Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money'

Welcome to the liquidity-driven, debt-laden economic recovery. The demographic of workforce/population reads as follows: (1) the select few prosper, (2) a lot simply try to hang in as long as possible, and (3) the vast majority are squeezed to the bone by the consequences of policies enacted to combat the largest debt crisis in recorded history.

Wal-Mart's core shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said Wednesday.

"We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said at an event in New York. "There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact."

Wal-Mart shoppers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, typically shop in bulk at the beginning of the month when their paychecks come in.

Source: money.cnn.com