ITB

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

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

A Time To Sell Some Housing Stocks

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 19, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) I have spent a lot of time over the past four years touting the attractiveness of stocks in homebuilders. The ride has offered a lot of bumps along the way but … Read more

The iShares US Home Construction Reaches A New Level Of Outperformance

My case for managing risk by peeling back some of my holdings in homebuilders turned out to be quite timely. In what has become a near regular pattern for the iShares US Home Construction (ITB), sharp selling has quickly followed a strong run-up and rush of excitement in homebuilders. The sellers and bears are almost … Read more

T2108 Update (August 7, 2015) – S&P 500 Support Keeps Taking A Beating; Homebuilders In Focus

(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

Not Worrying About China’s Impact on the U.S. Housing Market

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 14, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) There are plenty of reasons to worry about the U.S. housing market. I am not adding China’s recent market turmoil to the list. In a piece called “Will China flee or … Read more