We've got some corporate earnings today, a little housing, and stick around for the longest job title I've ever heard from American Public Media.

This is Marketplace.

In Baltimore, I'm Amy Scott in for Kai Rizdahl.

It's Tuesday, November 12th.

Good to have you with us.

For those of us who've been distracted by other news, may I remind you that we are at the tail end of corporate earnings season,

and those profit reports and forecasts can tell us a lot about the underlying economy. Among the Bellwether's reporting today was Home Depot. The Home Improvement

chain said its third quarter sales came in higher than expected, but that customers are feeling

cautious. Marketplaces Kristen Schwab takes a closer look.

John Talbot isn't really a seasonal decor guy himself.

But I am married and my wife enjoys decorating for Halloween.

She's more of the gourds and pumpkins type, not so much the 12-foot outdoor skeleton type, an actual Home Depot

product that kind of went viral this year. Talbot, a retail marketing professor at Indiana

University, says seasonal decor was a hit for the company. I think consumers will spend on

things that make them feel happy.

Happiness does have a price limit, though.

Big ticket transactions at Home Depot,

ones over $1,000.

Those were down nearly 7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Consumers are still on the sideline.

Jamie Katz is an equity analyst at Morningstar. She says people are still uncertain about

inflation and uncertain about when mortgage rates might fall. And that has kept the housing market

...