Homebuilders make quite a racket with their hammers, drills, and buzz saws.
Yet, until recently, the industry made little noise among investors. That all changed when the tech bubble burst last year. Back in February 2000, homebuilder stocks slumped, on average, to five times predicted 2000 earnings. The home construction industry consists of thousands of firms, but only about 20 are publicly traded, and most of those are small. Certainly, a hard-hitting recession might invalidate that forecast.