Fitch Teleconference: U.S. Retail Industry Outlook, 11/16, 11:00am EST.

NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings will host a teleconference on Thursday, November 16 at 11:00 a.m. EST to discuss its outlook for the U.S. retail industry. This call will coincide with the release of Fitch's 2007 outlook report for the industry, which will be available at Fitch's web site www.fitchratings.com the morning of November 16. The call will cover both broad trends expected to affect the entire retail industry as well as specific outlooks for individual retail sectors (department stores, supermarkets, specialty retailers, drug stores and discounters). A Q&A session will follow the analysts' remarks.

Interested parties in the U.S. or Canada should call [phone] approximately 5-10 minutes before the 11:00 a.m. start time. Persons outside North America can dial [phone]. The title of the call is 'Fitch Ratings US Retail Industry Outlook.'

A replay of the teleconference will be available in the afternoon of November 16. To listen to the teleconference replay, participants should call [phone]. The conference ID number for the replay is '2234157'. Additionally, the teleconference will be archived on the Fitch Ratings web site. Interested parties can find the appropriate link at the 'Teleconferences and Online Events' link, which is located under the 'Resource Library' on www.fitchratings.com.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.