Sign of Good News for U.S. Housing Market

For those looking for any sign of good news in the nation's housing market, NRMCA member Cemex has issued what's called its first quarterly guidance in more than three years. Cemex said it expects third-quarter earnings to rise 9% vs. a year ago, but it sees sales falling 2%.

The Mexico-based company floundered after the U.S. housing market melted down in 2008, partly triggering the broad recession, shortly after it paid out $16 billion to buy Australian peer Rinker.

It's been working its way out of debt since and recently concluded a $7.2 billion refinancing agreement that gave it leeway to deal with a mountain of debt.