Friday madness.

Friday Madness: They'll be lining up in the early morning hours on Friday (26th) to take advantage of heavily discounted items as the holiday shopping season officially gets started (though the stores have had holiday-type merchandise for several weeks). As usual, economists are all over the map on sales projections, but the extra shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas could help retailers. In any event, expect parking lots to be full in all the usual places. Also on Friday: the stock exchanges will be open a half a session but many of the other markets will be closed the full day.