Home Depot Rot

Today's Premium Content

Do you know that television commercial where the girl comes in and says, ''Dad, uh, I need $80 for some new jeans?''  Goes something like this: Father: ''What's so special about these jeans?'' Girl: ''Oh, they're just the best, and everyone has them.'' Father: ''Hmmm.  Who makes them?'' Girl:  ''Like you care.'' Father: ''No, really, I want to know.'' Dad rushes to the computer and buys a zillion shares online. Actually, that's not a bad reason to look into a stock.  Paying attention to what  your kids like can pay off, not like listening to that sumbitch Jim Cramer say in 1999 that  JDSU means ''Just Don't Sell Us"" even though we're trading at a billion times earnings ... . Uh, never mind.   Where was I.  Oh right.  That takes us to Home Depot. Sell it.  Over the past year I've watched this chain go from showing signs of mismanagement, to bad- bad- bad. They have no help.  They don't price things, and when they do the shelf price often disagrees with the check-out computer.  And this.  We overheard a bunch of builders talking last week, about Home Depot, and how they don't use it anymore.  A local outfit, Johnson Lumber, is making way to expand because the construction trade has gone there.  Home Depot buys other failed super retailers just to keep rival  Lowes from going in, and are stuck with  real estate they can't use because it's often across the street from an existing store.  Wall Street will pay some analyst (like Cramer) a billion dollars for this info.  All I want is $100.  Thank you.