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Homebuilder ETFs Trade Nervously Lower Ahead Of Earnings News
By Tom Lydon on July 28, 2008 | More Posts By Tom Lydon | Author's Website
Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) is expected to deliver their second-quarter earnings numbers, but investors and exchange traded funds (ETFs) aren’t exuding positivity ahead of the news.
Meritage is the 12th-largest homebuilder in the United States.
If the numbers aren’t up to par, it’s just the latest in a long list of bad news for the housing industry. Home sales and prices are falling, with the Commerce Department reporting a 0.6% drop in new single-family home sales in June, reports Alex Veiga for the Associated Press. Sales are now 33% below where they were one year ago, and prices are off 2%.
Centex Corp. is also expected to report a quarterly loss tomorrow, while Pulte Homes announced a loss earlier last week.
The homebuilders ETFs are all trading sharply lower this morning, including:
- FocusShares ISE Homebuilders Index Fund [[saw]]: down 15.4% year-to-date; MTH is 4.8%; Centex is 6.2%; Pulte is 5%
- iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction [[itb]]: down 13.4% year-to-date; MTH is 6%; Pulte is 6.2%
- SPDR Homebuilders [[xhb]]: down 11.8% year-to-date; MTH is 4.7%
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