Who Wants to be a Delusionaire?

From Reuters: Wal-Mart customers delay buying necessities.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc's U.S. customers, increasingly worried about their own financial security, are waiting until they get their paychecks to buy even the most basic necessities, the retailer's U.S. division head said on Tuesday.

Wal-Mart's sales typically surge around pay periods at the beginning and middle of the month. Castro-Wright said that spike has become more pronounced as consumers' budgets become more stressed.

In the last few months, the percentage of overall sales from the days surrounding those pay periods has risen 250 basis points, he said.

And, in a "disturbing" trend, Castro-Wright said Wal-Mart for the first time is seeing a paycheck-related spike in sales of baby formula, suggesting consumers are rushing to buy such necessities as soon as they have the cash.

He said credit used as a form of payment at Wal-Mart is falling and that the decline is expected to reach into the double digits this year.

Castro-Wright declined to comment about the general economy. When asked about the holidays, he said: "Christmas is going to come .... consumers are just going to be more cautious."

This is delusional thinking. Retail is going to be abysmal this Christmas.

What are these people smoking?