I had the chance to address holiday sales on Money for Breakfast December 26th. MasterCard Spending Pulse Unit was already reporting that December sales through Christmas Eve were down 8% over 2007. That’s sales! The bigger question is what does this mean for profits? As I mentioned in the segment, this could equate to profits being down as much as 10% to 12%. While we won’t have final sales numbers until Thursday, it doesn’t look like gift card sales or deep discounts after Christmas saved the day. I hate to think about what this means for so many retailers already on the brink.