Bolling: Buy WMT, BJ and COST in Bulk

It was my wife's birthday, and we were going to celebrate by going out to a nice dinner. We had planned on a steakhouse we both love. Then I got word that my pal Cody Willard was going to have to miss the taping of his show Happy Hour.

Being that I have spent my share of time in various bars and restaurants, I seem to be the logical choice to sit in for him. I have co-hosted that show with the lovely and very talented Rebecca Gomez in the past but never did it rock like it did Wednesday night.

We had an amazing guest list including Billionaire real estate developer and media mogul Mort Zuckerman, John McCain's senior economic advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin and last but not least Geraldo talking about the "scumbag" hedge fund manager who may have faked his own suicide to avoid a 20-year prison term. As a host, I couldn't ask for more.

There was a common theme that ran through the show: the sense that the economy is not yet ready to make a solid turn for the better. Mort Zuckerman told me that he thought housing and house prices are not yet ready to firm. He would not put a time frame on when the housing sector may rebound even though I pressed him on it three times. He is that good.

Mort also postulated that the U.S. consumer will feel the pinch or sting or bloodbath of weaker home values as he tries to borrow against a sliding equity balance in their home. That may signal tough times ahead for the consumer, who, as of today, was showing no signs of relenting yet. I heard it on the radio again Thursday: "the U.S. consumer refuses to die."