Real Estate Springs Green Sprouts

Pending Home Sales were reported Monday morning for the month of February. The data offered another green sprout, showing early signs that real estate activity is picking up. It was one of several recent indicators to do so. I see important reasons why real estate will see significant progress in 2015 and 2016 and recommend investment in real estate and in relative securities. See my report on real estate here.

Real Estate Relative Stocks	YTD	TTM
iShares US Real Estate (NYSE: IYR)	+3.6%	+22.4%
SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB)	+9.1%	+13.9%
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)	-13.0%	-8.9%
MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG)	+4.1%	+14.3%
Market Vectors Mortgage REIT (NYSE: MORT)	+1.0%	+9.3%
Pultegroup (NYSE: PHM)	+5.9%	+18.4%
D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI)	+12.5%	+30.6%
Apartment Investment & Mngmt. (NYSE: AIV)	+6.0%	+36.0%
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR)	+8.2%	+40.2%
Prologis (NYSE: PLD)	+2.1%	+11.2%

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.

What’s Good for Citigroup is Great for Real Estate Too

When the Federal Reserve recently released the results of its stress tests of the financial sector, namely the major money center banks like Citigroup (NYSE: C), we got some fantastic news. All of the major money lenders passed the first round of the stress test with flying colors, and all got through the second round with permission to move ahead with their capital plans. The news was especially wonderful for Citigroup (NYSE: C), which was coming off its prior year failure. The stock is valued at a discount to even its weakest peers, and has upside to gain. But what many are missing here is that this is absolutely fantastic news for the real estate sector as well as for Citi. See my full report here.

Banking Peers	Tangible Book Value	Price-to-TB	Implied Value of C	Implied Gain to Peer Value
Citigroup (NYSE: C)	56.83	0.9X
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)	14.43	1.1X	62.51	+10%
J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM)	44.69	1.4X	79.56
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)	30.81	1.8X	102.29
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)	27.41	1.3X	73.88
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS)	153.79	1.25X	71.04
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB)	17.38	2.6X	147.76
AVERAGE			$89.51	+58%

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.

Home Builders - Why So Blue?

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported its Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI is a measure of homebuilder sentiment, and it showed homebuilders were blue about February. The shares of the SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB) came down off a gap-open higher open once the HMI report was released. The report showed the HMI fell in February to 53, from 55 in January. Readings above 50 indicate a generally positive mood, but the decrease in the HMI was the third consecutive decline and it is approaching that breakeven mark. See my full report on housing here.

Homebuilder Shares	03-16-15
Pultegroup (NYSE: PHM)	+0.2%
D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI)	+1.0%
K.B. Home (NYSE: KBH)	-0.4%
Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL)	-0.6%
Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH)	-0.7%
Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL)	+0.3%
Lennar (NYSE: LEN)	+0.2%
Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV)	-1.5%

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.

Real Estate Stocks Face Risk this Week

Real estate relative securities face several key issues this week, and could be impacted by the relative data schedule. Several housing reports are scheduled for release which could impact the shares, but the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting should weigh greatest. See my report on real estate stocks here.

Real Estate Relative Securities	YTD	TTM
iShares US Real Estate (NYSE:  IYR)	+0.0%	+18.8%
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR)	+4.9%	+36.9%
Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE: ARI)	+1.3%	+8.9%
Market Vectors Mortgage REIT (NYSE: MORT)	-1.9%	+5.5%
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)	-9.8%	-3.3%
MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG)	+1.0%	+10.9%
SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB)	+5.0%	+9.3%

DISCLOSURE: Kaminis is long BAC. 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.