Mr. Shmois: My coverage is focused on primarily heavy construction materials, such as aggregates and cement producers, and I also have coverage amongst select building products names, gypsum wallboard manufacturers, roofing and insulation manufacturers, as well as some other building products names in the specialty products category.
TWST: Looking at the group as a whole, will building and construction see improvement?
Mr. Shmois: They are not getting any worse right now. Some sectors are benefiting on the heavy materials side, at least in 2010, from stimulus spending - primarily the aggregates and cement companies who participate in infrastructure. Those exposed to the housing sector actually are going to see a strong first half this year, in part due to inventory restocking at the distribution level as well as some pre-buying on the part of distributors ahead of some industrywide price increases. But for the more housing-related names, I think we're more cautious as far as their prospects going into the back half of the year than we are for the heavy materials names, especially as we're seeing the expiration of the federal tax credits in April really dampen new home building.
Tickers included in this excerpt: CRH, CX, MLM, OC
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