Think the recession has been tough on you? If you're in the housing sector, like Home Depot, this is the downturn's fourth year.
Stocks rallied Tuesday after Home Depot's results and forecast and a few bright spots in the day's housing market report gave investors a reason to dip back into the market after a two-session retreat.
A rolling rally has hit something of an impasse of late as investors have stopped rewarding 'less bad' news and are now looking for clearer signs of an economic recovery.
Investors may be looking to improved performance by home-improvement retailers as a barometer of the economy, but those results may say more about the retailers than about consumers.
Wherever the housing market goes, so too does Home Depot. The home improvement retailer's earnings have historically grown or struggled alongside home sales.
Home Depot, the No. 1 home improvement retailer, announced Monday that it is shutting down its high-end decor EXPO business and shrinking its support staff, with both moves resulting in a reduction of 7,000 jobs.
At a time when shoppers are forking over more money for everything from groceries to gas, The Home Depot Inc. is planning to put some prices temporarily in reverse
Home Depot reported a 24% decline in profit Tuesday amid ongoing weakness in the home improvement and housing markets, but still managed to top analysts' expectations.
Home Depot posted a 66% drop in quarterly profit Tuesday, as it paid to close stores and cut back on expansion plans amid the housing slump, although the results topped analysts' forecasts.
Rising food and gas prices are taking their toll on the American consumer. And many retailers, not surprisingly, are struggling as well.
Think the recession has been tough on you? If you're in the housing sector, like Home Depot, this is the downturn's fourth year.
Stocks rallied Tuesday after Home Depot's results and forecast and a few bright spots in the day's housing market report gave investors a reason to dip back into the market after a two-session retreat.
A rolling rally has hit something of an impasse of late as investors have stopped rewarding 'less bad' news and are now looking for clearer signs of an economic recovery.
Investors may be looking to improved performance by home-improvement retailers as a barometer of the economy, but those results may say more about the retailers than about consumers.
Wherever the housing market goes, so too does Home Depot. The home improvement retailer's earnings have historically grown or struggled alongside home sales.
Home Depot, the No. 1 home improvement retailer, announced Monday that it is shutting down its high-end decor EXPO business and shrinking its support staff, with both moves resulting in a reduction of 7,000 jobs.
At a time when shoppers are forking over more money for everything from groceries to gas, The Home Depot Inc. is planning to put some prices temporarily in reverse
Home Depot reported a 24% decline in profit Tuesday amid ongoing weakness in the home improvement and housing markets, but still managed to top analysts' expectations.
Home Depot posted a 66% drop in quarterly profit Tuesday, as it paid to close stores and cut back on expansion plans amid the housing slump, although the results topped analysts' forecasts.
Rising food and gas prices are taking their toll on the American consumer. And many retailers, not surprisingly, are struggling as well.
Cash registers at some of America's best-known merchants will also be thermometers in the coming week.
Dear FSB: I have a newly patented floor tile topped with carpet, turf, or cork. I want to sell it to Home Depot and other DIY companies, but the Home Depot on-line submittal got me an automated rejection, and there seems to be code for preferred suppliers. How do I get through?
Holiday figurines from Home Depot and potty training seats from RC2 were recalled Thursday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) due to lead paint. Coffee mugs from Starbucks were also recalled, due to a burn hazard.
Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement retailer, said Tuesday earnings fell in the latest quarter due to the continuing downturn in real estate and home building.
Home Depot on Monday revised its full-year guidance, saying it now expects annual profits to decline less than expected, citing completion of a tender offer and an extra selling week in the year.
Home Depot's CEO Frank Blake said Wednesday that the softness in the housing market and the subprime mortgage squeeze - twin problems that have badly hurt the No.1 home improvement retailer's business this year - will probably carry through much of 2008 as well.
Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. said Tuesday it expects to repurchase 289.6 million shares of stock at $37 per share, after reviewing the preliminary results of a tender offer to buy back stock.
Home Depot said on Tuesday that it would sell its wholesale supply business to buyout firms for $8.5 billion - nearly 18 percent less than previously agreed upon - as the U.S. housing slump and recent credit crunch forced renegotiation of the deal.
The trio of private-equity firms buying Home Depot's wholesale supply unit decided to stay with the deal, but they could have walked away from the negotiations - for a modest fee.
Home Depot Inc agreed to cut the price of its supply division sale to buyout firms by $1.8 billion as a housing market drop and a credit crunch forced all sides to renegotiate.
U.S. stocks are pointing to a weak open Monday after Home Depot agreed to cut the sales price of its wholesale supply unit, the latest sign that the credit crunch is hitting deals.
U.S. stocks retreated at Monday's open after Home Depot agreed to cut the sales price of its wholesale supply unit, the latest sign that the credit crunch is hitting deals.
Home Depot was close to taking $1.2 billion less for the sale of its wholesale distribution unit Thursday night, but the deal with three private-equity firms is still uncertain according to a published report citing people familiar with the matter.
A private equity-led buyout of home-improvement retailer Home Depot's wholesale supply division, due to close Thursday, could be in trouble because investment banks involved are reluctant to fund the transaction even at a lower price, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the negotiations.
Stocks struggled Wednesday afternoon, after a volatile morning session in which investors mulled ongoing fears about the credit and mortgage markets as well as upbeat economic news, including a mild reading on core inflation.
Stocks rose Wednesday morning, after a choppy start to the session, as worries about a potential credit crisis and the subprime mortgage market vied with upbeat economic news, including a tame reading on core inflation.
Top home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. reported a 15 percent decline in second-quarter profit Tuesday as sales fell short of expectations amid the softer U.S. housing market.
Stocks slumped for the fourth straight session Tuesday on fresh worries about the mortgage and credit markets and disappointing profit forecasts from retailers Home Depot and Wal-Mart Stores.
Stocks slumped Tuesday afternoon on a mix of worries about the mortgage market, a possible credit crunch and disappointing profit forecasts from Home Depot and Wal-Mart Stores.
The stock selloff accelerated Tuesday afternoon on worries about a possible credit crunch and disappointing profit forecasts from Home Depot and Wal-Mart Stores, sending the Dow industrials tumbling 200 points.
Stocks slid Tuesday afternoon as investors weighed revived worries about the mortgage market and a credit crunch, as well as disappointing profit forecasts from Home Depot and Wal-Mart Stores.
Stock pointed to a higher open Tuesday following a tame inflation reading at the wholesale level, despite profit warnings from Wal-Mart and Home Depot, two of the nation's largest retailers.
Home Depot said Thursday it was in talks with private equity buyers of its HD Supply unit about lowering the original purchase price of $10.3 billion.
Every business cycle has its symbols of excess. There was "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap, who personified the slash-and-burn mentality of the late 1990s. There was Jack Grubman, the onetime analyst who embodied Wall Street arrogance -- and avarice -- during the dotcom years.
Home Depot Inc said Wednesday it fired four merchandising associates over a violation of the retailer's ethical standards that it said was also under investigation by federal authorities.
Home improvement retailer Home Depot cut its 2007 profit outlook Tuesday, citing continued weakness in the home building market and the sales of its supply business.
Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. said it would sell its supply division to three private equity firms for $10.3 billion as it refocuses on its core retail business and it would repurchase $22.5 billion in stock.
Stocks fell Wednesday as rising Treasury yields outweighed lower oil prices and a $22.5 billion stock buyback plan by Home Depot.
Wall Street embraced a $22.5 billion stock buyback plan by Home Depot and dip in the price of oil, but major gauges remained mixed Tuesday as Treasury yields started to creep higher.
Home improvement retailer Home Depot Tuesday said it would repurchase $22.5 billion in stock and sell its supply division to three private equity firms for $10.3 billion as it refocuses on its core retail business.
Stocks moved marginally higher Wednesday as investors weighed mixed corporate earnings news, a $22.5 billion stock buyback plan from Home Depot and a report revealing a jump in U.S. oil inventories.
Home Depot Inc. has agreed to sell its supply division to three private equity firms, the company said Tuesday, in a $10.3 billion deal that unloads a business the home-improvement retailer's former chief executive worked to expand.
Home Depot (HD) ranks no. 17 on FORTUNE's list of America's largest corporations.
Although Home Depot's new chief executive Frank Blake apologized at the outset of the company's annual meeting Thursday, it wasn't enough to pacify some very irate shareholders still steaming about blunders made at last year's meeting by former chief Robert Nardelli.
When two of the nation's biggest retailers - Wal-Mart and Home Depot - deliver profit duds on the same day, some investors might start making bets against the entire retail sector.
Home improvement retailer Home Depot said early Wednesday that a recovery in the battered housing and homebuilding market is still as much as a year away, and warned that its sales and earnings will take a hit.
I recommended both Home Depot and Lowe's Companies in the January issue of Money magazine. Since then, both do-it-yourself retailers have reported earnings declines, and analysts expect results for the current year to be up only slightly - or even down.
Stocks edged lower Monday morning as investors eyed lower oil prices, a merger in the satellite radio industry and earnings from Dow retailers Wal-Mart Stores and Home Depot.
Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. posted a significant drop in quarterly profit Tuesday as the weak housing market depressed sales at its retail stores.
Stocks slipped Monday morning as investors considered lower oil prices, a pair of big mergers and earnings from Dow retailers Wal-Mart Stores and Home Depot.
The shortened trading week is expected to get off to a bumpy start Tuesday as investors focus on earnings from retailers Home Depot and Wal-Mart.
Customer satisfaction among American consumers for a wide range of goods and services reached an all-time high at the end of 2006, according to a survey of consumers published Tuesday.
After the buckets of ink - and oh, the buckets of money! - that have been spilled on the departure of former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli, you might think there would be nothing left to say. Wrong! While everyone (everyone but The Wall Street Journal editorial page, that is) may know that Nardelli's ouster may mark the height of well-deserved outrage about CEO pay, it may also mark the death of something else: earnings per share.
The stock market has gained about 15 percent over the past five months. As a result, shares of some of the top-performing companies now look expensive.
This week Carl Icahn announced that he'd scooped up a 1.9 percent stake in Motorola and threw the first salvos in a war of words designed to shake things up at the troubled cell phone maker. So far his latest investment has pushed Motorola shares higher, but is a 1.9 percent stake large enough to make a genuine difference in corporate governance?
The mind-boggling mishaps that took place in the executive - and hotel - suite.
Home Depot's new chief executive Frank Blake could receive up to $8.9 million in compensation this year, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Robert Nardelli's sudden exit as Home Depot's CEO is the biggest shocker since Carly Fiorina got booted out of Hewlett-Packard in 2005. At companies this huge - both have revenues of about $90 billion and are in the top 20 of the Fortune 500 - they like everything smooth and predictable, and hate sharp disruptions. So while there's a lot we don't yet know about this story, we know that something big and bad was going on.
Stocks surged Wednesday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to its highest point ever in a buoyant first trading day of 2007.
Stocks rallied Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average hitting a fresh record trading high on the first trading day of 2007.
Stocks surged Wednesday morning, starting off the first trading day of 2007 on upbeat note, as investors welcomed falling oil prices, lower Treasury yields and a management shakeup at Home Depot.
Robert Nardelli, the CEO of Home Depot who came under fire for the size of his pay package as well as his management style, stepped down and will leave the No. 1 home improvement retailer with a $210 million severance package, the company said Wednesday.
Home prices are falling, and economists are worried about a possible drop-off in consumer spending. So it's hardly surprising that the stocks of home improvement retailers are particularly depresse...
Stocks opened higher Thursday morning, pushing the Dow industrials above their record closing high hit last month, as investors eyed news from Home Depot and Fannie Mae.
Shares of home improvement retailer Home Depot jumped Friday on an unconfirmed report the company could be a takeover target for two powerful private equity firms.
Stocks got off to lackluster start Friday as investors awaited more signs on the strength of the economy and comments from a string of Federal Reserve officials.
Despite the choppy market over the past week, the Dow Jones industrial average has still rebounded more than 14 percent from this year's lows. Nonetheless, lots of blue-chip growth stocks remain unusually cheap.
Stocks crept higher Monday afternoon, with the Nasdaq flirting with a nearly 6-year high, as investors welcomed falling oil prices and geared up for market-moving earnings and economic news due later this week.
Tucked away in the briefcase of Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co., is a chart so scary she's hesitant to show it to investors. It plots the National Association o...
Home Depot ranks no. 43 on FORTUNE's Global 500 this year, with $81.5 billion in revenues, up 11.5% from the previous year. The Atlanta, Georgia-based company was ranked no. 34 on the 2005 list. Its 2005 profits were $5.8 billion, up 16.7% from a year earlier. 2005 was a banner year for most Global 500 companies.
Retail investors had three bits of bad news this morning: Wal-Mart's disappointment, Home Depot's warning, and Buffett's Gap dump. The question is, should they connect the dots or not?
Home improvement retailer Home Depot edged past analysts' forecasts for second-quarter results Tuesday, but warned on its full-year results, citing a challenging second-half of the year.
Large quantities of drugs were found inside merchandise from at least two Home Depot stores in Massachusetts, and authorities are investigating, police said Wednesday.
Massachusetts police are investigating the discovery of large quantities of drugs found inside merchandise from two Home Depot stores in Massachusetts, local police said Wednesday.
First came Wal-Mart. Now Home Depot?
3 GREAT UP GRADES
Home Depot's CEO Robert Nardelli faced some very irate shareholders Thursday, who lambasted him for his "arrogance" and "excessive" pay package and the company's board for being absent from the retailer's annual shareholder meeting.
A showdown could occur at Home Depot's annual shareholder meeting Wednesday as some shareholders and activist groups prepare to seek the right to vote on CEO Robert Nardelli and other executives' annual compensation packages, according to a report published Wednesday.
Retail analysts said Tuesday that Home Depot's decision to stop reporting quarterly sales was "curious," "strange," "irresponsible" and "highly suspect."
Stocks looked set for a strong opening Tuesday after numbers on inflation and housing starts came in lower than expected.
CALL IT THE large-number problem writ small, or the illusion of the modest stock price. To a retail investor, it's easy to look at, say, shares of Microsoft at $27 and think, "Hey, it should be eas...
Strong earnings from Home Depot and a jump in oil service stocks were among the factors lifting blue-chip equities Tuesday morning.
Home Depot Inc. CEO Robert Nardelli said Tuesday that -- with help from the nation's aging baby boomers -- the home market is still an "absolute sweet spot" of retail despite growing concerns that the nation's housing boom has already peaked.
A new documentary has been released about the failed efforts of Miami residents to block the entry of the hardware store chain Home Depot, according to a news report published Friday.
As the residents of shattered Gulf Coast towns like Biloxi, Miss., and Gretna, La., began returning home or crawling from the wreckage in the days after Hurricane Katrina hit, many found their way ...
Summer is when people tend to blow off their goal of paying down credit-card debt, according to the Cambridge Consumer Credit Index. The reason might be that they've tried to pay too much. People w...
Look for a Shift in Earnings Growth
Stocks inched lower early Tuesday, as a surprise jump in a key inflation indicator overshadowed strong earnings from Home Depot and other retailers.
Lousy weather, a slowing economy and fears that rising interest rates will hurt the housing sector have all undermined do-it-yourself and home improvement retailers. Those factors have weighed heavily on shares of Lowe's Companies and Home Depot this year.
IT HAS BEEN A CONFUSING YEAR FOR INVESTORS. Interest rates were supposed to go way up. Oil prices were destined to fall. Investors were going to reward so-called high-quality stocks and shun tech s...
Stocks rose Monday, posting small gains at the start of a week heavy on economic and earnings news.
Home Depot has helped turn home improvement from laborious chore into national pastime.
Wake up and sell the coffee: that was the message that entrepreneur Mike Sheldrake got a few years back when he concluded, "I was going to have to either do something radical or close my doors." Hi...
U.S. stock markets gained early Tuesday, building on the previous session's advance, following another dip in oil prices, a report showing that inflation is tame and an upbeat earnings report from Home Depot.
Home Depot Inc. posted a jump in fiscal second-quarter earnings Tuesday that beat Wall Street's expectations as the nation's largest home improvement retailer raised its outlook for future profits.
Playboy.com launched the "Women of Home Depot" pictorial Tuesday, showcasing six of the retailer's "sexiest" female employees.
Retailer Home Depot Inc. is donating $1 million in tools and materials to support the U.S. military in Iraq.
Home Depot Inc., the No. 1 home improvement chain, Thursday said it was recalling about 2.2 million of its "SMC" brand of oscillating floor fans, citing a potential fire hazard from the product's electric power cord.
Not long ago, Home Depot (HD), the 1,735-store home-improvement chain, was Exhibit A in the case against investing in behemoths. Growth slows. Smaller, nimbler competitors eat your lunch. But these...
As an engineer who spent 34 years at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Rob Roy has the kind of technical acumen that makes explaining the differences between competing washing machines a breeze. And he'...
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