Mall retail and Internet retail stocks broke higher on Tuesday as investors piled back into some beaten-up and highly-shorted names.
The biggest gainer in mid-day trading was Bed Bath & Beyond ( BBBY ) with a 19.72% spike higher to effectively erase about a week's worth of losses.
RealReal ( REAL ) was just behind BBBY with a 18.32% jump, while Stitch Fix ( SFIX ) +11.49% and Honest Company ( HNST ) +9.61% also made big moves.
Other gainers included Burlington Stores ( BURL ) +9.92% , Rent the Runway ( RENT ) +6.95% , Chico's FAS ( CHS ) +6.68% , and Duluth Holdings ( DLTH ) +5.20% .
Department store stocks were also heading in the right direction, led by Kohl's ( KSS ) +3.80% and Nordstrom ( JWN ) +2.95% .
Big Lots ( BIG ) +8.05% and Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings ( OLLI ) +4.85% also attracted some buyers.
The SPDR S&P Retail ETF ( NYSEARCA: XRT ) was up 3.26% to easily outperform broad market averages.
What to watch: Amazon's ( AMZN ) earnings report later in the week and the National Retail Federation's holiday sales forecast next week are being circled as two events that could push retail stocks up or down. The read-though on inventory, markdowns, and margins are a major topic for the holiday quarter.
Read more about how many of the retail stocks churning higher on Tuesday are highly-shorted names.
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Retail stocks rip gains ahead of Amazon's earnings report later in the week