More money was spent this year over last year during the holiday shopping season. This was reported today by CNN.

The report from MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse data service showed a 3.6% increase in retail sales in the period from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24. That compared with a 2.3% drop in last year’s report, which was based on charges rung up on MasterCard credit cards as well as a survey of sales made by cash or check.

This is a good sign for the economy.

Although I have not been posting on a regular basis here on the blog, I have been posting regularly on my twitter account @barryhertz.

Be sure that you are following the right barry hertz.

General Motors is looking to pay back the federal government $6.7 billion dollars in one lump sum instead of making quarterly payments. The $6.7 billion dollars that is going to be repaid is only a fraction of the outstanding $50 billion in loans that GM has from the US Treasury.

I am definitely happy to hear that we are getting some of our money back. Here is the full story.

General Motors is considering repaying all of its $6.7 billion in government loans in one lump sum, rather than through quarterly payments as currently planned, Chief Executive Ed Whitacre told journalists during an online press briefing Tuesday.

The loans are only a small fraction of the roughly $50 billion of direct support the automaker received from the U.S. Treasury as the government worked to keep the company from going out of business over the last 12 months.

Treasury received 61% of GM’s common shares in return for most of the money, as well as $2.1 billion in preferred shares in order not to burden the company with too much debt as it came out of bankruptcy.

On Nov. 16, the company announced plans to start paying back the $6.7 billion loan it still owes Treasury, starting with a $1 billion payment later in December. But even though GM announced a $1.2 billion quarterly loss on that same day — its first quarter since emerging from bankruptcy — the company has the full $6.7 billion in a $17.4 billion escrow account from which it will make those payments if conditions do not worsen and force it to draw down that cash.

Whitacre, former AT&T chairman and CEO, was named the non-executive chairman of GM in July as it emerged from bankruptcy. He assumed the CEO post on Dec. 1, when Fritz Henderson resigned as CEO at a meeting of the GM board.

Gold feel by 2% so far based on 2 report.

1. Unemployment went from 10.2% to 10%
2. The fed announced that they would raise the interest rate sooner than expected.

Here is the report from CNN.

Gold prices extended their decline for a second straight session Monday as the dollar continued to rise.

Gold for February delivery slipped $26, or 2.22%, to $1,143.50 a troy ounce early Monday. Gold prices fell sharply Friday after after a much better-than-expected jobs reportfrom the government showed employers trimming a mere 11,000 jobs in November as the unemployment rate ticked down to 10% from 10.2% in the prior month.

“We’ve had a substantial turn in the dollar,” said Mark Hansen, director of trading at CPM Group. “People are taking a second look at their commodity exposure, especially precious metals, which have been investor favorites in the past couple of month.”

If you are looking for a job, don’t push off the hunt until after the New Year. Now is the perfect time to find a job according to CNNMoney.com.

With nearly 16 million Americans out of work and tending tirelessly to their job searches, some candidates may be ready for a little holiday break. But December could actually be the best time to reinvigorate your hunt, experts say.

Each industry has its own busy hiring times and business cycles, but certain times of year are particularly good for job hunting in every field, and right now is one of them.

“There is a certain pattern to when companies hire in general,” said Rob Saam, a senior vice president at outplacement firm Lee Hecht Harrison.”There is more hiring in January than December, but the thing about a job search is that it’s a process so you should start looking before that,” he said.

While job seekers typically believe that there’s no sense in sending out résumés over the holidays when many people are on vacation, that may actually be the very best time to put yourself out there.

If you want to get financial news updates you can do that by following me on twitter. My user name is Barry Hertz, you can notice that there is a link on the sidebar of the website which links to my twitter account.

You can learn more about me here.

The dow jones closed today at 10,471.58 which is the highest point since October, 2, 2008.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 127 points, or 1.2%, closing at the highest point since Oct. 2, 2008. The S&P 500 (SPX) index gained 13 points, or 1.2%, and closed just short of a 14-month high. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) rose 31 points, or 1.5%, and remained short of a 14-month high hit a week ago.

All this is despite the fact that Dubai cant pay it debt. Peoples fears have eased in regards to Dubai’s debt.

Bets that Dubai’s debt problems won’t have a major impact on U.S. institutions lifted stocks late Monday and through Tuesday’s session. Stocks also reacted to the day’s better-than-expected economic readings on construction spending and pending home sales.

“The market is treating Dubai like a non-event and continuing to trade on momentum,” said Joe Clark, market analyst at Financial Enhancement Group.

Its amazing how the market is treating Dubai’s debt as if nothing happened.

CNN is reporting that there are over 4 million people on online shopping sites per minute.  People that are not happy with what they bought over the holiday or those that did not yet have a chance to shop are buying today online looking for cyber monday specials.

It is the day that e-tailers will furiously push big discounts, free gift cards, free shipping and any other gimmick they can think of to entice consumers to spend even more of their holiday shopping dollars online.

Shoppers seemed to be responding to these moves early Monday.

By 2:20 p.m. ET, more than 270 retailing Web sites tracked by Internet monitoring firm Akamai were drawing more than 4.3 million visitors per minute in North America.

Akamai said that its Net Usage Index — which monitors North American visitors to sites such as American Eagle Outfitters, Overstock.com, QVC.com and eBags.com — said traffic was up nearly 39% compared to the same time last year.

Mayor Bloomberg spent $102,000,000.00 for his reelection. What is surprising is that he won by a very narrow margin. The amount spent is the most ever.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s narrower-than-expected reelection campaign cost the billionaire some $102 million, or about $183 per vote, The New York Times reported on Friday evening, making him the top-spending self-financed politician in U.S. history.

Dubai, announced that it will not meet an interest payment causing many world exchanges and currencies to fall in price/value.

Fears of a dangerous new phase in the economic crisis swept around the globe yesterday as traders responded to the shock announcement that a debt-laden Dubai state corporation was unable to meet its interest bill.

Shares plunged, weak currencies were battered and more than £14 billion was wiped from the value of British banks on fears that they would be left nursing new losses.