Lowe's Goes Slow

Hardware-and-lumber mega-giant Lowe's Corp. is freezing executive salaries ("all vice presidents and above") and reducing raises for everyone else. In a housing-market collapse, you'd pretty much expect housing-construction and home-improvement businesses to crash out, wouldn't you?

"Right now, shoppers are avoiding big-ticket, professional renovation projects that propelled the recent boom, and it's unclear whether sales in that category will ever return to the level of a few years ago."

But, so far Lowe's is doing slightly better than its (larger) chief competitor Home Depot.