Christmas is coming early guys and from what we have seen retail numbers look like they will be better than expected. Yes after yesterday’s news of the Advance Retail Sales beating expectations by 0.5% everyone is optimistic about the industry. I have been a strong promoter in the American consumer for some time and glad to see that it is finally coming true. With black Friday coming up on us along with the holiday shopping season I think we are going to start to see a resurgence in retail stocks. So where to look at? Well I am a strong promoter of the video-game industry and only see sales numbers increasing with the release of high profile games such as Call of Duty along with the price cuts on many next generation systems. GameStop (GME) is the best of breed video-game retailer and a very well run company making it a strong fundamental investment with long-term potential. Read last week’s article on GameStop’s future strength. I also think Best Buy (BBY) is a strong bet in the electronics market due to their improved inventory setup. Moving on I like accessory maker Coach (COH) who is I recently upgraded this month due to their strong cost cutting abilities and better than expected sales estimates. The next bull market would have to be the clothing brands. I see Chicos (CHS), Buckle (BKE) both having better than expected numbers along with GAP (GPS) who many expect to have an outstanding holiday season due strong market campaigns and cost cutting abilities. Lastly I think we can never lose faith in Warren Buffet’s ability to see value in stocks. This week he upped his investment within Wal-Mart (WMT) plus the company was backed by strong comments from CEO Michael Duke saying that they are encouraged by increased traffic and market share gains. Overall I am optimistic about the holiday shopping season and think retail numbers will be better than expected. As a result I think it wouldn’t be a bad choice to dabble in some retail stocks. Stay tuned for more in-depth reports on individual picks.