Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has been keen on international expansion in the last 18 months or so, with its exit from some unprofitable markets and entrances into more promising ones. In recent developments, the world's largest retailer has opened an office in Moscow, Russia, amid efforts to take advantage of another significant non-U.S. opportunity for growth.Not only that, but Wal-Mart has joined the Russian Association of Retail Companies, one of the larger trade groups in that country. Wal-Mart still has not released a public timeline regarding actually opening stores in Russia, nor has it released what kind of strategy it will have there. Although it may seem like the retailer is just getting its feet wet in another international market, it will move swiftly once it decides where it wants to go. Expect that decision sometime before the summer of 2009.
Wal-Mart's share price, which today hovers near the $48.18 mark, has not taken a beating in recent market downward trends at all. In fact, it has stayed pretty normal considering it is operating the largest retail presence on the planet, with a global economy in upheaval and the U.S. transforming its economic model to a pseudo-socialistic one in many industries. The population can't stop eating or buying clothes, though. As a result, Wal-Mart keeps benefiting and bringing its retail flair to other countries won't hurt a bit.
Although I 
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