Holiday Sales Expected to Fall 1%

Crowds turned out in force to go shopping this weekend but total sales for this November and December are expected to fall 1% from a year ago.

As WSJ.com reported: “Roughly 195 million consumers shopped in stores and online over the Black Friday weekend, up from 172 million last year, according to the National Retail Federation. But average spending dropped to $343.31 per person from $372.57 a year ago.”

In a round-up of the retail sector, Barrons.com today touted Target (TGT), Wal-Mart (WMT), Macy’s (M) and Nordstrom (JWN), noting that department stores and discounters were among the weekend’s biggest winners.

Conversely, investors should steer clear of specialty names like The Gap (GPS) and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF).

The S&P SPDR Retail ETF (XRT) was recently down 1.8% to $34.35.