IN BRIEF
NEW YORK
More people checking personal details online
More Americans are Googling themselves -- and many are checking out their friends, co-workers and romantic interests, too.
In a report Sunday, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said 47 percent of U.S. adult Internet users have looked for information about themselves through Google or another search engine.
That is more than twice the 22 percent of users who did in 2002, but Pew senior research specialist Mary Madden was surprised the growth wasn't higher.
"Yes it's doubled, but it's still the case that there's a big chunk of Internet users who have never done this simple act of plugging their name with search engines," she said. "Certainly awareness has increased, but I don't know it's necessarily kept pace with the amount of content we post about ourselves or what others post about us."
Analysts divided on whether to buy gold
Gold may resume this year's rally on speculation that rising consumer prices worldwide will boost demand for the precious metal as a hedge against inflation.
Ten of 20 traders, investors and analysts surveyed late last week by Bloomberg from Mumbai to New York on Dec. advised buying gold, which fell 0.3 percent last week to $798 an ounce in New York. Five said to sell, and five were neutral.
Gold has gained 25 percent this year as record energy costs and a weak dollar boosted demand for an inflation hedge.
Last week's gold decline surprised the majority of analysts surveyed Dec. 6 and Dec. 7 who had expected a gain. The survey has accurately forecast prices in 116 of 189 weeks, or 61 percent.
NEW YORK
Retailers hoping for late shopping spree
With Christmas a little more than a week away, many stores are finding themselves in the same predicament as in recent years: waiting for those last-minute shoppers who seem to be procrastinating even more than a year ago.
Based on early reports from analysts and malls, sales results were generally unimpressive this past weekend, as shoppers were held back by a snow storm that spread a mix of sleet, freezing rain and snow from the Great Lakes states to New England. Consumers, fretting about economic worries, were also delaying their shopping even more this year, knowing there's a full weekend before Christmas, when the bargains will be even better.
Meanwhile, for online retailers, which finished their busiest days last week, their fate appears to be already sealed: Holiday sales didn't live up to industry's hopes as lower-income shoppers pulled back on spending amid a housing slump.
ComScore Inc. reported on Sunday that online sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 14 rose 18 percent, below the 26 percent growth rate seen in the year-ago period and below the 20 percent projection for the season.
"This holiday season at this point has been disappointing, whether they're brick and mortar, catalog or online," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, based in Charleston, S.C. "Shopper are more frugal and cost-conscious because they have less money to spend."
As for Saturday and Sunday, he said, "This weekend was busy, but it wasn't huge."
After a strong Thanksgiving weekend, the official start of the holiday shopping season, business has slowed even more than normal, resulting in mixed November results for retailers and uneven business so far in December.
There's been a shopping frenzy surrounding such hard-to-find items as Nintendo Co.'s Wii and UGG Australian sheepskin boots, and anything from Walt Disney Co.'s Hanna Montana and "High School Musical" franchises have been hugely popular. But, generally, there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm for holiday buying this season.
