12:39pm: Tom says 'drive sales' through "ticket" and "traffic". Another zinger -- "make sure we have the "right product" for each customer. Um, quite a hefty goal.

12:42pm: Tom says that WMT needs to build on top of "price and value" to spur growth. Pretty standard stuff -- nothing to see here. We need meat, Tom -- throw us a bone.

12:45pm: Tom mentions the Plano, Texas prototype, upper-end upscale store. Tom says WMT is meeting the needs of the Plano customer with that store -- they're not "expanding" into higher-end goods everywhere.

12:49pm: 60 million new retail square feet -- that's the plan. Ok, we hear ya' -- how is WMT going to take advantage of all that new growth space? Marketing, remodeling. Got it. "Meet the needs of that demanding customer", says Tom. Sounds like a plan. But, how? Make everything available and (again), meet the needs of the customer -- and stop cluttering store floors (love that one). Blah. Give us more specifics.

12:55pm: Tom's talking about the internal logistics network -- and WMT is not resting on its laurels here. WMT plans to "remix the network" (that's not a techno beat, but a retail back-end strategy) and ensure product availability (customer responsiveness) is at the top of the process food chain. I like what I hear, here. Tom also mentions that WMT wants inventory growth to grow at half (or less) of the sales growth rate. Great goal -- now, make it happen, I say. Tom says not to use the "riser" for inventory storage; that is, unless you're seven feet tall and can reach it.

1:00pm: Tom is talking about WMT's RFID rollout (Radio Frequency Identification) on cases and pallets in its inventory infrastructure (in stores and in distribution centers). Tom's also talking about WMT having 1,000 stores, DCs and Sam's Clubs being live at the end of 2006.

1:04pm: Tom's talking about "organic cotton" being used in WMT's clothing soon. Well, that's a mighty whole goal -- is there enough organic cotton in the universe to feed all the Wal-Mart clothing shoppers? Hope so. Tom's also covering the "non-idling" of all those WMT trucks transversing the roads of the U.S., cutting the Co2 emissions by 100,000 metric tons. I have to like this...I mean, love this.

1:06pm: Tom's wrapping up the webcast with a Q&A from the audience. Not too bad, all things considered. Too little specifics on operations (except RFID) and growth plans (beyond the standard fare) and many details on new initiatives, like environmental concerns. Tom closes with ROIC discussions -- WMT should have return on invested capital in 2006 of roughly 14.5%.

1:15pm: Webcast ends -- and as a bonus (yes, you win!) here is a link to the PDF file of the entire presentation Tom just gave. Wow -- the webcast started late and finished early -- that's a first!

1:16pm: G'day all! If you want to listen to the webcast, it should be archived for a few weeks here.