As U.S. equity markets continue their march back toward all-time highs, courtesy of the latest BTFD binge trade, at least one ‘small’ segment of the U.S. economy does not seem to be participating in the rally as 9 brick-and-mortar retailers have already filed for bankruptcy protection in 1Q 2017 alone. That volume of filings matches the total number of retail bankruptcies for all of 2016 and puts the industry on pace to exceed even the ‘great recession’ highs. Per CNBC: