Why do you always hear that Black Friday is the day that many retailers start to become profitable for the year? It just is NOT true that most retailers will report losses in their first, second, and third quarters, only to be followed by a massively profitable fourth quarter.
The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. (see 'Origin of the name' below) More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)
Thousands of the nation's Republican voters have announced that they will no longer support "Black Friday" in a bold show of partisan consumerism following Barack Obama's landslide victory over John McCain. Stay tuned...