With warm weather continuing through Halloween, most retail chains' sales suffered, with many missing Wall Street estimates. While the apparel industry appears to have fared the worst, overall results were not stellar, although luxury stores and warehouse clubs did well. As has been the case throughout the year, fuel and housing costs have been prime suspects, but it really comes down to just having been too nice outside to be in a store purchasing winter garb. As we head into the holiday season, it appears that consumers are becoming a bit more price conscious. Overall, how retailers will do during the holiday is still up for grabs. Especially with Walmart releasing its black Friday deals a few weeks early and even allowing consumers to get some of those deals earlier. This appears to indicate that retailers are trying to rev up their sales early to make up for soft results throughout the year and to help offset consumers' eroding confidence and a weakening sales trend amid mounting problems in the economy. One problem that retailers will have this season is determining what is the must have item. Especially in the toy segment, where a number highly publicized recalls have occurred with no end in site, as each week brings another slew of recalls.