U.S. retail sales posted a surprising gain in February despite falling car demand amid trouble at auto maker Toyota MotorCorp. and fierce blizzards that crippled the East Coast for days.
Retail sales rose last month by 0.3%, the Commerce Department said Friday. An average of economists surveyed had forecast a 0.3% decrease in February sales. The [...]

As you know, U.S. retail spending drives nearly three quarters of the U.S. GDP. A close look at retail trending shows a rebound that was good news for holiday retailers. They went into this year’s season with much better control over their inventories and a more calculated approach to their operations than in the later [...]

Last week markets were subdued as many economists and investors on Wall Street and Main Street took several days off to prepare for holiday celebrations.
The data that did arrive was mostly reminiscent of the spirit of St Nick – slipping coinage into stocks without their owner’s knowledge.
A report on the Tuesday before Christmas showed that [...]

FedEx reported Thursday that it shipped 1,000,000 more packages than expected on Monday — which it anticipates will be its peak shipping day this holiday. The firm reported that this year’s busiest day is up 17% from its busiest day last year.
FedEx CEO, Fred Smith further observed that their business has now observed a significant [...]

The majority of US consumers are no longer on the sidelines. On Friday the numbers point to strong retail sales for two months in a row.
Overall US retail sales in November spiked by 1.3% after a healthy 1.1% gain in October. November’s increase was well above the consensus estimates breaking above even the most optimistic [...]

Retail executives were holding their breath on Friday, looking for indications that the recent recovery would extend into the holiday shopping season. Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren went on the record with the Wall Street Journal Saturday to assert that early indications of both traffic and sales are pointing to “very good signs” for the December [...]

As another October comes into focus there are many signs that robust recovery is no doubt firming in late 2009:
1. Retail sales improved in the last week in Sept according to ICSC-Goldman’s tally which rose 0.1 percent. The gain represents a 0.9 percent year-on-year gain that compares with a plus 0.6 percent gain [...]

Fed Chief Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that indeed the recession of the past year is over. And positive economic data continues to punctuate assertions that the Q3 growth will be anything but lackluster:
1. On Tuesday, the popular ICSC-Goldman report’s year-on-year measure jumped into positive ground — 1.6 percent for the best showing in a [...]