BI Weekly 5: Good housing news continues

November 20, 2012
Filed under Weekly 5

Editor’s Note: The BI Weekly 5 is a collection of tips, news and data affecting the boating industry this week. Be sure to look for the BI Weekly 5 every Tuesday on BoatingIndustry.com

1. Good housing news continues

Three housing reports this week, three positive numbers as one of the most important sectors of the economy continues to grow.

This morning, the Commerce Department reported that October housing starts rose to an 894,000 unit annual rate – the highest number since July 2008 and well above consensus estimates.

Yesterday’s housing news was just as good, with homebuilder confidence rising to its highest mark in more than 6 years. At the same time existing-home sales rose to an annual rate of 4.79 million, up 10.9 percent from October 2011.

2. No waiver on ethanol rules

The Obama administration has rejected a request from eight governors to waive ethanol requirements in gasoline. The states made the request because of this year’s small corn harvest and concerns over its impact on food sources. Read more at Bloomberg.

3. Avoiding the fiscal cliff

When we gathered some of the industry’s top execs together last week at the MDCE Industry Leaders Panel, they were universally optimistic for 2013 … as long as lawmakers avoid the fiscal cliff.

So far, the White House and Congressional leaders are saying the right things – that they want to work together to avoid the sequestration process that would lead to big spending cuts, tax increases, and, most likely another economic slowdown.

4. What you missed at MDCE

If you didn’t make it down to Orlando for the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo, you missed the largest one yet.

Here’s some more of what you missed:

The Best Ideas panel – Dealers just like you sharing their secrets for success
A keynote by author, athlete and CEO Robert Stevenson on “How the Best Get Better”
Insight into the changing demographics of the industry

More educational sessions on improving your service department, marina operations, increasing profits, protecting margins, increasing sales and more.