Retail Sales Rock in October

Despite news that the retailer Filene's Basement filed for bankruptcy yesterday, overall retails sales appear very strong with the FB bankruptcy being an isolated event, not reflective of the industry as a whole.

Limited Brands, the parent of Victoria's Secret, and Costco Wholesale Corp both announced 9 percent jumps in same-store sales. Teen retailer Zumiez reported a 3.3 percent gain. Sales numbers from all three retailers were above Wall Street's expectations.

Overall, 23 major U.S.-based retailers that report monthly results were expected to post a very healthy composite gain of 4.5 percent in sales at stores open at least a year, or same-store sales, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The breakdown: Ben Bernanke's money printing is starting to hit the retail level. Accelerating price-inflation comes next.