BusinessMoney Minute: Home Depot, Netflix, MoreMoney Minute: Home Depot, Netflix, MoreThe Associated PressHome Depot has reported a 66 percent drop in first-quarter profit. AP's Mark Hamrick reports on that and the rest of Tuesday's top business headlines. (May 20)Fannie Mae is predicting that the housing market is "about halfway through" its crisis and home prices could fall as much as 25 percent before the worst is over. A Senate panel meanwhile approved a $300 billion homeowner rescue plan to provide cheaper, government-backed mortgages to as many as 500,000 struggling borrowers. The legislation also includes tougher federal oversight of Fannie Mae and its smaller government-sponsored sibling, Freddie Mac.----------------- Home Depot has reported a 66 percent drop in first-quarter profit. With seventy percent of its sales come from homeowners, and the other 30 percent come from professionals such as contractors, the rest of the year could be a challenge for the company. Home Depot's bottom line reflects the concern of many Americans about the declining value of homes and the rising cost of filling up a gas tank.------------------------------Preparing for the eventual extinction of its DVD-by-mail rental service, Netflix has introduced its first solution for subscribers who want entertainment delivered directly to their TV sets. The breakthrough comes in the form of 5-inch-by-5-inch device that streams movies and TV shows over the web from Netflix's library. At $99.99, the Netflix set-top box is priced like a DVD player and is just as simple to hook up to a television. A high-speed Internet connection can either be plugged into the box or the device can pick up a wireless signal.---------------------------- ___ ___, The Associated Press. Author: AssociatedPress Keywords: earns home-depot minute: home depot netflix Added: May 20, 2008
