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Here’s our look at the big stories this morning on the business beat.

Home is where the business is: Home Depot is on a roll. The U.S.-based hardware and home improvement retailer posted record sales and earnings during its second quarter and raised its profit expectations for the year as the U.S. housing market continues to warm up. Profit jumped 9 per cent to $2.44 billion (U.S.), and sales surged 6.6 per cent to $26.47 billion. Home Depot and its rival, Lowe’s, have cruised through a downturn in the retail sector as a whole. “We had a solid quarter, achieving the highest quarterly sales and net earnings results in company history as housing continues to be a tail wind for our business,” said CEO Craig Menear in a company release today. The company boosted its full-year profit outlook to $6.31 per share from a previous per-share projection of $6.27.

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Ouch!: Things aren’t nearly so rosy for the world’s biggest miner, Australia-based BHP Billiton. It revealed today it lost $6.4 billion (U.S.) in its latest fiscal year – its worst ever full-year result. Weak commodity prices, a plunge in the value of its U.S. shale oil assets and a costly dam disaster in Brazil all contributed to the dismal numbers, the company said. Revenue sank 31 per cent in the 12 months ended June 30, to $30.1 billion (U.S.). It also took $4.9 billion in write downs of its U.S. oil and gas assets. “We’re clearly really disappointed with this result,” said BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie. BHP had registered a $1.9 billion profit in the previous year, down from $13.8 billion in 2013-14. The latest result is the worst since the company was formed in 2001 through the merger of two corporations founded in the 19th century – Australia’s Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd. and London-listed Billiton Plc.