THE NEWS: What's Occupying My Mind is Making Me Dizzy

Adding to the problem of rising prices, the study released in October by Sentier Research showed that since December of 2007, real median household income dropped by just under 10 percent in this country. And the number of open credit card accounts fell by another six million in Q3 of this year, bringing the total down by 23 percent since the peak in 2008.

And yet, according to the National Retail Federation ("NRF"), this past weekend broke records for consumer spending... $52.4 billion, which is up by 16 percent over last year's $45 billion. Not only that, but the NRF is also reporting that more consumers went shopping this year... 226 million versus 212 million last year. Between Thursday and Sunday, holiday shoppers spent $398.62 each, the most spent since 2008 when shoppers spent $372.57, the NRF says.