Alva Review-Courier -

NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers are spending freely heading into the holidays, but heavy investments and incentives like free shipping by retailers are giving Wall Street pause.

Target Inc., Kohl's Corp., Best Buy Co. and TJX Cos. all reported strong sales at stores opened at least a year. That's a key measure of health for a retailer. Online sales also surged. Target reported a 49 percent increase in online sales, which was better than expected.

But shares of Target and the parent of TJ Maxx took a hit after reporting that their third-quarter profit results were squeezed by higher e-commerce costs....