After December's gravely disappointing drop in retail sales, analysts are convinced January will see all that pent-up demand come flying back and expected a 2.0% MoM jump (despite a collapse in consumer confidence, especially buying attitudes and financial well-being expectations). In fact the analysts under-appreciated the rebound as headline retail sales exploded a stunning 3.8% MoM

Source: Bloomberg

That is the biggest MoM surge since March 2021's stimmy-driven surge in spending.

The rebound was mostly driven by a huge jump in non-store retailers (e.g. online, Amazon etc) and in autos...