Retail Sales: Ugly. Consumer Electronics Sales: Uglier.

The stock market is getting whacked today by a Commerce Department report that shows retail sales were down 1.2 percent in September, the biggest decline in three years. The AP notes that retail sales have fallen for three straight months–the first time that has occurred since the government began tracking the measure in 1992.

Avian Securities analyst Avi Cohen notes that “electronics and appliance stores” sales were down 10.8 percent sequentially, after being up 2.4 percent in August. A year ago, September sales were down 2 percent from August.

That is discouraging news for all kinds of companies, not the least of which are companies that sell electronics and other consumer goods on the Web–or off. …

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