Eagle Eye Opener: ‘Cyber Monday’ Sales to Top $1.5B; U.S. Futures Rise

‘Cyber Monday’ Sales to Top $1.5B (YahooFinance.Com)

Data to be released today by comScore Inc, will indicate spending on “Cyber Monday’ (the Monday following Black Friday ) will top $1.5 billion for the first time, exceeding 2011’s $1.25 billion in sales by some 20%. ComScore’s data also showed that Thanksgiving Day online sales grew 32% from a year earlier to $633 million.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) said 247 million Americans shopped in stores and online during the four-day holiday weekend, a 9% a gain from the year-ago period. Within that number, 35 million Americans shopped online and in brick-and-mortar stores on Thanksgiving Day, and 89 million shopped on Black Friday. Read: Record count of holiday-weekend shopper. The NRF expects nearly 123 million consumers to shop on Cyber Monday.

U.S. Futures Rise Ahead of Greece’s Non-Decision (Bloomberg)

Global Markets continued today to do what they’ve recently done best — and that is to go nowhere. More importantly for investors, U.S. futures rose slightly: with the Dow gaining 1.35%, the S&P 500 up 1.3% and the Nasdaq rising 1.38%. As for the Far East, The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.49%, while both Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang fell 1.24%. As long as the outlook for Europe and the United States remains up in the air, so will the prospects for a sustainable recovery in either market.

Is 2012 the Last Year of Apple’s Reign? (The Daily Ticker)

For a quick lesson in the power of emotional buying in the market place, you need look no further than the world’s two leading smart phone makers: Apple (AAPL) and Samsung. Enjoying a three-year ride as the world’s top dog in smart phone sales, iPhone shares briefly pushed through the $700 market earlier this year, making AAPL the largest company on the planet. Of course, long-term prospects for the company have dimmed since the death of Steven Jobs, and the company’s underwhelming debut of its iPhone 5. On the other hand, Samsung’s price has risen 35% this year, with no short- or long-term black marks on the horizon to change continued growth projected ahead.