Reply #17: I have no truck with Wal-Mart ... [View All]

[earthside]

... but if this is true (and why would they lie about such a thing?) then it bodes ill for the economy.

I continue to be skeptical that there is any real 'recovery' happening for 80+ percent of Americans -- even the slight down tick in unemployment may mean folks just getting McDonald's-type jobs paying a quarter or less of what they earned three years ago.

I think occasionally pent-up demand causes people to spend what little they have saved or else put more on the credit card ... and then it looks like some improvement. But then, as this Wal-Mart story indicates, folks slump back down into fiscal malaise.

And, don't just think it is gasoline prices, everything is going up ... from groceries, to clothing, to health insurance, to school fees, etc.