Post-Christmas shopping - boom or bust?

I drove by an Old Navy store today. They had a 60%-off-everything-sale. The place was packed.

I'm guessing someone will write a story tomorrow about booming retail sales today with all the markdowns... and how that'll be great for the economy.

But I'm wondering... were all the purchases made with savings or credit cards?

I'm guessing credit cards. So if I see reports of brisk post-Christmas sales, I'm guessing it'll cause some euphoria for the market for a few weeks... until more layoffs happen, and credit cards go unpaid... and we see more bankruptcies of financial institutions that many people in-the-know think possible.

Tim White