The AVP Pulse Index for May – brought to you by Rock Products and Allen-Villere Partners – ticked up by a strong 1.0%, moving the Index up 1.4% year-over-year.
“My position hasn’t changed; this is effectively a continuation of the flattening of the curve I have predicted until interest rates come down, and the bank lending environment calms down after the scare of the SVB and Signature bank failures,” said Pierre Villere of Allen-Villere. “I expect that the Index will remain in this flattened state for the foreseeable future. Of particular note, though, is the impact the stock prices of publicly traded construction-materials companies had on the Index this month, as they increased 11.8% month-over-month, with many hitting all-time highs. This clearly had an impact on our proprietary weighting algorithm – remember, the stock markets are extremely efficient, and these higher prices reflect optimism on the part of institutional investors. This bodes well for the next couple of years and reflects a continuation of a financially healthy construction-materials Industry.”
