Percentage of Americans in a committed relationship who believe that the simple act of holding hands regularly makes a relationship stronger, according to a survey conducted by Forevermark: 94

Percentage of Americans who hold hands often who say they are completely satisfied with their relationships, compared to just 35 percent of those who hold hands less often: 71

Percentage who feel that when their significant other reaches out for their hand, their mood immediately improves: 96

Source: Forevermark.

Rank of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who made the largest donation of 2014 by giving $2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the form of 16.6 million shares of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, on the list of the 10 single biggest charitable donors of 2014, according to Wealth-X: 1

Rank of Nicholas Woodman, the founder and CEO of GoPro, who gave $497.5 million to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation: 2

Source: Wealth-X.

Amount of money that U.S. retailers report collectively losing in merchandise annually, according to a specialized research council formed by 40 major retail chains and a specialized University of Florida research team: $45 billion

Amount of that per year that is due to shoplifting: $10 billion

Rank of December on the list of months when most shoplifting occurs: 1

Source: Loss Prevention Research Council.

Percentage of U.S. adults who have some type of goal that they would like to achieve in the new year, according to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Strayer University: 93

Percentage of adults who have health-related goals, such as being more active, eating more healthily or getting more sleep: 54

Percentage who have a socially oriented goal, such as spending more time with family or friends, getting involved more in their community, meeting new people, broadening their circle of friends or joining a club or organization: 37

Percentage who have a leisure-related goal, such as traveling more or taking up a hobby: 34

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of ties sold annually that are Christmas gifts, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 20

Today in the U.S., estimated value of the necktie business per year: $390 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of adults who admitted to getting carried away with Christmas spending so that they end spending more than they can afford, according to a survey conducted by ComRes on behalf of Theos: 26

Percentage of consumers who do not plan their Christmas spending: 24

Source: ComRes.

Percentage of Americans who say that their top financial priority is getting caught up on bills, according to a Bankrate.com survey: 41

Percentage who cited paying down debt: 22

Source: Bankrate Inc.

Weight of New York City's famous Waterford crystal ball that begins its descent at 11:59 p.m. on New Year's Eve, according to the Times Square Visitors Center: 11,875 pounds

Year that the New Year's Eve ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square: 1907

Number of versions of the ball that have been designed to signal the new year: 7

Number of 25-watt light bulbs that adorned the first New Year's Eve ball, made of iron and wood: 100

Source: Times Square Visitors Center.

Percentage of all Americans who make resolutions for the new year, according to the Journal of Clinical Psychology published by University of Scranton: 50

In 2013, percentage of those looking for improvement in the New Year who actually achieved it: 8

Source: University of Scranton.

Rank of Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman on this year's list of the 25 most liked celebrities in the country, according to a consumer survey conducted by E-Score: 1

Rank of Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and Betty White, on the list: 2, 3, 4

Source: E-Score.

Idle Thought

"There are two possible outcomes: If the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery." -- Enrico Fermi, physicist and Nobel laureate

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

Date of the probable first flight of Santa's sleigh, a versatile, all-weather, multi-purpose, vertical short-take-off and landing vehicle capable of traveling vast distances without refueling and deployed, as far as we know, only on Christmas Eve (and briefly for a test flight about a month before Christmas), according to NORAD: Dec. 24, 343 A.D.

Length of the sleigh, built by Kringle & Elves Inc. and homebased at the North Pole: 75 cc (candy canes)/150 lps (lollipops)

Weight at takeoff: 75,000 gd (gumdrops)

Propulsion: 9 rp (reindeer power)

Armament: Antlers (purely defensive)

Climbing speed: One "T" (Twinkle of an eye)

Max speed: Faster than starlight

Source: NORAD.

Percentage of people who agreed that Christmas is about spending time with family and friends, according to a survey conducted by ComRes on behalf of Theos: 83

Percentage who agreed that Christmas is a time when we should be generous to people less fortunate than ourselves: 62

Source: ComRes.

Current price tag if one were to buy all of the gifts in the holiday classic "The Twelve Days of Christmas," up just $280.04 over last year, according to PNC Wealth Management: $ 27,673.21

Cost of one partridge in a pear tree: $207.68

Cost of two turtle doves: $125.00

Of nine ladies dancing: $7,552.84

Source: PNC Wealth Management.

Percentage of parents who say their kids are growing up too quickly, according to a poll, commissioned by BullGuard and conducted by Harris: 80

Source: BullGuard.

Percentage of Americans who indicate that they'll be "giving back" in some way this holiday season, whether it be in the form of money or goods, volunteering or both, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs survey conducted on behalf of PlanG: 70

Percentage of Americans who say that "they would shop more often at a brand or store that gives back": 72

Percentage who say that "knowing a business gives back in some way impacts their purchase decision": 69

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Estimated percentage of households that still put up and decorate a real tree each year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 20

Estimated percentage of U.S. households that now use artificial trees to decorate for the holidays: 50

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of travelers who say airport security personnel should be on Santa's "naughty" list, according to a survey by HomeAway: 33

Source: HomeAway.

Height of a Christmas tree made made of LEGO and Duplo bricks in Sydney, Australia, (taller than an average two-story house and wider than a car) according to The Daily American: 32 feet

Length of time it took a team of five people to build the tree, including the basketball-sized baubles, a Christmas koala, a pile of gifts and a reindeer: 1,200 hours

Source: The Daily American.

Ranks of crowds and long lines, bad traffic, and aggressive or thoughtless driving on the list of the biggest holiday dreads, according the Consumer Reports poll: 1, 2, 3

Source: Consumer Reports.

Percentage of Americans who anticipate that the holiday season will be a time of joy for themselves and their loved ones: 75

Source: YouGov.

Idle Thought

"The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of human arrogance from one pedestal after another of previous convictions about our centrality in the cosmos." -- Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist, biologist, author

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

Rank of gift cards on the list of the top five holiday gifts for 2014, according to a survey published by Time Inc. and YouGov: 1

Percentage of holiday shoppers who expect to indulge themselves with a personal purchase: 45

Source: YouGov.

Percentage of U.S. adults who will wait until Christmas Eve to do most of their shopping, according to a poll conducted for Offers.com: 1

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Based on a Consumer Reports poll, estimated number of Americans who will soon be presented with an awful gift: 49 million

Percentage of respondents who said they've received lousy gifts: 20

Percentage who identified mothers- and fathers-in-law as the parties who gave the worst gifts: 11

Percentage who pass along the misery by regifting: 15

Source: Consumer Reports.

Percentage of travelers who enjoy staying with friends and family during the holidays, according to a HomeAway report: 36

Percentage who aren't overly thrilled: 64

Percentage who feel the worst part of staying with family and friends over the holidays is the lack of personal space: 29

Source: HomeAway.

Estimated amount that the U.S. retail industry generated during the holidays in 2013, according to Statista, the statistics portal: $3.19 trillion

Percentage of the retail industry's total 2013 sales that were accounted for by holiday-period transactions: 19.2

As a result, estimated number of extra employees who were hired to compensate for the holiday rush: 768,000

Source: Statista.

Percentage of shoppers who said they did no holiday shopping online, according to consumer survey information conducted by Kelton Research, RetailMeNot data and other third-party research: 14.5

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Percentage of companies hosting Christmas parties that have an open bar, according to the results of the Holiday Parties and Office Morale survey, conducted by BizBash and Seamless: 45

Percentage that have a cash bar: 7

Percentage that do not serve alcohol: 21

Source: BizBash.

Percentage of Americans who have made an impulse purchase, according to a CreditCards.com report: 75

Percentage who have spent $100 or more on an impulse purchase: 33

Number of times more likely that men are than women to spend $1,000 or more on an impulse buy: 3

Rank of "excited" on the list of most common emotions at the time of the impulse purchase: 1

Source: Creditcards.com.

Percentage of major retailers that offer financing options to their customers, according to research by CardHub: 69

Of the major retailers that provide financing, percentage that currently offer a deferred interest plan: 50

Source: CardHub.

When asked if they would prefer to give a gift with a $25 value, a gift certificate with a $25 value or simply $25 in cash, percentage of respondents who chose the gift certificate, according to a survey by Saint Leo University Polling Institute: 39

When it comes to receiving a gift, percentage of people who would prefer receiving $25 in cash: 41

Source: Saint Leo University Polling Institute.

Idle Thought

"There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, and that is to have either a clear conscience or none at all." -- Ogden Nash

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