U.S. stocks rallied today on better-than-expected manufacturing news, but fell back after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Fed’s latest stimulus action and suggested it was time for Congress to act. CNNMoney reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained +77.98 points, +.58 percent, to close at 13,515.11, while the Nasdaq edged down -0.09 percent to 3,113.53. The S&P fell -0.27 percent to close at 1,444.49. The Yahoo! Finance Manufactured Housing Composite advanced +1.17 percent to close at 1121.3. Housing stocks we track finished the day mixed, or even. Patrick Industries spiked the most of tracked stocks, gaining +20.20%, +3.05, to close at 18.52. Nobility Homes fell the most of stocks we follow, -23.33%, -1.40, to close at 4.60. Affiliated Managers Group 122.77 -0.24 (-0.39%). Cavco Industries 46.25 +0.36 (+0.78%). Clayton Homes, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, as well as MH home-building, lending and other housing suppliers parent company Berkshire Hathaway 133,000 +300.00 (+0.23%). Champion, Liberty Homes, Deer Valley and Palm Harbor all remained unchanged. Drew Industries 30.46 +0.25 (+0.83%). Equity LifeStyle Properties 68.37 +0.25 (+0.37%). Louisiana Pacific Corp. 12.68 +0.18 (+1.44%). Skyline Corp. 5.66 +0.181 (+3.30%). Sun Communities, Inc. 43.84 -0.28 (-0.63%). Third Avenue Value Fund (9-28) 48.68 -0.30 (-0.61%). United Forest Products, Inc. 41.76 +0.22 (+0.53%). UMH 11.99 +0.02 (+0.17%).
