Holiday Looks 'Moderately Jolly'

The holiday season isn't turning out to be so merry for the nation's chain stores. Shares of retailers slipped on Monday even as the broader indices were slightly higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 19 points, or almost 0.2%, to 10,669.21 as ExxonMobil's(XOM Quote) 2.5% gain helped make up for Pfizer(PFE Quote) losing another 5.7%. The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged at 1194.66 and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3% to 2127.85.

Shares of retailers lagged the overall market as they have so far this month. The Morgan Stanley Retail Index, which includes shares of 38 companies, was down 0.7% for the day, as Ann Taylor(ANN Quote) lost 3% and Saks(SKS Quote) dropped 2%. For the month, the index is up just 0.3% while the S&P 500 has gained almost 2%. That's a reversal from October and November when the retailers index outperformed, gaining 10% compared to the S&P's 5% rise. ...