Sears, Kmart Expand In-Store Pickup

The CEO of Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) U.S. Bill Simon says the nation’s stronger job market is not translating into more customer spending at Walmart stores.

In an interview with Reuters, Simon also says the U.S. economy is not getting any better or worse for Walmart’s core customers. Last week, the government said 288,000 jobs were added in June, and the unemployment rate fell to a six-year low.

Investors are now focusing on earnings season. It kicks off after Tuesday’s closing bell with Alcoa (NYSE:AA).  Investors will be watching Alcoa’s outlook for the global aerospace industry and aluminum demand. There’s been concern about weak aluminum prices.  Alcoa shares have been anything but weak, up 40% this year.

Sears and Kmart, which are both controlled by Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD), are expanding their free in-store pickup program for orders placed online. So if you place your order at Sears.com, you can pick it up at a physical Kmart store, and vice versa.

And did you hear what the CEO of Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) said?  Larry Page thinks Google robots will make life easier by meeting our basic needs, so we can work less and therefore have more time to be happy. He was speaking in a rare interview with fellow billionaire Vinod Khosla.