What happened this weeK

Happy Thanksgiving! After a short week for Thanksgiving, all eyes are on holiday shopping! Consumers spent a record $9.12 billion online shopping during Black Friday this year, according to Adobe, that is an overall increase of 2.3% year-over-year. However, the effects of inflation were very much felt as many consumers used flexible payment plans, Buy Now Pay Later payments increased by 78% compared with the past week, and retailer Walmart was top vendor for online shopping, beating out Amazon.

Rare protests have erupted in China over the country’s zero-Covid policies. Frustrations mounted for various reasons, rising number of infections, youth unemployment up close to 20%, a lagging economy after three years of lock downs and in Beijing, many apartment communities successfully convinced local management they had no legal basis for a lockdown. The growing unrest has pre-markets trading lower this week.

Looking ahead to this week:

Tues Nov 29: S&P US Case-Shiller Home Price Index

Wed Nov 30: ADP Employment Report, Real Gross Domestic Product (Q3)

Thurs Dec 1: Initial Jobless Claims, PCE Price Index, Real Consumer Spending, Construction Spending

Fri Dec 2: Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment rate