Kai Risdahl

Not so rosy, though, for the half trillion dollar home remodeling industry.

A report out this morning from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard says spending on remodeling is going to grow by just a half percent in the coming year.

Daniel Ackerman is on that one.

Rachel Bogardas-Drew of Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies says the outlook for the remodeling industry is, in a word, stable because that's a little bit more optimistic sounding than stagnant or flat.

Drew says the number of homeowners seeking remodel permits has grown more slowly of late, and sales of supplies like faucets and windows are down.

In the face of this slowdown, Drew has some advice for contractors.

Yes, the K-shaped economy is alive and well in the remodel industry.

Aniban Basu, CEO of Sage Policy Group, says that's in part because wealthier homeowners tend to be more seasoned ones.

Along with the owners, America's housing stock is aging too, which means those homes will need a little more TLC to stay livable.

All of which leads Basu to believe the outlook for remodeling is stronger than it may appear.

Even that is difficult, though.

President Trump's immigration crackdown has made it harder for remodelers to find and retain qualified workers.

But it's still important to try, says Macrina Wilkins, director of Market Insights with the Associated General Contractors of America.

Securing and having an established workforce will put you in the best possible position to be able to take on contracts that become available.

Coming up.

You look at something for five seconds and then all of a sudden you're getting a million ads.

Hate it when that happens.

First, though, let's do the numbers.

Dow Industrials up 50, 356 points, rather, three quarters of 1%, finished at 49,298.

The Nasdaq added 258 points.