A Time to Buy Housing Stocks: Toll Brothers

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 27, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Toll Brothers (TOL) had the misfortune of reporting its third quarter 2015 earnings in the middle of a severe market sell-off. {snip} Source: FreeStockCharts.com The selling in TOL plunged the stock … Read more

T2108 Update (November 12, 2015) – Stock Market Weakness Confirmed

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

Century Communities Earnings Weigh As Hiked 2015 Guidance Gets Revised

Century Communities, Inc. (CCS) reported third quarter earnings on the evening of November 5th at the tail-end of a particularly challenging time for the stock. Going into earnings, CCS was down 35% from its 52-week and all-time closing high set in early September. CCS is still up 7.5% for the year, but the recent earnings … Read more

New Home Sales Disappoint But Are In-Line With the Past Year’s Range

How easy it is to forget the bullishness that homebuilders have for the future. The Census Bureau reported disappointing new home sales data for September, 2015. The negative feel was further underlined by “consensus expectations” which turned out far too high. Single-family new home sales dropped 11% month-over-month. That SEEMS awful until you read further … Read more

Builders Back Up Sentiment With Housing Starts

Sentiment among homebuilders has been riding high. This month, the sentiment of homebuilders reached heights last seen during the bubble days. Builders have backed up this optimism with housing starts at post-recession highs. While these starts are STILL at levels considered recessionary in previous housing cycles, the trend continues to march upward and bullishly. There … Read more

A Surge in Sales Expectations Helps Send Homebuilder Sentiment to A Fresh 10-Year High

Exactly 10 years ago, the Housing Market Index (HMI) hit 68. The HMI fell relatively quickly from there as the bursting of the housing bubble began in earnest. This month, the HMI hit 64, essentially a fresh 10-year high. This indicator of homebuilder sentiment has marched steadily higher since the trough in the Spring of … Read more

Meritage Homes Prepares for First-Time Homebuyers, Hopeful On Arizona

When Meritage Homes (MTH) lowered guidance on September 9, 2015, the nation’s seventh largest homebuilder blamed several factors: A delay in closing homes. This was the most concerning explanation because the company provided no further details on it. Increased labor costs. These costs impacted margins. The problem was particularly acute in MTH’s major markets of … Read more

Strong Sentiment and Outlooks Support Out-performance of Homebuilder Stocks

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 28, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) While the S&P 500 (SPY) continues to languish in the aftermath of the flash crash and accompanying sell-off, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) is still up 5.7% for the year … Read more