The results are in. The National Retail Federation (NRF) just released their survey results for post-Thanksgiving shopping. The numbers were strong. 154 million consumers shopped this holiday weekend, up 2% from 2015 and up 15% from 2014.

It's the time of year when the lists appear. This week, we round up lists of top influencers in various FinTech sectors around the globe.

It has been an eventful year with no let-up post-Brexit & Trump. In 2016 the longest-ruling monarch, King Bmibol Adulyadejhu of Thailand, and the longest-ruling national leader, Fidel Castro, both passed from the scene. A surprise demonetization in India made economic history, as Zimbabwe prepares to sweep US dollars from circulation. Change is everywhere and the pace seems to be quickening.

I loved the Random Notes column in Rolling Stone magazine when I read it in high school. This week's email and its collection of FinTech links seems pretty random to me, and one of the articles focuses on a FinTech firm that goes back to 1976, when I was reading Random Notes rather than FinTech news.

How to Justify a high valuation and low growth simultaneously

Seven score and thirteen years ago this month (November 19, 1863), Abraham Lincoln delivered his renowned Gettysburg Address at the dedication for the Soldiers National Cemetery. With the ravages of the ferocious July battle still evident, President Lincoln’s two-minute address redefined American democracy and its “Union” of states within the context of the nation’s bloody sectarian battle over slavery.

I spent a couple days in New York this week and noticed an energy for business I don't experience in other cities. In every restaurant, coffee house, and shared business space I spent time in, individuals and groups were meeting to discuss their next new idea, offer, and deal.

Two weeks ago, I distributed a 5-Point healthcare plan for presumed President-elect Hillary Clinton. That was then. In a remarkable and unprecedented election surprise, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton and will become the 45th President of the United States.

Last week’s election should be dubbed the revenge of the neglected. The outcome would have been different if Hillary’s strategists had taken to heart James Carville’s famous quip in 1992, “It’s the economy, stupid.” I remember it well, because I pulled together Bill Clinton’s economic program for the 1992 campaign. Of course, today’s economic problems are different from those of a quarter-century ago. But the political manifestation is virtually the same – tens of millions of Americans justifiably dissatisfied with their economic conditions and prospects.

In a surprise move, the Indian government retired the country's current high-dollar bank notes and replaced them with new versions. ATMs ran dry as people went to banks to exchange their banned old notes for the brand-new ones.