They are all aglow this morning because "year over year" this Black Friday/Cyber Monday was a whole lot better than last. There is an old saying about numbers never lie - only liars lie about numbers and this is case on point.
Last year, in case we forgot, was horrible. Big big drop off. For a merchant to open his doors this year was an improvement in itself so this seemingly good news is only good when compared to last year's bad news. Think about it. Let's say the DOW is 10,000 and it drops 5% to 9,500 and then the next day it rises 5% up to 9,975 (do the math). The 5% gain doesn't get you back to even but it is always reported as "getting back the loss" when it didn't.
Politicians use this all the time and it is just unfair. This is the original ruler without markings..."my personal productivity is up 100% over yesterday when I slept all day" type of thing.
The reason for the hat picture: "A fellow owned a woman's hat store. He was loosing money like crazy so he decided to have a sale. All hats $1.00 screamed the sign in the window and they were selling like hotcakes. His neighbor came to him and told him he was crazy.
How much do these hats cost you to make?
About $10 each.
And you are selling them for a $1?
That's right!!!
You will loose $9 every time you sell a hat!!!!!!
I'm not worried. I'll make it up in volume.