awash in green arrows, with many seeing 1-2 percent gains for the day. The Dow was up over 130 point to a new intraday record this morning on the positive data, following a 221 point gain in the Dow Thursday and solid GDP data from the Commerce Department. Meanwhile, oil prices continue to slide, with West Texas crude hovering near $80 a barrel. Gold fell 2 percent to $1,173 per ounce.