Lennar Corp

Construction workers work on a home, as a subdivision of home is built in San Marcos, California, January 31, 2023.Mike Blake | ReutersMortgage rates are high and volatile, homes are still pricey, and inflation is not in check, but, even so, the nation's homebuilders are starting to feel better about their business.A monthly gauge of builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes rose in March, even though analysts expected a drop. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market…

Demand for mortgages increased for the second straight week, despite some volatility in mortgage rates.Total application volume rose 6.5% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index.The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) decreased to 6.71% from 6.79%, with points falling to 0.79 from 0.80 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment.That was the…

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday said that investors still have a chance to buy homebuilder stocks before a possible run-up."The charts, as interpreted by Dan Fitzpatrick, suggest that we're looking at a truly counterintuitive bull market in the homebuilders, and even though that's not supposed to happen at this point in the business cycle, the bulls keep running anyway," he said.The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates over the last year to tamp down inflation, hammering stocks of every industry from tech to retail to…

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Thursday reminded investors that pain in the stock market is unfortunately necessary for the Federal Reserve to win against inflation."Nobody wants to root for layoffs or lower stock prices. But the alternative is persistently high inflation — endless price increases for everything — and nobody wants that either," he said.Stocks fell on Thursday after fresh data indicated that the labor market remains strong, despite the Fed's aggressive interest rate hikes to tamp down rising prices. Cramer explained…

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:Tesla (TSLA) – Tesla fell 1.2% in premarket trading after an SEC filing showed that Elon Musk sold another $3.6 billion in shares. The stock is down 55% year to date through Wednesday.Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) – Warner Bros. Discovery raised its projected costs for scrapping planned content by $1 billion to a total of $3.5 billion. The media company has been implementing cost-cutting measures since the merger of AT&T's WarnerMedia unit and Discovery earlier…

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Friday advised investors to keep their eyes peeled for chances to improve their portfolios next week."These big macro numbers and important Fed meetings are a drag – I know. They obscure the actual opportunities out there. I want you to keep your eyes open for ideas and not be blinded by the light," he said.related investing newsStocks tumbled to end the week down on Friday, roiled by investors' worries about a possible recession. Two key economic events take place next week, including the release of…

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:Accenture (ACN) – The consulting firm reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue, but gave a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast for the current quarter. Accenture pointed to IT spending cuts by corporate customers and a negative impact from the stronger dollar. Nonetheless, Accenture gained 1% in premarket trading.Darden Restaurants (DRI) – The parent of Olive Garden and other restaurant chains fell 2.5% in the premarket after reporting in-line…

Residential single family homes construction by KB Home Residential single family homes construction by KB Home are shown under construction in the community of Valley Center, California, U.S. June 3, 2021.Mike Blake | ReutersCheck out the companies making headlines after hours.KB Home — Shares dipped 2.1% in extended trading after the homebuilder disappointed on revenue expectations in its earnings results. KB Home reported earnings of $2.86 per share on revenue of $1.85 billion. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were…

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday said that any rallies in the market will be short-lived as long as inflation remains persistent."Sometimes you don't need to know the price of the Dow, you just need to know the price of Kerrygold butter or a Lennar three-bedroom," the "Mad Money" host said.related investing news3 takeaways from Tuesday’s Morning Meeting: Hold onto cash, watch Ford and don’t miss these exclusive interviews"If they come down — not just versus last year, but versus two years ago or three years ago — then your…

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Friday said that FedEx's warning of worsening economic conditions suggests the Federal Reserve is doing better in its inflation effort than expected — meaning the central bank could take a step back after its meeting next week."If Fed chief Jay Powell watched our interview last night … he might discover that he's made more progress whipping inflation than he might realize," Cramer said."Maybe Powell will hit us with another 75 basis point hike right here and then say maybe it's time to take a more…