Short Term Debt (Disclosure)

3 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2014

Short Term Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

Short Term Debt Text Block

5. Short-Term Debt Instruments

On November 1, 2013, we entered into an agreement with the lenders under our five-year revolving syndicated credit facility that expires on October 1, 2017 to exercise an option which increased our borrowing capacity from $650 million to $850 million.We pay an annual fee of $35,000 plus 8.5 basis points for any unused amount. The facility provides a line of credit for letters of credit of $10 million, of which $1.8 million and $2.1 million were issued and outstanding as of January 31, 2014 and October 31, 2013, respectively. These letters of credit are used to guarantee claims from self-insurance under our general and automobile liability policies. The credit facility bears interest based on the 30-day London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus from 75 to 125 basis points, based on our credit ratings. Amounts borrowed are continuously renewable until the expiration of the facility in 2017 provided that we are in compliance with all terms of the agreement.

We have anunsecured commercial paper (CP) programthat is backstopped by therevolving syndicated credit facility. In conjunction with the exercise of the option in November 2013, the amounts outstanding under the revolving syndicated credit facility and the CP program, either individually or in the aggregate, have been increased to, but cannot exceed, $850 million. The notes issued under the CP program may have maturities not to exceed 397 days from the date of issuance and bear interest based on, among other things, the size and maturity date of the note, the frequency of the issuance and our credit ratings, plus a spread of 5 basis points. Any borrowings under the CP program rank equally with our other unsubordinated and unsecured debt. The notes under the CP program are not registered andare offered andissued pursuant to an exemption from registration.Due to the seasonal nature of our business, amounts borrowed can vary significantly during the period.

As of January 31, 2014, we have $570 million of notes outstanding under the CP program, as included in “Short-term debt” in “Current Liabilities” in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets with original maturities ranging from7 to 28 days from their dates of issuance at a weighted average interest rate of .25%. As of October 31, 2013, our outstanding notes under the CP program,included in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as stated above, were $400million.

We did not have any borrowings under the revolving syndicated credit facility for the three months ended January 31, 2014. A summary of the short-term debt activityunder our CP program for the threemonths ended January 31, 2014 is as follows.

In millions
	Minimum amount outstanding	$	415
	Maximum amount outstanding	$	625
	Minimum interest rate		.23	%
	Maximum interest rate		.43	%
	Weighted average interest rate		.26	%

Our five-year revolving syndicated credit facility's financial covenants require us to maintain a ratio of total debt to total capitalization of no greater than 70%, and our actual ratio was 57% at January 31, 2014.