I read a news story today that said retailers are worried this past weekend's Northeast snowstorm - which kept people off the roads and out of stores in such major cities as Washington, Baltimore, Philly, New York and Boston - will hurt final holiday sales results.

Baloney.

The storm struck six days before Christmas. Anyone still shopping for gifts so late in the season obviously has a set list of what they plan to buy for family and friends. Does the fact that bad weather stopped them from shopping on Saturday, and perhaps Sunday, mean they won't still buy those planned gifts? Of course not. They'll just buy them on a different day.

And the retailers will make exactly the same amount of money they would have had the storm never come.