It's official: January's 8.6% decline in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was the worst ever for that month.
Let's put that into some perspective. December was actually a pretty good month, so markets still haven't dropped below their Nov. 21 lows. It's also hard to believe that the rest of 2009 will be as bad as January. Moreover, steep drops often yield buying opportunities. The Nasdaq Composite has dropped through my latest buying threshold of 1485 at least three times in recent weeks.
So while everyone is fretting about the details of President Obama's proposed economic stimulus package, the likelihood of a bank rescue package and Wall Street's bonuses, I recommend dusting off your shopping list, especially if you haven't already bought at these recently reduced prices.
Shopping is the operative word, since my interest has shifted to the retail sector for the first time in months, piqued by Amazon.com's amazing earnings report last week. Bucking the dismal trend reported by nearly every other retailer, Amazon unveiled robust profit and revenue numbers that hardly indicate we're in a recession.
I wish I'd seen this coming. Amazon had already boasted that it was having its best holiday season ever. Its shares were trading at about $50 before the earnings release, and they've been on a tear since, closing on Tuesday at $64. This may no longer qualify as a bargain, but it's still a big discount to the $88 Amazon shares fetched as recently as August.