(New York)
Housing stocks are in a real slump right now. Many homebuilders are in a full bear market following months of slowing home sales and new construction. For instance, the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF is down 26% this year. That said, take a look at two stocks that seem like they have strong upside—Ingersoll-Rand (IR) and Lennox International (LII). Both companies are in the HVAC sector of housing, which is a strong niche.
FINSUM: What is so strong about the air conditioning and heating (HVAC) sector is that it is at the start of a big replacement cycle. These machines typically last 12 to 15 years, so there is an ongoing boom in replacement of the huge amounts of these systems installed in the 2003 to 2006 housing surge.