Wolseley Share Discussion Threads

[topdoc] 15/3/2012 23:26

share price decimated ? seems to me to be at an all time high time to sell

[dontknowitall] 15/3/2012 20:56

Plumbing has been much busier in the last couple of months or so!

[dontknowitall] 26/9/2011 21:26

Plumbers had one of the worst Augusts and this month isn't looking too brilliant either. The lack of movement in the housing market is having a marked affect

My plumbing merchant had a very quiet summer too.

[lucky_punter] 26/9/2011 12:37

Get plumbed in to Wolseley

Wolseley (LON:WOS) is the largest specialist trade distributer of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building materials to the professional market.

[lucky_punter] 26/9/2011 12:37

Get plumbed in to Wolseley

Wolseley (LON:WOS) is the largest specialist trade distributer of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building materials to the professional market.

[nellie1973] 30/8/2011 13:00

Broker upgrade today to BUY

[hectorp] 27/2/2011 13:07

I think the market is too optimistic over UK and US housing starts and other housing turnover etc. Maybe DIY will do OK, even so, Wolseley does badly in downturns ( historically) source FT.

[wig123] 18/2/2011 11:00

getting closer ;;-)

[wig123] 17/2/2011 15:04

Steady as she goes, breach 2100 then all downhill to 1700 ;;-)

[alphahunter] 16/2/2011 02:28

Stock down 2.8% today - on poor NAHB numbers.





Dim view of housing market weighs on economy

(AP) – 11 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) - Optimism is in short supply among U.S. homebuilders, a sign that the depressed housing market will slow the economy's gains this year.

The outlook by builders hasn't improved since the fall, when new-home sales were in the midst of their bleakest year in a half-century.

Less home building means fewer jobs for the economy. Construction work now accounts for about 5 percent of the nation's private employment. But nearly 2 million of the roughly 14 million unemployed Americans previously worked in construction.

Analysts say the economy needs to accelerate job creation before the housing industry can fully recover. Without more jobs and higher wages, home sales will stagnate.

"We probably won't see a strong recovery in construction jobs anytime soon," said Sal Guatieri, senior economist BMO Capital Markets. "Not a lot of people are showing up to builders' lots, not even to kick the tires. We just have to wait it out."

The National Association of Home Builders' index of builder sentiment for February was unchanged for the fourth straight month, at 16, the association said Tuesday. Any reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment. The index hasn't topped 50 since April 2006.

On Wednesday, the Commerce Department will report on home construction for January. The consensus view of economists is that builders broke ground on a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 535,000 homes last month. That's barely half the pace that economist view as healthy.

Homebuilders are struggling to compete with waves of foreclosures that are forcing prices down. Banks foreclosed on more than 1 million homes last year, and this year's figure is expected to be higher. Last year was also the worst in more than a decade for sales of previously occupied homes.

High unemployment, tight lending standards and uncertainty about prices have kept many would-be buyers away. Mortgage rates had been at their lowest levels in decades but have begun to climb. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage just topped 5 percent for the first time since April.

Outside of housing, most signs point to a strengthening economy. The unemployment rate, now at 9 percent, fell over the past two months at the fastest pace in 50 years. Layoffs have sunk to their lowest levels since 1993. Economic growth is rising. And people are spending at the highest levels since 2006, when the housing market went bust.

Further declines in home prices could make people feel less secure with their finances, slowing spending and broader growth.

New-home sales represent only a small fraction of overall sales. But they drive job growth in construction. Each new home built generates, on average, the equivalent of three jobs for a year and about $90,000 in taxes, according to the homebuilders' group.

More jobs would spur demand for new homes. Increased sales would help clear some of the excess supply. Prices would stabilize, consumer confidence would rise and prices would gradually increase.

But with prices falling in most U.S. cities, new homes are less likely to be built.

"It's very hard to make a living when homes are being sold at fire-sale prices," said Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insight. "The economy's got traction, so the housing market should improve. But the numbers right now across the board are at rock-bottom levels."

Chris Schoonmaker, vice president for sales at S&A Homes in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, said he has seen a spike in the number of people looking to buy custom-built homes in Pittsburgh and State College, Pa. But he doesn't expect to hire until the housing industry achieves a full-blown recovery.

"Our goal this year is to hire back in a few spots, but we'll be very conservative with that," he said.

Analysts say the housing market should show some signs of revival this year. But it will likely be uneven. The latest regional data showed builders are becoming more optimistic in the Northeast and South but less hopeful in the Midwest and West.

"There are signs that we're starting to claw back from the bottom," said Carl J. Riccadonna, a senior U.S. economist with Global Markets Research. "As long as it's flat-lining during the winter, it's the spring that will tell the tale." Spring is the peak time for home-buying.

The latest builder sentiment report reflects a survey of 424 residential developers. They are more optimistic about single-family sales now and over the next six months than they were in January, even though foot traffic by prospective buyers remains fairly flat.

The world's biggest home-improvement retailer, Home Depot Inc., said Tuesday it plans to hire more than 60,000 seasonal workers to help with the busy spring season. But those hires, which are similar in number to the company's staffing levels last year, are tied to a seasonal promotion focused on flowers, vegetables and lawn care products.

Jill Didonna, division president for GL Homes, a Florida builder, said she is "cautiously optimistic" that buyers will be found for two master-planned communities set to open soon in Del Ray Beach and Naples. But that doesn't mean she's going to hire anytime soon.

"We don't see us expanding, but we don't see us contracting," she said. "We haven't reduced staff since 2006."

Herron reported from New York.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[wig123] 19/1/2011 13:42

19/01 13:38 - DJ Treasurys Up On Drop In Housing Starts, Goldman Earnings

By Min Zeng

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Treasurys rose on Wednesday as some investors bought safe-haven major government bonds on a decline in housing starts and disappointing earnings report from Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS).

Housing starts fell 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000 from an downwardly revised 553,000 a month earlier, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected overall housing starts to fall slightly in December to a rate of 554,000 from the government's original estimate of 555,000 in November. On a bright note, building permits, a gauge of future construction, surged 16.7% to an annual rate of 635,000.

In recent trading, the benchmark 10-year note was 6/32 higher to yield 3.353%. The 30-year bond was 14/32 higher to yield 4.538%. Bond yields move inversely to their prices.

Goldman Sachs's fourth-quarter profit fell 52% as revenue fell more than analysts expected. Shares in recent premarket trading. Through the latest close, the stock had gained 4.7% over the past year.


-By Min Zeng, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2229; min.zeng@dowjones

[wig123] 19/1/2011 12:02

kin gravity, might as well be in outer bloody space ;;-(

[wig123] 19/1/2011 11:52

gravity starting to kick in!

[wig123] 15/1/2011 20:19

78.10 on rsi , overbought territory. Maybe the engineered spike following an engineered broker upgrade was the final bear-hug. Time as always will tell.

Nice to see you circling c2, hope all is good with you. ;;-)

[harvester] 14/1/2011 08:23

I would like to short this one by selling calls but have not got the courage to do so after the recent big , not fully explained price jump in one day . I think the share price over-values the company, though.

[contrarian2investor] 13/1/2011 19:14

wig123 & LONGS

I can't understand what WOS is doing at £22 given its flat/poor results in August. What does Citigroup and those other analysts know that WOS have not disclosed into the public arena? They are now up nearly 80% from their intra-day low on August 23rd. Which is an increase of £2.8 bln to its market cap!!

America's housing sales or housing improvement sales must have been stellar since August. As anyone heard such news? c2i

[spob] 11/1/2011 17:56

Someone has put a £45 target price on WOS

[mak600] 11/1/2011 13:07

no prob, cheers deegs ;-)

[deegs] 11/1/2011 12:55

No idea Mak, a friend sent it... that's some rise she's having!

[mak600] 11/1/2011 12:27

Deegs - is the Citigroup note available?