The largest retail sectors would be home improvement, consumer electronics, books, music, toys, office supplies. We describe anything that hurts when it falls on your foot.

313

School Specialty is a smaller company. It's the largest distributor of educational products to schools. And simply put, this is a company with a terrific competitive position and a very strong management team that I think is very well positioned for growth over the next several years.

263

We obviously monitor consumer confidence as an indicator of how consumers are feeling about the broader economy, but we also look at a number of other indicators.

165

OfficeMax's turnaround plan focuses on the investment necessary to enhance the productivity of its underperforming assets, banal but essential areas such as infrastructure, logistics and systems. Effective turnarounds focus on these areas, rather than on driving short-term sales.

155

We remain concerned with the company's longer-term positioning, given its choppy sales showing despite significant store-level investment, and its poor return on capital. The majority of its remodeled stores should have yielded their most significant same-store sales impact in 2002, and we see few tangible growth drivers ahead.

142

We believe that an alliance ... or minority investment with option for increased ownership would enable Home Depot to participate in China's economic development without the difficulties associated with navigating its political and cultural challenges alone.

133

We view change at the [U.S.] division, the company's most important profit driver, as a positive.

132

The company remains the dominant operator in music retail, but its aggressive online promotional stance continues to threaten the company's earnings trajectory.

122

The buck stopped at his desk, but from too many directions.

108