Quikrete Industry Dashboard - (Week 44, 2024)

The Week 44 edition of the Quikrete Industry Dashboard shows U.S. average gas prices are down ($3.12) again from last month ($3.20). Pump prices are still much lower compared with last year's nationwide average of $3.46 in early November 2023, per AAA.

The Quikrete Industry Dashboard also shows a nice bump in the latest Consumer Confidence Index figures, which signals growing economic optimism. October's score of 108.7 was up sharply from September's woeful 99.2 and also compared to October 2023's almost identical score of 99.1. 

In other news, pending home sales rose 7.4 percent in September, the biggest jump since March. Pending home sales also rose overall in each of the four major U.S. regions monitored by the National Assocation of Realtors. 

In industry stock news, Masco (+54.2 percent), Sherwin-Williams (+51.5 percent) and Builders FirstSource (+45.9 percent) have posted the largest increases so far in 2024. Beacon, meanwhile (+6.5 percent), is the only stock on our list that saw monthly gains rather than losing ground.