into these transactions for speculative purposes.

We are exposed to foreign currency fluctuation as a result of our international sales, product sourcing and funding activities. Our foreign currency risk management objective is to reduce the variability of local entity cash flows as a result of exchange rate movements. We use forward exchange contracts and options to hedge certain anticipated but not yet firmly committed transactions as well as certain firm commitments and the related receivables and payables, including third party and intercompany transactions. We also use forward contracts to hedge our investment in the net assets of certain international subsidiaries to offset foreign currency translation and economic exposures related to our net investment in those subsidiaries.

When we begin hedging exposures, the type and duration of each hedge depends on the nature of the exposure and market conditions. Generally, all anticipated and firmly committed transactions that are hedged are to be recognized within twelve to eighteen months, although at May 31, 2008 we had forward contracts hedging anticipated transactions that will be recognized in as many as 34 months. The majority of the contracts expiring in more than twelve months relate to the anticipated purchase of inventory by one of our European subsidiaries. When intercompany loans are hedged, it is typically for their expected duration. Hedged transactions are principally denominated in euros, British pounds, and Japanese yen.

Our earnings are also exposed to movements in short and long-term market interest rates. Our objective in managing this interest rate exposure is to limit the impact of interest rate changes on earnings and cash flows and to reduce overall borrowing costs. To achieve these objectives, we maintain a mix of commercial paper, bank loans and fixed rate debt of varying maturities and have entered into receive-fixed, pay-variable interest rate swaps.

Market Risk Measurement

We monitor foreign exchange risk, interest rate risk and related derivatives using a variety of techniques including a review of market value, sensitivity analysis, and Value-at-Risk (“VaR”). Our market-sensitive derivative and other financial instruments, as defined by the SEC, are foreign currency forward contracts, foreign currency option contracts, interest rate swaps, intercompany loans denominated in non-functional currencies, fixed interest rate U.S. dollar denominated debt, and fixed interest rate Japanese yen denominated debt.

We use VaR to monitor the foreign exchange risk of our foreign currency forward and foreign currency option derivative instruments only. The VaR determines the maximum potential one-day loss in the fair value of these foreign exchange rate-sensitive financial instruments. The VaR model estimates assume normal market conditions and a 95% confidence level. There are various modeling techniques that can be used in the VaR computation. Our computations are based on interrelationships between currencies and interest rates (a “variance/ co-variance” technique). These interrelationships are a function of foreign exchange currency market changes and interest rate