Black Friday News is the hottest item of interest today.  But ..

Black Friday is mainly (or used to be) an American-centric day.  It signals the beginning of Christmas shopping and is the day following Thanksgiving Day in United States.  Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday (supposedly the fourth Thursday of November).

Black Friday shopping is similar to Boxing Day sales in Commonwealth countries: many retailers will kick start their promotional sales and some even open their doors as early as 4am.  In recent times, some retails have even opened their doors at midnight.  This did evoke some protests and online petitions.  Whether that resulted in any change is unknown.

Black Friday is not an official holiday but many employees are given the day off.

The term Black Friday is said to have originated in Philadelphia, USA.  It was originally used to describe the despair of pedestrians and drivers who had to endure the extra heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving.

A later meaning was attached to the term Black Friday to indicate the point or day at which retailers turned a profit or were "in the black".

"Black Friday is any Friday the 13th or any Friday darkened by catastrophe."

There is also a Black Friday that relates more to partying than shopping.  The partying Black Friday is the last Friday before Christmas.

For more related information on Black Friday, see wikipedia's Black Friday

So what is on this year's Black Friday in America? 

There is good news and no surprise: sales are soaring.  In fact American retailers are reporting this year's sales as being the best.  An estimated 152 million shoppers are expected to hit the stores.

Macy's and Target opened their doors at midnight.

However there are also widespread reports of violence and injuries. That surely is not the kind of pre-Christmas give that one would like to give nor receive!