Gary Balter Quotations

With the stock trading at these attractive levels, we would have liked to see more significant repurchases.

Sears faces significant challenges in the discount retail market, particularly from the large cap retailers Wal-Mart and Target.

Given the plethora of new and improved products that we should see this Christmas ... if there was a year to have a delay, this is it.

Kmart is generating well over $500 million a year in cash flow. They have over $2 billion in cash. That, combined with their real estate value, should provide higher support for the stock.

It is not enough to change our investment opinions, but is a negative in the tally board of pros and cons as we begin to focus on Christmas 2006.

Retailers are getting smarter in the way they do business. They are reducing their inventories and keeping prices steady. Consumers are beginning to realize that they can't just wait for the sales like they used to.

Our outperform rating was based on our view that the management team was doing an excellent job of turning around the margins at this large industry player. The market's valuation at around 6 times cash flow we believe made this an attractive acquisition target. The questions now will be whether another buyer steps in.

That comment should calm concerns that the first quarter could be down, and positions Best Buy for solid earnings per share improvements against the second and third quarters.

Michaels announced management changes that we believe will be a plus to the story at this time.

We continue to believe that all of the concern over the discounters' push into consumer electronics may be overblown.

We continue to be bothered by the company's propensity to shine a more positive light on results and growth rates than the numbers may support.

We believe that the turnaround story is very much on track and we view AutoZone as an interesting story for 2006.

While every quarter is important, we view AZO as a company in transition and would discount flat comps or sluggish gross margins as more a reflection of near term weather trends than a concern.

While maybe not as exciting as some had hoped, the upside is still significantly greater than the downside risk and we stay in the bull camp,

We have been expecting Sears to play out similarly, but to date have not seen the asset sales or leadership that have characterized the other stories.

While we believe they are doing the right things to improve their positioning, the cost of that improvement is going to be the key near-term.

These are the best of times for Best Buy. The product cycle is finally here, the competitive environment ... is benign and looks to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

These are the best of times for Best Buy.

The stock trades above a level that we would view as appropriate for the current earnings that, absent signals of improvement or takeover, would imply downside.

Despite the macro concerns, today's strong results should remind investors that Lowe's is executing as well in retailing today, has some significant sales and earnings drivers in installed sales, commercial and distribution, and faces a competitor that is slowing square footage and looking to improve operating margins in its core.

At first glance, this seems like a strange deal as investors in Sears Holdings are looking for cash generation, not new investments.

If Microsoft gets the product out in January, that would still be in time for the new budget spending that drives many mid-to-small businesses, the core of the office supply segment.

Their lack of investments in systems, continued new store growth by Wal-Mart and higher prices point to short-term cash maximization, not long-term growth,

The two weak links in the store are apparel and consumer electronics. One could have had a nice nap in the consumer electronics section given the light traffic. Conversely, appliances were buzzing.