Building materials at 52-week lows while SPY sits 1% off its record

CRH closed at $93.25 and Martin Marietta at $522.81 on August 18, both fresh 52-week lows. CRH is 29% below its January 9 high of $131.38 and Martin Marietta 26% below its February 10 high of $708.11; Vulcan Materials, at $271.65, is 18% below its own February 10 high. Over the past year the three are down 16%, 13% and 6% while SPY is up 19%, and the index sits 1.3% below its August 13 record close.

This is a price chart of three aggregates and cement names rather than a housing or infrastructure forecast, and the gap between them and the index has been building since February rather than opening in one week. A 52-week low is not a bottom call. What the chart shows is that the construction-materials trade has been fully unwound while the broad market has not.