December

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.

U.S. shoppers piled up the presents under their Christmas trees, but retailers were still a bit disappointed. The Commerce Department's official tally shows what many suspected: Consumers did most of their holiday buying early this year.

The nation's automakers ended 2010 strong, with most reporting higher sales for December. Consumers seemed to put concerns about the U.S. economy on hold and more than offset reduced demand by fleet customers, such as corporations and rental-car companies.

The nation's second-largest automaker reported a healthy year-over-year sales increase that was led by strong demand for the Edge crossover and the F-Series pickups. Overall, Ford enjoyed its best month of retail sales in 2010.

And for all of 2010, GM's four core brands sold 118,435 more vehicles this year than the company did with eight brands in 2009. GM says it expects to gain total and retail market share for the year. In December alone, the automaker sold nearly 224,000 vehicles.

The economy may be less robust than most Americans would like, but that didn't stop many of them from hitting the showrooms in December. That likely propelled auto sales in the final month of 2010 to 1.13 million units, the year's highest levels.

Macy's (M) CEO Terry Lundgren said he's "encouraged" by the level of buying activity at the company's Herald Square store in New York City Friday. The day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. is nicknamed Black Friday because it's the day when many retailers become profitable for the year. Macy's...