consumer stocks

June sales overall were just slightly below estimates. But while variations among retailers were fairly broad, few are offering better guidance for the second quarter. That leaves investors with little to get excited about.

The holiday shopping season got off to a good start over the Thanksgiving holiday, with large crowds on Black Friday that continued through the weekend. But that doesn't mean retailers are out of the woods yet. By most measures, the weekend's sales were a success: $41.2 billion in merchandise...

Procter & Gamble (PG) is probably the strongest consumer-staples stalwart on a U.S. exchange. Long considered one of the best-managed companies in the country (making everything from Tide detergent to Crest toothpaste to Pampers diapers), this component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average...