Figuratively Speaking

Percentage of consumers who plan to spend more than half of their total holiday shopping budgets during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period, according to a study by CFI Group: 25

Source: CFI Group.

Amount of money Twitter co-founder Evan Williams added to his personal fortune after the company's frenzied trading debut at the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 7, boosting his net worth to approximately $2.5 billion, according to a Wealth-X estimate: $1.075 billion

Estimated number of Twitter shares owned by Williams: 57 million

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of consumers who define their style of shopping as taking it slow and always finishing with everything they need, according to the Alliance Data Retail Services Holiday Habits Survey: 28

Percentage who buy throughout the year and hide gifts until the holiday: 23

Percentage who say they methodically make lists and buy only the items on their lists, or browse online so they know what they are going to buy and get the best price when they go to the store: 12

Source: Alliance Data Retail Services.

Ranks of a portable music player, desktop computer, GPS device and a regular cellphone on the list of items holiday gift-givers plan to buy in the next five years, according to to RetailMeNot's Black Friday Tech Report: 1 (tie), 3, 4

Percentage of consumers who feel that children should have their own cellphone at age 13 or younger: 46

Percentage of consumers who feel that children should have their own tablet at age 13: 44

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Percentage of Americans who say they witnessed someone else leave a public restroom without washing their hands, according to a survey by the Bradley Corp.: 81

Percentage who said the same last year: 74

Source: Bradley Corp.

Projected total e-commerce spending for November and December 2013, an increase of 15 percent over 2012, according to Logicalis U.S.: $61.8 billion

Percentage of retailers that have dedicated resources to upgrade e-commerce platforms in anticipation of the holiday season: 81

Percentage of retailers that have significantly increased in-store data collection and analysis compared to two years ago: 60

Source: Logicalis U.S.

Expected percentage growth in high-wage occupations, according to a report by CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists: 5

Percentage of the 165 occupations expected to lose jobs nationally that are in the middle-wage category: 75

Projected percentage growth in associate degree and master's degree occupations: 8

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of college graduates who are gaining employment related to their major, according to a survey by Pipeliner: 27

Source: PMBC Group.

Percentage of U.S. adults who have no plan to shop on Black Friday this year, according to a poll conducted on behalf of Offers.com: 47

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of consumers who plan to shop at the same retailers as they did last year, according to the results of Price Grabber survey: 69

When asked why, percentage who said they would remain loyal to certain retailers because of good customer service: 70

Source: PriceGrabber.com.

Idle Thought

"A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder." -- English proverb

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of consumers who report that the state of the economy will have some impact on their holiday shopping this year, according to a poll conducted on behalf of Offers.com: 66

Of those, percentage who say that it will motivate them to seek out bargains and coupons this holiday season: 41

Percentage of U.S. adults who make a holiday gift list: 51

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

In the United States, number of cars and light trucks on the road in 2013, according to the latest Vehicles in Operation (VIO) market analysis announced by Experian Automotive: 247.9 million

Average age of vehicles on the road in the second quarter of the 2013 fiscal year, almost a full year older than was recorded in the second quarter of fiscal 2009: 10.9 years

Source: Experian Public Relations.

Percentage of young adults who use their friends' financial habits to determine their own, according to a survey by AICPA and the Ad Council: 78

Percentage of these young adults who say they want to keep pace with their peers on where they live: 66

Percentage who say the same thing about what they wear: 64

Source: The Ad Council.

Percentage of employed Americans who hit the snooze button at least once a week, according to a survey by Royal Phillips: 50

Percentage who skipped breakfast: 50

Source: Royal Phillips.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who use some kind of shopping list (68 percent specifically use or bring a paper list) to stay organized, according to a survey conducted by Synqera: 92

While most Americans frequently make unplanned purchases, percentage who describe themselves as impulsive shoppers: 50

Source: Synqera.

Percentage of Americans who say they didn't allocate any savings toward holiday gift buying this year, according to GoBankingRates.com polls: 63

Percentage who said they had saved over $1,000 for their holiday gift shopping: 12

Source: GoBankingRates.com.

Percentage of brides who considered planning their wedding on the last expected iconic wedding dates for this year, 11-12-13 (Nov. 12 in U.S. dating format; Dec. 11 in international dating format), according to the David's Bridal annual survey, "What's on Brides' Minds": 40

Final consecutive series of the century will occur next year: 12-13-14

Estimated number of couples who tied the knot on 07-07-07: 65,000

Source: David's Bridal Inc.

Year that push-button, or touch-tone, phones made their debut, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1963

In 1963, percentage of U.S. homes that had telephones: 81

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of business decision-makers who believe their internal IT organizations have the ability to regularly deliver projects on time and on budget, according a commissioned study conducted on behalf of EffectiveUI: 39

Percentage of IT leaders who cite ever-changing business and user requirements as one of the top reasons they struggle to keep up: 56

Percentage who say they are trying to do too much at once: 50

Source: EffectiveUI.

Percentage of shoppers who would like to receive home decor or furniture-related gifts under the tree this year, according to the National Retail Foundation: 20.8

Source: NRF.

Idle Thought

"Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald, novelist

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of American workers who say their take-home pay is less today than it was a few years ago, according to Mintel research: 17

Percentage of all respondents who say it's dangerous to go into debt: 69

Percentage of all respondents who say it is important to make sacrifices in order to pay off debt: 81

Source: Mintel.

Percentage of Americans who say a college degree is beneficial but not essential to succeeding later in life, according to global research company YouGov: 54

Percentage who say a degree is not essential to a successful career: 12

Percentage who say a college education is essential to have a successful career: 20

Source: YouGov.

Percentage of global respondents who would rather wait for something to catch on before they try it, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos OTX: 37

Ranks of Italy (63 percent), Turkey (57 percent), Indonesia (55 percent), India (52 percent) and Japan (52 percent) on the list of countries where citizens are most hesitant to try something before it catches on: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Rank of the United States (48 percent) on the list: 7

Source: Ipsos Open Thinking.

Percentage of Americans who report they will get a head start on holiday purchases this season, according to trending searches and user polls by Ask.com: 30

Percentage of consumers who will avoid crowds by hitting the stores before Black Friday, traditionally considered the official start of the holiday shopping season: 40

Source: Ask.com.

Rank of Baltimore Ravens fans on the list of the most superstitious fans in the NFL, according to the Bud Light NFL Fans Superstition Survey: 1

Percentage of Raiders fans who are likely to wear the same article of clothing on game day to boost team performance: 51

Percentage of Carolina Panthers fans who are likely to have a relationship end due to their game-day superstitions (four times the NFL fan average of 2 percent): 8

Source: Bud Light.

When asked what the most important business goals are in driving their organization's efforts around marketing and sales alignment, percentage of sales and marketing professionals who cited "increase top-line revenue," according to findings from Aberdeen Research for Corporate Visions: 68

Percentage who said "increase quality of leads provided by marketing and sales": 45

Percentage who cited "improve ability to differentiate from the competition; better articulate value proposition": 40

Source: Corporate Visions Inc.

Percentage of Americans who felt that bacon was the foodstuff most worth the mess and ensuing cleanup, according to a survey by the Clorox Co.: 18

Ranks of bacon and hot dogs (25 percent) on the list of the top foods professional eaters would choose to eat in competitions: 1, 2 

Source: Clorox Co.

Year that one of the nation's enduring symbols, the Statue of Liberty -- a gift from France (the statue's full name is "Liberty Enlightening the World") and the work of sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi -- was dedicated on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1886

Estimated number of immigrants whose first glimpse of America was the Statue of Liberty: 20 million

Year of the greatest influx, when some 15 percent of the U.S. population was foreign-born: 1910

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who think it's likely that the world will experience a major catastrophe, according to the results of a survey gauging the nation's preparedness for impending disasters and timed to the premiere of "American Blackout," a two-hour movie that imagines such a disaster: 88

Percentage of these folks who believe it will occur less than a year from now: 32

Percentage of Americans who believe the U.S. is likely to be hit by a catastrophic cyber attack during their lifetime: 77

Source: National Geographic.

Percentage of U.S. companies that plan to pursue an acquisition in the next 12 months, according to Ernst & Young's Capital Confidence Barometer: 41

Of the 1,600 companies surveyed worldwide, percentage of U.S. executives who expect U.S. deal volumes to improve: 52

Percentage who expect to see the U.S. economy improving: 48

Percentage who are upbeat about the number of acquisition opportunities, up from 40 percent a year ago: 67

Source: Ernst & Young LLP.

Idle Thought

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." -- Hans Hofmann, painter

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)