when the business faltered even the direct sellers herbalife and the tupperware flourished. they were talking about the business model not being any good. procter & gamble said the world was rebelled from high priced products when colgate was running circles around it. we saw this play out in fast food. wendy's lamented that the consumers can't afford a hamburger today but it could tomorrow when mcdonald's said it was selling them by the billions. supermarkets, safeway and super value say the consumer is moribund while costco stole food shoppers away from traditional supermarkets. here's the bottom line. whatever the industry when a company blames poor performance on a tough environment it's probably making excuses. not telling you something that applies to stronger competitors which are likely running circles around it. don't believe the hype. patrick in arizona. patrick. oh, let's go to della in california, first.