"the wall street journal report" begins right now. >> we'll have all of that coming up in just a minute, but first let's get to bill griffeth with sosome of the headlines this we. bill? >> here's a lookt what's making news as we head into a new week on wall street. the holiday shopping season kicked off with a bang this year. thousands of people lined up to start shopping on black ffriday and it happened even earlier this year. some stores opened their d door at midnight. shoppers looked for bargains on toys to tablets to tvs, and they found them, most of them. retailers will make as much as 40% of their yearly profit. the markets, though, had a gloomy holiday shortened week. the holidays fell on concerns about europe's economy and its

imct on the u.s., the failure of the congressional super committee, andof all things, a poor bond option in germany and italy as well. meanwhile, a new stress test is coming for america's banks, the federal reserve announcing that the natioion's 31 biggest banks will be examined, testing their ability to withstand a major market and econonomic shock, including a theoretical rise in unemployment to 13% and further deterioration in europe. the results will be made plic in mah. amemerica's economy grew at slightly slower pace than estimated. the overall measure of the u.s. economy was revised downward for the third quarter to an annualized rate of just 2%, partly on lower business inventories. > and existing home sales for october rose expectedly. low interest rates and high rents pushed people to the housing market. sales climbed by 1.4%. and they're off. black friday kicked off the start of the 2011 holiday shopping season, so the question

is, will consumers be naughty or ninice to thee retail industry s year? aa woman who should know, who ws up on midnight at thanksgiving night in macy's in new yoor new city. how was it? >> it was busy. 900 people were waiting f the storeses to open, so it could b an advantage for retailers opening at mimidnight. >> there was a disagreement with them opening earlier and disrupting familyy thanksgiving time, bubut they'll do it agai won't they? >> they'll do it aagain, but he overall, black friday typically counts for 9 to 10% of holiday sales. >> what is your expectation of the overall season this year? >> i think it will be pretty good. we're looking for total sales growth t to be up 3 to 4%, pric

increases out there coupled with innovative items, some of which are not cheap. look at the ipads, the iphones. i think that's all going to drive sales. >> is anybody going to make money, though? the bargains are legion this year. they've been very aggressive with their pricing and their marketing, but is anybody going to make money this weekend?d? >> they'll make some money for the season. overall for black friday weekend, typically the first day of black friday, which is black friday, it's not a big margin da it's a low margin day but it's a traffic day. if anything, black friday weekend is typically more self-purchase than gifting and you have to go through the rest of the season. >> tho in the markets are over in europe. are they worried about that right now? >> no, i think it seems far away to some and to some it's not really impacting their spending power. if you think bay lot of the u.s. retailers, more of them are

solely focused on domestic than european. certainly with the companies, we are seeing those witith europea exposure, a lot of questions are being asked. >> if anything, retail shopping has been rather resililient thi year, hasn't it? >> it has. we've had steady sales, and november seems even better. >> what are your big box store expectatio expectations? >> i think they'll do well. target has had some new things this year, and if anything, i think we'll see price matte to the discounters. >> walmart has reduced layaway, financing, things like that, so the incentives are back this time around. >> incentives are back, and i think part of the reason why, you've seen more competition out there whether it's retailers

like t jrkj maxx and ross. >> i reathat 60% of shoppers will be playing santa themsees this year, so is promotion of markets leading to self-gifting? >> we are seeing self-gifting because when you see deals out there, they buyuy for themselve. sometimes a little embarrassing to get somebody a gift that's a big discount rather than full price. >> that's true. why not get it for yourself if you can. who do you think are the big leaders ththis year? >> i think it's all about tablets. ipads, kindles, you name it, it will be a big tablet year for the retailers. also boots and accessories. jewelry and watches are performing well also. if it gets colder, sweaters. it could be a good sweater year if we just have the weather cooperate. >> apparel should be a good yeyear, i would think. >> weaven't had very good

apparel years in years past, and overall cosmetics are working. >> on-line versus brick and mortar. what are your expectations for on-line this year? >> on-line should be up into the teens, and d free shipping is helping. we're seeing m more retailers g into the fray with free shipping, and we should see free shipping last a while, too. >> is anybody making money? there's one thing when you've got the doorbusters on black friday that bring people in a get the traffic going, but the free shipping is more much of the holiday shopping season for the on-line retailers. are they making money doing that? >> they will because whenne of the elements is on-ne versus store, typically the on-line margins are much greater than store margins. if you're able to increase the average transaction, it's going to sustain and potentially move higher on-line sales and on-line sales profitability. >> we've been waiting for sales to encroach on the bck and

mortar. is it encroaching on what woul be brick and mortar stores? >> not yet. it's moving higher, and some retailers will see it as 10 or 20% of their sales, but it's not a 0-50 split yet. the ease of transaction is helping it move higher. >> so your takeaway for the holiday shopping season this year? >> the theme is planned promotions. i ththink it's more promotionali think it's planned, i think inventory levels are pretty clean, and thos clean inventory levels will taste good as they see demand emerge. >> i'll let you get back to shopping. your channel checks, as it were. >> 30 people are out there looking over black friday sales and i'll be out there myself right after this. >> now back to maria with the rest of the show. up next on the wall street jojournal report, consumer concerns this holiday seasason. from making a list and checking it twice to dreading the time you spend in line at the register. what you'll be spending and feeling this year. and later, raising money for

americans in need. we have theatest poverty statisticscs impacting busiss of charities anand how you can hel. i'm an expert on softball. and tetea parties. i'll have more awkward coconversations than i'm equipped for because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy but it's for them, so i've found a wa massmutual iowned by our policyholders so they matterost to us.

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my mommy! that's right... your mommy donated her immune cells to help destroy your leukemia. st. jude children's research hospital pioneered this breakthrough that's helping save kids like hayli across america. thanks for letting me play with her. thanks for my daughter's life. thanks for giving to st. jude. give thanks for the healthy kids in your life. and give to those who are not. go to st. jude.org or shop wherever you see our magnifying glass. welcome back. believe it or not, there are 30 shopping days from black friday to christmas eve in 2011 in this season off gift giving, tipping and holiday travel. what are consumers most concerned about now? greg daugherty is the executive director of consumer reports

magazinene and greg joins us no. good to sesee you. >> good to see you. >> this is the fourth straight holiday season with really an uncertain economic picture. everybody is nervovous out ther so how is that impacting how much consumers are planning to spend this ar? >> what they're telling us is they're probably going to spend a bit less than they spent last year. it looks like a better year than 2008, which was sort of the wot of it in terms of the recession, but they're going into thiss holiday season very cautious. >> do you think that changes once they're in the stores, or does that usually play out when they say what they're going to do beforehand? >> we do find people tend to overspend. most americans go into the season with a budget, but we know from past experience an awful lot of people go over their budget by significant amounts. it's all about what happens when they get inin the stores and wh kind of deals merchants have for them. >> so people do set a budget, then, for gift giving? >> mor people are now than last year. >> that makes sense.

a sign of the times, right? you've polled people with something called t the joy inde? tell us about that. jothe joy index is if they're feeling happier this season than last season and most people don't. they're concerned, they're more concerned about the economy, and when they get into the stores, they're going to be very value consciouous and prices are a b deal. >> they want a deal. >> they do, and they're willing to wait for it. >> what kind of products do you think ey will be buying? what do you have in terms of the products that will be particularly hot? >> right. well, the hottest category always is clothing. but nenext to that is electroni, and it looksks this year like t ipad, the new iphone, thehe i e iphone s, anything for kids, the ro me elmo. but gift cards are hot and cash

is hot also. >> that never goess out of styl, right? so how effective is all this for the retailers? does it mean since pepeople wan deals there going to get deals? >> i think it's going to be very competitive, and if retailers are going t to get them to open their wallets, they'll have t t be there with deals. the on-line shopping looks like it might t be a litittle flat t year from prious years, it's not going up a lot, and many people say they get better deals in the stores themselves, so i think that speakto a lot of retailers' ability to kind of communicate with consumers and offer things they want. >> tell us more about that, because we've seen these strategies that people take on. what kind of strategies are people using to ensure that they get the best deal ever? for a long time it was just that, it was the on-line story. people kept flocking to dot-coms to get the best eal. talk to us about price comparison, the smartphones, social media, cash v versus crit. >> yeah. people are usising every tool a their disposal.

smartphones, indeed, people are using those to actually buy things, to price shop. actually, where people use their smartphones most are to call their friends and say, what do you want,and they also use them to kill time in those long lines in stores. but people are out for deals and they'll go anyplace for them, and they also told us they'll spend on average 19 hours holiday shopping this year, which is up from four hours last year, which says to us people are willing to spend the time to look until ty're sure ey've got the best possible deal before they buy. >> greg, thanks for talking to you. >> thank you. up next on the "wall street journal report," feel a need in this season of giving? we'll take a look at people who we'll take a look at people who are hungry and the four- our machines help identify early stages of cancncer, and it's sething that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology,

you know that the things that you do i in your lifmatter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor,r, i'm sure i c could take somethg positive away from that. [ jocelyn ] my name is jocelyn. and i'm a cancer survivor.r. [ woman ] i had cancer. i have no evidence of disease now. [ woman #2 ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would jusust make susuch a complete picture of why i'm sititting here toda. ♪ [ man ] from the moment we walk in the front door, just to see me -- not as a cancer patient, but as a person that had been heed by their work i was justlown away. life's been good to me. i feel likone of the luckiest guys inin the wor. ♪

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. [ inaudible ] >> for lunch we have something where you can start at 1.20 a20 go up to 190. we have lots of things on the menu and we use only the body of the fish. at the end of the day we're talking about food that will potentially spoil. because of that, it goes to the charities and the food is eaten by somebody else. they are all excited because the

food is coming from a restaurant. in new york, i think the official number,r, 1.84 million people are hungry, which is huge for one city. it makes me feel good. we are doing something very meaningful to the community. >> charity from the kitchenand beyond. as we start another holiday season, we're taking a look at the need of thosemericans living in poverty. jillian is the director of american harvest, and we have the national spokesperson for the salvation army. thank k you so much for joining us. now, jillian, you were on the program about this time last year. you described the number of people using emergency food services for thehe first time i their lives because of what we're seeing economically. you're feeding 300,000 new yorkers a week. how would characterize hunger right now? >> inew york city, we're

seeing a sustained high need for food. we're seeing people turn to food kitchens and food pant treries the first time, and those who i thought would be moving on are still relying on that food. people need that help getting food to theirir families. >> there was a central poverty measure ththis month that showea record 49.1 million americans lived in poverty in 2010. does this surprise you? how shock rg thesenumbers? >> the numbers are very discouraging, and yet they're real. we found in own ministry and programs across the count an increase. four years ago we served 28 miion people, last year we served 30 million people. so you can get the sense. and we've seen a 92% increase in demand in our own feeding programs across the country. >> and have you seen a changngen teterms of the services that ha been in the biggestt demand? >> well, very h high demand for housing because of homelessness,

very high demand for food, high demand for utility assistance because the unemployment rate is still so high and yet this popoverty issue is really a maj issue that we're looking at strategically for th long run. >> jilly, the price of food. eating at home. the price higher in 2011 than 2010. more than 20% people surveyed by gallup are reporting they don't have enough money to buy food. talk about the food insecurity across the u.s. what can be done to move the needle here and change this? >> f food insecurity is very hi. it's close to 49 million americans classified as food insecure which essentially means they don't always know where their next meal is going to come from over 60% of those are children. food costs are rising. right here in new york city,

where city harvest is based, those poverty statistics and the food insecurity numbers often don't tell the whole story. we're seeing many new yorkers who we know need to be earning around 0,000 a year for a family of three to be considered self-sufficient. just a point between that gap, at the point where food stamp eligibility cuts off and you're considered self-sufficient. >> what you think about that, and do you see a particular group that seems to be getting hit harder than others? >> families with children and families suffering from addictions within the household, and one of the things we're trying to do is to get beyond the immediate, the temporary aid, whichch is so important, t safety net, to make sure there's food on the table. we're looking at what are the barriers to making lifestytyle changes? what are the barriers to employment? what are the barriers to being able to afford rent? so these issues, we can keep feeding people constantly, which we're more than happy todo, and many organizizations like us dog

the same thing. but we have to be willing to address, what are thehe issues withthis sustained perty? our lifetime strategy is beginning to have an immediate impact on poverty and reduce the poverty rate in america. it starts w with understanding what are the barriers that people are trying to overcome? >> are there any certain barriers you're seeing? >> i think the barriers are very real and we're certainly seeing all of that right here in new york city. we're working to help people really access the food they'll need in the future. we hear a lot of talk of food deserts and just making sure people have access to quality food, which is key. and meanwhile, peopl are hungry tonight. we have to keep that food moving today. more americans are turning to food kitchs and food pantries and we have to make sure we're getting the food to them this season. >> let me talk about how the salvation army is havg

difficul difficulty with food collecting. >> the very firs kettle was in san francisco in 1991, and it wasn't there to raraise money, was there to ask people to donate food. this bibig pot was put out in s francisco, and the salvation army the first day said, put food in this pot so we can feed people, and he began to discover they were putting food but they were also putting money in that large pot, and it became the birth of the red cattle company. it's important to know that wherever you see that kettle in montmatter what town you live in, the moneney that's donated will stayay? that community for thavery purpose. >> thank you very much for joining us today. and happy holidays. jilly stevens, major george

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wsjr@cnbc.cocom. we will ar from tiffany, american eagle and barnes & noble, among others. on monday, the homes sold will be reported. and on tuesday, the home price index. and thursday, the 1st of december, we will find out about total auto andan truck sales, tt report out on thursday. and then onn friday, we will ge the employment report of novemberer for 2011. we'l'll find out how many jobs e economy lostst or gained in the last nth. typically a market mover. that's thehe show for today. thanks so much for joining us. next week i'll be reporting from london with ta look at the economic drama on the other side of the market. of the market. have

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he came to st. ju de children's research hospital where our pioneering research helps save kids, with brain tumors across america. how many stars e there? oh, that's easy... one... two... three... get outta here. give thanks for the healthy kids in your life and give to those who are not. go to st. jude.org or shop wherever you see ou our magnifying glass. 5,000,001... 5,000,002... the following program is made possible by the friends and partners of time of grace. tell me something; are there unfulfilled desires in your