By Jeff Macke, Minyanville

"Those who forget the past are destined to remember" - Eddie Vedder

The wierd thing about Wal-Mart (WMT) blaming 1.8% SSS last month on the absence of an '06 Killer Hurricaine, I mean beyond WMT implicitly pining for more sales-driving human misery, is that it assumes no one can remember WMT results from 2005.  To paraphrase Mr. Vedder, who was ripping off Santayana, "those who cannot remember have the option of reading the Retail Round-Up archives".  Minyans clicking HERE will see that Wal-Mart only posted a 3.8% SSS gain a year ago.

In the interest of being extra helpful to both Wal-Mart and those taking their excuses at face value I'll add that Wal-Mart forgot to mention the fact that gas prices have fallen some 25-odd-percent in the last 12 months.  Who says gas prices directly impact Wal-Mart sales, you ask?  Wal-Mart themselves, actually.

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