Retail stocks are ailing on fears about the U.S. consumer. Will these earnings change that?

Retail stocks are broadly down this year compared with the market as a whole, and the sector will be put to the test this week as the big chains report earnings. Home Depot , TJ Maxx , Lowes , Target , Walmart and others are all reporting, and investors are looking at the sector for signs of the overall health of the U.S. consumer. "All eyes will be on how a resilient U.S. consumer holds up into summer as tax refunds fade and spiking energy costs start to bite," Greg Melich at Evercore ISI wrote in a Monday analysis. The S & P Retail Select Industry Index is down close to 7% year-to-date, and retail sector ETFs have been following suit. State Street's SPDR S & P Retail ETF (XRT) is down almost 7% since January, while the State Street Consumer Discretionary ETF (XLY) is down more than 2%; and Direxion's daily retail ETF (RETL) is down almost 26%. Home Depot shares are down 13% year-to-date, Lowe's is down about 9% and TJ Maxx has lost more than 2%. Following an April inflation report that showed rising prices eroding wage increases and clawing back the gains of recent tax cuts, Wall Street is sounding pretty dismal about near-term consumer prospects. "US consumers are indisputably in a fragile and increasingly weaker position," Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley, wrote in a Monday note. …