Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Lennar, Toll Brothers, Countrywide, MGIC and Washington...

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Lennar, Toll Brothers, Countrywide, MGIC and Washington MutualCHICAGO--(Business Wire)--Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the AnalystBlog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latestnews and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocksrecently featured in the blog include: Lennar (NYSE: LEN), TollBrothers (NYSE: TOL), Countrywide (NYSE: CFC), MGIC (NYSE: MTG) andWashington Mutual (NYSE: WM). See the latest posts to the Analyst Blog by visiting:http://at.zacks.com/?id=2673 Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog: New Home Sales There has been some improvement on the inventory front, with SAARinventories down 2.3% for the month and down 6.7% year over year.However, even within that number there is some cause for concern:inventories of completed houses are actually up 13.7% year over year.It is the inventories of houses under construction that are down mostsharply, down 17.3% year over year and the inventory of not-startedhouses (basically improved lots) is down 9.5% year over year. Still, based on the as-yet-unrevised October selling rate, themonths of supply dipped to 8.5 months from 9.0 months in September,but still up from 7.1 months a year ago. I would expect the Octobernumbers will be revised down next month; virtually all of therevisions over the last 18 months have been downward. By price, there was a fair amount of strength in the starter homemarket (less than $200,000) where on a non-seasonally adjusted basis26,000 homes were sold in October vs. 19,000 in September and 25,000 ayear ago. The McMansion category (greater than $500,000) also did OK,with sales up to 7,000 from 5,000 last month but down from 9,000 ayear ago (the numbers are only released as 7, 5 and 9, so there is apretty wide range of potential percentage changes in those numbers).The move-up market is not faring as well with sales of just 24,000 inOctober, down from 31,000 in September and 40,000 a year ago. In short -- and short is a good place to be -- the homebuilderslike Lennar (NYSE: LEN) and Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) are not out ofthe woods. The time to buy the survivors is after the second or thirdof those stocks writes the eleventh chapter in their corporatehistories. Nor do I see this report as good news for any of the bigmortgage players such as Countrywide (NYSE: CFC), MGIC (NYSE: MTG) orWashington Mutual (NYSE: WM). See the latest posts to the Analyst Blog by visitinghttp://at.zacks.com/?id=2645 About Zacks Equity Research Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative andqualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy andwhich to sell for the long-term. Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publiclytraded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives themkeen insights to developments that affect company profits and stockperformance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month timehorizons. Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlightsof the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to thisfree newsletter today by visiting http://at.zacks.com/?id=2674. About Zacks Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., whichwas formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knewhe could find patterns in stock market data that would lead tosuperior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was theformation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank,which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin.The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and marketinsights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily emailnewsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow ofProfitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for yourfree subscription to Profit from the Pros. The performance of the Zacks Rank portfolios shown above forannual and year-to-date periods are the linked monthly total returns

(price changes + dividends) of equal weighted hypothetical portfolios,consisting of those stocks with the indicated Zacks Rank, assumingmonthly rebalancing and zero transaction costs. These are not thereturns of actual portfolios. The hypothetical portfolios were createdat the beginning of each month from Jan 1988 forward based on thevalues of the Zacks Rank available to Zacks' clients before thebeginning of each month. The portfolios created monthly from 1988through September 2006 exclude ADRS and are comprised of stocks thathave the indicated Zacks Rank and were covered by at least twoanalysts at the time of the stocks inclusion in the portfolio.Starting in October 2006 and going forward, the portfolios arecomprised of all stocks with the indicated Zacks Rank and do notexclude ADRs, which is more reflective of the list of stocks thatcustomers will find on the Zacks web sites. 2007 returns are for theperiod of Jan 1 - Jun 30, 2007. These performance numbers have beenaudited from 1995 through 2003 by Autschuler Melovan, a division ofAmerican Express Financial.Zacks.comTerry RuffoloMedia Relations312-265-9213Visit: www.zacks.comCopyright Business Wire 2007