It seems like U.S. consumers are increasingly worried about the economy. That's not a statement that comes from a statistical analysis, but from a view of what's going on at stores that cater to cost-conscious customers. Basically, it's a read from what consumers are doing with their actual dollars.

(NYSE: WMT), Burlington Stores (NYSE: BURL), Ross Stores (NASDAQ: ROST), and TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) have all been performing well for basically the same reason -- consumers are trying to stretch their spending dollars.

What would a consumer do if they felt they needed to save money? The easy answer is to start shopping at stores that offer more for less, which is exactly what discount retailer Ross Stores does. In the third quarter, same-store sales rose 5%. That's a pretty strong number, but according to the company, the main driver of that growth was store traffic.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com