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Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money'

zimmer

Educating the Ignorant
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Wal-Mart's core shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said Wednesday.

"We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said at an event in New York. "There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact."

Wal-Mart shoppers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, typically shop in bulk at the beginning of the month when their paychecks come in.

Lately, they're "running out of money" at a faster clip, he said.
Wal-Mart shoppers running out of money - Apr. 27, 2011
Ahhhhhhhhh... the smell of Jimmy Carter II in the air.

It's nice Jimmy the Second has had a laser-like focus on the economy.

.
 
OBAMA MAKE GAS MORE SPENSIVE!! :mad:

*thumps table*
 
Ahhhhhhhhh... the smell of Jimmy Carter II in the air.

It's nice Jimmy the Second has had a laser-like focus on the economy.

.

You smell Jimmy because it's Obama, but you didn't smell him when it was Bush... :roll:

Jimmy tried to fix prices. Obama isn't planning on doing that.
 
Wal mart needs to stop selling all those expensive products made by greedy American unionists making high wages and getting cadillac benefits. If they bought overseas from people operating sweatshops using child labor, they could lower those prices and attract more business.
 
Is it a bad sign when Americans are beginning to not have money even for the cheap Chinese knockoff crap Wal-Mart sells?
 
Is it a bad sign when Americans are beginning to not have money even for the cheap Chinese knockoff crap Wal-Mart sells?

Interesting observation.

Is it even possible to make crap even cheaper and sell it at stores even more stripped down and bare bones than Wal Mart? I wonder who could out walmart Wal Mart?
 
today:

Economic growth slowed to a crawl in the first three months of the year as a spike in gasoline, higher overall inflation and continued weakness in the housing market all took a toll on the recovery.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic health, rose at an annual rate of 1.8%, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That's a significant slowdown from the 3.1% growth rate in the final quarter of 2010.

The sharp rise in oil prices in recent months was a major drag on growth. Besides cutting into consumer spending, higher prices for imported oil caused a rise in the nation's imports, which slowed the economy. The increase in imported goods shaved 0.8 percentage points off of growth by itself.

Rising overall inflation also took a bite out of growth in the quarter. Since GDP is adjusted for inflation, higher prices mean the economy must grow at a faster pace just to keep up. Consumer prices were up 3.8% from a year earlier, according to the report, compared to a rise of only 1.7% in the fourth quarter.

And the weak real estate market continued to weigh on the economy, as investment in homes and housing construction fell at a 4.1% pace in the quarter, while investment in non-residential real estate, such as offices, stores and factories, plunged by 29%.

Q1 GDP report: Economic growth slows - Apr. 28, 2011

worry
 
today:

More people sought unemployment benefits last week, the second rise in three weeks, a sign of the slow and uneven jobs recovery.

Applications for unemployment benefits jumped 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 for the week ending April 23, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's the highest total since late January.

The four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, rose to 408,500, its third straight rise and the first time it has topped 400,000 in two months. Applications near 375,000 are consistent with sustained job creation.

More people applied for unemployment benefits - Yahoo! Finance

still going the wrong way

stimulus, anyone?
 
today:

More than half of Americans say the U.S. economy is in a recession or a depression despite official data that show a moderate recovery, according to a poll released on Thursday.

The April 20-23 Gallup survey of 1,013 U.S. adults found that only 27 percent said the economy is growing. Twenty-nine percent said the economy is in a depression and 26 percent said it is in a recession, with another 16 percent saying it is "slowing down," Gallup said.

Most Americans say U.S. in recession despite data: poll | Reuters
 
I think oil provides a convenient excuse for the fact that Bernanke's helicopter strategy is no way to maintain a stable economy. When oil prices were this high before it wasn't as much of an issue, but now you have far more people at lower paying jobs, far more on unemployment, and far more people out of the workforce altogether (many even dropping off the absurdly-extended unemployment rolls). Basically the government's economic strategy has been to put everything on ice and that has naturally proven impossible to maintain.
 
today:

The beleaguered dollar extended its broad decline after U.S. economic data pointed to a dismal employment picture and slowing growth, bearing out the Federal Reserve's reluctance to tighten monetary policy anytime soon.

U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly jumped last week and the government reported the pace of economic growth in the country slowed sharply in the fourth quarter, further adding to the negative dollar sentiment permeating the market.

Traders have been selling the dollar in droves in recent weeks, sending the greenback to multiyear lows against most other major currencies. That selloff continued Wednesday when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated the central bank is far from tightening monetary policy.

Dollar Loses More Ground - WSJ.com

qe, anyone?
 
Ahhhhhhhhh... the smell of Jimmy Carter II in the air.

It's nice Jimmy the Second has had a laser-like focus on the economy.

.

Obama created peak oil???

The US Military warned us March of last year that we were approaching peak oil ~

"The US military has warned that surplus oil production capacity could disappear within two years and there could be serious shortages by 2015 with a significant economic and political impact."
Worldchanging: Bright Green: Do Gas Taxes Cover the Costs of Roads?
 
Last edited:
today:

Public disapproval of President Barack Obama's handling of the economy reached a new high in mid-April, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll, as gasoline prices neared $4 a gallon and Washington lawmakers fought a bitter battle over the federal budget.

Some 57 percent of registered voters said they disapproved of Obama's economic management, while only 40 percent approved. That's the lowest score of his presidency.

"These numbers spell political trouble," said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York, which conducted the survey. "To get re-elected with a 57 percent disapproval rating would be a very tall order."

Poll: Obama is losing public's confidence on economy | McClatchy

more: 57% feel the "worst is yet to come"

"up sharply from 39% in january"

71% said the nation was still in recession

his tax the rich speech didn't work, points out marist

uh oh
 
today:



Poll: Obama is losing public's confidence on economy | McClatchy

more: 57% feel the "worst is yet to come"

"up sharply from 39% in january"

71% said the nation was still in recession

his tax the rich speech didn't work, points out marist

uh oh

LOL! What you left out from your poll ~ "Obama could take solace from one finding: Sixty-three percent of those surveyed said the current economic conditions were mostly something the president had inherited, while 30 percent said they were mostly the result of his policies."

Read more: Poll: Obama is losing public's confidence on economy | McClatchy
 
LOL! What you left out from your poll ~ "Obama could take solace from one finding: Sixty-three percent of those surveyed said the current economic conditions were mostly something the president had inherited, while 30 percent said they were mostly the result of his policies."

Read more: Poll: Obama is losing public's confidence on economy | McClatchy

but we elected him to fix it last i checked, he better wipe that "solace" off his face and get busy
tick tick tick
 

I tend to agree with "Most Americans".

I suspect that some, if not many, of the "data" is skewed upwards due to data which does not neccesarally affect "most Americans".

For example: The stock market has done fairly well since the spendulous bill became law. Unfortunately most Americans don't own a significant portion of the stock market, so the vast majority of the benefits of a strong stock market go to a minority of the public.

Or when housing prices have plummetted, that doesn't help the typical Americans overall financial situation any, unless of course they are shopping for a house, but apparently few people are doing that.

I was talking to a supplier today, he told me how our economy had really turned around during the past few months and told me that if my sales arn't up it is only because I haven't been marketing effectively. So I asked him how he knew that the economy had picked up and he told me that it was because his sales had increased significantly. What he wasn't taking into account was the fact that his two largest competitors closed up shop in our area last December and January. While that's great for him, because he gained market share, his larger market share in no way indicates that the economy has picked up.
 
Interesting observation.

Is it even possible to make crap even cheaper and sell it at stores even more stripped down and bare bones than Wal Mart? I wonder who could out walmart Wal Mart?

No one. China is one of the cheapest sources for crappy products. They have little environmental laws, little to no labor laws, no real unions that I'm aware of. They ain't gotta pay for the stuff the 1st world has to. You don't get cheaper than slave labor.
 
Wal mart needs to stop selling all those expensive products made by greedy American unionists making high wages and getting cadillac benefits. If they bought overseas from people operating sweatshops using child labor, they could lower those prices and attract more business.

Finally someone who understands :D
 
but we elected him to fix it last i checked, he better wipe that "solace" off his face and get busy
tick tick tick

The severe recession Obama inherited wasn't created overnight and it will not completely recover overnight. We have ignored our major problems such as the highest healthcare costs in the world, peak oil, and tax cuts for the rich for decades and we are feeling the effects of it on our economy.
 
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