Alan Rifkin Quotations

At the end of the day, with oil touching $70 a barrel, that is not good for the consumer. When we are all paying more at the pump to fill our cars, that's less disposable spending that we all have to spend at retailers.

Net-net, the change is expected to boost earnings on a continued operating basis.

We admire Home Depot's solid execution and productivity. We continue to have a more positive view on the macroeconomic environment over the next six to 12 months.

We admire Home Depot's solid execution and productivity, ... We continue to have a more positive view on the macroeconomic environment over the next six to 12 months.

clearly a positive step in the right direction, and it showed that Circuit City store renovation and relocation strategy is moving in the right direction.

We are accustomed to seeing troubled companies pruning their staff and letting people go, but Best Buy is really hitting on all cylinders.

We believe that, with current sales trends still weak, the company's holiday selling season could very well be hampered,

Given the demographics of the targeted Pier 1 consumer, we believe higher gas prices could limit spending levels and further impact comparable sales.

Despite limited console availability, we believe that Xbox 360 boosted comp growth as traffic trends benefited from the excitement generated by the new product. Enhanced TV sales were also strong during December and January, which also aided same-store sales.

While we believe Home Depot is one of the finest names in retailing, we continue to reiterate our cautious outlook on the shares, given the company's vulnerability to a potential slowdown in the housing environment.