Welcome everyone to the CNBC special battle for the consumer.

I'm Courtney Reagan.

Jim Kramer is off tonight.

You know the numbers.

The consumer drives two thirds of the American economy.

But inflation is stretching that dollar and making consumers pick sides tonight.

We've got every angle of the fight for your dollar covered as we look for investing

opportunity.

Ahead, the high end retailer or the low end.

Will wealthy shoppers keep spending or start trading down?

Plus two years of sitting at home buying stuff.

That was enough.

This summer many people getting back out there.

But with summer ending and back to school starting, will we cut back on travel again?

And Jim Kramer is going aisle by aisle giving you his take on all the action.

But first the market's closing out a down week.

Down, nearly 1% today, the S&P 500 slightly worse than Nasdaq.

Down 2% today breaking a four week winning streak.

And it's been a huge week focused on the American consumer.

What we're buying and where, what we aren't and why.

Walmart said its grocery sales are strong.

With higher income Americans making up most of the growth.

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