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Technology

Buy This ETF Now to Get a Slice of Online Shopping's Biggest Season

I just bought myself an early Christmas present.

See, I recently took up the sport of skeet shooting, and I want to get better. So over the Thanksgiving weekend, I bought a two-hour instructional video.

The process couldn't have been any easier. I sat at the dining room table on Black Friday – the kickoff of the Christmas shopping season – with my iPad. I went to the website, ordered the video, and paid for it using a credit card, all in a matter of minutes.

My purchase may have been unique, but it was hardly isolated. Fact is, online and mobile sales soared on Black Friday. That's critical because, as online shopping grows, these stats are now serving as a snapshot of our economic health.

Consider that Adobe Analytics says Black Friday alone accounted for $6.2 billion in online sales, up 23% from a year ago. Some 33.5% came from mobile phones and 10% from tablets.

That means mobile commerce accounted for nearly half of all e-commerce orders for this shopping bonanza.

With that in mind, let's dig into a great way to tap the fast-moving world of mobile commerce.

It's a trend that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

So check it out...

Technology

Instead of Lamenting Cyber Monday's "Retail Apocalypse," Make This Move

Black Friday/Cyber Monday hit about two weeks ago – and all I've heard since is doom and gloom.

The "retail apocalypse" is here, and every "expert" out there is telling investors to "short" brick-and-mortar retailers… Wait, no, they should "buy" retailers on the dip.

Then there are those who try to explain that this isn't really an apocalypse and that this specific retailer is going to survive (but this one or that one isn't).

Over at Jim Cramer's TheStreet, I saw one writer recommend an ETF – EMTY, as in "empty" stores – whose share price rises whenever a brick-and-mortar retail stock index falls.

All this is ridiculous – and way more complicated than necessary.

Yes, Macy's, Sears, and Office Depot are plummeting. And, indeed, J. Crew and Toys R Us are heading toward insolvency.

But check out these numbers...