Construction: iStockAnalyst.com Feed

New Home Sales Rise!

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:15:53 GMT

In a very positive sign for the economy, new home sales rose by 6.2% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000. This far exceeded consensus expectations for an annual new home sales rate of just 404,000. While new home sales are just a small fraction of total homes sales -- on Monday, it was reported that Existing Homes Sales were at an annual rate of 6.1 million -- new home sales pack a much bigger punch for the economy.[More...]

Infrastructure Stocks About To Rise?

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:22:32 GMT

Mad Money’s Jim Cramer discussed two high-quality infrastructure stocks: Fluor (FLR) and Jacobs Engineering (JEC). He analyzed them from both the technical and fundamental perspective on the segment called “Off the Charts.” Both stocks have greatly underperformed the market benchmarks in the last quarter, with both of them falling nearly 20% over the past 13 weeks.[More...]

Housing Has Never Been More Affordable

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:36:24 GMT

The release of the Case-Schiller Home Price Index is just one of the plethora of housing indicators due to be released this week. We bought home builders was based on low supply and the prospect of high demand. In fact, last week the National Association of Homebuilders released its Housing...[More...]

Stocks Advance As US Dollar Plays Defence

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:18:26 GMT

Markets generally adopted a slightly more defensive tone on Friday. In the US, utilities and consumer stables managed small gains, but financials, consumer cyclicals and IT fell.[More...]

Wall Street Drops As Technology Shares Decline, General Electric (GE) Slips

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:31:03 GMT

US stocks dropped for the third straight day Friday as investors reacted negatively to Dell Inc.'s worse than expected quarterly results. Shares also retreated as a stronger dollar weighed upon commodity sector.[More...]

Options Intelligence Report: Energy Sector Option Player Predicts Slippage With Butterfly Combo

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:35:58 GMT

Today's tickers: XLE, MU, ADCT, KBH, DELL, NE & GPS[More...]

Pulte Homes Moves To The Sell-Block

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:56:23 GMT

On Wednesday we wrote a piece talking about the strange upgrade of Pulte Homes (PHM) by an analyst at Citigroup (C). At that time (Upgrade Trumps Macro-Economics for Homebuilders), we reiterated our [More...]

US Stock Futures Signal Losses, Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) In Focus

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:01:06 GMT

US stock futures pointed to a downbeat start Friday after Dell Inc. reported disappointing quarterly profit and sales that badly missed Wall Street's forecasts.[More...]

Party Like It's Early 2008

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:14:27 GMT

Wall Street is entirely too focused on current earnings, as noted by Ben Graham. So when a company shows declining earnings on declining revenues, the stock price will take a hit, even if the declines are purely cyclical. For example, consider the quarter-by-quarter revenue chart for KSW Inc.[More...]

Upgrade Trumps Macro-Economics For Homebuilders

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:26:49 GMT

This morning the Commerce Department released figures that homebuilding activity in the U.S. had unexpectedly fallen in October. The reasoning was that increased joblessness in addition to doubts that the homebuyer tax credit would be renewed weighed on homebuilders. Homebuilders slipped to an annual pace of only 529,000 homes which is 11% lower than last year and the lowest result since April. Multifamily homes such as condos and townhouses slumped 35 percent, far more than single family homes. Economists had expected to see a slight rise in homebuilding activity in the month, which only adds to the surprise. Economists, always ready with an answer, pointed out that the wettest October in century could have been a factor. Building permits also saw an unexpected drop to only 552,000 annual rate.[More...]

Four Key Sectors Struggle

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:02:37 GMT

While I still have at least one and a half feet placed firmly in the bull camp, I am increasingly concerned with a number of signs from some key technical indicators. Near the top of my list of concerns is market breadth, as measured by the McClellan Summation Index and other similar market breadth indicators. The bottom line is that if the indices continue to advance on the strength of a narrow base of rising stocks while the majority of issues move sideways or decline, then the rally will have trouble sustaining itself.[More...]

Home Builders Receive Massive Windfall (Bailout)

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:29:27 GMT

Once again we see another disguised bailout. Remember that Obama said the bailouts were over, instead they just disguise them. On Nov. 6, President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 into law, extending unemployment benefits by 20 weeks and renewing the first-time homebuyer tax credit until next April.[More...]

Wall Street Gains On Interest Rate Outlook, Bank Of America (NYSE: BAC) Rallies

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:35:24 GMT

US stocks finished higher on Wednesday after homebuilder Toll Brothers issued an upbeat revenue forecast. Shares also rallied on hopes of continued low interest rates.[More...]

Options Intelligence Report: Wells Fargo Put Spreaders Back In Town

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:24:21 GMT

Today's tickers: WFC, AMR, PG, DRYS, DTV, M, EMC, WYNN, TOL & SFD[More...]

Market Closing Update: Stocks Keep Rally Alive

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:15:00 GMT

Stock end firmer, though off earlier highs, paring gains once the dollar stabilized. Wednesday's early optimism was fueled by Federal Reserve comments favoring holding interest rates at low levels and positive factory data out of China. Initial dollar weakness sent commodities higher, helping related stocks.[More...]

Options Intelligence Report: Gold Miners ETF Attracts Bullish Option Plays

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:15:10 GMT

Today’s tickers: GDX, CF, S, XHB, PCLN, XLF, CX, CAR, BZH, CRI & ERTS[More...]

Quanta Services (PWR): Infrastructure Power Play

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:15:53 GMT

"I'm excited about Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR), a contracting company that specializes in building utility transmission and distribution infrastructure," says Ian Wyatt. In his Top Stock Insights, he explains, "The current focus in the US of projects that improve energy conservation, utilize renewable resources, and improve air quality make Quanta an excellent[More...]

Wall Street Ends Volatile Session Mixed, Merck (NYSE: MRK) Soars

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:15:28 GMT

US stocks finished mostly higher on Wednesday after Federal Reserve left benchmark interest rate unchanged at near zero and said that it will keep them low for an extended period.[More...]

US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Fed, Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) Eyed

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:59:30 GMT

US stock futures advanced on Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of the US Federal Reserve meeting.[More...]

Earnings Pops

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:58:51 GMT

For companies with high fixed costs, earnings are particularly sensitive to drops in revenue. As a result, we have seen many such companies show negative earnings over the last few quarters.[More...]