new home sales fall

New home sales unexpectedly fell, tumbling 16.9% month-over-month (m/m) in February to a record low annual rate of 250,000 units, below the 290,000 rate forecasted by economists surveyed by Bloomberg, but January's figure was upwardly revised by 17,000 to a 301,000 annual unit rate. The median home price fell 8.9% y/y and dropped 13.9% m/m to $202,100. Inventory of new homes for sale fell to 186,000 units, representing 8.9 months of supply at the current sales rate, up from 7.4 months in January. February's surprising drop was paced by a 57.1% tumble in the Northeast.

New home sales are considered a timelier indicator of conditions in the housing market than existing home sales-which fell more than forecasted on Monday-as they are based on signings instead of closings. So the report dampened the outlook for avoiding a double dip in the housing sector and the start to the spring selling season. The sharp drops in prices for new homes illustrates the rising competition from the existing home front amid rising foreclosures and tight credit conditions that have increased the amount of all-cash buyers, which both are putting downward pressure on the values sellers can demand.

The Charlie Sheen Stock Index

Unless you never watch TV, never listen to the news on the radio, and never look at magazine covers, you know who Charlie Sheen is. Star of the extremely popular TV show Two and a Half Men, earning around 1.8 million dollars an episode, he has been in the news daily during the last couple weeks due to the disagreement between him and the show’s producers regarding the cancellation of the show. Sheen’s outspoken comments have made headlines, and he has been the guest on several talk shows. So it is only fitting that we look at the companies that have a connection to Charlie Sheen to see how their stocks have performed.

Stockerblog.com was the original developer and creator of numerous celebrity stock indexes, including the Paris Hilton Stock Index, the Gisele Bunchen Stock Index, the Heidi Klum Stock Index, and the Angelina Jolie Stock Index. Now it is time for the Charlie Sheen Stock Index, details of which can be found at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Based on the companies that have some connection to Sheen, the Sheen Index has outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average, since the beginning of this year, the beginning of last year, the beginning of 2009, and the beginning of 2008. As a matter of fact, since the February 24 radio broadcast of the Charlie Sheen interview hosted by Alex Jones, the Charlie Sheen Stock Index rose 2.0% versus only 0.8% for the Dow.

The Seven Immutable Laws Of Investing

I'm generally not all that enthralled with Montier and his writing. But this article is a very simple summary of principles that you should take with you every day in your investing journey.

Avoiding big mistakes is far more important than finding grand successes.

1. Always insist on a margin of safety
2. This time is never different
3. Be patient and wait for the fat pitch
4. Be contrarian
5. Risk is the permanent loss of capital, never a number
6. Be leery of leverage
7. Never invest in something you don't understand

-- Canadian Value