Upward America Venture: Lennar Tackles Housing Affordability Challenge

Just as I was going about to close the books on the seasonal trade in home builders, Lennar (LEN) revived upward momentum across home builders. LEN gained 13.8% after announcing a partnership with Centerbridge to invest in rental single-family housing. News of the “Upward America Venture” lit a fire across the sector. However, the excitement … Read more

A Simple Investment Thesis for Invitation Homes

I have periodically made the case for investing in Invitation Homes (INVH) since its debut in the public markets in February, 2017. The stock was slow-going for two years and even dropped to an all-time low in last year’s stock market sell-off. INVH finally broke out this year. I perked up while watching Nightly Business … Read more

Housing Market Review (August, 2019) – The Rally Is Real But the Data Still Lag

Housing Market Intro/Summary In the last Housing Market Review, I discussed my slow and reluctant acceptance of a stock market that was effectively front-running the seasonally strong period for the stocks of home builders (starting in October/November). I also showed the near consistent dichotomy between builders excelling at selling lower-priced homes to buyers trying to … Read more

Above the 40 (May 3, 2019) – A Faithful Stock Market Push Through Bearish Divergence

AT40 = 63.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 55.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 12.9Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The stock market is keeping the faith. The previous week ended with a U.S. GDP report for Q1 2019 that represented well the … Read more

Home Builders Buckle Under Tax Reform – Reviewing the Damage

In my last review of the housing market, I ran out of time to comment on an emphatic statement from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) regarding its failure to influence the Republican plan for tax reform. The tax plan coming out of the GOP side of the House of Representatives includes a provision … Read more

Housing Market Review – A Notable Change In Tone (August, 2017)

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in July, 2017 for June, 2017. The month from there marked a significant change in tone for home builders. The change in tone starts with the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) and its failure to hold support at its 50-day moving average (DMA) for the first … Read more

Housing Market Review – The Promise of Spring Awaits (February, 2017)

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in January, 2017 for December, 2016. At that time, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) was rebounding strongly from a brief pullback from an earnings-driven 6-month high. I described the setup as a coiled spring. The coiled spring did not release to great effect, but earnings from … Read more