Today is the last day of the year. Of course there are the parties and such. To me it is much more, it is a time to look back and look forward. But for many people it is just another tick of the clock.
One interesting part about this tick is the way that accounting works, you see by this time in the year all of the spending is done in most companies. But they want to lock in better earnings, so they have every reason to push really hard to get in some last minute sales, even if they sell at or near cost. This happens to a lesser extent on the last day of each quarter and a bit on the last day of each month. Sales people need to reach quotas, managers need to reach their numbers also. Because of all of this it makes this one of the best days to buy something. This works better at places where you negotiate for something. On the last day of the month you can usually get a new or even used car for far below what you can get it for on any other day, and the end of the year is even bigger. It works well for real estate companies; if you need to sign that new lease they are eager to get it in the book for this year. One place I have tried it with great success is with a T1 vendor, for internet access, I called them on the last day of march, and the sales guy was so desperate that he gave me a price only 30% of what I got the week before, and wanted to lock it in for three years, that alone save my client thousands over that time period.
So if you are thinking about buying something, especially a vehicle, then go shopping today, you will save thousands, and maybe even lock in that tax deduction this year. If you get a Ford or GM they have huge discounts that also expire today.