Making a mental note, that there were three significant trends here, that if they held throughout the nation would be an indicator of how the economy is performing.

Trend number 1 – remember the carts. They were mainly out in the parking lot. Walmart did not have the staff to keep up with the demand. And that tells us how tight the labor market really is. Today, we will get the weekly up date on just how the nation's employment looks. But the labor market is expcted to continue to be strong, and those “help wanted signs” will no doubt be up at Walmart for a few more months.

Trend number 2. Automation is working. The self check out system was a wonder to behold. No stopping the line while a clerk looked up a price, no closed terminals: just lots and lots of shoppers moving efficiently through the line. Happy that it didn't take too long.

And finally: Trend Number 3, the Sales. This was finally confirmed the next day when we saw the numbers. But nationwide Retail Sales for last Saturday reached an all time record at over $34 billion dollars.

And my guess is that, if everyone's experience was like mine, then most of those customers were pretty happy with the results.