But but but... US retail advanced sales dropped a stunning 0.9% MoM (massively missing expectations of a 0.1% drop). The last time we saw a bigger monthly drop was June 2012. Want to blame lower gas prices - think again... Retail Sales ex Autos and Gas also fell 0.3% (missing an exuberantly hopeful expectation of +0.5% MoM) and the all-important 'Control Group' saw sales fall 0.4% (missing expectations of a 0.4% surge).Boom goes the narrative.

Advance Retail Sales massively missed For Dec.

Ironically, the great gas price plunge was the worst thing to happen to the US economy since the Polar Vortex:

The breakdown: a sales decline in 9 out of 13 major categories.

as The Control Group shows - this is not gas price related.

Charts: Bloomberg