The April Housing Starts report showed a surprising 8.2 percent increase. This is somewhat encouraging after seeing so many declines over the past few years.
While this might not signal a reversal for the housing market, it at least shows that the housing sector is stabilizing. And it is being reflected in the housing stocks. Most of them have made a slight reversal from their lows.
There was another piece of good news for housing from the April Retail Sales report. Of all the sub-sectors within the retail group, building supplies saw the greatest growth for the month. This could be a sign of things to come.
The S&P Homebuilders Spyder (XHB) has bounced back from its January low. The stock has recently moved above its 100- and 200-day moving averages. I find this to be encouraging for a long-term investment.
I am normally a short-term trader, but I know a long-term opportunity when I see it. The XHB is a great one. I would look to buy shares up to the $23.50 level and hold them for a year or more.
[Ed. Note: Investing in the XHB is just one way to give your funds a potential boost. If you're interested in learning what else can make your money grow, you'll want to learn Rick's embarrassing secret. It helped make him over $15,000 in 30 days - and it's so simple, a fifth grader could understand it. Learn more here.]
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