Gift Cards, Returns Combine for 2nd-Busiest Shopping Day

Morning Money Memo:

Let's call it "Bringback Friday." Retailers are expecting the second busiest shopping day of the year today, as stores prepare for an onslaught of post-Christmas shoppers preparing to buy or return their gifts from Santa. Millions of less-than-satisfied gift receivers will look to return their presents, while millions more will put their gift card money to good use. This has proven good news for stores, which saw their best holiday sales growth in three years, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Analysts credit a number of factors for the strong consumer turnout, including strong economic and job growth along with falling gas prices.

U.S. futures are up this morning after a holiday-shortened trading week that saw record levels set for the Dow Wednesday. European markets are mixed today after the closed day Thursday, while Asian markets are strongly positive for the day. Gold is seeing a 2 percent gain, while crude oil is up slightly.

It will be a crowded weekend at the box office, with several new releases taking on a handful of strong Christmas Day holdovers. Most prominent on the minds of moviegoers will be Sony's "The Interview," which, despite the threatening rhetoric from hackers and initial cancellation of the film's release, opened to limited but sold-out crowds and became available to viewers everywhere via video on demand. Despite the fanfare surrounding the release, the comedy is only expected to gross about $2 million during the four-day holiday weekend. "The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies" is expected to compete with "Unbroken," the second directorial venture of Angelina Jolie, for box office supremacy with a projected $30 million take apiece over the weekend.