Moving on…to 2009

Well, 2008 was a tough year in general, and it ended with some pretty extreme highs and lows. The retail sector has seen its greatest decline since Q1 of 2003, despite promises of hot deals on Black Friday and day-after-Christmas sales. Even online sales are reporting a 3% decline ($25.5 billion vs. 26.3 billion) over 2007 holiday sales numbers.

A few online retailers are reporting some good news. While eBay watchers speculate/report on layoffs, Amazon is reporting record growth.

Seattle-based Amazon said last week this holiday season was its “best ever,”
with a 17 percent increase in orders on its busiest day. The company did not
provide dollar figures.

Analyst Gene Munster said in a note to investors
that his analysis of Amazon’s holiday sales report and fourth-quarter revenue
figures over the past five years suggests that the company’s sales will be in
line with his estimate of $6.66 billion – a 17 percent increase from the
year-ago period’s sales.
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters
expect sales of $6.47 billion.
Munster rates Amazon “Neutral” with a target
price of $45.

So on that note, here’s to looking forward to a much better new year!