Thank Gd I have Chakrabarti for this daily fix of the bucks.

In light of the recent awesome financial situation our nation has found itself in, much in thanks to the 12 billion a month we’re spending in Iraq, here’s a thing:

"When they turn on the TV or pick up the paper and they read about values of homes declining -- that's the news. But the fact is, people are experiencing it," says Gary Drenik of BIGresearch, a marketing information company.
"They are putting gas in their cars. They're going grocery shopping and they're paying more. They're being hit with all these things that weren't there a year ago," he says.

Yet for once, Americans are responding appropriately: not by increased spending, but by slowing the oozing debit purchases.

64% of people intend to cut indulgent spending this year according to a new survey by HSBC Bank USA. Another survey by Discover Financial Services confirms that sentiment. This month, half of consumers plan to cut down on non-essential spending like eating out, going to the movies and remodeling, according to the report.

According to the 2008 AlixPartners Consumer Sentiment index, consumers are bargain shopping. If you shopped at Nordstrom and Macy's, you're now shopping at JC Penney or Kohl's. If you were shopping at JC Penney, now you're shopping at Wal-Mart. And those people who were shopping at Wal-Mart, they're at the dollar stores.
Crawford predicts, "You're going to see a lot more Lexuses and BMWs in Wal-Mart parking lots." Man, I hope so. It’d be hopeless and hilarious, all at once.
The two industries that are up: vacations and pets. Seems that with all the shitiness going on in our daily lives, we need to run away to something better. What better than Fiji with Fido?