Lowe's, a major competitor of The Home Depot in the home improvement business, operates over 1,300 stores. For the years ending February 2, 2007, and February 3, 2006, Lowe's reported the following balance sheet data (in millions):

a. Determine the total stockholders' equity as of February 2, 2007, and February 3, 2006.

b. Determine the ratio of liabilities to stockholders' equity for 2007 and 2006. Round to two decimal places.

c. What conclusions regarding the margin of protection to the creditors can you draw from (b)?

d. Using the balance sheet data for The Home Depot in Exercise 1-26, how does the ratio of liabilities to stockholders' equity of Lowe's compare to that of The Home Depot?