Economic indicators were sparse during the holiday-shortened workweek. Housing starts did edge down modestly, but the overall trends still show decent activity in this sector spurred by low mortgage rates. The international trade deficit on goods and services narrowed significantly due to special factors, but economists and market players have generally disregarded September news.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that shoppers hit the stores running on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, but this is only the beginning of the holiday sales season. Historically, sales from post-turkey Friday are a good predictor of total holiday sales, but in the past decade, retailers still kept a fighting chance for a good season even through Christmas Eve. You can be sure that market analysts will be monitoring retail sales daily to see if the consumer is acting like Santa or the Grinch.