New Data Suggest Holiday Spending Could Be Dreary This Year

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- It took a while, but U.S. consumers may finally be reacting to the stock market's wealth-crushing summer swoon and a cooling job market by cutting back on spending. And that could mean bad news for big retailers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy , which are in the trenches right now preparing for the all-important holiday season. On Wednesday, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that September retail sales rose 0.1%, missing forecasts for a gain of 0.2%. Excluding sales of autos...