Gloating, in any form, and true friendship are mutually exclusive in my view. The OP can fill his boots if he likes, but if I was one of the "friends" I wouldn't expect a Christmas card from me next year.
I actually haven't discussed this with my friends and don't intend to bring it up to them. My post was more about to trust your gut feeling but i understand that it does look like I'm gloating. Should have worded the post better to avoid the confusion.