A shopper buying a TV on Black Friday, Nov. 23, 2012 (Creative Commons).

Black Friday 2012 sales totaled $11.2 billion, which is down from 2011’s sales total by 1.8 percent. The question is whether this trend will continue through the holiday shopping season.

On Cyber Monday, consumers were presented with discounts from major stores but there is still the threat of the “fiscal cliff” over the country, which puts consumers in a unique position this year. The White House said that if Congress does not make a deal, taxes will increase for more than 90 percent of Americans. This may leave some wondering how much they should spend.

Capital gains taxes are also scheduled to increase if nothing is done to keep the country from falling over the edge at the beginning of next year, which has contributed to Wall Street acting the way it has in recent days. If nothing is done, a massive sell-off is almost guaranteed, as people do not want to take the tax bill that comes with the profit of holding the stock. If a deal is made, however, it is likely that the market will see investors hold on to stock, as they may not see their tax bill go up.

The real estate market is in a similar situation, all over capital gains. Analysts are expecting that if nothing is done, property will hit the market as people want to sell before taxes go up. If a bill is passed, however, people may be more willing to hold on to their property if capital gains tax rates do not increase.

How do these concepts relate? If Congress does not pass a bill that will get the United States out of the current situation, many have said the country will go back into a recession. If this threat is just a few weeks away from the holidays, people may be inclined to save their money if a bill is not passed before Congress’ holiday recess. If people spend less, sales will be down compared to last year, which may have a negative impact on stock prices.

Reach Staff Reporter Max Schwartz here; follow him on Twitter here.