Shares of some top broadline retail companies are mixed at noon:

Shares of some top broadline retail companies are down at 10 a.m.:

The financial markets have been a virtual roller coaster over the past year and market watchers say it is likely to continue, at a minimum, through the end of the year. If you are one of the many investors having trouble stomaching the swings, now may be a good time to scale back on your level of risk.

Retailers are typically obsessed with what to put under their roofs, not on them. Yet the nation’s biggest store chains are coming to see their immense, flat roofs as an untapped resource.

Investors will get a glimpse of how much cash-strapped consumers are willing to spend in the key back-to-school shopping season when major U.S. retail chains release July sales results Thursday.

Most inflation this year has come from food and fuel, as retailers resisted passing along to strapped consumers the higher prices. But shoppers should get ready for a bump in prices.

The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it had charged 11 people in connection with the hacking of nine major U.S. retailers and the theft and sale of more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers.

Most inflation this year has come from food and fuel, as retailers resisted passing along to strapped consumers the higher prices. But shoppers should get ready for a bump in prices.

Costco Wholesale, the No. 1 U.S. warehouse club operator, warned on Wednesday that quarterly profit would miss current Wall Street targets because of soaring energy costs and other inflationary pressures, sending its shares down more than 8 percent.

Retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores, are posting solid same-store sales growth in June, as expected, as seasonal weather and tax rebate checks helped get consumers to the store.

U.S. retailers, led by the discounters, are expected to post slightly better June same- store sales this week, thanks to seasonal weather and rebate checks that have made their way to cash registers, mostly for basic items such as gasoline and food.