Coming Week: Shoppers Flop

Coming off the Dow's largest weekly drop in five years, investors are losing their faith in the U.S. economy's most reliable engine of growth -- consumer spending.

Last week's sluggish January sales reports from major retailers like Wal-Mart(WMT Quote) and Target(TGT Quote) combined with a slew of other disappointing economic data to further a trend toward the global economy's worst fear: U.S. consumers are losing their appetite to buy stuff they don't need.

Now, Wall Street awaits Tuesday's report from the Commerce Department that gauges retail sales for the month. Economists expect a flat number after the government reported a decline of 0.4% in December, but investors are starting to suspect that even that low bar can't be met. ...