Akamai Says Retail Traffic Higher Than Expected Today

Akamai Technologies AKAM is out with a report today saying that North American online retail traffic is 18% higher than normal today. This is imperative to know, as it gives traders and investors plenty of investment ideas to consider. The two obvious ones are Akamai itself, which handles all the content being delivered from the websites to the network providers, as well as the online retailers, like Amazon.com AMZN and eBay EBAY. It also provides the idea that United Parcel Service UPS and FedEx FDX will have better earnings than people expect. Of particular note is FedEx, which reports earnings next Thursday. This will include some holiday shipping trends, as Christmas is just 9 days after the earnings report. Investors, analyst and traders alike will be keen to hear what CEO Fred Smith and his team have to say on what they are seeing this holiday season. UPS reports earnings on February 1, and just announced it would be raising its dividend and upping its buyback this morning. It may very well prove to be a happy holiday season for all. Disclosure: long UPS