The sad news is this is just the beginning of the downfall of the US economy. I live in a major city in NC, and although there is not a drastic slowdown in spending, it is still slowing. We have a pretty stable economy right now...but speaking of WalMart...Our SuperWalMarts are always so packed that I typically avoid them unless necessary. I was remodeling a room, and visited one usually busy store three times in one week. There were no lines, no hustle-bustle. I asked the greeter where all the customers were...She said it had been slow for a couple of weeks. This economy is going to affect more than just the high-end stores....small family-owned businesses, banks, and major discount retailers will be more and more affected.....just keep your budgets tight and try to keep spending if you can. That is the only thing that will help.....