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Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Thursday that the software giant is urgently working with its partners to unveil a host of tablet computers running Windows 7, to compete with Apple’s fast-selling iPad.

At a meeting with financial analysts on Thursday, Ballmer outlined the company’s strategy to catch up to Apple and Google in the consumer space. He said Apple is doing an "interesting" job with the iPad and has "sold certainly more than I’d like them to sell." As a result, Ballmer said his company’s "job one urgency" is bringing Windows-based tablet computers to the market.

"No one is sleeping at the switch here," Ballmer said. "We have got to make things happen with Windows 7 on slates. We’re in the process of doing that as we speak. As focused as we are on this, our partners are also focused on this to deliver systems and chips to make this happen."

But Ballmer declined to give an exact timeline, saying only that the tablets will be ready "as soon as they’re ready" and "it ain’t a long time from now."

The CEO claimed that Microsoft needs to take its time to get its products just right to compete in the intensely scrutinized tablet space. He said that chipmaker Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) will be coming out next year with a tablet-specific processor called "Oak Trail" that will help manufacturers make better tablets that run Windows 7.

Ballmer famously canned a turmoil-fraught Microsoft tablet project that had been in the works for almost a decade before the iPad came to market. With the early success of Apple’s (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPad, many analysts are predicting that the tablet space will be one of the fastest-growing tech segments this decade, alongside smartphones. That makes Microsoft’s urgency all the more palpable.

Ever confident, Ballmer exclaimed, "We’re gonna sell like crazy!" Still, after the CEO outlined Microsoft’s tablet plans, an analyst told Ballmer that it appeared that Microsoft had "no clear strategy."

Ballmer disagreed, saying Microsoft’s tablets will run Windows 7, they’ll run Intel processors, they’ll be available in a wide array of shapes and sizes across many manufacturers, and they’ll likely be cheaper than the iPad.

Some analysts remained skeptical.

"Microsoft will have to pull a rabbit out of a hat to compete with Apple," said Al Hilwa, applications development software program director at IDC. "Apple has a less-is-more strategy to broaden its consumer approach with the iPad. Microsoft is committed to running Windows 7 on tablets, which is a concern."

Microsoft’s CEO focused his entire presentation on the company’s consumer businesses, which are almost all trailing their competitors.

Bing continues to lose money. "I can’t say there’s a point on the horizon where the business results will flip," Ballmer admitted.

After demonstrating Windows Phone 7, which is set to go on sale in the fall, Ballmer said the company still had a lot of work to do to compete with Apple and Google. Microsoft intends to throw enormous marketing muscle behind the new smartphone operating system, riding the success of its "I’m a PC" campaign with an "I’m a phone too!" campaign.

Xbox is the exception. It’s a consumer product that is finally making money for Microsoft, Ballmer said. The controllerless Kinect accessory will be closely watched when it goes on sale for the holiday season, targeting the Xbox’s 42 million users.

The cloud around businesses

Other top Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) executives mapped out the company’s plans for maintaining its leadership in the corporate market, which makes up three quarters of Microsoft’s business. Microsoft’s lack of success in the consumer world tends to overshadow how well it is doing in the enterprise space.

It also doesn’t help that Microsoft’s primary strategy is relatively unexciting for the majority of non-geeks: The company aims to leverage its broad array of business products, massive data centers and experience in services to take a leadership position in cloud computing.

Still, Microsoft is confident that its success in the future will depend heavily on how well it carries out its cloud strategy with businesses. Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said the company’s cloud offerings will help fuel physical product sales and noted that 70% of Windows cloud customers are new customers.

Turner lashed out at Microsoft’s competitors like Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), Salesforce.com (CRM), Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500), and VMWare for only offering only partial cloud services and solutions that he described as less than adequate for business customers.

The harshest criticism was reserved for Google’s Web Apps, which compete with Microsoft Office. Turner said Office’s Web Apps are far more powerful than Google’s, calling to attention to small things like Google’s lack of a ruler function on its Docs app — "things that we put in market almost 13, 14 years ago."

He also shared several customers’ complaints about Google’s services and said a handful of companies that left Microsoft for Google are now coming back.

Unlike its competitors, Microsoft can offer companies a full set of cloud-based services, including managed data centers and business software tools in one package, Turner said.

Microsoft’s cash cows also have room to grow. Windows 7 is selling faster than any other Windows version in history, but the vast majority of the company’s customers are still using older versions of Microsoft software. Eighty-four percent of Windows users are running XP and Vista, 52% are using Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7, and 63% are using Microsoft Office 2003 and earlier.

Now that businesses are beginning to refresh their hardware again, Microsoft believes there will be a tremendous upgrade opportunity to Windows 7 and Office 2010. 

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced a program Thursday in which its workers can receive college credit from the online American Public University and receive a tuition discount from the school.

The company also said it will commit $50 million over three years to help workers pay for books and tuition above the reduced tuition rate. After the reduction, tuition will cost $212.50 per undergraduate credit hour and $255 for graduate credits.

Wal-Mart Chief Administrative Officer Tom Mars said the program grew out of a larger commitment to cultivate talent within the company. The plan is open to domestic workers at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores.

Alicia Ledlie, Wal-Mart senior director for associate development, said nearly three-quarters of Wal-Mart workers contacted in a survey said they preferred online study to attending a local college.

Ledlie said Wal-Mart looked at 81 colleges, including brick-and-mortar schools, and found American Public University, based in Charles Town, W.Va., to be the best fit.

Wal-Mart workers receive job training in areas ranging from ethics to retail inventory management, for which they can receive credit, she said.

Sara Martinez Tucker, a former U.S. undersecretary of education who is on Wal-Mart’s external advisory council, said Wal-Mart would have had to form a tremendous coalition of schools to offer a similar program through local community colleges and universities.

Tucker said it is helpful to employees because they don’t have to apply for reimbursement from their employer.

Students won’t have to pay for credits awarded based on their training.

American Public University, with 70,000 students, offers more than 100 certificate and degree programs.

The credit for training can be applied mainly to business- and retail-related courses. Wal-Mart said the school will have evaluated for credit jobs held by 70 percent of Wal-Mart workers by 2012. That covers about 1 million workers.

Wal-Mart also offers scholarships through its foundation and offers assistance to workers seeking GEDs.

Wal-Mart executives said the link with the school will help workers attain better jobs both inside and outside the company.

Tucker noted that if 10 percent of Wal-Mart’s U.S. workers get degrees, "that would be like adding three Ohio State’s worth of graduates."

American Public University is accredited in various ways, including national accreditation by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council. It is run by for-profit American Public Education Inc.

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Factory orders rose in February, bolstered by strong demand for industrial machinery and commercial aircraft. It was the 10th increase in 11 months as manufacturing continues to provide crucial support for the nation’s economic recovery.

Manufacturing companies, which were hit hard by the recession, are benefiting from overseas orders and increased business spending on capital equipment. Quinlan estimates factory orders fell by about 25 percent during the recession but have recovered about one-third of that amount since last spring.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new orders rose 0.6 percent last month, just ahead of analysts’ estimates for a 0.5 percent increase, according to Thomson Reuters.

Still, that was the lowest uptick since August 2009. January’s orders also were revised higher to show an increase of 2.5 percent.

Separately, a private company’s report on payrolls Wednesday disappointed analysts. Payroll provider ADP said employers cut 23,000 jobs in March, well below economists’ forecasts for a 40,000 gain.

In the factory orders report, economists were encouraged by a 2 percent rise in orders for capital goods such as computers and machinery following a sharp drop in January. In addition, inventories rose by 0.5 percent last month, the fourth increase in the past five months.

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Firehouse Subs was the ninth-fastest growing restaurant chain in the nation last year, according to restaurant consulting firm Technomic Inc.

The Jacksonville sub chain known for its steamed sandwiches raked in $206 million in sales in 2009, 10 percent increase over sales in 2008, and increased its unit number to 5 percent.

Lorton, Va-based Five Guys Burgers ranked No. 1 on the list that ranked chains with sales over $200 million with $453 million in 2009 sales, a 50 percent increase over 2008 revenue. Oakville, Ontario-based Tim Hortons Inc. (NYSE: THI) ranked No. 2, with $446 million in 2009 revenue, a 23 percent increase. Minneapolis, MN.-based Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar (Nasdaq: BWLD) ranked No. 3, with $1.5 billion in sales, up 22 percent from 2008.

The rest of the ten fastest growing restaurant chains in 2009 were Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwich Shop, Wingstop, Noodles & Company, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Potbelly Sandwich Works fast payday loan no faxing.

Founded in Jacksonville by Robin and Chris Sorensen, both former firefighters, Firehouse operates 380 locations in 19 states and has plans to open at least 50 new restaurants in 2010, including its first location in Chicago, and adding St. Louis, Mo., Oklahoma City, Okla. and Pittsburgh, Pa, among others, to its list of markets.

The company’s goal is to operate at least 3,500 restaurants nationwide.

In total, the top 10 fastest-growing chains’ sales accounted for $5.9 billion, a 19 percent increase over 2008. Unit counts grew 16 percent.

Overall, however, the 500 largest U.S. restaurant chains registered a .8 percent annual sales decline in 2009, according to Technomic’s annual report on the top U.S. restaurant chains. Systemwide sales for the top 500 declined to an estimated $230 billion in 2009, down almost $2 billion over 2008.

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Facing firm demands from the European Union and financial markets to cut its deficit, Greece announced cost-cutting measures Wednesday that will save the debt-challenged country €4.8 billion, $6.53 billion, this year.

The Greek government plans to cut civil service workers’ entitlements by 12%. This includes a 30% decrease in holiday bonus payments, according to The Wall Street Journal’s online edition. Officials also said civil service pensions will be frozen for the year.

To increase revenue, the Greek government said it will raise the value-added tax to 21% from 19% on items including clothing and footwear. Sales tax on food and medicine will rise to 10% from 9% and the tax rate on printed products will increase to 5% from 4.5%.

The country will boost the tax on alcohol by 20% and raise the tax on tobacco to 65% from 63%. Taxes on gasoline prices will be hiked by €0.08 per liter.

Officials expect the measures will reduce Greece’s budget deficit to 8 free credit report.7% of the country’s gross domestic product this year from a level of 12.7% last year, according to the report. The European Union had given Greece until March 16 to show it is making progress in cutting its deficit from more than four times the allowed level.

Umbrella union for civil servants ADEDY is already speaking out against the measures and has called for a 24-hour general strike on March 16, said the Journal.

In a speech to parliament Tuesday, Greek prime minister George Papandreou said the country risks bankruptcy if it neglects to find lenders to cover its €300 billion, $409 billion, in debt, the Journal said.

Greece is preparing to raise between €3 billion and €5 billion, $4.1 billion and $6.8 billion, in a 10-year bond sale.  

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The Reserve Bank of India told lenders to set aside more deposits as reserves than economists predicted after raising its growth and inflation forecasts. Stocks and bonds fell.

Governor Duvvuri Subbarao increased the cash reserve ratio to 5.75 percent from 5 percent, exceeding the median forecast for a half-point move in a Bloomberg News survey, an RBI statement showed in Mumbai today. The bank kept benchmark interest rates unchanged.

The decision is India’s biggest step yet toward raising borrowing costs as inflation and asset-bubble concerns reverberate across Asia. China, Malaysia and the Philippines moved closer toward raising rates this month and Australia and Vietnam have already done so, spurring a sell-off in stocks and bolstering the outlook for currency gains in the region.

“The policy is indicating a sequential step towards monetary tightening in India,” said Shubhada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank Ltd. in Mumbai. “The bank may raise policy rates before the next scheduled meeting,” on April 20.

India’s benchmark stock index extended its drop, bond yields rose and the rupee weakened after the report. The Sensitive stock index fell 1.2 percent to 16,105.75, while the yield on 10-year government bonds increased to 7.59 percent from 7.55 percent at 11:20 p.m. in Mumbai. The rupee weakened to 46.39 against the dollar from 46.36 before the report.

Gaining Momentum

Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said India’s economic growth could “gain momentum” over the next year and “reinforce” inflationary pressures. The central bank raised its inflation forecast to 8.5 percent by March 31 from 6.5 percent.

“The message being sent across is that stern steps will be taken going forward to contain inflation,” said Killol Pandya, who oversees the equivalent of $152 million in Indian debt at Shinsei Asset Management India Pvt. in Mumbai. “There are indications the economy is turning around.”

In China, the central bank ordered some banks to pare lending, raised the ratio for deposits banks must set aside as reserves and guided bill yields higher this month after loan growth surged.

Malaysia kept borrowing costs unchanged on Jan. 26, while warning that rates cannot be kept “too low” for too long because of the need to prevent a build-up of “financial imbalances.” The Philippines increased its so-called rediscounting rate, one of the interest rates it charges lenders for borrowing money from the central bank, as it began unwinding stimulus measures.

Equities Retreat

Equities have retreated on concern that the withdrawal of stimulus measures will slow a rebound in corporate earnings. The MSCI Asia Pacific index has lost 7.3 percent in the past two weeks.

Analysts anticipate currency gains as strengthening economies force central banks to act. The rupee may gain almost 8 percent by year-end to 43 per dollar, according to the median forecast in Bloomberg survey. China’s yuan and Malaysia’s ringgit are estimated to advance 3.7 percent.

The Reserve Bank estimates India’s $1.2 trillion economy, Asia’s third largest, will expand 7.5 percent in the year ending March 31, more than its October forecast of 6 percent “with an upward bias,” Subbarao said in the statement today.

The bank left its benchmark reverse repurchase rate unchanged at 3.25 percent and the repurchase rate at 4.75 percent, today’s statement said. The increase in cash reserves will drain 360 billion rupees ($7.8 billion) from the banking system in two stages, on Feb. 13 and Feb. 27.

Exacerbate Inflation

“As growth accelerates and the output gap closes, excess liquidity, if allowed to persist, may exacerbate inflation expectations,” Subbarao said in the statement. “Though the inflationary pressures stem predominantly from the supply side, the consolidating recovery increases the risks of these spilling over into a wider inflationary process.”

India’s benchmark wholesale-price inflation accelerated to 7.3 percent in December, the fastest pace since November 2008. Food accounted for 80 percent of December’s inflation reading, government data showed, as deficient rains last year hurt output of rice, wheat and sugar.

Subbarao’s move is aimed at checking manufacturing inflation that surged to 5.2 percent in December from 1.6 percent in October. Industrial production rose 11.7 percent in November, the fastest pace in two years, as sales at companies including Hero Honda Motors Ltd. surged.

Hero Honda, the nation’s biggest motorcycle maker, reported a better-than-estimated 79 percent increase in third- quarter net income after sales climbed.

Food Inflation

“Tighter monetary policy will have no impact on inflation as it is largely a supply-side-driven phenomenon,” Harsh Pati Singhania, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi, said before the report. “Interest rates should not be increased.”

Subbarao said there have been “some signs” of demand pressures on inflation and that he expects the current growth rate of 7.5 percent to continue in the next financial year starting April 1.

To ease supply constraints, the government on Jan. 13 announced plans to sell as much as 3 million metric tons of wheat and rice in the open market until March and permit duty- free imports of white sugar until Dec. 31 to increase supplies.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government is under pressure to tame inflation as opposition parties stepped up their criticism for failing to curb prices. Inflation is politically sensitive in India, where the World Bank estimates almost three-quarters of the nation’s 1.2 billion people live on less than $2 a day.

Subbarao said the withdrawal of monetary accommodation can’t be “effective” in controlling inflation unless the fiscal stimulus is also rolled-back in a coordinated manner. He said government borrowing must be cut to contain inflation and to meet credit demand of companies.

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The casual shoes in your closet were likely made in Asia.

But one new GTA footwear company, Oliberté, took a different path and became the first international footwear firm to pick Africa for its manufacturing centre.

Actually, Oliberté founder and CEO Tal Dehtiar chose the continent first and then chose the product.

The enterprise is the natural follow-up to his five years of running MBAs Without Borders, a charity that paired business volunteers with entrepreneurs in 25 developing countries.

He founded the non-profit entity after graduating from McMaster University’s MBA program, instead of heading for Bay St. like his classmates.

"I love business. I love helping people. I love developing countries," says Dehtiar, who speaks four languages. "I had to find a way to make it all work together."

Last year, MWB became a division of the Washington-based non-profit agency CDC Development Solutions and Dehtiar was free to search for another enterprise.

"I wanted something tangible. People said `If you really want to help, we need you to make a product in Africa that people are willing to buy,’" says Dehtiar. "I thought, what product has been around for years?"

The answer: Shoes.

With a thriving tannery industry in Ethiopia and extensive rubber production in Liberia, making shoes would be a good fit for Africa, he thought.

Working from his office and warehouse in Oakville, Dehtiar hopes his concept will make a difference, and the urban casual footwear will appeal to the fashion-conscious city dweller with a social conscience.

Born in Israel, with a Latvian mother and Ukrainian father, he grew up in Toronto after the family moved to Canada. His parents, both graduate engineers who run an upscale furniture showroom (Room Deco Furniture in Woodbridge), are good role models for Dehtiar’s brand of small business entrepreneurship.

"We’re not going to be in Ethiopia because it’s cheap," he says. "We’re going to make sure the factories are paying their workers properly."

He has also chosen factories that met international environmental standards.

If the company name sounds familiar, that’s because you may have seen Dehtiar pitching his idea on the Jan. 6 episode of Dragon’s Den, the CBC TV show that gives entrepreneurs a chance to convince the show’s venture capitalists to invest in fledgling companies. He was asking for $200,000. Unfortunately, the guest judge on the show, fashion personality Jeanne Beker, didn’t appreciate the casual shoes.

But viewers haven’t seen the whole story payday loans. Since the CBC segment was taped in May, Dehtiar’s enterprise has flourished. From a standing start (he sold 500 pairs of shoes in 2009), Oliberté is running now with orders for more than 10,000 pairs from stores in Europe, Australia – sales that will cover his costs without even adding in North America.

This year, he estimates about 20 per cent of his sales will be in Canada, while Europe and the U.S. will capture 40 per cent each. He has a couple of part-time warehouse staffers and a part-time designer as well as project managers in Africa.

Canada’s a tougher market, says Dehtiar.

"We’re a conservative society," he says.

Retailers told him that as they emerge from a recession they only want known brands for this year.

"They said we love what you’re doing. It has huge potential. Stick around," he says. "In the U.S. they are a little more risk taking."

The shoes are also available through the company’s website.

He has a few target markets for the goat-leather-lined shoes, which come in seven styles and retail for up to $129. He aimed at educated, higher-income customers, and then noticed a big following from the fashionable urbanites (U.S. footwear chain Underground Station carries his line). Then the evangelical community came on board, intrigued by the humanitarian values.

Despite the compelling story, starting a new company is plain hard work.

Dehtiar has invested about $100,000 so far, and he has investors interested, possibly including the Business Development Bank of Canada. Finding financing was tough at first since the banks he approached said running a charity for five years didn’t count as business experience and the 29-year-old was too young.

Getting the shoes to entertainers could be a marketing gambit that pays off. Actress Kristen Stewart from Twilight picked them up at the Toronto International Film Festival. Snoop Dogg has a couple of pairs. So does Somalia-born Canadian hip hop artist K’naan, whose song "Wavin" Flag was chosen as the soccer anthem for this year’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Celebrities can pick up his shoes at the behind-the-scenes lounges at the upcoming Grammy Awards and the Black Entertainment Awards. All the Miss America pageant contestants will receive Oliberté shoes.

In demand as a speaker, Dehtiar is becoming a celebrity himself. This winter he will visit business classes at the University of Michigan, Pepperdine and Duke.

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European Central Bank council member Ewald Nowotny indicated he sees no need to raise interest rates in the first half of 2010 as inflation pressures stay muted.

“Our interest rate decisions are to be seen in connection with our price stability goal and in this context I do not see major threats for price stability in the near future,” Nowotny, 65, said in an interview in Vienna. The comment was in reply to a question whether economists were correct to assume no increases in the first half. There is no “strong need” to shift policy in the absence of inflation pressures, he said.

The Frankfurt-based central bank is starting to withdraw emergency measures designed to fight the financial crisis as the euro-region economy recovers from its worst recession since World War II. While President Jean-Claude Trichet says the ECB has no immediate plan to raise its benchmark rate from the current 1 percent, officials have given themselves room to do so next year if necessary.

The ECB on Dec. 3 tightened the terms of its final tender of 12-month funds to take account of any rate increase next year and Executive Board Member Juergen Stark said five days later that rates that are left too low for too long may fuel more bubbles.

‘Steady Hand’

At the same time, the aftershocks from the recession are keeping a lid on prices. The ECB projects inflation to average 1.3 percent next year and 1.4 percent in 2011, below its 2 percent ceiling.

“If there’s no infringement with regard to these goals then I wouldn’t see strong pressure or a strong need to change the policy that we have, that means a policy of steady hand,” said Nowotny, who joined the ECB in September 2008. He said the ECB never “precommits” to any specific policy.

Nowotny “validates expectations that it’ll take a bit more than six months for the ECB to change its monetary policy stance,” said Laurent Bilke, an economist at Nomura International in London. “I assume the ECB needs to see some further signs of consolidation of economic momentum before they act. We’ve really only seen one quarter of positive GDP growth.”

The ECB is pulling back some of the flagship policies introduced at the depth of the crisis to encourage banks to lend again. In addition to stopping the 12-month tender, it will discontinue its six-month loans after March and only guaranteed unlimited funding in its other refinancing operations until April 13.

Survey

The ECB will probably lend banks 75 billion euros ($122 billion) in the 12-month tender, according to the median of 23 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. That compares with a forecast of 150 billion euros in a survey conducted before the ECB announced that the rate would be indexed. The results will be announced at 9:30 a.m. in Frankfurt.

Nowotny, an economist and former chief executive officer of Vienna-based Bawag PSK Bank, said he expects no changes on terms of the three-month operation as “tenders that we didn’t mention will go on for the time being as they are now payday loan.”

When the first year-long operation expires next summer, the ECB “will take all measures necessary to prevent a liquidity shortage” by providing funds with a shorter maturity, he said.

“What the markets see — and I think this message has been taken very well — is that with the decisions that we took in December, the ECB is signaling a cautious policy of exiting,” Nowotny said. “Our intention clearly was not to send a signal on rates.”

Recovery

The economic recovery is giving the ECB room to embark on exit strategies. Europe’s economy resumed expansion in the third quarter as governments stepped up spending and exports rose. A slump in industrial output eased in October and manufacturing expanded for a second month in November.

The pace of the recovery may be restrained by the euro’s 16 percent appreciation against the dollar since mid-February. The current level of the euro “is bearable,” Nowotny said. “But it’s quite obvious that a prolonged and strong revaluation of the euro would have a negative effect on the export performance of the euro area.”

The euro was little changed at $1.4550 today after falling 0.8 percent yesterday.

The ECB this month raised its economic outlook, forecasting growth of 0.8 percent next year and 1.2 percent in 2011 after a 4 percent contraction this year. Nowotny said it’s a ‘positive outlook but a very cautious one,”

Collateral Rules

The central banker also said that the ECB won’t consider the situation of individual euro-region member countries when normalizing its collateral rules. Greek government bonds, which were cut to BBB+ by Fitch Ratings last week, may not be eligible as collateral if the ECB reverts to pre-crisis rules in 2011.

“The policy with regard to collateral is part of monetary policy and it is only monetary policy considerations that are relevant in this case,” Nowotny said. “We’re not looking at particular countries.”

The ECB currently accepts bonds rated BBB- as collateral for loans after relaxing its rules in response to the financial crisis last year. It may revert to the old rules at the end of 2010, under which A- is the minimum required rating.

Soaring government bond-yield spreads in countries with excessive deficits “can serve as a wake-up call,” Nowotny said. Rising deficits are “a matter of substantial concern both for the ECB and the European Union.”

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Did Cyber Monday outshine Black Friday this year?

Early reports suggest that Americans shopped more enthusiastically online for holiday bargains than they did in stores on Black Friday.

Cyber Monday sales rose 14% this year compared to 2008 and consumers also bought nearly 30% more items per order versus last year, according to research firm Coremetrics.

Also, the firm said shoppers bought 10% more items per order online than they did in stores on Black Friday.

"We are seeing good online buying momentum because people are looking for the very best deals, and are going online for the most convenient way to shop," John Squire, chief strategy officer, Coremetrics, said in a report Tuesday.

Clothing and jewelry e-tailers were the most popular shopping destinations on Cyber Monday. Although department stores saw a 33% increase in traffic to their Web sites, the average order volume actually fell 10% versus last year, the report said.

Kindle top seller at Amazon.com

Cyber Monday, which is the e-tailers version of Black Friday, is the day that e-tailers furiously push big discounts, free gift cards, free shipping and any other gimmick they can think of to entice consumers to spend even more of their holiday shopping dollars online.

Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500) spokesman Craig Berman said its wireless Kindle e-reader was the "best-selling item across all of Amazon’s product categories on Monday."

"This November has become the biggest month for Kindle sales since we launched the product two years ago," Berman said. But he declined to disclose how many Kindle units have been sold over that period.

Also, Berman said the e-tailer sold out of its Cyber Monday deal of the day, which was an 8GB iPod Touch for $158.

Other hot sellers Monday included the hugely popular Zhu Zhu pet hamsters, which are sold on Amazon through third party vendors.

Although the retail price of each hamster is $9.99, Berman said some of the hamsters, such as Mr. Squiggles, were selling for as much as $63 each.

4.3 million shoppers a minute

An average of 4.3 million consumers per minute visited shopping Web sites throughout the day Monday in North America, according to Internet monitoring firm Akamai, which tracks traffic trends to more than 270 e-tailers.

The firm, which monitors North American visitors to sites such as American Eagle Outfitters, Overstock.com, QVC.com and eBags.com, said traffic peaked at about 9:30 p.m. ET, reaching 5.1 million visitors per minute.

Pedro Santos, chief strategist for e-commerce with Akamai, said he expects heavy online traffic to continue on subsequent Mondays leading up to the last shipping day before Christmas.

Here’s a sampling of what other sellers were serving up to customers.

Walmart.com is offering nearly 150 specials on such items as flat panel TVs, gaming systems and toys as well as 97-cent shipping on laptops, digital cameras and MP3 players.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) said in a statement the deals are being offered through Friday, but only while supplies last.

For book lovers, Barnesandnoble.com is chopping prices by 50% on all New York Times bestsellers and offering a $10 gift certificate for every $100 purchase.

Still, don’t expect any special deal on Barnes & Noble’s "Nook" eBook reader, which industry experts peg as one of the hottest products this holiday season.

A quick check on the book seller’s Web site showed that if you order the Nook Monday, it won’t be shipped until Jan. 4. And the "extra" incentive to Nook buyers is free shipping and a free gift certificate.

About 96.5 million Americans planned to shop online Monday, up from 85 million in 2008, according to the National Retail Federation.

Despite these expected traffic numbers and heavy discounts, Cyber Monday is still seen as more of a ceremonial start to online holiday shopping.

The busiest online shopping day tends to be later in December, and is the last day that gifts can be shipped to guarantee delivery by Christmas Day.  

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The U.S. job market will likely start to grow in early 2010, as signs of economic expansion should encourage companies to hire workers, said Macroeconomic Advisers LLC chairman Joel Prakken.

He cautioned the labor market will remain sluggish for a protracted period with full employment unlikely to be reached until 2014.

Prakken was speaking on a conference call with reporters after the release of the October ADP Employer Services report, jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers.

Earlier, the ADP National Employment Report showed U.S. private employers shed 203,000 jobs in October, fewer than a revised 227,000 jobs lost in September.

(Reporting by Richard Leong, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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