The New Trade on KB Home: Switch to iShares US Home Construction

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 30, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) KB Home (KBH) last reported earnings on March 23, 2016 for its Q1 2016 results. Perhaps in anticipation of poor results, traders sold the stock ahead of the report and sent … Read more

The Seasonal Trade On Home Builders Faces Shaky Prospects

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 13, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Almost a month ago, analysts from KBW described a seasonal trade on home builders. {snip} I took a slightly different perspective on this seasonality to make the pattern stand out and … Read more

LGI Homes Faces Critical Tests As It Races to Reduce Dependence On Oil-Related Markets

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 29, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) In mid-September, I wrote “LGI Homes Is Now A Bit Hot To The Touch.” LGI Homes (LGIH) is down 18% since then. LGIH also hit an all-time high on December 1st … Read more

New Home Sales Cling to Their 2015 Breakout

Single-family new home sales began the year with a bang. Sales for January and February soared year-over-year and continued the post-recession breakout that occurred in December, 2014. Sales have trickled downward ever since. Source: US. Bureau of the Census, New One Family Houses Sold: United States [HSN1F], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. … Read more

The iShares US Home Construction ETF Hangs Tough Although the South Softens

While I have been talking up warnings on the deterioration in the underlying technicals of the S&P 500 (SPY), I continue to like the relative performance of iShares US Home Construction (ITB). Source: FreeStockCharts.com ITB is up 9.2% for the year while the S&P 500 is essentially flat year-to-date with a 0.3% gain. One of … Read more