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Manitowoc shares tank as company releases downbeat outlook

Shares of Manitowoc Co. skidded in Wednesday’s extended session after the equipment manufacturer warned that its quarterly loss likely deepened in the third quarter. The company said it expects its third-quarter operating loss widened to $134 million from a loss of $8 million a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, its operating loss totaled $31 million compared with a loss of $8 million in the same quarter last year. Net sales are estimated to have decreased to $350 million versus $538 million in the year-ago period. “Although the current business environment remains difficult, we are confident in our long-term strategy, targeting double-digit operating margins by 2020,” said Chief Executive Barry Pennypacker in a press release. Manitowoc slumped more than 8% after hours.

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Select Comfort shares drop after earnings miss, outlook

Select Comfort Corp. shares plunged in the extended session Wednesday after the maker of Sleep Number beds missed on quarterly earnings and forecast a profit range that mostly fell below Wall Street estimates. Select Comfort shares dropped 18% to $17.68 after hours. The company reported third-quarter earnings of 56 cents a share on revenue of $368 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 57 cents a share on revenue of $391 million. For the year, Select Comfort sees earnings of $1.15 to $1.25 a share, while analysts expect $1.23 a share. “Our outlook does not contemplate a further deterioration of the consumer spending environment,” the company said in a statement.

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Dow streak of closing below its 50-day MA without falling to its 200-day MA is the longest in 27 years

For the 29th-straight session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has closed below its 50-day moving average, but has yet to fall enough to even touch its 200-day moving average on an intraday basis. That marks the longest stretch the Dow has wavered below its 50-day MA but above its 200-day MA since the 29-day stretch ending in November 1989. During the current streak, the Dow has closed below its 50-day MA, which currently extends to about 18,330, since Sept. 9, 2016. During that time, the closest the intraday low came to the 200-day MA was Oct. 13, when the low of 17,959.95 was more than 300 points above the 200-day MA at 17,640 at the time. Since the 50-day MA has been falling by about 7 points a day, and the 200-day MA has been rising by about 5 points, the Dow will need to close Thursday up over 120 points, or fall at least 541 points intraday, to break the streak.

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Apple sends out media events of Oct. 27 Mac event

Apple Inc. sent out media invites for an Oct. 27 event on Wednesday. The event, dubbed ‘hello again,’ will kick off at 10 a.m. PT. It will be live streamed on Safari and Apple TV. The company plans to launch a new line of Macs at the event, including a new MacBook Pro, according to several media reports. This comes about a month-and-a-half after Apple’s last major hardware event, in which it unveiled the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus but provided no update to its Mac line. Apple reported Mac revenue of $5.2 billion in its last fiscal quarter, down slightly from $6 billion in the year-earlier period. Other data from IDC and Gartner shows Alphabet Inc.’s Chromebook surpassed Apple Mac sales for back-to-school shopping.

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Single-Family Starts Surge Ahead of Estimates

By Susanne Dwyer

Single-family housing starts came in above estimates in September, signaling sustained strength in the owner-occupied housing sector.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reports single-family starts in September at a rate of 738,000, or 8.1 percent more than the estimate of 724,000. Units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 250,000 over the same period.

Privately-owned starts, however, stumbled, down 9 percent at 1,047,000 from an estimate of 1,150,000 and below last September’s rate of 1,189,000—an 11.9 percent decline. Single-family housing completions, in addition, fell 8.8 percent below estimates in September, at 687,000 from 753,000. Privately-owned completions also moved downward 8.4 percent, to a rate of 951,000 from the 1,038,000 estimate.

“[The September] data spawned some ominous headlines, but if you look closer this is actually a very encouraging report about new construction to come in the months ahead,” says realtor.com® Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke. “True, housing starts dropped—but we have to take that with a grain of salt because it came from such thin data. On the other hand, the permitting data released today blew by analysts’ expectations. It also showed that this year’s most troubling trend in new construction has clearly reversed: Permits are outpacing starts, which indicates that developers and builders are finally planning for more growth ahead. That’s great news for both the economy and the consumer.”

“The headline number in this month’s report doesn’t tell the full story,” says Bill Banfield, vice president at Quicken Loans, of the decline in privately-owned starts. “Single-family starts made significant gains in September, which is welcome news to a housing market that has continued to lack inventory, especially in entry-level sectors.”

“A persistent lack of growth in new construction has given us low vacancies in rentals and very low inventories of homes for sale,” Smoke adds. “That has produced above-average increases in rents and prices—but [the September] data is a good sign that we could be turning the page on this troubling scenario. Let’s hope this trend persists!”

For more information, visit www.hud.gov.

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REALTORS® Submit Recommendations as Know Before You Owe Comment Period Closes

By Susanne Dwyer

The public commentary period for the proposed Know Before You Owe (KBYO) rule, which addresses many of the concerns raised by the real estate industry since its implementation, has officially closed.

In submitted comments before the deadline, the National Association of REALTORS®’s (NAR) President Tom Salomone outlined recommendations for KYBO, also known as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure, or TRID, on behalf of the industry, including encouraging mortgage and title professionals to share the closing disclosure (CD) with third parties, such as real estate professionals.

In a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray, Salomone states:

“As stressed by many other real estate professionals’ in their comments, the CFPB should maintain the language in the proposed rule acknowledging that sharing the CD with third parties is permitted as a record of the transaction to provide lenders and title agents with certainty of protection, and further emphasize that sharing the disclosures is required to increase consumer comprehension and avoid unnecessary and costly slowdowns for real estate closings.”

The reluctance to share the CD with real estate professionals, and, subsequently, consumers, comes out of fear of noncompliance with federal privacy law, despite a provision in the law that allows otherwise. This has contributed to wider misunderstanding at closing—in fact, more than 30 percent of homebuyers in a recent American Land Title Association (ALTA) survey reported feeling confused by the CD.

“Homebuyers and sellers rely on real estate professionals for guidance when navigating the complexities of a real estate transaction,” writes Christie DeSanctis, policy representative for NAR, in the October 2016 issue of Real Estate magazine. “Lenders’ refusal to share the CD under KYBO has placed recent buyers and sellers at an enormous disadvantage.”

“Seventy-one percent of people believe now is a good time to buy a home,” Salomone concludes in the letter. “As consumers remain largely optimistic about participating in such an integral part of the economy, the CFPB must focus on ensuring these individuals are able to purchase homes by promoting credit accessibility without unnecessary regulation that could hinder the home-buying process.”

To read Salomone’s letter in full, click here.

For more information, visit www.realtor.org.

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eBay falls 8% on weak forecast for holiday season

EBay Inc. shares fell 8% in Wednesday’s extended session after the e-commerce company reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations but issued a cautious forecast for the holiday shopping season. EBay reported net income of $413 million, or 36 cents a share, on sales of $2.22 billion; after adjustments for stock-based compensation and other factors, the company claimed earnings of 45 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected eBay to report adjusted earnings of 44 cents a share on revenue of $2.19 billion. For the important fourth quarter, when eBay will be competing with Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers for shoppers’ attention, the company projected adjusted earnings of 52 cents a share to 54 cents a share on revenue of $2.36 billion to $2.41 billion. Analysts expect fourth-quarter adjusted profit of 54 cents a share on sales of $2.4 billion, according to FactSet. EBay shares closed with a 2.8% gain at $32.53 and fell to close to $30 in after-hours trading.

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American Express shares rise 4% on earnings, revenue beat

Shares of American Express Co. rose 4% late Wednesday after the credit card company reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations. American Express said it earned $1.14 billion, or $1.20 a share, in the quarter, compared with $1.26 billion, or $1.24 a share, in the third quarter of 2015. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $1.24 a share, the same as it reported in the year-ago period. Sales reached $7.77 billion, compared with $8.19 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected American Express to report adjusted earnings of 97 cents a share on sales of $7.71 billion. Despite losing the Costco account earlier this year, and excluding the impact of Costco-related revenues in the year ago-period, adjusted revenues rose 5%, thanks to an increase in member spending, and higher net interest income and net card fees. Shares of American Express had ended the regular session up 2%.

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Countdown starts now on CFPB’s final mortgage servicing rule implementation

Nearly four months after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finished the final mortgage servicing rule, it has finally been published in the Federal Register. The long publishing timeline isn’t necessarily a bad thing since it gave the industry extra time to adapt to and learn the final rule. Since it’s officially published, your one-year countdown starts now. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire