Everyone is trying to figure out why the homebuilder stocks are falling today. Could it be this? "After debating at length whether a rise in short-term bond yields above longer ones signalled recession in the U.S., global investors are now wondering what the unwinding of this situation might bring."

"Bond bears have been on a rampage in recent sessions, as markets moved to factor in risk of central banks in the euro zone and U.S. raising interest rates further than previously expected."

"'It's not something I would say is overly severe,' said Klaus Wiener. 'However, if this were to continue, if we touch 5 percent or more, the fallout for the overall economy will be more severe, and especially in the housing market.'"

"'To me this whole discussion about the yield curve being inverted was a little bit missing the point. Typically what you got in earlier cycles was the yield curve inverted, yes, but along with that the entire yield curve moved up,' said Wiener. 'That's something we haven't seen, until three or four days ago."

"Don't look now, but the yield curve appears to be twisting back toward its normal positive slope. Now the question becomes: is this good news or bad news?"

"The answer: it all depends on who you are. If you're looking to take out a fixed-rate mortgage, the recent jump in long-term interest rates to multi-year highs is clearly bad news. It's also bad news for homebuilders, or anyone looking to sell a home, for that matter."

Or maybe it's related to something like this. "The Central Florida division of Avatar properties Inc. posted 306 new home sales in the fourth quarter to end 2005 with 1,352 home sales. That's down from 1,921 new home sales in 2004."

"Avatar's primary housing in Poinciana, a 47,000-acre master-planned community in northwest Osceola and northeast Polk counties, accounted for 407 sales last year."

Or maybe this, "Whirlpool Corp.'s chief executive said Tuesday the appliance maker hasn't seen a slowdown in U.S. new-home construction yet, although it expects a modest decline. 'We do not see a bubble, and think that net net, we'll still grow our revenues in that segment this year,' CEO Jeff Fettig told investors."