CHANGE: You know the economy is in bad shape when customers can’t afford to shop at dollar stores anymore. “Chalk it up as one more sign of weakness in consumer spending. Wal-Mart visits are down 3 percent, with some customers complaining that prices are too high there.”

Related: Consumer Credit Card Balances Surge. “Across the board, prices are rising.”

More: “Are Americans hoarding cash and taking out more consumer loans while boosting their credit card balances? There’s no good explanation for why this might be happening.” If you expect economic disaster, running up your credit card balances while hoarding cash might make sense.

UPDATE: A reader emails: “Regarding David Inviglio’s contention that there is no explanation for why Americans would be running up credit while hoarding cash, I can offer one: negative real interest rates on some consumer credit. I have a significant amount of debt I’m carrying, and I have enough cash and liquid investments on hand to wipe it out right now. Why don’t I do that? Because the debt is at zero interest. With inflation getting in gear, why should I pay it off now when Ben Bernanke is devaluing it for me? So long as I’m working (knock on wood), real carrying costs remain negative, and my investments beat 5% (and they do) there’s no reason why I would do otherwise. Economic disaster doesn’t factor into my calculations, simply because my credit score would be the least of my worries by that point.”