With Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:

), Express, Inc. (NYSE:

) and Walgreen Company (NYSE:

) reporting higher quarterly profits this morning investors may want to take a closer look at the retail sector. Not only did Dollar General Corporation and Express, Inc. see their profits rise, they also beat Wall Street's consensus earnings estimates. It was also reported today by

that chain-store sales for the week that ended on March 19th were up 3% over the year-ago period. Although Walgreen Company failed to impress Wall Street with its earnings report and its stock was down 7% shortly after the market opened, Dollar General Corporation shares were up 3.2% and Express, Inc shares were up 3.7%. There are several options for investors who want to get in on the retail sector action but would rather invest in a broad range of stocks, as opposed to a few individual companies. The Retail HOLDRs (AMEX:

) and the SPDR S&P Retail

(NYSE:

) are two choices for investors who want exposure to a wide range of retail stocks and see today's news as a positive omen for the retail sector. Investors who think that the economic recovery that has seen corporate profits rise may be short lived because it hasn't had as great an impact on the fortunes of consumers might want to take a look at the ProShares UltraShort Consumer Services (NYSE:

).