Black Friday shoppers out in force, but cautious
NEW YORK – Shoppers, who had snapped their wallets shut since September, flocked to stores before dawn Friday to grab deals on everything from TVs to toys for the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, feared to be the weakest in decades.

Black Friday shoppers are hunting for bargains
Nearly 128 million Americans say they will shop Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the start of the holiday shopping season, the National Retail Federation says. That’s down slightly from last year.

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death
A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York died after being trampled by a crush of shoppers who tore down the front doors and thronged into the store early Friday morning, turning the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving bargain hunting into a frenzy.

Online retailers ramp up deals to capture dollars
NEW YORK (AP) – Online retailers are ramping up heavy-duty deals to turn skittish shoppers into buyers during the crucial Thanksgiving weekend and “Cyber Monday” – but even so, online sales are expected to be fairly flat after years of strong growth. Free shipping is virtually a given, and many are offering financing options such as no payments for 90 days and deals like $10 off purchases of $50 or more, along with traditional discounts on products.

Hard bargain: Retailers brace for decline in spending
WASHINGTON — A self-confessed “shopaholic,” Cherie Martin typically spends about $3,000 on gifts each Christmas. Not this year, however. “I’ll probably spend about $500,” said Martin, a Washington-area attorney. “I mean I love Saks and Neiman Marcus, but I’m too frightened about the economy. I told everyone, with the exception of my daughter, that I’m not Christmas shopping this year.”

D/FW Airport reports 7 percent decline in holiday travel
With Americans scaling back travel because of the poor economy, and airlines cutting flights nationwide, lines were shorter than usual at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport on Wednesday, typically one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Stocks end shortened session with moderate gains
NEW YORK – Wall Street kept up a broad winning streak Friday, giving blue chip stocks their fifth straight advance as investors looked for clues about whether dire predictions for the holiday shopping season would prove accurate.

Poverty spreading in suburbs: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Poverty in the United States is spreading from rural and inner-city areas to the suburbs, according to a study, a situation that can worsen as the economy confronts what may be a protracted recession.

Borrowers move as new bailout plan drops mortgage rates
Stuart Stenhouse has been watching the housing market for some time. On Wednesday, lured by a plunge in mortgage rates, the 40-year-old Sacramentan jumped in. Sacramento‘s troubled housing market, which has been gaining momentum for several months, got a new jolt this week. An $800 billion stimulus plan for the credit markets, unveiled Tuesday by the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department, sent fixed-rate mortgages tumbling as much as 1 percentage point.