The bottom line

Shoplifting rises 6 percent; Bogus Medicare claims cost over $47 billion; Madoff auction takes in $900,000; Retails sales down 8.2 percent; Thanksgiving dinner will cost less this year

Shoplifting rises 6 percent

The global recession has sparked a 6 percent increase in shoplifting, an international business group reports, costing merchants nearly $115 billion. “In addition to the usual criminals,” said Joshua Bamfield of the Center for Retail Research, “you have lots of newcomers to stealing who figure they don’t run much risk at getting caught.”

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Retails sales down 8.2 percent

Retail sales rose 1.4 percent in October, led by auto sales rebounding from the slump that followed the end of the cash-for-clunkers program. Retails sales so far this year total $3.38 trillion, down 8.2 percent from a year earlier.

Marketwatch.com

Thanksgiving dinner will cost less this year

The cost of a classic Thanksgiving dinner is down 3.8 percent from last year, the steepest drop since 2000, says the American Farm Bureau. The items accounting for most of the decline are whole milk, down 92 cents a gallon, and turkey, down 44 cents a pound.

Bloomberg.com

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