A wealth management analyst recently pointed out something puzzling: while everyone's worried about employment numbers weakening, actual consumer behavior tells a completely different story. Case in point? Shoppers just dropped $44 billion over the five-day stretch from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.

That's not exactly the spending pattern you'd expect from people who are genuinely anxious about their job security or economic outlook. The data suggests Main Street consumers aren't nearly as spooked as the headlines might have you believe. There's clearly some kind of gap between what the economic indicators are saying and how people are actually behaving with their wallets.