The Early Edge: Crocs, MGM Mirage, Seagate Technology, and Wal-Mart Stores
Today’s headlines include lowered first-quarter and 2008 earnings from Crocs (CROX), job cuts at MGM Mirage (MGM), a lawsuit from Seagate Technology (STX), and a change in gun sales at Wal-Mart Stores (WMT). Here is what you need to know about this

Wal-Mart Closes At Multi-Year High
out most of Tuesday’s trading. The stock posted its fourth gain in a row and finished at its highest level since November 2 004, up $1.16 at $56.31. For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com Copyright(c) 2008 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All

Retail sales results were almost universally in the red in March–but–retail stock prices were trading in the green. Why? Many on Wall Street were prepared for the weakest sales results in 13 years and that is indeed what we got on Friday. also …

also …

Reinvent your kitchen this Spring with breakthrough appliance innovation from Sears. also …

Dr. John Agwunobi to join Wal-Mart as Senior Vice President and President for the Professional Services Division
BENTONVILLE, Ark., Tuesday, August 7, 2007 –Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is pleased to announce that Dr. John Agwunobi, current Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and an Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, has been named Senior Vice President and President for the Professional Services Division for Wal-Mart in the U.S. effective September 4.

Dr. Agwunobi will oversee the company?s health and wellness business unit including pharmacies, vision centers and health care clinics. He is the country?s expert on public health, and he will bring new perspective, diverse talents and tremendous expertise to our company in his new role.

He will report to Bill Simon, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Wal-Mart Stores U.S.

?John is the country?s expert on public health, and I look forward to his contributions in furthering Wal-Mart?s health and wellness efforts,? said Simon. ?He will bring new perspective, diverse talents and tremendous expertise to our company in his new role.?

Added Dr. Agwunobi, ?Wal-Mart touches many lives in many communities and this position provides me with a new opportunity to reach people in the places where they live, work and shop. I am very excited to join the Wal-Mart team.?

Dr. Agwunobi, also a pediatrician, is a seasoned public health professional with experience in health care delivery, managed care and health care policy. As Assistant Secretary for Health, he was responsible for disease prevention, health promotion, women and minority health efforts, the reduction of health disparities, the fight against HIV/AIDS, pandemic influenza planning and vaccine preventable disease initiatives.

-

Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, NRA hired ‘black ops’ company that targeted environmental groups
A private security firm managed by former Secret Service officers spied on myriad environmental organizations throughout the 1990s and the year 2000, thieving documents, trying to plant undercover operations and collecting phone records of members,

Fat? Over 40? Don’t bother applying for a Wal-Mart job
If you are on the wrong side of 40 and not as fit as you’d like to be, don’t bother applying for a job at Wal-Mart. That is the message for workers in America - revealed in a secret memo, laying out a plan by Wal-Mart to make it harder for older, less

Wal-Mart raises 1Q outlook and April sales expectation
Extract not available.

Walmart is the place to shop for the hottest toys, electronics, items for the home, and more! Plus, we’ve permanently marked down some of the most popular holiday items, while there’s still time to shop!

-

Luxury department store operator Saks Inc. said Thursday its same-store sales fell 2.9 percent in March, missing Wall Street analysts’ prediction that comparable sales would rise for the month. Continue …

Department-store operator J.C. Penney Co. said Thursday that same-store sales fell 12.3 percent in March, missing analyst expectations. Continue …

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said yesterday that it is rolling out a new advertising campaign with the slogan, “Save Money. Live Better,” replacing the motto “Always low prices” after 19 years.

The new slogan comes as Wal-Mart is incorporating more of an emotional tone into its advertising as it tries to boost sales at its U.S. stores.

Its back-to-school ads showed actors posing as customers, talking about how Wal-Mart helped them save money amid high gasoline prices, a contrast to its previous ads featuring a smiley face character zooming around stores, slashing prices.

Wal-Mart said it will begin running TV ads illustrating “how saving money on the little things adds up and helps families live better.”

Its back-to-school advertising campaign was accompanied by price cuts of as much as 50 per cent on 16,000 items like backpacks and school supplies.
-

also …

As many as 250 new jobs could be coming to northern Bucks County when Wal-Mart completes a planned expansion of its Hilltown Township store, the store?s manager said.

The department store giant wants to convert its building at Hilltown Crossings Shopping Center on Route 309 into one of its Supercenters, complete with grocery aisles that would fill a void left when the Clemens supermarket at the property closed late last year.


-

Bennett Wins Wal-Mart FLW Tour Event on Lewis Smith Lake
/PRNewswire/ — Team Duracell pro Michael Bennett of Roseville, Calif., caught a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 8 ounces to win $125,000 in the $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Lewis Smith Lake. Bennett topped his closest rival,

Wal-Mart takes retail tips from P&G India
MUMBAI: Wal-Mart, the $340-billion retail giant, is looking to its long-time partner Procter & Gamble to learn the tricks of the Indian market, as it tries to get a foothold here. Globally, the relationship between the two goes well beyond a

Wal-Mart to launch environmental drive in China
Wal-Mart will meet hundreds of its Chinese suppliers as it rolls out a worldwide environmental sustainability drive that has so far been limited to its US operations, the Financial Times reported. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, accounts for

CHARLOTTE — Horizon Lines, Inc., the nation’s leading domestic ocean shipping and integrated logistics company, has been awarded the Jones Act Carrier of the Year for 2007 by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. The award is presented each year to a domestic ocean Continue …

Thanks to its iTunes digital download store, Apple Inc. has surpassed Wal-Mart as the largest U.S. music seller, market research revealed. The Los Angeles Times said Apple sold more albums in January and February than any other U.S. retailer, data Continue …

/PRNewswire/ — Team Duracell pro Michael Bennett of Roseville, Calif., caught a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 8 ounces to win $125,000 in the $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Lewis Smith Lake. Bennett topped his closest rival, Continue …

Asda may overtake M&S
Extract not available.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said yesterday that it is rolling out a new advertising campaign with the slogan, “Save Money. Live Better,” replacing the motto “Always low prices” after 19 years.

The new slogan comes as Wal-Mart is incorporating more of an emotional tone into its advertising as it tries to boost sales at its U.S. stores.

Its back-to-school ads showed actors posing as customers, talking about how Wal-Mart helped them save money amid high gasoline prices, a contrast to its previous ads featuring a smiley face character zooming around stores, slashing prices.

Wal-Mart said it will begin running TV ads illustrating “how saving money on the little things adds up and helps families live better.”

Its back-to-school advertising campaign was accompanied by price cuts of as much as 50 per cent on 16,000 items like backpacks and school supplies.
-

Extract not available. Continue …

As many as 250 new jobs could be coming to northern Bucks County when Wal-Mart completes a planned expansion of its Hilltown Township store, the store?s manager said.

The department store giant wants to convert its building at Hilltown Crossings Shopping Center on Route 309 into one of its Supercenters, complete with grocery aisles that would fill a void left when the Clemens supermarket at the property closed late last year.


-

Wal-Mart Drops Claim for $470,000 From Brain-Damaged Mother of Son Killed in Iraq
Extract not available.

The VIERA from Panasonic - Sponsored Link
Ad - Enter a New Visual Era w/ Panasonic VIERA HDTVs-An Enhanced Experience

Asda gains share in UK retail market
Extract not available.