Watch This Mid Cap for Clues on Housing

Updated

It looks like investors slept peacefully after Halloween: The Dow (INDEX: ^DJI) and the broader S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC) are up 1.1% and 0.94%, respectively, as of 10:25 a.m. EDT.

If you're looking for indications on the state of the housing market, Mohawk Industries (NYS: MHK) will be reporting earnings after the close of today's session. At a market value of less than $6 billion, Mohawk is a mid-cap stock, but the company is one of the top suppliers of carpet and flooring for residential and commercial applications.

Incidentally, the world's largest carpet manufacturer is Shaw Industries, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway (NYS: BRK.B) . As I noted earlier this morning, Warren Buffett is betting on a recovery in the U.S. housing market by lending Berkshire'sname to a network of residential real-estate agents in a joint venture with Brookfield Asset Management (NYS: BAM) . Buffett has said he's seen an uptick in the residential housing market, and Berkshire expects to hire 8,000 people this year.


In his September premium report, the Fool's value maven, Joe Magyer, wrote that "the range of outcomes with Berkshire's stock today skews deeply in investors' favor." Click here to receive Joe's in-depth report on the stock, which includes a full year of coverage (which will come in handy in decrypting tomorrow's earnings report).

Also reporting after the bell is American International Group (NYS: AIG) , which is also a favorite among value-oriented investors.

The article Watch This Mid Cap for Clues on Housing originally appeared on Fool.com.

Alex Dumortier, CFA has no positions in the stocks mentioned above; you can follow him @longrunreturns. The Motley Fool owns shares of American International Group and Berkshire Hathaway and has the following options: long JAN 2014 $25.00 calls on American International Group. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend American International Group and Berkshire Hathaway. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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