Macro Outlook
More on Wal-Mart: “If anyone caused you to believe that we are comfortable with a 1% comp, I will apologize.” - CEO Lee Scott

Scott's mea culpa came at the end of the retail giant's two meetings in Teaneck, NJ (basically an onramp to the GW Bridge).

His reasoning for the 1.3% gain in same-store sales in September and the 1% increase tracking in October? Folks haven't realized how well off they are now that gas prices are down.

“There are two different subjects ... understanding what is happening, then accepting what is happening. We understand what is happening, but we do not accept it is inevitable; we do not accept it as acceptable.”

To quote my favorite movie: “I don't think you understand the meaning of that word.”

More tonight on what really happened to Wal-Mart, and why Target is the real choice for the holiday season.

Market Trends
Taser International Inc. (TASR:NASDAQ), a stock we took 20% gains on after selling half of our holdings in WaveStrength Hot Sheet, announced stellar third-quarter earnings today.

The stock shot up 10% in pre-market to $10.00 per share, after reporting a sales increase of 57%. According to analysts, this is the company's best quarter in two years.

Currently, Hot Sheet beta testers and WaveStrength Apex members are holding gains of 28%. Of course, we're going to keep holding, as I believe TASR is the best comeback stock story out there right now!

Trading Tactics
If you type in “confusing earnings report” into your search engine this morning, you should get today's report from Boeing (BA:NYSE). After trading down 0.7% in pre-market trading, the stock has opened the day down $1.79 on quarterly revenue that missed analysts' expectations. But in the same breath, BA's earnings surpassed expectations and they subsequently raised their outlook for 2007. So you have an increased outlook for 2007, earnings that beat expectations, but quarterly revenues that missed expectations - and the stock is off $1.79. Confused?

Also starting today is the Fed's 2-day meeting. As you know, the Fed paused twice in the rate-tightening cycle this summer, leaving the key overnight rate at 5.25%. Before entering this pausing cycle, the central bank raised the benchmark fed funds rate by a quarter point 17 times in a row between June 2004 and June 2006. Although it's widely expected that the Fed will pause once again, investors will be leaning heavily on their accompanying policy statement for clues about future actions.

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