Forget the statistical analysis chatter from the guru of the minute and the price of oil or gold because we’re in a Mother Goose economy.The author of nursery rhymes summed up our current fine mess in “This is the House that Jack Built.” The endless repetition delights children at bedtime and drives its adult readers nuts but the lesson is clear: Events are linked and there’s no clear way to escape the logical progression of the unfolding chaos underscored by the utter complacency of all involved.If you haven’t been able to pry yourself away from the latest grim table ...

Stocks of residential builders have benefited amid signs of improvement in the troubled housing sector, although there are those that largely chalk up any gains to controversial tax credits for home buyers.

As we’ve all learned by now hope is not a strategy.Still Lowe’s (LOW) Chief Executive Robert Niblock tried to evoke that feeling of hopefulness in announcing the company’s dismal third-quarter earnings on Monday.The number two home-improvement retailer said third-quarter profit fell 30% as customers continued to delay large purchases amid a weak economy.Profit in the quarter at Lowe’s was $344 million or $0.23 per share down from $488 million or $0.33 per share in the same quarter last year. Excluding certain extraordinary expenses profit was $0.24 per share matching analyst expectations polled by Thomson Reuters.Revenue edged down 3% to ...

At the end of the day, and over the next year or two, the company still has a lot to prove to Wall Street.

Yesterday biz TV went ga-ga over Toll Brothers (TOL) order numbers and the “unbelievable” 6.9% cancellation rate. Similarly on Tuesday Beazer Homes (BZH) reported a shockingly bullish profit for the quarter. Time for me to throw a couple of wet blankets on these parades.Let me first get to the Toll Brothers cancellation issue. With Average Selling Prices (ASP) above $500 000 and presumably not many of the underlying loans qualifying for the 3% down “no-skin-in-the-game” GSE loans (but wait didn’t Senator Chris Dodd underpin much of his financial reform bill on the concept of investors having “skin in the ...