Jim Armitage: Retailers to have on your shopping list

Outlook Their waterboarding of the English language aside, Christmas-reliant companies seem pretty chipper.

Character Group, the maker of children’s toys based around Teletubbies, Doctor Who and others, predicts this year will be bigger than last, while International Greetings says it will be flogging record volumes of wrapping paper.

IG is less clear about how profitable all that paper is going to be, but clearly it’s anticipating a fairly healthy high street in the coming weeks. The general retailers sector of the stock market has shot up 16 per cent from its doldrums in October.

So, is it too late to join the fray and start buying shares in the sector? Possibly not. Fashion sales continue to be flat, but electronics are doing well, as Black Friday’s stampedes highlighted. In other words, it’ll be a patchy Christmas, but not all bad.

So, if you’ve got the appetite for a punt, think about buying into any dips in Dixons Carphone’s share price or, perhaps savvier, chip designers Arm and Intel on your Christmas list.