Retail Sales Jumped From Last Year (AMZN, UPS, JCP, M, BBY, SKS, TIF)

Retail sales jumped from 2009 levels, rising 5.5% year-over-year. According to MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse, retail sales rose 5.5% in the 50 day period from November 5-December 24, which is seen as the prime holiday shopping season. “If last year's holiday story was about gaining some stability, this year's is about getting back to growth. The 2010 holiday period is categorized by strong year-over-year growth in Apparel and continued strength in eCommerce. We also saw a noticeable return in spending in the larger ticket items, as exemplified by the solid growth in Jewelry, Luxury and even the Furniture category,” noted Michael McNamara, Vice President, Research and Analysis for SpendingPulse. Breaking down the report shows that eCommerce was the big winner this year, with sales up 15.4% from last year. Amazon.com

and UPS

were the prime beneficiaries in this space. Apparel was also strong this year, rising 11.2% from 2009. Menswear was particularly strong, growing 10.5%. Macy's

and J.C. Penney

benefited from the growth in apparel, and menswear in particular. Electronics lagged this season, rising only 1.2% from last year. This was seen from Best Buy's

latest earnings report, and will be seen in the next earnings report as well. Jewelry and Luxury both rose significantly this holiday shopping season, and Saks

and Tiffany's

were prime beneficiaries. Jewelry rose 8.4%, while luxury ex-jewelry rose 6.7%.