Making sense of the last seven days
The past two weeks have been the period the retail sector has been waiting for. There has been a widespread feeling that it has been a bad summer, but with the results season getting into full swing, the past fortnight has provided a barometer of the state of the market.

The depressing news for most in the sector has been that if you're not Tesco, the picture isn't good. Falling sales at retailers from John Lewis to Woolworths, coupled with last week's slump in recent trading announced by Next, show just how tough life has become. The latest announcements show that even retailers traditionally resilient to slowdowns cannot resist the present downturn.

And then there's Tesco. It demonstrates how far the retailer has come when the share price falls on the back of record results, purely because chief executive Sir Terry Leahy expressed concerns about the oil price. But from a sales point of view the company seems unstoppable.

However, Leahy's caution should be a worry to everyone. The economic signs are getting no better and, with Hurricane Rita now set to push the oil price even higher, consumer spending is likely to tighten further and costs are likely to increase.

Elsewhere, celebrities have been making the retail headlines, with Kate Moss's alleged cocaine problem causing headaches for H&M and Burberry. But if you needed a steer on where shoppers are taking their lead from, take a look at Coleen McCloughlin, Wayne Rooney's other half. Forget about Sienna Miller - it seems the chav look is here to stay, for the time being at least.