Here we go, folks. It's that time again -- time for Wal-Mart to hold its annual shareholders meeting down the street from its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. BloggingStocks is here live at the University of Arkansas (Bud Walton Arena) to see just what one of these shareholder meetings is all about. Last year, I liveblogged the meeting and heard a year's worth of cheers and chants from Wal-Mart associates in the audience. What's it like to be here in person? You're soon to find out. Until then, here's your opening trinket: Wal-Mart's slogan for this annual shareholder's meeting is:

Saving people money so they can live better

I'll dissect that particular slogan another day. Anyway, it's about 6:45am CST and the meeting begins in 15 minutes. While most of the U.S. West Coast sleeps, you readers on the East Coast should be arriving to work about now. With so much to see today, I'll hold back on the facts and figures (that's been covered ad infinitum here at BloggingStocks recently) from Wal-Mart's recent year and we'll just delve right into what promises to be a "journey" -- if that's even the right word to describe what's about to happen. All times below are in CST.

6:45am -- Until the meeting begins, here are the buses bringing hordes of shareholders and media to the Bud Walton Arena for the beginning of this event. It's about to rain heavily here in Fayetteville (ehh), but with everyone inside, it's all good.



6:58pm -- the shareholder meeting is about to begin. Standing by for the start. Meanwhile, U2's "Vertigo" is blasting from the inside of the arena. How very appropriate at 7:00am on a Friday morning.

7:01am -- well, we are still waiting to get underway here. The Wal-Mart "associate" audience is going nuts a bit and the music is still pumping quite loud. Here is the "red" section. There appear to be a few thousand associates here (if not more). UPDATE: there are 15,000 Wal-Mart associates here today, with 5,000 of those from global Wal-Mart locations. Yowza!



And, the slogan of this year's annual shareholder meeting is:



7:06am -- still waiting on the meeting to start. It's getting quiet, but still things are on pause. Wait, there are a few loudspeaker announcements going on here. We may be underway!

7:11am -- Ok, well, I only thought the meeting was underway. At this time, there are entertainers on pogo sticks jumping all over the stage. Ahh, the entertainment is still underway. It's not exactly a circus (in a manner of speaking), but it's close. No pun intended.



7:14am -- The comedian Sinbad is now on stage doing a little stand-up. Hey, the guy is clean and this is probably the image Wal-Mart wants to bestow on the press and associate audience here. Good call. And no, the "real" meeting has not yet started. Perhaps at 8:00am or hopefully before.

7:18am -- well, the audio is dead in the press room and the external webcast is not working at all, so there are some technical difficulties going on here. Wal-Mart personnel are walking (running) around frantically, probably trying to solve these glitches. On we go to the floor to get some live listening I guess.

7:28am -- there is a sentimental segment going on right now regarding Wal-Mart associated. It appears the company searched for a great voice from within the associate community to sing The Star Spangled Banner. The associate was flown in from his New York home and is now singing the national anthem (very well, I may add). This is not Wal-Mart's American Idol, though. this guy is great.

7:32am -- some more promotional stuff is going on here. The audio is working and the webcast is still down. We're 50% there, folks. The audience has quieted down completely and a pre-recorded video segment is up with a little emotional impact. Make that a lot.

7:34am -- there is a Chinese demonstration going on that represents Wal-Mart's China locations, but it quickly transitions to a Mexican fiesta demonstration. I think Wal-Mart is going around the world here demonstrating country cultures where the company has locations.

7:40am -- these global demonstrations are still going full strength. Impressive display here, but a tad long in the tooth. Here is an associate from London, England showing his pride at the global culture demonstration.



7:43am -- the "WAL*MART" cheer is going on with the associates being loud and proud in their screaming responses. A Wal-Mart international VP enters the main stage to apparently go over Wal-Mart's international prowess.



7:45am -- with the bevy of international Wal-Mart associates being recognized right now, so far, most of this initial foray has been all about the associates. It's not hard to see that Wal-Mart is making its associates a main focus before the actual meeting begins. Associates from every country where Wal-Mart has locations are now being singled out and recognized.

7:46am -- Wal-Mart associates from China (Trust-Mart) and India are being singled out and recognized. Interesting that these folks are being recognized as "associates" where the Trust-Mart partnership comes into play. Why? Because Wal-Mart *acquired* half of the company. Partnership or buying its way into China quickly and easily? The latter.



7:50am -- Eduardo Castro-Wright, head of Wal-Mart's U.S. operations, comes on stage for a few moments to give a short, 45-second speech. Man, that was brief!






7:52am -- Sinbad is back on stage riffing a few routines interwoven with Wal-Mart. Not bad material, but not than unexpected, right? The University of Arkansas spirit squad is playing a "little ditty" (pre-recorded). I'm quite sure this is a little goofy (since it's not live), but I digress. Now, members of the the real spirit squad (cast members of "HIgh School Musical" takes the stage live with a few self-plugging promotions. Ehh -- hopefully the meat of the meeting will start soon. I wonder if shareholders are bing softened up by this spectacle? Ahh -- therein lies the strategy here.



7:59am -- Wal-Mart chairman of the board Rob Walton takes stage. He intros himself and that this is the 32nd shareholder meeting for the company. He's talking about some international countries he was recently in. He welcomes everyone from the Wal-Mart executives as well as from the Walton Family. He asks the entire Walton family to stand up in the audience. Rob is now talking about Helen Walton not being in attendance (Ms. Walton passed away a few months back). A video tribute is now going on to go over Helen's life.

8:05am -- a pretty in-depth retrospective on Helen Walton continues. The amount of history from Helen's background in Claremore, Oklahoma to being side-by-side with Sam Walton for so many years is being displayed here with the utmost tact.

8:10am -- Ack -- the external webcast still appears to be down. If you're trying to access it with no luck, you are not alone.

8:12am -- Rob Walton is talking about the $4 prescription drug program, and how Wal-Mart has filled over 56 million of these prescriptions since the program was started in the second half of 2006.

8:15am -- Mr. Walton is now talking about a better quality of life for the farmer customers in the U.S. and China which allows the retailer to treat its partners as to allow them to provide a good quality of life for their families.

8:18am -- Rob Walton gives some credit to CEO Lee Scott and explains that Wal-Mart executive leadership and the Walton family have ultimate confidence in his abilities to lead the company and to grow it to new heights.

8:20am -- Sinbad is back on stage riffing with the audience, joking that is is part of the Walton Family. He'd be one of the richest people on earth if his wish cam true, heh.

8:22am -- Sinbad hands the reigns over to (name clouded by clapping), as she begins to tell the story of why Wal-Mart is such a great place to work. She says that 75% of current Wal-Mart management worked their way up form the bottom to where they are today. In addition, there are 20,000 associates around the company who have been around for more than 20 years. A video segment starts that begins to tell of how successful many associates have been in long careers at the retailer.



8:43am -- there are quite a few stories going on regarding how many associated run their lives within Wal-Mart and what contributions they make outside of work. In other words, Wal-Mart is showcasing the talents of many associates. Wal-Mart's Diversity SVP is introducing each story one by one.



8:47am -- Chris Gardner, the man whose life was chronicled in the film "The Pursuit of Happyness," is now on stage giving a quick thanks to the retailer for giving people a chance to make something of themselves -- just like he did over 25 years ago as as single father struggling to make a living.



8:50am -- Wal-Mart is prompting many diverse associates to take the stage and share their stories of courage and enlightenment. There are quite a few global associates going through their personal stories here.

8:59am -- well, almost two hours now and we're going on to what many of the shareholders are here for -- what the Wal-Mart executive management will do in the face of the business part of the meeting. Here we go -- Rob Walton takes the stage and the business portion is about to begin.

9:02am -- Walton is talking about the voting process and is asking if any shareholders need to actually vote or change their votes on the various issues up behind the retailer. There are 13 issues to vote on today, with the first two being the election of directors and the confirmation of Ernst and Young as the auditor of record. In addition, there are 11 shareholder proposals, although Walton and other board members won't be responding formally to these shareholder proposals in the interest of time.

9:06am -- Walton is introducing all board members of Wal-Mart at this time along with the lone new board member -- a former J.C. Penney executive and lifelong retailer.

9:10am -- Rob Walton has completed introducing the current board of directors and a vote on the election of all of them is about to begin. Walton also intros Ernst & Young as the accountants of record, and that they have been with Wal-Mart since the company went public in 1970.

9:12am -- the first shareholder proposal regards certain charitable contributions (and why they have increased). This proposal states the facts about WMT shares being quite a bit lower from 2000 to 2007 while TGT (Target Corp.) shares are up quite a bit in the same period. This proposal references that CEO Lee Scott and the board has bent over backwards to embrace liberal principles while shareholders have effectively been stiffed as investors. The person giving the proposal's discussion is quite animated here, as he believes Wal-mart is being to "PC" and now doing enough to ensure its prices remain low for customers. Interesting...

9:14am -- the second shareholder proposal starts up. It concerns institutional shareholders (17 groups) and the effect Wal-Mart is having on health care -- costs for employees and the effect on shareholder returns. Less than 50% of associates are covered by Wal-Mart, while 90% of associates have insurance (see the gap?).

9:16am -- the third shareholder proposal starts. This proposal concerns long-term corporate value is being more and more disconnected from the rising executive compensation packages that senior Wal-Mart executives have seen recently. In other words, this proposal is effectively a "pay for performance" proposal that suggests a specific and detailed compensation strategy based on peer comparisons among other things. Are Wal-Mart execs taking home way too much compensation as performance has suffered?

9:20am -- the fourth proposal: this one deals with how wealth is distributed among all Wal-Mart associates and executives, and that there is a great inequity that exists right now as well as a minority inequity in the distribution of Wal-Mart's hourly/salary base. I remember this exact same proposal from last year's meeting. My guess? Wal-Mart's board will -- again -- send this one down the river.

9:22am -- the next proposal will deal with compensation inequity (again!). This proposal is dealing with the compensation gap that exists between executives and regular associates. Also, more compensation should be "shared" from within the company. More pay and "excellent" health benefits are brought up as a way to equalize overall compensation, as Wal-Mart's CEO had a total compensation package that equaled 600 times the average of the normal Wal-Mart associate.

9:25am -- the next proposal comes up to bat: this one will deal with improving the business environment so that sales can grow at Wal-Mart and assist shareholder returns. Wal-Mart has two foes: the competition and ideological who want to control the company like they do GM and Ford (umm, unions anyone). This shareholder proposal is strongly in favor of Wal-Mart here, and bashes liberal causes that "seek to destroy" Wal-Mart any chance it can. This proposal attacks liberal and anti-capitalism cases deftly.

9:28am -- the next proposal is up: oh no -- another proposal on executive compensation that deals with the five most senior executives. This proposal doesn't bind Wal-Mart's board to anything, but would give a better (hence: existing) dialog to the board and shareholders.This is a good proposal for the overall advocacy of better communication between those that own part of the company (shareholders) and the board (again, "pay for performance").

9:32am -- the next proposal: this one deals with how Wal-Mart contributes to certain political causes and seeks more transparency in this area. Heh -- this was to be expected.

9:35am -- the next proposal deals with "cummulative voting" where shareholders can vote with as many shares as they hold multiplied by the number of directors to be elected.

9:37am -- the last shareholder proposal deals with "rubber-stamping flunkies" that current directors appear to be (this presenter seemed quite pissed). In other words, this proposal is talking about the "good old boy network" that is actually "legal, financial thievery" according to the proposal presenter. This proposal deals with the selection of directors turning from CEOs and people who don't even own a single share of WMT to directors who own "quite a bit" of WMT stock ($5 million, to be exact), which would increase fiduciary duties in a huge way. Rob Walton has to interrupt this proposal since the presenter is attempting to go way over his time limit.



9:40am -- ok -- before the proposal voting begins, recent American Idol winner Jordin Sparks takes the stage to sing a song or two. Ahh -- the lullaby before the all-important votes.

9:50am -- Sinbad is back on stage with some cute antics. He almost is on the border of insulting some of the Wal-Mart execs sitting in the pit right in front of the stage.



9:55am -- Wal-Mart CFO Tom Schoewe is on stage going over some general financial specifics on the growth of the company being at the $36 billion level over the last year. That's all well and good Tom, but has profit growth stood at the same pace? How about stock price growth? These are the things that prudent investors are interested in as well. Tom is going over a 10-year historical presentation on earnings per share and stock growth. It's not all that bad -- but different than the 5-year picture, eh?

10:05am -- CFO Schoewe is still talking on stage on growth issues for the company as well as glossing over a few other financial details. The Streeters in attendance are paying attention in vivid fashion.

10:10am -- Schoewe exits the stage and CEO Lee Scott enters the stage to take over. Scott says that he is the last speaker (heh, really?) and that the audience should give a round of applause to all those that helped put this entire event together.

10:15am -- Scott is going over certain pleasantries and is telling a story about one of Wal-Mart's biggest associates who worked her way from the bottom to become one of Wal-Mart's most successful advocates who resides and works in Chicago's west side (yes, a very rough area). We're about to the voting (I think).

10:30am -- Scott it talking all the positives of Wal-Mart, including the retailer's ascension to the top of the Fortune 500 list as the world's largest company. Customer count was up 15% in the last quarter at Wal-Mart Mexico (wish that was the U.S.). Scott is going over the sales figures for Wal-Mart locations all over the world. Interestingly, very little mention of the U.S. is happening here.

10:34am -- Scott is going over the detail of how Wal-Mart associates are contributing to the world through charitable giving as well as what the company itself is doing to give back to the world. Scott has mentioned that Wal-Mart's constant attacks by special interest groups have not dampened the impact of Wal-Mart's increasing reputation in the U.S.

10:40am -- Scott is talking about how Wal-Mart will be improving the customer experience (especially around the "checkout") so that these improvements will bring more customers into Wal-Mart stores. He mentions that adding Verizon Wireless to its electronics section last year gave the retailer the position of being the largest seller of mobile phones in the entire U.S. Scott is also talking about how many flat-panel TVs the retailer has sold as well as the coming sales fo Skype and Dell products to the mix in Wal-Mart's electronics areas.

10:45am -- Scott is talking about how entering "untapped" markets like Russia and India will make the international operations of the retailer even ore significant in the years to come. Scott also talks about the performance of the Sam's Club division and how good Doug McMillon is doing. Scott mentions that Sam's Club and the international divisions of Wal-Mart now make up 1/3 of overall Wal-Mart sales. Scott wraps up his comments talking about how Wal-Mart touches people's lives and "saving them money so they can live better." Scott leaves the stage. We're almost to the wrap-up point as Rob Walton comes back up.

10:50am -- here are the preliminary results: proposals 1 and 2 have been ratified. Additionally, all 11 shareholder proposals were defeated (by various ratios), something that was not surprising at all.

10:55am -- that's it -- the shareholder meeting is over in terms of its business presentation. An overall wrap-up post will be coming soon to highlight all the detail here. Until then, have a great weekend!