On Dec. 12, 2006, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit and senior unsecured ratings on Atlanta, Ga.-based Home Depot Inc. to 'A+' from 'AA'. The rating on the commercial paper was lowered to 'A-1' from 'A-1+'. The downgrade follows Home Depot's announcement of a planned additional $4 billion share repurchase and reflects our revised view that the company's financial policy has become somewhat more aggressive. The 'A-1' commercial paper rating is consistent with an 'A+' long-term rating. The outlook is stable. Standard & Poor's also assigned an 'A+' rating to Home Depot's proposed $5 billion of senior notes, which include 30-year fixed-rate notes, seven-year fixed-rate notes, and three-year floating-rate notes. Proceeds will be used to purchase up
