I don’t need an algorithm to predict that my friends in the South are more comfortable than those of us suckers in the North right now. It’s damn cold. That’s all there is to it.

Here are a few interesting things I saw this past week:

Consumer confidence continues its meteoric, post-election climb. Although our latest reading came before the recent interest rate hike, we don’t expect that news to affect consumer sentiment dramatically. This should be good news for holiday sales.

A poll showing the economic sentiment has been rising since the election.

Even in the midst of a “fake news” crisis, the vast majority of consumers aren’t willing to pay for the real thing. Regardless of what challenges you might be facing in your business today, thank your lucky stars that you don’t sell journalism for a living. 76% of consumers say they have no interest in paying any kind of subscription fee for quality news.

There is, however, one potential beacon of light in the news media darkness – Local. 41% of news readers value local stories over anything else, with sports falling a distant second at 14%. More importantly, these local news readers are an advertiser’s dream – Market Maven, Millennial and GenX moms, who are making an increasing numbers of household purchasing and financial decisions. Whoever can figure out how to scale local journalism…let me invest.

What do dating apps and e-cigarettes have in common? Aside from the fact that neither of them existed when I was in college, they both seem to have peaked in popularity. It looks like everyone who wants to vape or Tinder-shop has more or less jumped on the bandwagon – or fallen off.

I can’t decide if this is the last I will be writing to all of you in 2016. I’ll make no commitment either way – you might get an extra rambling or two under the tree before we turn the corner on a dubiously unforgettable year.

But, if I decide to hang up my laptop until January, Happy Holidays to you and yours.

JD