Strong Sales for LGI Homes Set Up Earnings Reports for Lennar and KB Home

LGI Homes (LGIH) released a strong sales report that granted investors in home builders a much needed sigh of relief. On January 7, 2019 (mislabeled as the 4th in the press release), LGIH announced: …an all-time record for home closings during a single month with 884 homes closed in December 2018, representing year-over-year growth of … Read more

Above the 40 (January 4, 2019) – The Oversold Chronicles End As A Fed-Inspired Stock Market Explodes Higher

AT40 = 20.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (ended 13 days in oversold territory)AT200 = 14.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 21.4Short-term Trading Call: bullish (with caveats all over again) Commentary All oversold periods must end – it is just a matter of how and … Read more

Housing Market Review (December, 2018) – Prices Are Still Too High

I saw a flicker of hope for home builders in the May Housing Market Review. Traders decided to snuff that flicker out very quickly afterward. When I wrote June’s housing market review and described a “struggling flicker,” the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) was once again bouncing off the bottom of 2018’s trading range. … Read more

Housing Moves: Zillow, KB Home, and LGI Homes Put On A Show

Housing-related stocks continue to show signs of a return of buying interest. I keep tabs on these “housing moves” as checks on the health of the sector. These moves are of particular interest now that investors are actively worrying about a housing slowdown just as the stocks of home builders launch into their seasonally strong … Read more

Above the 40 (November 7, 2018) – Exclamation Points for the End of Oversold Trading Conditions

AT40 = 40.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 37.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 16.4 Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary Financial markets made their votes very clear after the U.S. 2018 midterm election. via GIPHY Apparently, today’s rally in the S&P 500 … Read more

Housing Market Review (May, 2018) – A Fresh Flicker of Life As Sentiment Turns Without A Change in Data

The fundamentals have changed little. Sentiment is making a dramatic shift. The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in April, 2018 for March, 2018. At the time, I lamented a dissonance of decelerating housing data and diverging home builder stocks. Over a month later, the deceleration is a little less pronounced while the divergence … Read more

Above the 40 (May 11, 2018) – The Stock Market’s Time to Test Buyers’ Resolve

AT40 = 65.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 51.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 12.7 Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary Here we are again. The stock market looks like it is breaking free, but there are major caveats which keep me wary … Read more

More Good Deeds Punished: LGI Homes Delivers Solid Earnings and Gets Back A Vicious Fade

Management for LGI Homes (LGIH) set aside an hour for its Q1 2018 earnings conference call. They only needed 37 minutes, including 23 minutes spent on Q&A. Perhaps they should have used the entire hour. Source: FreeStockCharts.com As the chart above shows, LGIH has had a wild two days following its earnings report. The first … Read more

Riding Renewed Market Sentiment, LGI Homes Soars Into A Strong Sales Report

The ink just dried on my last Housing Market Review. In that piece I lamented the on-going lagging performance of home builders and stagnating housing housing data, and thus concluded that it was time to call an end to the seasonal trade on home builders. Just two days later, home builders surged upward in sympathy … Read more

Housing Market Review (March, 2018) – Breakdown Confirmed, Slivers of Remaining Support

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in February, 2018 for January, 2018. At the time, I connected the dots on the bearish implications of converging technicals and fundamentals. The iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) actually managed to hold onto support at its 200-day moving average…until today. So not only is the seasonal … Read more