You would have to be living under a rock not to see the tear the stock markets are on, and especially the construction materials subset of companies that supply aggregates, cement and ready mixed concrete; and that are all breaking through previous records to all-time highs. And jobs reports continue to be strong, and in a strange dichotomy, the consumer…
Read MoreAuthor: Pierre Villere
The Fed Goes Big
That was the subject line on an end-of-day email from one of the major business media enterprises on a Wednesday afternoon in mid-September. It was the day the Fed held its regular meeting, and ended speculation as to whether the all-but-assured rate cut would be 25 basis points, or a more aggressive 50 points. And 50 it was, but it…
Read MoreA Mid-Year Look at the Housing Market
Interest rates have been elevated for a long time now, a stretch spanning the longest period for high interest rates that we can remember. Starting in March 2022, rates have ratcheted up to their current levels and have been there for 2½ years now. But as I have been predicting for some time, rates will come down, although the timing…
Read MoreThe Bewildering Status of Non-Compete Clauses
The use of non-compete clauses, or even entire agreements, are an integral part of the American employment landscape, especially at the C-Suite level, but often in middle management and sales positions as well. Our firm has a large and diverse client base, all focused in the construction materials industry, and the use of non-compete clauses or agreements are all over…
Read MoreA Desk of Their Own
Last month, I wrote about the push across America of the “Return-To-Office” (RTO) movement, and how “Work-From-Home” is slowly becoming less tolerable to employers. As I related last month, Walmart is laying off hundreds of white-collar jobs, and forcing others to relocate, many to their headquarters town of Bentonville, Ark. Others, like JP Morgan Chase, has a CEO in Jamie…
Read MoreThe Pulse
THE PULSE: CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS MARKET ANALYSIS PIERRE VILLERE’S MARKET ASSESSMENT In the latest update on the construction materials industry, the AVP Pulse Index experienced a modest increase of 0.1% for the month, but continues to gain ground with steady, but not overly strong, year-over-year growth of 3.8%. Over the past 36 months, the index increased 10.5%, indicating a slight slowdown in…
Read MoreWait! Stop the Presses!
I have to start by explaining this headline for the younger readers who don’t remember the culture of the newspaper industry, which is now long gone. You see, newspapers in larger markets once printed multiple editions throughout the day, so that news could be as recent as three or four hours old. “Wait! Stop the Presses!” was a popular expression…
Read MoreProductivity Gains Will Drive Stock Markets Higher
I have developed a fascination with one of the biggest life-changing events that has enveloped our economy, and our lives, and offers infinite promise: A.I. As I have written in the past, I have witnessed three life-changing events in my 50-plus-year career: the invention of the personal computer, the advent of cellular telephony and the Internet. Each of these drove…
Read MoreHousing Stock Is Getting Older
A confluence of events around the housing market seems to portend that America’s shortfall in available homes will persist. Certainly, the higher interest rates of the past two years have made it harder to qualify for a mortgage, coupled with housing prices that just seem to continue to rise, even in the face of the headwinds of higher interest rates,…
Read MoreHousing Demand Has Jumped
The popular business press, including the cable news channels, are awash in reports that housing demand has already jumped on just the notion of rate cuts later this year, and the jump is expected to become a surge as I have been predicting. Remember, I have said for the last several months that when the Fed signaled inflation was headed…
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