Wal-Mart report shows middle America is still reluctant to spend

Wal-Mart made money this quarter, surprising the people on Wall Street who pay attention to these things and leading a lot of people to wonder if things really are getting better for Main Street America. Sadly, the answer seems to be no. Or so say the numbers.

Although Wal-Mart's bottom line benefited from an extra $100 million, a 2% increase from the second quarter last year, most of that profit came from stores outside the U.S. More than half of Wal-Mart's expansion was done beyond our borders too, largely in developing countries like China and Mexico, places that are recovering from the global recession a lot quicker than the U.S. or Europe.

"The slow economic recovery will continue to affect our customers, and we expect they will remain cautious about spending," said Mike Duke, president and CEO of Wal-Mart. "Our international business continues to be an impressive growth engine."