Wal-Mart's woes

I was in Wal-Mart last night, picking up a few items for my wife's first grade classroom. Chocolate kisses, ziploc bags and designer pencils were on the list. I was in the Olathe Wal-Mart at about 10 pm and the store was mad with shoppers. Parents and children were scooping up school supplies, often reaching for the last few items. It was earlier that day that Wal-Mart revealed that its earnings for the year would fall below previous estimates, and Wall Street punished the stock severely. This Dow Jones interview explains why some analysts are so down on the stock. Analyst Burt Flickinger says Wal-Mart is a company of cost-cutters and bean counters, not merchants. Labor shortages have reduced the company's ability to keep product in stock on the weekends, and the company's competitive position is not as strong as it once was. Harsh words, but there is no doubt truth in them. The girls in my wife's first grade class will have "Pirates of the Caribbean" pencils in a gift bag from their teacher. Why not "High School Musical" pencils? Wal-Mart was out of stock.