You tend to mark down stuff when you're stuck,

On its own, a comp-store inventory increase of 2-to-5 percent is no big deal. But when you've got comp-store sales declines of closer to 10 percent, you're dealing with a possible 10-point spread, which we believe is going to cause retailers to push the promotional panic button earlier than they would have.

We knew today was going to be a disaster. What surprises us was how bad it was was.

They're trying to create the perception on Wall Street that inventories are in great shape, but how much of that is true sales of merchandise and how much is just accounting?

Given the severity of the storm, we expect that stores in the affected areas could lose up to two days of sales as roads were nearly impossible to navigate.

I really would be surprised if they filed. The part of the equation that is missing in a typical bankruptcy situation is that vendors are not clamping down on them. Vendors are not limiting the distribution of merchandise.