Sunday, December 14, 2008

Walmart Mom's are cutting back


In an interview today on Meet the Press H. Lee Scott of Walmart had this to say:

"Well, in our business we're focused on customers, we're focused on everyday needs of middle-class America, working people. And so what we are is in touch with what's happening out there in this economy on an everyday basis. An example would be we're seeing right now these Walmart moms, they're spending their money against their children's needs and their family's needs and deferring their own purchases. We're seeing people buy more and more food, particularly frozen food....We're seeing an increase in food storage as people are cooking more at home. And, in fact, using leftovers more extensively. So consumers are, in fact, changing their behavior..."

You'll probably see that spin tomorrow. But he does see signs of optimism helped by lower gasoline prices. Lee Scott is retiring from Walmart and will be mentioned as a CEO for an automobile company. His background is in logistics and he's comfortable running a gigantic and sometimes unwieldy institution while still understanding the pulse of Middle America. He also deals well with the press and has a newfound "green" bent.

But I'm sure our government will be able to find some car czar to oversee the automobile companies once they access the bail-out money.

Maybe they'll find someone from the SEC who was more interested in Marc Cuban trading Momma.com than watching Bernie Madoff!

But the picture of the top of the page is of "Dr. Doom" Nouriel Roubini, who has written extensively, and rather predicatively, of the financial mess that we are now in. Here's his website:

Remember when Russian fertilizer mogul Dmitry Rybolovlev paid $95 million for Trump's Palm Beach mansion in July? How he hit the exact top of the fertilizer market?

Could Roubini be indicative of another turning point in the market? Somehow it looks like Nouriel Roubini is having too much fun!

No comments: