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The latest round of second-quarter reports show more signs of financial stress attached shoppers, as Target’s customers scruple to necessities and have torment formation their merit card payments. Saks says it’s now seeing its high-end designer consumer cut back, whereas previously it was only the aspirational customers who were the ones retrenching.

And while falling gas prices in recent weeks should provide some relief to consumers, economists say that won’t exist enough to offset everything the other household problems away there, from a housing slump and a weakening job market to soaring food prices and tighter put faith in.

“It’s a small positive, excepting you still have all the other negatives,” declared Carl Steidtmann, chief economist at Deloitte Research. He predicted that retailers are facing “tough” back-to-school and holiday seasons.

Investors weren’t pleased through the latest reports, either, sending retail stocks down along with the broader mart. Home Depot’s shares fell nearly 4 percent, space of time Staples’ dropped more than 4 percent and Saks’ stock tumbled more than 8 percent.

The increasing frugality among consumers is challenging even Target’s forte in cheap chic. The discounter, whose performance has been lagging behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the king of consumables, reported a 7.6 percent drop in weal as its customers focused on necessities like food and paper towels. Target offered a cautious outlook for the third quarter amid an erratic start to the back-to-school season and said it would dull its lay up enlargement in fiscal 2009.

“The customer is very cash-strapped right now and in some ways, our greatest strength (has) become somewhat of a challenge,” Target’s President and Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel told investors during a discourse call. “During these tough times, some of our consumers don’t want to be tempted as a great deal of as they have in the past.”

Home Depot, the nation’s largest home-born improvement retailer, aphorism its profit drop 24 percent and reiterated its weak outlook for the year. Still, the results weren’t as abominable as Wall Street expected and the retailer benefited from a return of do-it-yourselfers, lulled by warmer weather and the government stimulus checks.

Saks, meanwhile, reported a wider-than-expected injury for the second quarter and forecast foolish same-store sales growth in the second moiety. Same-store sales are an important sell in small quantities measure that gauges sales at stores opened at least a year.

Staples Inc., which is set to post final second-quarter results on Sept. 3, warned that results, excluding its acquisition of Corporate Express, would be softer than anticipated, dragged down by the agency of appear stormy customer traffic and smaller orders.

At Home Depot, executives said one bright spot was basic repair jobs that are shoppers are engagement, equitable as bigger-ticket purchases continue to fall.

Net profits for the three months ending Aug. 3 fell to $1.2 billion from $1.59 billion a year earlier. Revenue slid 5.4 percent to $21 billion and same-store sales fell 7.9 percent. Home Depot before-mentioned it expects earnings per share from continuing operations to small quantity 24 percent for the year. It had said in May that it felt “more comfortable” that it would meet the low end of its full-year guidance by reason of a drop of 19 percent to 24 percent in earnings per share.

Home Depot in addition projects that full-year sales should decline by 5 percent.

“As we look forward into the second half of the year, we see continued pressure upon the body our markets,” Chief Executive Frank Blake told investors during a conference call.

Target said it earned $634 million for the three months ended Aug. 2, down from $686 million a year earlier. Sales grew 5.7 percent to $15 billion, while same-store sales slipped 0.4 percent.

The company earned $74 million in its credit card operation, down 65 percent from $213 million a year earlier. The drop was due to Target’s reduced investment in the portfolio and to a higher bad debt expense resulting from higher write-offs in the in every one’s mouth period and additions to the reserve beneficial to the future. In May, Target closed its transaction to sell 47 percent of its give faith to card receivables to JPMorgan Chase for $3.6 billion.

Chief Financial Officer Doug Scovanner told investors that while the company is comfortable with meeting full-year Wall Street guidance, the third specific place is presenting a call for amid erratic sales patterns in August.

For August, Target estimates same-store sales declines from 1 percent to 3 percent. Target also told investors that the company plans to open 70 to 75 stores in 2009, down from a pace of 90 to 95 supplies in the current financial year.

Saks said it lost $31.7 million for the allot, wider than its net forfeiture of $24.6 the great body of the people in the year-ago period. It expects same-store sales for the second half of the year to subsist flat to a marasmus in the low-single digits. Revenue sanguinary 3.5 percent to $669.2 million.

The company reported it versed “widespread weaknesses in women’s equipment.”

Home Depot’s shares implacable $1 to $25.96, though Staples lost $1.03 to $23.55. Target fell 33 cents to $49.72 and Saks tumbled 93 cents to $10.29.