How Georgia's House Members Voted

John Barrow, 12th District---NO
Sanford Bishop, 2nd District---YES
Paul Broun, 10th District---NO
Nathan Deal, 9th District---NO
Phil Gingrey, 11th District---NO
Hank Johnson, 4th District---NO
John Lewis, 5th District---NO
John Linder, 7th District---NO
James Marshall, 8th District---YES
Tom Price, 6th District---NO
David Scott, 13th District---NO
Lynn Westmoreland, 3rd District---NO

"Clearly that message [of an impending financial breakdown] has not been received by the Republican caucus."---Nancy Pelosi.

"I don't know if we know the path forward at this point...We need everybody to calm down, and relax, and get back to work."---Minority Leader John Boehner

One note---the six hundred or so point drop of the DOW today is, percentage wise, lower than Black Monday or the great sell off that triggered the Depression.

Home Depot absorbs sharp 1st-Q hit

A continued anemic housing market has contributed to the sharp drop in 1st-quarter earnings for the world’s largest home improvement retailer.

The Home Depot reports a 66-percent dip in earnings for the three months ending in early May. Along with a housing slump, the company cites its own one-time charge in the quarter as factors for the sharp profit decline.

The Atlanta-based retailer says it earned 356-million dollars for the quarter, or 21 cents a share. It’s a steep drop compared to a year earlier when the company posted a profit of 1.06 billion dollars, or 53 cents a share.

Home Depot’s one-time charge for the quarter represents a plan to shrink future expansion, and close 15 of its flagship stores by July.

Excluding the one-time charge, the company’s profits were 697-million dollars, or 41 cents a share, which beat Wall Street expectations.

Coke 1st-quarter profits beat expectations

Coca-Cola says its profits in the 1st quarter of this year rose 19-percent-—that’s based on a 21-percent jump in sales. The results reported by the Atlanta-based beverage maker beat Wall Street expectations. Coca-Cola says profit was 1.5 billion dollars in the three months ending March 28th. That is a jump from the 1.26 billion dollar profit one year ago.

Home Depot profit falls

Home improvement retailer The Home Depot has reported a nearly 15-percent drop in second-quarter profits. Despite those results, the company is ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Earnings for the 2nd quarter of 2007 were 1.6 billion dollars, or 81-cents a share. That is 300-million dollars and 9-cents a share less than the same period last year. The company also reports that sales in stores open at least a year fell more than 5-percent.

Despite those numbers, the Atlanta-based retailer is beating Wall Street projections. Net income from continued operations fell 200-million dollars and 5-cents a share from the same period last year. But it still is ahead by a nickel-a-share in a forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Home Depot’s results do not include its wholesale supply business, which the company is trying to sell to a group of private equity firms.

The retailer says it expects earnings-per-share to fall 15-18 percent for fiscal 2007.

Delta returns to Wall Street

A more fiscally-fit Delta Air Lines rejoins the lineup on the New York Stock Exchange this morning. Executives with the Atlanta-based airline were to ring the opening bell on Wall Street today.

Delta emerged from bankruptcy protection only on Monday, after 19 months in Chapter-11.

An estimated 400-million shares will be distributed to creditors of Delta. Analysts expect Delta shares to debut at 20-dollars.