USA HOUSING SECTOR HAS BOTTOMED OUT

UBS says Hovnanian no longer a sell

Builder lifted to neutral on valuation; analysts say stock oversold after drop

Analysts at UBS kept a cautious tone on beaten-down shares of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. even though they removed the stock from their sell list, citing valuation after a recent decline during which it fell heavier than the home-builder group.

"Despite the near-term constraints facing Hovnanian, driven by the overall weakness in the [operating] environment and its more leveraged balance sheet, we believe the recent pullback is overdone," wrote David Goldberg and Susan Maklari in an investor report Tuesday. "In turn, we're upgrading to neutral from sell."

• The housing sector has bottomed out.
• Oil prices have peaked.
• Iraq has been won.
• Obama is cooked.