Barack Obama recently stated that anyone that is claiming that America's economy is in decline is "peddling fiction".  Well, if the economy is in such great shape, why are major retailers shutting down hundreds of stores all over the country?  Last month, I wrote about the "retail apocalypse" that is sweeping the nation, but since then it has gotten even worse.  Closing stores has become the "hot new trend" in the retail world, and "space available" signs are going up in mall windows all over the United States.  Barack Obama can continue huffing and puffing about how well the middle class is doing all he wants, but the truth is that the cold, hard numbers that retailers are reporting tell an entirely different story.

Earlier today, Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert released a letter to shareholders that was filled with all kinds of bad news.  In this letter, he blamed the horrible results that Sears has been experiencing lately on "tectonic shifts" in consumer spending…