 Shares of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. HOV, 7.18 surged 6.4 toward a fifth-straight gain in morning trading Wednesday, after the home builder reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that more than tripled, when excluding the benefit of last years valuation allowance reduction, and gross margin that improved by more than five percentage points. Net income for the quarter to April 30 was 59.8 million, or 8.39 a share, after income of 488.7 million, or 69.65 a share, in the year-ago period. 