Nickname: plaidpie

Review: HD has been a good short over the past few month; am still short. I don't see any catalyst for turnaround with housing facing a huge downturn. Stores are packed, partly because it takes so friggin long to get any help or service. And Lowe's is hurting HD in many areas. So I think the safer bet is against HD.

Date reviewed: Sep 10, 2006 9:11 AM

Nickname: Niner

Review: Don't believe Home Depot is a value play? Try these stats: ROE: 23.56; ROIC: 18.90; Current PE: 11.90; Price/Sales: 0.82; Price/Cash Flow: 9.20; Price/Book Value: 2.64; Current Ratio: 1.20; Debt/Equity: 0.25; Gross Margin: 33.25; Dividend Yield: 1.73%. I bought HD about a month ago when it showed up on my value screen. It's been thrown out with the housing bathwater, but most any Home Depot you walk into is packed. New home construction may be down, but lots of people are still remodeling, landscaping their yards, buying appliances, etc. As an employee of JNJ, I have to say I think it's a screaming buy right now as well. Our management was proven right in taking a pass on GDT, and will soon be proven right on the purchase of the PFE consumer business. The press criticized us for paying too much, but they didn't think about the 25% tax writeoff we got for paying cash. JNJ is not as cheap as HD, but is certainly cheap by its own historical measures. Happy Investing!

Date reviewed: Sep 6, 2006 2:10 PM

Nickname: RC

Review: Home Depot is an excellent pick just based on the way the company is reinvesting in itself with the "supply" side of the company.

Date reviewed: Sep 5, 2006 5:11 PM

Nickname: DoubtingThomas

Review: I agree with Jayzee. Home Depot seems a stretch in a slowdown, except if the theory is that people will spend money to fix up their homes versus buy new ones.

Date reviewed: Sep 5, 2006 5:23 AM

Nickname: J....

Review: i think BUD would be a good buy due to the football season coming to play. Biotech, defense, oil, and staples are rather good ones too.

Date reviewed: Sep 4, 2006 6:03 AM

Nickname: Ben

Review: Have you been in a Home Depot lately? They are packed. I live in Los Angeles and the three that I've been to from LA, The Valley, and west... are busy places.

Date reviewed: Sep 4, 2006 4:35 AM

Nickname: Jayzee

Review: I think the objective of this article was not finding growth stocks - but value stocks that are likely to retain value in a slowing economy. Still somehow Home Depot, Target and Harley don't convince me. Just my opinion. J&J and AIG sound much more reasonable.

Date reviewed: Sep 4, 2006 2:58 AM

Nickname: roland

Review: Predictions made by looking in the rear view mirror.

Date reviewed: Sep 4, 2006 2:32 AM

Nickname: Dan AKA 4site

Review: So large ticket items are not being sold that much and you have retailers whose gross margins are typically 10% listed as buys? What ever happened to MO, RAI, UST, DEO, and other high ROE stocks people always buy the products of? In a declining dollar environment their products become cheaper to the rest of the world.

Date reviewed: Sep 2, 2006 6:03 PM

Nickname: billy boy

Review: I agree Home Depot is useless in this housing environment. Target and Wal-Mart will have problems because of consumer slowdown. J&J and P&G are my best picks.

Date reviewed: Sep 2, 2006 2:04 PM