When people are losing their jobs and pitching tents because they lost their home, they aren’t going to go to Macy’s to buy a new pair of $100. With whatever cash they have (or panhandle) they’re going to go to Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) instead.

This recession isn’t like anything we’ve seen previously. Even I’ve cut back on the egregious amount of fast food dining I do in the face of deflation.

If you still look at Amazon Inc. (AMZN) as just an Internet retailing giant, you’re not just missing the point – you are also missing one of the really great long-term profit plays in the market today.

Circuit City (CC) made it official on Monday and filed for bankruptcy. Only a week ago, the company announced it would close 155 stores that were underperforming. On September 29, the company reported a third-quarter loss of $239 million, which was three times larger than the loss for the same quarter a year ago.

It’s a runaway bull market for a trend we’ve been covering since last year… “the basics.”

We haven’t given you much of a view of how the economy here looks in Colorado. Sorry. We’ve been too busy eating massive portions of food while fending off rubber-band toting nieces and nephews. But since we’re on our way back to Melbourne tomorrow, how about a few parting observations from Colorado?

The situation is grim for home furnishing retailers… Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Tuesday Morning, and just about every company that supplies furniture and home accessories has been crushed.

I have a confession to make…I spend my weekends watching a lot of TV. So needless to say, I see a lot of the stupid commercials that get put on TV.

Is the economy poised for a recovery, as the stock market seems to expect? Or are we in for another few more quarters of recession and/or slow growth?

A 22% increase in international sales helped Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the world’s largest retailer and bellwether of the U.S. economy, beat first-quarter earnings’ estimates.