Black Friday in the U.S. still resulted in higher sales over last year. Sales were up by 3%. Online sales were up 1%.
Is there hope that the U.S. economy is still consumer-driven, despite all the housing debt problems?
The market already anticipated decent sales for Black Friday, between late October and November 18. However, the 25% appreciation is unconvincing. Volume has been shrinking on each day the consumer discretionary index rallied. There is still a 10% upside for XLY. After that, the sector may be vulnerable to a sell-off.
