* "This is a 'fairy-tale' industry - strong growth, a fragmented supply side and operating margins around 18 percent. However, we fear that with ongoing consolidation and the appetite for market share, there will inevitably be downward pressure on margins."

- Analyst Johan Tisell of Swedish investment bank Hagstromer & Qviberg, Stockholm

* "All of this consolidation and Wall Street activity appear to me like a house of cards. I look at these financial statements, and somebody is going to get caught holding the bag. Somebody is going to get hurt."

- Tom Moilanen, owner of two-location Cloverdale Equipment, Oak Park, Mich.

* "Rented equipment still represents only 20 percent of all equipment in use [in the United States] today, compared with more than 50 percent in the U.K. and Japan, where the industry is more mature, indicating that this growth [in the United States] should continue for many years to come."

- Analyst Alan Pavese of investment bank Goldman, Sachs & Co., New York