Reply #4: Good morning Marketeers! Hi Julie.

[ozymandius]

The Nikkei also looks to be suffering from the Japan's dollar buying binge. The yen rose against the dollar and that was the equivalent of a bucket of ice water being thrown on their markets. The possible consequence of rising prices on Japan's more profitable exports like electronics looks like some ice water will be shared with US retailers during the holiday season.

Speaking of job numbers: I drove past a mall yesterday - one of the big ones in the Atlanta area. The local Kids-R-Us is proudly flying its "going out of business" banner. Smaller stores in the same area are following suit. Closer to where I live, the only K-Mart in the downtown Atlanta area is cosing. It is a bad omen that these big box stores will soon stand empty.