But...but...but...we're in a recovery.

The government is making companies spend more money on healthcare and other regulations, using economic policies that cause food and energy prices to increase and they are surprised when sales disappoint. I would be shocked if sales went up.

My recent decision to stop shopping at Walmart had nothing to do with my wallet. I don’t shop Walmart anymore in my area. They have hired mostly non-speaking employees and it’s to difficult to get any navigation help within the store. I had to search the store for the fifth worker, when the first four were of no help in pointing me in the right direction. That’s too frustrating and time consuming for a trip to one of their super-stores.

Hmmm I was actually planning to stop at the local walmart this weekend. There is not much I would buy there, but they have good prices on ammo. Looking at cheaper than dirt it looks like things are not as short and expensive as they were six months ago.

Santa Claus will come to the rescue. Of course the elves will be on strike, the reindeer will be too malnourished to fly anymore and Santa is suffering from sleep fatigue but worry not, congress will pass a law so that it can never happen again. Bottom line: We will implode, MOT (matter of time).

The most positive thing is the Young people, the same ones who bought into "Hope & Change",
They see through The SPIN.
The most common response from 20-somethings, talking about *The Recovery* is:
"What Recovery?!
"Would I still be in this crappy job if there were a real Recovery going on?!"

Sad, 25, saddled with debt, and can't plan for a future.

6.7% earnings is still no slouch. yet, no-growth is a
sure sign of an obama economy. -- j

Moneynews? I prefer http://www.marketminder.com/

It mentioned briefly that two other retailers in different markets, Macy's and Target, have had disappointing earnings. It makes me wonder about what straightlinelogic said about corporate bond yields increasing while Treasury yields decrease, as if the bond market had priced in risk that the stock market hasn't.

It wouldn't be abnormal to have a recession five years after the last one, but I suspect the expansion will go on for another two years. This expansions is different from all the previous ones in my life b/c of the low rates, so I expected to see inflation and rising real rates prior to the next recession. These are unusual times for monetary policy.

As goes Wal-Mart goes so goes the US, or so I'm told (I've never been in a Wal-Mart). I don't expect anything to change in this country until about January 2017. Until then, just Hope and Pray, isn't that what this administration promised, or was it Hope and Change?

"I don't know where they're shopping..."
They're not. They're making do. They are not replacing, they are fixing. They are buying more hamburger instead of steaks and chops. They are looking for the bargains. They are doing without. When the country is being run by a government with an anti-business mentality and an obvious anti-American attitude -- what would you expect?

It is a multi layered issue. I don't believe government is the purveyor of health care services, just look at the VA hospitals. On the other hand, when I purchase a car, for example, which feature on that car is the cost of health insurance? In the classic sense, I don't believe businesses should provide healthcare because it has nothing to do with COGS (cost of goods sold).

So where is the solution? To me, businesses should pay people the amount they have set aside for healthcare and let the individual decide which coverage to buy with their own money. Insurance companies should be able to sell a variety of products to suit the needs of individual customers. If the gov't wanted provide universal coverage for catastrophic costs, then companies could also offer gap insurance.

ObamaCare as it stands today is a bullying mechanisms to force businesses and individuals into 1 choice, with different premiums and copays. These differences are cosmetic, if you save on premium you pay on deductibles. And, all cover the same basics. There is no choice at any level. In making this demand Obama is asking business to cast aside the working model used since industrial revolution and create a new one that pays for his personal legacy. The only ways to do that are; we all take a hair cut, we all increase our productivity, business and stock holders take a cut, or it's all passed on to the consumer. Any one of these tighten the economy. Either things cost more, or workers get less. Productivity increases come from innovation not Presidential pronouncements.

Lay that over a foundation of many people living from pay to pay and you have trouble. There is no disposable income. Money saved this month is spent next month on higher fuel costs. Food and fuel prices continue to climb while our government says there is no sign of inflation. Our President makes speeches everyday on every subject from the improving employment numbers to surrendering personal freedom to a sovereign government capable of caring for all.

People will follow a leader if we had one. Thank goodness Obama is not a leader. With his Communist/Socialist belief system if he were charismatic like Reagan, Thatcher, Churchill, Roosevelt or Hitler the stars on our flag would already be replaced by a hammer a sickle. By his own admission he leads from behind, which we all know is spin for "following"!

Here's my long term prediction and the situation I prepare for each day.

This will go on as is for a period of time. More and more boomers collecting Social Security benefits they have been taxed for their entire life. More and more medicare. More food stamps. More illegals. More technology to replace labor with more laborers receiving benefits. At some point, the checks will bounce. That will be the awhah! moment. When BabyBoomer Bob doesn't get his direct deposit...suddenly he has to solve his own problem.

That is the driving force of freedom. When people solve their own problems. When the checks all bounce and people begin solving their own problems we will suddenly begin to find real solutions for all the political issues. Until then politicians will spin and the over burdened economy will suffer fits and starts.