The daily business briefing: November 26, 2018

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1. Cyber Monday expected to bring record U.S. online sales
2. May tells British lawmakers to back Brexit deal or face 'more uncertainty'
3. Trump congratulates himself for low oil prices
4. Mitsubishi ousts Ghosn as board chairman, following Nissan's lead
5. Ralph Breaks the Internet leads record Thanksgiving box-office haul

published 26 November 2018

1. Cyber Monday expected to bring record U.S. online sales

Cyber Monday sales are expected to reach $7.8 billion, an increase of nearly 18 percent over last year that would make Monday the biggest online shopping day in U.S. history, according to Adobe Analytics. Online sales on Black Friday rose by 24 percent to $6.2 billion, although the big U.S. days still lag far behind the $30.8 billion in spending during China's Alibaba Singles Day promotion last month. Retailers could be holding back even bigger Cyber Monday gains by spreading out discounts over several days. Amazon and Bed, Bath & Beyond, for example, started their Cyber Monday discounts on Sunday, and Macy's is offering "cyber week" deals through Wednesday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is telling lawmakers Monday that Britain will face "more division and more uncertainty" if they don't back the Brexit agreement she secured Sunday with the European Union. The deal would pave the way for Britain to exit the EU in March while keeping close trade ties with the trading bloc. Britain's Parliament remains deeply divided over what the Brexit terms should be. May faces opposition from Brexit opponents, as well as from Brexit backers who say she conceded too much to the EU. May plans to tell lawmakers that "there is not a better deal available," and that if they reject it Britain could have to leave the EU with no agreement, which businesses warn would hurt the country's economy.

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President Trump on Sunday tweeted congratulations — to himself — for lower oil and gasoline prices. "Thank you President T," he wrote. In a flurry of tweets as his Thanksgiving weekend stay at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach ended, Trump also repeated his criticism of Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes, and called on Mexico to stop caravans of Central American migrants from trying to reach the U.S. Trump also blamed Democrats for illegal immigration. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) responded on ABC's This Week, saying Trump should take responsibility, and work more closely with Central American governments to discourage undocumented migrants from heading to the U.S. "He controls the White House. His party controls the House and the Senate and it is on them," she said.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s board removed Carlos Ghosn as chairman after his arrest last week in Japan on financial misconduct charges. Ghosn was ousted last week from his role as chairman of Nissan's board. Ghosn's ouster came despite praise for leading Mitsubishi out of a 2016 cheating scandal. The auto makers' French partner Renault is expressing unhappiness in its 19-year alliance with Nissan that was started when Nissan was rescued from the brink of bankruptcy. Mitsubishi joined in 2016. Ghosn was arrested last week on suspicion of underreporting his compensation by $44 million over five years. Japanese broadcaster NHK reported Sunday that he denies any wrongdoing.

Ralph Breaks the Internet topped the Thanksgiving weekend box office, leading the industry to a record total gross for the long weekend. The sequel to Disney's Wreck-It Ralph brought in an estimated $55.7 million over the three-day weekend, bringing its total since its Wednesday opening (and Tuesday night previews) to $84.5 million. That five-day total was the third biggest ever, behind Frozen and Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Another sequel, the Rocky franchise's Creed II, came in second with a strong debut of $35.3 million from the weekend and $55.8 million since Wednesday, helping push the industry-wide five-day Thanksgiving box-office gross above $300 million for the first time in history.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.