THIS PROXY SEASON, EXPECT A BRAWL

With Robert Nardelli's resignation from Home Depot on Jan. 3, the shareholder activist community lost one of its favorite targets: the man who had become a poster child for sky-high executive pay, corporate arrogance, and board coziness. His low popularity was one reason Home Depot Inc. was high on the list of companies expected to bear the brunt of investor ire come this year's proxy season. But Nardelli's exit hardly means it will be a quiet year. Add up shareholder anger over the backdating scandal, a slate of new rules on executive pay disclosure, increasing pressure from activist hedge funds, and more companies requiring directors to be elected by a majority shareholder vote, and a tempestuous proxy period lies ahead.