I have been telling my wife for a few years now that the economy will go to shit we keep on the same path. She expressed the sentiment that I was being pessimistic, saying I'm too negative. I told her that the first thing to go, and a good indicator that we are in dire straights, will be the demise of the $5 coffee.

A headline in the WSJ today reads, that Starbucks "retaught baristas how to make espresso shots, steam milk and hand drinks to customers while it shut down nearly 7,100 stores in the U.S. on Tuesday evening."

I hope this isn't just the beginning.....