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Retail sales inched up by just 0.1% in December, but the gain was enough to lift sales to a record level for 2011. It marked the largest annual increase in more than a decade, and confirms that the economy was strengthening as the year ended.
Many retailers are reporting solid sales gains for December, capping a decent holiday season, but shoppers bent on discounts exacted a high price.
While Apple%u2019s products and digital media stores continue to thrive, its once-ascendant retail operation is losing some luster. But if stagnant retail growth in Apple Stores is worrisome, it's not time yet to hit the panic button.
The holiday season was a heck of a party for retailers, but consumers are nursing a shopping hangover that'll keep them out of stores for a few months. "Now that those credit card bills are hitting mailboxes, shoppers will cut back in a very significant way," said Britt Beemer of America's Research Group.
The holiday shopping season is wrapping up to be bigger than anyone expected. Now, retailers are holding their breath and hoping consumers will keep spending in the final days before Christmas.
With the final Christmas countdown begun, the National Retail Federation has upgraded its holiday sales forecast, reflecting growing optimism that much more spending is to come. The NRF now expects holiday sales to rise 3.8% to a record $469.1 billion. That's up from its more modest 2.8 percent forecast made in early October, though it's hardly stellar.
Americans spent more on autos, furniture and clothing at the start of the crucial holiday shopping season, boosting retail sales for a sixth straight month. Retail sales rose 0.2 percent in November, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
Retailers are reporting strong sales gains in November, boosted by a discount-fueled spending binge for the start of the holiday shopping season last weekend. Now, the challenge is to keep shoppers spending throughout the most important selling period of the year.
There's never a dull moment on Wall Street, especially with the holiday season under way. Among the items that will shape this week: Cyber Monday, Nook Tablets falling and doughnuts rising, digital tunes playing and retailers facing the music.
As the market breathes a sigh of relief on hopes that Europe isn't going to fall apart and the unemployment picture isn't getting worse, the focus shifts to China and earnings season. But earnings may be overshadowed if inflation data out of China is worse than expected, now that the country has the world's second largest economy.

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