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Not too long ago, I wrote about Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and the entrance of the world's largest retailer more heavily into locally-grown fresh produce. As a way of differentiating itself, Wal-Mart is really on the right track here. Partnering with local merchants near each community it serves could help repair the rift between small-town merchants and the retailing behemoth that has steadily grown for the last two decades.

The retailer may finally be heeding the advice of many critics. That is, when it does good, it needs to actively market and promote that effort as much as possible. Last week, one of the retailer's locations in Manteca, California along with local growers, put the positive word out about how Wal-Mart is joining with the local merchants to ensure customers can buy produce with confidence. This is great -- but Wal-Mart needs these "workshops" at every location where it has a significant and growing relationship with local food suppliers.

Tiffany Moffatt, Wal-Mart's corporate affairs director for the western U.S. region, stated that "In the (West Sacramento, Calif.) store, we carry more than 120 locally grown products .. our partnerships with local farmers have grown by 50% over the last two years." This is great PR, and Wal-Mart needs even more of it moving forward. When you have local food suppliers describing Wal-Mart as a "a demanding but loyal customer," then one has to guess that Wal-Mart is indeed sowing the seeds to forming new relationships with communities outside its rather boring big-box store presence. Alerting the buying public is the next phase in Wal-Mart's efforts -- and it can't happen soon enough.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) warned Tuesday that profit for the quarter ending in August would be "well below expectations." That statement comes as a surprise. The company that should be benefiting greatly from customers buying in bulk and "trading down" to lower-priced goods, issues lower guidance in the thick of a depressed U.S. economy.

The wholesaler said that analyst estimates of a $1 per share profit would not be met, and then quickly talked about how rising energy prices would be to blame. Costco kept its prices steady even as its own costs have risen. It also experienced diminished profit in gasoline sales. The good news is that Costco's same-store sales have not trended downward recently. The company is still making a healthy profit, but the question is why it is holding many prices steady even as costs and transportation backend prices rise?

One answer is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and its Sam's Club operations. While in a Sam's Club just this past weekend to check out prices, I was amazed to see that once inside the store, any semblance to a credit, mortgage and credit crisis was gone. Prices were lower than ever on many items, and Wal-Mart faces the same kind of financial cost pressures as its competitors. It can afford to keep prices lower even through tough times, though. Costco has to keep up, and as a result, its profits will take a hit.

Yesterday on the tech news site TechCrunch, it was reported that Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) may be buying social news website Digg.com for up to $200 million. Now, Digg.com has come under acquisition rumors so far, but this is the most serious one. Google stands to keep its iron fist over the controlled flow of information with the purchase if, in fact, it is officially announced.

Digg.com, which has propelled itself into the limelight by having its members and readers publish links to news stories from around the globe and vote on them to let its customers choose "headlines," is no small potato.

Although Google was rumored to have been in the chase for the company back in March, it should go ahead and just make the announcement official. Integration of Digg.com into Google News (which is already an excellent product) would take Google's news aggregation product to the next level and would assist it solidifying its daily news position against the likes of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo, Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).

Digg.com would not be a good fit for Microsoft, however. While Microsoft continues to roll out web-based properties and products, many of its actions seem to be compelled by a "me too" attitude more than a corporate strategy, regardless of what the company says. Google, right now, has the cachet and the product breadth to continue steamrolling much of the competition -- and a Digg.com purchase would just make it stronger.

Sweden's Ericsson LM TEL Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) said this morning that it saw a 70% nosedive in profits for its second quarter due to R&D costs as well as activity related to recent acquisitions. Ericsson also commented that its primary business -- mobile equipment and infrastructure -- will likely experience a "flattish" market in 2008.

That didn't sit well with investors, who sank the stock over 5% in Stockholm where the company's shares are traded. The company's ADS price as of this afternoon was hovering right over $11.06 per share, even though the company did see a smallish sales gain of 2% year-over-year. The problem is that its profit was down to $320 million for the quarter compared to over $1 billion during the year-ago quarter.

One of the more interesting twists came from Ericsson's joint partnership in Sony Ericsson, the mobile phone handset company that had a great comeback in the 2005 to 2007 time frame but has seen sales drop sharply in 2008. In fact, Sony Ericsson saw a 97% drop in its recent Q2 earnings due to the company's inability to ship lower-end handsets to the hot mobile phone markets. As a result, Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), was in all the right places to take the market share Sony Ericsson missed by being absent in that space.

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported stellar, above-expectations quarterly results yesterday after market close. One would have thought that this company, in the midst of U.S. economic uncertainty, would have reported a mediocre quarter at best, but that wasn't the case. Apple outpaced expectations by $0.11 per share, shipped more Mac computers than during any quarter in its history, and saw a 38% revenue jump from the year-ago quarter.

As a nice reward for such a stellar quarter, the market took Apple out behind the woodshed and gave it a sound whipping. The reason? Apple's murky guidance for the fourth quarter. This from a company that almost always shoots low with guidance only to blow the numbers away. Add that to ongoing concern over the health of CEO Steve Jobs and you have a 10% drop in AAPL shares before the market opened this morning.

Is Apple the victim of outsized expectations? You bet. Just like Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) the other day -- which also reported a fantastic quarter but saw its shares pummeled right after results were announced -- Apple may be losing the ability to impress. In reality, both companies are doing excellent business in the face of gas and energy price spikes in addition to a six-month string of job losses in the U.S. Yet, the market slapped huge losses on both stocks based on what could be considered shaky speculation for future growth prospects.

On the other hand, Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) saw stock gains after reporting a better-than-expected $2.5 billion dollar quarterly loss last week. Talk about twisted.

Shareholders of EDS Corp. (NYSE: EDS) are starting to fidget in their collective seats now that the a shareholder meeting between the company and suitor Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) is scheduled for July 31st. The delay is being brought on by a contingent of shareholders that believes the price H-P will be paying for EDS is, of course, too low.

The shareholders claim that the $25 per share price is too low in addition to a provision that doesn't allow the EDS board to accept higher offers, should one be brought forth. Dallas-area law firm Baron & Budd said "With increased revenues over the past 12 months and 2008 projections on track, the shareholders are questioning why EDS is accepting what many experts consider to be an undervalued share price." Since EDS is headquartered in Plano, Texas -- just outside Dallas -- perhaps some heavy-handed Texas shareholders don't want to sell out to a west coast firm? Who knows.

EDS continues to believe the acquisition by H-P is still in the best interests of the company. A combined HP-EDS would have more than 200,000 employees with operations in more than 80 countries. The combination would form a large challenge to business services and consulting company IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) as H-P tries to conquer yet another giant after taking the PC sales leadership crown from Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) in 2007.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) will be handing out employee buyout offers next week at plants in Michigan and Ohio. Just as the automaker continues grappling with a declining market share and lower sales, it needs to trim its workforce to match.

The automaker has already given employees at plants in Ohio and Kentucky the option of leaving the company with a payoff, so this is nothing new. Offers will be made to employees at 14 sites throughout Ohio and Michigan, with possibly more buyout offers coming to more facilities in August.

As expected, the buyout offers are for five assembly plants in addition to supporting facilities that make engines and transmissions. It's a pretty good guess that all those plants and parts come from the large truck and SUV world, as Ford said it is slowly trending away from building so many of these vehicles. What's amazing is that the automaker warned of slowing truck and SUV sales way back at the end of 2005. It's just now seeing the fruits of it not paying much attention pay off.

Ford's Way Forward plan to return to profitability won't come in 2009 as expected, and will probably show progress in 2010. If gas prices stay near current levels into 2009 and Ford still hasn't rearranged its product portfolio to be as flexible as the U.S. customer needs it to be, it may be beyond 2010 for Ford to see a consistent profit.

With Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) already having inked a solid relationship last year, it should be no surprise that the PC company would be partnering with the world's largest retailer to test out in-store technical support services.

The experiment involves 15 stores in the Dallas, Texas region. These "Solution Stations by Dell" will focus on home theater installations, PC repair, and wireless network setup assistance. It's hard to see how in-store kiosks can assist customers who then have to take all that equipment home, but for a Dell brand builder alone, the partnership is quite unique.

I'm a bit puzzled how Dell will be able to assist with home theater questions and installations, but that's besides the point. If Wal-Mart really intends to compete with the in-store technical support concept, it needs to attack Best Buy Co., Inc.'s (NYSE: BBY) Geek Squad model and really add some value to that consumer experience. Consumer electronics are more confusing than ever for most U.S. consumers, and having some properly seasoned experts in many Wal-Mart stores to help with all those questions would be of enormous benefit.

Not only would Dell's image be polished if this experiment is successful and the Solution Station kiosk concept goes into more Wal-Mart store locations, but the retailer has a real chance to keep it on top of world in terms of consumer electronics purchases. Circuit City, Inc.'s (NYSE: CC) Firedog concept has been left behind as that retailer continues swirling down the drain, so Wal-Mart and Best Buy may be the only ones that could give technical support on a national stage in all locations. Best Buy, though, is already positioned well ahead of Wal-Mart here. It's Wal-Mart's game to lose.

26 U.S. states will unveil their latest compliance with federal minimum wage increases this week. Including the District of Columbia, the minimum wage will increase from $5.85 per hour to $6.55 per hour (at the least). This will only affect states with a minimum wage set from the federal standard, of course.

This move could not have come at a better time. Although oil prices see-sawed a little last week -- bringing the cost of gas down a dime or two for the time being -- consumers are still grappling with high gas prices, a slumping stock market, energy price increases and commodity costs that are affecting food staples. If you regularly feed a family of four with two adults making minimum wages, you know all about these price increases. But, so do all of us.

Small business owners may see this differently, though. Those places of business are also seeing costs and overhead go up, and now labor costs may take a sharp increase as well. What will some businesses do? Pass along those increased labor costs to customers as a price increase due to "economic conditions."

About a year from now there will be another minimum wage increase, will will send the minimum up another $0.70 to $7.25 per hour. Do you think the economy in the U.S. will have dug out of its small hole by then? And yes, it's a small hole even though financial companies with previously-idiotic holdings in mortgages may not agree.

Although Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has fallen on hard times -- like much of the auto industry -- the company will eventually come back around. Its success, like that of competitor General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), will be on its ability to be flexible enough to build the vehicles customers want as needs change.

That's a large order, though. Ford CEO Alan Mulally recently stated that his Way Forward plan was behind schedule, and the automaker wasn't expected to post an annual profit until 2010. Ford knows it needs to be more globally flexible or it won't even make that extended target. Profit centers like SUVs are so 1999.

On top of all that, a Volkswagen (OTC: VLKAY) executive recently said that the German automaker intends to surpass Ford to become the third-largest seller of vehicles in the world. That's quite a bold prediction and it puts Ford under even more pressure to get automobiles delivered to customers with increasing manufacturing and selling flexibility. As of last year, Volkswagen sold 6.19 million vehicles to Ford's 8.55 million. Is one year enough of a background to declare VW a future winner over Ford? Possibly.

Then again, Japanese automakers Honda Motor Corp. (NYSE: HMC) and Nissan Motor Co. (NASDAQ: NSANY) are not going anywhere and will continue to put up a great fight. Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM) is currently the king of the Japanese automakers, right behind GM globally. If Volkswagen really believes it can charge into the third spot, it better have the global vehicle finesse to know what its regions' customers want before they want it -- and then, make those sales.

Welcome to the 69th installment of The Wal-Mart Weekly, a column dedicated to bringing you insight, wit, facts, results, opinions, and just a bit of everything else when it comes to a very hot topic these days: Wal-Mart.

This week, I'll be taking a look labor relations inside Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT). Specifically, reports that the world's largest retailer has recent given its general employees in its Chinese locations raises while not doing the same for its American employees.

Now, all of this is not out of the goodness of the retailer's heart, but more because of the negotiations with the union representation of Wal-Mart's China workers. Can we compare Wal-Mart's stance on living wage increases to another country's workers?

South Korean consumer electronics behemoth LG Electronics Inc. saw an 84% rise in profit in its second quarter ended June 30. The electronics company reported a $694.8 million profit on strong sales of flat-panel televisions and wireless handsets. That figure was an 84% increase over the year-ago quarter.

In what seems like a copycat model of larger rival Samsung Electronics' success, LG is now making more and more flat-panel television sets for off-brand and private-label customers as well as selling some very svelte and design-focused 3G handsets used by wireless carriers worldwide.

The electronics company warned, however, about its third quarter results, downplaying it as attributable to a global economic downturn. According to reports, analysts speculated that the company's results have peaked this year as its business momentum would weaken in future quarters.

LG continued to make huge strides in the global wireless handset market, overtaking rival Sony Ericsson as the world's fourth-largest in the second quarter. Sony Ericsson, which had a disappointing quarter, is finding it harder to sell its mid- to high-end handsets, as sales of entry-level handsets continue to be the market for sell-in. Sony Ericsson's entry-level product portfolio is extremely weak. On the flip side, LG said that it plans to sell 100 million handsets this year alone, compared with just over 80 million in 2007.

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a juggernaut that just won't stop being successful. Although sales of its iPod digital music players have waned a bit in recent memory, the company is selling boatloads of its newer iPhone 3G, which are also iPods in case you have forgotten. But one area that just won't get as much mainstream press is the incredible success Apple is having getting more customers to buy its computers.

Apple moved into the third spot in the U.S. in PC sales recently -- overtaking Taiwan's Acer -- and now is the world's sixth-largest seller of computers in addition to the third place ranking in the U.S. For Apple to make these kinds of strides among the commodity companies that all pretty much sell the same product with Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows Vista operating system is quite the achievement. And remember, on all those new Apple machines comes Microsoft's main consumer nemesis -- the Apple Mac operating system (also enjoying leaps in market share).

If Apple CEO Steve Jobs planned on the iPod and iPhone causing so much market stir that it would actually lead to more Mac PC sales, he was right. Apple has never had the market share it has now and it's done nothing but grow for over a year now. IDC analyst Loren Loverde told CNET, "They've got great products and they are executing well ... they are benefiting from the excitement and press over their other products." That quote describes the halo effect Apple continues to have right now which is benefiting more areas of its business than just the iPod/iPhone universe. Jobs:1, Microsoft:0. For now, at least.

2008 will be the year that both General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) went down in recent history as the complete sandbags those companies have really become. Both are losing money hand over fist (save for Ford's most recent profit surprise), and are struggling with trying to provide vehicles customers actually want to buy -- as distinct from vehicles they were projecting to produce.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner said recently that a GM bankruptcy won't be coming, although the automaker then announced it would be laying off even more workers as it digs and scratches its way to some type of profitability. A question then came up in the market again: would a foreign auto company be willing to take a stake in either American icon? How about those up-and-coming Chinese automakers who are cranking out fuel-efficient cars by the boatload and could be seen as very eager to enter the U.S. market?

Not so fast -- according to The New York Times, Chinese automakers are not interested. Not interested in equity stakes or even buying asset pieces from either American automaker. GM's recent sale notice for its struggling Hummer division and Ford's recent sale of Volvo didn't even register on the radars of Chinese auto companies, according to the report.

It's hard to see any company buying Hummer (except a military contractor) with global fuel prices where they are, but Volvo would be a neat catch for a company wanting to expand beyond a single global region. Ford doesn't have a buyer yet, but a deal could be announced any day now. Still, Chinese automakers may be smarter than to partner with or buy into two currently dead weights in the vehicle business. There are plenty of other global auto partners besides GM and Ford.

After seeing the above advertisement at the website of Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), I can see why the Samsung Instinct has become Sprint's hottest-selling phone with 3G capability ever in just over a month on the market. Sprint has sure pulled out all the stops to ensure its would-be customers that this phone is every bit as capable as the vaunted iPhone 3G. In fact, you feel like you are watching a movie by visiting www.sprint.com and seeing the entire Samsung Instinct advertisement -- complete with helicopters and a Batman-esque feel.

But, what's significant about Sprint's online marketing campaign for the Instinct is the integration with Google, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube. Notice the red callout in the above picture. Samsung Instinct owners are being encouraged to shoot a home movie that includes shots of the Instinct handset. If you do that and then notify Sprint, the company will pay you $20.

This is an interesting marketing angle, and it's one I've never seen before. Is this the kind of advertising we'll see from companies in the future? Sprint will be throwing out $20 bills to anyone who creates a viral video on YouTube with their product prominently featured. I suppose that's cheaper than national TV airtime and probably will reach the intended audience for the Instinct handset as effectively as possible (the YouTube generation). I have to give Sprint some credit here -- this is a great marketing idea and plan and will help it compete with the iPhone 3G.