hubert joly. he took over in august.best buy has not been helped out by an improving housing market. we heard from two home builders today about their latest quarters. pulte group shares fell 2.5% after reporting its highest quarterly earnings since the housing boom. new orders and higher prices helped. shares have more than tripled in the past year, so we may be seeing some profit-taking. ryland group shot up to a new post-recession high, thanks to its own stronger than expected third quarter financial performance. its backlog of orders for new homes is up 58% as a strong sign of future construction. four of the five most actively traded exchange traded products were higher, led by the 1% gain in the emerging market fund. the s&p 500 volatility note fell, as it usually moves in the opposite direction of the broad market. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> susie: americans continue to sign contracts to buy homes, but the pace has slowed down. the national association of realtors says its pending sales index barely b