Target and Walmart: A tale of 2 discounters

NEW YORK - This holiday season, the biggest discount chains in the U.S. will tell the tale of two very different shoppers: those that have and those that have not.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, on Thursday acknowledged that its low-income shoppers continue to struggle in the economy and issued an outlook for the fourth quarter -- which encompasses the holiday shopping period ---- that falls below Wall Street estimates.

On the same day, its smaller rival Target Corp., which caters to a more affluent shopper, said it expects results during the quarter to exceed the Street's projections.