What is Black Friday

Black Friday is an important day in the US shopping calendar.

It marks the start of the Christmas shopping season and takes place the day after Thanksgiving in November.

For those not familiar with US traditions, Thanksgiving takes place on the fourth Thursday in November and traces its origins back to a 1621 celebration held in Plymouth Massachusetts by the early settlers to give thanks to God.

Today Thanksgiving is a family celebration and legal state holiday that marks the start of a long weekend off for most people. And after the family turkey feast on Thursday, the following day is available for people to go Christmas shopping on what has become the busiest shopping day of the year.

Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November, Black Friday occurs somewhere between the 23rd and the 29th of November.

Black Friday is so called because it marks the day when retailers make a profit - that is get out of the red and into the black. There is also a sense for shop workers that it is black because it can be such a long hard working day, as well as the mad crowds and general congestion of the streets and shopping malls.
 
Crucially important, Black Friday shopping performance can set the trend for either profit or loss. It is watched carefully by retailers and economic commentators alike because it is widely believed to set the economic tone for the year to come.



To give customers greater incentive to spend, most shops offer Black Friday sales and there are some fantastic cut-price bargains to be had.

In recent years, shop doors have been opening ever more early in order to be the first with the sales. Some retailers open at midnight of Thanksgiving and recently even at 10pm on the night of Thanksgiving itself in the race to be first.

This move that has not been welcome by some consumer groups and retail staff.

Despite the economic downturn, or possibly because of it - many shoppers are taking more and more desperate measures in order to nail a bargain.

The idea of Black Friday has now made its way out of the US as on line retailers such as Apple and Amazon offer on line sales.





Buy A Jewellers magnifying Loupe for £6.99

 Gold and silver hallmarks main site

Why is the price of gold so high?

Why is the price of gold so high?

The price of gold is at an all time high and looks set to keep going up.

The simple reason for this is because gold prices always rise at times of uncertainty such as war or economic crisis or depression.

Nobody wants to be left holding paper money and building kites out of their savings.

Keeping a pot of gold buried under the floorboards might seem archaic but in times of economic uncertainty, it might be the safest financial option!

Investors see gold as a stable asset that will hold value when other currencies have become worthless. This creates a greater demand for it and causes the price to rise.

The property market and interest rates of the banks also affect the gold market. Generally when property and real estate prices fall and confidence in the banks is low, the demand for gold and stable commodities rises.














In addition, for the investor, dealing in gold becomes the only game in town guaranteed to get a return.
With the current economic uncertainty, this trend seems unlikely to change. Today the standard used to price gold throughout the world is based on the London Gold Pool and the Gold Fixing.
 
The London Gold Pool was set up in 1961 and is the pooling of gold reserves held by eight central banks in the USA and seven European countries.

The Gold Fix or the Gold Fixing is a twice-daily meeting held by five members of the London Gold Pool, conducted by telephone. It takes place at 10.30 GMT and again at 1500GMT.

The original reason of these daily meetings was to settle contracts and accounts between the members of the Gold Pool. Although this is still the case, the Gold Fixing now sets the price of gold throughout the world

Gold is a unique natural mineral. Because of its high value throughout history, it is estimated that most of the gold ever mined in the World is still in existence and could enter the market at any time. This would have a potentially disastrous affect on the World economy.



gold and silver hallmarks main site