MHProNews has provided insights and on-the-record comments from Marty Lavin for over a decade. He is routinely one of the personalities that tends to attract a crowd. Perhaps part of the reason is his years of speaking to industry groups.
But Lavin is just one of scores of industry sources and others beyond the industry that have been used to inform our reporting.
For those who began reading here prior to roughly 2014-2015, they may have noticed or recalled the pivot that began. There has been an evolution in our perspectives, which are reflected in our reports. Older reports, while still useful, should be understood in the light of tonight’s featured focus – looking back, looking ahead.
What has not changed is our support for manufactured housing and our belief in its necessity and value in the struggle for affordable housing for millions of American who need and desire that end.
As usual, the featured focus follows tonight’s quotable quotes, left-right headlines, and two of our three market snapshot graphics at the closing bell today. The final market graphic that summarizes over a dozen manufactured housing industry connected stocks at the closing bell follow the featured focus, recent and related report links.
Quotes That Shed Light – American Social, Industry, National Issues…
Headlines from left-of-center CNN Business
- The election is in 15 days
- America’s jobs market is in crisis — no matter who wins in November
- The Dow craters 411 points on dashed hopes for stimulus
- The oil industry is in trouble. ConocoPhillips is doubling down
- China shows the rest of the world what’s possible when you control Covid-19
- Covid-19 vaccine company under federal investigation
- See Bruce Willis revive famed ‘Die Hard’ character in epic ad
- CVS is hiring 15,000 ahead of the next Covid-19 wave
- The rich really are different: They’re buying more jewelry during Covid
- Here’s who made Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business list
- This company thinks its plastic alternative can help solve climate change
- The anatomy of the New York Post’s dubious Hunter Biden story
- The iPhone 12 Mini’s big drawback: A tiny battery
- Land Rover Defender named MotorTrend SUV of the Year
- Demand for pets is soaring. This company is cashing in
- NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 12: People wearing masks load furniture into a U-haul moving truck as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on September 12, 2020 in New York City. The fourth phase allows outdoor arts and entertainment, sporting events without fans and media production.
- Biden could benefit from the exodus to suburbs
- CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan talks with a QAnon supporter at a Save Our Children rally in Los Angeles
- Analysis: A CNN reporter went to two different QAnon events. Here’s what he found
- Can I deduct home office expenses while I’m working from home? It depends
Headlines from right-of-center Fox Business
- POLITICS
- Coronavirus relief deal remains elusive — what are the biggest sticking points?
- Pelosi and Mnuchin continue to spar over how much money to inject into the pandemic-ravaged economy.
- Trump teases stepping in if Republicans oppose multi-trillion dollar stimulus package
- ECONOMY
- Biden’s economic plan could crush nation’s recovery, conservative economists say
- CYBER SECURITY
- Major airline hit with multimillion-dollar fine for failure to detect cyberattack
- MARKETS
- Dow tanks as Trump blames Pelosi for stalling on stimulus
- Pelosi sets a deadline for stimulus before election–and it’s tight
- OPINION
- Medicare open enrollment is here. This is what you need to know
- LIVE NOW
- WATCH
- VIDEO
- Trump holds a rally in Prescott, Arizona
- LIVE NOW
- WATCH
- VIDEO
- VP Pence speaks at rally in Pennsylvania
- BULLSEYE
- LIFESTYLE
- Target to offer another round bonuses to frontline employees
- BONE TO PICK
- POLITICS
- Perdue Chicken distances itself from Sen. Perdue after mocking Harris
- WOLVERINE STATE WINNING
- ECONOMY
- Trump adviser explains why this election is so crucial to Michigan
- ENERGY CONSOLIDATION
- ENERGY
- ConocoPhillips buys US shale oil company for nearly $10 billion
- SLOW GROWTH JOE?
- OPINION
- The cost of Bidenomics: Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
- DERECHO DAMAGE
- WEATHER
- Costliest thunderstorm in US history results in $7.5B in damages
- CHINA RETALIATES
- CHINA
- China passes export-control law following US moves
- ECONOMY
- Smithfield Foods CEO Ken Sullivan to retire in early 2021
- RETAIL
- CVS to go on major pandemic hiring push to prepare for winter
- TRAVEL
- Ski resorts go down a negative slope amidst the pandemic
- POLITICS
- Top pro-Trump super PAC takes aim at Biden in new $10M ad blitz
- MIDDLE CLASS
- The middle class may want to move to or leave these US states: Report
- SOCIAL MEDIA
- Here’s why Twitter will not unlock NY Post account until posts about Joe Biden’s son are deleted
- ECONOMY
- China’s third quarter GDP expanded by 4.9% from year earlier: report
- THE FED
- Atlanta Fed president ‘concerned’ about uneven economic recovery
- MARKETS
- Asian markets kick off week higher on hopes of U.S. fiscal package prior to elections
- BUSINESS LEADERS
- Fed officials call for tougher regulation to prevent asset bubbles: FT
- SPACE BUSINESS
- NASA picks partner to land water-measuring technology on the moon
- OPINION
- Gingrich: Trump better than Biden to lead US economic recovery from coronavirus
- CORONAVIRUS
- How a pioneering COVID testing lab helped keep Northeast colleges open
- TECH
- Spread of electric cars sparks fights for control over charging
- VIDEO
- ‘SNL’ actors ‘nicer’ than moderators of debates, town halls: Piscopo
- TECH
- New 5G iPhones kick off poaching season for carriers
- TECH
- This is when the DOJ is likely to file antitrust suit against Google
- CORONAVIRUS
- Rural Midwest hospitals struggling to handle COVID-19 surge
- MARKETS
- FOX Business enhances portfolio tracker, real-time market data
- MONEY
- Does having credit cards with a zero balance hurt your credit score?
Market Indicator Closing Summaries – Yahoo Finance Closing Tickers on MHProNews…
Featured Focus –
Where Business, Politics and Investing Can Meet
Prior to the launch of what is now called MHProNews, this writer was a periodic contributor to the Manufactured Home Merchandiser Magazine. The Merchandiser, as it was often called, and the Journal of Manufactured and Modular Housing were the two primary publications that survived the first several years following the steady meltdown of manufactured housing after the last peak in 1998.
By the second half of 2009, the Merchandiser closed. The Journal could have continued on, had the publisher decided to cut his selling price, according to sources. That said, not obtaining an offer that met the owners’ minimum target price, he opted to close it down entirely. In a sense, it may have reflected his ability to financially walk away without having to accept a price he felt wasn’t equal to the value of decades of publishing.
While there have long been bloggers and various newsletter writers in the manufactured home industry, or publishers that wrote some about manufactured homes as part of a broader discussion of housing, by the start of the second year of publishing MHProNews, this publication was statistically and by perception seen by many as the premier publication. Both the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) opted to share news and/or otherwise support MHProNews for some time.
Publishing news from state associations, MHI, and MHARR lead to the motto, “We Provide, You Decide.” ©. The reason? Because it was apparent that there was a disconnect between the perceptions of MHI, MHARR and at times, this or that state association on a given issue.
For some years, before the first year of publishing was up, MHProNews was an MHI member. In time, this writer was voted by peers to be an MHI board member. That vantagepoint of MHI membership and MHI board positions – nor the financial benefit of MHI ads, etc. – kept MHProNews from continuing to report about the views of MHARR or those who took exception to MHI stated positions. “We Provide, You Decide” © continued to be our view, as we strived for balanced reports.
That said, in hindsight – as MHProNews has previously stated – nagging questions that remained unanswered began to reveal problems within MHI.
Frankly, there was an arguably fundamental mistake made of trusting what MHI and several of their key people said as being said sincerely. There were those who told this writer this or that tip or insight, but it seemed to be contradicted by other evidence. MHI was thus at times given the benefit of the doubt.
Several things accelerated the growing doubts about MHI’s sincerity. Among them were the following.
- In 2014, then MHI President and CEO Richard “Dick” Jennison saying on camera that he thought the industry should grow slowly. It was a stunning statement, which caused this writer to reach out to MHI elected leadership to get him to make a public correction of that statement.
- By early 2015, Jennison did publicly a public statement that manufactured housing could attain 500,000 new HUD Code home shipments. In that same statement, Jennison praised MHProNews.
MHI CEO Dick Jennison’s Pledge – 500,000 New Manufactured Home Shipments
- Later that year, a tip from a multi-year MHI connected source led to the revelation that Jennison and then EVP Lesli Gooch had apparently deliberately misrepresented a CSPAN covered Q&A to their members. It was seemingly metaphorically a black and white – though the video was in full color – evidence of Jennison and Gooch sending out to members a message that was flatly contradicted by CSPAN’s coverage of the exchange in question.
In the wake of that, MHProNews called for the resignation or termination of Jennison and Gooch. Note that MHI and some of their member companies were sponsors at that time. So, calling for their termination or resignation was not a step taken lightly.
Even during such controversies, several MHI members were praising MHProNews’ coverage of industry issues. MHProNews possess emails and other evidence that Tim Williams/21st and others involved in senior MHI leadership did reach out to try to get MHProNews to veer away from our increasingly critical view of those MHI staff leaders.
There was more, which could be highlighted by a pair of documents connected to a key MHI member that arguably shed dramatic new light on why the industry was underperforming and why growth and certain decisions were being made as they were. To learn more on that see the report above and below.
There are facts. There are serious allegations that include evidence. There are logical suppositions based upon the facts, evidence, reason, the money trail, and cui bono?
And there are numbers of investigations and reports by public officials, mainstream media, and others. All of which begs the question. Why – beyond MHARR, MHProNews, and MHLivingNews – is so little or nothing said about self-evident or years of logically problematic behaviors?
Our reports on MHProNews have long had good SEO and thus older reports are accessed as well as new ones. It is common to see some 15,000 plus ‘referral paths’ – think reports accessed on MHProNews – during the course of a month. MHProNews has well over 20,000 published briefs, articles, and reports. So, from time to time, it is good to provide reminders like this that are in keeping with the standards of the Society of Professional Journalism code of ethical conduct.
It is also good for those who may be pondering changing their thinking about what has gone wrong in manufactured housing.
In hindsight, there is a silver lining to the period of partial blindness. MHProNews was given access to people in interviews that in hindsight are perhaps more useful now than at the time. If so, that’s a God-thing.
People and organizations make mistakes. Once an error is discovered, it is important to be able to set the record straight.
By looking back, and then looking ahead, the foundation for cleaning up the purported inequities and problems in manufactured housing can only be fixed by getting to the root issues.
When MHI’s own statements are looked at in a historic context, they are clearly errant time and again – which begs the question: why doesn’t MHI and their leadership make admission of their errors?
See the related reports for more.
Related, Recent, and Read Hot Reports
“More Punitive Regulatory” Regime Looms Warns New Manufactured Housing Industry Insider
Manufactured Housing Industry Investments Connected Closing Equities Tickers
Some of these firms invest in manufactured housing, or are otherwise connected, but may do other forms of investing or business activities too.
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- NOTE: The chart below includes the Canadian stock, ECN, which purchased Triad Financial Services, a manufactured home industry lender
- NOTE: Drew changed its name and trading symbol at the end of 2016 to Lippert (LCII).
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Fall 2020…
Berkshire Hathaway is the parent company to Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage, Vanderbilt Mortgage and other factory built housing industry suppliers.
· LCI Industries, Patrick, UFPI, and LP each are suppliers to the manufactured housing industry, among others.
· AMG, CG, and TAVFX have investments in manufactured housing related businesses. For insights from third-parties and clients about our publisher, click here.
Enjoy these ‘blast from the past’ comments.
MHProNews. MHProNews – previously a.k.a. MHMSM.com – has celebrated our 11th year of publishing, and is starting our 12the year of serving the industry as the runaway most-read trade media.
Sample Kudos over the years…
Learn more about our evolutionary journey as the industry’s leading trade media, at the report linked below.
· For expert manufactured housing business development or other professional services, click here.
· To sign up in seconds for our industry leading emailed headline news updates, click here.
Disclosure. MHProNews holds no positions in the stocks in this report.
That’s a wrap on this installment of “News Through the Lens of Manufactured Homes and Factory-Built Housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, stock, investing, data, metrics, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
