Not to really dampen your new year so quickly, but CNN Business just touched on a disturbing possibility. It might be yet another of those doomsday predictions that the media love so much, but it’s a potential problem to be aware of all the same.

Quote: “…industry experts (are) warning that disastrous holiday sales will spark a domino effect of store closures and bankruptcy filings.” End quote.

And if that happens, obviously many more jobs will be lost, unemployment will rise and the end of the world will officially commence. OK, not the last one; I just got carried away in the spirit of things.

Old Story. Slightly Less-Used Spin.

While the article had some nasty figures - 14,000 stores closing in 2009; 3,100 by June - overall, it didn’t have anything new to say. We’ve already have been told repeatedly over the last two weeks that the economy will get worse before it gets better. And there’s a lot of merit to that theory… in fact, you can probably take that for gospel truth. Thanks to poor holiday sales, more stores are likely to go out of business, possibly beginning with an official Circuit City bankruptcy. The electronics giant might be able to pull through, but the odds aren’t very high in its favor.

The CNN article went on to quote Nina Kampler, executive vice president with Hilco Real Estate, which advises retailers on their property management. “There’s going to be a massive sea change in the retail landscape.” Well, no offense to Ms. Kampler, but again, that ain’t nothin’ new. Retail sales have dropped sharply every quarter last year.

So again, while I’m not saying to ignore the negative predictions coming out - and flat-out expect to actually experience more bad news as 2009 progresses - I am saying not to panic. Just remember that the experts were calling for $200/barrel oil during the spring and summer of ‘08. And sure, for a while there it looked like the sky was the limit… right before it all came crashing down to the much more manageable levels it resides at now.

In other words, if 2008 taught us anything - other than sub-prime mortgages are bad - it should be that anything can happen.

P.S. When analysts start wondering whether the “shop-‘til-you-drop” mentality has officially been forced out of the U.S., I just have one question to ask: Have you ever met an American woman?

Enough said.