Hovnanian

Three titans of economics join Bloomberg to weigh in on the Paulson Plan.Arthur Levitt suggest that the plan is a bold and essential move to alleviate risk and support confidence while William Poole disagrees and remains skeptical on all counts and believes that it is unwise for the government to muck about in market mechanisms and further doesn't understand how these grand ideas will work.Jeremy

Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. (HOV) released earnings for the second fiscal quarter earlier this week and held a conference call to discuss the results, which were much weaker than the market expected.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Hovnanian's (HOV) CEO speaks. Blah, blah, blah a loss. We all expected that. The key here is what he is seeing out there now. Not necessarily improvement, but stabilization. At this point, that would be fantastic news for the industry. Buyers have been sitting waiting for what they feel is the bottom, when the presume it to be here, they will act, fast. This backs yesterday's post on the subj

Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. (HOV) reported its first quarter of fiscal 2008 (ending 1/31/2008) earnings and held its quarterly conference call. Here are highlights: Fourth Quarter 1) Total... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

I love these sort of posts from Michael Hovnanian.  Funny, quirky, and irreverent, Michael really does an excellent job of blogging about life as a bassist in a major symphony orchestra.  You can here Michael's three-part Contrabass Conversations interview on his CBC page here. Now, about those curious Chicago Symphony 'bass boxes'.  Michael writes: Sometimes I wonder if we bassists surround ourselves with all sorts of specialized equipment as an antidote to the general dreariness of playing the instrument. Could all of the special chairs, oversized cases, endpin rests, bass bibs, bow quivers, grinding wheels, etc. etc., signify some desperate search for fulfillment? I have no idea, and that isn’t really even the subject of this post. When a question came in about our ‘bass boxes’, visible in one of the tour photos, I realized my negligence in not bringing them up sooner. Click here to read the rest of Michael's post. I've always

CSO Bass Blog author (and Contrabass Conversations guest) Michael Hovnanian has been checking in regularly on his blog, sharing what he's been up to on the Chicago Symphony's European tour this fall.  Here's what has gone up so far.  Check in to his site and see daily updates. CSO tour September 23-October 7 A final gasp of fresh air Arrival in Torino Rehearsal and concert in Torino Concert in Verona These are both travelogues and fun windows into life on the road with the Chicago Symphony.  Check them out! Related Posts: Bernard Haitink - CSO Bass Blog post Stuff in Michael Hovnanian's bass studio Time off - CSO Bass Blog post 'Trout' fingerings - CSO Bass Blog On An Overgrown Path features CSO Bass Blog subscribe to the blog - subscribe to the podcast

The Chicago Symphony is on tour at the moment, and I'm holding off on releasing any additional material for Contrabass Conversations from CSO bass section members Michael Hovnanian, Rob Kassinger, or Brad Opland until they get back. It's always better to put podcast episodes out when the featured guest is around to appreciate it! It's been great to see Michael Hovnanian's blog develop over the past year. Michael has a great sense of humor that comes through in his writing, and he offers candid observations on the orchestral scene, bass player-specific advice like fingerings and bowings, and great vignettes, like the following: Some time near the beginning of the season is the appropriate time to mention what is still my favorite perk as a member of the CSO. It isn’t our salary, printed in the newspapers again this week as it is after every contract settlement, our concert hall, or even getting to share the stage with our brass section. No, my needs are much more modest,

Last weekend, K. Hovnanian Homes had their "Deal Of The Century" promotion running in 31 communities across the US. They slashed overall prices by up to $100,000 and offered extra appliances and upgrades to new customers. Similarly and only a short while ago, Apple decided to cut the price of the iPhone from $599 to $399, just weeks after it's initial release (and original price). But that's where the similarities end. Unlike Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple who came out publicly to defend the price drop to recent iPhone customers, Ara K. Hovnanian, President and CEO of K. Hovnanian Homes did not make any comment nor apologize to recent buyers who paid much more for the same product just few short days ago. And unlike Apple who is giving money back to new iPhone customers who paid the higher price, K Hovnanian is not giving a dime back to recent buyers. Basically, if you recently paid $100,000 more for the same house as your new neighbor who bought this past weekend, you're S.

Blogger (and Contrabass Conversations guest) Michael Hovnanian wrote a great gig story on his CSO Bass Blog about an incident that happened about 10 years ago during a Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance. And I think that this thing only happened in second-tier orchestras!It was ten years ago, maybe more – one of the first concerts after Orchestra Hall was renovated to become Symphony Center. Such a grand occasion of course cried out for another run-through of the Beethoven 9th. As was usual for that era, the final rehearsal ended in a mad scramble and confusion, with time running out and not everything having been rehearsed, including notably the recititative and Ode to Joy theme for cellos and basses. The Maestro’s tempo for the Ode was slow, very slow, probably about half the metronome marking. As we know now, he conducts it in 4 when for years we were used to playing it in 2.At the very end of the rehearsal one of the cellists interrupted the Maestro in the midst of some ph

Blogger (and Contrabass Conversations guest) Michael Hovnanian wrote a great gig story on his CSO Bass Blog about an incident that happened about 10 years ago during a Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance. And I think that this thing only happened in second-tier orchestras!It was ten years ago, maybe more – one of the first concerts after Orchestra Hall was renovated to become Symphony Center. Such a grand occasion of course cried out for another run-through of the Beethoven 9th. As was usual for that era, the final rehearsal ended in a mad scramble and confusion, with time running out and not everything having been rehearsed, including notably the recititative and Ode to Joy theme for cellos and basses. The Maestro’s tempo for the Ode was slow, very slow, probably about half the metronome marking. As we know now, he conducts it in 4 when for years we were used to playing it in 2.At the very end of the rehearsal one of the cellists interrupted the Maestro in the midst of some ph

Recently, a host of homebuilders attended the Bank of America 2007 Homebuilders Conference where they made presentations and discussed at length their current state of homebuilding and their outlook for future.Particularly interesting was the presentation and following Q&A by Ara Hovnanian, CEO of Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE:HOV), who has been, in general, very straightforward about the nature of the decline and its impact on his business.The following are some excerpts from his segment.When asked about the signs he would be look to to indicate a turning point in the decline Hovnanian responded:“Well clearly, one of the things we are much more focused on then we ever were before is MLS listings in a given market. That is a dynamic that’s changed, we’re tracking it in every market. At the moment, unfortunately, most markets are showing negative signs in terms of the increasing MLS listings and lower monthly sales every month. ”Asked about the nature of “spec” homes in the

In addition to hearing CSO Bass Blog author and Chicago Symphony bass section member Michael Hovnanian in a Contrabass Conversations interview this weekend, you will get the chance to hear him play the first movement of the Brahms Cello Sonata in E minor. This was a really excellent interview that both bassists and non-bassists will be into, so be sure to check it out this Sunday. You can always click the Contrabass Conversations player in the sidebar to hear any older episodes, and you can subscribe to the podcast to get the episodes delivered to you automatically (iTunes, e-mail, through your phone, through Google Reader, or any other way you like): Subscribe to the PodcastRelated Posts:Greg Sarchet interviewJohn Grillo interviewAndrew Anderson interviewPhillip Serna interviewChicago jazz bassist Kelly Sill

This memo was released recently and has been circulated on the internet today. Apparently, its lagit and sheds quite a bit of light on the state of the homebuilder and the industry in general. K. Hovnanian memo to employees Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 10:02 AMTo: DL HOV AssociatesSubject: TO ALL HOVNANIAN ASSOCIATESImportance: High PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO THOSE ASSOCIATES WHO DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO EMAIL. MEMORANDUM TO: All AssociatesFROM: Ara K. HovnanianDATE: October 3, 2006 Fellow Associates, A few months ago I wrote to you about the changing market conditions in our industry and our concerns about how long the downturn in homebuilding may last. Since that time, the market has slowed further still, representing one of the steepest declines in new home sales in our memory. Most of our markets have been affected, some severely. At this point, we are preparing for a long period of slower sales, at least through 2007 and perhaps beyond. What does this mean for you and for our Com

Chart courtesy of stockchartsShares of Hovnanian Enterprises rose more than 5% to 35.15$, after Bank of America upgraded stock to "buy” from "neutral” , which said the markets the company serves are stabilizing. In the daily chart all Indicators are showing that stock is now in a Bull Market with MACD above 0 and stock trading again above 50 dma and 200 dma. Today HOV broke out of an important consolidation area with excellent volume and will likely have the attention of the swing-traders in the next sessions.Stocks to watch tomorrow : AMZN , ERTS , ISRG , WINNDisclaimer : Trading stocks involves risk, this information should not be viewed as trading recommendations.The charts provided here are not meant for investment purposes and only serve as technical examples.That's all. Have a nice evening !!!!AC