ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Housing Market Intro and Summary The housing market is entering its spring selling season, but for me this moment is more about spring cleaning. The seasonal trade in home builders and housing-related optimism has run its course far sooner and far weaker than I expected. What should have been a period of improving momentum has … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary The housing market is currently defined by a split between new vs old, new home sales and existing home sales. Data on builder stocks, housing starts, and new home sales tell a diverging story from existing home sales data across the country. Homebuilder equities remain sensitive to policy headlines but … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary The U.S. housing market ended 2025 with mixed signals. Builder stocks are stuck in trading ranges, builder confidence has stalled, and affordability remains strained. Pockets of strength in sales activity is likely coming from a softening price environment and higher inventory levels. The data points do not tell a single, … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary This edition of “What Happened in the Housing Market” is once again without data on housing starts and new home sales because of the previous shutdown of the Federal government. Yet, plenty of data dropped to confirm the on-going sluggishness of the housing market. Poor responses to key earnings report … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary This edition of “What Happened in the Housing Market” is truncated again because the shutdown of the Federal government. Yet, the shutdown did not prevent the stocks of home builders from outperforming the rest of the stock market for the month. Optimism over lower interest rates, improved affordability metrics, and … Read more