This is very bad. And it’s going to get worse. These companies are resellers. They don’t manufacture anything. So if their sales decline, then the companies they purchase goods from will have their sales fall. More people out of work. Bur$atil is so spot on. Our economy is going to hell in a handbasket. Poverty is on the rise. Hunger is on the rise. Crime is on the rise. And it’s only going to get worse.

NEW YORK — Sears Holdings Corp., the biggest US department store company, and Home Depot Inc. said profit will fall as the decline in housing prices hurts demand for goods to build and furnish homes.

“We’re seeing the effects of the housing market ripple through the consumer segment,” said Jim Dorment, who helps manage $265 billion, including Sears and Home Depot shares, at U.S. Trust Corp. in New York.

The biggest US housing slump in 16 years has reduced spending on big-ticket items, causing appliance sales to decline.

Home Depot also said profit and revenue may drop after the planned sale of its contractor supplies unit.

Sears said yesterday that second-quarter net income will be $160 million to $200 million, down as much as 46 percent from $294 million a year earlier.

Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, said earnings per share may drop as much as 18 percent in the year through Feb. 3. Sales may decline for the first time ever, the Atlanta company said.

Shares of Sears, based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., plunged the most in more than four years, falling $17.20, or 10 percent, to $154.21. Home Depot shares rose 2 cents to $40.25, the only stock that gained among 29 members of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Retailing index.

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