June 19, 2007

CNBC's Diana Olick rips the homebuilder CEOs. HP takes it up a notch from there.

HP has a simple message for the stock-pumping, lying, deceiving, illegal-immigrant-hiring, system-gaming, short-term-thinking, insider-stock-trading homebuilder CEO swindlers whose bloody hands are all over the dead housing industry's corpse.


F@*$ you.

You ruined yet another American industry, you enriched yourselves at the public's expense, you've ruined lives, you've destroyed families, and some of you will now be heading to jail.

Sleep well at night?

Here's excerpts from Diana's latest post. I hope the knives really come out soon (and the cuffs)

Home Builder Sentiment Down: And They’re Mad At Me??

If you happened to read my blog last week, you’ll remember what a warm reception I got from the CEOs of the major public home builders at the JP Morgan Basics and Industrials conference. As they summarily rejected my polite requests for interviews at our live camera, they also made it abundantly clear that it was media hype fueling the negative sentiment among healthy home buyers across the nation.

And then again today I had the joy of reporting yet another negative number for the housing sector. This is a fave of mine, because it’s not about the buyers and the government stats, or the real estate agents and their sales figures--it’s about the builders and their feelings, nothing more than feelings (sorry).

And the number is down again--down to 28, a low not seen since February of 1991.

So despite the fact that all these CEOs were telling me that I’m the only one shouting from the rooftops that the housing market is in trouble, they were busy quietly telling the bean counters at NAHB, that they really kinda felt the same way.

Yes, I know, the CEOs need to pump the stocks and pump up the stockholders’ enthusiasm, but come on

So I’d just like to throw out a big ol’ thank you to all those home builders out there who told their industry representatives that they think there might be some problems still to work out in housing. Forgive me for reporting your number. Didn’t mean to seem too bearish. And do let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

SEC filing enables KB home insider sales in 'technical' move
Los Angeles Business Journal, Jan 31, 2005 by Kate Berry

KB Home filed papers last week that will allow 15 of its top executives to eventually sell more than half a billion dollars worth of stock from incentive plans in 1999 and 2001.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Los Angeles-based KB listed 15 executives, including Chairman and Chief Executive Bruce Karatz, who acquired 5.2 million shares through incentive plans and stock grants issued in 1999 and 2001.

Anonymous said...

>>>SEC filing enables KB home insider sales in 'technical' move
Los Angeles Business Journal, Jan 31, 2005 by Kate Berry

KB Home filed papers last week that will allow 15 of its top executives to eventually sell more than half a billion dollars worth of stock from incentive plans in 1999 and 2001.<<<

looks like they saw something coming and they prepared for it....sounds crooked to me but what they hey..i am just a dumb amerikan in flyover country...

Anonymous said...

These CEO's prepared for this from day one.

Like Enron, the losses will be great for the "little man".

Unlike Enron, the long-term damage will be much greater to a much larger group of US citizens, over
a much longer period of time.

Anonymous said...

I don't get something. Builder confidence falls one day. Then the next the number of permits goes up. So builders have no confidence in the future yet they increase the numbers of permits?

As for all this they ruined an industry, whatever. Every industry has excesses during the good times. Remember when airlines were charing $2500 LAX to NY in the 90s? That's how it works.

Anonymous said...

"they also made it abundantly clear that it was media hype fueling the negative sentiment among healthy home buyers across the nation."

Interesting that media hype was never thought to be the cause of the run up in prices. That, of course, was based on changing fundamentals and a new paradigm.

Adam said...

Interesting to see that while homebuilders MUST disclose the truth to their shareholders (due to those pesky SEC rules, and all), they clearly wish such disclosures didn't get out to the house-buying, non-share-holding public! Oh, well, Good Luck With THAT!

Anonymous said...

I called the shills on CNBC, Cattle Drivers. Diana Olick is not one of them. She actually gets it, because she does her research. Truth is very popular these days.

Anonymous said...

Where is that idiot who was trolling this blog, spouting that Phoenix home prices had only fallen 3%, or was it 2%, or was it 1%?

I've seen them fall over 25% from 2005 with my own eyes. And now builders are turning up the heat with even deeper discounts, so that resale home sales are gasping for life.

Anonymous said...

Bob Toll is probably saying:

THANKS SUCKERS !!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Phoenix has not fallen 25%. Maybe a few homes here and there are listed for 25% off what they were listed for in 2005. That doesn't mean Phoenix as a whole is off 25%.
And sorry to burst your bubble (no pun intended) it won't be 25% off ever.

Call me a troll if it makes you feel better, doesn't change the fact you are delusional.

Anonymous said...

Hey,How'd the insiders do at Desert Star?The copper recyclers are doing well from that fiasco,HAhahahahhahahahahahahaaaa.

Anonymous said...

"Bob Toll is probably saying:
THANKS SUCKERS !!!!!!! "


HAHAHAH Me too! I made a small fortune shorting the shit out of TOL last year (June 05)!

HAR HAR!

Thanks chumps !

Anonymous said...

you see the typical neighbhorhood going up in various places in the united states and they all look alike because most of them are built by the same big builders using the same plans....when i look at kb homes neighbhorhoods, or lennar, or centex, etc......i ask myself.....who in their right mind would buy a house in there and who would want to live like that after paying a large sum of money to live there? houses close together, no trees usually, no grass and no fences since this is something the new owner has to supply......
man is this the american dream.?

living in some mcmansion in some hood where you can hear every word your neighbor is saying, etc...?

what happened to the american imagination? the houses all look the same and so do the cars......

Anonymous said...

Here's another one from June 2006:

John Laing Homes, one of the preeminent builders of homes in Southern California, has been sold to a Dubai based firm in an all cash deal for $1.05 billion. John Laing Homes is based out of Newport Beach with operations throughout the West. From the OC Register:

Emaar Properties, a developer that's behind some of the glittering construction blossoming in Dubai and the Mideast, signed the all-cash deal at the Torrey Pines Lodge in La Jolla, concluding six months of negotiations. The deal provides a U.S. foothold for the firm, whose operations span 11 Mideast nations.
According to the Register, Emaar plans to invest billions into John Laing with plans to expand its home building empire into "high-growth areas" around the US. If you've ever watched one of those shows on Discovery Channel, you're probably familiar with Emaar's work. They're presently building the world's largest tower and the world's largest shopping mall in Dubai.

Got to think Emaar is a little upset after being hoodwinked!

Anonymous said...

She's starting to sound bitter. The truth makes for a rough road in a world of lies, greed, and corruption, as HPers well know.

AnonyRuss said...

In terms of houses actually promptly selling on the MLS in my Northwest Phoenix Valley suburb, the figure is actually a 30% drop from the peak. Not just a drop from 2005 list prices, but a drop from 2005 sold prices. REOs and short sales are piling up like there is no tomorrow. One such MLS listing of a Shea Homes model in a nice subdivision that peaked at $290K to $305K in 2005 dropped its asking price to $199K yesterday. Of course, that model was selling for $140K in 2003 and will sell for less than that before the Phoenix bust fully plays out.

"Phoenix has not fallen 25%. Maybe a few homes here and there are listed for 25% off what they were listed for in 2005. That doesn't mean Phoenix as a whole is off 25%.
And sorry to burst your bubble (no pun intended) it won't be 25% off ever."