I have an Alignment Problem

[RightontheMarc]

I recently replaced my tie rod outer ends on both sides of the car. I then went to get an alignment. The guy at the alignment shop told me that front wheel drive cars are supposed to have a slight pigeon toed angle on the front wheels. After getting the alignment the car pulled to the left on the highway so I took it back in. The guy said I needed new tires. It seemed like I had eyeballed the toein better. So I bought some Yokohama Avid H4Ss off of tirerack and had them mounted. I didn't know they were directional tires when I bought them. After the tires the left wander got even worse. So with the new tires I took them back to the alignment shop. The guy insisted my alignment was spot on but I asked how could it be if it pulls to the left. So after being as polite as I could and getting some static from them I was able to get them to adjust it slightly to the right. This improved things but didn't fix the problem.

My question: is it true that front wheel drives still require a slight pigeon toe with the alignment? Are the new tires and/or poor wheel alignment hurting my gas mileage?