Shopping starts the day after Thanksgiving as the retail stores draw in as many customers as possible by promoting discounted prices on certain items.  The discounted prices fall in the category of potential loss leaders where the goal is to have the purchase the more expensive items on the shelves, along with grabbing some of the stocking stuffers that sit along the pathway to the checkout stand.

Figure 1 | Wrapping the Gifts from December 2024

For some youth, a better way to shop is to go ‘binning’ (also known as ‘thrifting’) as they call it, where the objective is to find secondhand clothing that is somewhat stylish (opinion based), purchase it and then take to their favorite online app to brag about their find.  During the month of December, no matter if you are shopping in a retail store, online or thrifting, many of the items end up being gift-wrapped and set under the tree waiting to be opened.

In the energy sector, the gift from Mother Nature is the most notable for this time of year as there are times when the weather can be balmy while the opposite is associated to arctic type winds that bring with it well-below normal temperatures.  The former was in play early in the month as the entire Lower 48 saw the continued pattern associated to both October and November where the Upper Midwest, Ohio Valley and Northeast were snowless while the southern portion of the country was working off highs in the upper 70’s.  Things changed mid-month as Mother Nature delivered short sprints of colder temperatures across the northern portion of the country and by the time the jingles were playing and the tree was lit, the cumulative HDD levels were settling in above normal (colder) in several demand areas along the east coast.