US Retail Q1 2009

--Wal-Mart attract bargain hunting customers --non-essential is shunned --Discretionary retail sales in the US - ex autos and parts, food and energy - dropped 8.6% in April compared with the yer before --3/4 consumer discretiona companies have reproted Q1 earnings haed of consensus expectations. --This reflects the fact taht retailers have begun to get stock levels closer to the new levels of demand, reducing the need for painful clearance sales. --Earning might not be sustainable. Reetailers have been slashing selling costs and capital expenditrue, and furiously trying to cut working capital. Price evaluation based on FCF which adjust this factor is 20 times, far from being cheap.