The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that shares in several major Canadian forestry firms closed down Wednesday after an analyst downgrade and lower-than-expected building permits for the crucial United States housing sector. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe reports that CIBC analyst Hamir Patel reduced his outlook on the industry, downgrading Interfor, Resolute Forest Products and West Fraser Timber, as concerns mount about U.S. housing. Mr. Patel said, "With more warnings signs flashing in the U.S. housing market we are now moving to the sidelines on all commodity wood product stock." The shift came as the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday that applications for building permits, seen as a reliable indicator of future activity, fell by 5.7 per cent in August after a 0.9-per-cent rise in July. Permit applications have been down four of the past five months. The reading is quite a bit weaker than expected and shows that permits have clearly faded from the cycle high in March, said BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic in a note. "This is consistent with our view that residential construction looks to be largely a wash on overall economic growth at this stage of the cycle."