. >>> and shares of amazon were higher than news that the company snagged wood di allen to write and direct his firs tv series and upgraded the stock to buy, citing strong revenue growth and kbroouing margins. shares of amazon up more than 1% to 74. >>> kind of seems like the holidays just ended but despite strong sales, retailers are already assessing how the u.s. consumer is doing as we head into this new year. courtney reagan has more. >> reporter: as retail resets for 2015 the big focus is the state of the consumer. >> every year is a challenge, but i am thinking again, more optimistically and hopefully we'll leave in the year with more money in the bank than the year prior. >> reporter: the national retail federation's annual big show former federal reserve chairman ben bernanke said while many face financial pressures, he hasn't seen the economic backdrop for the consumers this strong in almost a decade. here at the icr exchange conference in orlando, companies from restaurants to retail are feeling good about the u.s. consumer fueled in part by lower prices at the pump which e