Awful.  Simply put, the word awful sums up the year for investors with ties to stocks in the retail sector not named Amazon.com (AMZN), Home Depot (HD), or a handful of other companies.  It hasn’t been just 2017 either.  As shown in our Death By Amazon Index (DBA) below, the retail sector has been in a tailspin for over two and a half years now.  Since 2012, the index has rallied 29.3%, which is less than a third of the S&P 500’s 93.4% gain.  More recently, though, things have been even worse.  Since its peak in Spring 2015, the DBA index has lost more than a third of its value, and in just 2017 alone, it is down 15% in a year where the S&P 500 is up 15%!  Not good.

In the last two weeks, though, retail stocks have been attempting to bounce ahead of the holiday season.  Investors seem to be in the “bargain hunting” mood. Can it last?  In our latest B.I.G. Tips report, we look at the recent rally in retail to put the gains in perspective too see if the recent gains are likely to last or fall by the wayside.  For anyone interested in the retail sector, this report is a must-read.  To see the report, sign up for a monthly Bespoke Premium membership now!