Compared Quotations | Page 9

On the surface, the only apparent antitrust problem appears to be the fact that AOL and Time Warner's Roadrunner might be seen as being competing Internet services. But Roadrunner is a pipsqueak of a player compared to AOL's service. It's conceivable they could force the divestiture of Roadrunner. But that's not a big deal.

On the surface, the numbers look bad, but when you dig into them you see health. Moreover, the $5 billion share buyback just announced is exactly what we would recommend. Lastly, while the quarter looked soft due to comps, it should be temporary, as compared to long-term health in the growing cable business, which is why we believe the company can keep to its guidance.

Gilbert carried us tonight. One of the coaches compared this lineup with Philadelphia's a few years ago - (Allen) Iverson and eight defensive players. That's what it seemed like tonight. Caron carried some of the weight and Daniels hit some big shots, but (Arenas) was the steady scorer.

Gift cards are not the panacea because the year-over-year increase is anemic. Because the markdowns in January will be more than last year, retailers will see less dollar impact of additional sales from gift cards compared to last year.

Giant pandas are easy compared to clouded leopards.

He was our 'go-to-guy' and our offense ran through him as well. Jeremy did a great job this year. It was a big adjustment for him compared to the previous year because he had to show some leadership out on the floor with the youth we had. I expected a lot out of him and I think I got what I needed out of Jeremy this year. I thought that he stepped up and did what we asked of him and made himself a presence out there on the floor and us as a coaching staff appreciated that.

Our supply constraints also resulted in the company's inability to replenish the channel towards the end of the quarter. Compared to the end of 2004, we ended the year with significantly fewer weeks of inventory in the channel in the U.S.

We're expecting a pretty tough first half of the year -- tech profits will be up about 10 percent this year compared to 30 percent last year, ... But by the second half of the year, the economy may brighten, earnings comparisons are easier and we could start to see an easier tech tape.

We're getting back to the normal range as compared to last year,

Layoffs always are higher late in the year. All (the layoff report numbers) suggest that we are still improving compared to last year and there is little real evidence of slippage this month. The slippage was from August to September, but September to October is good number.