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Wal-Mart (WMT) CEO Sees 'Serious' U.S. Inflation Ahead

March 31, 2011 11:20 AM EDT
Wal-Mart's (NYSE: WMT) U.S. CEO Bill Simon gets paid tons of money, and has some of the most intelligent people working for him, in order to analyze market conditions and economic possibilities globally, allowing Wal-Mart the foresight to adjust pricing, shipments, etc., to meet those changes head-on. So what does Simon think about the potential for U.S. inflation?

It's "going to be serious."

In an interview with USA Today's editorial board, Simon said "[Wal-Mart is] seeing cost increases starting to come through at a pretty rapid rate."

Simon added that Wal-Mart is currently working with suppliers and believes its low-cost business model will be a boon for the company moving forward. He believes that Wal-Mart will be able to use its scale to keep prices lower longer, which will translate to having the lowest prices in the market.

U.S. consumer prices increased 0.5% in February, the steepest increase since mid-2009. Surging food and fuel prices helped to lead the charge. Excluding those metircs, inflation was 0.2%, still ahead of consensus estimates.

Wal-Mart stock is trading 0.6% midday.


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