Another Milepost On The Road To Oblivion

How do you know if your economy is screwed? Guess who is issuing warnings about missing all fourth quarter profits and sales estimates?

You got it. Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart warned its quarterly profit would miss analysts' expectations and reported comparable December sales below forecasts Thursday, signaling that even discount retailers are feeling the pinch of the economic slowdown.

The world's largest retailer said it expects to earn 91 to 94 cents a share for its fiscal fourth quarter, compared with previous guidance of $1.03 to $1.07 a share give in November. On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a profit of $1.06 a share.

Sales at stores open a least a year rose 1.7 percent to $46.509 billion last month, but were below expectations of a 2.8 percent rise. For January, the company expects same-store sales to be flat to up 2 percent.

Shares of Wal-Mart sank 6.75 percent in before-hours trading.

If Wallyworld is treading water, the American consumer is dead broke...and with it our entire economy.

You have no idea how bad 2009 is going to be. Truly.