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Note 15
 9 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2011
Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]
15.  Total income tax benefit was $4.6 million and $6.1 million for the three and nine months ending July 31, 2011, respectively, primarily due to a decrease in tax reserves for uncertain tax positions.  On November 6, 2009, President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, under which the Company was able to carryback its 2009 net operating loss to previously profitable years that were not available for carryback prior to the new tax legislation.  We recorded the impact of the carryback of $291.3 million in the three months ended January 31, 2010.  We received $274.1 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2010 and the remaining $17.2 million in the three months ended January 31, 2011.

Deferred federal and state income tax assets primarily represent the deferred tax benefits arising from temporary differences between book and tax income which will be recognized in future years as an offset against future taxable income. If the combination of future years’ income (or loss) and the reversal of the timing differences results in a loss, such losses can be carried forward to future years to recover the deferred tax assets. In accordance with ASC 740, we evaluate our deferred tax assets quarterly to determine if valuation allowances are required.  ASC 740 requires that companies assess whether valuation allowances should be established based on the consideration of all available evidence using a “more likely than not” standard.  Given the continued downturn in the homebuilding industry during 2009, 2010 and  2011, resulting in additional inventory and intangible impairments, we are in a three-year cumulative loss position as of July 31, 2011.  According to ASC 740, a three-year cumulative loss is significant negative evidence in considering whether deferred tax assets are realizable.  Our valuation allowance for current and deferred taxes amounted to $858.8 million and $811.0 million at July 31, 2011 and October 31, 2010, respectively.  The valuation allowance increased during the nine months ended July 31, 2011 primarily due to additional reserves recorded for the federal tax benefits related to the losses incurred during the period.