In 2006, Wal-Mart was responsible for $27 billion in U.S. imports from China and 11% of the growth of the total U.S. trade deficit with China between 2001 and 2006. Wal-Mart's trade deficit with China alone eliminated nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs in this period [Economic Snapshots, 6/27/07].

PUBLIC OPINION POLL: CONSUMERS SKEPTICAL OF WAL-MART'S NEW ADVERTISING

• What Wal-Mart Savings Claim Doesn't Tell You [Advertising Age]
  Consumers aren't buying Wal-Mart's new "Save Money. Live Better" ad campaign, according to a survey to be released today by Wal-Mart Watch, which found that only 4% of people believe that Wal-Mart saves the average family $2,500 annually.
  

LEE SCOTT HIGHEST PAID EXECUTIVE IN ARKANSAS

• Wal-Mart , Alltel officers state’s highest-paid execs [Arkansas Democrat Gazette]
  Four Wal-Mart employees were among the 10 highest-paid executives - H. Lee Scott at $ 23 million, John Menzer at $ 12. 2 million, Michael Duke at $ 10. 8 million and Eduardo Castro-Wright at $ 6. 5 million.
  

• A Big Salary With a Big Stipulation: Share It [New York Times]
  Some experts on philanthropy think that other companies should follow Bear Stearns’s model. "If you’re a corporation like Wal-Mart, think of what an impact that could make," said Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton University.

WAL-MART'S HOLIDAY PROFIT OUTLOOK, HIRING RATES LOOKING BAD

• Wal-Mart Earnings May Slow as Chief Scott Cuts Holiday Prices [Bloomberg News]
  Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, may report its smallest profit increase in five quarters after Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott lowered prices to lure shoppers squeezed by rising gasoline costs and mortgage payments.
  

Holiday hiring time not joyful [Chicago Tribune]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's biggest retailer, said it will employ between 20,000 and 25,000 seasonal workers nationally, half the number the company said it would hire last year.