Retailers report May results above expectations

Experts unsure stimulus checks helped
The tax-rebate checks mailed out earlier this year put nearly $100 billion into the hands of consumers. The question now is whether the rebates...

Wal-Mart July same-store sales rise 3 percent
Wal-Mart Stores says its July same-store sales rose 3 percent, slightly less than expectations, as tax-rebate checks dried up and consumers spent...

Crunch spreading to credit cards
Consumers with credit card debt can expect to feel the walls closing in on them in the coming months, as card-issuing banks search for creative ways...

Consumers likely to shop cautiously for toys
Will financial-market turmoil be the Grinch this Christmas?

Economy Lost 159,000 Jobs in September
Adding to signs of slowdown, the decline in nonfarm employment was the steepest in five years. The unemployment rate held steady as the labor pool...