Trendy Trends

From CBS Marketwatch, we have news on Centex: Mixed results for Centex Corp.

"We continue to balance our sales pace with margins, offering incentives in some neighborhoods and holding on price in others," said Cathy Smith, Centex's chief financial officer. Sales trends softened in March "as buyers became cautious due to the reports of subprime concerns and tighter lending standards."

She said the cancellation rate in the latest quarter was 34%, "which improved a few percentage points from the last two quarters but was still choppy within the quarter." The historical average for cancellations runs between about 20% to 25%, the CFO said.

"The main reason buyers are canceling remains the inability to secure financing or sell their existing homes," Smith said.

"Considering the lack of clear directional trends in the market, tighter mortgage lending standards, and soft results in March, we don't believe it's prudent to provide earnings guidance for fiscal 2008 at this time," she said.

(Ed: emphasis mine.)

How high does the cancellation rate (currently 34%) have to go about the historic norm (20-25%) before the directional trend becomes clear?

Can you say bullshit? I knew you could.