When rumors started flying around the blogs some weeks ago that Wal-Mart was going to get its margin-squeezing mittens on Apple’s iPhone, many predicted that the retailer might offer consumers a 4GB version priced at the bargain price of $99.

Alas, that’s not true.

Wal-Mart will start selling the black 8GB iPhone on Sunday for $197, just $2 cheaper than you can get it at your local AT&T or Apple store. The 16GB model, in black or white, will be priced at $297, also $2 less than at AT&T or Apple. These prices come with a two-year AT&T contract.

Though not as cheap as some as had hoped, having the iPhone in another 2,500 stores is nothing to be sniffed at.

Silicon Alley estimates that if each Wal-Mart gets an average 200 iPhones as inventory, that’s 500,000 iPhone shipments that Apple can recognize this quarter.

Working with Wal-Mart might give Apple’s shares a boost in the long term. The stock has fallen nearly 60 percent this year as investors worried that Apple’s high-end products will take a beating in the economic downturn.

Wal-Mart, which prides itself on being able to beat or match rival retailers on pricing, said its stores could match local competitors’ advertised promotional prices.

Keep an eye on:

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• New York Times seeks buyer for its stake in Boston Red Sox baseball club. (WSJ)
• Some TV stations will lose viewers in shift to digital, says FCC. (AP/LATimes)