I need to make an addition to the post below on WalMart sales. Upon reflection I don't know how accurate Cramer's analysis of their customer base really is, a base composed to a great degree of the working poor and others who flat need low prices in order to live. Among this "class" are clearly the illegal immigrants, the people who work "off the books" but need valid IDs to cash checks or have bank accounts. These people are living in fear as it is, but the new state requirements to attain driver licenses include a hell of a lot of proof of legal residency that most illegals cannot meet. Therefore, Cramer's reasoning goes, they are afraid to go to WalMart or anywhere else where they might have to produce current IDs. His opinion holds up were the world composed of entirely legal stuff, but the underground is much different. Here in LA anyone can buy a combo D/L with picture and a Social Security card for between $45 and $55 and you can buy them anywhere in the poor neighborhoods. Birth certificates cost more and it takes time because you are switching identities with someone else; if you want a passport (not good for travel) it will run you an extra $35; at least those were the prices as late as last week. How do I know? The guy who pounded out the dents in my car in my back yard told me. These enterprising people are not discouraged from going to WalMart. It follows that WalMart sales are down for another reason or two, among them the less than high quality goods, the vanilla shopping environment, and the widely held opinion that WalMart employees "go on the county" when they or their families get sick because the Health Insurance offered by WalMart is far too expensive. In other words working there creates a dependency class and people don't like that. One other thing, most of us are not loyal to a store only because of low prices. There is more to life than saving 1% every time we shop. No company has ever built a lasting customer base on low prices alone; that kind of customer will always leave you for a lower price somewhere else.