CHICAGO (Standard&Poor's) Aug. 30, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it assigned its 'A-' preliminary senior unsecured rating to Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc.'s (A-/Stable/A-2) automatic shelf registration statement filed Aug. 29, 2012. At the same time, we withdrew our 'A-' preliminary senior unsecured rating on the company's automatic shelf registration statement filed Aug. 21, 2009, which has expired. The ratings on Home Depot reflect our opinion that the company will maintain its "strong" business risk profile as the largest home improvement retailer in the world, supported by its substantial U.S. store footprint, improved profitability, and solid free cash flow-generating ability. We assess Home Depot's financial risk profile as "intermediate" and expect the company to maintain leverage
