UPI NewsTrack Business

U.S. retailers break Thanksgiving taboo

YONKERS, N.Y., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Major U.S. retailers broke a taboo and were open on Thanksgiving Thursday, a day before the official Black Friday start of holiday shopping.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kmart, The Gap Inc., Gap subsidiaries Banana Republic and Old Navy and Radio Shack Corp. were among the big retailers hoping to capture early-bird shoppers on a day that used to be considered off-limits so families and friends could spend time together and eat a traditional meal.

"I think in years past it may have been looked at as being insensitive," Ed Farrell, director of the National Research Center at the U.S. magazine Consumer Reports, told The Washington Post. "Now it's almost part of the economic reality."

The growing popularity of online retailing also shifted some Black Friday sales to Thursday, retailers and analysts said.

Bestbuy.com General Manager John R. Thompson told the Post he could sum up the benefits of shopping online in three words: crowds, weather and dress code.

While many online retailers offered special promotions Thursday -- such as 42-inch flat-panel TVs for $598 at Walmart.com -- Montgomery Ward's Web site also sought to tie into traditional holiday values.

It featured a "Home Is Where It Happens" campaign, offering $50 Wards gift certificates to people who submit "candid life-moment photos" that are selected for the Wards catalog.

Some brick-and-mortar stores that were closed Thursday were to open just after midnight Black Friday. Others were to open as early as 4 a.m.

Black Friday refers to profit, because retailers historically "moved into the black," or became profitable for the year, on that day. That is no longer the case as many are profitable most of the year.

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Fannie Mae to tighten lending standards

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Fannie Mae, the giant mortgage finance company that helps shape lending guidelines, plans more crackdowns next month to further tighten lending practices.

U.S. officials say the plan includes the raising of minimum credit score requirements and limiting the amount of overall debt that can be carried related to income.

There is concern, however, that the mortgage industry may become too restrictive and impede an economic recovery in its attempts to roll back loose lending standards that led to the current crisis, The Washington Post says.

Lending by U.S. banks plunged by 2.8 percent in the third quarter, the largest drop since at least 1984, federal data released this week indicates.

Some of that problem is said to be fostered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which refuse to buy loans that do not meet their rules.

Starting Dec. 12, the automated system that Fannie Mae uses to approve loans will reject certain borrowers at a higher cutoff point. These borrowers would have at least a 20 percent down payment but whose credit scores fall below 620 out of 850. Previously, the cut-off was 580.

Also, for borrowers with a 20 percent down payment, no more than 45 percent of their gross monthly income can go toward paying debts.

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Unemployment expected to rise in Britain

LONDON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Unemployment in Britain likely will continue to rise for "a while," Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer said Thursday.

The Times of London said Alistair Darling, the chancellor, told members of Parliament that despite the predicted increase, unemployment could be worse.

"Because our labor market has been more flexible than in the past, although unemployment in this country is too high and unfortunately will continue to rise for a while, it is lower than in other countries," he said.

The Times said unemployment in the United Kingdom is at 7.8 percent after a 2 percent increase so far this year.

By comparison, unemployment stands at 10.2 percent in the United States, 17.9 percent in Spain and 9.8 percent in France.

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U.S. dollar value slips against yen

TOKYO, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The value of the U.S. dollar against the Japanese yen is at its lowest point in 14 years with a single dollar worth 86.5 yen, experts said.

While the value of the dollar against the yen has reached its lowest point since July 1995, the U.S. government has indicated it will not take action to reverse the financial trend.

Yutaka Miura of Mizuho Securities said the Japanese and U.S. governments should work together to repair the situation, the BBC said Thursday.

"This yen strengthening is caused by dollar selling rather than yen buying, so this is not something Japan can handle itself," Miura said of the trend, which caused Japanese shares to decline. "This trend will continue unless the Japanese government takes action, in co-operation with the U.S."

Meanwhile, Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said his government would take action if the exchange rate began to change in an abnormal fashion.

The BBC said the decline of the dollar's value against the yen comes after 2009 decreases in the U.S. currency's value against both the euro and the pound.