AZCentral.com – Wall Street heads into another turbulent week with investors set to pore over a government report on retail sales and earnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to get a better reading on the consumer.

There are growing signs that the deepening economic slowdown has caused Americans to tighten their purse strings. There was fresh evidence of this past week when retailers posted the worst October same-store sales in 35 years – and analysts believe the upcoming holiday shopping season could be among the slowest in decades.

With consumer spending driving more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy, investors will be paying close attention to earnings outlooks for some of the nation’s biggest retailers. Wal-Mart, the nation’s biggest retail chain, will post results on Thursday. Kohl’s Corp., JCPenney Co., Macy’s Inc., and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. are scheduled to release reports as well.

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Reuters UK- A near one year-old credit crunch still has plenty of venom and will sting global financial markets and the economy well into next year or even into 2010, a Reuters poll found.

On the eve of its one-year anniversary at the start of August the credit crisis is still spitting out victims and darkening the outlooks from global central banks.

Most of the 87 economists polled from across Europe, the U.S. and Canada said the worst was not over and most felt that the fallout would last for another six to 12 months at least.

The sudden rescue plan for U.S. mortgage finance agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae arranged by the U.S. Treasury and the collapse of IndyMac bank last week has 34 economists forecasting the crisis will roll on for another year or even more.

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