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Wal-Mart Stores Inc., with its emphasis on low prices and improved merchandise, is stealing market share from competitors and is well-positioned for the holiday season, CEO and President Lee Scott told investors Monday.

The company, nevertheless, is scaling back the growth of its namesake stores in the U.S. and focusing on remodeling existing locations as it responds to a tough consumer spending climate.

"It is clear in this environment that the customer is more cautious and more thoughtful about what they buy and they’re more thoughtful about when they buy it," Scott said in an address to analysts gathered on the first day of the company’s two-day investor meeting in Bentonville, Ark.

Nevertheless, he said, "We see this as an opportunity to widen our moat. … This is Wal-Mart time."

Eduardo Castro-Wright, president and chief executive of Wal-Mart’s U.S. division, told analysts that the company plans to open 191 stores in fiscal 2009 and from 142 to 157 stores in fiscal 2010. That compares to 218 stores opened in fiscal 2008.

As a result, capital expenditures will come in at $5.8 billion to $6.4 billion for fiscal 2009 and $6.3 billion to $6.8 billion in fiscal 2010. That’s down from the $9.1 billion the company had in capital expenditures in its last fiscal year.

Wal-Mart officials are expected to offer the capital expenditures forecast for the entire company on Tuesday.

Monday’s meeting featured addresses by merchandising executives who discussed how Wal-Mart will be emphasizing the price message in its advertising and in its stores this holiday season, while pushing for friendlier service, cleaner stores and faster checkout. Wal-Mart is rolling out Christmas shops, which feature wrapping paper and other decor, but will also be more aggressive in designating holiday gifts throughout the store.

Wal-Mart has found itself in the right spot as it pushes the right mix of merchandise and marketing to complement its renewed focus on price just as the economic slowdown worsened. The company has also focused on inventory management and has improved capital efficiencies http://paydayintime.com.

As a result, Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) shares, which had been in a funk for several years, rebounded starting in September 2007, rising about 50% to $64 in early September. However, the stock has lost about 17% of its value in recent weeks as the financial meltdown has intensified. Shares slipped $1.73, or more than 3 percent, to close at $49.67 on Monday, close to the low end of its 52-week range of $42.50 to $63.85 per share.

Meanwhile, cheap chic rival Target Corp. (TGT, Fortune 500) has fallen behind Wal-Mart because its heavy emphasis on nonessentials such as trendy clothes makes it more vulnerable to the spending slowdown. Target’s profits are also being squeezed amid rising delinquencies in store credit card payments. Its shares have lost half their value since a peak of about $70 in July 2007. They fell 23 cents to $32.69 on Monday, at the low end of the 52-week range of $63.86 to $30.45.

Wal-Mart officials noted that their company - considered a barometer of the pulse of the American consumer - continues to see firsthand how the mounting financial crisis, including tightening credit, is putting more strain on its shoppers. Castro-Wright noted that credit card payments as a percentage of total payments is down 7.4% so far in fiscal 2009. That means that customers are maxing out on their credit cards, says Castro-Wright. That’s a big reversal from the robust double-digit growth rates in credit cards over the past three year.

Wal-Mart noted that it’s focusing on expanding its store-label food business as shoppers look to save more money on their food bill amid soaring inflation. As part of the strategy, the company is reformulating 1,200 food items, including cold cereal, cookies and yogurt, from the 5,000 food items it tested to improve the taste. 

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The oil market was also hit by turbulence in the U.S. financial sector, which aggravated expectations that a global economic slowdown will suppress demand.

Light sweet crude for October delivery was down $5.39 at $95.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after going as low as $94.13 overnight.

The contract had settled Friday at $101.18 after dipping to $99.99 — the first time Nymex crude had traded below the $100 mark since April 2.

“Now that Ike has come and gone, initial reports indicate no real damage to the oil infrastructure in the Gulf coast area,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

Federal officials said the storm destroyed at least 10 oil and gas platforms and damaged pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico — a small proportion of the 3,800 production platforms in the Gulf. Three years ago, back-to-back hurricanes knocked out more than 100 platforms.

However, power outages were slowing efforts to restart refineries.

“Hurricane-related problems on the region’s electricity grid appear to be the biggest hurdle to a prompt restart of operations,” wrote analysts from JBC Energy in Vienna, Austria.

Investors are now turning their attention toward falling oil demand in the U.S., Europe and Japan as slowing economic growth threatens to undermine consumer spending.

“Market sentiment is decidedly bearish, with all these concerns about developed countries going into recession or a serious slowdown impacting oil demand,” Shum said.

Oil fell despite reports that militants launched another attack on Nigeria’s oil infrastructure in a third day of violence.

The Nigerian military in the southern oil delta region said militants in speedboats attacked troops at a Royal Dutch Shell PLC oil-pumping station early Monday how to get a free credit report. The fighters arrived in about 10 boats and detonated dynamite and other explosives during the battle

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Smith & Wesson Holding Corp.’s first quarter revenue rose 5 percent on the strength of increased demand for pistols.

The Springfield, Mass., company reported revenue of $78 million for the three months that ended July 31. That’s up from $74.4 million in the year-earlier period.

Pistol sales grew 18.4 percent, as they were snapped up by consumers and law enforcement agencies payday loans online. Net income in the quarter was $2.3 million, compared with $4.7 million in the year-earlier quarter.

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Call it the big fizzle. The hoped-for second-half economic rebound is looking to be lethargic, with the country straining under high energy prices and fallout from the housing and credit debacles.

Forty-five percent of economists believe the economy won’t log any growth or will clock in at a feeble 1% pace in the final six months of this year, according to a survey being released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics, which is known by the acronym, NABE. And, 10% think economic activity could actually contract during the period.

"Forecasters are approaching the second half with a lot of caution," Ken Simonson, point person on the survey and chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, said in an interview. "Most forecasters are suggesting the outlook will be sluggish, but not desperate. I’m afraid we’re stuck on the ground floor of growth."

Thirty-two percent, meanwhile, think the economy growth’s during the second half could be between 1% and 2%, which would mark a plodding performance. The more bullish are clearly in the minority camp: 11% think growth will come in between 2% and 3%. Only 1% expect growth to surpass 3%.

The economy’s growth slowed sharply in the final quarter of 2007 and remained stuck in a rut in the first quarter of this year. Tax rebates, which have energized shoppers, should help lift the country out of the doldrums somewhat in the second quarter. The government releases its estimate of the second-quarter’s economic performance at the end of this month. However, as the bracing force of the rebates fade, some analysts fear the economy could hit another rough patch near the end of this year.

Earlier this year, many thought that the first half of this year would be difficult and the second half would be stronger, lifted by the government’s $168 billion stimulus, including tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses. With the rebates kicking in earlier than some expected, the second half could turn sluggish.

Many have "abandoned the notion of seeing a rebound," Simonson said.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who briefed Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, warned that over the rest of this year, the economy will grow "appreciably below its trend rate" mostly because of continued weakness in housing markets, high energy prices and tight credit conditions.

Normal activity would be along the lines of a 2.5% to 3% growth rate for the economy.

Not only is the country slogging through lethargic growth, but it is also confronted by rising prices that threaten to spread inflation.

In the NABE survey, 75% reported paying more for raw materials, such as fuel and steel no fax payday loans. That’s the highest percentage in record keeping going back to 1994. Those higher prices are squeezing profit margins and leading some firms - 35% - to boost their prices, the survey found. That’s up from the 29% who said their companies raised prices in the previous survey in April.

Consumer prices in June rose at the second-fastest pace in a quarter century, the government reported Wednesday. Wholesale prices also went up sharply during the month.

Meanwhile, most forecasters expect a continued slowdown in housing over the next six months, although they think it will be "mild" versus "substantial."

Grappling with fallout from housing and credit troubles and stung by high costs for energy and other raw materials, employers have cut jobs in each of the first six months of this year. Over the next six months, 51% said they expected to hold payrolls steady. Twenty-nine percent expected to boost them and 20% thought jobs would be reduced through layoffs or attrition.

Caught between slow growth and rising prices, the Fed is likely to leave interest rates alone when they meet next on Aug. 5. Boosting rates to fend off inflation would deal a setback to the economy and further hurt the housing market. The Fed can’t afford to lower rates more to shore up economic activity because that would make inflation worse.

Sixty-two percent said the Fed’s nearly yearlong string of rate reductions and other steps to prop up financial markets, had no effect on their business.

The survey, based on the responses of 101 NABE members, was conducted between June 19 and July 10. 

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Confidence among U.S. consumers fell in June to the lowest level in 28 years as record-high gasoline and rising joblessness rattled Americans.

The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment dropped to 56.4, the weakest level since May 1980, from 59.8 the prior month. The measure averaged 85.6 in 2007.

Gasoline at over $4 a gallon and rising costs for food are pinching household budgets, just as mounting job losses and falling home values raise stress levels. The report showed the inflation rate that Americans expect over the coming five years held at 3.4 percent for a second month, the highest since 1995.

“There's a whole list of headwinds facing consumers and they're not happy about it,'' Scott Anderson, senior economist in Minneapolis at Wells Fargo & Co., said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

The confidence index was forecast to fall to 56.7, according to the median of 55 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Estimates ranged from 55.9 to 60.0.

Earlier today, a Commerce Department report showed consumer spending in May rose 0.8 percent, reflecting rebate checks, following a revised 0.4 percent gain the prior month. Incomes grew 1.9 percent last month, the most since September 2005.

12-Month Inflation

Consumers polled by Reuters/University of Michigan said they expect an inflation rate of 5.1 percent over the next 12 months, compared with a 5.2 percent forecast in the May survey.

The survey's index of consumer expectations for six months from now, which more closely projects the direction of consumer spending, dropped to 49.2, also the lowest since 1980, from 51.1.

A gauge of current conditions, which reflects Americans' perceptions of their financial situation and whether it is a good time to buy big-ticket items like cars, decreased to 67.6 from 73.3.

Consumers are feeling pain at the gas pump payday loans. Regular unleaded gasoline prices reached a record $4.08 a gallon at the pump on June 15, up 34 percent from the start of the year, before dropping a cent in the last two weeks.

The employment outlook also has them uneasy, as the economy has lost 324,000 jobs in the first five months of the year, the worst showing since 2003, according to the Labor Department.

Tighter Credit

Credit is getting harder to obtain, subduing demand for items with bigger price tags. Industry figures showed cars and light trucks sold at an annual pace of 14.3 million in May, the fewest in a decade.

Michael Jackson, chief executive officer at AutoNation Inc., the largest U.S. car retailer, is forecasting weak sales through the end of the year.

“My expectation is we will see a bottoming out in sales later this year,'' Jackson said in an interview June 5 with Bloomberg Television from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Spending may grow at an annual rate of 0.8 percent this quarter, down from a 1.1 percent pace in the prior quarter and the weakest since the first three months of 1995, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News this month. For the full year, spending will grow at a 1.5 percent pace, the weakest annual rate since 1991, according to the survey.

The bulk of the tax rebates will probably be spent from July through September, giving third-quarter growth a lift, before the economy decelerates again in the last three months of the year, the poll also showed.

The final Reuters/University of Michigan consumer confidence report reflects about 500 responses, compared with 300 households for the preliminary survey published earlier in the month.

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Could turning on the oil spigot put an end to the huge run in the price of oil? Don’t bet on it.

Oil-producing countries are already pumping at full throttle, and there isn’t a lot of spare production capacity that could meaningfully affect global prices.

Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia said it will boost its oil output by 200,000 barrels a day. Despite the promise of more supply, the price of oil spiked higher Monday morning.

The main reason: The added supply won’t be very great, and demand, especially from China and India, has shown little sign of slowing.

"There is a belief that China and India are going to sop up all the extra supply," said Stephen Schork, publisher of the industry newsletter the Schork Report.

The world uses around 85 million barrels of oil a day, so an extra 200,000 is a mere 0.2% boost.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that could quickly pump more oil, and even then it’s only a maximum of about 1 million to 2 million barrels a day.

What’s more, bringing production online from places like the deep water Gulf of Mexico or offshore Brazil will take years, if not decades.

The Saudis have long maintained the world is adequately supplied with oil and these high prices are the result of the falling dollar and investor interest.

In some ways they’re right: No one is waiting 4 hours in line to buy gas, which would be expected if there were shortages.

But traders have taken a long-term view of the oil markets payday loan. They see global demand going nowhere but up, and supplies struggling to stay where they are.

"The market is saying, we don’t care that the Saudis think the markets are well supplied now," said Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank. "It’s the perception there’s going to be a big problem a few years from now."

The International Energy Agency said as much a couple of weeks ago.

The agency, run by developed countries to manage oil stockpiles and study markets as a counter balance to OPEC, said that global oil demand by 2030 will surge to 116 million barrels a day but that global production will struggle to surpass 100 million barrels a day.

The point when demand exceeds supply is when the world will see Sieminski’s "big problem."

Of course, not everyone thinks that will happen. These high prices will cause a big drop in demand or spur new production to come online much faster that people think.

"We know demand has fallen, and more supplies are just around the corner," said Schork. "Clearly, this is not a market driven by fundamentals."

Unfortunately for anyone paying over $4 for a gallon of gas, Schork seems to hold the minority view among oil traders. 

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The Toronto stock market closed slightly lower today after a spike in oil prices of over $5 took energy stocks higher while financials cancelled out those gains amid growing talk of rising interest rates in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

Sharply higher crude prices helped send New York indexes sharply lower while investors were further depressed by the latest economic snapshot from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index was down 19.68 points to 14,716.52 after dropping 225 points Tuesday on lower commodity stocks and banks.

The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 10.38 points to 2,638.56.

The Canadian dollar moved up 0.23 cent to 98.04 cents US.

New York's Dow Jones industrial average plunged 205.99 points to 12,083.77.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 54.93 points to 2,394.01 while the S&P 500 index shed 22.95 points to 1,335.49 after the Fed said the economy remained "generally weak" heading into summer due to rising costs for energy and food.

The Fed's new snapshot of business conditions in its so-called Beige Book said "consumer spending slowed … as incomes were pinched by rising energy and food prices." Manufacturing activity, meanwhile, was "generally soft" and the housing market remained stuck in a rut.

"The opening paragraph used descriptives such as softer, weaker, lower, slower, sluggish, modest, stable, little changed to describe activity in the Fed Districts," observed BMO Financial Markets economist Jennifer Lee.

"You know activity is slumping when the most positive word mustered up is `modest', or `stable', or `little changed'."

Oil prices continued to be volatile as the July crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved up $5.07 to US$136.38 a barrel after losing over $3 on Tuesday.

"I watch these prices change second by second, minute by minute and it leads me to believe there is a whole lot of speculation in that sector – and yet there are other people who are saying no, it's not speculation, there's a shortage of the stuff," said Fred Ketchen, manager of equity trading at Scotia Capital.

"Speculators are the ones, I think, who are to take credit or the blame for exaggerated volatility we're seeing in the price of these futures."

Data released by the U.S. Department of Energy showed oil inventories down by 4.56 million barrels last week – but analysts had expected a much smaller decline of about 1.4 million barrels.

Gasoline stockpiles rose by 998,000 barrels.

The TSX energy sector moved ahead 1.7 per cent with Canadian Natural Resources (TSX: CNQ) up $2.46 to $105.26.

Precision Drilling Trust (TSX: PD.UN) climbed 53 cents to $27.56 after making an unsolicited US$1.61-billion takeover offer for U.S guaranteed payday loan. contract driller Grey Wolf Inc.

The financial sector slipped 1.8 per cent after the Bank of Canada unexpectedly decided on Tuesday to leave its key overnight rate unchanged at three per cent to fight inflation, raising speculation the central bank will start hiking rates in 2009.

And there has been growing talk from central bank officials in the U.S. and Europe that higher energy and food prices will result in higher rates to combat inflation.

Royal Bank (TSX: RY) fell $1.26 to $48.30 and Scotiabank (TSX: BNS) declined 85 cents to $50.17.

Laurentian Bank (TSX: LB) was off 20 cents to $43.30 after DBRS upgraded its deposits and senior debt rating.

U.S. financials were also under the gun with shares in Lehman Brothers down after Merrill Lynch downgraded the investment bank to neutral from buy. The move came a week after Merrill had upgraded the stock – a move it now says was premature, given that Lehman's “business mix is poor for this environment". Lehman shares fell $3.75 to US$23.75.

Bullion prices revived after American dollar strength had prodded gold down almost US$27 an ounce on Tuesday. The August gold contract on the Nymex rose $11.70 to US$882.90 an ounce and the TSX gold sector was flat.

The materials sector rose about 0.8 per cent with Agrium Inc. (TSX: AGU) up $7.77 to $102 after the agriculture-inputs company raised its profit expectations. It now projects second-quarter earnings of US$2.80 to $3.00 per share, up from previous EPS guidance of $1.92 to $2.22.

Potash Corp. (TSX: POT) advanced $2.45 to $227.33.

The information technology sector was up 1.67 per cent, almost solely because of Nortel Networks Corp. (TSX: NT). The company and Alvarion Ltd. (NASDAQ:ALVR) announced an agreement to combine the Israeli company's Wi-MAX products with the Canadian telecom equipment maker's network gear and services. Nortel shares jumped $1.15 to $9.42.

Rising fuel costs continued to pummel transportation stocks – Canadian National Railway (TSX: CNR) fell $2.24 to $50.28 and Canadian Pacific (TSX: CP) eased $2.22 to $65.34.

Elsewhere on the TSX, shares in metals distributor Russel Metals Inc. (TSX: RUS) jumped $1.80 to $29.60 after it said it expects second-quarter earnings per share will beat average analysts consensus forecasts of a 78 cent per share profit by 35 to 45 per cent.

Forzani Group Ltd. (TSX: FGL) fell $1.70 to $14.80 after Canada's largest sporting-goods retailer suffered a first-quarter loss of $2.9 million as sales at stores open a year or more declined 2.1 per cent.

On the TSX, declines beat advances 885 to 697 with 219 unchanged as 407.6 million shares traded worth $8.3 billion.

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Shares of General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) hit a 26-year low and Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) also tumbled on Friday as investors reacted to disclosures from the leading U.S. automakers about the toll from a slumping auto market and from recent strikes against GM and one of its key suppliers.

Shares of GM dropped almost 5 percent to their lowest level since 1982 after the No. 1 U.S. automaker detailed the drag on its earnings from just-ended strikes at two of its own plants and at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings.(AXL.N: Quote, Profile, Research)

Meanwhile, shares of Ford extended a two-day slump following Thursday’s announcement that the No. 2 U.S. automaker was slashing truck production and giving up on its goal of returning to profitability by 2009.

Ford shares were down 4 percent, hitting a six-week low. The stock has now lost 22 percent from its late-April high when it reported a surprise first-quarter profit. The decline has wiped out investor gains for the year.

GM shares have now lost 30 percent since the start of the year, touching a low of $17.38 on Friday — their lowest level since February 1982.

On Thursday, Ford surprised investors with a warning that its turnaround was stalling because of high gas prices and the related collapse in sales of trucks and SUVs, a segment Detroit automakers have dominated.

For GM, the latest bolt of bad news was the price of a three-month-old strike against American Axle by the United Auto Workers and local strikes at two of its own plants.

GM said on Friday the strikes had reduced its earnings by a total of $2.8 billion creditreport. That includes about $2 billion in lost earnings for the second quarter because of an unplanned cut in production of about 263,000 vehicles, including some 33,000 of GM’s better-selling sedans and crossovers. 

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The nation’s largest public pension fund says its chief investment officer will resign.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System said Wednesday that Russell Read will leave his post on June 30 to pursue investing in environmentally friendly technologies fast payday loans. Read joined CalPERS in June 2006. The fund has more than $244 billion in assets.

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new york — Stocks rose for the first time in three days on Tuesday, led by financial and energy shares, on better-than-forecast earnings at regional banks and record prices for oil and gasoline.

Regions Financial Corp. and M&T Bank Corp. rallied, leading financials to their first advance in a week, after profits were boosted by their sale of stakes in Visa Inc. as part of the credit card company’s initial public offering.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips led energy producers to the highest level since January as crude climbed above $114 a barrel.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 6.11 points to 1,334.43. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 60.41 to 12,362.47. The Nasdaq composite index increased 10.22 to 2,286.04.
Regions Financial increased $1.56, or 8.4 percent, to $20.12 after saying first-quarter net income increased 1.1 percent to 48 cents a share. M&T rallied $5.11, or 6.3 percent, to $85.86, the biggest gain in almost a month. Northern Trust Corp. rose $3.04, or 4.7 percent, to $68.04.

Morgan Stanley added 55 cents to $43.52. Citigroup Inc. increased 29 cents to $22.80.

Charles Schwab Corp. added $1.64, or 9 percent, to $19.95. The largest discount brokerage by customer assets said first-quarter profit rose 29 percent.

Exxon Mobil Corp. climbed $1.10 to $90.80. Chevron Corp. added 87 cents to $90.17. Crude oil rose to $114.08 a barrel, while gasoline climbed to $2.881 a gallon in New York, both records.

BJ Services Co. added $1.38 to $30.50. Range Resources Corp. increased $2.22 to $69.07, an 18-year high free credit report instantly.

Textron Inc. added $1.56 to $59.80. United Technologies Corp. climbed 85 cents to $70.84.

Compuware Corp. added 76 cents, or 11 percent, to $7.75 for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The supplier of business software reported fourth-quarter sales and earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. added $2.35, or 8.7 percent, to $29.32.

EMC Corp., the world’s largest maker of storage computers, slumped 47 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $14.17.

Delta Air Lines Inc. fell $1.32 to $9.16. Northwest Airlines Corp. dropped 94 cents to $10.28.

State Street Corp. lost $7.63, or 10 percent, to $69.23, the steepest drop in the S&P 500.

Forest Laboratories Inc. fell $3.67, or 9.2 percent, to $36.13 for the second-biggest decline. The maker of the antidepressant Lexapro forecast sales and profit that missed analysts’ estimates.

Northrop Grumman Corp. lost $5.27, or 6.9 percent, to $71.57, its biggest drop in five years. The defense company said it will take a first-quarter charge of as much as $360 million because of delays on a new ship.

Crocs Inc. fell $7.68, or 43 percent, to $10.11. The maker of colorful clogs said it will fire its 600 Canadian plant workers after lowering annual earnings and sales forecasts.

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