That explains that

Another blinding glimpse of the obvious was revealed yesterday, although I have to admit that it wasn't even on my radar screen as a possibility. I was both thrilled and a bit shocked that Costco was able to get a significant amount of Waterford crystal for the holidays. Costco has benefitted from the desperately bleak retail landscape for over a year now, as suppliers that hadn't considered them worthy of carrying their goods before suddenly saw them as a fabulous distribution mechanism. This has happened in previous recessions, so it wasn't too much of a shock.

But this time around, Costco's ability to get goods might have a bit more of a predictive value. The first sign of a crack at Crocs? Thousands of pairs of the popular yet distinctly unfashionable shoes showing up at Costco warehouses. Now, we hear about the bankruptcy of Waterford.

Geez, add to this a couple of financially-based suicides, and people might actually get the idea that the world-wide economy is a bit under the weather or something.