Homebuilder stocks gained 4%

Homebuilder stocks are jumping up and down. Note Jim Roger's comment.

Bloomberg.com: U.S.: "The housing slump may extend into 2008 because of stricter mortgage standards and a glut of properties. IndyMac Bancorp Inc. yesterday said it is joining rival lenders in making ``very major changes'' to home-loan standards and charging higher rates because of a slump in mortgage securities.

U.S. homebuilders rose yesterday, pushing a Standard & Poor's index of 16 such companies to a 4.1 percent gain, the measure's biggest advance in six months. The index has dropped 35 percent this year after the worst housing slump in 16 years left eight homebuilders nursing quarterly losses of $1.97 billion.

Beazer Homes

Beazer Homes USA Inc.'s stock jumped 14 percent yesterday, the most ever, after hedge fund Citadel Investment Group LLC almost doubled its stake in the homebuilder. The company has lost almost three-quarters of its market value this year.

``This is the only time in world history when people were able to buy houses with no money down and in fact, in some cases, the builders gave them money for a down payment,'' Rogers said. ``So this bubble is the worst we've had in housing and it's going to be the worst before its over cleaning it out.''"