Investopedia: Signs Of Dry Rot In The Building Market

It is easy to get confused and frustrated trying to figure out the housing and homebuilding market these days. A company like Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) can seem to be doing a little better, only to see news a few weeks later about dour housing starts or hear disappointing news from Lender Processing Services (NYSE:LPS) about the state of foreclosures. 

Adding fuel to the fire is Friday's news from Universal Forest Products (Nasdaq:UFPI) that their traditional peak selling season was disappointing and the lumber market is in tough shape. While bad news at UFPI does not guarantee bad news for Pulte (NYSE:PHM), Lowe's (NYSE:LOW), USG (NYSE:USG) or American Woodmark (Nasdaq:AMWD), it does offer up evidence that the long-hoped for recovery is still waiting to bloom.

When a Peak Becomes a Valley
The period from March to May is supposed to be some of the strongest months in the year for Universal Forest Products, a producer of lumber and various building products. Unfortunately, the company announced last Friday that year-to-date sales were down 9.5% through May, retail sales were down 15% and the lumber market declined for 11 straight weeks during what should have been a strong selling period.


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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Signs-Of-Dry-Rot-In-The-Building-Market-UFPI-LOW-USG-AMWD-HD0628.aspx

Investopedia: Lowe's Still Seeing Only Slow Progress

Investors don't need to wait until Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) or Home Depot (NYSE:HD) report earnings to know that the housing and big-ticket consumer spending environments are tough. The news is still full of stories about the high rate of foreclosures, the low rates of housing starts and the ongoing discrepancy between the recovery that large corporations are seeing and the recovery that individual consumers are experiencing.


A Tough, Disappointing Start to the Year
Lowe's started the fiscal year by missing on both its top and bottom line numbers. Revenue dropped 1.6% this quarter, coming in about 3% lower than analysts expected and below even the lowest published estimate. Poor top line performance was fueled by disappointing comps - down 3.3% from last year's level. While weather certainly played a role, weather is a convenient excuse for retailers; funny how weather never seems to keep shoppers from places like Lululemon Athletica (Nasdaq:LULU).


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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Lowes-Still-Seeing-Only-Slow-Progress-LOW-HD-TTC-WHR-SHW-MAS-FO0518.aspx

Investopedia: Central European Distribution - From Russia, With Disappointment

Although the Russian character is suffused with a grim fatalism, there is also a strong history of resilience in the face of adversity and an unwillingness to back away from a challenge. Though Central European Distribution (Nasdaq:CEDC) is technically an American company, this leading producer and seller of vodka in Russia and Poland may do well to take a page from its customers. While CEDC is a liquor company with real prospects for the future, it has just as many real problems in the present. 


A Bad End To A Hard Year
For much of 2010, Central European Distribution has better resembled the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. Missed, and then lowered, guidance had been an issue throughout 2010 and there was always something else to blame - a cold winter, a hot summer, a tragic plane crash that killed Poland's president, other important government figures, and 96 people in total.

Maybe it should not have been surprising, then, that CEDC would miss again in the fourth quarter. Revenue dropped 11% for the final quarter and certainly missed estimates. This time the company pointed to production problems during the peak selling season as the culprit, but the company did note that volumes increased in Russia by 8% and the company stabilized (and then reversed) market share losses in Poland.


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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Central-European-Distribution-From-Russia-With-Disappointment-CEDC-DEO-LVMUY-PDRDY-BF.B-FO-PEP0307.aspx

Breakup Key For Fortune Brands?

Conglomerates are funny things. It seems that if a company can get large enough, say on the order of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) or United Technologies (NYSE:UTX), investors often make their peace with the corporate structure and go about their business. Smaller companies get quite a bit more scrutiny when they are in multiple business lines, though, and the peculiar combination of booze, golf clubs, faucets and front doors always seemed to fuel speculation that Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO) would eventually break itself up into its constituent parts. Years of speculation have finally come true, as the company announced Wednesday morning that it would launch just such a plan.

From One to Three
At this point, it seems as though the board of directors at Fortune Brands has only really decided on the big-picture aspects of the plan. Fortune Brands itself will continue as a publicly-traded company focused on the spirits business. The home and security business (with its leading businesses in faucets, cabinets and doors) will be spun-off to shareholders and become a separate publicly-traded company. The fate of the golf business is less certain - the company will either spin this business off as another publicly-traded entity or sell it outright.

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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Breakup-Key-For-Fortune-Brands-FO-DEO-ELY-NKE-MAS-SWK-BF.B1209.aspx