On Dec. 21, 2006, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on The Stanley Works Co. to negative from stable. At the same time we affirmed all ratings on the company, including our 'A' corporate credit rating and 'A-1' commercial paper rating for the New Britain, Conn.-based company. The outlook revision reflects uncertainty regarding the successful integration of the proposed $545 million acquisition of unrated HSM Electronic Protection Services Inc., the ultimate financing structure, and unfavorable residential construction conditions. The company's financial metrics are weak for the current rating. We expect the company's post-acquisition funds from operations (FFO) to total adjusted debt to be about 36%, indicating that cash flow accretion is lagging investment spending. Also, total adjusted debt
