The piggie banks of the chancers in the City and the American Congress may be rattling on empty, but the shoppers in Walthamstow High Street this morning did not look like they were going broke. The banks were packed, but not with people pulling their money out in a panic. It was business as normal. The cash was still flowing in the market, where the crowds seemed as if they were Shopping for England. Retail businesses going bust? Confidence shot? Its difficult to say that's the case yet round here, at least on today's evidence. There was a new clothes shop having its first day, a new supermarket in the last stages of fitting out, and the work on Bunters Grill and Orientex's new restaurant was progressing around their loyal customers who continue to patronize them. The legitimate part of the High Street economy could even be described as having had a buzz today.

Competition for the holy grail of the retail economy, the cash sales which will clear or keep the business overdrafts down and cashflow projections healthy, is, nonetheless, intense. A trip down the High Street this morning revealed sales in everything from books (15% off even on religious tracts at Darussalam Books) to clothing - 75% off on some items at Blue Inc; half price offers at BHS, Fashion Fair, Bonmarche, Top City, French Kiss, Children's Empire and Cover Up. Other less specific reductions are being marked up at G02 Mens Collection, Opal, Minx, Style Overdose and Rumours. Footwear sales are being advertised at Cassino Shoes, Tower Boots and Trust Shoes. Dressmakers can get cloth from 50p a meter at the sale being advertised at P.C.E. Fabric Store.

Ugly household items are going for up to 75% off at 7 Stars and the dodgy shop at the corner of Truro Road is also having a sale. (It may or may not be trading as Glamour UK Ltd and has yet another 'shop to let' sign in the window, pretending it is closing down). Home Sweet Home has a sale, as does Beaumont Beds (Up to 50% off) and Pure Life. Linens Direct also has a sale.

Children's toys are enjoying a half price sale in Woolworths (but not much else - they are betting on still being around to cash in on Christmas). Items for the bigger boys who hang out at Eastman Army Camp are on sale as well as supplies for the jobs they're avoiding on the gently devaluing local houses at nearby DIY London.

What are we to make of all this? Desperate measures by all these traders or a sensible and normal reaction to which the consumer is also making a vigorous response, disgorging the cash which will oil the wheels of credit and get the retail economy through all this? As with the 'rescue package' for the bankers being brokered over the pond, its possibly too early to tell.