Christmas, Shopping | featured news

Anyone left on your Christmas list just aching for a 65-inch Samsung 3D flat-screen television? Just your luck. The Vatican's duty-free department store has one on sale for €2,899 ($3,840) — a nifty savings over the €3,799 ($5,032) it costs at Italy's main electronics chain Euronics.

Add seven swans, six geese and five golden rings to the list of Christmas gifts that cost more than they did a year ago.

A mall trade group says that last minute shoppers gave merchants a solid lift during the final week before Christmas. Sales at stores opened at least a year rose 0.9 percent for the week ended Saturday compared with the previous week and was up 4.5 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index, released Wednesday.

Retailers saw their fair share of last-minute shoppers on Saturday, the day before Christmas, but stores were not super-busy, putting a moderate cap on pre-holiday season that started with a bang and has waned ever since.

In an unexpected twist, TVs are topping many Christmas shopping lists this year. Wal-Mart says TVs are among the top gifts people are putting on layaway at its 3,000-plus U.S. stores during the holiday season. The Westinghouse 46-inch LCD HDTV that was on sale for half off at Target for $298 was a top seller during the start to the season last weekend. And Abt Electronics already has sold out of 55-inch Samsung LED TVs that were marked down by half to $1,099.

Snowstorms have deterred shoppers at after Christmas sales in America's northeast, while retailers in the rest of the country are anticipating the highest sales in three years.

More last-minute shoppers flocked to stores this year on the final Saturday before Christmas than last year, but spending is expected to be even higher late this week.

There are only 96 more shopping days until Christmas. This year, experts say, you should be shopping early for more than just gifts. "Airline fares are 20 to 30 percent above last year's rates, and they vary day to day," said Tom Parsons of Bestfares.com.

Searching for a gift for the exercise enthusiast on your list? Whatever the sport or activity, we have ideas that are fun, functional and in a range of prices to help keep you fiscally fit.

Wall Street shares were slightly lower as investors tried to assess the fallout from Dubai’s debt crisis as well as retail sales from the kickoff of the Christmas shopping season.