Thanksgiving

The whole concept of online commerce hinges on convenience, particularly during the frantic holiday shopping season. Unfortunately, some well-known Web merchants left consumers seriously dissatisfied in the past year.

There's never a dull moment on Wall Street, especially with the holiday season under way. Among the items that will shape this week: Cyber Monday, Nook Tablets falling and doughnuts rising, digital tunes playing and retailers facing the music.

When it comes to eating locally, it's hard to beat the original Thanksgiving dinner. Today's holiday diners have far more options than the Pilgrims, and the string beans, sweet potatoes, cranberries and such on your table may come from abroad -- but they probably didn't have to come too far.

Some are holding potluck dinners instead of springing for the entire feast. Others are staying home rather than flying. And a few are skipping the turkey altogether. On this the fourth Thanksgiving since the economy sank, prices for everything from airline flights to groceries are going up, and some Americans are scaling back.

The holiday shopping season officially kicks off on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Actually, make that during Thanksgiving for some retailers. Here's a rundown of some of the items that will shape this holiday week.

News flash, retailers: There's a reason that mosh pit of rock-bottom deals and rampant consumerism is called Black Friday -- it occurs on Friday. And there's good reason to keep it that way.

With Walmart's announcement that it will open at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving, the holiday has morphed into Black Friday Eve. But for the anti-consumerism camp, Nordstrom is king: For the sixth year year in a row, it won't even decorate for Christmas, let alone do any holiday marketing, until Thanksgiving is officially over.

Nothing is sacred when it comes to the whims of the global economy -- not even your holiday bird. The cost of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner -- turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings -- will increase about 13% this year, the biggest jump since 1990.

Big merchants got an early Christmas present this year: Better-than expected November sales. This group posted 6% sales growth compared to 2009, far ahead of most forecasts for 3% to 4% growth. But bargain-hunting is likely to continue in December.

On Wall Street, the retail sales figures that count aren't absolute numbers. Investors act based on how those numbers compare to what was expected, and in the case of Black Friday Internet sales, reality beat the predictions. That's good news for Amazon.