>> tom: it's a black friday bonanza as shoppers pile in for holiday bargains. almost 140 million americans will hit the stores this weekend. even macy's broke with tradition and opened at 4:00 a.m. >> we decided we didn't want to be late because when customers make up their mind to go to a store first they typically spend a lot of time there and a lot of their money there. >> tom: we look at the kick off of the holiday shopping season. you're watching "nightly business report" for friday, november 26. this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by:

this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. my colleague susie gharib is off tonight. the holiday shopping season kicked off with a mad rush into stores around the country. today is known as black friday-- the time of year retailers hopefully move into the black, turning a profit. hopes are high this holiday season. the national retail federation predicts a 2.3% increase in sales in november and december much better than last year. other forecasts call for even stronger gains. as suzanne pratt reports, black

friday could be the gift retailers are looking for. >> you can not enter here, go to the left or the right or keep the traffic moving. >> reporter: it's beginning to look a lot like christmas. from the massive crowds at macy's in herald square to the long lines at this best buy in california, retailers are ready for what could be the strongest yuletide season in four years. macy's c.e.o. terry lundgren says black friday is still a great way to gauge shoppers' pocketbooks. >> it's not just a kickoff to the season, but it is in fact the largest day of the year when it comes to macy's. so, it's a very, very important day. but, from this point forward they're all big. i mean this is the biggest, but they're all big from this point until december 27th. >> reporter: the hope is that heavy promotions today and throughout the holiday season will entice consumers to spend. after all at least some are in a better mood this year. even though unemployment is still high, there are signs of

economic recovery and the stock market is generally higher. economist mike niemira points out that the dow is up 15% since july. >> and, to the extent that consumers look to the stock market as a bellwether of the economy, things are a lot better in tone. >> reporter: more shoppers are expected to venture into stores this weekend than last year. but, the key is whether they're actually spending more. >> well i'm spending a bit more because more sales, more value for your money. so, yeah.í$s >> reporter: some experts say retailers may be pleasantly surprised by black friday results. this year, stores are offering a better mix of products and price points.

and retail analyst ken stumphauzer says consumers are feeling a bit flush after paying down debt. >> i believe that the death of the consumer was greatly exaggerated during the downturn and we're going to see them come back to the market albeit not at the same degree as 2006-2007. >> reporter: experts debate whether black friday is a strong predictor for the season with so many americans putting off their purchases 'til the last minute. still, at least some shoppers were planning a furious day of spending today. >> we're all from atlanta. so, we came to watch the parade, and just really shop, shop, shop. >> reporter: suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york >> tom: here are the stories in tonight's n.b.r. newswheel: rising tensions between north korea and south korea combined with european debt woes to take wall street lower in today's shortened trading session. the dow fell 95 points, the nasdaq lost eight and a half and the s&p 500 was off almost nine. trading volume was the lightest this year with 428 million

shares moving on the nyse and just 627 million on the nasdaq. portugal again rejected calls for a bailout by its european neighbors. instead, the debt ridden nation adopted tough austerity measures, including plans to hike taxes and cut salaries and welfare benefits. and another blow for irish banks, standard and poor's today downgraded ireland's banks on worries that nation's bailout could force some bank bondholders to take big losses. anglo irish bank, the bank of ireland and allied irish banks all saw their ratings cut. goinh

forester research. >> thank you so much.

>> tom: even by holiday standards, it was low volume trading today with the tension in korea and european worries overtaking the busy shopping. it was a mixed week for the major indices, trading through it was a mixed week for the major indices, trading through the debt concerns in europe and military action in korea. for the week, the dow industrials dropped 1%. the dow has fallen two out of the past three weeks. but for the nasdaq, this is its first weekly gain in three weeks, up seven-tenths of a percent. the s&p is almost one percent lower tonight compared to last week. of course, the u.s. markets were closed yesterday and today was a half day of trading. all the major sectors were down

today, led by material stocks as metal prices fell. miner freeport mc-moran was among the biggest sector losers, falling 3%. however, shares remain above their most recent lows of last week. with the european debt concerns continuing, the dollar has been rallying, hurting metal prices. here's the dollar index, measuring the greenback's performance against six currencies including the euro. the low earlier this month corresponds to the federal reserve's latest easing efforts. since then, the dollar has strengthened helped out by the european worries. we saw a pair of merger announcements today, including the private equity buyout of del monte foods, best known for pet food like meow mix. it is a $4 billion with three private equity firms. shareholders will get $19 per share. the company has until january 8th to find a competing bid if it can. while the announcement saw del

monte stock rally almost 5% to a new 52 week high, shares remain below the private equity price. the other is a smaller deal involving c.p.i. international. it makes communications gear. a private equity buyer will pay about $330 million or $19.50 per share, leading to today's 33% jump. clearly, lots of focus on retailers today and how the holiday season is shaping up early. sterneagie retail analyst ken stump-hauzer sees stiff competition, especially among a trio of department stores. >> if you're looking at company specific retailers i think you're going to continue to see some underperformance from some of the mid-tier department stores like j.c. penneys will be the most notable example where there's fierce competition principally with kohls and macys that are both excellent executors and have a solid merchandising strategy. >> tom: j.c. penney and kohl's were down a fraction while

macy's shares closed slightly higher. macy's is the best performer year to date of the trio. the analyst's firm is a market maker in both kohls and macys. and that's tonight's market focus. >> tom: if you had enough turkey yesterday and there still are some dirty dishes in the sink, you may be thinking about dining out tonight. while many chains have been struggling during the recession, chipotle has posted tasty results. sales have been growing double digits for the past 14 quarters. but can that continue? erika miller has a behind the

scenes look at chipotle and its mission. >> reporter: the story of what happens here begins here on a family farm on long island. satur farms grows the oregano used in chipotle's new york city restaurants. chipotle founder steve ells says local farms are key to the company's philosophy: food with integrity >> fresh is not enough any more. you need to know where the food comes from. how the animals were raised. how the produce was grown. not only for better taste, but with the environment in mind, with animal welfare in mind. with the independent family farmer in mind. >> reporter: like all chipotle suppliers, paulette satur and her husband eberhard muller raise their crop as naturally as possible. >> we use only very limited amounts of pesticides. and for the most part we are using organically approved pesticides. >> reporter: chipotle takes pride in where its ingredients come from. but can customers taste a difference? after all, oregano is just one of many seasons used to flavor

the beef. muller, a former chef at a four star restaurant, swears they can. >> there is a huge difference between herbs that were cut a day ago or an hour ago or two days or five days ago. >> reporter: ells says buying local produce and humanely raised meat is more about ethics than taste. >> when i first saw confinement pig farming, i was really affected by that. i didn't want our success as a company, or my success personally, to be based on that exploitation that i saw. >> reporter: but running a business based on personal values also comes with challenges. like finding enough large scale suppliers that meet chipotle's quality standards and growing demand. for example, chipotle hopes someday all of its beef and chicken will be naturally raised. right now, it can only reach 85%. >> we're working very closely with our suppliers to make sure they are increasing their supply.

we are also finding new farmers who are interested in growing things in a more sustainable way. >> reporter: as part of a new direction in being eco-friendly, chipotle has been building some leed certified restaurants like this one in illinois. it has a wind turbine that generates up to 10% of the restaurant's power. the asphalt reflects the sun instead of absorbing it. and the landscaping is all native plants. today there are over a thousand chipotle's nationwide. but analyst jeff bernstein rates the shares a hold. >> chipotle has been on a great trajectory, it's been higher, higher, higher. you get to a certain point where size starts to work against you. so it 's the law of large numbers. whether it be putting more people through your existing stores they could have tremendous eventually you get to a point where we don't need another site in this particular market. so ultimately unit growth has to

slow. >> reporter: chipotle has come under fire for the calorie and fat content of some of its food. a chicken burrito can have more than a thousand calories. plus, chipotle's success has led to a host of imitators, including qdoba a casual mexican food chain owned by jack in the box. ells wishes more chains would copy his philosophy instead of his menu. >> we'd ultimately like to change the way people eat and think about fast food. that just because it's fast and convenient doesn't mean it has be a typical low quality, bad for you kind of experience. >> reporter: about the only thing fast at chipotle is the service. as satur farms will tell you, oregano doesn't grow overnight. erika miller, "nightly business report," cutchogue new york. >> tom: here's what we're woods.ng for next week.

are the companies that ended his endorsement deals a year ago better off today? chrysler and fiat are gearing up on a joint venture in italy. it's the first significant step toward integration between the automakers. chrysler and fiat will invest more than one billion dollars in an italian plant to make alfa romea and jeep vehicles. more than half of the cars produced there would be for export, especially to north america. the clock is ticking for miners at the world's third largest copper mine. they are not waiting to be rescued. instead, these miners are negotiating to end a three week strike. they have until midnight to decide. the mine needs to convince more than half the unionized workers to take a $29,000 bonus to end the strike legally. friday evenk

luschini. finally as usual on this friday after thanksgiving, shoppers hit the stores in search of great deals. >> tom: as usual on this friday after thanksgiving, shoppers hit the stores in search of great deals. but many kept a tight grip on their pocketbooks to avoid spending too much. still, you know some people over did it. tonight's money file commentator says there's no need to worry if you overspent. all you have to do now is prioritize. he's ramit sethi-- author of "i will teach you to be rich." >> starting this week, you'll see pundit after pundit bemoaning america's consumerist culture. oh no, they'll say, americans are out of control. they'll trot out statistics about our deplorable spending on ipads and suvs and shoes this black friday. and then, to wrap it up, they'll suggest that we stop spending money and start keeping a budget. the only problem is budgets don't work. and trying to convince americans to spend less is a losing battle. for the last 30 years, we've heard lecture after lecture about what we should not spend money on-- lattes, shoes, vacations.

when financial leaders reprimand ordinary americans for their spending without any constructive solutions, we tend to tune them out. i'd like to suggest a new way of thinking about what we buy. i call it "conscious spending," and it means that i encourage my readers to spend extravagantly on the things they love, as long as they cut costs mercilessly on the things they don't. for example, if you love those $150 jeans and you've set up your finances to afford them, you should buy them, guilt-free. in fact, i have a reader who consciously spends over $5,000 per year on shoes, after handling all the rest of her finances. buying things we love is not, in and of itself, a bad thing no matter how many pundits tell you that your phone is too expensive! but let's focus on conscious spending, so we know precisely what we want and what we can afford, guilt-free. i'm ramit sethi. >> tom: that's "nightly business report" for friday, november 26. i'm tom hudson. goodnight everyone and have a great weekend. we hope to see all of you again next week.

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