Retail Stocks Have Been Crushing The Market Against All Odds — And Traders Are Betting On More Gains

For months, market experts have been sounding the alarm on the retail apocalypse. As Amazon wields its mighty influence over multiple industries, it’s been all but assumed that many traditional retailers will lose a huge chunk of value, if they survive at all. But against all odds, retail stocks have been mounting a silent comeback in the stock market over the past month. Foot Locker, Macy’s, and Gap are the three biggest gainers in the S&P 500 during the period, surging more than 28%. Meanwhile, on a sector basis, three of the top six best-performing industries in the last month are in the retail space, out of 24 groups. They’ve each climbed more than 5.9% during the stretch, smashing the benchmark S&P 500’s gain of just 1.5%. And, in a development that’s perhaps the most telling of all, traders are getting more confident about further increases. Their piqued interest can be seen in a measure of outstanding options on an exchange-traded fund tracking the retail sector. Open interest on the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has risen to more than 530,000 contracts, the most since January 2014. Read more at Business Insider.