We always welcome good news when it comes to This Economy, so it's good to hear that, so far, retailers feel encouraged after Black Friday sales. Preliminary data indicates that consumers started shopping earlier this year, and online sales increased significantly compared to a year ago.

Some of that could be because many retailers opened earlier than normal at their brick-and-mortar shops. A number of retailers also posted their door-buster deals online at midnight on Thanksgiving morning, which led to earlier traffic. Compared to Thanksgiving a year ago, PayPal dollar flow increased 25 percent, according to Time.

Retailers also are also looking for Cyber Monday, a bump in e-sales the Monday after Thanksgiving, to help their bank statements. According to retail sales consultant Matthew Katz: "There's a lot of positive momentum, but we're not out of the woods."