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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said last week that its US customers are spending more on discretionary items, as payroll taxes come down and gasoline prices fall. The world’s largest retailer is seeing customers treat themselves to items such as sporting goods and bedding, using the money they have, now that those costs have retreated, Wal-Mart U.S. CEO Eduardo Castro-Wright said. Wal-Mart USA also reported that it had a strong Easter, an important season for the US chain. The recent US economic stimulus package included lower withholding taxes for many Americans. At the same time, gasoline prices are more than 30 percent lower this year than last year, he said. Wal-Mart has attracted more customers in the recession as people look to save money on everyday items such as food and diapers.

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Officials says Obama set to lift US restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba. The Obama administration intends to allow Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money back to their families on the communist island nation, senior U.S. officials last Saturday.

President Barack Obama plans to announce the policy change before the Summit of the Americas April 17-19 in Trinidad and Tobago, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made. Although some restrictions have been eased temporarily in legislation Obama signed last month, lifting the bans would meet a pledge he made during the presidential campaign and could signal a new openness with Cuba.”The intent is to try to test the waters and see if we can get Cuba to move in another direction,” one official said. “One way of getting the regime to open up may be to let people travel, increase exchanges and get money flowing to the island.” There are growing calls in the US Congress to repeal restrictions on Cuba.

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At the end of Obama’s press conference following the Group of 20 Summit last Thursday, a large crowd of journalists did something journalists never do: they gave a politician a standing ovation.

In a week that began with a flurry of meetings between the US president and his counterparts from China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, Britain and others, and ends with Saturday’s NATO summit, the media’s uncharacteristic behavior might easily be forgotten. However, it will likely linger because it matched a sincere response over and above the supplication shown towards any occupant of the White House by the leaders of the G-20 countries.

The same cerebral and low-key approach used by President Obama in dealings with fellow leaders came out in often lengthy, but nuanced, answers to questions. “He actually answered the questions he was asked,” says one startled Asian reporter. President Obama he is being accorded high ratings from almost every quarter barring his conservative critics in the USA. In part, this comes because of the contrast Mr Obama strikes with the widely derided George W. Bush. Partly it has been prompted by the celebrity cult the new leader has generated in the US. But most of all, it is about Mr Obama’s unusual approach to foreigners. “I have come to listen, not to lecture,” he said several times this week.

Much of the time he appeared to mean it. The least expected endorsement came from Russia’s president Medvedev, who until he met President Obama had developed a taste for rubbing Americans the wrong way. But last Wednesday the Russian president unexpectedly invited him to visit this July, observing that Moscow’s warm weather that month would reflect the new warmth in US-Russian relations, Mr Medvedev said: “After this meeting, I am far more optimistic about the successful development of our relations and would like to thank President Obama for this opportunity.” Mark-to-Market Rule Gives More Clarity

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As the recession deepens, more Americans go fishin, from his wooden fishing shack on Lake Winnipesaukee’s thinning skin of ice, Mike MacDonald doesn’t need to think twice about why more Americans are going “fishin’” in the deepening U.S. recession. “This only costs $6 to get a bucket of bait and it will last the whole day,” he said, skinning a fish next to a hole drilled into the frozen New Hampshire lake. “Compare that to skiing — one day of skiing would cost $80 just for the lift ticket.” As Americans forgo expensive vacations, costly dinners and shopping mall splurges, many are opting instead for the quiet simplicity of fishing, according to the sport fishing industry and reports from bait shops and fishermen. From the icy north to fly-fishing streams in Texas, angling is on the rise. For families, it’s an inexpensive outing. Those with a knack for it can trim their grocery bills. And for newly unemployed, it’s something to do. “I’m seeing a lot more fishermen down here,” said John Miller, owner of Bob’s Sport & Tackle in Katonah, New York. “With the economy the way it is, people are getting laid off from work and don’t want to sit at home and do nothing. “The cheaper alternative,” he said, “is to go fishing.” Hard times have had this effect on Americans before. In the last U.S. recession, from 2001 to 2002, spending on fishing rods and reels rose 12 percent to $343 million, according to the National Sporting Goods Association, a trade body that measures how much people spend on sporting goods.

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American citizens have been skeptical of big government since George Washington’s time more than two centuries ago. The Big Q for President Barack Obama is whether that flinty view is softening given the USA’s deep problems. The US Voters who elected Mr. Obama, and now give him a 60 % approval rating are nervous and a climate of fear has spread over the land. More than 4MM people have lost their jobs, and retirement investments have been hammered. Millions of US citizens have no health insurance. Industry icons from carmakers to department stores are in danger of collapse. So, given the desperation of the times, are American citizens now willing to accept big government to the rescue? In some cases, yes, but the inherent skepticism lives on, experts say.”The public disposition has always been to be skeptical about big government,” said pollster Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. “But given the magnitude of the problems we face, my guess is they’re willing to try a bigger role for government than they would if we were living in normal times,” he said.

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Over the weekend US President Obama ordered the US Treasury on Saturday to implement tax cuts for 95% of Americans, fulfilling a campaign pledge he hopes will help jolt the economy out of recession. The tax cuts are part of a US $787B economic recovery plan passed by the Congress. The aim is to put more money in the pockets of Americans and stimulate the economy by increasing consumer spending.”I’m pleased to announce that this morning the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks, meaning that by April 1st , a typical family will begin taking home at least US$65 more every month,” Obama said in his radio address.

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