Black Friday

1. The day after Thanksgiving, when consumers stand in line at retail stores, sometimes all night, to buy sale items, get free breakfasts, and generally make fools of themselves. The day is named to describe retailers' income statements that move from red ink (losses) to black ink (profits) in one of the biggest shopping days of the year. See also cyber Monday.
2. A widely used reference to September 24, 1869, the date on which stock market operator Jay Gould nearly cornered the gold market. Although eventually broken by government selling of the metal, the corner resulted in massive failures on Wall Street. Gould made considerable profits on the manipulation, but his brokers declared bankruptcy.