By Tom Hals

Stocks were set to extend the previous session's losses at the opening bell Thursday, with European stocks dragging on sentiment as miners and food producers struggled.

A foam rocket launcher, children's book and Batman and Wolverine action figures are among the most dangerous toys on store shelves, according to a consumer watchdog group.

What follows is a roundup of corporate earnings reports for Thursday, Nov. 19.

BOSTON (Reuters Life!) - A foam rocket launcher, children's book and Batman and Wolverine action figures are among the most dangerous toys on store shelves, according to a consumer watchdog group.

Sears Holdings Corp. reports its results for the third quarter on Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday unveiled weekly savings starting this Saturday on popular toys and video games that it is pitching as comparable to the sales blitz the day after Thanksgiving.

The official kickoff for the holiday shopping season is more than a week away. But the nation's retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., are already starting to let shoppers know about their fat discounts in hopes of attracting big crowds.

Sears took "Christmas creep" one step further Wednesday, pitching its weekly sales as "Black Friday doorbuster" deals before Halloween.

It's the basic question when investing in a stock: is it on the way up or will it go down? To answer this question,  Wall Street has developed numerous ways of attempting to predict what will happen, estimating various attributes tied to stock performance in order to determine what the future holds for a company's valuation. After dissecting the data, analysts following a particular stock produce a price target of where they believe the  stock is headed. Out of the entire S&P 500, which stocks are analysts expecting to have the biggest price drops?  Here's the top 20, according to ThomsonReuters (as of market close on 10/16/09). Click ahead to find out!

To gauge consumers' strain, look no further than the rows and rows of plastic bags awaiting layaway payments at Kmart. They are filled with back-to-school basics — not just T-shirts and jeans but notebooks, magic markers and pencils.

Stocks held onto gains Thursday after an encouraging report on manufacturing. Bank of America and JPMorgan led the Dow.

Stocks held onto gains Thursday after an encouraging report on manufacturing. Bank of America and JPMorgan led the Dow.

Stocks held onto gains Thursday after an encouraging report on manufacturing. Bank of America and JPMorgan led the Dow.

Sears Holdings Corp. said it lost money in its second quarter — missing expectations — as it was dragged down by lower sales, store closings, and severance and pension plan costs.