Wal-Mart Stores

One of Wal-Mart's problems is the rise of dollar stores, which the Great Recession has rendered trendy: It's hard to resist merchandise priced at just a buck. For investors, not all rock-bottom retailers are created equal. Here's how to shop for these stocks (and stretch your investing dollars in the process).

Tuesday morning's big earnings report was from Walmart, and the results have been trumpeted as impressive: Profits were up 5.7%. But a closer look at the numbers, and a careful consideration of recent retail history, suggests that the world's largest retailer is a fading giant.

The largest public corporation by revenue is moving into a decidedly low-rent business. Following its usual strategy, the big box store will charge less than competitors when handing out cash. With approximately 9 million unbanked U.S. households, according to the FDIC, this could be big business.

Great selection, low prices, and tolerable shopping conditions have long been recognized as Wal-Mart's winning formula. Fortunately, the company itself is starting to see it that way too. It hasn't been easy to attain, but Wal-Mart's self-knowledge should be good news for investors.

Walmart on Thursday raised its annual dividend 21% to $1.46 after reporting a 27% increase in net income for the fourth quarter last month. But after missing its own revenue projection, will the retail giant be able to turn its U.S. business around this year?

The Grammys are just a few weeks away. Chances are you've come across snippets of songs from the five nominees for album of the year. (Seriously, if you haven't heard "Bad Romance" or "California Gurls," you've been in a coma). But have you intimately listened to each of the albums -- Arcade Fire's...

Target will open its first stores in Canada in 2013, the second-largest discount retailer in the U.S. announced in a statement Thursday. The company agreed to pay $1.84 billion to acquire the leasehold interests for as many as 220 sites operated by Hudson's Bay Co.'s Zellers stores.

So far this holiday season, U.S. online retail spending is up 12% from a year ago. More people took to the Internet last weekend to finish up their last-minute shopping, according to a ComScore report.

Walmart Stores increased prices of thousands of toys at each store this month, as the world's largest retailer looks to turn around its trend of negative same-store sales by spurring holiday-season revenue, Bloomberg News reported.

More shoppers are flocking to the Web for the holidays, boosting online retail sales 12% over a year ago. In five weeks ending Dec. 3, Americans spent $17.5 billion on retail items on the Web, up from $15.7 billion in the year-ago period, according to a new report from ComScore.