Bad news was good news for the street on Friday as tame core PPI coupled with weak retail sales data sent investors scampering to put buy orders in on the hope the Fed will eventually lower interest rates. With Friday's rally, much of Thursday's decline was erased even as more cracks appear in the world o' housing. Housing? It has been 'who cares about housing' for more than a month as earnings and mergers have tossed the housing debacle not onto the back burner, but out onto the grill with the empty propane tank on the sun-deck.
But interesting things continue to happen in the housing world...
IAC/InterActive's (IACI) Lending Tree is cutting jobs, and lots of them: LendingTree lays off nearly 500 workers.
Shares of IMPAC (IMH) slumped 5% Friday: Impac Mortgage posts first-quarter loss.
Shares of Opteum (OPX) slumped 24% on weak results.
HomeBanc (HMB) shares slumped 9%: HomeBanc reports loss of $23.8 million.
AIG managed to beat the street but has subprime headaches of its own: AIG first-quarter net up 29%, takes loans charge.
However, Novastar (NFI) is still alive and kicking: NovaStar Shares Rise on Market Recovery. So it was who cares about IMPAC, Opteum, etc.
Disclosure: I hold no position in any of the stocks mentioned.
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