Sears and Kmart spin a golden oldie and bring back the Christmas Club

Here's one more sign that retailers are still not singing out of the same recovery songbook as the federal government: Sears and Kmart are starting Christmas Clubs to lock in some holiday shoppers now.

You remember Christmas Clubs (if you're of a certain age): the passbook accounts you used to have in your local bank to save for the holidays...when you had a local bank, that is. Today, the retailers would rather have shoppers save now for the holidays than charge ahead, and then not pay what they owe later.