fed cutwent stateside yesterday and at the mall I was stunned to see so few shoppers. It wouldnt have bothered me to shake hands with everyone there bcuz there were so few there and I'm standoffish. Around the corner at Target the same picture. At the plaza nearby at Circuit city it was empty as was the Dic's sporting goods. I was stunned. Economically I think the turnaround is 6-9 mos out but if the fed has got a wiff of these potentially pathetic retail #'s I would think they have to cut. Media will have a field day and depress (psychologically) the country if the numbers end up reflecting what I've seen. Guessing 25bps though. PS the week earlier shopping in Canada was not any different. I'll be having a great Christmas but my spending is half of last year. Not by design - it just ended up that way. glta .