Wal-Mart investors are gloomy, but spring has sprung for many retailers

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) may have gotten hit by the Easter bunny (it is blaming today's weak sales report on a late Easter holiday), but it expects to rebound in April. Other retailers posted decent results today, indicating that depressed consumers are getting a bit more cheerful.

Wal-Mart's March U.S. same-store sales, excluding fuel sales, fell 1.4 percent, below the 3.2-percent rise analysts expected. The stock fell 4 percent. But the news wasn't all bad.