SmartMoney's Holiday Gift Guide

There's never a good time for an economic disaster. But combine the current crisis with the $460 billion holiday shopping season and everyone but the Scrooges of the world will be feeling the crunch. The bad news -- if you're a retailer -- is that the luxury market, long considered the industry's most bulletproof sector, is tumbling as badly as the rest: Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue have all recently reported double-digit monthly sales declines, and a recent survey found that more than 80 percent of households with $100,000-plus discretionary incomes are now waiting for items to go on sale before they buy. "People are cutting back at every level," says Jim Taylor, vice chairman of the Harrison Group, which coauthored the study with American Express Publishing.