Here are the stark, unvarnished facts about the Hovnanian Enterprises, one of the country's leading builders of luxury new homes:

What a difference a year makes - During the last three months, the company lost $57.3 million, or 91 cents a share. During the same period last year, the company turned a profit of $81.43 million, or $1.25 a share.

The past is catching up with the present – The company needs to make one time write-offs; $90 million related to operations in Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Florida, and $8 million in other markets.

No one wants those McMansions anymore – Net contracts for the quarter slipped 23 percent to 2,570, excluding 43 homes in joint ventures. Companywide, cancellations for the first quarter rose to 36 percent of gross contracts from 35 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Incentives and price reductions are now eating into revenues- In the first quarter, revenue was $1.17 billion, down 8.8 percent from revenue of $1.28 billion in the same period a year ago.

The share price is down; way down – After the company reported the dismal first quarter performance, the shares fell 4.1 percent. Analysits were expecting some bad numbers, but the losses exceeded most expectations. More generally, HOV has proved to be a particularly dangerous stock to have in your portfolio. Just 12 months ago, the stock was trading at over $45 a share; now it has slipped below $30.

And how exactly does CEO Ara Hovanian feel about the current market? “Our first quarter is always the slowest seasonal period for new contracts, so it is difficult to get a good feel for the strength of the market and what absorption rate to project for the rest of the year in each of our communities,” he said. “Most of our markets have begun to show signs of stabilization, but we are not yet confident that we have found the bottom of this housing slowdown.”