Pending Home Sales Show Solidly in March 2011

The National Association of Realtors regular monthly release, showing Pending Home Sales, indicates the continuation of improvement in the real estate market in March 2011. While growth was fragmented, and as activity remains just mildly positive, the realtor group affirmed its forecast for growth in housing in 2011.

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Pending Home Sales Show Solidly in March 2011

Slow and steady wins the race. The sprinting hare overexerts himself and tires, and the sure tortoise passes him lying in exhaustion. This is illustrated in every asset bubble, driven by hare-infatuated capital, and it was the case again in the housing bubble of the last decade. The good news is that the death of the hare is behind us and the tortoise is now making his way, progressing.

The National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index increased by 5.1% over the revised lower February mark, reaching 94.1 in March. Still, this index and all other real estate metrics that have been recently reported show a level of activity short of the prior year; the Pending Home Sales Index was 11.4% below the 106.2 March 2010 mark. The NAR points out why, reminding investors that last spring's market was inflated by the deadline to qualify for the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. As we approach the summer-low comparables for real estate activity though, year-over-year comparisons should show improvement like the month-to-month comparisons reflect currently. Understanding this allows for the digestion of the NAR's full 2011 forecast for 5 to 10 percent existing home sales growth.

Monthly activity has been choppy, but as we look back at the change since last June, we find pending home sales have increased by 24%. A closer inspection of regional activity also serves to blur observation of general growth. The Northeast, which was burdened by heavy snowfall through January and into February, saw pending home sales slip 3.2% in March. Many theorize that the whole sales process, which includes prospective buyers walking through homes, was set aback by the extreme weather conditions this past winter. The Midwest, where weather again is certainly at issue, only saw a 3.0% increase in March. But in the West and South, where weather is more favorable and where the population of the nation tends to migrate, we saw better growth rates. The Pending Home Sales Index for the West rose by 3.1%, but is closer to prior year levels than any other region. In the South, growth spurted by 10.3% in March.

One troubling trend though is that the percentage of distressed property transactions is increasing, reaching about 40% last month. This serves to lower the average sale ticket, and weighs on overall pricing comparisons. However, these properties are also weeding themselves out of the market and serving to help place a floor for housing to grow from. On the positive, the weaker dollar resulting from Federal Reserve policy and other factors, serves to draw foreign demand for U.S. assets. Thus, while domestic demand is hampered by high unemployment and tighter lending standards, a wider door is opened to foreign investors.

In conclusion, this report serves as yet another signal that a floor in housing seems set. Barring further disruption to the economy, perhaps driven by rising fuel, food and other prices, or other unforeseen event, housing seems to offer opportune alternative investment.

Editor's Note: Article should interest investors in Investors Title (Nasdaq: ITIC), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC.OB), Fannie Mae (OTC: FNMA.OB), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Toronto Dominion (NYSE: TD), UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (NYSE: SRS), Ultra Real Estate ProShares (NYSE: URE), ING Clarion Global Real Estate Income Fund (NYSE: IGR), Xinyuan Real Estate Co. (NYSE: XIN), Rydex Real Estate Fund H (Nasdaq: RYHRX), T. Rowe Price Real Estate Fund (Nasdaq: TRREX), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV), D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH), Lennar (NYSE: LEN), K.B. Homes (NYSE: KBH), Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM), NVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR), Gafisa SA (NYSE: GFA), MDC Holdings (NYSE: MDC), Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL), Meritage Homes (NYSE: MTH), Brookfield Homes (NYSE: BHS), Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF), M/I Homes (NYSE: MHO), Orleans Homebuilders (AMEX: OHB), Vanguard REIT Index ETF (NYSE: VNQ), PNC Bank (NYSE: PNC), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Hooker Furniture (Nasdaq: HOFT), Ethan Allen (NYSE: ETH), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR), Williams Sonoma (NYSE: WSM), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Lowes (NYSE: LOW), Nasdaq: XNFZX, Nasdaq: FSAZX, Avatar Holdings (Nasdaq: AVTR), Apartment Investment & Management (NYSE: AIV), Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), Avalonbay Communities (NYSE: AVB), UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR), Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS), Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT), Senior Housing Properties (NYSE: SNH), BRE Properties (NYSE: BRE), Home Properties (NYSE: HME), Mid-America Apartment (NYSE: MAA), Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE: ELS), American Campus Communities (NYSE: ACC), Colonial Properties (NYSE: CLP), American Capital Agency (Nasdaq: AGNC), Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI), Associated Estates (NYSE: AEC), PennyMac Mortgage (NYSE: PMT), Two Harbors (AMEX: TWO), Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

EPS Movers - BA BRCM ROK

Our EPS Movers for April 27, 2011 highlights a positive driver at Boeing and negative news at Rockwell Automation and Broadcom. Being an old analyst, I could not help but add my feeling (or value added color) to the market moving news found here.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Today's EPS reporters included NYSE: AEA, Nasdaq: AFFX, NYSE: AFL, Nasdaq: AKAM, NYSE: ATI, NYSE: ALL, Nasdaq: ARII, Nasdaq: ARRS, NYSE: ARW, NYSE: ABG, NYSE: AIZ, NYSE: AVB, NYSE: AVY, Nasdaq: BIDU, NYSE: BHI, NYSE: ABX, NYSE: BP, NYSE: EAT, NYSE: COG, Nasdaq: CTIC, Nasdaq: CHRM, Nasdaq: CINF, NYSE: CIT, Nasdaq: CTXS, NYSE: COP, NYSE: GLW, Nasdaq: CSGP, NYSE: CS, NYSE: CCI, NYSE: DAN, Nasdaq: DEST, NYSE: DBD, Nasdaq: DCOM, NYSE: DPS, NYSE: DTE, NYSE: DUF, Nasdaq: EBAY, NYSE: ENR, NYSE: EFX, NYSE: ETH, NYSE: RE, Nasdaq: DAVE, Nasdaq: FISV, Nasdaq: FLEX, NYSE: FLS, NYSE: GD, Nasdaq: GERN, NYSE: HGR, NYSE: HES, NYSE: HMC, Nasdaq: ISIL, NYSE: IVZ, Nasdaq: IPCM, NYSE: JAH, Nasdaq: KALU, Nasdaq: KONA, NYSE: LAZ, NYSE: LNC, NYSE: LAD, NYSE: LIZ, Nasdaq: LOGI, NYSE: LZ, NYSE: LL, NYSE: MSO, NYSE: MHH, Nasdaq: MBFI, NYSE: MWV, NYSE: MCO, Nasdaq: MORN, NYSE: NOV, NYSE: NSC, NYSE: NOC, Nasdaq: NTRI, NYSE: OII, NYSE: OIS, NYSE: OC, NYSE: OI, NYSE: PH, Nasdaq: PFCB, NYSE: PX, NYSE: RA, NYSE: RGS, Nasdaq: SVVS, NYSE: SCG, NYSE: SEE, NYSE: SCI, NYSE: SKX, Nasdaq: SBUX, Nasdaq: SRCL, Nasdaq: SUPG, NYSE: SPN, Nasdaq: SUSQ, NYSE: TDY, NYSE: JNY, NYSE: TMO, NYSE: TRN, NYSE: TUP, NYSE: VAR, NYSE: WLP, NYSE: WHR, NYSE: WYN, Nasdaq: XLNX.

EPS Movers – BA BRCM ROK

By The Greek

Boeing

Boeing (NYSE: BA) climbed about 1% after the aerospace giant beat analyst expectations and affirmed both revenue and EPS guidance. Boeing earned $0.78 a share, beating analysts' expectations handily, as FactSet had the consensus at $0.70. All was not perfect though, as BA's revenue, at $14.9 billion, was short of analysts' expectations for $15.3 billion. The company's revenue shortfall derived from its commercial aircraft production, which missed expectations. Boeing's 777 deliveries were down from the prior year, but the company plans to up production to 7 per month, from 5 now, to make up for the difference. The company's military aircraft deliveries satisfied analysts. The company built up investor confidence by reaffirming its full year guidance, which calls for revenues of $68 to $71 billion and EPS of $3.80 to $4.00 per share. Boeing said it still expected to deliver its new 787 during the third quarter and its freighter version of its 747-8 in the middle of the year. Playing catch up ain't easy, and we've been hearing about the new jumbo jet for a long while now... In other words, my hopes are not high here.

Broadcom

Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM) dropped 12% after the company provided soft second quarter guidance tied to the mobility unit, an area of importance and the reason why several analysts favor the shares. Broadcom posted quarterly revenue of $1.82 billion, against the analysts' consensus forecast for $1.81 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data. The company posted adjusted quarterly income of $0.68 a share, versus the analysts' consensus for $0.59. At least two analysts came out to defend the shares, already rated buy by both firms (Lazard and Needham). The company said its revised guidance for the current quarter is for $1.75 billion to $1.85 billion in net revenue, and that matched poorly against the analysts' consensus, which sat at $1.9 billion. Some of the defensive chatter pointed to overall weakness in mobile phones; in other words, not Broadcom's fault, nor a market share issue. Still, when investors are banking on a certain level of sales and EPS, and the result is short, then the stock price will compensate as well. Of the three companies listed, though, this is the only one I'm somewhat positive about on weakness.

Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) lost 8.5% Wednesday after it cited Japan related supply chain issues, warning its full FY 11 could be affected. The maker of factory efficiency systems beat fiscal second quarter expectations, earning $1.14 a share, against an analysts' consensus estimate marked at $1.12 (Thomson Reuters). The company topped sales estimates too, making $1.46 billion, against estimates for $1.41 billion. The company has benefited this year by renewed corporate investment in manufacturing efficiency, and the company's shares had risen nearly 40% this year, and so there was little margin for error heading into the report. Investors had gotten used to the company raising guidance each quarter. What's ironic is that the company still raised the bottom end of its guidance range, but kept the ceiling the same (range: $4.40 to $4.60). That change left the analysts' consensus of $4.54 for the full year sitting naked above the middle of the company's guidance, and investors lost some enthusiasm. The company says some of its Japanese suppliers of lesser importance operate in nuclear troubled areas, and that while its inventory is okay for the current quarter, the end of this year and 2012 could be affected by any shortfall of supply. We call this the first shoe to drop, and the first is usually followed by a second...

The rest of the day's earnings reports highlighted Advance America (NYSE: AEA), Affymetrix (Nasdaq: AFFX), Aflac (NYSE: AFL), Akamai Technologies (Nasdaq: AKAM), Allegheny Technologies (NYSE: ATI), Allstate (NYSE: ALL), American Railcar (Nasdaq: ARII), ARRIS Group (Nasdaq: ARRS), Arrow Electronics (NYSE: ARW), Asbury Automotive (NYSE: ABG), Assurant (NYSE: AIZ), Avalonbay (NYSE: AVB), Avery Dennison (NYSE: AVY), Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI), Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), BP (NYSE: BP), Brinker International (NYSE: EAT), Cabot Oil and Gas (NYSE: COG), Cell Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CTIC), Charm Communications (Nasdaq: CHRM), Cincinnati Financial (Nasdaq: CINF), CIT Group (NYSE: CIT), Citrix Systems (Nasdaq: CTXS), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Corning (NYSE: GLW), Costar (Nasdaq: CSGP), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI), Dana Holding (NYSE: DAN), Destination Maternity (Nasdaq: DEST), Diebold (NYSE: DBD), Dime Community Bancshares (Nasdaq: DCOM), Dr. Pepper Snapple (NYSE: DPS), DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE), Duff & Phelps (NYSE: DUF), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), Energizer (NYSE: ENR), Equifax (NYSE: EFX), Ethan Allen (NYSE: ETH), Everest Re (NYSE: RE), Famous Dave’s (Nasdaq: DAVE), Fiserv (Nasdaq: FISV), Flextronics (Nasdaq: FLEX), Flowserve (NYSE: FLS), General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), Geron (Nasdaq: GERN), Hanger Orthopedic (NYSE: HGR), Hess (NYSE: HES), Honda Motor (NYSE: HMC), Intersil (Nasdaq: ISIL), Invesco (NYSE: IVZ), IPC The Hospitalist (Nasdaq: IPCM), Jarden (NYSE: JAH), Kaiser Aluminum (Nasdaq: KALU), Kona Grill (Nasdaq: KONA), Lazard (NYSE: LAZ), Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC), Lithia Motors (NYSE: LAD), Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ), Logitech (Nasdaq: LOGI), Lubrizol (NYSE: LZ), Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL), Martha Stewart (NYSE: MSO), Mastech (NYSE: MHH), MB Financial (Nasdaq: MBFI), Meadwestvaco (NYSE: MWV), Moody’s (NYSE: MCO), Morningstar (Nasdaq: MORN), National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV), Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC), Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Nutrisystem (Nasdaq: NTRI), Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII), Oil States (NYSE: OIS), Owens Corning (NYSE: OC), Owens Illinois (NYSE: OI), Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH), P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (Nasdaq: PFCB), Praxair (NYSE: PX), RailAmerica (NYSE: RA), Regis (NYSE: RGS), Savvis (Nasdaq: SVVS), SCANA (NYSE: SCG), Sealed Air (NYSE: SEE), Service Corp. (NYSE: SCI), Skechers (NYSE: SKX), Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), Stericycle (Nasdaq: SRCL), Supergen (Nasdaq: SUPG), Superior Energy (NYSE: SPN), Susquehanna Bancshares (Nasdaq: SUSQ), Teledyne (NYSE: TDY), The Jones Group (NYSE: JNY), Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO), Trinity Industries (NYSE: TRN), Tupperware (NYSE: TUP), Varian Medical (NYSE: VAR), Wellpoint (NYSE: WLP), Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR), Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN), Xilinx (Nasdaq: XLNX) and more.

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

FOMC Monetary Policy Statement April 2011

What follows is the verbatim monetary policy statement from the Federal Reserve's April Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, released on April 27, 2011. We have not edited nor altered the information in any manner, and provide it here for your information.

NYSE: BAC, NYSE: JPM, NYSE: GS, NYSE: C, NYSE: MS, NYSE: WFC, NYSE: TD, NYSE: PNC, NYSE: STT, NYSE: JNS, Nasdaq: TROW, NYSE: GE, NYSE: WMT, NYSE: MCD, NYSE: AA, NYSE: AXP, NYSE: BA, NYSE: CAT, Nasdaq: CSCO, NYSE: CVX, NYSE: DD, NYSE: DIS, NYSE: HD, NYSE: HPQ, NYSE: IBM, Nasdaq: INTC, NYSE: JNJ, NYSE: KFT, NYSE: KO, NYSE: MMM, NYSE: MRK, Nasdaq: MSFT, NYSE: PFE, NYSE: PG, NYSE: T, NYSE: TRV, NYSE: UTX, NYSE: VZ, NYSE: XOM, Nasdaq: PAYX, NYSE: MAN, NYSE: RHI

FOMC Monetary Policy Statement April 2011

Release Date: April 27, 2011

For immediate release

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March indicates that the economic recovery is proceeding at a moderate pace and overall conditions in the labor market are improving gradually. Household spending and business investment in equipment and software continue to expand. However, investment in nonresidential structures is still weak, and the housing sector continues to be depressed. Commodity prices have risen significantly since last summer, and concerns about global supplies of crude oil have contributed to a further increase in oil prices since the Committee met in March. Inflation has picked up in recent months, but longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable and measures of underlying inflation are still subdued.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The unemployment rate remains elevated, and measures of underlying inflation continue to be somewhat low, relative to levels that the Committee judges to be consistent, over the longer run, with its dual mandate. Increases in the prices of energy and other commodities have pushed up inflation in recent months. The Committee expects these effects to be transitory, but it will pay close attention to the evolution of inflation and inflation expectations. The Committee continues to anticipate a gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization in a context of price stability.

To promote a stronger pace of economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to continue expanding its holdings of securities as announced in November. In particular, the Committee is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its securities holdings and will complete purchases of $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of the current quarter. The Committee will regularly review the size and composition of its securities holdings in light of incoming information and is prepared to adjust those holdings as needed to best foster maximum employment and price stability.

The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate for an extended period.

The Committee will continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its policy tools as necessary to support the economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth A. Duke; Charles L. Evans; Richard W. Fisher; Narayana Kocherlakota; Charles I. Plosser; Sarah Bloom Raskin; Daniel K. Tarullo; and Janet L. Yellen.

Article should interest investors in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), TD Bank (NYSE: TD), PNC Bank (NYSE: PNC), State Street (NYSE: STT), Janus (NYSE: JNS), T. Rowe Price (Nasdaq: TROW), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Alcoa (NYSE: AA), American Express (NYSE: AXP), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), DuPont (NYSE: DD), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Kraft (NYSE: KFT), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), 3M (NYSE: MMM), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), AT&T (NYSE: T), Travelers (NYSE: TRV), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX), Manpower (NYSE: MAN), Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.