The ongoing battle for internet bookselling heated up on Thursday. Walmart (WMT) CEO Raul Vasquez is trash-talking Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos (pictured), according to the New York Post: "If there's going to be a Walmart on the Web," Vasquez said, "it's going to be Walmart.com."

Oooh -- it's on.

The comment is the latest salvo in this fall's highly publicized pricing war between the titans. In October, Walmart.com dropped the price of 10 bestselling books to $10. Amazon followed suit; Walmart countered with $9, and Amazon followed. Walmart downed the ante to $8.99, and Amazon backed off -- only to see Target.com match Walmart.com, which ducked down to $8.98. Vasquez sums up his company's pricing strategy: "If they react and match our prices, we're going to continue to lower our prices."

An improvement in sales at Kmart and cost-cutting overall helped Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) show better results in the third quarter.

The parent of Sears and Kmart stores posted a net loss of $127 million, less than the $146 million it posted the same time last year. That translates to $1.09 per share, or 80 cents per share after factoring out some one-time items, beating Wall Street's forecast of $1.09 per share.

The company's comparable store sales in the U.S. dropped 2.3%, with sales up 0.5% at Kmart, but down 4.6% at Sears. Kmart's sales rose thanks to better sales of toys and home items, while Sears was hurt by slow sales of appliances, lawn and garden items, tools and electronics.

Costco (COST) customers looking for "the real thing" now have to look elsewhere: The warehouse retailer said on Monday that it's no longer buying Coca-Cola (KO) products. Once stores run out of their dwindling supplies, they won't be restocking.

Costco is playing hardball; negotiations between the two companies to reach a recession-ready wholesale price have apparently broken down. Costco acknowledges this problem on its Web site: "Costco is committed to carrying name brand merchandise at the best possible prices. At this time, Coca-Cola has not provided Costco with competitive pricing so that we may pass along the value our members deserve."

Does it seem like the holidays arrived early this year? Maybe you noticed Costco (COST) stocking up on wrapping paper in September, or holiday television ads blaring during the weeks leading up to Halloween. Well, it's not your imagination, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Retailers this year started their national television holiday ad campaigns as much as four weeks before the traditional start of the holiday season, the media researcher says.

"Typically, retailer advertising is concentrated in the eight weeks before Christmas," said Jon Swallen, senior vice president of research at TNS. "What we saw was a backing up of the calendar by a full four weeks."

Shoppers are still tight with the buck, but they're starting to buy clothes again -- and they're using their store cards -- according to Target Corp. (TGT), which reported earnings that easily beat expectations.

Target reported an 18.4% increase in profits for the third quarter over that period last year, even with a modest 1.4% increase in sales and a 1.6% drop in same-store sales. Net income of $436 million, or 58 cents per share, easily beat Wall Street's expectations of 50 cents per share.

Warren Buffett is doubling up on Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) stock. Why does Warren want Walmart? Obviously, he thinks the price will go up from the $49.81 at which I estimate he bought the shares. But the stock is not cheap -- unless Warren has a better yardstick for measuring Walmart's future earnings growth.

How much Walmart stock does Buffett own? CNNMoney reports that his investing company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), boosted its stake by 90% from 19.9 million in the second quarter to 37.8 million shares in the third quarter. I don't know precisely what price he paid for the 17.9 million additional shares he bought , but Walmart's stock ranged between $47.73 and $51.88 in the third quarter, so let's guess his average cost was halfway in between: $49.81.

Home Depot (HD) said Tuesday that its third-quarter earnings fell 8.9% to $689 million, or 41 cents per share, as the housing and renovation markets remained weak. Revenue fell 8% to $16.36 billion. Same-store sales dropped 6.9%. Results beat estimates of 36 cents per share on revenue of $16.27 billion. The company also raised its full-year earnings outlook. Shares declined over 2% ahead of the bell.

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) said Tuesday that it will buy Semitool Inc. (SMTL) for $11 a share in an all-cash tender offer. The aggregate purchase price is about $364 million. Semitool shares, which closed Monday 10% higher at $8.4, shot up 30% in premarket trading to $10.94 at last check.

Lazard Ltd. (LAZ) announced Monday it has appointed Kenneth M. Jacobs, 51, as chairman of the board of directors and CEO, effective immediately. Jacobs replaces Bruce Wasserstein, who died on Oct. 14.

As unemployment soars and consumer credit dries up, some investors have braced for a "new frugality" with battered consumers cutting spending and looking for cheaper goods. But Wall Street is now betting that the fortunes of expensive luxury retailers may actually look much brighter than that of their more cost-conscious peers.

On Monday, the Census Bureau reported October retail sales grew 1.4% -- including autos and restaurants. Against this backdrop comes Goldman Sachs's new, more bullish outlook for the luxury retail sector in particular. The firm upgraded expensive retailers Nordstrom (JWM), Coach (COH), Saks (SKS) and Tiffany (TIF).

Retail sales keep creeping upward toward the holiday season. Numbers just released by the federal government show most retail segments had higher sales in October than September but, except for a few areas, sales are still lower than even the dismal totals seen in October of last year.

Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show total retail sales in October -- including autos and restaurants -- were $347.5 billion, up 1.4% from September, but still 1.7% below last October. For the year to date, only health and beauty stores and "food and drinking places" -- restaurants and bars -- had higher sales, while food stores were relatively flat. Health retailers were up 3%, eateries rose 1% and grocers went up 0.1%.

Since consumer spending makes up 70% of the economy, this is not a good sign for recovery from the recession. Consumer confidence remains in the dumps, and experts warn that shoppers will stay stingy until that mindset improves.

EBay (EBAY) is a Web pioneer, having built a multibillion dollar business out of allowing people to essentially put garage sales on the Internet. That simple idea led to fast growth more than a decade ago and helped define what was possible online for other companies that followed. The company's IPO in 1998 turned founder Pierre Omidyar and eBay President Jeffrey Skoll into instant billionaires.

Fast-forward to 2009, and the 1990s Internet darling is steering through turbulence. EBay seems to be want to be more an online retailer and less an online auction site. If it makes such a move, if will have to fight online retailers such as Amazon.com (AMZN) and Zappos and their impeccable customer service. It will also have to take on formidable brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT), which are focusing more on online sales. Why does eBay want to join a battle it's not likely to win?

Those everyday low prices took a bite out of its sales, but Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) still managed to post a winning third quarter. Profits were up thanks to cost-cutting, even as falling prices for food and electronics shrank sales receipts.

Wal-Mart managed to beat Wall Street's expectations with income of $3.25 billion, or 84 cents per share, better than analysts' forecasts of 81 cents. Income for the quarter ended Oct. 31 was up 3.5% above the same time last year, and sales were up 1.1%, but comparable-store sales were down 0.8%.

Management had expected better sales growth and blamed the lower numbers on deflation in the food and electronics aisles. Analysts had been warning that Wal-Mart's low-price strategy would take its toll on earnings.

U.S. stocks are poised to open Thursday's session on a down note a day after the Dow industrials hit yet another 13-month high, but the S&P 500 couldn't make it above the 1,100 level. Foreclosures continued to decline last month, but Wal-Mart's earnings and the expected weekly jobs data have dented sentiment further.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) posted third-quarter profit of 84 cents a share, above Bloomberg's analyst estimates for profit of 81 cents and it upped its full-year profit above estimates too. But as sales grew by just 1% in the quarter and fourth quarter guidance was weak, WMT shares slid over 1% in pre-market trading.

More here: Before the bell: Stocks to open lower despite Wal-mart's beat

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) reported a 3.2 percent increase in third-quarter profit, helped by inventory controls and other cost-cutting measures.

But a key sales indicator slipped, and the discount-store chain expects sales weakness through the critical fourth quarter, fueling more worries about a broad weakness in consumer spending.

The discounter, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, on Thursday reported a profit of $3.24 billion, or 84 cents per share, for the period ended Oct. 31. That compares with $3.14 billion, or 80 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Retailers have been saying all year that they want to bring back customers' enthusiasm for shopping, but there are limits. This year, they want to control the mayhem on Black Friday.

The day after Thanksgiving is always a busy one at the nation's stores, and retailers do their best to stir things up and get the holiday shopping season off to a good start. But as the sales have escalated, so has the in-store violence. The last few years have seen some alarming incidents in which shoppers took the term "doorbuster special" much too literally.

Love her or hate her, Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate, is always a hot topic of conversation in the media. Her memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life, slated for release by News Corp.'s (NWS) HarperCollins next Tuesday, November 17, is no exception; it's been making news since the ink dried on the deal made last May.

Going Rogue was one of 10 books selected for massive discounting by Amazon (AMZN), Walmart (WMT), and Target (TGT) in their ongoing price war. Palin made headlines last month when she revealed that HarperCollins had paid her a $1.25 million "retainer" sometime between January 1 and July 26, the day she stepped down as Alaska governor. Oprah Winfrey has her booked on her show next Monday, which the author will follow with a bus tour to far-flung corners of the country (or as she famously called them during the 2008 campaign, "the real America"). No less than three books about Palin are slated for publication around the same time, including a parody called Going Rouge: An American Nightmare.