Retail Sales Conundrum

There has been some confusion and trepidation about holiday retail sales over the last week. Things got a bit hairy when Mastercard's SpendingPulse and ShopperTrak holiday shopping estimates came out. But ICSC contradicted the gloom with its "on-track estimate for November-December season forecast".

Retailers had a better handle on inventory for this holiday shopping season. They did not have to discount as much due to that fact. The earnings may be quite surprising. Let's also wait for chain store sales next week (on Jan. 3), before drawing any meaningful conclusions.

XRT came down to solid long-term support.

click on charts to enlarge