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Toyota executives told lawmakers Tuesday that its U.S. and Canadian divisions will have more authority to decide when to issue a recall as the automaker faces mounting pressure from Washington over its recent safety problems.

Toyota has recalled millions of vehicles worldwide for problems related to sudden acceleration, which have been blamed for several accidents resulting in injuries and death. The automaker has repeatedly apologized for the lapses in quality control and Toyota technicians are working extended hours to repair the recalled vehicles.

Under new plans to improve quality control, Toyota’s North American operations "will have more autonomy and decision-making power with regard to recall and other safety issues," Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota North America, said in testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee.

Inaba also announced that Rodney Slater, a former U.S. Transportation Secretary, will head a "blue ribbon" panel to review Toyota’s own investigation into its global operations.

Toyota came under fire last week during two separate House hearings for the automaker’s management structure, which some lawmakers said gives Japanese executives too much power over U.S. operations.

"For the future, our U.S. staff will have a clear decision-making role," Shinichi Sasaki, executive vice president at Toyota Motor in charge of quality assurance and customer service, told the committee. "Ultimately, our goal is for the United States to have an even greater voice in decisions on recalls and other safety and satisfaction issues."

In response to questioning, Sasaki acknowledged that Toyota’s North American management were not included in the recall decision-making process in the past. Speaking through a translator, he said that this policy may have caused "some concern or suspicion."

He said Toyota will deploy the new system immediately should the company issue another recall.

Questions unresolved

At the conclusion of the hearing, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the committee’s chairman, said key questions remain unanswered about Toyota’s safety record.

"We feel some frustration in trying to communicate or effort to get to the bottom of some of the questions," he said, adding that the frustration was due in part to the language barrier.

"It’s the question of accountability," the senator said. "I think there is more knowledge at the table than has disclosed itself."

Rockefeller also pledged to work on "comprehensive legislation" aimed at improving how the government regulates the auto industry. "The American people deserve a top-to-bottom review, not just on past errors, but on the road ahead," he said.

He said Congress should consider, among other things, making brake override systems mandatory for all automakers and require senior executives to legally certify information submitted to safety regulators.

Since 2000, there have been 43 complaints of fatal incidents that allegedly involve sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

While those complaints have not yet been confirmed, the reported incidents involve 52 fatalities and 38 injuries, NHTSA said.

The sudden acceleration issue has been in the spotlight since it was disclosed last month that an accident involving a Toyota vehicle killed four people in San Diego last August free credit scores.

That accident sparked the recall of millions of Toyota vehicles for problems with floor mats that could cause accelerator pedals to become trapped. Toyota has subsequently recalled millions more cars for "sticky" accelerator pedals.

"It’s clear that somewhere along the way, public safety took a back seat to corporate profits," Rockefeller said.

Akio Toyoda, the company’s president, acknowledged last week that Toyota’s rapid growth over the last few years has contributed to the recent safety problems.

Concern about electronics

However, some lawmakers and outside researchers have suggested that sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles could also be caused by defects in its electronic throttle control system (ETCS).

Toyota maintains that electronics are not to blame for sudden acceleration.

"As a result of our extensive testing, we do not believe sudden unintended acceleration because of a defect in our ETCS has ever happened," Uchiyamada said. "However, will continue to search for any event in which such a failure could occur."

LaHood said NHTSA is conducting a review of the electronic throttle control system in Toyota vehicles. He also said the Transportation Department may recommend that all cars sold in the United States come equipped with a brake override system.

Lawmakers criticized NHTSA for failing to respond sufficiently to reports of sudden acceleration dating back several years. "The public’s trust has been compromised and the system has broken down," Rockefeller said.

LaHood, who was named Transportation Secretary in January 2009, defended his agency.

"NHTSA has a very aggressive enforcement program," he said. "We stand ready to ensure prompt action on any additional defects that we have reason to believe are present."

Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, told the committee that regulators need to enact radical reform and that lawmakers should provide additional resources to ensure effective oversight.

"The government has to totally revamp its investigatory system," said the Center for Auto Safety’s Ditlow. "It has to realize that it’s the cop on the beat, not Mr. Nice Guy."

Toyota has also come under fire for a 2009 memo in which staffers boasted of the company saving $100 million by negotiating with U.S. regulators for a limited recall for certain cars.

In response to a question about the 2009 report, David Strickland, NHTSA’s administrator, denied that the agency has shown Toyota any preferential treatment.

"The claims that Toyota made about negotiating or influences are false," he said. "That document has no foundation."

Inaba, whose name appeared on the document, said it was prepared before he rejoined the company and was inconsistent with Toyota’s "guiding principle."  

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Virginia may be for lovers, but Florida is for romantics, with four cities – Miami, Gainesville, Orlando and Tallahassee – ranked among the 20 most romantic cities by Amazon. com.

Miami ranked second, followed by Gainesville at No. 6, Orlando at No. 10 and Tallahassee at No. 18.

Miami was also named the nation’s sexiest city, with the most per capita sales in the sexual wellness category, according to Amazon.

Miami Gardens was on the list of least romantic cities, with the fewest number of overall purchases in that category.

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For the first time in history, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing special water quality standards that would apply to only one state – Florida.

The EPA, responding partly to a lawsuit, plans a series of limits on phosphorus and nitrogen – nutrients that come from fertilizer and wastewater – for Florida waters that are different from the rest of the U.S.

A news release from the agency said the new limits are “to protect people’s health, aquatic life and the long-term recreational uses of Florida’s waters, which are a critical part of the state’s economy.”

But, one group already is slamming the proposal as a costly burden for the state. The Don’t Tax Florida Coalition, made up mostly of agricultural interests, sent out a news release, calling the proposed standards “a de facto water tax from Washington that will impose major economic hardship on Florida’s battered economy, with questionable benefits to our environment.”

The coalition said one study estimates a $50 billion infrastructure bill to comply with the standards, which will result in higher water bills.

“It simply makes no sense to force Florida to spend billions of scarce dollars in excess of what is necessary to meet an arbitrary federal regulation,” said Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, in the coalition’s news release.

The new proposal is the result of a 2009 consent decree between the EPA and Florida Wildlife Federation.

According to the EPA, nutrient pollution can damage drinking water sources; increase exposure to harmful algal blooms, which are made of toxic microbes that can cause damage to the nervous system or even death; and form byproducts in drinking water from disinfection chemicals, some of which have been linked with serious illnesses, such as bladder cancer.

The EPA also said nutrient problems can happen locally or much farther downstream, leading to degraded lakes, reservoirs and estuaries, and to hypoxic “dead” zones where aquatic life can no longer survive short term personal loans. High amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus in surface water result in harmful algal blooms, dead fish, reduced mating grounds and nursery habitats for fish.

“Florida has led the way with rigorous scientific analysis and data collection needed to address nutrient pollution. By relying on the best science, we can set standards that protect people’s health and preserve water bodies used for drinking, swimming, fishing and tourism,” said Peter S. Silva, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water, in a release. “New water quality standards, developed in collaboration with the state, will help protect and restore inland waters that are a critical part of Florida's history, culture and economic prosperity.”

A 2008 Florida Department of Environmental Protection report assessing water quality revealed that about 1,000 miles of rivers and streams, 350,000 acres of lakes and 900 square miles of estuaries are not meeting the state's water quality standards because of excess nutrients. These represent about 16 percent of Florida’s assessed river and stream miles, 36 percent of assessed lake acres and 25 percent of assessed estuary square miles. The actual number of miles and acres of waters impaired for nutrients is likely higher, as there are waters that have not yet been assessed.

The proposed action, announced Friday, also seeks comment on a new regulatory process for setting standards to drive water quality improvements in already impaired waters. The proposed new regulatory provision, called restoration standards, would be specific to nutrients in Florida.

The EPA will accept public comments on the proposed standards and will conduct three public hearings on the proposed rule. The hearings are scheduled for Feb. 16, 17 and 18 in Tallahassee, Orlando and West Palm Beach, respectively.

The West Palm Beach hearing will be 1-5 p.m. and 7-10 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Palm Beach International Airport, at 1301 Belvedere Road.

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Savvis Chairman James E. Ousely has been appointed interim CEO at the company after Chief Executive Phil Koen stepped down on Friday, Savvis announced today.

Koen had been with Savvis, the Town and Country-based provider of Internet infrastructure services for corporations, since March 2006. His resignation was effective at the end of last week.

“In consultation with our board of directors, and knowing we have a very strong leadership team in place, this is an excellent time for me to move on to a new opportunity and to watch Savvis continue to grow and excel,” Koen said in a company news release.

He didn’t elaborate on the opportunity that led him to resign.

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About 155 employees at a Mississauga air conditioning manufacturer that abruptly closed three weeks ago did not get their back pay before Christmas, but finally collected some of it by New Year’s Day.

Bob Chernecki, a senior official for the Canadian Auto Workers, said on Monday that workers at the M&I Air Systems plant picked up cheques with two weeks of earnings worth more than $1,000 on Dec. 30 after a glitch with M&I’s bankers prevented earlier payment.

However, the workers are still waiting for cheques for a third week of work and vacation pay, plus some indication about the plant’s future, Chernecki added.

"They (the workers) have been told that management is making arrangements for the third week and vacation pay sometime later this month.

"Beyond that, there are no guarantees of anything until they know the status of the plant."

Chernecki also said the company didn’t give the employees eight weeks’ notice of a layoff, as required under provincial labour law.

M&I, which provides air-moving technology and systems for industrial and institutional buildings, missed a pay on Dec high quality business cards. 10 but told employees it would submit earnings the following Monday if they worked on the weekend to finish a project.

But the company didn’t pay the employees, who earn between $18 and $19.50 an hour, on the Monday and laid them off the next day without warning.

When demands for pay and information about the plant’s status were ignored, workers occupied the plant for more than three hours on Dec. 21. They left after M&I agreed to a meeting with the union.

M&I indicated it would provide workers with two weeks of back pay within a few days and a decision soon on whether the plant would reopen, Chernecki said.

"They (employees) should know this week or next whether they have a future," Chernecki said.

A company spokesman could not be reached for comment.

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U.K. unemployment unexpectedly fell for the first time since February 2008, adding to signs the economy is emerging from its deepest recession in at least three decades.

Claims for jobless benefits declined by 6,300 in November to 1.63 million, the Office for National Statistics said in London today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 26 economists was an increase of 12,500. The number of people seeking work in the three months through October rose 21,000 to 2.49 million, the smallest gain in 17 months.

The figures are a boost for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is counting on an economic revival to lift support for his Labour Party before a general election due by June. The economy has lost more than 600,000 jobs since the recession began, with the axe falling hardest on people under the age of 24.

“This a real shot in the arm,” Howard Archer, chief European economist at HIS Global Insight in London, said by telephone. “It’s very encouraging. However, I don’t think it’s an end for the rise in unemployment, which may continue until the end of next year. There’s a still a danger the economy may relapse next year, so I don’t think it’ll have a big impact on the Bank of England’s view of things things.”

Market Reaction

The pound rose after the report and was trading at $1.6334 as of 10:38 a.m. in London compared with $1.6240 yesterday. The 10-year gilt yield was little changed on the day at 3.892 percent.

The number of people in work rose by 53,000 to 28.9 million in the quarter through October, the biggest increase for 17 months, the statistics office said. In October, the number of claims rose by 5,900 instead of the 12,900 originally reported. The claimant rate in November was unchanged at 5 percent.

“It is encouraging that there are more people in jobs as we get near to Christmas, and also that so many more young people have been helped,” Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper said instant payday loan. “But it is still tough for a lot of people, and we still expect unemployment to increase again. So we are determined to do more.”

Unemployment has risen by less than officials initially predicted as companies froze pay and cut working hours to retain skilled labor needed once the economy returns to growth.

Jobless Rate

At 7.9 percent, the U.K. jobless rate is below the 10 percent in the U.S. and the 9.8 percent euro-region average. Many economists expect it to peak below 10 percent, compared with the postwar high of 11.9 percent record in 1984. Treasury forecasts published last week show the level of jobless claims is close to a peak.

The opposition Conservative lead in opinion polls has shrunk in recent weeks to less than 10 percentage points after Brown stepped up attacks on bankers and portrayed the Conservatives as the party of the rich. The margin is narrow enough to deny the opposition an outright majority at the election.

The labor market is likely nevertheless weigh on the wider economy, and companies may be slow to resume hiring as they initially increase the hours of existing workers, economists say.

Average earnings growth picked up to 1.5 percent in the quarter through October from 1.4 percent, with the rate excluding bonuses unchanged at 1.7 percent.

The fragility of the recovery was underlined earlier this month when Corus Group Ltd., the European unit of India’s Tata Steel, said it will cut 1,700 jobs at its Teeside plant in northeast England after demand for metal dropped. Diageo Plc, the world’s biggest liquor-maker, is also cutting jobs after closing facilities including a packaging plant and a distillery.

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Countries with a large government role in the economy don’t do significantly better in avoiding deep recessions than those with smaller public sectors, the Bank for International Settlements said.

While data from the latest recession suggest government spending helps stabilize economies, the effect seems to have weakened since the mid-1980s, according to the study published in the Basel, Switzerland-based BIS’s quarterly report. Openness to trade and monetary policy may be gaining in importance, the study said.

“Government size does not appear to reduce the depth of recessions,” authors Madhusudan Mohanty and Fabrizio Zampolli wrote.

The research was prompted by debate after the global financial crisis and recession about “the link between government size and output volatility,” according to the BIS. The study looked at data since 1970 from countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

While countries with “larger governments” such as Denmark and Norway had a smaller average loss of output over time, some with large governments, such as Sweden, have had more severe recessions, the study said.

Recessions have become “considerably longer” in the past 25 years and government spending to counter declining growth may deepen the boom-and-bust cycle, according to the BIS, which acts as a clearinghouse between central banks.

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General Electric — the last of the giant diversified conglomerates — has adopted a strategy that was once unthinkable: narrowing its focus. It’s a risky move for a company that had counted on its diversity as a hedging tool. But it’s also one that may pay off in spades.

By selling off media and entertainment division NBC Universal to Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500), GE is left with its core infrastructure business, which includes energy, transportation and health care units, as well as finance arm GE Capital and some consumer and industrial businesses. GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt said on Thursday that the Comcast deal will allow GE to "play offense" by reinvesting in infrastructure, which performed very well during the recession.

That would mark a nice shift from GE’s defensive play, which was led by its flagging media division. NBC Universal’s profit has plunged 27% so far in 2009, compared to a 14% rise in earnings from its energy infrastructure businesses. Unlike NBC (and GE Capital for that matter), GE’s infrastructure unit helped the company weather the economic storm.

GE (GE, Fortune 500) bought NBC in 1985 for $6.3 billion to act as a hedge against its industrial businesses. With businesses in seemingly every sector, GE had counted on that part of its company to always do well no matter what the economic climate.

But analysts say holding onto NBC became too risky for GE, as the changing media landscape made it difficult to know how to invest. Internet media has soared, but it remains unclear how it will be monetized. Cash flow margins at NBC’s cable networks have been solid, but its broadcast channels have just a slim 5% margin.

"They’re getting out of a market at a good price where it is unclear whether they’re going to succeed," said Ed Zabitsky, analyst with ACI Research. "When you’re uncertain about a unit and you can sell it for a tremendous amount, you can take out a tremendous amount of risk."

Dialing back risk, dialing up growth. Many say GE has taken on enough risk by holding onto its finance unit, GE Capital. Once a driver of 40% of GE’s operating profit, GE Capital has gotten slammed by the subprime mortgage crisis and now contributes just more than 14% of GE’s earnings.

Analysts say that the main reason GE isn’t shopping GE Capital around is that GE won’t be able to get top dollar for the unit because of the lingering effects of the credit crisis.

Also, unlike NBC, GE Capital actually has some synergies with its core business. In addition to its mortgage and lending business, GE Capital finances the parent company’s infrastructure purchases, and it offers financing to GE’s vendors as well no fax payday loans.

Even in its heyday in the 1990s, when NBC was making upwards of $400 million a year for GE, the media company had no other synergies with GE’s other businesses. Now that NBC is slumping, GE decided it was the right time to unload it.

"As management reshapes GE, there’s clearly going to be a focus on the classic infrastructure businesses that have been its cash cows, namely energy, transportation, health care," said Nick Heymann, analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach. "Everything else that’s left will be a facilitator for one of those core businesses."

Heymann said the businesses that GE will decide to hold onto will all be focused on growth. GE believes that its infrastructure and related businesses have the best chance to succeed because of those units’ strong positions in the fast-growing emerging markets.

"This deal gives us tremendous flexibility at exactly the right moment and time," said Immelt on a conference call with investors. "There are lots of global opportunities in infrastructure as we think about the company going forward."

The death of the conglomerate. Experts say GE’s decision to unload risk and focus on what it does best puts a nail in the coffin of the conglomerate idea.

"The whole idea of conglomerate is really lousy," said Peter Cohan, a venture capitalist, management consultant and GE shareholder. "You can’t hedge cash flows of one business from another, because they can’t predict how they’ll interact."

Cohan said that over time, companies found the notion that they could offset risk from one industry by owning a business in another was overly simplistic, as there is no way to ensure that one business will succeed when another fails.

Instead, according to Zabitsky, GE and other companies are now opting to increase their capital reserves to offset risk instead of making non-core acquisitions.

But not everyone agrees that GE’s strategy is the best.

"GE had enough balance in its business that if something got disrupted, there would be something else there to save the day," said Rick Munarriz, senior analyst at The Motley Fool. "I don’t necessarily agree with its decision to trim down and focus on its core. This isn’t the time to shrink, this is the time to take advantage of everyone else shrinking." 

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With sales slow and credit tight, small merchants are scrambling to stock their shelves for the year’s biggest shopping season.

Retailers traditionally borrow money to buy holiday inventory. But credit for small businesses has dried up this year, and with the recession slowing sales, few merchants have cash on hand. The crunch is forcing business owners to find new ways to keep running.

For a handful of New York City retailers in one hard-hit stretch of Brooklyn, a small community lender is playing the role of Santa Claus. Lesia Bates Moss, president of Seedco Financial Services, noticed an ever-increasing number of vacant storefronts along Atlantic Avenue. In response, she hosted a meeting with a dozen area retailers to find out how her organization could help.

One common problem the merchants cited was getting enough credit to buy sufficient holiday inventory. So Seedco Financial, a nonprofit that specializes in financing for underserved communities, launched a streamlined holiday program: Retailers who could provide a marketing plan for spending the money and driving foot traffic would get fast loans.

On Monday, Seedco staffers started delivering checks. A typical loan request is for around $20,000, to be repaid over the next year at interest rates of 6% to 10%.

"It doesn’t take a lot in the way of capital access to help these businesses," Moss said. "We really needed to get money into the hands of these merchants before Black Friday, so they could stock their stores."

Toys and beer glasses: Karen Zebulon, the owner of toy and clothing retailer Gumbo on Atlantic Ave., is one of Seedco Financial’s borrowers.

"Especially this year, because we have had such hard times, we really need a boost," she said. "If I can really strategize and plan and buy the right merchandise, I think it can be a turning point for me."

Zebulon plans to ramp up her inventory of toys, because even in tight times, customers continue to spend on kids. She’s impressed at how quickly Seedco Financial got cash into her hands.

"This was — you could say — a godsend," she said. "It is saving me and saving a lot of other merchants that are receiving the loans." Without the financing, she would have been pulling a string of all-nighters trying to handcraft toys to stock her shelves.

Artez’n Gift and Gallery, which sells products made by local Brooklyn artisans, also got a loan from Seedco. Owner Jessica Furst got her check on Monday and "ran to the bank." She plans to use the cash to stock up on one of her best-selling items: pint glasses with illustrations of Brooklyn landmarks on them. They’re a proven customer lure, drawing in tourists and others who make a special trip to Artez’n for the glasses.

With sales slow this year, Furst wouldn’t have been able to afford to produce the Brooklyn beer glasses without the last-minute loan. "I would have been without them again, which would have been a loss of income for me, and possibly a loss of customer base," she said.

She will also use some of the loan money to fix the high-end printer she uses for her graphic design business. The small loan will make a big difference for Furst: "It will enable me to get back on my feet."

The big challenge for merchants will come over the next month. The National Retail Federation forecasts that this year’s holiday sales will decline 1%, to $437.6 billion.

"The real concern is, can you sell stuff?" said Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist of the National Federation of Independent Businesses. "I am sure inventory accumulation has been cautious. It doesn’t look like it is going to be much better than last year, which was terrible."

Squeezing by: Not every retailer is lucky enough to have a community lending program to turn to.

Clark Kepler’s dad opened Kepler’s Books in 1955. Like so many other independent bookstores, Kepler’s Books is fighting for sales in an industry now dominated by Big Box discount retailers and Internet book sellers. Four years ago, with the shop on the brink of closure, 25 members of the Silicon Valley community voluntarily donated $1 million to save the neighborhood bookstore.

The recession has further ravaged the business, which saw a double-digit sales decline. "We had the most difficult time this last several months with the cash-flow issues," Kepler said. "We managed to get through it, but we were robbing Peter to pay Paul every step of the way."

One way the shop is coping is by churning inventory faster than it typically would. Bookstores can return unsold goods to publishers, and Kepler is shuffling fast to fine-tune his holiday lineup.

"It is a mad scramble much of the time," he said. "We have needed to scrutinize our inventory more and more to be sure that we have books that are selling." A book that languishes is "like money sitting on the shelf that we are not utilizing."

Kepler could use additional financing to give his bookstore more breathing room, but he’s had little luck with the banks. He talked with one lender about a Small Business Administration-backed loan, but pulled out after deciding that the loan available for his shop wouldn’t be big enough to justify all the effort involved in the application process.

Kevin Stein, co-owner of the Montana Fish Company in Bozeman, Mont., is also frustrated with the banks. "We have been to every bank in town," he said. "If we could expand into a bigger facility, we could take on more business, we could hire more people — it is a win-win."

But so far, with no expansion loan yet available, Stein’s seafood and wine market isn’t doing its usual seasonal hiring. "We didn’t lay anyone off, but it was a combination of not rehiring and not hiring for the holiday season," Stein said. To make up for the staffing decrease, Stein and his co-owner have upped their own hours.

"As employees filtered out, we just simply didn’t rehire, which means I spent a lot less time at home," he said.

Like the merchants that borrowed from Seedco Financial, Stein is now looking outside the banking industry for help. He’s trying to get a loan directly from the Small Business Administration, through its disaster lending program. A natural glass explosion one block away from Montana Fish may make the company eligible.

Stein and his business partner, Travis Byerly, have been pulling together mountains of documentation.

"It is a little mind-boggling," Stein said of application process. "But it is a great loan if we can get it. It could be a game changer." 

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U.S. shoppers may stretch tight budgets this year to reward loved ones after months of thrift, a softening of heart that store chains hope will erase the holiday season sales debacle of 2008.

Retailers from Wal-Mart Stores to Gap, RadioShack and Walgreens opened their doors on Thursday as U.S. families celebrate Thanksgiving, aiming to capture early bird shoppers a day before the official start of holiday shopping on “Black Friday.”

The unsettled state of the U.S. economy, with a 26-year high in unemployment and tighter access to credit, has industry holiday sales forecasts varying from a decline of 3 percent to an increase of 2 percent.

“The consumer is confused. They don’t know whether to spend or not,” said Marshal Cohen, senior analyst at retail consultant NPD Group.

Carlos Abril was browsing at an Old Navy in Manhattan on Thursday, but said he would not shop nearly as much this year.

“It’s tough this year, so we’re cutting back,” he said. Abril does not plan to spend on himself but would buy gifts for his nephews and other children in his family.

A weak U.S. dollar, however, has been a boon to tourists.

“Stuff is always cheaper here anyway and even more so with the dollar,” said Katy Moore, a visitor from Ireland, who was shopping at Foot Locker. She exited the store with a bag and said she would spend quite of bit of money while on vacation.

As the year-end holidays draw closer and deeper discounts beckon, consumers may splurge a bit more. Industry experts expect a strong turnout on the Black Friday weekend, but caution it will not mean a bumper holiday season as shopping trails off in the weeks before Christmas.

“The recession last year was a shock to the consumer. This year they are already tired of it,” Cohen said. “They might even reward themselves for being frugal for the whole year.”

The psyche of American shoppers is being closely watched, as a return to spending would drive overall U.S. economic growth. Early hopes for a consumer-led recovery have pushed retail shares up 47 percent this year, compared with a 23 percent rise for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Cohen, a 30-year industry veteran, travels to malls all along the U.S. East Coast over the holiday weekend. He now sets out on Thanksgiving Day as so many more stores open on the holiday itself. While traffic to stores on the Thursday is relatively light, people who do make it out are mostly hard-core shoppers and highly likely to buy.

“It’s the ultimate conversion factor,” he said.

For a graphic on U.S. holiday sales trends, click on (here)

For a Reuters Insider segment on holiday sales, click on(link.reuters.com/wuj63g) 

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