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 niemi

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> tom: the exchange of military firepower on theinsula is just the latest global worry for investors, leading to today's stock sell- off. let's get you updated in tonight's "market focus." in addition to the korean conflict, worries about ireland's bailout and the ripple effect across the euro-zone continue. we'll begin with the south korean exchange traded fund, e-w-y. with the military action today, the fund fell more than 5% on heavy volume. this is a one month low. spanish stocks fell, with its e.t.f. shedding another four and a 0.5% today.[t@ it's at a three-month low over worries about its banking and government balance sheets.$Ñ and a broad measure of the 50 largest stocks in the euro-zone fell by 4%.j:b all of these global concerns led to a pop in the fear gauge of u.s. stocks, the chicago board options exchange volatility index. it jumped 12%. remember, a rising index usuall3 means investors are willing to pay more for option protection, indicating worries that stock prices may drop.o+sd a couple of economically sensitive s

as we continue our coverage "midterm 2010: it's the economy," suzanne pratt gets wall street's take on today's election. >> reporter: in washington, it may be all about elephants and donkeys, but on wall street, there's only one beast that counts. and when it comes to mid-term elections, history shows bulls love gridlock. a scenario in which republicans gain control of at least one house of congress is widely expected. anticipation of that result is also partly responsible for the 11% rally in the dow since the end of august. strategist scott wren is looking for a sell-off if democrats take the house but not the senate. >> that's what the market expected, that's what the market has been pricing in. i think we've got a lot of technical resistance up here at these april highs, so i think the market is poised, after the big run that we've had here, for some sort of modest pullback. >> reporter: investors supposedly like a divided government because it results in compromise and greater stability. it's also less likely that one party's agenda dominates. but investment pro jim awad is concer

suzanne pratt takes a look at whether higher stock prices can fix the economy and get americans back in a buying mood. ♪ >> reporter: remember the fun americans had last decade, spending money they didn't have? that was the so-called "wealth effect," and the result was people bought more stuff when their homes and investment portfolios rose in value. that's exactly what the federal reserve has said it's trying to engineer today. policymakers are looking to entice americans to go shopping by pumping up asset prices. still, economists like brian levitt doubt whether higher stock prices can boost economic activity all that much. >> for the u.s. consumer, for u.s. households that are in this de-leveraging process, inflating asset prices does help us move through this. but the united states consumer still needs to work off the excesses of the past cycle. >> reporter: and, boy, do they ever. many americans still face higher debt loads and smaller retirement accounts because they misused the ephemeral gains from sky-high home and stock prices. nevertheless, strategist tom lee thinks the fed

as suzanne pratt reports, it could be years before americans see full employment. >> reporter: it was f.d.r. who put the concept of full employment on the table in 1944. that's when he said having a job was a basic human right. full employment is often defined as a condition in which everyone who wants work can get it. a veritable labor market nirvana. but full employment does not mean the unemployment rate is zero. that's because there will always be some level of joblessness as people move from one position to another. so, economists say full employment means an unemployment rate probably closer to 4%, 5% or even 6%. whatever it is, right now the u.s. is a long way from it. and some experts question whether we'll see it again. economist joe davis says we will-- eventually. >> there are more americans unemployed as of this morning than there are employed in the entire state of california. so, it's the entire state of california effectively looking for work. so, by that metric it will just take some time before you get back to more reasonable pre- recessionary job levels. >> reporter:

suzanne pratt sat down with gammon's c.e.o., rene marion, earlier this week.she began by asking him what's driving up gold prices. , gold is priced in u.s. dollars and with this quantitative easing all the u.s. government is doing is devaluing its own currency. the main consumers of gold are off shore. so if the currency gets devalued then the price of gold has to go up. the second reason is that, you know, a lot of the international regulations around gold have been eased. for example, china individuals are allowed to buy gold. so what you see is a huge demand for gold, which is also driving the price up. >> but we're walking -- talking about investor demand for gold. and that's been a huge part of the runup in gold prices. this isn't necessarily people buying it because they want to make jewelry out of it. this is investor demand. >> as an individual, okay, you can either purchase gold stock or e. t. s., when you see negative interest rates, negative interest rates, you know that the devaluation of the currency is you're losing money every day you hide money

i'm suzanne pratt. good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, suzanne. i'm tom hudson. good night, everyone. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org