Single family starts will likely remain elevated until we see a significant increase in long term interest rates.

We're basically guessing how the BLS adjusts for Katrina, which is an even bigger stretch than we normally have to do.

I think it is a critical number. It's one of the first readings we get on consumer confidence post-Katrina.

The 2002 holiday season will likely be a moderate one, not blowing away modest expectations, but not disappointing them either.

If anything, this confirms the Fed's bias towards inflation rather than worrying about a slow down in growth. The Fed seems to have no worries about growth, as least as far as manufacturing is measured by ISM.

Sometimes, we're wondering what we can do to help and unfortunately, these people are going through a difficult time. It's a small part we can play. At least it's something we can do.

The outsized decline in starts in November is a bit confusing given the steady and elevated pace of permitting over the last several months.

We're going to fill up all of our buses, and hopefully, we'll bring them up and if we have to go back down there and pick up another group of people, we'll just keep going until they don't need our help anymore.

Both new and existing home sale prices over the past few months have already been trending downward. Prices will continue to feel downward pressure as more and more units are posted for sale in the marketplace.