David Einhorn, is the director and Chairman of the Board, of Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRLE), is a global, multi-line, broker market reinsurer. He has held this position since since July 2004.
Today, the re-insurer’s annual shareholder meeting was held in New York. According to reports, David Einhorn made some fairly bullish comments on the housing sector and general motors.
Interestingly, Einhorn spoke at the Ira Sohn Conference, and promised to take readers around the world. Einhorn gave his views on China, Japan, France, specific equities but did not mention anything about housing. We are not sure why he waited to give his views on the housing market.
At the shareholder meeting, Einhorn stated that the housing market is “pretty broadly-based.”
According to MoneyNews.com, Einhorn does not see signs of a housing boom but is more optimistic based on the demand for new home construction picking up.
Recent Government statistics released several days ago on new home construction, showed that for the month of april, construction started on new homes and apartments at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000 units. That was an increase of 2.6% improvement from March and 30% increase from April, 2011.
Einhorn also stated that General Motors “is a misunderstood and very cheap stock.”
The rationale for Einhorn’s statements were not available, but the auto industry has been one of the stronger segments coming out of the recession. The industry has seen a rebound and is now growing in the world’s largest car market, China.
General Motors’ specifically is trading at a forward price earnings ratio of less than six. The company has been thriving over the past few years, after a controversial Government bailout. GM is trading at less than 6x forward earnings and is eyeing emerging markets as an area of growth as the Euro-Zone economy remains in crisis.
