Shop Talk

Check out the same old sales story. 
 
Wal-Mart and other discounters: good. Saks and other high-priced retailers: bad.
 
The pattern seen over the past several months held again for August as cash-strapped consumers sought back-to-school bargains. 
 
Generally speaking, it’s bad form for little Johnny to show up for school naked and without notebooks and pens and pencils. So parents have to shop at least a little bit when school starts.
 
But as expected, they shopped where they could save money.
 
Back-to-school season can also set the trend for the key holiday shopping season. So the question becomes whether this will be a discount Christmas.
 
Employers are cutting back as much as they can, in order to be more profitable. That has led to a huge jump in productivity, but at the expense of jobs.
 
The August jobs report on Friday is expected to show that employers continued their job cutting in August.
 
Not a great sign for holiday cheer.
 
Also in the basket:
 
U.S. chicken industry still hurting – Sanderson farms
 
Polman a surprise pick to revive Unilever fortunes