Little to Cheer in Holiday Retail Reports

Updated from 2:51 p.m. EST

There was more food for the bears Monday in the weekly sales reports of several big retail chains.

Wal-Mart (WMT Quote) and Federated Department Stores (FD Quote) both said same-store sales were trending below expectations. J.C. Penney (JCP Quote) said sales at its department stores were above its plan. But the company was less sanguine about its Eckerd drugstore chain, saying comparable-store sales there were below expectations.

After the close, Target(TGT Quote) said that while its same-store sales last week beat its expectations, its sales for the month are still coming in below plan. Same-store sales compare results at outlets open for more than one year. ...