Modest good news from Europe concerning the debt crisis stoked the Dow Jones Industrial Average early today, but disappointing manufacturing and real estate news pushed the Dow to lose 20.81 points, closing at 12,632.91. The Nasdaq gained +0.07 percent while the S&P lost -0.05 percent, according to CNNMoney. However, it was the best January for the S&P and Dow since 1997, and since 2001 for the Nasdaq. The Yahoo! Finance Manufactured Housing Composite lost 1.33 percent to end the month at 842.10. Tracked housing stocks closed mixed. Patrick Industries registered the largest gain of tracked stocks, moving up 7.92 percent, +0.42, to close at 5.72. Louisiana Pacific Corp. posted the biggest slide of tracked housing stocks, moving down -6.37 percent, -0.458 to close at 8.52. Affiliated Managers Group 100.51 -0.05 (-0.05%). Cavco Industries 45.53 -0.67 (-1.45%). Clayton Homes, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, as well as MH home-building, lending and other housing suppliers parent company Berkshire Hathaway was unchanged at 117,925. Champion, Liberty Homes, Deer Valley and Palm Harbor all remained unchanged. Drew Industries 25.97 -0.05 (-0.19%). Nobility Homes 5.76 +0.16 (+2.86%). Skyline Corp. 6.21 -0.17 (-2.66%). Sun Communities 40.11 +0.21 (+0.53%). Third Avenue Value Fund (1-30) 44.13 -0.51 (-1.14%). UMH Properties 10.31 +0.25 (+2.49%). Universal Forest Products, Inc. 31.78 +0.40 (+1.28%).
