It seems economists and holiday shoppers are cut from the same cloth when glaring into their crystal balls this time of year.

No matter how cold the weather, no matter how empty their pockets, both parties continue to envision a bright 2012 as they shop for holiday deals. Apparently, this blatant optimism continues no matter how many lumps of coal they received in their stockings in 2011.

To make the season more entertaining for crystal ball lovers, forecasts for 2012 continue to come at a laser's pace.

In the past few weeks, analysts have predicted a much-awaited housing bottom in 2012. Fitch is more optimistic about builders. And some analysts foresee a strong rental, multifamily sector as the rest of the economy slugs along.

In a PIMCO report Thursday, a leading analyst said America was on its way to a decent 2012 until Europe, the current bad boy of the global economy, got in its way. Capital Economics agreed with that sentiment, saying how U.S. banks deal with the euro-zone crisis could make or break the American economy in 2012.

And then there's the latest report from TrimTabs Investment Research. Analysts with the firm believe 2012 will be another coal-in-your-stalkings kind of year. The report says Wall Street is overestimating positive economic data and the economy is not improving because of low wage and salary growth. Not to mention, lackluster job demand online.

Rather than those factors getting better in 2012, TrimTabs says brace yourself for more bad news.

"Managers are postponing hiring decisions until the New Year, hoping for better economic news and some sort of resolution to the Eurozone debt crisis," said TrimTabs CEO Charles Biderman."Our data suggests their hopes will be in vain."

He added, "Wages and salaries, which we track based on the income and employment taxes withheld from the paychecks of all salaried U.S. workers, are falling on a sequential basis, as is online job demand."

Yet, despite all these predictions, one thing is clear — a clear, crystal ball is just that clear. It offers nothing in return, but a mere reflection of what someone sees at the moment or wants to see.

The real proof comes a year later when economists can look back and compare reality to their forecasts.

Looking back to this time last year, one investment group predicted Republican gains in Congress would stabilize commercial real estate values and lead to stronger corporate earnings, higher personal savings and economic growth fueled by quantitative easing. At the time, unemployment was closer to 10%, and it recently dropped to 8.6%, although many attribute this drop to the unemployed dropping off the radar screen.

Whether improvement or the apocalypse is around the corner, one thing is for sure — crystal ball forecasts are becoming as relevant as political polls.

In the end, we won't know where we're going until we get there.

Write to: Kerri Panchuk.