So, how was your Christmas?
It may seem a bit late – or way too early - in the year to be asking that question, but it is a question that the retailers have been answering this week.
As we know from last week's announcements from Next (LON:NXT) and Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS), the Christmas trading period was not a good one for clothing sellers, but Debenhams (LON:DEB), which admittedly sells more than clothes, seems to have had a cool Yule.
In the 19 weeks to 9 January, group gross transaction value rose by 2.5%, with like-for-like growth of 3.5% in constant currency, 1.9% as reported.
Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium said retail spending rose by a "disappointing" 0.9% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2015.
Market research group Kantar Worldpanel said J. Sainsbury was the only one of the big four supermarkets – the others being Tesco (LON:TSCO), WalMart-owned Asda and Morrisons (LON:MRW) – to grow sales and market share over the Christmas trading period.
However, Tesco's shares responded most positively, as the performance was not as disastrous as expected.
Anyway, in the manner of The Generation Game, here's a quick look at the scores on the doors of the retailers that updated today in one form or another.
Tesco – Bad but in a good way
J. Sainsbury – Good in a good way
Morrisons – Good in a like-for-like way
Debenhams – Good
Greggs – Good but in a bad way
Cineworld – Good but not good enough
AO World – So-so
Grafton Group – Meh!
Boohoo.com – Tears of joy
Just Eat – Stuffed
UK Mail (LON:UKM), which is not a retailer but which does regard Christmas as a peak trading period, said the parcels business saw volume growth of 8% year-on-year in the final quarter.
Lastly, McBride (LON:MCB), the own-label goods maker, had a decent end to the year with revenues up 0.4% year-on-year in the second half of 2015, while profits are set to show further progress as cost-cutting initiatives kick in.
Over in the US of A, the Consumer Electronics Show is, literally, last week's news and the focus has moved to the Detroit auto show.
The Americans insistence on persisting in referring to cars as automobiles is kind of quaint, but how much cooler would it be were it the Detroit Horseless Carriage Show?
Yes, I know the term automobiles covers other forms of vehicle than cars, but still …
Anyway, more than 50 new cars are set to be introduced, including the Buick Envision, which I envisage will have to be renamed the Envisage in the UK.
Among the small caps, investors are still piling into Wishbone Gold (LON:WSBN), the AIM listed gold exploration and acquisition company (just in case you thought it was a greatest hits album by a twin guitars-based seventies* rock band).
The company was obliged yesterday to reveal yesterday that it is in discussions regarding the potential acquisition of a complementary business, which would be classified as a substantial transaction under Rule 12 of the AIM Rules for Companies.
Having shot up yesterday to 0.3p from Friday's close of 0.11p, the shares advanced to 0.347p this morning, with more than 65mln shares trading hands, even though no one knows – well, outside of a select few, obviously – who it is planning to acquire or even whether the acquisition will go ahead.
* I say seventies, but the band Wishbone Ash is are still gigging and occasionally recording.