Retail Sales Plummet

Retailers reported today it the news was, well, bad

Kohl's Corp.(NYSE:KSS) said Thursday that its October sales at stores open at least one year fell 9.0%. Analysts, on average, had expected same-store sales to fall 6.4%, according to Thomson Reuters. Total sales for the four weeks ended Nov. 1 fell 4.8% to $1.21 billion. The retailer said it still expects its quarterly earnings to come in at the low end of its forecasted range of 51 cents to 56 cents a share

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) said Thursday that its October sales at stores open at least one year fell 15.7%. Analysts, on average, had expected same-store sales at the department-store chain to be down 13.1%, according to Thomson Reuters. Total sales for the four-week period ended Nov. 3 fell 15.5% to $529 million. In its monthly sales report, the company said "the economic and competitive retail environment remained challenging" last month and that it now expects third-quarter earnings to come in slightly below a previously announced target of 32 cents to 37 cents a share.

J.C. Penney Co. (NYSE:JCP) said Thursday that its October sales at stores open at least one year fell 13%, citing declining mall traffic and slower consumer spending. Analysts, on average, had expected same-store sales to fall 13.2%, according to Thomson Reuters. Total sales for the four weeks ended Nov. 1 fell 11.8% to $1.36 billion. The department-store retailer expects third-quarter earnings of 53 cents to 55 cents a share, including a 2-cent gain from a real-estate sale, compared to its previous forecast of 50 cents to 60 cents a share.

Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) said Thursday it expects its November sales at stores open at least a year to decline in a range of 9% to 6%. The discount retailer cited a loss of seven post-Thanksgiving shopping days in November for the weakness, as well as the soft macro environment