Where are All the Customers? And Where’s Their Money?

Here's an interesting story from Friday regarding sales at Walmart that just came my way: Wal-Mart Executives Sweat Slow February Start in E-Mails.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had the worst sales start to a month in seven years as payroll-tax increases hit shoppers already battling a slow economy, according to internal e-mails obtained by Bloomberg News.

"In case you haven’t seen a sales report these days, February MTD sales are a total disaster,” Jerry Murray, Wal-Mart’s vice president of...