As if everyone expected "cash for clunkers" to jump start the entire economy, experts are surprised that the latest figures indicate that U.S. retail sales overall fell 0.1 percent in July.

"A huge disappointment on Wall Street," the WSJ says. Why the surprise? Foreclosures are way up, weekly jobless claims are rising, banks are leaning on credit-card customers with more fees and higher rates.

Key sentence: "Excluding autos, all other retail sales dropped 0.6 percent; economists expected a 0.1 percent gain."

Key no-shit quote in Bloomberg's account: "Consumers continued to maintain a tight hold on their wallets, worried about rising unemployment, falling home prices, and tight credit."