Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Beazer Fires Chief Accountant

Wow. Simply wow. Beazer Homes is in deep:

"Beazer Homes USA Inc., a homebuilder that's under investigation by the FBI for potential fraud, fired its chief accounting officer for violating the company's ethics policy by attempting to destroy documents."

The investigation is a result of offering mortgages to prospective home buyers based on expected future earnings, which is prohibited. It's bad enough for the company that they happen to be a homebuilder in a slumping housing market. Adding the fact that the company is under investigation and the fact that the CAO just got canned for attempting to destroy documents makes for a tough case. On top of all that, inventory makes up around eighty percent of Beazer Homes' assets.

This is an easy one - sell Beazer (BZH). The company closed trading today at $28.54, which is at the lower end of the 52 week range ($27.32-48.60). Still, after all is said and done, I think the stock will be trading closer to $20 than to $30.

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