On Jan. 3, 2003, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'AA' corporate credit rating on home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. and revised its outlook on the company to negative from stable. Approximately $1.3 billion of debt is affected by this action. The outlook change reflects Home Depot's revised expectations for same-store sales declines of as much as 10% for the fourth quarter of 2002. Home Depot also lowered its earnings per share guidance for fiscal 2002. Lower transaction counts and lower-than-expected performance in traditional gift categories severely impacted December results. Home Depot also indicated there is a likelihood that current business trends could result in a challenging environment well into 2003. Although Standard & Poor's had previously anticipated
