Retail sales up in February

February was supposed to be a down month for retail sales because of the blizzard. Surprisingly, the Census Bureau reports sales were up 0.3 percent for the month. Excluding motor vehicles and parts the increase was a pretty amazing 0.8 percent (that's 9.6 percent on an annual basis and

up 4.2 percent from February 2009. Why were the auto numbers so weak? Well, cars are sold outside. Hard to check out the new models when they're buried under 3 feet of snow. Toyota's troubles didn't help either.

I believe 2010Q1 GDP numbers are going to be very good. March employment should be strong as well. Happy days are here again,...